Chapter 34: The Puppet’s Progress and a Tearful Encounter

“So that’s how it is. And it even completes tasks automatically?” Luo Bingli’s eyes brightened with understanding.

If tasks were completed automatically and calculated based on historical peak values, what more was there to say? She would simply continue to bully Ye Xiaozi until the system refreshed with a new ‘immortal qi’ task.

‘Results appeared on the very first day,’ Luo Bingli mused. ‘Surely, the second and third days will yield even better outcomes. Even if I do nothing, the final rewards will surpass what I’ve received now.’

With this thought, Luo Bingli swiftly contacted Wang Qiu’er via a sound transmission talisman to inquire about the progress of the second phase of bullying tasks. However, Wang Qiu’er was full of excuses.

She claimed the time was too short and that things were still being organized. Luo Bingli pondered this for a moment, realizing she might have indeed given Wang Qiu’er too much work.

She immediately instructed Wang Qiu’er, “Since you haven’t thought of anything else for now, continue focusing on those aspects. Remember, you must keep those fellows well-supervised.”

****

“Saintess, please rest assured!” Wang Qiu’er sighed as she put away the sound transmission talisman. “Oh, for the Saintess’s… interests, her subordinates are practically running themselves ragged!”

She then rested her chin in her hand, pondering for a moment before muttering, “Speaking of which, it’s about time to check on the progress. If the Saintess is in such a hurry, I’ll depart now. I can also learn about Ye Xiaozi’s situation directly from them.”

Following this, Wang Qiu’er produced a humanoid puppet. After activating a spell, the puppet shimmered with light, and a fair-skinned, beautiful woman with long legs appeared before Wang Qiu’er, showing no trace of being a mere automaton.

Wang Qiu’er had never used this puppet art in front of anyone from the Hundred Flowers Palace, not even Luo Bingli knew of her skill. Looking at her masterpiece, Wang Qiu’er nodded with satisfaction.

She then began to control the puppet, which slowly vanished into the darkness.

****

As night deepened, Wang Qiu’er’s puppet—the fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged elder sister—stealthily appeared at the back door of the cafeteria in Ye Xiaozi’s district.

When the Serving Auntie saw Wang Qiu’er’s puppet, her eyes lit up with delight. She immediately bowed to the puppet, “Greetings, Immortal Mu. Your plan is truly brilliant. Ye Xiaozi really did eat those pink bean sprouts as you instructed. Her little face was so tear-streaked, she looked like a little calico cat.” Clearly, the Serving Auntie recognized the puppet’s identity.

“Mm! Excellent. Keep up the good work from now on. Continue like this, and I guarantee your rewards will be plentiful. This is a stage reward: one hundred taels of silver or one spirit stone. Choose one.”

“This…” The Serving Auntie hesitated. She glanced at the hundred taels of silver, then turned her head and took the spirit stone, her face full of gratitude. “Thank you, Immortal.”

Although one hundred taels of silver would have been more practical for the Serving Auntie, she ultimately chose the spirit stone, thinking of her granddaughter who possessed spiritual roots.

After all, in the mortal world, while there were places to exchange spirit stones for gold and silver, it was common to exchange money for spirit stones, but very rare to exchange spirit stones for money.

Her granddaughter had already been tested and found to have spiritual roots. This meant that once she embarked on the path of cultivation, she would require an immense amount of spirit stones. While the Serving Auntie had relatives who were Nascent Soul cultivators, they were several generations removed. It was already good enough that the elders found her a job; cultivation resources would naturally not be given to mere mortals like them.

Moreover, if a mortal were to exchange spirit stones for silver, they would likely be hunted down. Therefore, holding onto the idea of exchanging spirit stones for silver meant having the means to exchange, but not the life to spend it.

Conversely, the same applied to exchanging silver for spirit stones, with cultivators being the exception.

“Thank you, Immortal, thank you, Immortal…” The Serving Auntie was naturally overwhelmed with gratitude.

While Wang Qiu’er’s true identity was that of an out-and-out bully, the one appearing now was a puppet, and thus could not act as such.

****

As Wang Qiu’er’s puppet left the kitchen, intending to head to the mine along the way, she suddenly heard several sobbing sounds.

“Wuwuwu, wuwuwu… My skirt is completely burned away. That was my only pretty skirt! I was hoping to show off in front of that plain-looking Ye Xiaozi, but that Ye Xiaohei burned it instead. Wuwuwu… That was three months’ worth of spirit stones I saved up! Wuwuwu…”

“Be content! It’s a good thing she discovered us early and used the Pure Fire Glaze Art. If she had directly used a Fireball spell, never mind our clothes, even our skin would have been burned, and we’d be disfigured!”

“Hmph, she wouldn’t dare! If that Ye Xiaohei dares to disfigure me, I’ll never let her off, even if I become a ghost in this life. Wuwuwu… my skirt… my skirt…”

“Alright, stop crying! As long as the green mountains remain, there’s no need to worry about firewood. We’ll get our revenge tomorrow.”

“But, but… to prevent my skirt from getting jealous, I threw all my other skirts away…”

“This… Are you out of your mind? They say only items of grade five or higher can possibly contain spirituality. You’re talking about a grade one item, how can you even make such a claim?”

“I…”

Wang Qiu’er, who was not far away, was initially puzzled. ‘Aren’t these the several new Qi Condensation Layer Four disciples I recruited from nearby? Why are they crying here?’

However, a moment later, she understood. These young sisters had just set up an ambush, intending to surprise Ye Xiaozi like ambushing a boss in a wild boar raid dungeon, when Ye Xiaozi unleashed a barrage of spells.

If the wild boar raid dungeon had possessed Ye Xiaozi’s skills back then, it wouldn’t have been cleared in just over ten minutes right after the server opened.

Fortunately, the Hundred Flowers Palace had long foreseen such matters. Thus, most spells cultivated during the early and middle stages of Qi Condensation inflicted very little harm on people. For instance, the Pure Fire Glaze Art only burned skirts, without even a hint of heat affecting the skin.

This was for the disciples’ safety, and this incident proved its effectiveness.

Seeing the young sister whose skirt was burned to ashes crying incessantly, Wang Qiu’er had no choice but to appear before them. She took out a hundred spirit stones and divided them among the three.

“You were doing work for me. Although the task wasn’t completed, you did suffer losses. This is your compensation. Don’t forget to continue bothering Ye Xiaozi tomorrow.”

Upon seeing the shimmering spirit stones, the three young sisters’ eyes widened instantly. Especially the tearful girl, who stopped crying immediately. After all, her skirt, though she had saved for three months for it, only cost ten spirit stones. Now, with a hundred spirit stones before her, she could buy eleven new skirts!