"Do you have Second-Order Talisman Skin Paper for sale, preferably Second-Order Metal-element Talisman Skin Paper?" Li Mu asked Lin Huirong, taking the invitation token.
After selling 10 Second-Order Spirit Talismans to Duan Pinghai, he only had 10 left for self-defense. Li Mu planned to draw more, but he lacked the Materials.
To draw Second-Order Spirit Talismans, one needs Talisman Skin peeled from Second-Order Yao Beasts to draw High Grade Second-Order Spirit Talismans, and it's best if they are of the same attribute.
Using First-Order Talisman Skin Paper can at most draw Low Grade Second-Order Spirit Talismans, and the failure rate is somewhat high. However, Second-Order Talisman Skin Paper is relatively scarce, as it requires hunting Second-Order Yao Beasts.
"Second-Order Metal-element Talisman Skin, Li Gongzi, can your esteemed father draw Second-Order Golden Sword Talismans and Golden Armor Talismans now?" Lin Huirong was slightly startled, asking Li Mu with surprise.
Last time, Li Mu bought a damaged Second-Order Talisman scroll from Wanbao Pavilion, which happened to be a Metal-element Spirit Talisman.
"Not yet, but I've made some progress in my research and need Second-Order Talisman Skin Paper for testing. Does your pavilion have any in stock?" Li Mu explained with a smile.
"I see. Li Gongzi, please wait a moment while I check!" Lin Huirong nodded, quickly scanned the inventory, and replied, "We do have some Second-Order Talisman Skin Paper in stock, but it's Fire-element and Earth-element Talisman Skin. Can that work?"
Earth generates metal, so using Earth-element Talisman Skin Paper should be fine.
"How much is it? I want the Earth-element Talisman Skin," Li Mu quickly said.
"Second-Order Talisman Skin Paper is 15 lower spirit stones per sheet. We have 34 sheets of Earth-element left. If you want all of them, I can give them to you for 5 medium spirit stones!" Lin Huirong indicated.
Wanbao Pavilion is really good at business. The Second-Order Ape Talisman Skin he bought from Liu's Spirit Talisman Shop last time was only 9 lower spirit stones per sheet.
However, this item was too scarce, so Li Mu could only accept the price and paid 5 medium spirit stones.
"Li Gongzi, please wait a moment!" Lin Huirong accepted the Spirit Stones and turned to the storeroom to retrieve the goods.
Not long after, Li Mu fled from Wanbao Pavilion as if escaping, fearing that if he stayed any longer, the Spirit Stones in his Storage Pouch would be emptied.
Li Mu wandered around Qing'an Town for a while, purchasing Materials for brewing wine, several large barrels of rice wine, over ten catties of spirit honey, and so on.
Soon after, Li Mu landed on Xiao Liang Mountain with his sword and began to get busy.
The process of brewing cuiling wine was very simple.
Li Mu fully cast a Qingfeng Huanyu Technique towards the spirit rice field, summoning a downpour of spiritual rain. Then, his Divine Thought controlled the Emerald Spirit Fruits in the fruit basket to fly up.
Tens of thousands of Emerald Spirit Fruits flew into the spiritual rain together, quickly being washed clean.
Next, Li Mu took out seven large wooden barrels from his Storage Pouch, and his Divine Sense controlled the tens of thousands of Emerald Spirit Fruits to fly above the wooden barrels.
Li Mu's Divine Sense 'squeezed hard,' and the emerald green fruits instantly burst, gushing forth juice. The fruit pits and pulp separated, and the emerald green juice 'whooshed, whooshed' as it flowed into the wooden barrels.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter..." One by one, the fruit pits fell back into the fruit basket like raindrops, while the pulp fell into the wooden barrels.
Li Mu took out several barrels of rice wine, over ten catties of spirit honey, and some enchanting herbs from his Storage Pouch, pouring them evenly into the seven brewing barrels. Then, he covered the wooden barrels, sealed them with mud, and placed them in the storage room.
After two or three months of storage, this batch of cuiling wine would be almost brewed.
After finishing the cuiling wine brewing, Li Mu caught several Cailing Chickens that were running all over the mountain. He slaughtered one Cailing Chicken and caged the remaining ones.
Without the Crimson Wolf's care, the spirit rice was about to ripen, and he had no time to watch them steal the spirit rice, so he simply prepared to eat them all.
The slaughtered Cailing Chicken was washed, cut into small pieces, and placed in a clay pot. Then, some dried reishi mushrooms, dried black spirit mushrooms, vibrant spirit grass, astragalus, and other spirit tonic medicinal herbs and ingredients were added, along with a small amount of clear spring water. He also prepared a pot of spirit rice, and everything was placed together in a large iron pot on the stove to stew.
Half an hour later, he lifted the lid, and a large pot of fragrant, delicious, and nourishing stewed spirit chicken medicinal cuisine was ready.
Li Mu eagerly picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The spirit chicken meat, which melted upon entry, and the various medicinal properties of the spiritual Materials infused into the chicken meat, all burst forth in his mouth, delivering a rich, sweet, and incredibly delicious taste.
Li Mu slurped vigorously, sucking the spirit chicken meat clean off the bones. Then, he ate the spirit rice with the spirit chicken medicinal cuisine, devouring it in large mouthfuls.
Li Mu ate until his mouth was oily, his complexion was rosy, and his spirits were high.
After a hearty dinner, night fell. Li Mu took out the ancient banyan wood core cutting board and his Puppet carving tools, sat at the table, and fully immersed himself in refining the Puppet's core source.
Li Mu used a set of hammers and knives to swiftly and cleanly divide the ancient banyan wood core into eight roughly equal wooden blocks. He took one block in his hand, infused a large amount of spiritual power, and dispelled the internal lightning essence.
Then, Li Mu held a carving knife in his other hand and swiftly carved and moved across the wood.
First, he used the 'flushing knife' technique, carving along the four sides of the wood core with a sweeping motion to remove useless wood. Then, the carving knife switched to the 'The sticky knife method' (The sticky knife method is a specific carving technique, difficult to translate directly while maintaining the nuance, so keeping it as 'se knife technique'), breaking through the wood's resistance and slowly advancing along the grain, carving Puppet array patterns on the surface...
Wood chips fell like snow.
...
Li Mu was fully focused, with only the carving knife and the wood in his eyes.
Half an hour later, Li Mu stopped carving. In his hand was a brown wooden sphere the size of a baby's fist, its surface adorned with numerous complex patterns.
Some patterns floated on the surface, some were recessed within, and some were three-dimensional... They were incredibly exquisite and miraculous.
Li Mu looked at the semi-finished Puppet core source, a relaxed smile blooming on his face. It wasn't easy!
Carving this Third-Order Puppet core source involved eleven carving techniques, including intaglio, relief, round carving, openwork carving, etc. He had finally completed the carving of the Puppet array patterns on the core's surface.
Next, there was one more step: using Divine Sense for internal carving and micro-carving the main Puppet array patterns, connecting the entire core's Puppet array patterns from outside to inside.
Li Mu rested briefly, adjusted his mindset, and then condensed his Divine Sense, transforming it into a carving knife. He fully immersed himself, beginning to carve inside the Puppet core source.
His Divine Soul, strengthened threefold, allowed the carving knife condensed by Li Mu's Divine Sense to sustain its endurance for longer. Strands of Divine Sense, transformed into a carving knife, followed the internal textures of the ancient banyan wood core, carving the Puppet array patterns internally.
Approximately a quarter of an hour later, a slight joy appeared on Li Mu's face. He had completed the internal carving of the Puppet array patterns, and spiritual power gathered from his palm.
The next second, the entire Puppet core source shimmered with spiritual light. After absorbing the spiritual power, it floated on its own, and the Puppet array patterns on its surface released waves of Spiritual Pressure, as if driving something.
"Haha! It's done! This Puppet core source is complete!" Seeing this, Li Mu laughed heartily.
The Puppet core source is equivalent to a 'chip,' carved with various Puppet array patterns. It receives the master's Divine Sense commands, converts them into action instructions, and feeds them back, driving the Puppet array patterns and controlling the Puppet's main body to move. As for the Puppet's driving force, it relies on the spiritual power array within the Puppet's body, and the embedded Spirit Stones are the power source for the spiritual power array.
The most complex part of refining a Puppet is undoubtedly this Puppet core source.
Li Mu inspected it for a while, confirming that this Puppet core source was perfect. Then, he continued to immerse himself in carving a new Puppet core source.