章 43: Procuring Resources
Several days went by as I continued to study the symbols. I even went around the city for a couple of days to clear my head off, had a few drinks, and practiced Star Cultivation, then resumed my work. I had great hopes for puppet making and I had great ideas to integrate into it so I wanted to be thorough while making the symbols.
One day though, I happened to walk across the street and saw a man selling some goods, and among them was a specialist tool for puppet making, I asked him how he got it and his answer was simple enough that it left me baffled at how I completely missed it.
"The Auction House," he said.
Apparently, he thought he had purchased something expensive, and seeing the tool on closeup, I noticed a few signs of wear and damage. This thing wasn't worth much in the hands of an amateur, but if I could get my hands on that tool, I'll be able to upgrade my own tools to better handle the puppets.
"You willing to sell?" I asked.
"Two Hundred Spirit Stones!" the man said.
"I'll give you ten," I answered.
"Are you mad! You know how much I paid for this?" the man answered in question.
"I don't really care, but you seem to not know how to use this, nor what is it for. This is a tool for puppet making and it's already damaged beyond repair, if anyone would like to have this tool they'll often get a new one. After all Puppet Makers are rich. And they won't settle for second-handed goods." I shrugged.
"Hah! Nice way to try and trick me out of a deal, but if that was true then why are you trying to buy it! A hundred and fifty spirit stones." the man answered smugly.
"Ten stones, and I'll tell you why, because I need to use that tool as a mold to make a new one, so basically I'll discard it the moment I make a mold out of it," I stated, giving him the impression that i was buying garbage.
The man looked at me like I was crazy, he still tried to haggle some more, but after a long while, all he got from me was twenty spirit stones which I reluctantly gave. I could have stayed there haggling with him all day long but I was tempted to try the tool as soon as possible.
I pocketed the tool and went to the nearest pavilion, the man had said that he bought the tool at an auction, but since auctions usually have a specific time, once a month, year or decade depending on the value and importance of the auction, I couldn't wait for one to appear. So, the pavilions of the capital were my best bet.
Once I was at the Capital's pavilion, I took a pause, frowning deeply. Compared to the Purple Cloud Sect, the imperial pavilion was rubbish. It didn't look like it had anything important even with all the over-the-top decoration and paintings, it didn't have the honesty and detailed fine work of the wood, ceilings, and floor of the Purple Cloud Pavilion.
'I guess the Purple Cloud's fourth Grade sect secret identity was what made it into such a prosperous sect. And when they were attacked, even the pavilion had disappeared due to its quality. Seems like the Imperial sect can't even hold a candle to the Purple Cloud sect.'
I went into the pavilion and was greeted by a young girl, "Welcome to the Imperial Pavilion, what can I do for you?" she asked.
"I need some seventh-grade materials, and books on puppet making," I said in a disregarding manner. Most people here tend to act all haughty, and I needed to act the part, especially since I had no idea how much these items cost. Better to act like a snobbish noble, at least people will think twice before trying to inflate prices, lest they 'offend me'.
"Sir, Puppet Making materials and crafting materials of the Seventh Grade requires authentication by the imperial court, you'll need a VIP clearance to have them." The girl said, but there was still a hint of fear in her eyes, I guess my attitude worked.
I frowned at the girl but immediately showed the girl the token I got from Fen Zei.
The girl immediately bowed and said, "For an esteemed guest of the Imperial Sect, you're more than welcome to get anything you wish from the seventh-grade materials and the manuals you're looking for at a twenty percent discount sir Master Craftsman!"
Master Craftsman? The heck? I supposed she deduced it from the fact that I was trying to buy crafting materials, but I was not going to correct her, the more of a high impression I give, the better I'll be treated.
"Good then, lead the way," I said as I followed after the girl. Thankfully Fen Zei had proved useful, this might even make me forget about his sly attempt at trying to spy on me using that jade. Probably.
I followed the girl to the third floor of the pavilion where she showed me the door and said, "You can have your pick of the materials you want from here, once you chose everything you need, once esteemed guest is done, please come back to the receptionist and he will charge you for your items." She said while giving a bow.
"You mean I get to freely pick? Aren't you afraid that someone would steal from you?" I said.
"Sir, no one had ever dared steal from the pockets of the emperor, only a fool would dare do such things, as, for powerful people, they'll not even take a second look at this pavilion." She said in a matter of factly.
True, there could also be a tracking mechanism on the items, so stealing would be a really dumb idea for anyone not capable.
I went inside the room and saw several shelves stocked in materials. Black Stone, Ingreed Iron, Sleuth Wood. Frictionless Obsidian and many more rare minerals and items. These are all heavily sought after for puppet makers. But compared to the material the puppet I had gotten were made of, everything here was worthless.
I kept looking around until I was stopped by the book, it shone a bright light on a specific stone in the pavilion. As I looked at it, it didn't look special, it was a purple stone, a Spirit Qi Sealing Magnet. It wasn't uncommon, but it was a useful material, it could cut the flow of Spiritual Qi when it came in contact with it. It's a pretty good item to make puppets as it could allow a puppet to preserve energy, but it shouldn't be that important due to how easy it is to find. Also, there were other rocks like it all over the shop, but the book only lit this one piece.
I still decided to take that one piece and continue my search. After a while, I managed to procure many items I needed, tools and writing brushes, more Drowsy Inkberry fruits to make the ink, and a few parchments to make talismans, finally, I got two more books, basic knowledge of Talisman Writing, and Puppet Making.
The Poison God's knowledge of Puppet making was not bad, even if he himself said that he didn't know much about it, his knowledge and the symbols he knew had far surpassed the Puppet I had, so they were basically useless to me in making my own puppet, especially since his own symbols required Saint Qi to use, which was a grade Higher than Spiritual Qi.
Saint Qi can only be obtained once one had Ascended, discarding the mortal body and attained unity with the world. A true Saint, then their whole body and the quality of Qi they can harness would evolve. For me, saint Qi is so far away that I can't even fathom the full scope. A simple comparison would be that a single piece of rice worth of Saint Qi is comparable to a whole mountain of Spiritual Qi. It's just not possible for me right now. So using the same Symbols as the Poison God is dumb as I don't have the energy to control it, yet using his knowledge, his symbol organization, and factoring it against the symbols of regular Qi would relatively make for powerful restrictions. Yes, the correct term I discovered was Restriction. And Restrictions have enormous ranges.
They can be something benign as lighten up a room, to something as complex as defending an entire planet. A Restriction, based on the knowledge of the user can become a killing Formation or a defending Formation that can make illusions or it can even gather Spiritual Qi.
That's a whole damned sea of knowledge I need to look into. For now, puppet making doesn't make even a slight fraction of the entirety of Restriction but I'm going to try and master it, then look into the other aspects of Restriction. I want to make something unique, never before seen in this world, and I'm going to do it.
I smiled as I had great goals, and it was the first time in more than seventy years, that I had a clear goal. The first goal I had when I got to this world was to make the city of Lucid Spring prosper using my own methods, and now, I have even greater goals. And once I set my eyes on something, I'll do it, no matter what.
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