Gou Zai created a blessed land in the immortal abode

Three days later.

Fairy City is open.

The villagers gathered at the village entrance, each carrying a load on their shoulders with a bamboo basket tied to each end, filled with mountain produce and homegrown fruits and vegetables.

"Immortal".

Uncle Chen walked over and bowed respectfully, with a middle-aged man standing beside him.

"This is my son, Chen Daniu. He will take you to Xian City today. I am old and have difficulty walking, so I will not go."

Li Chengming nodded: "Thank you for your trouble."

Chen Daniu smiled憨厚ly, not good with words, and simply patted his carrying pole, signaling Li Chengming to follow him.

On both sides of the dirt road were large tracts of farmland planted with crops that Li Chengming couldn't name, and they were growing well.

After walking for about half an hour, the scenery ahead gradually became clearer.

A huge town can be vaguely seen among the misty mountains.

"Is this the Immortal Market?"

Li Chengming gazed solemnly at the town before him, half-hidden by clouds and mist.

It's more like a small town than a "city".

The gray city wall was about two people high, and it was covered with unknown vines, which were lush and green.

The buildings in the city are mostly made of stone and have an ancient style, which is completely different from the wooden and stone houses in Luoxia Village. They look more like the ruins of a certain immortal cultivation sect.

What bothered Li Chengming the most was that the city was too quiet.

There were no hawkers' cries, no conversations, not even footsteps; the entire city seemed to have been silenced.

"Chen Daniu," Li Chengming called out.

The middle-aged man beside him turned around, smiled憨厚ly, pointed to the city gate, and gestured for him to follow.

The moment he passed through the city gate, Li Chengming felt an extremely faint force sweep over his entire body. The force was so subtle that he would have barely noticed it had his spiritual sense not been several times more acute than that of other cultivators of the same level.

"A detection-type restriction?" Li Chengming's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously gathered his magical power.

But nothing happened.

Chen Daniu walked in nonchalantly, seemingly completely unaware of the power. Li Chengming suppressed his doubts and followed him into the city.

The sight inside the city made him pause.

The streets were lined with stalls, just like any other market in the world.

Bamboo baskets, wooden frames, and straw mats were laid on the ground, on which various goods were displayed: mountain products, medicinal herbs, cloth, pottery, and some strange objects that I couldn't name.

There were stalls and goods, but no one.

No, there is someone.

Li Chengming looked closely and then noticed those "people".

They stood behind the stall, some sitting, some standing, and their figures were indeed exceptionally tall and robust, just as Uncle Chen had described.

The shortest one was half a head taller than Li Chengming, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and arms as thick as an average person's thigh.

They were dressed in uniform gray linen clothes, their faces blank and their eyes vacant, like sculptures placed behind a stall.

"These people..." Li Chengming scanned these people with his spiritual sense and found that they had no life signs, but there were fluctuations of spiritual power.

"These people are more like puppets!"

He suddenly realized that these were not people at all, but rather a collection of puppets!

These puppets are not high-level, only at the Qi Refining level, but there are at least two or three hundred of them in this Immortal Market.

"What a grand gesture! Just who is the owner of this Immortal Market?"

Just as Li Chengming was pondering this, the villagers had already begun exchanging goods.

Villagers can place their own mountain produce, fruits, and vegetables in front of the puppet, and the puppet will sense it, allowing the villagers to take items of corresponding value.

Li Chengming glanced around, then broke away from the group and walked alone into the Immortal Market, releasing the Cloud Dew Insect Swarm at the same time.

At his command, the cloud dew swarm flew in all directions to be on alert for any unusual activity.

Even when the cloud dew worms landed on the puppets, the puppets did not make the slightest move.

"Could it be that there isn't enough spiritual energy to activate it?" Li Chengming guessed.

There seem to be no cultivators in this immortal market. These puppets have probably not received any spirit stones to replenish their energy for hundreds of years. They can only absorb a small amount of spiritual energy from the world to ensure the simplest movements.

These puppets were used by the villagers to exchange goods.

"So, it seems the owner of these puppets is a good person after all?"

Just as Li Chengming was pondering, a palace suddenly appeared before him.

Li Chengming stopped in his tracks.

The palace before us is located in the deepest part of the Immortal City, and it is completely different from the gray stone buildings around it.

The hall is made of white jade, and although it has been through countless years, it still shines brightly. On each side of the hall entrance stands a stone statue, about ten feet tall, wearing armor and holding a long spear.

Looking at the half-closed palace gate, Li Chengming did not rush in, but instead sent Yunluchong in first to scout the way.

A moment later, the cloud dew worm returned safely.

It should be safe.

Li Chengming then stepped into the hall.

The interior space was much larger than it appeared from the outside. The dome was over ten feet high, and the floor was paved with neat green jade bricks that emitted a faint glow.

In the center of the main hall stands a high platform, on which is a painting.

The painting depicts a man with an ethereal and otherworldly appearance, clearly a cultivator.

Li Chengming looked closely but couldn't make out the details. He only knew that there was a white jade-colored insect perched on the cultivator's shoulder.

Beneath this portrait lies a jade slip, lying there quietly.

Li Chengming did not go to get it himself, but ordered Yunluchong to bring it to him.

The jade slip felt warm and smooth to the touch. Li Chengming probed it with a wisp of his spiritual sense, and a flood of information rushed into his mind.

His expression changed, and then he was overjoyed.

"This...this is the method for controlling all the puppets in the Immortal Market!"

The jade slip contained extremely detailed information, including not only the core techniques for controlling all the puppets in the Immortal Market, but also the crafting methods for creating the puppets.

The jade slip reveals that there are 362 puppets in the Immortal Market.

The 360 ​​bodies outside are all at the Qi Refining level.

The two guards of the main hall were comparable to early Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"However, controlling these puppets requires spirit stones."

Li Chengming examined the records in the jade slip and discovered that the core power source for these puppets was spirit stones.

The reason why the puppets in the Immortal Market can only perform the simplest barter is because the spirit stones in their bodies have been exhausted, leaving only a trace of spiritual power to maintain the most basic functions.

A puppet at the Qi Refining level can only exert its power for a quarter of an hour with one spirit stone.

As for puppets in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, they require a hundred spirit stones to move for even a quarter of an hour.

Without a doubt, this puppet is a huge spender.

The method for controlling these puppets is also very simple.

All you need to learn is a spell called "Puppet Control Seal".

This spell can imprint one's spiritual mark on the core of a puppet, and once the imprint is successful, the puppet will be absolutely obedient.

With sufficient spiritual power, it is not difficult for one person to control hundreds or thousands of puppets simultaneously.

"My spiritual awareness is not bad."

As an alchemist, Li Chengming naturally possessed considerable spiritual insight.

"Once I learn this spell, these puppets will be mine!"

These puppets were undoubtedly an extremely powerful fighting force, and Li Chengming would naturally not let them go.