66: Xuan Sha Tian Hu, forced buying and selling

A total of six giant figures stood silently on both sides of the empty pavilion, each over five zhang tall!

"Buzzing~"

Golden eyes lit up, accompanied by bursts of low and thick roaring, as a pressure capable of rivaling Peak Qi Refining suddenly spread out!

These were all First-rank Top-grade Puppets!

They were sufficient to fight against Peak Qi Refining Cultivators without falling into a disadvantage!

Of course, once such Puppets were fully operational, the consumption of Spirit Stones and mana was also quite exaggerated.

Even if one could afford to buy them, it was very difficult to maintain them!

Including the repair of combat damage and maintenance, small forces like those in the former Southwest Ten Nations basically could not afford to maintain such Puppets.

Yu Xuzi looked around and finally nodded with slight satisfaction: "These... I'll take them all."

"Certainly, esteemed guest, you—"

Before the shopkeeper could react, he was halfway through his pleasantries when his expression instantly froze.

He scratched his ear, doubting if he had heard correctly: "My apologies, I didn't hear you clearly. What did you just say, esteemed guest?"

"I said, I'll take them all!"

The shopkeeper heard clearly this time.

However, he began to suspect that this person was here to cause trouble.

"Why doesn't the esteemed guest ask about the price? These Puppets are much more expensive than Magical Artifacts of the same Rank—"

"Just say how many Spirit Stones in total!"

Yu Xuzi directly waved his hand and cut the shopkeeper off.

He had plenty of Spirit Stones.

Having dug up dozens of Spiritual Veins in the Thousand Islands Realm, the Spirit Stones in his hands were too many to count, estimated to be at least six to seven hundred thousand... There was definitely no Cultivator in the Qingyuan Realm wealthier than him.

"Adding up the six Puppets, it would be at least this much!"

The shopkeeper tentatively held up four fingers:

"Four thousand Spirit Stones!"

This price was enough to buy a decent quality Second-rank Low Grade Magical Artifact.

Yu Xuzi didn't speak further but directly took a Storage Pouch from his waist and tossed it to the shopkeeper.

"Is that enough?"

The shopkeeper suspiciously reached out to take the Storage Pouch, and upon opening it, he instantly gasped.

The pile of Spirit Stones, like a small mountain, directly blinded his eyes.

"This... this, this..."

He stammered for a long while before finally finding his tongue: "It's enough, it's enough. No, no, it's actually more than enough."

"Esteemed guest, these Spirit Stones—"

Yu Xuzi pointed to the third floor above: "Are there even more Advanced ones up there?"

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"

The shopkeeper instantly beamed with joy.

He was about to run ahead to lead the way, but immediately returned and walked to the six Puppets.

After a few simple adjustments, these Puppets were all shrunk to only one foot in size and handed over to Yu Xuzi.

Meanwhile, he secretly left a message to notify the two Old Ancestors in the inner city.

"Esteemed guest, these Puppets are all yours now. Please follow me to the third floor."

"Mhm."

Yu Xuzi put them all into his Storage Pouch and followed behind the shopkeeper.

He naturally saw the shopkeeper's secret transmission, but he did not stop it.

Because he had real "business" to do with Thousand Mechanisms City.

Those two Dao Foundation Cultivators were the ones in charge... The third floor of the Ten Thousand Puppets Pavilion was empty.

Only one towering giant, ten zhang high, stood majestically, making one's breath hitch.

Its body was humanoid, forged from a certain deep black spiritual iron, with a terrifying dark luster flowing in the dimness.

The head, however, was a massive tiger's head with eyes wide open in anger. Inside the eye sockets were not ordinary crystals, but two clumps of burning pale demonic fire, appearing extremely ferocious.

The joints of its body were densely covered with layers of dark gold runes as fine as hair, flickering with the pulse of invisible spiritual flows.

The most intimidating part was the pair of forearm claws, each toe blade a zhang long, refined to be as thin as a cicada's wing with perfect curves.

"This is a Second-rank Low Grade Puppet—the Xuan Sha Heavenly Tiger—personally crafted by the Dao Foundation Ancestor of our Thousand Mechanisms City.

Its entire body is forged using the Second-rank Spiritual Gold, Xuan Sha Heavy Iron, as the primary material, supplemented by..."

The shopkeeper was still introducing this Puppet with a face full of pride and a non-stop flow of words, but Yu Xuzi still directly asked the price.

"How many Spirit Stones?"

The shopkeeper smiled awkwardly: "Esteemed guest, for a treasure like a Second-Rank Puppet, I do not have the authority to sell it. Our Thousand Mechanisms City's Old Ancestor must decide personally."

"Then have them come over."

Yu Xuzi only looked up at him slightly, and the Divine Sense in his Sea of Consciousness instantly surged out, enveloping him.

"Didn't you already send a message just now?"

A Dao Foundation Cultivator!

He really was!

The shopkeeper's face turned deathly pale in an instant, beads of cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead, and the brocade robe on his back was instantly soaked, clinging to his skin.

He had already made a guess in his heart just now.

After all, carrying so many Spirit Stones and being so generous without any fear of being coveted, no one but a Dao Foundation Ancestor could do that!

He opened his mouth, but only a soft rattling sound came from his throat; he couldn't utter a single word.

"Fellow Daoist, please do not make things difficult for my Disciple."

A strange and raspy voice sounded as a burly, square-faced middle-aged man walked up with a smile on his face.

"I am not making things difficult for him."

Yu Xuzi withdrew his Divine Sense and sized up the newcomer.

An Early Dao Foundation Stage cultivation, looking quite ordinary.

"Old Ancestor Thousand Puppets."

The shopkeeper felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed in greeting.

"Mhm, leave this place to me."

"You may go down."

The Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets nodded and waved him away, then came to Yu Xuzi's side.

"Bang bang—"

He tapped the Xuan Sha Heavenly Tiger's lower leg forcefully and laughed as he looked at Yu Xuzi: "Hahaha, what does Fellow Daoist think of our Puppet? I spent a full year building this alongside my Senior Brother."

"The spiritual light is vast and the aura is startling; it is indeed not bad."

Yu Xuzi nodded in recognition and then added: "So, I have decided to buy it."

The Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets narrowed his eyes: "Fellow Daoist has good taste."

Next, he took out the Storage Pouch Yu Xuzi had just handed to the shopkeeper: "The six Puppets on the second floor cost a total of four thousand Spirit Stones. This Xuan Sha Heavenly Tiger is much more expensive than an ordinary Second-rank Low Grade Magical Artifact, costing six thousand Spirit Stones, totaling ten thousand Spirit Stones!"

"Subtracting ten thousand, it seems there are still quite a few Spirit Stones left in Fellow Daoist's Storage Pouch, this—"

Yu Xuzi smiled: "Oh, the transaction isn't over yet."

"Oh?"

The Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets looked at Yu Xuzi with a smile, feeling a bit uncertain about this person's origins.

In the Mainland Cultivation World, if you count the Dao Foundation Cultivators one by one, there are only about twenty-odd people now.

They are all well-known existences; where on earth did this person in front of him spring from?

"I heard that at its Peak two thousand years ago, Thousand Mechanisms City was overseen by a Xuantai True Person and passed down a large number of profound Puppet-making methods, even including Third-rank Puppets. I wonder if that is correct?"

The smile on the face of the Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets instantly froze and became inexplicably gloomy: "What does Fellow Daoist mean by this?"

"This Legacy, how many Spirit Stones?"

Hearing this, the Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets was so angry he laughed.

"Fellow Daoist, you had better stop joking, lest it cause a misunderstanding."

For some mysterious person of unknown origin to open his mouth and want to buy the fundamental Legacy of their Thousand Mechanisms City, how ridiculous was that?

Did he think their Thousand Mechanisms City was a charity house?

As he spoke, the Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets directly used his Divine Sense to probe toward Yu Xuzi.

He wanted to see this person's true colors.

If he was just a paper tiger... then forget about buying the Legacy, he wouldn't even be able to take the Puppet today!

Both the Spirit Stones and his life would have to stay here for me!

"Misunderstanding?"

Yu Xuzi looked up at him, and the massive Divine Sense in his mind, comparable to the Late Dao Foundation Stage, surged out, instantly and crudely tearing apart the probing stranger's Divine Sense.

"Boom————!!!"

In an instant.

The Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets only felt a violent, stabbing pain in his head and couldn't help but clutch his head and cry out in pain.

"Ahhh~~"

It was as if a massive golden giant had arrogantly and directly torn through his Niwan Palace, descending into the center of his Sea of Consciousness with resplendent majesty, stirring up monstrous waves.

Compared to it, the Upper Master of a Thousand Puppets felt his own Divine Sense was as fragile as a child's.

"This seat is willing to spend Spirit Stones to buy it rather than directly snatching it."

"It is not that I cannot, but that I am unwilling."

"Fellow Daoist, you had better think clearly before answering!"