Demonic Demoness Training Project

Hmph, since we've trapped him in the sect and made him suffer, we should certainly make good use of our special status.

Upon hearing this, the leading steward, Wang, rebuked:

"Nonsense! Do you know what you're saying? How could the sect leader possibly instruct you?"

"If you deacons do not believe it, you can go to Elder Che to verify it. Elder Che was also present at the time."

Elder Che was sent by Ying Wange to monitor Lu Ling, so he naturally knew about Lu Ling's affairs. In order to cover up the lie, he would never expose Lu Li.

Seeing Lu Li's composure and confident tone, Steward Wang was clearly flustered, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Of course, this disciple is not very knowledgeable and has not fully grasped the sect master's profound meaning. This puppet must still have room for improvement. Of course, if the deacons feel that the topic is not suitable, I will change it. As long as you agree on how to change it, I will consult Elder Che and the sect master again later."

Lu Li deliberately emphasized the words "Elder Che" and "Sect Master," and the expressions on their faces grew even more unpleasant. Their attitudes instantly reversed, and one of the deacons quickly waved his hand, saying:

"No, no, no need. I just took another look, and your idea is indeed feasible. Moreover, there are precedents for this, and it meets the needs of our sect in the current war. It is Old Wang who says it won't work."

Lu Li sneered inwardly, but on the surface remained humble and respectful, declining the offer:

“Deacon Wang, there’s no need to force yourself. My skill in the Puppet Technique is limited. If there’s anything inappropriate, you can point it out directly. I think we, as disciples of the White Moon Palace, should be even more strict with ourselves.”

"No, no, no, Master Lu misunderstood my meaning just now. I did not mean to refuse."

"But you just clearly told me to come back next month, isn't that just asking me to start a second round of share purchases?"

"Ahem, next month is the China Stock Exchange's performance review. I am very interested in the diagram you designed. I would like to see your further progress then. Yes, that's what I mean. Please don't misunderstand."

The disciples below suppressed their laughter, especially those who had been scolded mercilessly by the steward at the beginning; they were all somewhat gloating at the sight of Steward Wang's hurried explanation.

Lu Li had experienced this situation in his previous life. As the saying goes, a higher-ranking official can crush a person. The stewards only bullied disciples like Lu Li who didn't have a strong background. If they really knew that Lu Li had elders backing him, they wouldn't dare to make things difficult for him.

"Thank you for your guidance, gentlemen. I will never forget your kindness today."

Lu Li thanked the stewards profusely, but the more grateful he was, the uglier their expressions became. They forced smiles and kept praising him as a disciple of Lu.

After much persuasion from the stewards, they finally managed to get Lu Li off the stage. Wang Ze appeared respectful, but in reality, he grew angrier the more he thought about it, cursing Lu Li a thousand times over in his heart.

Why didn't you say so earlier if you had connections? In the end, you've made me lose face.

So what if I let you pass this test? You should have just honestly forged a first-tier puppet, but you insisted on forging a second-tier puppet. Relying solely on the sect leader's few words of advice, without any guidance from stewards or elders, you think you can forge a second-tier puppet? Dream on!

The performance evaluation for Chinese companies is a hard indicator; if you can't produce results, no one can protect you.

……

Afterwards, Lu Li took the initiative to go to the outer sect and talk to Elder Che about the matter.

When he went, Lu Li made sure to bring two catties each of spirit wood and spirit ore, totaling eighty spirit stones, as gifts to pay respects to the elders.

After listening to the story, Elder Che not only didn't blame Lu Li, but instead chuckled and said:

"You little rascal, you're more clever than your master. Did the sect leader really give you any guidance the day she came?"

"The sect leader only asked me to go to the Extreme Dao Peak to cultivate, but I am unworthy of such an honor, so I declined."

At this point, Elder Che took two steps forward, his expression suddenly turning stern.

“In previous years, disciples generally chose the first stage of the Open Source Puppet Diagram. It will be quite difficult for you to refine this second stage Puppet Diagram. Since you have borrowed the sect leader's name, you must produce results. Otherwise, you will be disgracing the sect leader.”

“My master said at the time that I could come to you if I had any difficulties.”

Elder Che's expression changed slightly. She glanced at the spirit ore and spirit wood that Lu Li had brought. She had accepted the gifts, but she hadn't expected Lu Li to go along with her and directly rely on her.

Although Xinwu the Protector is a puppet, he is still considered a high-ranking member of the sect, and Lu Li is the key to his advancement. As long as Lu Li's request is not excessive, it is neither reasonable nor moral to refuse him directly.

"Tell me, what's troubling you?"

"This disciple also wants to consult some external scriptures, but there is no way to do so, so I want to go to the Heavenly Pavilion, but I can't get to the fourth floor."

"Take this jade slip. With this jade slip, you can go to the Heavenly Pavilion once a week for two hours. It's best to send a message with a wooden crow to make an appointment in advance. Of course, elders have higher authority than you and can use it first. If the seats are full and there are no empty seats, you will have to go another day."

"Thank you, Elder."

Lu Li accepted the jade slip. Elder Che's permission wasn't high, so he couldn't just go whenever he wanted, but it was enough for him.

The sect would support inner disciples in their deductions of the Yan Tu (a magical diagram), paying for some of their expenses with spirit stones, though the level of support varied.

This is also one of the benefits of advancing to the inner sect; that's why so many outer sect disciples are desperate to enter the inner sect.

In the past, Lu Li relied on the Tian Gang Yi loan for cultivation, and the rest was basically done by comprehending the Yan Tu and collecting spiritual materials on his own, but he neglected the factor of the sect.

Lu Li secretly resolved that in his future cultivation, he should make good use of the sect's resources. As the saying goes, only the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Taking advantage of the enemy's resources, Lu Li felt no guilt at all, but rather a secret pleasure.

Chapter 142 The Bounty for the Twin Flowers

Why aren't you leaving?

"I have one more request."

"Alright, just tell me what it is."

"I have recently gained some insights while studying the Yan Tu and would like to try the light welding technique. However, after consulting the sect's classics, I found that there is not much information about this technique."

Elder Che rubbed her temples, feeling a bit of a headache. As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. She was a cultivator at the Spirit Pivot Realm, but she had never ventured into this field.

"You're going to use this with your Thousand Blades Demon Whip?"

"It can only be considered an experiment. It can be written on the map at that time as a comparison option."

"Here's what I'll do: I'll write you a letter. When you go to Shangtian Pavilion, you can use this letter to contact Che Gongfeng of the Fan family branch in Zhongyou Sifang City. His ancestors were related to me, but don't expect them to tell you much about the core technology."

"Actually, I mainly want to make a laser-welded type of device."

While they were talking, Elder Che finished engraving the jade slip and handed it to Lu Li.

"We should be able to provide you with the older model of the one-turn optical welding machine, but it won't be cheap. Prices in the midstream are generally higher than in our downstream sector, so you should be prepared for that."

"Yes, disciple understands."

"Is there anything else?"

Lu Li could tell that Elder Che was getting impatient. He had originally wanted to bring up the matter of the Formless Glazed Glass, but then he thought that this thing was a third-grade spiritual material, unlike the Light Welding Tool, and its use was really hard to explain. The sect would not reimburse him, so he decided to find another way.

Anyway, since he can enter the fourth floor of the Heavenly Pavilion and connect to the Great Disparity Heaven in the middle reaches, there's always a way to get his hands on it. Problems that can be solved with spirit stones aren't really problems.

……

After leaving Elder Che's cave, Lu Li returned to his own cave and went to the Heavenly Pavilion in person. With the help of the jade slip provided by Elder Che, Lu Li entered the fourth floor.

Lu Li was lucky; there were still empty private rooms on the fourth floor today.

These four floors have a total of twenty private rooms. Each private room is much larger than the previous three floors, almost like a small cave dwelling. All kinds of magical artifacts and facilities are available. Top-quality spiritual fruits are placed on the tables. Disciples are waiting outside the private rooms, and they are almost always available when called.

The walls and floors are quite soft, filled with a spiritual material called "Pulling Silk Cotton," and engraved with protective and isolating arrays. It is said that some people, after wearing the Mysterious Mirror, can travel through the Xuan Shu Heaven with their divine senses, and their physical bodies will sleepwalk in reality.

The silk thread is to prevent cultivators from bumping into things. Although cultivators in the Open Source Realm generally won't get injured because of this, it's always good to have some protective measures.

Elders are only qualified to enter the fourth level, but entering the Heavenly Pavilion also requires paying spirit stones, which are charged by the hour. Each hour costs five spirit stones, and a day would consume sixty spirit stones.

Upon reaching the fifth floor of the Heavenly Pavilion, the price doubled again, becoming ten spirit stones per hour.

The price is set in a very subtle way. Disciples and stewards can't afford it, elders can afford it, but only a little bit. Over time, they'll feel the pinch. Only the sect makes a fortune.

There are a few exceptions: the Holy Son, Holy Daughter, Sect Master, and Supreme Elder can eat for free.

The first two are due to the support of their sects. The sect leader goes without saying, as the Heavenly Pavilion is under the sect's jurisdiction. The Supreme Elder, due to his transcendent status, naturally does not need to pay.

"These damned sect rules are layered upon layer, outer disciples are pressured by inner disciples, inner disciples by stewards, stewards by elders, and elders by the sect leader and the supreme elders. It's really a strict hierarchy..."

Lu Li sighed inwardly, regretting his own lack of talent and learning, unable to compose a poem to express his envy and jealousy of the privileged class within the sect, as well as his small yearning for the position of Holy Maiden.

As he entered, he happened to run into Xie Lingyin walking into the private room next door, but she did not recognize him.

After entering the private room, Lu Li quickly put on the Xuanjian, inserted the jade tablet, and connected to the Great Disparity Heaven. This time, he made some changes to his physical form. In order to better disguise his identity, he created a pair of giant thunderbolts based on his divine sense avatar.

As for why he didn't sculpt it into a man, it's because Lu Li didn't think about it that way. He just remembered the scene when Qin Zijing hugged his arm and subconsciously sculpted this image.

Elder Che gave him the letter written on a jade slip. Lu Li recorded the jade slip into his sea of ​​consciousness. After entering the Great Disparity Heaven, the first thing Lu Li did was to send it out.

"I wonder when I'll get a reply... Hmm, I'll look for other spiritual materials first."

Lu Li entered "Formless Glazed Glass" into the mall and found several mid-level merchant guilds that supplied it without even opening a bounty, but the prices were sky-high.

After comparing prices from three different merchants, Lu Li chose one of them and bought only two ounces of the product, which cost him a total of 6,300 spirit stones, causing his net worth to plummet by 30%. After placing the order, he filled in the address and expected the product to arrive in half a month at the latest.

Goods from the midstream are transported downstream by Starship, then sorted by Woodcrows, and finally distributed to customers.

Afterwards, Lu Li also checked the price of third-tier spirit cores and could only shake his head helplessly. The price of a third-tier, second-type spirit core is generally two to three thousand, but its performance is not as good as the ninth-type Taixu version spirit core, which is one tier lower.

When the third and fourth stages of transformation began, the performance of spirit cores of various attributes gradually surpassed that of the ninth-type Taixu spirit cores of the lower stage, and their prices began to skyrocket.

Among them, the price of the three-stage, nine-type spirit core has even soared to 30,000 spirit stones. Even at this price, the supply still cannot meet the demand, and most three-stage spirit cores are still out of stock.

Any single item in these stores is worth more than an ordinary person could earn in several lifetimes. Lu Li was filled with emotion. If he hadn't been to the Boundless Realm, he wouldn't have had any spare money to spend here.

Finally, Lu Li tried to find some spiritual materials and books, including uranium pills. Such fourth-grade spiritual materials are important resources even in the mid-level. Lu Li could not find a way to buy them, so he had to spend twenty spirit stones as a handling fee to post a bounty and wait for a seller to come to him.

Not only are spiritual materials expensive, but many ancient books outside the sect are also very valuable. Lu Li spent a huge sum of two hundred spirit stones to purchase some books on the Dao of Light, and recorded them all into his mind sea, planning to study them slowly when he returned.

Suddenly, a message popped up in the corner of my vision; it was from the Fan family's retainer.

"Two thousand spirit stones, one rotation of the welding torch, fixed price."

What model?

"Transformation from one type to two types".

When Lu Li was asked to pay two thousand spirit stones for a single turning artifact, he almost cursed on the spot.

"Give me the map?"

"We will provide the activation method. The Yan Tu is a secret of the Fan family, so don't even think about it. There is a self-destruct formation inside the Yan Tu."

"Can you lower the price? I'm from downstream and I really don't have that many spirit stones on hand. I have to give up on this price."

"If you really want it, you can buy it with a loan."

Lu Li rolled his eyes. He was indeed taking out a loan, and a much larger one at that. All those second-stage mechanical devices he had borrowed were far more valuable than this welding torch.

After much pleading and cajoling, Lu Li finally managed to acquire it for 800 spirit stones. Before entering, Lu Li had paid the rent for one hour, leaving very little time remaining.

Lu Li retreated to the Lesser Heavenly Realm, but a message popped up above his field of vision—

[Twin Flowers Seeking Help: Seeking information on a device that can conceal one's identity, or a way to crack it]

The bounty hunter's code name is Twin Flowers, a puppet used to conceal his identity... Isn't that what I, a complete stranger, am looking for? Could it be that someone within the sect is searching for him?

Upon realizing this, Lu Li's heart skipped a beat.

Was it the sect that put a bounty on his head, or was it someone else?

Chapter 143 Master of False Evidence

Lu Li possesses memories of his past life, and he can often master some basic uses of the Xuan Shu Tian technique without a teacher.

He subconsciously clicked on the small print posted by Twin Flowers, which contained more specific details and comments from other cultivators.

“I encountered a demonic cultivator in countless eons who could conceal his identity and whose appearance I could not recall afterward. I am seeking information on artifacts that can conceal one's identity, or a way to find out how to break them. I will pay for such information.”

"Is the Holy Maiden Xie referring to that demonic cultivator from the Boundless Realm? I remember she was the one who, right after her breakthrough, pinned my sect's Holy Son to the ground and beat him."

Upon seeing this, Lu Li not only confirmed that the other party was referring to him, but also guessed the identity of the person offering the reward for help—it was actually Xie Lingyin.

Moreover, it seems that this code name is not a secret in the small world, and the other party has no intention of hiding their identity.

"That's right, it's him. Anyone who provides clues will be rewarded with three hundred spirit stones. If important clues are provided, in addition to the one thousand spirit stones offered in his name, the White Moon Palace will pay an extra two thousand spirit stones."

"It's strange, really, because we couldn't remember what she looked like afterwards."

"The elder said it should be the effect of some kind of mechanical device, but because there are too few clues, we haven't been able to deduce his whereabouts yet."

Lu Li browsed through the information from top to bottom, and he felt that things were not so simple. If he wanted to use the methods of destiny to deduce the truth, he needed enough clues to support his deductions.

There were too many people present at the time, especially some mid-level family forces. Many of them witnessed him killing Wan Hanshan and, seeing that things were not going well, took the opportunity to escape.

Even if one's appearance can be concealed, many things are destined to be hidden. Once caught, the consequences would be unimaginable. If the sect discovers that he is a traitor, Xuan Ya will serve as a cautionary tale for him.