In the stillness of the night, a cool breeze wafted outside.
Li Mu, confirming that the old Daoist wouldn't come knocking, breathed a sigh of relief. He took out the book "Twenty-four Seasons Swordsmanship," and, like last time, used scissors to cut open the hidden compartment on the last page, extracting a thin jade scroll.
The thin jade scroll was four inches long, two inches wide, and the thickness of four or five sheets of paper. It was a vibrant green with mysterious spirit patterns carved into it, bearing the marks of time.
Li Mu retrieved the thin jade scroll, placing it in his palm. The Innate Divine Power - Recognition of Ten Thousand Spirits took effect, and immediately, a virtual frame in his vision presented relevant information.
[Inheritance Jade Scroll]
[Grade: Tier Two Spiritual Object]
[Attributes: Spiritual Transmission, Eternal]
[Inside the jade scroll is recorded a Profound Rank Puppet Inheritance Technique. By projecting divine sense into it, one can peruse the inherited technique.]
Upon seeing the jade scroll's information, Li Mu's heart surged with excitement. He immediately closed his eyes, quietly circulated his divine sense, and condensed his limited power of divine sense to project it into the scroll.
With a "boom," Li Mu's divine sense poured into the inheritance jade scroll. The next second, a massive flow of information appeared: an inheritance spell called "Thousand Mechanism Puppet Technique," detailing various methods of refining puppets, emerged one by one.
Papery puppets, wooden puppets, metal puppets, Foundation Establishment puppets, demon beast puppets, flying puppets... seventy-two puppet refining methods and puppet manipulation techniques in total, along with various puppet knowledge, were presented completely and comprehensively.
Li Mu immediately felt his head grow heavy, as if struck by a hammer. A massive amount of puppet-related knowledge filled his mind, his brain overloaded and struggling to function smoothly.
After a quarter of an hour, Li Mu opened his eyes, awakened from the state of receiving the "Thousand Mechanism Puppet Technique" inheritance, feeling exhilarated.
The "Thousand Mechanism Puppet Technique" records seventy-two puppet refining methods, ranging from low to high grade, including nine types of flying puppets, puppet secret patterns, puppet core source refining techniques, and divine sense techniques to control puppets.
A very complete puppet inheritance that can be cultivated up to the Golden Core Realm.
If one can achieve mastery in puppet techniques and refine a puppet army, facing a hundred enemies single-handedly in the future would be no problem.
However, sadly, puppet techniques have a fatal flaw: the materials required for refining puppets are exorbitantly expensive. Even to refine the lowest-level papery puppet requires secret puppet skin paper, demon beast essence soul, secret spirit ink, and more. Just a simple papery puppet costs over a hundred low-grade spirit stones.
Following that is the wooden puppet, which requires specially graded spirit wood suitable for engraving puppet patterns and driving the puppet core... Refining a wooden puppet costs three to four times more than a papery puppet.
Above wooden puppets are metal puppets and demon beast bone puppets. Their quality surpasses that of wooden and papery puppets, but their costs rise accordingly.
In short, to build a puppet army in a short time, for Li Mu, is just a pipe dream.
Li Mu sighed, his gaze shifting to the character attribute panel.
[Ding, you've successfully received the "Thousand Mechanism Puppet Technique" inheritance and learned puppet refining and manipulation techniques.]
Indeed, two cultivation techniques that required improvement appeared in the character attribute panel.
Though Li Mu was delighted, he was also troubled. The Cyan Wood Technique, Fire Manipulation Technique, Profound Water Technique, and the yet-to-be-practiced Thick Earth Techniques—he just needed a gold attribute technique to complete the Five Elements. Adding in puppet techniques, Quenching God Technique, talisman making, sword control technique, and more, all these diverse cultivation techniques consumed more and more energy and cultivation time.
There are too many techniques, leaving no time to sit quietly and focus intently on honing one field. Moreover, there's managing spirit plants and the newly opened spirit field to consider.
Li Mu's head felt as big as a fight drum, wishing he could split himself into several people.
One at a time, endure slowly!
Li Mu sighed, collected his thoughts, and began crafting an Exorcism Talisman.
...
Over the following month, Li Mu once again turned into a farmer. During the day, he cared for spirit plants and expanded new fields. At night, he cultivated the Refining God Technique, crafted exorcism talismans, practiced sword control techniques, swordsmanship... Living a simple and repetitive life with three simple meals of spirit rice and wild vegetables daily.
After a month of hard labor, Li Mu cleared large tracts of weeds and shrubs between two spirit fields, leveled the hillside, and newly cultivated five acres of land.
However, these newly cultivated lands still need a Spirit Summoning Array to channel spiritual power for nourishment, and then fertility must be piled onto the fields before they can gradually transform into lower-grade spirit fields.
"Hope I can catch the White Jade Spirit Rice planting season!" Li Mu took a deep breath, laid down his tools, and prepared to go to the Qing Xuan Sect's base to ask an array cultivator to set up the Spirit Summoning Array.
Three hours later, near dusk.
Li Mu spent 500 lower spirit stones to successfully invite Senior Brother Xu. Around the five-acre spirit field on Little Liang Mountain, a Spirit Summoning Array was set up.
"Junior Brother Li, I've set up the Spirit Summoning Array. Next, this array needs a batch of spirit stones replaced every ten days, and you'll need to maintain it for about three months. Only then can these five fertile acres stabilize into lower-grade spirit fields!" Xu Lijin, looking exhausted, reminded Li Mu.
"Three months? How many spirit stones will that burn!" Li Mu's face changed as he lamented.
"It must be three months. If left halfway, these spirit fields will be wasted," Xu Lijin explained solemnly.
"Then, in these three months, can spirit plants be planted?" Li Mu nodded, asking concernedly.
"You can plant some in small amounts! However, don't expect much harvest. That's it, I should be leaving." Xu Lijin said, indicating with a wave.
"Understood! Senior Brother Xu, it's getting late, how about staying for a meal before leaving?" Li Mu courteously offered.
"No need, it's dangerous on the road past nightfall!" Xu Lijin waved, and with that, he released a spirit sword and flew off using sword control.
Watching Xu Lijin's departing figure with a touch of envy, Li Mu lowered his gaze to the Spirit Summoning Array set by Xu Lijin, his expression turned grim.
Li Mu was somewhat unclear why Xu Lijin made that instruction before leaving, seemingly letting him waste spirit stones.
Was it intentional? Or precautionary?
Through the Innate Divine Power - Recognition of Ten Thousand Spirits, Li Mu had confirmed that the Spirit Summoning Array had started working.
The residual flow of the spirit vein around Little Liang Mountain was gathering towards the new fields, gradually forming a momentum. The five new acres were slowly receiving spiritual nourishment and spiritualizing.
However, judging by the current rate of transformation, in roughly half a month to a month, they could become lower-grade spirit fields. Continuing to fill it with spirit stones is completely wasteful. The Spirit Summoning Array needs spirit stones replaced every ten days, requiring 30 lower spirit stones each time, totaling 270 lower spirit stones over three months.
Senior Brother Xu is practically trying to bankrupt him!
Li Mu sighed, once more feeling the harshness of this world.