Chapter 168
Chapter 168
Concerning his family's Mechanism reputation, Situ Jin patiently explained to Xing Chun that their family's business was all compliant and legal. As for the bad reputation outside, those were all competitive tactics from rival families.
Spirit Puppets could do many things.
Many dangerous forging tasks could be done by Spirit Puppets, not to mention Nine Schools Arts sparring. Even Water Vessel's research on Strange Fire required purchasing Spirit Puppets from the Situ family at high prices.
Xing Chun asked: "Do they eat food?"
"They're essentially still puppets, why would they need to eat?" Situ Jin looked at him speechlessly. "If they eat anything, it would be Five Elements Energy."
Xing Chun said: "Your family's Spirit Puppets are made so lifelike, how can you tell they're puppets?"
He looked up at the transparent threads hanging down from above: "Do you control them with these threads?"
Situ Jin said: "String puppets are the most basic method in Puppet Arts. Since these are Spirit Puppets nourished by energy, naturally they don't need to be controlled by threads."
Xing Chun asked: "Then how do you do it?"
Situ Jin flicked his shoulder and glanced sideways: "If you buy a Spirit Puppet, naturally someone will teach you how to do it."
Xing Chun asked again: "How much do they cost?"
Situ Jin said: "The price is a bit high."
Xing Chun: "Just tell me how much."
Situ Jin held up his hand to show a number. Xing Chun turned and shouted to Mei Liangyu and Zhongli Shan below: "Mei Mei, Big Mountain, lend me some money!"
Mei Liangyu didn't even look up as he answered: "No money."
Zhongli Shan did ask: "What do you want to buy it for?"
Xing Chun answered straightforwardly: "To cook."
Having a Spirit Puppet cook and eat with him, even if Mei Liangyu and the others were all busy, he wouldn't worry about eating alone.
Zhongli Shan said calmly: "The dining hall has food."
Xing Chun: "It can also eat with me."
Zhongli Shan added: "I'll eat with you."
Xing Chun thought about it. Eating with a living person was indeed better than eating with a puppet, so he decided not to buy it.
Zhongli Shan helped Xing Chun save a huge sum of money, while Situ Jin painfully lost a sale.
Yu Sui looked up at the Spirit Puppet and said softly: "So you can buy them with money."
Mei Liangyu glanced at her and said: "Don't waste money."
Yu Sui also turned to look at him and asked: "Then Senior Brother, can you make them?"
Instead, Mei Liangyu stared at the Spirit Puppet for a long time and said flatly: "The materials and procedures are too complex, difficult to make. Besides the Situ family, no one else can make Spirit Puppets well."
Yu Sui nodded in understanding: "Then I'll just buy one with money. Senior Brother, I want to buy this one."
She had just reached out her hand when Mei Liangyu grabbed it and led her away.
Mei Liangyu said: "The Situ family doesn't sell Mechanism items to Taiyi Academy students."
Yu Sui's eyes rolled around, but she didn't respond.
After Li Jin Shuang arrived, Situ Jin drove them all out and closed the stone door again.
Yu Sui waved at Li Jin Shuang and approached her actively, while Mei Liangyu looked toward Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu waiting not far away. Those two still hadn't left?
Li Jin Shuang frowned upon seeing the scratch on Yu Sui's neck. Yu Sui pulled her to a corner and whispered: "Are you alright? Were you bitten by a spider or butterfly?"
"I'm fine." Li Jin Shuang briefly explained her encounter, then looked up toward Zhang Xiangyun. "But you..."
Yu Sui made a shushing gesture, indicating she didn't need to worry.
Situ Jin wanted them to go wait above, thinking the underground was still somewhat dangerous. Moreover, it was a Mechanism School stronghold, and he was afraid they might trigger mechanisms or discover things they shouldn't.
Ou Rushuang came up from Coiling Dragon Stone Cave and ordered all academy students to return to the Spirit Bird, forbidding them from wandering around Northern Kun City.
The academy Saints came to Northern Kun City mainly to investigate the Sea Fire. After Sun Heng recovered the Sea Fire, he accompanied the Mechanism School people to assess the losses.
Ou Rushuang's goal wasn't to figure out the relationship between sea whirlpools and Sea Fire, nor did he care about the Mechanism School's survival. He only cared about where the Silver River Water was.
Since Mei Liangyu was still alive, the Silver River Water was most likely on him.
Having Mei Liangyu and the others return to the Spirit Bird was also creating an opportunity for Zhang Xiangyun and his group to properly handle the Silver River Water matter.
Situ Jin was busy checking his family's losses and searching for the Spirit Puppet that Hu Gui had stolen.
On the Spirit Bird, Baili Mo arranged resting rooms for these academy students and informed them they still had some time before they could depart and return to Mechanism Island.
Yu Sui and Li Jin Shuang shared a room. After entering, Yu Sui flopped onto the bed, looking exhausted as she said: "I want to sleep for a while. Call me if there's anything urgent."
Li Jin Shuang nodded and stood guard at the door, listening quietly to the movements around them.
Yu Sui looked extremely tired. She closed her eyes and curled up in the corner of the bed. While resting, she was also controlling the Five Elements Light Cores she had left in the Spirit Puppet Deep Pit.
She wasn't concerned about Mei Liangyu and the Silver River Water matter right now.
Senior Brother had his own ideas, and Zhongli Shan and Xing Chun were with him. Unless Zhang Xiangyun had Ou Rushuang personally act, it would be impossible to kill Senior Brother.
As for Nian Qiuyan... this person had a sharp mind and understood Mei Liangyu's group quite well. He probably had already anticipated their reactions.
Yu Sui focused on one matter for now.
She controlled the Five Elements Light Cores to enter the Spirit Puppets' bodies, wanting to see whether only Situ Ling Kui was special, or if all Situ family Mechanism Spirit Puppets were like this.
Yu Sui had originally planned to let the Five Elements Light Cores enter the Spirit Puppets' bodies and then crush them, releasing the Masterless Energy to observe the changes.
Who knew that the Spirit Puppets in the deep pit didn't have jade beads inside their bodies. After the Five Elements Light Cores entered, they returned to the size of normal cultivation light cores, emitting a pearl-white glow and operating like normal Five Elements Light Cores.
Normal Nine Schools Arts practitioners' Five Elements Light Cores were where Five Elements Energy was stored and refined, and also what determined the strength of Nine Schools Arts.
The strength of light cores was closely related to Nine Schools Arts practitioners' cultivation realms.
At this moment, Yu Sui's consciousness was still connected to this Five Elements Light Core. The pearl-white glowing Five Elements Light Core showed faint wisps of Five Elements Energy flowing inside.
Yu Sui watched for a long time and discovered that this Five Elements Light Core that had entered the Spirit Puppet's body was actually cultivating by itself.
She had the remaining seven or eight Five Elements Light Cores also enter different Spirit Puppets' bodies and patiently observed them. She found they were all the same: upon entering the Spirit Puppets' bodies, they returned to normal light core size and began absorbing and supplying Five Elements Energy.
In heaven and earth, Masterless Energy was inexhaustible and unlimited. The Five Elements Light Cores absorbed Five Elements Energy by themselves, as if instinctively evolving.
This observation made Yu Sui's brow twitch lightly, her heart shocked.
Why don't they cultivate and evolve by themselves when they're in my body?
No one in the world had light cores that would cultivate by themselves. To advance in cultivation realm, it all depended on the Nine Schools Arts practitioner's own effort and talent.
Yu Sui watched the Five Elements Light Cores beginning to level up inside the Spirit Puppets' bodies, her brow furrowing. She remembered her previous conversation with Master.
Previously, she had half a piece of Breath Soil competing for Five Elements Energy. Even though the Breath Soil was sealed, her Five Elements Light Core couldn't store Five Elements Energy, so she couldn't refine the light core or improve its realm.
Even though Yu Sui had already learned Ghost Way School Soul Control Third Layer and many Nine Schools Arts, her internal Five Elements Light Core hadn't changed, which was why she was considered First Realm, and others couldn't accurately measure her true strength.
That light core was originally formed by condensing hundreds of light cores, so it really couldn't be considered normal and couldn't be compared to ordinary people.
Now the individually separated Five Elements Light Cores were conducting self-cultivation and evolution inside the Spirit Puppets' bodies.
Yu Sui analyzed calmly, trying to find answers for herself.
First, there was no half piece of Breath Soil causing trouble inside the Spirit Puppets' bodies. Second, there was only one Five Elements Light Core inside each Spirit Puppet's body, not two, three, or hundreds, so they didn't need to compete with each other for power.
Previously inside Situ Ling Kui's body, the Five Elements Light Core Yu Sui released had competed with the jade bead inside Situ Ling Kui's body for Five Elements Energy.
Thinking of this, Yu Sui couldn't help but suspect whether her Five Elements Light Cores were too aggressive compared to others.
As if they were naturally warlike.
If they had gotten along peacefully from the beginning, each finding their own way to obtain Five Elements Energy for cultivation without fighting or competing, she would have been invincible long ago.
Others couldn't give Yu Sui answers either.
After all, people only had one light core from birth to death.
After understanding this, Yu Sui began to anticipate what realm the Five Elements Light Cores cultivating inside the Spirit Puppets' bodies could reach, whether they could still be extracted for her use, and whether they would disappear after a certain time like the separated Five Elements Light Cores.
To know these things, she still needed to spend time continuing to observe.
……
Mei Liangyu and his two companions stayed in the room next to Yu Sui's.
Xing Chun had taken Zhongli Shan out to find food. Mei Liangyu stood alone by the window thinking quietly. After sorting out his affairs, he turned to go next door to find Yu Sui.
Earlier in Coiling Dragon Stone Cave, Wei Xizheng's words had indeed frightened her. Given Junior Sister's cautious and careful nature, being stared at by a Saint and hearing such words, her heart was probably already in turmoil, considering the worst possible outcomes.
Mei Liangyu had just opened the door when he encountered Nian Qiuyan who was about to knock. Both their gazes paused.
Nian Qiuyan reacted quickly, his gaze sweeping over Mei Liangyu's clothes as he smiled: "Why are you still wearing Mechanism School clothes?"
As he spoke, he very naturally walked into the room. Mei Liangyu didn't stop him either. His gaze swept around outside, seeing no extra figures, then he closed the door behind him and returned to the room.
"How are you here?" Mei Liangyu feigned ignorance and naturally chatted with Nian Qiuyan. "Haven't seen Little Chun and Big Mountain?"
Nian Qiuyan entered the room and sat at the table, reaching for the teapot: "I came with your Junior Sister, but she disappeared midway. I was still looking for her on the Spirit Bird. I just heard that academy students had been found, and from the description, I knew it was you all."
Mei Liangyu stood by the door listening quietly.
Nian Qiuyan found the tea water was cold and got up to go to the stove: "After you disappeared, Nangong Sui was quite worried about you and insisted on coming to Mechanism Island to find you."
Mei Liangyu stared at him and said: "Why didn't you stop her?"
"She was too worried about you." Nian Qiuyan answered. "Couldn't stop her."
Mei Liangyu chuckled: "You couldn't stop her, but you also couldn't stop Zhang Xiangyun?"
Those dark, cold phoenix eyes stared at Nian Qiuyan, the pupils reflecting the man's unhurried, consistently gentle expression.
Nian Qiuyan placed the teapot on the stove, bent down to light the fire. Orange-red firelight danced in his eyes as he sighed softly and looked up at Mei Liangyu: "This time, if I could have stopped Zhang Xiangyun, I could have stopped Nangong Sui too."
His eyes were full of helplessness, the same as usual, showing no flaws or abnormalities.
Nian Qiuyan was someone who understood himself very well, and also someone good at enduring and hiding his thoughts.
With this type of person, going in circles was useless. You had to be direct and clear to get a straightforward response from him.
Before opening the mechanism box, Mei Liangyu asked: "Guess what I found on this trip to the Abyss Sea?"
"Is it interesting?" Nian Qiuyan asked.
Mei Liangyu placed the Six Mysterious Wood stained with Silver River Water on the table, lifting his eyelids slightly to indicate he should come look: "See for yourself, is it interesting?"
Nian Qiuyan walked over and stopped beside the table, looking down at the Six Mysterious Wood: "Indeed quite interesting."
Both were looking at the Six Mysterious Wood on the table, until Mei Liangyu's peripheral vision caught Nian Qiuyan's sleeve moving slightly as he reached toward the Divine Wood Signs at his waist.