107: Chapter 107 Refining! An Unexpected Gain

Black Sand Market, an inn on the edge of the inner city.

Gu Shen casually tossed two Low-Grade Spirit Stones to the innkeeper, requesting the most secluded room in the 'A' section.

The room was dim.

Gu Shen did not light a lamp. He sat cross-legged on the hardwood bed, his Divine Sense spreading out like ripples. After confirming that no Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator's Divine Sense was peeping within a radius of ten zhang, he reached into his sleeve and took out the two pieces of "junk" he had bought at the Ghost Market tonight.

A Jade Slip that was missing a small portion, and a piece of metal wrist bone covered in copper rust.

"Crab, investigate this broken wrist," Gu Shen said in a low voice in his heart.

"Understood, Master. Conducting micro-frequency scanning."

The iron buckle at his collar heated up slightly, and Crab's dry mechanical voice entered his eardrums: "Master, the material of this object is neither gold nor iron, and its hardness is extremely high. There is an extremely dense capillary network inside, not naturally generated, but energy conduction channels carved by humans. It is just that the channels are blocked by a large amount of Impurities."

A flash of light appeared in Gu Shen's eyes.

"Man-made energy channels... This must be the Spirit Pivot Array markings that the Puppeteer spoke of!"

Puppets in the Great Yu Cultivation World are mostly refined with spiritual wood and Yao Beast bones, driven by Spirit Stones in the center. But their movements are stiff, and their Spells are singular.

However, those armored puppets in the Spiritless Ruins were extremely flexible, as if they possessed real Meridians.

Gu Shen had always been troubled by his inability to repair those fifteen damaged Iron Corpse Puppets. Now, this mechanical broken wrist from the Lu Family was clearly a type of extremely ancient puppetry technique similar to the armored puppets in the Spiritless Ruins!

He picked up the incomplete Jade Slip and pressed it to his brow.

His Divine Sense probed in.

The information remaining in the Jade Slip was extremely chaotic, with large sections of the Formation markings incomplete, as if gnawed by a dog. Forcibly trying to comprehend it would only lead to Qi Deviation and damage to his Divine Sense.

"No wonder the descendants of the Lu Family wanted to sell this item; this is simply a piece of trash."

Gu Shen sneered, but he was not discouraged in the slightest.

He had his own Dao.

A thought stirred.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, that ancient and heavy [Heaven and Earth Furnace] let out a low rumble.

"Collect!"

Gu Shen flipped his palm, throwing both the metal wrist bone and the incomplete Jade Slip into the phantom of the Great Furnace.

Pale white flames of rules rose up with a roar!

The intense fire calcined them. The already damaged Jade Slip instantly turned to ash, but the faint traces of Divine Sense remaining within it were domineeringly stripped away by the flames.

At the same time, the copper rust on the metal wrist bone was burned away completely, turning into a puddle of metallic liquid shimmering with strange light. Within the liquid, the fine, hair-thin internal channel textures were revealed clearly under the reflection of the flames!

[Refining complete.]

[Extracted: Incomplete Spirit Pivot Array markings. Extracted: Memory fragments from the Incomplete Manual.]

[Merging and deducing... Obtained: Thousand Mechanisms Spirit Pivot Array Diagram (Basic Chapter).]

A ball of soft white light flew out from the Great Furnace and imprinted directly onto Gu Shen's brow.

Boom!

A large amount of complex and precise micro-Formation carving principles flooded into his mind instantly. Gu Shen closed his eyes to digest it, taking a full half-hour before slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air.

"So that's how it is."

Gu Shen understood instantly.

The core of this Spirit Pivot Array Diagram is to carve micro-Formations inside the Puppet, using Yao Beast blood or special spiritual liquid as "Meridians" to conduct spiritual power.

"I have the mutated wood marrow brought out from the Spiritless Ruins. This item contains extremely strong vitality and spirituality. If used to replace Yao Beast blood and injected into the channel network of those Iron Corpse Puppets, and then supplemented with these Spirit Pivot Array markings..."

A clear path for repairing the Puppets unfolded before Gu Shen's eyes.

But he did not rush to act.

Repairing Puppets requires a large amount of fine spiritual materials to assist, such as high-grade Yao Beast bone powder, Spiritual Plants, etc. These things cannot be bought at the street stalls outside; only tomorrow night's Ghost Market auction is a good place to stock up.

Gu Shen put away his thoughts.

He took out a Spirit-Sealing Jade Box and gently lifted a crack in the lid.

A burst of cold, yin energy spilled out. At the bottom of the box, three silkworms the size of fingernails, their bodies resembling carved black ice, were lying lazily inside.

Nine Nether Silkworm. An excellent medium for cultivating the secret thread-control technique of the Qianji Pavilion.

Gu Shen circulated the Longevity Art, forcing out a drop of blood from his fingertip and dripping it into the box.

The fresh blood was instantly consumed by the three Nether Silkworms. A faint blood-colored light appeared on their bodies.

"Soul-Pulling Threads..."

Gu Shen spread his ten fingers wide, and following the secret Incomplete Manual given by Wei Lingfeng, ten thin threads of mana, invisible to the naked eye, shot out from his fingertips. The threads established a weak connection with the Nine Nether Silkworms, like ten invisible tentacles, dancing silently in the dim room.

The night passed without incident.

...

The next day, midnight.

Nili Lane.

Gu Shen put on the Thousand Faces again, transforming into the appearance of that pale, dissolute Young Master. He toyed with his folding fan and walked along the narrow, muddy alley to the black stone tower.

The blind old man, Old Ghost Mo, was no longer at the entrance.

Replacing him were two burly men in black armor, exuding the Evil Qi of Qi Refining Level 7, standing at the entrance like two door gods.

Gu Shen walked up and casually tossed the black wooden plaque engraved with the word "Yin".

The burly man on the left took the plaque, checked the secret mark on the back, and stepped aside expressionlessly: "General seating, enter the first underground level. You know the rules, right? Do not ask about origins, do not cause trouble."

Gu Shen ignored him, coldly closed his folding fan, and strode into the tower.

Walking down the spiraling stone stairs, the cold, damp air grew heavier.

Pushing open a heavy stone door, his vision suddenly cleared.

This was a wide underground cavern. In the center of the cavern, a three-foot-high black stone circular platform had been erected. Around the circular platform, hundreds of grand master chairs were arranged in a ring. This was the general seating area.

On the stone walls above the cavern, more than a dozen private rooms covered by bead curtains had been chiseled out. Powerful mana fluctuations could be faintly felt coming from inside, clearly where those major forces and Foundation Establishment experts were located.

Gu Shen chose a secluded corner in the back of the general seating area and sat down.

"Crab, scan the entire venue."

"Master, there are one hundred and twelve people in the hall. Sixty-four are in the Late-Stage Qi Refining. In the boxes above, three dangerous high-energy reactions were captured, suspected to be Foundation Establishment Stage Spiritual Pressure."

Gu Shen lowered his eyelids, understanding in his heart.

The Black Sand Market was indeed deep. An auction had actually attracted three Foundation Establishment true Cultivators.

Half an hour later.

The oil lamps around the cavern extinguished instantly, leaving only a beam of cold light on the black stone circular platform in the center.

An emaciated old man, looking like a skeleton, leaning on a white bone cane, walked slowly onto the circular platform. It was Old Ghost Mo.

His only remaining eye scanned the surroundings, and his dry voice echoed in the cavern:

"I appreciate everyone's presence. The rules for tonight's auction remain the same. Pay with Spirit Stones, or barter with items."

Old Ghost Mo did not waste words, directly thumping his cane on the ground.

A maid walked onto the stage carrying a tray covered with red cloth.

Old Ghost Mo flipped off the red cloth.

Inside the tray lay a black bead the size of a fist, covered in eerie blood-red veins. As soon as the bead appeared, a scent of blood permeated the air.

"The first auction item."

Old Ghost Mo cracked his mouth, "Just dug out from a pile of dead bodies in Fengxiao Gorge. A standard Magical Artifact of an Inner Sect Disciple of the Blood Fiend Sect — Blood Fiend Bead. It contains an incomplete Blood Escape Spell. The starting price is one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a burst of low exclamations immediately sounded in the hall.

Gu Shen sat in the dark corner, tapping his folding fan against his palm, a flash of extremely dangerous light passing through his eyes.

"Even daring to sell items from the Blood Fiend Sect so blatantly... This Old Ghost Mo is not simple!"