I went to the clerk and paid my dues, it wasn’t much, after all, the money is coming from the pockets of those despicable cultivators that had tried to kill me. Once I was back home, I pulled out all the stuff I had gotten and began by studying the arts of puppet making. The book started by introducing the symbols and their meaning, and thankfully I had a prior attempt at deciphering the symbols of the puppet, so I had a good basic understanding of what I was doing.

I started studying the symbols and understood the meaning behind every one of them, and how they all work together to write a code of sorts, it was like writing a computer program, nothing too difficult after a good study session. And once I understood a symbol properly I tried to apply it.

First things first, movement symbols, I used one limb of a puppet and wrote a small circle on it, then began by painting the movement symbols on it, nothing happened, after all, there was the movement command written on it, but the execution command was missing.

I then went back to the book and looked for the execution section and how to make a puppet do your work, basically, it can be used using different methods, speech, which will have me make sound reception into the puppet’s limb so it could translate my speech and pick up the execution command to apply it. So I needed to write another set of symbols alongside the command symbols.

Then I had another idea, what if the puppet was in a situation where it couldn’t hear me speak? I needed a secondary input in place, sight? I needed to look for sight reception commands and write them.

I continued modifying and writing on the puppet’s arm, and after days and sleepless nights, I managed to finish my work, the hand I had was packed full of writings and symbols, so many of them, so complex and tightly packed that they looked like small tattoos.

The puppet’s arm was a prototype and it took the better half of a week just to make every command written on it function with each other and not overlap. I’m surprised that whoever wrote that simple-looking circle in the middle of the puppet managed to do it.

But once I went back to the original Restriction on the primary puppet which now I called X, I was surprised at my own advancement in the domain of Restrictions.

The primary Restriction, now that I fully understand the symbols on it had only three commands, sight and sound reception, attack on sight, and hibernate. Nothing too fancy, except the attack command, which had several sets of commands that allowed the puppet to move, though, in a monotonous robotic way, it was powered with a powerful Spirit Stone that allowed the puppet to move at extraordinary speeds.

But my commands… my commands touched upon the rims of human behavior. I had written symbols and circles all over the puppet’s arm, enough of them that there were circles in between the puppet’s finger joints. My symbols had focused on precision than brute function. Not only that, but the arm itself was a sentient part that once powered with a spirit stone can function on its own, it can even use the fingers to move, something that I was about to test out right now.

I placed a small spirit stone on a small hole that I dug into the arm’s joint where it would connect to the puppet’s shoulder.

The Puppet’s Arm came to life as the spirit stone shone bright and lit up the symbols, soon the arm shuddered, flexed its fingers, and then clenched them in a fist.

“Come to me,” I gave a command, and the hand immediately began moving using its fingers.

Sadly, it didn’t take the hand more than few feet before the light on the symbols turned off. I panicked at first, did I write something wrong? This was a coder’s worst nightmare the computer code looks fine but it doesn’t work, or worse, the code looks terrible yet it somehow works. I needed to find the error.

Just as I was about to pull out my tools, I noticed specks of dust settling behind the arm. As I picked up the arm, I noticed something daunting, the spirit stone had been completely sucked dry and nothing of it remained as it turned to dust.

“I guess so many Restriction symbols need a lot of energy to function. I need more powerful spirit stones…” I sighed, but that didn’t discourage me. This means that my symbols work. And I can write more of them.

I began by picking a second arm for Puppet X and started writing on it, this time it took me five days before I was done, and after testing it by feeding it a spirit stone and making sure the arm functions perfectly, I went for the legs, then the chest, then the head.

Three months, I spent three months working on the puppet, making it stronger, faster, more vary styled, I even placed poison coated needles inside the puppet’s fingertips, the fingertips would fall down and the puppet can shoot tens of poison needles out of its fingers.

I also placed two canisters full of my own poison breath inside the puppet’s chest, where it can actually shoot poison breath similar to my own. Then I took one of the swords from the pouches of one of the cultivators and inscribed sword techniques into the puppet, though it was nothing fancy, the sword techniques should be enough to hold a Core Forming cultivator at bay.

All of this work had me exhausted, and without actually noticing, I had already touched the rims of a breakthrough in my cultivation. Thanks to my cultivation method, where I didn’t need to continuously meditate and harness the world’s Qi, I only needed to consume poisonous substances, and with a bag full of toxic herbs, I managed to rise to the peak of a breakthrough of the first layer of the Foundation Establishment, I only need a little push to get me to the second stage of Foundation Establishment.

Sadly, however, I never managed to operate the puppet. The problem was the number of symbols I had written, they were so many of them that they actually require so much Spiritual Energy. Even after placing five spirit stones, one in each shoulder and one over every thigh, and once in the center of the puppet, I couldn’t have Puppet X function for more than ten seconds.

I kept scratching my head for answers, I needed a powerful spirit stone, at least something like that pink spirit stone that was in the puppet before. But I don’t have a complete one, all I have is a broken pink spirit stone.

I needed to get to the pavilion, hopefully, they’ll have a spirit stone just like that one.

I gathered the puppet and placed it inside my book then left the house. Just as I walked out, I saw a man sitting in front of the house, he looked exhausted and out of it.

Once he saw me, he perked up, “Signior Shen Bao! Finally, you’re out, brother Zen Fei wanted me to inform you to meet him as soon as possible, and that was a month ago,” The man said.

“Right, then why didn’t you knock?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t disturb your cultivation session.”

‘Ah right, most people would enter secluded cultivation and don’t want to be disturbed, though I don’t need to seclude myself, I don’t also need to tell that man of this.’

“Right, I’ll have to apologize to brother Fen Zei, I’ll go meet him as soon as I’m done with something,” I said.

“Alright, I’ll inform him of such.” The man said and hurried away.

I sighed, I hope that Fen Zei doesn’t need any favors, I still have so much on my plate right now to even bother with him.

I headed to the pavilion, and once I was there, the girl that I last met welcomed me with an over-the-top greeting.

“Greeting master craftsman!”

I glowered at the woman, and what the heck is up with Master Craftsman, when did I get that? Perhaps she thought I was since I was buying crafting materials, but everyone could be a master craftsman following that logic? Or, perhaps it was Zen Fei. Damn, I didn’t need this, and I still have a business to take care of, “I need something from the pavilion, hopefully, you can provide.”

“Anything for the Master, what is it that you wish to procure?” she asked.

“A spirit stone, a rather powerful one, or multiple.”

“I suppose you’re looking for medium-grade spirit stones? They are rather rare, but I think I can get you some, actually, this is even perfect. Please follow me.”

‘What’s this about now?’ I wondered but followed the girl.

The woman took me to the third floor where a few men were bickering about something.

“No! it won’t function, I told you, the symbols aren’t aligned, this is a defected product!” a bald man called in an over-the-top fashion of throwing his hands.

“I swear I saw him use it, he even flew using it!” another man, younger who looked like a homeless person spoke, he had a pleading demeanor, like a commoner in front of nobility.

Two other men were looking at what seemed to be a gourd. The first was a small old hunched back, he didn’t look much different than me, with the exception of the lack of pustules over his body and his thin slits for eyes that seemed almost closed. The other one was a younger dark-skinned man, probably in his mid-thirties, he looked like a buffed athlete that could get first place in a body-building competition.

“You’re blabbering too much, this doesn’t function.” The bald man said.

The girl next to me coughed, and everyone turned to take a look at me.

“This is Master Craftsman Shen Bao, Cultivator Fen Zei has recommended him,” she said.

‘Yep, this confirms it, damn you Fen Zei and your drunken blabbers!’

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