All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 218 - 78: Specialties of the Tianyuan Realm (2/3)

Chapter 218: Chapter 78: Specialties of the Tianyuan Realm (2/3)

The Sky-supporting Building Wood. As one of the divine woods in myth and legend, even An Jing of the Embracing the Void Realm had heard of it, and he instantly understood, "Giving rise to all things, creating myriad creatures, even capable of nurturing a Cave Heaven world... With such a divine wood as the foundation, it’s no wonder it’s omnipotent!"

Not only was the Evergreen Wood a legacy of the Dao Sect, but the Earthwood Marionette was as well.

It is said that in ancient times, there were even more powerful Giant Spirits like the "Mountain and Sea Strongman" and the "Heaven and Earth Colossus," which were tools used by the Supreme True Ones of the Dao Sect to alter the heavens and Earth, and to move mountains and seas.

"However, all these were lost during the catastrophe of the world."

Huo Qing boasted grandly, yet the outcome, as expected, was that they had been lost to time: "The Tian Gong Bureau rediscovered the ancient Earthwood Marionettes a few hundred years ago and designed a new set of Earthwood Marionettes through reverse engineering, combining the advances of the present to create something that only requires Mysterious Iron and Evergreen Wood."

"Through the study of the related technology, Suppression Puppetry Art has now become a righteous practice of this world, and it even comes with bonus points on exams for Formation Talismans!"

"Currently, many City Guards in the city are armed with puppets—in fact, An Jing, I don’t know if you’ve seen the Yan Armor Colossus from the Sky Surveillance Bureau, but that’s a gigantic puppet comparable to Foundation Establishment!"

"I have indeed seen it."

When An Jing escaped from the Black Market, he had encountered a Giant Puppet that had blockaded an entire slum area. It possessed an unusual strength, exerting a significant oppressive force.

An Jing felt that, even if an Evil Born Demon encountered it, it would likely be effortlessly destroyed by the puppet.

Yet, what truly captured An Jing’s interest was the existence of the ’Earthwood Marionette.’

According to Huo Qing’s previous introduction, an Earthwood Marionette possessed the physical strength equivalent to a Martial Artist at the Inner Breath realm; although it was not suitable for battle, it didn’t require rest and its labor power could surpass dozens of ordinary workers.

And its price was very cheap, only seven or eight hundred Good Deeds to purchase!

The only flaw was that these contraptions were massive consumers of Spiritual Power, and they could only operate on a Spirit Vein; the real cost of their operation lay in the energy source.

Although generally speaking, a single Spirit Stone could drive it for a long time, in a place like the Tianyuan Realm where Spirit Stones are strategic resources, how could they be used to power puppets? Certainly, it must be the Spirit Qi Furnace, which would be recharged back and forth—the energy for recharging still coming from the Spirit Vein, making no real difference.

Not to mention that frequent use of the Spirit Qi Furnace might also lead to an explosion, which would be another expense.

In the end, it still had to rely on the power of the Earth Vein, so the puppet could only be used in places where the Earth Vein was stable and safe, making it unsuitable for wilderness pioneering.

But it was different for An Jing.

Setting aside the abundant resources of the Embracing the Void Realm, even if Spirit Stones were hard to find, lower-grade spiritual jade and stones were indeed plentiful... Moreover, the ecosystem of the Embracing the Void Realm had not been greatly damaged, and wherever there was a town, there were Spirit Veins and Earth Veins.

The art of Puppetry was a specialty of Shouyang Mountain, initially used not just for earthwood construction but also for mining and collection.

"My time is precious, and besides cultivation, I have little time left over for gathering resources."

Thus An Jing pondered, "If I get the opportunity later, and You Ruhui recommends me a good Earth Vein, I could engage in solitary cultivation while these Earthwood Marionettes help me excavate spiritual materials... In this way, I could kill two birds with one stone."

"With the Spiritual Power of the Earth Vein enough to operate these marionettes, I wouldn’t have to spend Spirit Stones to drive them, making it a business venture with only gains... Noted!"

After mentally noting the idea of Puppetry, An Jing realized he had quite a few items on his wish list.

Firstly, it was the marionettes suitable for mining and gathering spiritual materials. Not to mention anything else, these could be used for farming. According to Huo Qing, there were indeed agricultural Earthwood Marionettes that were more efficient than large-scale farming machinery and better suited to the complex and changing terrain of mountainous and hilly areas.

Secondly, there was the Evergreen Wood—though An Jing didn’t know whether it was possible to buy seeds or saplings, if it was feasible, he believed that these plants would thrive even better in the Embracing the Void Realm!

Then, there was the talisman production line in the Tianyuan Realm... I heard that the low-grade talismans in the Tianyuan Realm have reached the point where they can be industrially mass-produced. As long as you have the production line and the original templates, then as long as you provide enough spiritual materials, you can continuously produce high-quality talismans!

If I have these three things, An Jing felt he could build his own force in the deep mountains and forests with empty hands!

"You want to buy a Puppetry?"

Hearing An Jing’s request, Huo Qing was not surprised, "Everyone in the Wilderness wants them, but unless you can find a stable Earth Vein, how else will you drive them? Buying one or two to take back is fine, but having too many is really not practical."

"Then I’ll just start by buying one or two to test the waters."

An Jing did not wish to buy too many at once, as not to arouse suspicion. Besides, he didn’t have a Great Void Magical Instrument and couldn’t take many Puppets back with him: "I don’t need the latest version; second-hand ones are also okay. Just help me look, and if there are suitable ones, buy them."

"No problem."

Huo Qing had an air of ’leave it to me’ about him: "Our recycling hut often receives discarded Puppetries, and occasionally we come across some whose overall condition is fairly intact but can’t operate because their Formation Patterns are incorrect."

"I can also use these broken Puppetries to practice. If I can repair them, I’ll keep them for you. It won’t cost much, very cheap!"

"That’s great." An Jing nodded. He had actually forgotten that Huo Qing’s Iron Hand was actually running a recycling hut, having always used it like a general store. He had truly underestimated their potential!

Time passed in their conversation, and soon, An Jing and his group arrived in a slightly undulating hill area to the northwest of the Floating Dust Plains.

From a geographical standpoint, the area around Chonggang Town no longer counts as part of the ’Floating Dust Plains.’

But because it’s on the same Great Spirit Vein and inside the shelter of the safety zone’s Great Formation, it’s still considered a part of Xuanye City’s safe area.

The place was indeed remote, and An Jing could imagine how inconvenient the logistics must be.

When he learned that most of the mining companies were using Puppetries as workers, that many staff members were essentially mid-level managers, and that there weren’t many living people in the entire Chonggang Town, he understood why the town’s house prices were so cheap.

However, there not being many living people was indeed a good thing, as An Jing had no desire to interact with many people.

But what An Jing didn’t expect was that this place didn’t just have few people, it also had many Demon Beasts!

"Wait!" "There’s something..."

As Huo Qing was driving, just as they crossed another hill, An Jing suddenly called for a halt. You Ruhui also spoke up, and both of them signaled to stop—and Huo Qing, decisive as ever, immediately stopped the car: "What’s wrong?"

An Jing shook his head and took out a telescope: "Get out of the car, go to the top of the hill, and look ahead."

Everyone got out of the car. As soon as they disembarked, they could tell something was wrong. The temperature on the Floating Dust Plains had been a bit low, but now it felt as though spring was nearing summer, and from a distance, bursts of strange hot wind could be heard.

And when they reached the top of the hill, everything became clear.

At the end of their vision, where the rolling hills met the sky, there was a town with a scattered layout, surrounded by a circle of hill-like stone walls, as if it had risen out of the mountains.

Around this town, large swathes of black and red mist were erratically floating around, like countless drops of ink and blood falling from the sky onto the surrounding clouds, spreading and staining, forming mottled dark clouds, which even flickered with firelight, like sparks in ash.

All this mist and fire were Demon Beasts.