I am a late bloomer in the world of cultivating immortals

"This is just a deposit. Once you have successfully refined this item, I will pay you another twenty mid-grade spirit crystals."

Wei Tu said decisively.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Hai's calm face showed a hint of being moved.

A typical sixth-grade high-quality spiritual treasure only costs a little over one hundred mid-grade spiritual crystals when finished. The commission that ends up in the hands of the weapon refiner is even less, at most only one-third.

Previously, Wei Tu's asking price was already quite high, and with the current "increase in price," the reward this time is comparable to the earnings from refining two sixth-grade high-quality spiritual treasures.

Of course, unlike the pure commissions of the past, this time she also needs to contribute the "spiritual materials" used to refine the puppet parts.

After deducting the cost of these expensive spiritual materials, the reward will be reduced considerably, but even so, she will still make a good profit. Moreover, the crafting of these puppet parts is far less laborious and time-consuming than crafting a sixth-grade high-quality spiritual treasure... The only drawback is the difficulty in finding spiritual materials.

"I accept this deal," Lady Hai said through gritted teeth.

"At most ten years, I will be able to find suitable spiritual materials and start refining them," Lady Hai assured.

"Ten years?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow. This time was a bit long, but it was still within his acceptable range.

He thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

After all, in this remote land of alien races, it was not easy to find a sixth-tier high-grade weapon refiner who was willing to help him refine the "core components of the puppet," so he couldn't afford to be picky... especially since this woman looked so confident.

"I will be staying in this immortal city for a while. If you find suitable spiritual materials and determine the time to start the furnace, please notify me with this talisman."

Wei Tu flipped his palm, took out a talisman and handed it to Madam Hai. Then, without exchanging any more words with her, he bowed and said goodbye, flicked his sleeves, and flew away from the shop.

I can run away from the monk, but I can't run away from the temple.

This shop is a "big shop" in this immortal city, with a certain level of credibility. He doesn't need to worry that Madam Hai will renege on the deposit and make a one-off deal.

However, this scene evoked very different feelings in Madam Hai and the shopkeeper towards Wei Tu.

Such generous customers are extremely rare.

"Does your shop know anything about this person's background?" Madam Hai stared intently at Wei Tu's departing figure for a moment, then opened her lips and asked.

She had a gut feeling that Wei Tu was not simple.

At least within the realm of Refining Void, they are not easy to deal with.

If a single part of a puppet can withstand the torment of combined-level magic power for a long time, then... what kind of power must a complete "puppet" possess?

"I don't know, and I dare not investigate lightly," the shopkeeper replied with a wry smile.

Once one reaches the Refinement of Emptiness level, one becomes a pillar or high-ranking member in any major power.

Even if he was curious, he dared not easily offend a Void Refinement expert, lest he cause displeasure, bring trouble upon himself, or even face annihilation.

Who knows if there's a powerful being at the Fusion Realm standing behind Wei Tu?

"Very well, it's just a transaction after all. There's no need to investigate so thoroughly." Madam Hai nodded slightly, withdrew her gaze, and no longer dwelled on the matter.

……

After parting ways with Mrs. Hay.

Wei Tu did not leave the immortal city, but began to wander around some large merchant guilds, exchanging the spirit crystals he had for some rare and usable resources.

For example, some sixth-tier monster hides, and insect breeding medicine.

Both of these were preparations he made before entering the "Dinghai Immortal Ruins".

Sixth-tier talismans—he doesn't lack them now, after all, he obtained a large number of sixth-tier demon beast hides at the Wanling Immortal City exchange meeting more than two hundred years ago...

However, the number of these sixth-tier talismans is unlikely to sustain him through several more battles against opponents of the same realm, so he must plan ahead.

And the "secret medicine for insect breeding"...

It was related to the "Iron Poison Flying Ants" in his possession.

The time it took for this insect to advance to the sixth-order spirit insect was not long before he broke through to the Void Refinement Realm. After so many years of careful cultivation, it also reached the "peak" of the early stage of the sixth order some time ago, and is not far from the middle stage of the sixth order.

Wei Tu didn't care about the Iron Poison Flying Ant's combat ability, but the invisibility ability it awakened after devouring the "Golden Marrow Worm," similar to the "Seven-Colored Illusion Moth," was something he was concerned about.

Back in Dingyuan Immortal City, he successfully stole some information about Lou Boyang from the Xingyun Chamber of Commerce using Iron Poison Flying Ants.

High-level secret medicines for breeding insects are not hard to find in the cultivation world.

The prerequisite is that you can afford the price.

And they are willing to expend resources to cultivate it continuously.

On the contrary, Wei Tu, who had already killed several cultivators of the same realm in the Void Refining Realm, was not stingy when it came to financial resources.

At the very least, they have the resources to cultivate a sixth-order spirit insect that can break through to the "mid-stage of sixth order".

In addition, this is also his usual practice in the cultivation world.

—Do everything possible to transform the spare resources at hand into considerable combat power.

Years later, through frequent transactions between Wei Tu and surrounding chambers of commerce, the "Iron Poison Flying Ants" in his spirit insect pouch became increasingly sharp and shiny, and the spiritual power within his body was also rapidly increasing at a visible speed.

Of course, it's unrealistic to expect to get fat overnight.

According to Wei Tu's estimate, and with his lavish cultivation, it would take at least twenty or thirty years for the Iron Poison Flying Ant to break through to the "mid-stage of the sixth rank".

Twenty or thirty years later... if nothing unexpected happens, he will already be inside the Dinghai Immortal Ruins.

Even so, Wei Tu did not give up on continuing to cultivate iron-poison flying ants.

This strange insect will come in handy someday.

"Has Mrs. Hai sent a message?"

That day, Wei Tu returned to his rented cave dwelling in the Immortal City and saw the talisman message sent to him by Madam Hai. His heart stirred, and without hesitation, he immediately went to the weapon-refining workshop to meet Madam Hai.

Just like several years ago.

Lady Hennessy remained veiled in a white cloak, revealing no trace of her true face, maintaining an extremely mysterious appearance.

"I have found the spiritual materials needed to forge the puppet parts," Lady Hai announced to Wei Tu.

"However..." Lady Hai's face showed a hint of worry as she said, "This spiritual material is with one of my senior brothers. After learning about this, he made a request—to see the true appearance of your puppet. It's not that I intentionally leaked it, but the spiritual material is called 'Meteorite Heart True Iron,' a top-grade material for forging a seventh-tier superior puppet. Ordinary spiritual treasures rarely use this..."

"After learning that I was looking for the 'Heart-Shattering Iron,' this senior brother guessed that I was helping someone make a puppet. That's why he said something that put both me and you in a difficult position."

Mrs. Hai spoke slowly.

Upon hearing this, Wei Tu frowned slightly but did not say anything more.

He didn't know whether what Mrs. Hai said was true or false.

However, based on his limited knowledge of weapon crafting, he knew that this was highly likely to happen—experienced and highly skilled weapon craftsmen, once they knew the specific materials used to forge a magical artifact, could generally guess whether it was an offensive or defensive artifact…

Therefore, Mrs. Hai's statement has a high degree of credibility.

"The puppet parts that you crafted for me are only the initial parts of this puppet... This puppet is still a long way from being complete."

"Otherwise, why would I travel thousands of miles to this alien land to find a stranger like you, a weapon refiner? It's all to cover my tracks and prevent the true secrets of this puppet from being revealed..."

Wei Tu cupped his hands in greeting and said calmly.

This was a reason he had already come up with. Compared to repairing a seventh-tier puppet, it was undoubtedly more credible to start from scratch and forge a rather precious "high-grade sixth-tier" puppet.

"So that's how it is..." Upon hearing this, a hint of disappointment appeared in Madam Hai's eyes.

This wasn't because she intentionally plotted against Wei Tu, but because if she could get a close look at a high-level puppet, it would greatly improve her skills in weapon crafting.

Although puppetry and weapon crafting are not different immortal arts, they are fundamentally the same. In fact, it can be said that puppetry is an immortal art derived from weapon crafting.

"Since you are unable to help me create this puppet component... then I will refuse to continue."

Wei Tu snorted coldly, stretched out his right hand, and directly asked Madam Hai for his prepayment.

His attitude is obvious.

—Madam Hai is not the only one who can create this puppet component. Just because she asked for a high price doesn't mean she's easy to manipulate.

See this scene.

Before Madam Hai could speak, the shopkeeper of the weapon-refining workshop became anxious. He was the one who introduced this business to Madam Hai, and if it fell through, his commission would also be lost, and he would have gained nothing.

"Senior, please don't be anxious! Senior, please don't be anxious! I will persuade Madam Hai..." The shopkeeper of the weapon refining workshop spoke urgently, while advising Wei Tu to calm down and using telepathy to persuade Madam Hai to think of another way to complete this business.

"I admit my mistake." Madam Hai didn't want to lose Wei Tu's order, and seeing the manager of the weapon-refining workshop's persuasion, she made her stance clear regardless of whether she was at fault or not.

"I will return to the sect immediately and persuade my senior brother to hand over the 'Heart-Shattering Iron'," Madam Hai said, bowing respectfully.

Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's tense expression eased slightly.

"In that case, I will wait for you, Madam, for a while longer."

He also conceded a step.

After speaking, Madam Hai said no more and asked the shopkeeper of the weapon-refining workshop to lead her to the teleportation array inside the workshop.

Two days later, Lady Hai returned to the weapon-refining workshop looking exhausted.

"Fellow Daoist, please look, this is the 'Heart-Shattering True Iron' I mentioned." Madam Hai touched the storage jade bracelet on her wrist, took out a purple jade box and a jade slip from it, and handed them to Wei Tu.

With a thought, Wei Tu quickly spotted a palm-sized, irregularly shaped brown iron block inside the purple jade box. The block, seemingly adorned with crystals, lay quietly within the box, emanating a powerful spiritual energy.

"As for this jade slip..." Wei Tu, with a hint of doubt, probed into it with his divine sense.

The next moment, a look of understanding crossed his face. He bowed and apologized to Madam Hai, saying something polite, "It was my overthinking that led me to misunderstand you, fellow Daoist. I hope you will forgive me."

The information in this jade slip is a detailed introduction to this 'Meteorite Heart Iron'. As Lady Hai said, this item is indeed most suitable for use on puppets, rather than for refining spiritual treasures.

Therefore, it was not difficult for his senior brother to guess that Lady Hai wanted to help him create puppet parts.

"Fellow Daoist and I are strangers to begin with, so it is perfectly normal for us to be wary of each other."

Lady Hai smiled and agreed. Her pretty face, which had been shrouded in white mist, seemed to brighten considerably at that moment.

Without wasting any more time, the two exchanged greetings and, led by the shopkeeper of the weapon-refining workshop, went to the underground weapon-refining room to use the earth fire to refine the puppet parts needed by Wei Tu.

During the refining process.

Wei Tu will not interfere.

What he did was to supervise Lady Hai from the sidelines to prevent her from doing anything untoward with the puppet components.

However, to Wei Tu's surprise, the woman's refining technique was indeed quite good, even "exquisite," and the entire refining process was incredibly smooth.

"Before this, Lady Hai had crafted two sixth-grade high-quality spiritual treasures on her own..." The shopkeeper of the weapon-refining workshop recounted Lady Hai's past achievements in the industry.

"A sixth-tier high-grade weapon refiner with such skill should not be hard to find among the human race." Wei Tu's eyes flickered as this thought arose in his mind.

If he were a cultivator from another race, he would have no chance of accurately finding Lady Hai's true identity amidst the vast sea of ​​humans.

But coincidentally, he was a human cultivator.

Based on the information leaked by Mrs. Hai, we can pinpoint the woman's true identity and background.

However, he had no grudge against this woman, nor did he have time to do such trivial things, so after the thought crossed his mind, he immediately suppressed it.

The process of crafting puppet parts is not complicated.

The only two difficulties are melting the "Meteorite Heart Iron," then forging the object exactly according to the diagrams provided by Wei Tu, and precisely drawing the corresponding spiritual restriction the moment the object is formed.

These two points were not difficult at all in the eyes of Madam Hai, a sixth-grade high-level weapon refiner.

It only took two months.

The "puppet parts" that Wei Tu had been looking forward to were successfully created by Lady Hai's skillful hands.

"I have fulfilled my mission." Lady Hai smiled and pointed with her fingers, using her magic to deliver the newly forged puppet component to Wei Tu for his inspection.

"Fellow Daoist, your skill is superb." After confirming that everything was correct, Wei Tu did not hesitate to praise and compliment Madam Hai.

Then, he immediately took out the remaining spirit crystals, and the transaction was completed.

"If you wish to craft any more magical artifacts or spiritual treasures in the future, you are welcome to come here and seek me out..."

Seeing Wei Tu's straightforwardness, Madam Hai also generously took over her business, hoping to develop Wei Tu into a regular customer.

"If there is an opportunity in the future, I will certainly continue to bother you, fellow Daoist." Wei Tu nodded and agreed.

At first, he still had doubts about Mrs. Hai, but after several months, everything was fine, so his trust in her naturally increased significantly.

Moreover, he never expected that the process of repairing the "little monkey puppet" would go so smoothly.

Having encountered many shady shops, someone like Lady Hai, who truly makes a living through weapon crafting skills, has become a rare find.

That is why he doesn't mind maintaining a good friendship with Mrs. Hai so that he can do business with her again in the future.

"If you need any spiritual pills, you may also trade with me." Wei Tu pondered for a moment, then took out a jade slip and handed it to Madam Hai.

The jade slip contained information on some sixth-tier spirit pills he could refine, along with the corresponding quantities of finished products in reserve. (End of Chapter)