Lord of Time: From a Five Elements Cultivator to a Master of All Daos

Chapter 170 Insights
"Friend Wei?"

Zhuge Zhao also recognized Wei Zhong's somewhat unfamiliar face and was puzzled, wondering what Wei Zhong had come here for.

Wei Zhong took out the token given to him by Miaoli Shan and said:
"I am a fourth-level weapon refiner, and I am here to assist you in refining a fourth-level puppet."

Zhuge Zhao was shocked when he saw the token:
"Hundred Soldiers Order?"

Wei Zhong turned the brown token in front of him and took a closer look. He found that there were indeed various weapons engraved on it. It seemed to be the right name for it.

"It seems that Fellow Daoist Zhuge recognizes this token, so there is no need for me to explain it in detail."

At the same time, the sound of their conversation also attracted Huang Yunqi in the hall.

"What happened?"

He looked at Zhuge Zhao with confusion, and was surprised when he turned around and saw the token in Wei Zhong's hand.

"How did you get the Hundred Soldiers Order?"

"Where did you get it? It was naturally given by the Lord."

Huang Yunqi's face became uncertain when he heard Wei Zhong's words, and he seemed hesitant.

"Fellow Daoist Wei is a fourth-rank weapon refiner?"

"That's right," Wei Zhong pointed at the half-broken puppet in the hall and said, "I am not very talented, but I know a little bit about puppets."

The two had never expected that this guest official named Wei had such abilities, and both had doubts on their faces.

But the token in his hand was indeed not fake. It was a token that both of them had, and only a fourth-rank weapon refiner could possess it.

"It's just that the visitor surnamed Wei came here in a strange way. How could the leader rush to put such an outsider into the fourth-level puppet refining team?"

When the two were in doubt, a cloud suddenly rose in the sky of Yunduan Mountain, and Miaoli Shan's voice came from within it:

"The leader has ordered to send the fourth-level weapon refiner Wei Zhong to assist the two of you in developing this fourth-level puppet..."

After hearing the message from the leader's followers, the two men no longer doubted him and the hesitation on their faces gradually disappeared.

At the same time, he gave up his position and invited Wei Zhong in.

Just as Wei Zhong stepped into the hall, Miaoli Shan's words suddenly came to his ears:

"Don't hide it anymore. Show us all your puppetry skills. This fourth-level puppet is very important. The leader attaches great importance to it."

After he said this, the clouds in the mountains disappeared, and Miaoli Shan had already left on the clouds.

Led by the two, Wei Zhong stepped into the hall, his face showing a changing expression:

"What did this Miaolishan see?"

But in the blink of an eye, this moment of thinking was interrupted by the two people beside him.

"Daoyou Wei, let me introduce you," Zhuge Zhao pointed at the people in front of him, "These ten Daoists are outstanding third-level refiners in this hall. They are all the people who will assist us in refining the fourth-level puppets this time."

Wei Zhong followed his instructions and looked at the people in front of him. There were men, women, young and old, with quite a variety of appearances.

However, for practitioners, youth or not is just a matter of thought and cannot be used as a standard to judge a practitioner's age.

"I am Wei Zhong, a poor Taoist priest. Nice to meet you all!"

Wei Zhong bowed in greeting, and the ten people's attention was attracted by Zhuge Zhao. They looked at the unfamiliar face of Wei Zhong curiously.

"Fellow Daoist Wei is a newly promoted fourth-rank weapon refiner in the palace. Since he has lived in an outer palace for a long time, it is normal that everyone is not familiar with him."

"A fourth-rank weapon refiner? How come we have never heard of it..."

······
Doubts were voiced one after another, and Huang Yunqi coughed lightly:
"I have the Master's Hundred Weapons Order as proof, and it cannot be false. Fellow Daoist Wei is a well-deserved fourth-rank weapon refiner in my weapon hall. His status is similar to mine and Fellow Daoist Zhuge..."

While Huang Yunqi was talking, Wei Zhong had already displayed his token again.

Sure enough, the voices of doubt disappeared at this time, and everyone looked at Wei Zhong with a little more envy and respect in their eyes.

After the conversation, Wei Zhong pointed at the half-broken puppet in the middle of the crowd and asked curiously:
"This puppet was made by all of you together?"

The six people in front of him looked at each other, and Zhuge Zhao explained embarrassedly:
"This puppet was obtained by the Chamber of Commerce from the secret realm. When the Nascent Soul was fighting with it, it couldn't stop and destroyed it."

Wei Zhong understood and continued to ask:
"So how far have you all progressed in refining your puppets?"

Although I learned from Miaoli Shan before that the Yunji Chamber of Commerce can only refine third-level top-grade puppets at present, but that has been several years, and who knows if there has been any improvement now?

"Fellow Taoist, come with me."

While Zhuge Zhao was talking, he led Wei Zhong to several other side halls...

Seeing Wei Zhong leaving, the remaining ten weapon refiners asked Huang Yunqi about Wei Zhong's news.

"Friend Huang, I wonder where this Wei Zhong came from?"

The others all looked at Huang Yunqi curiously, waiting quietly for his answer.

Huang Yunqi didn't even look into the origin of Wei Zhong, he just said:
"This person seems to be a first-class guest from another palace, and he just returned to Yunzhou City recently...

"In addition, he was very powerful. He fought with the visitor from Puyang and easily injured him. Even the formation of the fighting field in my Qidian Hall could not block the aftermath."

"Is this the huge tremor from a few days ago?"

"Exactly."

"this······"

All ten of them were shocked, their faces full of disbelief.

"If I remember correctly, the visitor from Puyang is only in the early stage of Jindan. This Daoist Fellow Wei is at the same level as him. How could he cause such a big commotion?"

If the cultivators in the early Jindan stage present were to come, not to mention fighting across the formation, even if they were allowed to fight outside Lingshan, they would never be able to achieve such an effect.

"Who knows? Anyway, this person is very powerful, so you should not provoke him. This time, the leader gave him a token and entrusted him with the task of refining this puppet, so he must be a capable person."

At this time, a woman asked with a puzzled look:
"I heard that this person paid the Weapon Palace hundreds of thousands of spirit stones as compensation for this battle. Is that true?"

The person beside him turned around and asked doubtfully:
"Is there anything else going on?"

"You are all so busy in this palace that you don't care about worldly affairs. It's normal that you don't know. I just heard it from my disciple."

"true."

Huang Yunqi made the final decision:
"For a fourth-level weapon refiner, what's so mysterious about these 100,000 spirit stones?"

Everyone who heard this could only smile bitterly in their hearts:

"You are a fourth-level refiner, so it is easy for you to earn spirit stones. But for third-level refiners like us, 100,000 spirit stones is not a small amount."

······
Wei Zhong followed Zhuge Zhao and walked around the side halls, where he saw many unexpected scenes.

"So, you haven't started refining the fourth-level puppet yet?"

Zhuge Zhao felt a little embarrassed:
"Indeed."

"In addition to refining the missing spiritual materials for the divine box, we also have disputes over refining its main body, and we have never been able to come up with a reliable plan."

Zhuge Zhao looked at Wei Zhong seriously. After this guidance and conversation, he already understood that Wei Zhong was indeed very accomplished in puppetry, and his level was even slightly higher than his own.

"It makes sense that the leader sent him here." Wei Zhong rubbed his hands and looked at the disciples of the Weapon Hall who were busy refining puppets on the "assembly line".

Pointing at the puppet fragments in the basket in the distance, Wei Zhong asked casually:

"It seems that there are only fragments of first- and second-level puppets here?"

“Fellow Daoist, you may not know that the level of these disciples in the Weapon Hall is not high enough. They can only refine low-level puppets. We still need to help with the third-level puppets.

"But recently, because of the matter of the fourth-level puppet, we put it aside and concentrated on studying the fourth-level puppet."

Wei Zhong nodded. The products coming out of these assembly lines were indeed of average quality, and in Wei Zhong's opinion, their appearance was not good either.

"The level is not certain, but I wonder what the level of those third-level refiners is like?"

Wei Zhong and Zhuge Zhao returned to the main hall and saw everyone arguing about the fourth-level puppet method.

"The spine is the core of the puppet. How can we engrave attacking magic on it? For the stability of the puppet..."

"For the sake of stability, the puppet's feet can also abandon the human foot style and use bird claws..."

Wei Zhong looked at the lively scene, stretched out his hands and clapped, drawing everyone's attention to him:

"Excuse me for disturbing you. I wonder if you can refine a puppet independently. What is the specific grade?"

Hearing this, not only the ten third-rank weapon refiners, but even Huang Yunqi showed hesitation.

Wei Zhong was surprised for a moment, and then he heard Zhuge Zhao beside him say:

"Fellow Daoist Wei, most of these fellow Daoists were transferred from the Weapon Palace, and they are not proficient in the art of puppetry."

"What does this mean? Can't you all refine a puppet independently?"

It seemed that Wei Zhong spoke a little louder. Many people in front of him flushed red in the face, as if they were insulted. However, they relied on Wei Zhong's power and dared not speak out.

"No. Although Fellow Daoist Wei is very proficient in this Dao, please do not underestimate the other Daoists."

He pointed to an old man and a young woman among the ten people and said:
“These two Daoists, Yang and Liu, are from the Puppet Hall. Although they can independently refine a third-order low-grade puppet, there are still some major flaws.

“For example, the runes painted on the puppet’s limbs, and the puppet’s spine and even torso are not strong enough.

"And these problems can be made up by other Daoists. For example, this Daoist Fang is particularly proficient in the art of rune drawing, second only to Daoist Huang and me. And then there is..."

Zhuge Zhao seemed to be worried that Wei Zhong would underestimate the ten third-rank weapon refiners in front of him, so he pointed out their strengths one by one.

After listening to this, Wei Zhong immediately understood that most of these people had their own unique advantages in puppet refining or magic weapon making.

Just like the previous assembly line, each person is responsible for a certain part of the puppet refining work.

With Yang and Liu as the core puppeteers and others assisting in refining the puppets, the quality of the puppets can be raised from the lower third grade to the middle grade or even the upper grade.

This model is different from Wei Zhong's independent refining method. However, it is similar to the refining method of the big forces that Wei Zhong imagined.

'It is very rare for an ordinary person to master one of the hundreds of arts. And within this path, each has its own differences, and each practice has its own strengths. If you can combine them, you can break through the original level.'

The people in front of me fit this concept.

After talking about the ten people, Zhuge Zhao talked about himself and Huang Yunqi:

“Although I can refine a third-level high-quality puppet independently, the finished product is ordinary. I need the help of fellow Taoists to upgrade it to a top-quality product.

"And Fellow Daoist Huang is a senior fourth-rank weapon refiner who has only been involved in puppetry for twenty to thirty years. He can use his own understanding to provide us with various fantastic ideas..."

After saying this, Wei Zhong also understood the meaning of Zhuge Zhao's words.

The reason why the Yunji Chamber of Commerce was able to advance the art of puppetry so quickly was because of the concerted efforts of everyone, rather than individual efforts alone.

However, Wei Zhong was used to studying alone and was somewhat uncomfortable with this mode.

Feeling the Hundred Soldiers Order in his arms, Wei Zhong thought:

'Perhaps it would be a good idea to use the power of these people to study the fourth-level puppet technique. However, it is not easy to get along with them.'

"I have some misunderstandings with you, and I apologize to you all...
"From now on, as colleagues, we need to work together..."

Wei Zhong's words of apology broke the deadlock, and then he started planning the refining of the fourth-order puppet with everyone.

······
The refining of the fourth-order puppet was extremely difficult. Without the main spiritual materials, it could not be refined. Moreover, just the planning plan was enough to make everyone argue.

Some people advocate striving for excellence and making sure it is refined to perfection.

Some people think that they can settle for the second best and just refine it to the fourth level, even if its power is compromised.

Wei Zhong was caught up in various waves of thought, absorbing and learning everyone's unique skills, and his weapon refining skills grew rapidly.

After half a year, there has been significant progress in the refining of puppets and magical instruments.

But at this time, Wei Zhong had to break away from this learning state.

Because the Wang family banquet will be held soon.

Wei Zhong bowed and said goodbye to everyone, and the others all bowed and saluted to Wei Zhong in farewell.

In just a few short months, Wei Zhong impressed everyone with his puppet and weapon refining skills.

Even Zhuge Zhao said:

"When it comes to puppet making, I am not as good as Brother Wei."

Leaving the hall, Wei Zhong saw Miaoli Shan.

The latter had already arranged the team going to the Wang family and also served as the leader.

"How have you been getting along with your fellow Taoists in the Qi Palace in the past six months?"

Wei Zhong nodded and said concisely:
“It’s been a great benefit.”

Wei Zhong had to admit that under the nourishment of the Yunji Chamber of Commerce, the art of refining weapons had made great progress and development.

Among them, the weapon refiners, no matter they were at the third or fourth level, all had their own unique skills, and their unique methods amazed Wei Zhong.

What is even more commendable is that when he communicated and discussed with those twelve people, it was purely an exchange of skills, without any personal emotions or even class hierarchy.

When the quarrel got heated, Wei Zhong had seen several times the third-level weapon refiner pointing at Huang Yunqi and even Zhuge Zhao and scolding them.

The latter two were not annoyed, and were able to carefully consider the other party's suggestions, and would frankly express their own understanding regardless of whether they were correct or not.

Such a scene made Wei Zhong marvel at it.

'In the Yunji Chamber of Commerce, at least in the Qidian Hall, the hierarchy between craftsmen has been abandoned, and equal communication has been achieved.'

Wei Zhong had never seen such a scene in the outside world of cultivation.

"If you say so, I feel relieved."

Wei Zhong looked back at the troops gathered below, as well as the other monks who were gathering in the distance, and asked curiously:

"I'm just gathering at the Chamber of Commerce for a banquet, is there any need for such a big fuss?"

Looking at this huge group of monks, those who didn't know might think they were setting out to attack the Wang family.

(End of this chapter)