Upon hearing this, the elder monk’s initial agitation vanished completely, and he regained his composure: “Demand? Your words are mistaken. To date, I have not asked for any tangible item from my friend. On the contrary, I have already offered several rare spirit stones. Should you find this unprofitable, then the second matter shall be entirely disregarded by me. These spirit stones I will not reclaim.” Han Li spoke calmly, his expression unchanged. Nevertheless, even if you doubt what I've said, the spirit stones are genuine—using a portion of them, you can exchange for the puppet crafting technique you hold. In that case, you wouldn't be losing anything. Otherwise, even if you possess the technique, what good would it do without spirit stones? Han Li spoke calmly and steadily. Upon hearing this, Tianjing True Man furrowed his brows, his expression showing hesitation. "Very well! I no longer wish to ponder whether the spirit stones you speak of are authentic. I only ask you—how many spirit stones will you offer in exchange for your puppet crafting technique? If the number is too small, I'll simply remain and claim it all for myself." After carefully weighing the advantages and disadvantages, the elder finally relaxed his demeanor and said. "That depends on the value of the ancient puppet technique you offer. If it only allows crafting of day-time puppets, even if I see it firsthand, I won't find it particularly appealing." Han Li felt a surge of satisfaction in his heart, yet remained composed on his face. "The puppets who are exchanged during the day are merely defective specimens I found in the ruins. From what I understand, the more powerful the puppets you can create, the more spirit stones you offer." The old Taoist spoke with a somewhat unusual expression on his face. "Yes, that's exactly it. If I can craft a puppet capable of delivering a full-force attack with the power of a Yuan婴-level cultivator or above, I'll personally present the True Master with twenty or thirty spirit stones—what's more, I wouldn't mind." Han Li gently pressed his lips and spoke calmly. "Are all the spirit stones of the initial quality you provided?" Master Tianjing asked seriously. "Could it truly be possible for ancient puppet techniques to produce puppets equivalent in power to Yuan婴 cultivators?" Han Li was first startled, then beamed with excitement, and said without hesitation, "Once I've stated it, it is no empty promise." "Then these are the ancient scrolls used to craft the puppets. No need for borrowing—here they are, directly presented to you." The elder monk swiftly pulled out a white jade scroll from his storage pouch and tossed it directly to Han Li, then flashed a sly, fox-like smile. Han Li was momentarily stunned by the elder's actions, feeling something was amiss. After a moment's thought, he didn't hesitate and took the scroll, scanning it with his divine awareness. Yet, after a while, Han Li's face turned a mix of red and pale. When he withdrew his awareness, he simply stared at Tianjing Trueperson, speechless. But weren't there various illustrations of materials mentioned above? Perhaps you have a deep fortune and have the chance to gather all the materials needed for the puppets, Dao-brother?" Tianjing Dao-man replied calmly. "Didn't Dao-brother Tianjing already collect all the materials mentioned above? Otherwise, how could he be gathering spirit stones all over the place?" To the elder's surprise, the anger on Han Li's face quickly faded, and he immediately asked back. "When did I say I intended to personally craft the puppets? I merely found two half-finished high-tier puppets in the ruins. By integrating the spirit stones into them, I can use them right away. Why would I need to take on the task myself?" Tianjing Dao-man spoke with unwavering composure. "You..." Han Li was momentarily speechless. This old Daoist was truly difficult to handle! "Well, I've already passed on the puppet crafting technique to Han Dao-brother. As for my own..." "Here you go!" Han Li, without waiting for the elder to finish his polite but strained words, waved his sleeve irritably over the table. A green glow flashed, and a small pile of spirit stones materialized there instantly. Shining brilliantly, truly eye-catching. Tianjing the True Master was delighted, yet felt a touch embarrassed. As he prepared to speak further, Han Li waved his hand and said, "This time, Han Li has been unfortunate—ended up speaking in silence. But I have no complaints at all. With both the eastern and western sides now settled, I shall be off." Bowing gracefully, Han Li turned and exited the pavilion, not even looking back once. The elder didn't know that, at the distance of several streets away, Han Li now no longer wore any signs of frustration—he had instead taken to gently manipulating the white jade scroll in his hand, his expression growing increasingly strange. For a thousand-year-old iron wood, it might seem unlikely to others, but to him, it was no problem at all, merely requiring a bit more time. As for the several materials he couldn't name, if his memory served him right, they could all be found within the remains of the automaton constructs from the Hollow Heaven Hall. Should his luck hold, he could gather enough materials to assemble several automata. Of course, beyond these materials, there were other rare auxiliary components that would also require some time to collect. With such a fully empowered automaton—capable of delivering attacks nearly equal to those of a Yuan婴 cultivator—the resulting creation would undoubtedly be powerful. It would allow his once-abandoned automaton technique to once again become one of his key strengths. Unfortunately, the jade scroll only detailed several methods for crafting automata equivalent to those of a Jie Dan cultivator. Yet the materials used for these lower-grade puppets are no less than those currently accessible in the immortal cultivation realm. Some materials have vanished entirely, with no trace known for decades. Otherwise, while possessing five or six such puppets would not pose a significant threat to a Yuan婴-stage cultivator, if one could produce a hundred or more—as was once possible—then even a Yuan婴 cultivator would have to retreat in fear. Nevertheless, this idea remained merely a thought for Han Li. Without needing to speculate, he knew that even if certain materials could produce puppets at the Jie Dan stage, the cost of those materials would surely equal that of a standard artifact. Speaking of producing a hundred such puppets, let alone just a few dozen, Han Li simply could not afford it. Previously, when crafting hundreds of third-tier puppets for the Qianzhu Sect, he had nearly depleted his entire family's assets, selling off most of the precious materials from his numerous divine beasts to gather the necessary funds. But even those puppets now pale in comparison to these. Han Li sighed inwardly, then identified the direction and headed straight for the western city gate of Tianshan City. Though it was now dusk, to him day and night were no different—first he would go and see the Bingjing master. Compared to crafting mere puppets, enhancing the power of his own life-bound法宝 was truly the most essential task. After all, the potential for growth in his life-bound法宝 was boundless. He hoped the Bingjing master’s demands wouldn’t be too demanding—ideally, he could secure them by exchanging a few phoenix essences. That would be perfect. Han Li could only think positively about the matter. A large number of senior cultivators gradually poured into this auction house. Over several consecutive days of auctions, the hall had become exceptionally lively. Today, as the final items were being presented, a few particularly stood out, drawing intense interest from many senior cultivators—even some who had leveraged their sect's resources to participate. That evening, it was easy for Han Li to locate the host of the Jing Jing essence. However, the item the host wished to exchange for turned out to be either a seven-tiered beast's egg or a legendary material known as "Hua Yi Shen Ni." Han Li had neither, and after fruitless conversation, he returned home with disappointment. Yet, from the host, Han Li learned that the Jing Jing essence itself was rather small—precisely what he had obtained—and only sufficient to blend into about seven or eight flying swords, still falling short. Nevertheless, despite this, when the auction event featuring Jing Jing essence began today, Han Li still attended. But as soon as the price surpassed fifty thousand spiritual stones, he completely abandoned the item. It seemed his grand Jing Jing sword array would be unable to be activated in the near future. After leaving the auction hall, Han Li did not return there, but instead made several stops at various markets, gathering some of the materials needed for crafting the ancient automata. Though still lacking several key components, the cultivation of the ten-thousand-year-old iron wood would still require substantial time and green liquid. It is currently impossible to immediately craft an ancient puppet at the Yuan'ing stage, but with sufficient time, once such a puppet is successfully created, the cultivator's strength will immediately surge significantly. Following this, Han Li headed directly toward a corner of Qian Tian City. Today marked the fourth day of the fair. He remembered what the Nan Long Marquis had told him, and with a sense of curiosity, followed the directions provided in the jade scroll, eventually arriving at this location. After briefly scanning the surroundings with his divine awareness, Han Li stood before a seemingly ordinary stone dwelling. On the surface, the stone house appeared merely as two connected rooms, unremarkable and isolated. As he approached, he paused slightly, still without raising his hand to knock, when the door gently creaked open on its own, surprising him. A man in a jade crown and purple robe, with a flowing white beard, stepped out with a smile. "Master Han, you've finally arrived. I'd like to introduce you to several of my colleagues." The Nanlong Marquis seemed to have known from the start that Han Li was standing outside. As soon as he reached Han Li, he greeted him warmly with a bright smile.