Global Games: Reporting the Great Ascension Stage at the Start

Shen Hua rode his chestnut horse for several miles before stopping by a small river and dismounting.

He let the chestnut horse graze and drink water nearby, while he took out the small bronze statue and placed it on a large rock.

The next moment, his natal magic weapon, [Entropy Increase], burst forth and slashed fiercely at the bronze statue.

With a piercing metallic scraping sound, the bronze statue was cleaved from top to bottom.

But when the sword blade struck the statue's abdomen, there was a sudden "clang" sound, as if it had hit something hard.

Shen Hua's heart stirred, and he controlled the flying sword to hover in the air.

Looking down into the crack, one could see a hard object the size of an apple hidden inside the statue.

He immediately manipulated his flying sword, peeling away the outer copper layer bit by bit, and completely removed the object inside.

The hard object was a piece of jet-black metal, dense and solid in texture, with a restrained metallic sheen on its surface, and felt cold and heavy to the touch.

Shen Hua immediately checked its attributes:

[Iron Essence]

Attribute: Gold

Quality: Mysterious

Note: Golden Core stage cultivators are refined using alchemical fire.

If other cultivators were present, they would be greatly surprised to see this object, because it was actually a piece of iron essence!

Iron essence is a high-grade refining material that can only be refined by Golden Core stage cultivators. It takes Golden Core stage cultivators many years to refine it from a large amount of pure iron using alchemical fire, which is extremely taxing on their cultivation and time.

It can take several years to refine a whole block of iron ore, which is why iron ore is extremely expensive!

Of course, the iron essence in Shen Hua's hand was not a whole piece, but only a small piece the size of an apple.

Even such a small piece can fetch at least seven hundred low-grade spirit stones!

Shen Hua remembered that in his previous life in Linxi Village, a player had accidentally obtained this bronze statue. The player threw it in the market to sell as junk, but a high-level cultivator discovered that it actually contained a piece of iron essence.

As for why the iron essence was sealed in the bronze statue, and why the bronze statue fell into the stream, that remains unknown.

"But this trip has been quite fruitful!" Shen Hua said with a smile.

Earning seven hundred low-grade spirit stones in one trip is much easier than burying oneself in refining weapons and medicine in the sect.

"I don't need this piece of iron right now, I might as well sell it!" Shen Hua thought to himself. He weighed the iron in his hand and put it into his backpack with satisfaction.

……

An hour and a half later, at the Tianzhu Division of Taiping Gate.

In a quiet meeting room within the company, Shen Hua and Mo Jun, the head of the Tianzhu Company, sat facing each other on the floor.

On the low table in front of Shen Hua was the iron essence he had just acquired, while Mo Jun stared at the iron essence with wide eyes, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I truly wouldn't have believed it. Deacon Xia, where did you obtain such precious iron essence?"

Shen Hua shrugged with a smile: "I saw a bronze statue at the market and bought it for a few hundred dollars, intending to display it at home. But when I weighed it, I found the weight was off. After splitting the statue open, I discovered this piece of iron."

"Bought it for a few hundred coins?" Mo Jun was both amused and exasperated.

Deacon Xia's luck is too incredible, it's practically like picking something up for free.

Why wasn't he ever so lucky? Heaven is so unfair!

Mo Jun was deeply moved.

He reached out and picked up the iron essence, weighing it in his hand. Then, with a solemn expression, he said, "Deacon Xia, according to market prices, this piece of iron essence is worth about seven hundred low-grade spirit stones. However, this item is extremely rare on the market, so I'll give you seven hundred and fifty stones. How about that?"

"Sure," Shen Hua nodded. "However, I urgently need sect contribution points right now. Can I use them for the transaction?"

"Of course, that would save you trouble." Mo Jun smiled and took out his identity jade token.

Mo Jun usually refines weapons in the sect, and most of the top-quality weapons he refines go directly into the treasure pavilion. He has accumulated more contribution points than spirit stones.

Shen Hua also took out his jade pendant.

The two jade tablets touched gently, and after the transaction amount was confirmed by divine sense, 750 contribution points were immediately credited to the account.

With the addition of the three contribution points he gained from recapturing Linxi Village, his total contribution points exceeded five thousand, reaching 5107 points!

Looking at his backpack again, Shen Hua now only had 723 low-grade spirit stones and 75 mid-grade spirit stones left. In contrast, his contribution points had skyrocketed.

Back then, he had over nine thousand spirit stones in his backpack; that glorious time is gone forever.

Shen Hua spent most of the more than nine thousand spirit stones on cultivation, and used the rest to exchange for contribution points. He exchanged more than three thousand contribution points alone!

However, it's all worth it to harmonize one's spiritual roots.

He now has over 5,000 contribution points, enough to exchange for a Thousand-Year Mystic Ice Flower. After exchanging for the Mystic Ice Flower, he can then exchange for a Thousand-Year Crimson Essence Mushroom to perfect his spiritual root, at which point his cultivation speed will experience an explosive increase!

"By the way, Steward Xia," Mo Jun suddenly remembered something and asked, "How's your puppet making going? Has Wu Daozi's puppet-making experience been helpful to you?"

Mo Jun asked this question because he wanted to take the opportunity to advise Shen Hua not to waste his energy on such unorthodox methods.

To everyone's surprise, Shen Hua nodded directly and said, "I've already made it."

"As someone who's been through this, I have to tell you the truth..." Mo Jun began to advise. But upon hearing Shen Hua's words, he abruptly stopped, almost choking, staring at the other person in astonishment: "You, you actually did it?"

Deacon Xia actually managed to create the alchemy puppet?

"Of course it's true," Shen Hua replied. "It's just that my current skill level is only average, at most about the same as a beginner alchemist."

"You're not kidding?" Mo Jun's eyes lit up instantly.

It's incredible that Deacon Xia not only created a magic puppet but also reached the level of a beginner alchemist.

Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, "Can I take a look?"

But then he suddenly remembered that such an achievement was a top secret even for weapon refiners, so he immediately added, "If it's inconvenient to reveal, then it doesn't matter."

"It's alright, there's no harm in taking a look. This thing is still very crude and won't be of much use."

As Shen Hua spoke, he took out his storage bag and retrieved the black iron puppet.

This black iron golem was the one he had been modifying, but it had undergone extensive changes, with its various parts replaced countless times. Although it looked similar on the outside, its internal structure was completely different.

The puppet was about five feet tall, still in human form, cast entirely from black iron, its surface gleaming with a cold, dark blue metallic luster. Its body and hands were covered with fine silver patterns, which formed magic arrays. Activated by these arrays, the puppet's hands became exceptionally dexterous.

Mo Jun stared at the puppet closely, paying particular attention to the structure of its arms, and became more and more amazed as he looked at it.

He knew in his heart that Shen Hua had truly conquered this unknown territory!

Mo Jun heard that Wu Daozi's master had once created a pill-refining puppet, but it was only a very basic puppet that could only refine the most basic medicines and was far from reaching the level of a junior pill refiner.

Shen Hua is unprecedented in his ability to create a puppet with the skill level of a novice alchemist.