From Paper Craftsman to World-Suppressing Immortal

"Who's there? Come out!" Zhang Zhixuan gripped the shovel tightly and immediately became extremely vigilant.

The rustling in the grass subsided after a moment, and after a long silence, a fluffy little head poked out from the grass. Zhang Zhixuan looked closely and saw that it was a red fox.

This red fox was very small, looking only two or three months old. It was bright red all over, had several wounds on its body, and walked with a limp.

It emerged from the bushes, saw Zhang Zhixuan and tried to run, but its injuries were too severe, and it fell to the ground after taking only two steps.

"I thought it was something serious, but it's just a wounded little fox." Zhang Zhixuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Zhang Zhixuan gripping the shovel and staring at it, the little fox trembled with fear and kept making whimpering sounds, as if begging for mercy.

"Don't worry, as long as you don't get in my way, I won't hurt you. After all, you're so small, your meat isn't tasty, and your tattered fur won't fetch any money." Zhang Zhixuan put down the shovel and joked with a wicked sense of humor.

The little fox seemed to understand Zhang Zhixuan's meaning and shrank back in fear.

Zhang Zhixuan laughed and turned back to his work, ignoring the little fox. He had more important things to deal with right now.

Looking at the iron box again, Zhang Zhixuan cautiously lifted the lid, and the contents inside made his eyes light up.

A pair of gold bracelets, a silver hairpin, a pearl necklace, and a jade pendant.

Zhang Zhixuan examined each piece; the gold and silver jewelry was heavy and substantial, with dragons and phoenixes carved on it, and the designs were exquisite.

This pearl necklace has pearls as thick as a little finger. Although they have become a bit duller with age, they are still clearly of high quality.

However, this jade pendant looks rather strange. It is entirely emerald green but has a dark red tinge inside. A cicada is carved on the pendant, and it feels cool to the touch.

Although there wasn't much in the tin box, if they could sell all the jewelry, it should be enough to pay off their debts and they might even have a lot of money left over.

After carefully tidying up the jewelry, Zhang Zhixuan intended to leave quickly. After taking a few steps, he caught a glimpse of the little red fox out of the corner of his eye. The little fox was still lying weakly by the grass, even weaker than before.

Seeing the little fox's pitiful appearance, Zhang Zhixuan felt pity for it again.

He walked up to the little fox, squatted down, and looked closely before discovering that the little fox was covered in wounds, especially its left hind leg, which had been bitten by something. The wound was so badly swollen that the flesh was torn open and the blood had dried on the fur. There were also several ticks stuck in the wound, sucking blood.

"Poor thing." Zhang Zhixuan sighed, put down the shovel, and slowly reached out his hand.

The little fox shrank back, but its leg injury prevented it from moving.

Zhang Zhixuan's hand stopped in mid-air. After thinking for a moment, he took out half a cornbread that he had brought with him that morning, broke off a small piece, and put it on the ground.

Here's a cornbread for you; I hope it helps you get through this.

The little fox looked at him warily, then at the cornbread, hesitated for a while, and finally couldn't resist its hunger. It snatched the cornbread into its mouth and wolfed it down.

Zhang Zhixuan broke off another piece.

This time, the little fox didn't hesitate. After finishing the food, he licked his lips and looked at the cornbread in his hand.

Zhang Zhixuan gave it the last piece: "That's all, that's all. You can have it all."

After the little fox finished eating, knowing that Zhang Zhixuan wouldn't harm it, it rubbed its head against Zhang Zhixuan's palm.

Zhang Zhixuan took out the fire poker he always carried, lit it, and smoked the area around the little fox's wound. The high temperature of the flames caused the grasshoppers that were sucking blood on the wound to pop their heads out. Zhang Zhixuan quickly grabbed them one by one and crushed them to death.

"If you don't treat this injury, you won't live for more than a few days, but I don't have any medicine on hand." Helpless, Zhang Zhixuan tore a strip of cloth from his clothes and carefully bandaged the fox's injured leg.

The little fox cried out in pain, but didn't bite him.

After wrapping it up, Zhang Zhixuan placed it in a sunny spot at the base of the wall.

"That's all I can do. Whether you can pull through or not is up to fate."

Looking at the wounded little fox before him, Zhang Zhixuan thought of himself and finally couldn't help but sigh, saying with emotion, "You have your tribulations, and I have mine to overcome. I hope we can both be safe and sound..."

"Alright, I'm leaving." After saying that, Zhang Zhixuan didn't linger and walked away.

The little fox lay by the wall, watching the man's departing figure from afar, tilting its fluffy little head thoughtfully.

When Zhang Zhixuan returned home from the dilapidated temple, it was nearly noon, and the sun was blazing in Wuliu Town.

After locking the gate, Zhang Zhixuan collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) as if his body had fallen apart.

This trip was quite arduous; it took two hours to walk back and forth, and another half hour to dig the pit. It was a considerable test of his current physical condition.

But without a doubt, it was all worth it; at least the gold and silver jewelry in the iron box was enough to pay off his debts.

After lying on the kang for a while, Zhang Zhixuan had rested enough, so he took out the iron box again and took out the contents one by one to look at them.

Gold bracelets, silver hairpins, and pearl necklaces, no matter how exquisite, are all just ordinary jewelry. But this jade cicada, the more he looked at it, the stranger it seemed to him.

Holding this thing in my hand, I could vaguely feel a chill creeping up my arm from my palm. It was scorching hot outside, but this little jade cicada made me feel cold all over, and I got goosebumps.

"Damn it, this thing is a bit weird, I'd better get rid of it quickly." Zhang Zhixuan hurriedly put away the jade cicada along with all the other gold and silver jewelry. He planned to go to Tianjin again in a couple of days to sell it to a big pawnshop.

With that matter settled, Zhang Zhixuan immediately resumed his work on paper offerings.

Golden boys and jade girls, paper figures and paper horses, one by one, set by set, were completed and arranged in the room.

Zhang Zhixuan ate cornbread when he was hungry and drank cold water when he was thirsty, and before he knew it, it was already late at night.

Each time he completes a paper offering, the Hundred Trades Book will display a progress indicator.

Finally, after another paper figure was completed in Zhang Zhixuan's hands, the Book of a Hundred Trades underwent a different change...

[Completing a burial paper figure increases the paper crafting skill by 4.]

The paper craftsman has reached level 2.

[Level: Lv2 (1/100)]

[Rank: 0]

【Paper Manipulation Lv2 (Permanent Passive, Upgradeable): A special technique developed through years of experience making paper offerings, increasing the efficiency and quality of all paper products by 45%】

[Unlock Skill: Paper Soldier Manipulation (Beginner), creates paper soldiers for you to command. At your current level, you can command a maximum of 2 paper soldiers.]

[Upgrade to the next level to unlock new skills]

"Paper soldiers!" Zhang Zhixuan breathed a sigh of relief; all his hard work had finally paid off.

He couldn't wait to check the requirements for making the puppet soldiers. Fortunately, the materials needed for these specially made paper puppet soldiers were almost the same as those needed for ordinary paper puppets.

About ten minutes later, the first paper soldier puppet was made.

Although the paper soldier puppet making process is somewhat complicated, Zhang Zhixuan now has the bonus of level two paper control, making the production speed and quality even better than before.

Zhang Zhixuan examined the paper puppet in front of him. It was much larger than an ordinary paper figure, wearing paper armor and holding a paper knife. Although its face had not yet been painted, it was already imposing just by standing there.

"Finally, use a pen to draw the face and eyes of the puppet, and it's finished."

Zhang Zhixuan picked up his brush and drew a fierce-looking face on the paper soldier puppet.

The final stroke is the finishing touch, bringing the soul to the scene!

For a moment, the paper puppet's eyes lit up, then quickly returned to normal. At the same time, Zhang Zhixuan felt that the paper puppet in front of him was like his own clone, and he could control it as easily as if it were his own arm.

Zhang Zhixuan took a deep breath and issued a command in his mind.

"Stand up!"

The paper soldier puppet's joints made a "click-clack" sound, and then it slowly stood up.

With a burly, tall body, clad in paper armor, and holding a paper knife, he stood in the dim light, pale and ghastly, like a ghostly soldier crawling out of a grave.

"Take a few steps."

The paper soldier puppets walked with agile and powerful movements, showing no stiffness whatsoever.

"cut."

The paper soldier puppet raised its paper knife and slashed down at the table in front of it. With a "crack," the paper knife was even sharper than an iron knife, splitting the wooden table in two!

"It's more powerful than I imagined. Besides being controlled by me, this paper soldier puppet also has an automatic combat instinct to protect its master. With two paper soldiers puppets by my side, the safety is greatly improved."

Zhang Zhixuan had the first paper soldier puppet retreat to the corner and then immediately began making the second one.

After finishing the second body, Zhang Zhixuan felt dizzy and lightheaded, and his body was severely exhausted.

"I can't stay awake any longer, I need to go to sleep."

With paper soldiers guarding him from tonight onwards, Zhang Zhixuan felt much more at ease.

Overcome by drowsiness, Zhang Zhixuan quickly drifted off to sleep.

In the hazy mist, a faint woman's voice suddenly drifted from afar, a plaintive and plaintive voice calling his name: "Zhang Zhixuan... Zhang Zhixuan..."