65: Thousand Machine Puppet

May 4th.

Another birthday; Yu Xuzi was now twenty-five years old.

If calculated according to the calendar of the Huangtian Dynasty, this year would be the eighth year of Huangtian.

However, the Huangtian Dynasty had met its end in the sixth year of Huangtian.

To make it more convenient to record the events of each year in the future, Yu Xuzi designed his own calendar system.

Starting from the year he was sixteen and obtained the Basic Qi Refining Art to begin his cultivation, that year was designated as the first year of the lunar calendar.

So this year was the tenth year of the lunar calendar... Qingyuan Realm.

Great Desolate Kingdom, located in the south-central part of the Central Continent.

Its territory spanned eight thousand miles in circumference and was adjacent to Kang Country.

The strength of the Cultivation World within Great Desolate Kingdom was decent, with three overlord-level Sects, each presided over by an Early Dao Foundation Stage Old Ancestor.

They were: Thousand Mechanisms City, Earth Fire Sect, and Fierce Wind Sect.

However, because the Earth Fire Sect and the Fierce Wind Sect were involved in the past disturbance against the Qingyuan Sect, they were conveniently wiped out by True Person Yanling, with their entire Sects almost completely destroyed.

Thus, in today's Great Desolate Kingdom, Thousand Mechanisms City reigned supreme!

Its Old Ancestors, Upper Master Qianji and Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets, also became the only two Dao Foundation Cultivators in Great Desolate Kingdom.

The far west of Dahuang.

Embracing Star flapped its wings and flew through a thousand miles of red sand.

Below, in a desolate spot, a city suddenly rose up—iron-gray in color, silently crouching in the scorching wind.

This city was not large, only about ten miles in circumference, but its prestige and eccentricity were not diminished in the slightest.

This was Thousand Mechanisms City.

The location of the Sect that dominated Great Desolate Kingdom through the art of Puppets.

Moreover, it was not just a Sect, but also the only Cultivator market in Great Desolate Kingdom!

Especially after the Earth Fire Sect and the Fierce Wind Sect were destroyed, nearly half of the Cultivators in the entire Great Desolate Kingdom gathered here. With nearly a thousand Cultivators and over fifty thousand Mortals living here, it had unexpectedly created a distorted prosperity that had never existed before.

At noon this day, the sun was so fierce it seemed capable of burning through metal and stone, yet Thousand Mechanisms City remained bustling and clamorous.

After letting Embracing Star return to the Grotto-Heaven, Yu Xuzi descended from a distance and entered the city.

All sorts of strangely shaped Puppets were seen carrying or shouldering loads, weaving through the rows of shops.

The friction of metal joints, the low hum of spiritual essence and mana-driven mechanisms, and the noise of bargaining blended into a scorching and peculiar wave of sound, while the air was filled with the scent of desert dust.

“This Thousand Mechanisms City is quite impressive!”

“Selling Talismans, selling Medicinal Pills, selling Magical Artifacts...”

It had been a long time since he had seen such a lively gathering of Cultivators. Yu Xuzi couldn't help but feel a surge of interest as he looked around, taking everything in.

The total number of Cultivators he had seen in the entire Southwest region of the continent was not as many as he saw today in Thousand Mechanisms City.

“It's just that the concentration of spiritual essence is a bit weak. Underground, there should only be a second-grade Low Grade Spiritual Vein, and most of the spiritual essence is locked within the core area of Thousand Mechanisms City.”

Yu Xuzi turned his gaze toward the depths of Thousand Mechanisms City.

There was an inner city with a circumference of only three miles.

Walls over twenty zhang high, shimmering with the luster of spiritual gold, isolated the view between the inside and outside. Densely packed runes flickered with a dazzling spiritual light.

Atop the city walls, there was also a dark-iron-colored second-grade Formation barrier that enveloped the entire inner city, making it impossible to see the scene inside.

That was the true core of Thousand Mechanisms City.

It was also the place where the Sect Disciples and the two Dao Foundation Old Ancestors cultivated.

Adjacent to the core position of the inner city gate stood the most prominent building.

Over twenty zhang tall, nearly level with the city walls, it had three floors in total.

The entire structure seemed to be cast from some kind of dark metal. Lifelike exotic beast Puppets crouched on the eaves, the gemstones set in their eyes flashing with a cold, hard light under the sun.

Three large words in ancient seal script were on the lintel: “Ten Thousand Puppets Pavilion”.

Very few people entered or exited, but every one of them was a skilled Cultivator with a steady Aura.

This was a shop opened by Thousand Mechanisms City itself, primarily dealing in the customization and sale of various Puppets, with additional services for Formations, Spells, Talismans, and so on.

Yu Xuzi slowly approached and arrived before the wide-open metal doors of the Ten Thousand Puppets Pavilion.

At the entrance stood two guard Puppets, three zhang tall, clad in heavy armor and holding giant halberds. Their crimson crystal eyes suddenly lit up, locking onto Yu Xuzi's figure.

“Hum——”

An Aura comparable to a Late-Stage Great Cultivator of Qi Refining instantly spread out.

Without a doubt, these were first-grade High Grade Puppets!

However, Yu Xuzi seemed not to notice. With a gentle flick of his sleeve, the pressure emitted by the two heavy-armored Puppets dissipated into nothingness, as if they had turned back into cold, solemn blocks of dead iron.

Yu Xuzi walked straight into the pavilion.

The light inside the pavilion was dim, with only the fluorites embedded in the walls on both sides emitting a pale, cold light, illuminating rows of Puppets that were either standing, hanging, or even floating slightly in the air.

They were of various forms: some humanoid, some beast-like, and even some in the shapes of various ingenious mechanical devices.

Some were as exquisite as if they were alive, while others were hideous and terrifying.

A middle-aged manager dressed in an embroidered long robe, looking like a wealthy patriarch, appeared from behind a large red sandalwood desk in the depths almost the moment Yu Xuzi stepped inside.

His face was covered with an impeccable, smooth smile, and his eyes were narrowed into two slits, though a sharp glint flashed within them.

Observing his cultivation, he was already at the Late Stage Qi Refining level.

“An honored guest arrives! I apologize for not greeting you sooner. Please forgive me!”

The manager cupped his hands, his voice enthusiastic in just the right way, but his gaze quickly swept over the two frozen Puppets outside the door, and the corners of his eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

Someone who could treat the pressure of two first-grade High Grade Puppets as if it were nothing must have a cultivation level of at least Peak Qi Refining!

Such a person, even in their Thousand Mechanisms City, was a major figure whose status was second only to the two Old Ancestors, and must not be neglected.

It was just that this person looked so young, yet he had never heard of him before; perhaps he was someone from outside Great Desolate Kingdom.

In a brief moment, countless thoughts had already flowed through the manager's mind.

“I wonder what brings our honored guest to the Ten Thousand Puppets Pavilion. Are you looking to purchase a Guardian Strongman, a travel Flying Kite? Or do you need to customize a Puppet for a special purpose?”

“The products of this pavilion are guaranteed to be of the finest quality and will surely satisfy you.”

Yu Xuzi nodded slightly in acknowledgment upon hearing this, his gaze flatly sweeping over the dazzling array of Puppets.

Among them, there was no lack of items with shimmering spiritual light and imposing Auras; a few even emitted fluctuations that were not weaker than a Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivator.

But his eyes did not linger for a moment, as if he were looking at a pile of stones or rotten wood.

His Yuxu Grotto-Heaven was too large. As the Spirit Medicines and spiritual plants he grew and the Spirit Beasts he raised increased, he couldn't manage it all by himself.

So he planned to use Puppets to help with the upkeep in the future.

They could also help during combat.

“The level of these things is too low. Do you have anything better?”

Yu Xuzi looked up at the manager.

“Too low?”

The smile on the manager's face instantly froze, and the sharp glint in his eyes flared for a moment before being replaced by deeper suspicion and gravity.

Could it be that there would be a big business deal today?

“Honored guest, please follow me to the second floor.”

The manager hurriedly led the way, and Yu Xuzi followed him up to the second floor.

It seemed a bit colder and more spacious inside this part of the pavilion.

“Honored guest, please look!”

The manager's smile became even more radiant as he gestured toward several large figures around them, saying with a proud expression:

“These are all the treasures of our Ten Thousand Puppets Pavilion!”

“How about it? Is there anything that satisfies you?”