118: Puppet Reboot and Garbage Recycling Tycoon

Western side of Qiyuan Island, abandoned mining area.

The setting sun dyed the desolate Gobi Desert a bloody red.

Several figures, panting heavily, emerged from a fissure in the ground. Each was covered in black sludge and unknown, putrid slime, looking like grave robbers who had just crawled out of a Mass Grave.

But their eyes were gleaming.

"Careful! Careful! Don't knock that core crystal!"

Zhou Wannian directed Li Feiyu and a few burly guards as they carefully carried a massive object tightly wrapped in black cloth into a newly erected workshop shed.

That was their biggest haul from the periphery of the ancient battlefield—the remains of an ancient war Puppet.

As the black cloth was removed, a humanoid Puppet, three zhang tall and made of bluish-grey spirit wood and unknown metal, was revealed. Although missing an arm and with a large hole in its chest, the ferocious aura belonging to an ancient killing machine still sent a shiver through everyone present.

"Is this... a Verdant Wood Giant Guardian?"

Zhou Wannian circled the Puppet twice, tapping its seemingly wooden yet iron-hard shell with his fingers, a flash of admiration in his eyes.

"The wisdom of ancient Cultivators was truly extraordinary. The main material of this thing is three-thousand-year-old 'Ironwood,' soaked in a special potion, making it impervious to blades, water, and fire. And..."

He pointed at the complex Formation patterns visible at the edges of the hole in the Puppet's chest.

"Its core drive Formation uses the long-lost 'Interlocking Parent-Child Formation.' Unless all its nodes are destroyed simultaneously, it is effectively immortal."

"Old Man Han, can it be repaired?" Ling Yunxiao, having fully embraced his role as an 'apprentice,' asked with eager anticipation.

"If the core is intact and the frame hasn't collapsed, it can be repaired."

Zhou Wannian pulled out a pile of junk he had just collected from his Storage Pouch—broken Flying Swords, deformed shields, and those precious pieces of Purple Copper Essence.

"However, we don't have original parts, so we can only do a bit of 'Modification.'"

"Fei Yu, close the main gate and hang the 'No Visitors' sign. Tonight, we're working overtime."

...Night fell, but the workshop shed was brightly lit.

The earthfire furnace was pushed to its limit.

Zhou Wannian sat cross-legged before the hole in the Puppet's chest, holding the turtle spirit brush, his expression as focused as a surgeon performing an operation.

"Melt the Purple Copper Essence, repair the chest armor!"

"Extract the Geng Metal Qi from those broken swords and fuse it into its right arm to make an 'Arm Blade'!"

"Core power source..."

Zhou Wannian looked at the empty energy slot, pondered for a moment, then pulled out the remaining half of the 'thunder sac' obtained from the Thunder Whale's body.

"Although not as stable as the original Spirit Stone core, it excels in explosive power."

"Plus, a set of my self-created 'Thunder Gathering Formation'..."

His brush danced like a dragon, one glowing azure cloud-script talisman character after another being inscribed into the Puppet's body, perfectly merging with the ancient remnant Formation.

This was a dialogue across time.

Ancient exquisite craftsmanship met modern ingenuity and survivalist cunning.

Two hours later.

"Whew..."

Zhou Wannian let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Done."

He stood up and gave the Puppet's joints a final check.

The Verdant Wood Giant Guardian now looked vastly different. Its originally bluish-grey body was patched with dark red metal (Purple Copper Essence). The severed left arm was fitted with a massive, ferocious iron claw forged from countless Flying Sword fragments.

Most crucially, the chest was sealed with a thick heart-protecting mirror (salvaged trash), faintly revealing dangerous purple thunderlight from within.

"Try it?"

Zhou Wannian took out a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone and inserted it into a backup slot at the back of the Puppet's head as startup energy.

He formed a hand seal.

"Rise!"

Vroom—!!!

The Puppet's previously dim eyes suddenly lit up with a red glow.

Clank, clank, clank.

Amidst a grating sound of mechanical friction, the colossal entity that had slept for millennia slowly stood up. A Spiritual Pressure comparable to the Foundation Establishment mid stage instantly swept through the entire workshop shed.

"Roar!"

Though it lacked vocal cords, the thunder sac within its chest vibrated, producing a thunderous sound akin to a low growl.

"So strong!" Li Feiyu swallowed hard. "One punch from this thing, and I might die."

"This is just a semi-finished product."

Zhou Wannian patted the Puppet's cold iron leg, nodding with satisfaction. "Its reaction speed is still relatively slow, and it has no intelligence, only capable of executing simple commands. But in narrow mine tunnels or on battlefields, it's the best meat shield."

"Give it a name?" Ling Yunxiao suggested.

Zhou Wannian thought for a moment.

"Its build, these patches, this junkyard look..."

"Let's call it 'Tie Zhu' (Iron Pillar)."

Everyone: "..."

Though the name was rustic, its deterrent power was real. With Tie Zhu guarding the place, the Green Robe Tower finally had genuine self-preservation confidence in this abandoned mining area... In the following days, the Green Robe Tower's 'Resource Recycling Station' officially opened for business.

Zhou Wannian wasn't in a hurry to descend into that underground fissure again (there was more than one Baleful Corpse down there; it needed careful planning). He took Ling Yunxiao and the others and started a proper 'trash recycling' business.

Initially, no one paid attention to this shabby recycling station.

Until one day, a down-and-out Loose Cultivator, covered in wounds with all his Magical Artifacts destroyed, clutching a pile of Yao Beast bone fragments and broken artifacts fished from the sea, tentatively walked into the mining area.

"Do you... take these?" the Loose Cultivator asked nervously.

According to Qiyuan Island's customs, shops wouldn't take such spiritless trash; it could only be thrown away.

"We take them."

Ling Yunxiao, sitting behind the counter (a large rock), recited the script taught by Zhou Wannian with a businesslike expression.

"Yao Beast bone fragments, ten jin for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Broken artifacts, priced by material weight. If it contains Refined Iron, five jin for one stone."

The prices were shockingly low.

But for that Loose Cultivator, it was an unexpected windfall! Trash he was going to throw away could actually be exchanged for a few Spirit Stones to buy some steamed buns?

"Sell! Sell it all!"

The deal was struck.

The Loose Cultivator left, profusely thanking them for the few Spirit Stones.

Ling Yunxiao then tossed the pile of junk to Li Feiyu in the back.

After simple sorting, cleaning, and refining.

The bone fragments were ground into powder, becoming raw material for low-grade Talisman Paper. The broken artifacts were thrown into the furnace, yielding a small piece of 'Refined Iron' the size of a fingernail, worth ten Spirit Stones.

This was huge profit.

Although the profit per transaction was meager, the advantage lay in large volume and zero cost.

Moreover, Zhou Wannian also launched a 'trade-in' service.

"Fellow Daoist, your Flying Sword is broken? Can't be fixed. But we have a 'refurbished' Flying Sword here (actually pieced together from other junk). Just add fifty Spirit Stones, and this sword is yours."

This precise service targeting low-level Loose Cultivators instantly ignited the 'slums' of Qiyuan Island.

Within just half a month.

The name 'Green Robe Tower Recycling Station' had spread among the low-level Cultivator circles of Qiyuan Island.

Everyone knew there was an Old Man Han in the western abandoned mining area. Though his heart was a bit black (low buyback prices), his skills were truly excellent, and he accepted all sorts of junk there, even dead people's clothes!

...Late at night half a month later.

Inside the workshop shed, Zhou Wannian was tallying the profits of the past half month.

"Net profit: three thousand Spirit Stones."

"Recycled five hundred various damaged Magical Artifacts, refined three hundred jin of Refined Iron, fifty jin of Red Copper."

"Received three fragments of unknown ancient artifacts (pending appraisal)."

Zhou Wannian looked at the ledger, a slight smile curling his lips.

This pace, though not comparable to killing and looting, had the advantage of being a steady stream and extremely safe. More importantly, through this waste, he was building his own intelligence network and material repository.

"Almost time."

Zhou Wannian closed the ledger.

"The base is stable, money is in hand."

"Time to go see what other secrets are hidden deep in that underground fissure."

He took out the Heavenly Secret Dao Disk.

The Zi hour had arrived.

"I dare ask the heavenly secrets."

"Deep within that underground ancient battlefield, besides Baleful Corpses and ancient treasures, is there a shortcut leading to... the Inner Sea? Or perhaps... a 'backdoor' left by ancient Cultivators?"

Vroom—

The Heavenly Secret Dao Disk rotated, a trace of eerie blood-red color seeping through the golden light.

The divination result appeared:

[Great Misfortune Turns to Fortune (Snatching Food from the Tiger's Mouth)]

[Three li deep within the underground fissure, there is a 'Spirit-Suppressing Stele' concealed by Evil Qi. Beneath the stele lies a one-way teleportation passage leading to the 'Chaotic Star Sea · Inner Sea · Tianxing City Ruins' (not the current Tianxing City, but the old city that sank three thousand years ago).]

[Warning: Beside the Spirit-Suppressing Stele, a 'Golden Core Stage' Baleful Corpse King is slumbering. It holds a 'Star Palace Secret Key' in its embrace.]

"Tianxing City Ruins? Star Palace Secret Key?"

Zhou Wannian's heart skipped a beat.

He recalled that diary found on the Baleful Corpse: [Tianxing Calendar Year 3500... trap... traitor...]

Could it be that the current Tianxing City isn't the original one?

Was the true Star Palace Legacy actually submerged beneath the sea?

"The waters here run a bit deep."

Zhou Wannian stroked his chin, a glint of greed and wariness intertwined in his eyes.

"Golden Core Stage Baleful Corpse King..."

"If it were before, I'd definitely turn and run."

He glanced back at 'Tie Zhu' standing silently like an iron tower in the shadows.

Then he touched the few freshly drawn 'Enhanced Evil Warding Talismans' in his sleeve, specifically designed to counter Yin and evil entities.

"But now..."

"As long as it lacks intelligence and doesn't understand tactics."

"Even if it's a Golden Core, this old man can scheme to leave it with nothing but its underpants."

Zhou Wannian blew out the lamp.

"Fei Yu, tomorrow hang the sign—'Owner Has a Happy Occasion, Closed for Three Days.'"

"We're going underground... to pull off a big haul."