Chapter 5

After waking up, I decided to step outside and check on my master's puppets.

My mentor, he is excelled in crafting weapons and puppetry, although he was more renowned for his weapon-making skills. Puppetry was his hobby.

My mentor's elemental affinity lay in darkness and electricity. From what I recall, darkness is one of the elements closely connected to the soul, almost on par with pure or blank energy.

As I ventured outside the tower, I surveyed the surroundings, the surrounding of the tower was a wall-like structure made of life trees, a type of tree labyrinth that designed to confuse and deter unwanted intruders.

Getting trapped within the labyrinth meant bidding farewell to life and the loved ones. The distance between the wall and the tower spanned over 700 meters, forming a circular boundary with the tower at its center.

Inside the circular area, there lay a farm, a garden, and a pond.

The pond held a special place in my master's heart, while I found solace in spending time within the garden.

The garden served as a cultivation ground for energy herbs, with a wide variety flourishing there.

One of the most unique herbs was the crystal bean—a bean that resembled a crystal ball, it was quite challenging to chew, but upon consumption, it would surge the body with potent energy.

Within the garden, gazebos and ponds provided serene spots for us to unwind.

Having glanced around, I spotted my master's puppets, in his entire carrier, he already created a countless puppets, but only three puppet remains, now the three puppets tasked with maintaining the security and facility of the tower's surroundings, with each puppet assigned to a specific region.

Walking towards the puppets in the garden, I positioned myself behind one and touched the back of its head.

Like a touch screen, the puppet froze, and its head opened up like a blooming flower, revealing a crystal ball nestled within.

I detached the crystal ball and infused it with a small amount of energy, instantly a hologram-like screen emerged from the crystal.

This crystal ball served as the puppet's brain, although its design was quite rudimentary.

The puppets themselves were rather simplistic, consisting mainly of wooden structures.

However, the one in my hands was the most advanced puppet in my mentor's arsenal, and apparently the most advanced in the entire planet.

"One must wonder how he would react upon seeing the automatons on Earth," I mused to myself.

In my time, Earth's automaton technology had advanced significantly. I even had one of my own at my apartment.

the scary one was the one who owned by military, its automaton can flattened entire city in one night.

Examining the hologram screen, I observed numerous lines of code forming intricate formations.

The codes intertwined, creating circles, crossings, and various shapes—some more prominent and opaque than others.

This was the puppet's programming, utilizing a system known as formations, which proved to be the most versatile aspect of this world.

Formations are an essential skill for craftsmen, capable of being utilized for defense, attack, augmentation, enhancement, and various other purposes, while my mentor excelled in formations, I'm still more capable than him.

Examining the hologram, I compared the formation with the one from Morias' memories.

The code within Morias' memories was more intricate, with a denser aura surrounding it, those were celestial codes.

"Hahaha, how foolish of me to think about that" I chuckled, dismissing the notion, as it's beyond my capability right now.

Continuing my inspection of the formation, I tried to decipher its meaning.

The formation within the crystal ball comprised of simple movement commands such as walking, jumping, grabbing objects, using tools, and alerting in the presence of intruders.

Prior to implementing the movements, the puppet's actions needed to be recorded first, for example, if the puppet was meant to tend to a plant, the formula enabling it to perform the task had to be drawn first, It was a simple process but required a significant amount of work.

Having checked all the puppets and finding no issues, I entered the tower and made my way to the workroom.

Looking at the surrounding, there, I noticed a board affixed to the side of a bookshelf.

The room was organized with four large windows positioned in each cardinal direction, and each side of the room had its own bookshelf. On the west side of the bookshelf, there was a board filled with notes.

The notes consisted of orders. As a craftsman, I received orders, albeit not directly from the consumers.

Most craftsmen in this world preferred to live in seclusion, so a third party was typically used to facilitate communication with customers.

In my case, the third party was Gold Tortoise, one of the prominent merchants in the Purple Valley Empire—one of the three empires of Trion. Gold Tortoise specialized in weaponry and inscription and held influence across all three empires due to their dealings with various craftsmen and weaponsmiths.

The board displayed a variety of papers, but only three orders were standout, with different contracts each.

There was a paper with a metallic luster, an ancient, worn-out paper, and a greenish paper, each contract corresponded to a different customer.

The first contract, the paper with a metallic lustre, was from the Iron Fist Sect.

The sect requested the creation of a gauntlet for its top disciple, it was an excellent contract, the previous Zen, was a genius who knew how to cultivate a loyal customer.

The Iron Fist Sect had always been one of his most loyal clients. They consistently requested customized weapons from Zen, and with each order, he exceeded their expectations, creating better weapons than the previous ones.

The improvement might not be substantial, but it is certainly noteworthy.

Every top disciple will be envious and strive to reclaim the number one position, resulting in a continuous influx of orders. I couldn't help but grin at the thought.

The second contract, the ancient one (albeit just a worn-out paper), is a long-term agreement with the empire, it has been in existence since my mentor's era and requires us to create a specialized artillery piece—a ballista made with a unique ore. While it is not a complex task, even I am capable of completing it, this contract represents my mentor's expertise, and as long as the contract holder desires to maintain it, this will always contract provides us with a stable income.

Currently, the empire is still in the process of constructing their specialized ballista, It's not like I'm worry, I don't feel cheated by this arrangement; neither I nor my mentor ever cared about it, as we can always create another.

Another thing is, there are An added benefit in the contract, that is, if the empire manages to develop their own version, they are obliged to share the design with us for future reverence.

The last paper, the greenish one, represents a one-time contract with the young prince of the Bamboo Jade Empire.

The prince has commissioned a weapon resembling a bamboo stick, but with a twist—he requested it to be made from Green Steel.

This steel is a fusion of spiritual steel and jade, achieved by infusing jade dust into molten spiritual steel.

Green Steel is one of the most durable materials for weapons, primarily used in staff-like designs, it offers great flexibility and ease of repair.

After reviewing the contracts, I decided to commence the Gauntlet project.

According to the contract, the gauntlet is to be crafted from Earth Stee, and this particular steel is challenging to produce as it requires four ingredients: spiritual iron, earth iron, copper canopy tree trunk, and bronze bull blood, which each of these ingredients plays a crucial role in the creation of Earth Steel.

Spiritual iron forms the foundation, comprising 60% of the composition, while earth iron acts as a catalyst, lending the steel its affinity to the earth element, making up 20% of the mixture, the copper canopy tree trunk is destroyed initially and inserted during the highest temperature phase along with the last two ingredients, this step imparts flexibility to the steel, creating a complex structure that facilitates easier stretching of the combination of the first two ingredients.

Lastly, the bronze bull blood is utilized to bind all the components together and enhance the affinity for inscriptions.

This weapon falls into the category of a level 7 weapon, with the weapon levels corresponding to cultivator levels.

Just as a cultivator without any weapon is akin to a tank, a cultivator wearing a weapon matching their level is comparable to a tank equipped with additional shields, anti-missile capabilities, armour-piercing bullets, and smoke screens. It is ten times more formidable.

Thanks to my affinity with crafting, my current crafting limit stands at level 10—a staggering ten levels higher than the average.