Chapter 94 – Combining Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi with Puppetry

In short, after learning the inner workings of a Puppet Master, Mu Lin felt that his Paper Figures were actually quite useful—this had absolutely nothing to do with Mu Lin having no Spirit Stones and being unable to afford learning Puppetry Art.

However, although he didn’t plan to delve deeply into it, Mu Lin wasn’t going to give up entirely.

This might sound contradictory, but it’s actually quite easy to understand.

Fighting purely with Puppets was something Mu Lin couldn’t afford, and it was extremely inefficient for him.

But Puppetry Art could be used in conjunction with Paper Figures and Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi.

For example, a complete Puppet required selecting suitable materials, crafting the body, then inscribing Talismans and Arrays—first to strengthen the Puppet, and second, through Formation Runes, to make the Puppet move.

After that came crafting the Puppet’s core.

A Puppet’s core had two parts: an energy core and a Mind Crystal.

The former consumed Spirit Stones and was connected to the entire Puppet through Formation Runes, which was the reason the Puppet could move.

The latter was mostly made from Soul Crystals and could be used to input various commands, among other things.

Some Puppets even had Spells inscribed on their bodies, allowing them to cast certain Spells through the coordination of the energy core and the Mind Crystal.

It could be said that crafting a Puppet was extremely complex. To be able to construct one themselves, Puppet Masters needed to understand the properties of various materials in the cultivation world, as well as learn Talismans, Arrays…

In short, becoming a Puppet Master was no easy task.

However, Mu Lin discovered that combining the Paper Crafting Scripture with Puppetry Art made things much more convenient.

With Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi, Mu Lin didn’t need to create an energy core at all.

“With a single breath of Life-Nurturing Qi, my Puppet can move. What use is an energy core?”

Since there was no energy core, the Formation Runes that went with it didn’t need to be learned either…

Well, this was Mu Lin’s self-comforting way of saving money.

The energy core was extremely useful. If installed on a Paper Figure, the Paper Figure’s activity time would be greatly increased, preventing situations where the Paper Figure became immobile once the Life-Nurturing Qi Mu Lin exhaled was exhausted.

Moreover, with the help of an energy core, Mu Lin could even summon powerful Paper Figures beyond his current level.

Unfortunately, he had no money and even less energy, so he had to give up on this point.

“However, rather than spending time learning how to make energy cores, I’d rather cultivate more Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi. With a high enough Mana Cultivation, I can also summon powerful Paper Figures.”

…

Since he didn’t need to learn about energy cores, for the same reason, Mu Lin didn’t need to learn about Mind Crystals either.

He could temporarily grant Paper Figures consciousness through his Mindscape – Sky Burial City.

And the energy core and Mind Crystal were the most important, most critical parts of a Puppet, and also the most mentally taxing.

By not learning them, all Mu Lin needed to study was material selection, as well as Talismans and Arrays for reinforcement.

The difficulty of learning, the effort required, and even the money spent were all drastically reduced.

“Material selection can also be simplified… My goal isn’t to create the strongest or most diverse Puppets, but to focus solely on Paper Figures. So, I don’t need to memorize most spiritual materials—I just need to learn how to configure Yin-attribute paper.”

Since he didn’t aim for mastery in all areas but only wanted to specialize in one, the things Mu Lin needed to learn became fewer and fewer.

Thinking this, Mu Lin quickly raised his hand and called out to the Puppet Twins Flower and Butterfly.

“Hmph, commoner, what do you want with us?”

Because Mu Lin regarded puppets as mere tools, the awakened twin sisters held not a shred of goodwill toward him.

  Mu Lin paid no mind to this; he simply stated his requirements calmly.

“I do not intend to study the energy core or the crafting method of the Mind Crystal. I only plan to learn how materials are configured, how Talismans and Arrays function on puppets…”

“Ignorant!”

Before he could finish speaking, Mu Lin was reprimanded by Flower, one of the twins.

“These two are the most crucial aspects of the Puppetry Art. If you don’t study them, what are you even learning Puppetry Art for?”

The commotion here also caught the attention of the other Students in the class. Upon hearing that Mu Lin had no intention of learning how to craft energy cores, their expressions turned peculiar.

It was akin to a soldier refusing to learn combat skills or a chef refusing to learn culinary arts—no matter how you heard it, it sounded utterly bizarre.

“What’s going on with Mu Lin? If he’s not learning how to make energy cores, why did he even come to study under a Master?”

“Don’t ask me, I have no idea either…”

Ignoring the discussions of the other Students, Mu Lin simply looked at the puppet twins and said earnestly, “This is my decision. You just need to teach. If you’re dissatisfied, you can go find Master Meng Rui. I will explain myself to her.”

“…”

These words silenced the puppet twins. They held great respect for their creator and mother.

At the same time, looking at the two of them, Mu Lin sighed and realized he had misunderstood something.

The puppets of this world were nothing like the intelligent machines from his previous life.

In the minds of humans from his previous world, intelligent machines were ‘superhumans’ with computational abilities far surpassing humans by billions of times.

So terrifying was this that once machines gained intelligence, they could rule the world and destroy everything through their extraordinary computational power and endlessly replicating robot armies.

This was why the crisis of intelligent machines ranked among the three great calamities.

But the puppets of this world possessed no such extraordinary computational abilities.

“Calling them intelligent machines is less accurate than calling them demons or spirits. Their intelligence arises from chance, not computation.”

“Because of this, they lack computational power far beyond humans and cannot infinitely replicate to increase their numbers or subordinates.”

“Without these abilities, their threat level is extremely low…”

Had he known this earlier, Mu Lin would not have warned Master Meng Rui to be wary of puppets and guard against them.

Back then, he might have leveraged Dongfang Ya and the Chu Family’s influence to become Master Meng Rui’s inner disciple.

“However, since I don’t plan to delve deeply into the path of puppetry, being an outer disciple or an inner disciple seems to make little difference…”

Restricted by Master Meng Rui’s orders, the puppet twins, despite their displeasure with Mu Lin, proceeded to teach him materials science as he requested.

Of course, one taught while the other went to report Mu Lin’s situation to Master Meng Rui.

Setting aside Butterfly, who went to report, when Flower, one of the twins, learned that Mu Lin didn’t even intend to study ore materials and only wanted to learn how to make paper, she rolled her eyes outright.

“You fool, are you mocking me? If all you want is to know how paper is made, why study it yourself? Wouldn’t it be easier to just buy it or have some craftsmen make it for you?”

Mu Lin was taken aback by these words, then he couldn’t help but nod and say, “You’re right. For paper, it’s indeed more cost-effective to buy it or have it custom-made by an artifact refiner. In that case, I won’t learn material preparation either. Teach me how to inscribe Talismans and Formation Runes on Paper Figures.”

“…”

(End of Chapter)