Chapter 63

"Really? You said a thief broke into your room, and then Dean Xie comforted you with ten bottles of spirit medicine and a thousand spirit coins?" Wei Tianchong's jaw almost dropped to the ground.

"Yes. I didn't expect Dean Xie to be such a good person, truly caring for the students. To meet such a good teacher is truly a blessing for me, Tang Jie." Tang Jie sighed in response.

"Hey!" Wei Tianchong pounded his chest and shouted, "Why didn't the thief break into my room?"

Ten bottles of spirit medicine and a thousand spirit coins—Wei Family would even feel the pinch if they had to pay for these resources!

"What do you have worth stealing?" Tang Jie said with a sneer.

"Do you have anything worth stealing?" Wei Tianchong was angry.

"At least I have some vegetables planted."

"Who would be so stupid to steal vegetables!" Wei Tianchong was about to lose it.

"Watch your words, you'll offend a lot of people with that." Tang Jie muttered softly, then grabbed a handful of spirit coins and handed them to Wei Tianchong.

Wei Tianchong was overjoyed: "Is this your share for me?"

"No, this is to pay you back." Tang Jie replied with a grin.

Wei Tianchong's face immediately fell. He grunted, grabbed the spirit coins, and counted them repeatedly, finding a few extra. Only then did he nod in satisfaction: "You're still sensible, kid."

Tang Jie was speechless: "Young Master, you're a Young Master, with great wealth and power. Is it really worth getting so happy over a few coins?"

"Ah, you don't know the value of money until you cultivate." Wei Tianchong sighed: "What's the point of having a large and powerful Wei Family? A bottle of medicine can cost hundreds or even thousands of spirit coins, which is too expensive. Who can afford it? You said it's just a matter of putting it in a furnace to refine, so why is it so expensive? Are they all made from heavenly materials?"

Tang Jie laughed: "Young Master, you don't know. The reason why these pills are expensive is not because of the materials, but mainly because of the labor. Immortals and mortals are ultimately different. In the eyes of mortals, a spirit coin is worth several taels of silver, a large sum. But in the eyes of immortals, it's worth about the same as a copper coin. The value of spirit jade is equivalent to silver. So for cultivators, any task is calculated in spirit coins. Supporting immortals with mortal means is like a servant's income supporting a Young Master's life, which is ultimately incomparable."

"That's true." Wei Tianchong muttered, understanding this principle but having always relied on his family, he was used to the mortal perspective on the value of money, making everything seem incredibly expensive.

If you consider spirit coins as copper coins, then hundreds or thousands of spirit coins are indeed just that.

That's why Xie Fengtang could easily give ten bottles of spirit medicine and a thousand spirit coins.

To him, it was nothing, and considering his goals, this small investment was insignificant.

"So in the future, we ultimately have to earn our own money." Tang Jie advised.

"That's true, but right now, I only know the Spirit Guidance Technique. What can I use to earn money?" Wei Tianchong said helplessly.

"Of course, puppets." Tang Jie smiled: "Speaking of which, Young Master's carving skills should be about ready, right? You should be able to start making puppets. As long as you can make a decent puppet, it's a source of wealth, whether you sell it or use it."

"But puppets need arrays and materials."

"Arrays are simple. Young Master can learn them yourself. Even if you don't know, you can ask a senior brother who understands arrays for help. As for materials, just buy some and use them. Isn't that what Young Master is best at?"

The biggest feature of puppetry in the cultivation world is that its strength is independent of the cultivator's own strength.

As long as there are enough materials and appropriate arrays, cultivators can have powerful puppets that surpass their own strength, becoming the most loyal and reliable bodyguards.

Therefore, for the students of the academy, puppetry is a very practical choice, especially in the early stages, where its value is significant. However, it involves many categories and requires a substantial financial base, which not everyone can afford, so there are not many enthusiasts.

But in Tang Jie's view, the two most important technical foundations of puppetry—carving and arrays—have already been solved by himself and Wei Tianchong. The rest is just a matter of money.

And Wei Tianchong has the ability to meet this condition.

"Is that so." Wei Tianchong stroked his chin: "Alright, let's do it your way. My mother just sent me some silver, so let's use it for this."

"That's the spirit. If so, let's go buy the materials."

Saying and doing, the three of them went to the market.

For Wei Tianchong, if he was going to do it, he wanted to do it well.

He wanted to use top-tier materials like mica and gold to create an invincible battle puppet, so his eyes were always on the best items.

But as soon as he saw the prices of those materials, he was shocked.

"Goodness, how can a fist-sized piece of purple lapis lazuli cost two hundred coins? A hundred-year-old green tung tree costs five hundred coins? That's too expensive!"

Walking around the market, looking left and right, Wei Tianchong felt that everything was ridiculously expensive. He grabbed Tang Jie's hand and said, "Tang Jie, these things are too expensive. I just calculated, do you know how much it would cost to make a puppet? Eighty thousand! Eighty thousand spirit coins!"

Tang Jie smiled bitterly: "Young Master, why did you look at those? Your eyes are full of good things, so of course you can't afford them."

"Not really." Wei Tianchong felt wronged: "I just planned to make a third-grade puppet..."

"Third-grade?" Tang Jie was almost laughing.

Puppets in the cultivation world are also classified as ordinary, spirit, and immortal grades. Ordinary grade has no rank, made from common materials, and activated by arrays, like the tiger Wei Tianchong made at Wei Family, which became a puppet after activation but had very low combat power, making it an ordinary grade.

Spirit grade is divided into nine ranks, with the ninth being the highest, approaching the power of an immortal.

The third-grade puppet Wei Tianchong mentioned is equivalent to a Transcendent Realm.

Hearing that Wei Tianchong wanted to make a third-grade battle puppet, Tang Jie could only shake his head helplessly: "Third-grade... you have quite an appetite!"

Wei Tianchong felt embarrassed and scratched his head: "Didn't you say the biggest advantage of puppets is that they can surpass the creator, so..."

"So you aimed for the Transcendent Realm?" Tang Jie was speechless: "Young Master, be more down-to-earth. We're just starting, so let's start with a first-grade puppet, which costs two to three thousand. If it's well-made, it can be as useful as a Spirit Lake stage."

Hearing that two thousand spirit coins could only "hire" a Spirit Lake stage helper, Wei Tianchong felt reluctant but had to nod.

Tang Jie took him around the market and finally stopped at a student's stall, pointing to a piece of charred wood: "Excuse me, how much is this wood?"

The student looked at Tang Jie and said, "Eight hundred coins."

Tang Jie shook his head: "Too expensive."

The student immediately grunted: "You really don't know what you're talking about. This is lightning-struck wood, which absorbs a bit of lightning power after being struck by lightning. If used to make a battle puppet, it will have a natural lightning attack, making it incredibly powerful."

Tang Jie smiled: "It is lightning-struck wood, but it depends on what kind of wood it was. Ordinary wood has no nature and cannot absorb lightning power, only spirit wood can. Even among spirit woods, there are good and bad. You also need to consider the attributes; the best is when the attributes are compatible. If they are incompatible, it's worse. You also need to consider what kind of lightning; and finally, how it was struck. The value of lightning-struck wood lies in its absorption of lightning attributes, not in how badly it was damaged..."

He pointed to the lightning-struck wood: "This piece of lightning-struck wood is from a hundred-year-old water fir, which is not a high-quality wood. It was struck by lightning, and half of it is damaged. The usable part is probably just this part. It's too small for the main body and too much for other parts. Eight hundred coins... it's not worth it."

The student was stunned by his words and looked at Tang Jie in surprise: "You can see all that?"

"Reading more books has its benefits." Tang Jie said calmly, then held out a palm: "Three hundred."

"The price is too low." The student shook his head repeatedly.

After some haggling, they finally settled on five hundred coins.

Wei Tianchong held the wood and felt puzzled, asking Tang Jie: "Didn't you say this lightning-struck wood is too small for the main body? Why are you buying it?"

Tang Jie smiled: "Too small for the main body means a puppet the size of a person, but what if we don't make it that big?"

"Huh?" Wei Tianchong was confused: "Not a human-shaped battle puppet?"

"Exactly, why must it be human-shaped?" Tang Jie asked: "A puppet's strength depends on the materials, not the size. But the cost of making a puppet is often related to its size. The more materials used, the higher the cost. So why can't we make it small and precise?"

Hearing this, Wei Tianchong suddenly understood and was overjoyed: "You're right!"

Then he realized: "No, that's not right!"

"What's not right?"

"Too small to carve arrays."

If materials are the flesh and blood of a puppet, then arrays are its soul. These souls must be intricately carved onto the puppet to function. The smaller the puppet, the harder it is to carve, as the space for carving is limited.

In fact, the grade of a puppet depends on the grade of the array.

The higher the array grade, the higher the puppet grade.

The array grade depends on the materials, and the better the materials, the better the array that can be used.

The cost of materials determines the size of the puppet, and the size of the puppet directly affects the number of arrays—interacting, the strength of the puppet changes significantly.

So a first-grade puppet can be completed for two to three thousand spirit coins, or it can be made for seventy to eighty thousand.

According to Tang Jie's idea, they should start small and precise, making a first-grade puppet first, and consider the rest later.

Hearing this, Tang Jie smiled: "Then find a better array master."

"Wouldn't the effect be worse?" Wei Tianchong asked doubtfully.

Tang Jie said seriously: "Leave this to me, Young Master. I guarantee the puppet will satisfy you!"

—————————————

After searching the market and buying the materials needed for the puppet, Wei Tianchong went back to make the puppet.

Making a puppet is quite complicated. Carving is just the foundation. Before making it, you need to plan what kind of puppet you want and what functions it should have, so you can systematically arrange the production.

Wei Tianchong, not knowing what to make, bought the materials first, which is a sign of being an amateur. Fortunately, Tang Jie had already planned everything for him, so he didn't need to worry.

As they spent more time together, Tang Jie, as a servant student, now focused more on helping Wei Tianchong with his cultivation, while leaving various daily tasks to Shid Meng. Despite her reluctance, Shid Meng had to accept it, or she wouldn't be able to learn cleaning techniques.

After sending Wei Tianchong back, Tang Jie returned to Tao Ran Residence.

Unlike before, as soon as he stepped into Tao Ran Residence, the surroundings suddenly changed. The original small house disappeared, and the paths became interconnected, leading to unknown destinations. The sky was covered with dark clouds, with lightning flashing, pointing directly downward.

However, when the light hit Tang Jie's积分牌 (积分牌 is a term that doesn't have a direct translation, but it can be understood as a "score card" or "point card"), the storm disappeared.

This was a series of arrays set up by Xie Fengtang, responsible for illusion, obstruction, attack, and warning.

When entering this array, one would first be trapped in an illusion, which is a safety measure to prevent students from accidentally entering and getting hurt. Only when the illusion is attacked will the subsequent arrays activate. At that point, the entire array will fully activate, blocking the enemy and alerting the academy.

"This array is well set up, with a trigger effect. I should study it when I have time." Tang Jie muttered as he walked through the array.

Under normal circumstances, studying a set array is not easy.

But as the target of this array's protection, it won't harm him, so he can study it however he wants.

However, before that, he had another task to do.

Opening his bag, Tang Jie took out some items, which were the materials he and Wei Tianchong bought while shopping.

When Wei Tianchong bought materials, Tang Jie also bought some, but he hid it in the process of helping Wei Tianchong, so no one noticed. When Wei Tianchong asked, he said it was for future array refinement.

Indeed, it was for array refinement, but not for refining arrays, but for setting up arrays.