Sun Mo didn’t know how high of an evaluation that was. In Lu Zhiruo’s heart, her father had always been the most impressive existence, and Sun Mo was only weaker by a little bit. One could say that she felt boundless respect and worship toward Sun Mo.
Father was father, but her teacher could also be her elder brother. An elder brother she respected and doted on. But as for love…
(Aiya, Lu Zhiruo what nonsense are you thinking about?)
Sun Mo didn’t have time to bother with the papaya girl whose thoughts were running wildly. His attention was already placed on the floating treasure chests before his eyes.
“Please don’t give me a rubbish subject. Also, please don’t open a subject that I already know.”
Sun Mo prayed as he silently ordered the system to open it.
Golden light flashed as the treasure chest was opened. A red-colored book floated in the air and there was the head of a puppet engraved on the book’s cover. When Sun Mo’s eyes met the puppet’s vacant eyes, it felt that the puppet could see into the depths of his heart.
“Damn!”
Sun Mo’s heart thumped wildly. This color…he could tell that it didn’t seem like something good with just a glance.
Ding!
“Congratulations on obtaining [Study of Puppetry]. Proficiency: grandmaster level.”
“Note: After learning it, your knowledge in puppetry will be raised to the grandmaster-level and you will be capable enough to teach others!”
Eh!
Upon hearing the system’s introduction, Sun Mo felt very complicated in his heart. He wanted popular subjects like alchemy or weaponsmithing, but he didn’t get them. He opened a book about puppetry instead.
It couldn’t be considered trash because this subject required someone with extremely high talent before they could use it well.
During the era of the three kingdoms, the wooden-ox single-wheel cart was also recorded as a form of puppetry in the Zhou Dynasty. It was said that some craftsmen had such excellent skills that they could create unique puppets.
Because the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces had spirit qi, the puppets in this world were even more terrifying. For example, the Hua Manyue Sun Mo had seen before. One could actually infuse a soul into a wooden puppet.
Although many schools offered the subject of puppetry, they would only teach the basics, so their students wouldn’t be at a loss when they had to fight against a puppeteer.
If one wanted to become a real grandmaster puppeteer and learn its top-level techniques, they had to join those clans or sects that specialized in puppetry.
There were only a few extremely knowledgeable great teachers who were skilled in this subject.
One could say that the puppetry circle was a very small and enclosed one.
Students would often ask how they should fight if they encountered a puppeteer.
The majority of teachers would say just to protect themselves or even to flee.
It was too hard if they wanted to win.
You basically had no idea whether the person you were fighting against was a living, breathing human or a puppet.
Naturally, puppeteers would focus their entire lives on researching puppetry, placing 70% of their time and energy on their puppets. Unless they used some forbidden methods to modify their own bodies, their lifespan usually wouldn’t be long.
Wait a minute, Sun Mo suddenly thought of a question.
“System, did you include hands-on creating experience in this book?”
Sun Mo asked.
“Nope, only knowledge!”
The system’s answer caused Sun Mo to immediately feel like cursing.
“Are you pranking me?”
Sun Mo was very unhappy. “Who doesn’t know that the most important ability of puppeteers is their ability to create various puppets. If I only know theoretical knowledge, wouldn’t that make me useless when it comes to actual practice?”
“You can purchase it!”
It wasn’t so easy to take advantage of the system.
“Open the merchant store, let me see how expensive it is in terms of favorable impression points.”
Sun Mo swiftly found [100 types of beginner creation techniques for puppetry]. He took a glance and the cost was 50,000 favorable impression points.
“Do you dare to be even more black-hearted?”
When Sun Mo saw this, he instantly knew that if he wanted to become a grandmaster-level puppeteer, he probably had to spend hundreds of thousands of favorable impression points.
“Host, do you know what is the most valuable thing in China?”
The system counter-asked.
“Knowledge?”
Sun Mo felt that knowledge was priceless.
“The answer is craftsmen. Look at the history of China, how many magnificent buildings and marvelous treasures are there? All of them were created by craftsmen. Even the design of tombs would cause everyone to marvel. But all of these are going to vanish in the long river of history.”
The system explained.
Sun Mo fell silent. Indeed, craftsmen treated their skills as their rice bowl and would only impart their skills to their sons and not daughters, wanting to guard their skills closely.
For example, the Tang Blade.
One must know that the katana was modified from the Tang Blade after a part of the creation process was imparted. But now, Tang Blades no longer existed. One would only know about them from books.
This was truly a pity.
“There are four great inventions in the ancient era, but what about the modern era? For example, when the craftsmen were creating puppet shows, gunpowder was merely a tool used to create the atmosphere.”
The system sincerely spoke, “Sun Mo, easily obtained things won’t be cherished by anyone. So, that’s why the crafting part of [Puppetry] is so expensive to learn.”
“Do you know how long a puppeteer needs to create a human-shaped puppet?”
Sun Mo shook his head.
“Three years at the very least!”
The system’s answer would cause one to feel discouraged.
“You should go and look at the hands of a puppeteer. They are filled with scars and injuries.
The system’s tone turned solemn. “This is also what I want to tell you. Don’t assume that you can look down on this profession just because you won against a puppeteer before. In the future, when you come across such people, it’s best if you can avoid offending them.”
“So should I learn it or not?”
Sun Mo also didn’t know. Subjects like this that needed extremely strong hands-on capability were all heavily dependent on talent.
“I don’t know.”
The system honestly replied.
“How many favorable impression points do I have now?”
Sun Mo frowned.
“172,100.”
An explosive number appeared.
“I’ll purchase it.”
Sun Mo prepared to learn all the basics first. He didn’t request too much. It was good enough if he could become sufficiently capable to put together a model figure. He suddenly thought of the figures of three cat-eyed sisters in the cabinet of his past world.
The youth of boys was simply so simple.
Ding!
“Purchase successful. You obtained [100 types of beginner creation techniques for puppetry]. Proficiency level can be categorized into elementary, good, and expert.”
“Total points spent: 150,000 favorable impression points.”
The system’s prices were always fair.
“F***, why are there three books?”
Sun Mo cursed in rage.
“You didn’t say you only wanted one book, alright? Besides, what’s the point of just raising your expertise to the elementary level?”
The system’s tone was like ‘you better don’t blame me, I’m thinking for you’. “If you want to teach students, you have to at least be at the expert level!”
“Alright, you can go rest now.”
Sun Mo impatiently waved his hands. If he continued chatting with the system, he would be infuriated to death.
Since he already bought them, there was no way he could get a refund either. Hence, Sun Mo decided to learn everything.
Huala~
The book opened. Every time he flipped a page, a red mist would seep out and transform into a different-shaped puppet.
They twisted their body, dancing a bizarre dance as they flew toward Sun Mo. After that, when they got near his glabella, they transformed back into mist and entered his mind.
Sun Mo’s mind was suddenly filled with scenes of monsters from Halloween dancing. Various strange lifeforms appeared unceasingly, as though it was the night of a hundred ghosts.
Lu Zhiruo, who was beside Sun Mo, suddenly shivered. She subconsciously glanced at Sun Mo. After that, her beautiful brows furrowed.
(What’s going on?)
Her teacher’s aura suddenly turned sinister for a moment and his vitality was reduced. He didn’t seem like a living person.
Luckily, about 15 minutes later, he returned to normal.
Ding!
“Congratulations, your proficiency in puppetry has gone to the next level, and you obtained some minor accomplishments!”
The system congratulated him.
Sun Mo reflected on the new knowledge in his mind. He immediately felt an impulse of wanting to put an action figurine together.
However, a good saddle had to be used with a good horse. If he really wanted a puppet that could move around like a human, he would require extremely valuable materials.
For example, the smooth skin of the puppet would have to be made from the fish skin of a fish that lived in the Darkness Continent’s Thousand Moon River.
A strip of it would cause 100,000 spirit stones, and there would always be demand but no supply.
Naturally, this fish skin was also very miraculous when it is used to repair scars on the human body.
“Why do I feel that I just learned a subject that would cost me a lot of money?”
Sun Mo browsed through the puppets that he currently could create. After that, he was shocked.
No way!
(I can’t afford to learn this, I can’t afford to learn this!)
Even if he had a spirit stone mine, he mustn’t waste it like that. However, how good would it be if he could really create the three cat-eyed sisters*?
(Wait a minute, why am I so fixated on the three of them?)
(I have to be bolder with my imagination!)
(There are so many female celebrities. In fact, they can be from other races as well. For example, the Queen of Blades…)
“Weeb!”
The system couldn’t continue watching anymore. (Given your current fame, you definitely can sleep with countless famed courtesans if you take a walk down the red-lantern streets of Jinling. Yet, you actually want to create a female puppet like this?)
(Indeed, there’s a reason why you are a single dog.)
“What nonsense am I thinking about?”
Sun Mo shook his head and hurriedly discarded his distracting thoughts. There was simply too little entertainment in the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces. He really missed his computer a lot.
“Teacher, are you okay?”
Lu Zhiruo asked in a soft voice and passed a cup of warm water over.
“I’m fine!”
Sun Mo smiled and patted the papaya girl’s head.
“Open the chests!”
Ding!
“Congratulations, you obtained 10x diamond fruits.”
“Note: After consuming this fruit, it can enhance your body functions and qualities.”
Sun Mo’s lips twitched. This was still passable. It was neither good nor bad.
It was useless even if one ate a lot of these fruits. They were priced at 3,000 points. With Sun Mo’s current body quality, the effect was negligible. Hence, he could give them to his students.
This was especially so for Li Ziqi. She was in dire need of this fruit.
“How good would it be if I could find a Diamond Tree!”
Sun Mo suddenly recalled the map he had obtained. After the 3-star examination, he would start to search for the location of the Greenhaze Forest and tried to get a botanical garden.
Next, the second chest opened and he obtained a 100-year time emblem.
“I’m not happy. Let’s open three in one go!”
Sun Mo selected three treasure chests.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Three thick books directly appeared before his eyes.
“Congratulations on obtaining 1,000 types of commonly used spirit runes. Proficiency level: expert.”
“Congratulations on obtaining 100 types of average-grade heaven-tier cultivation arts. Proficiency level: expert.”
“Congratulations on obtaining a fragment of the Undying Mystic Art. This is the sixth part of a peerless saint-tier cultivation art.”
The joyous notifications caused Sun Mo to smile as he involuntarily rubbed the papaya girl’s head.
This was then correct!
(Only with such rewards would it be able to show how strong the luck of my lucky mascot is!)
This was especially so for the commonly used 1,000 types of spirit runes. It was like heavenly dew and allowed the gap in Sun Mo’s basic knowledge to be directly filled by half.
In the past, there was no problem for Sun Mo to lecture. However, if someone had wanted him to draw basic spirit runes, he might not have been able to do it well. But now, he was definitely able to.
Also, for the 100 heaven-tier cultivation arts, although he wouldn’t train in them, he could read them to increase his knowledge.
As for the Undying Mystic Art, he could only slowly collect them!
“Continue!”
Sun Mo urged.
The treasure chest clicked open and a book clad in a green light appeared.
Ding!
“Congratulations on obtaining [Darkness Species Encyclopedia: 1,000 types of plants]. Proficiency: grandmaster level.”
Good stuff.
Sun Mo loved obtaining encyclopedias the most.
“Continue, continue. Don’t stop!”
Sun Mo felt that he was going to strike it rich today!
After that, two more books clad in green light floated in the air after a treasure chest opened.
Huo~
Sun Mo was surprised. This was as lucky as getting double egg-yolks in one egg!
This was the first time he encountered something like this ever since he started opening treasure chests.
Ding!
“Congratulations on obtaining the second and third part of the [Basic Outline of Herbology]. Proficiency: expert.”
“Note: These books are more comprehensive compared to all the basic books on herbology combined in the Nine Provinces. After you learn them, there’s no need for you to read any other books on basic herbology.”
“Happiness came too quickly, just like a hurricane!”
Sun Mo couldn’t help but hum the tune to an old song of his past world. This was a relatively important subject and could even save lives at times.
Usually speaking, alchemists would all be herbalists or even botanists.
Hence, if he wanted to learn alchemy, this would help by allowing him to get twice the results with half the effort.
Lu Zhiruo blinked her eyes. (Why do I feel that Teacher is clad in green light?)
“The last treasure chest, just open it!”
No matter what it opened, Sun Mo didn’t mind it anymore. In any case, he had already profited a lot today.
However, it would be even better if he could obtain a great teacher halo.
Sadly, Sun Mo didn’t get his wish.
An alchemy recipe floated in the air.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve obtained a 1x prescription for the dragonfire pill. This is one of the alchemy pills most suitable for the Blood-Ignition Realm. After consuming it, the consumer would enjoy dragonfire cleansing their body, and they would generate powerful dragon blood.”
“Dragon blood?”
Sun Mo was badly shocked. He hurriedly glanced at the prescription and involuntarily asked, “There’s no mention of using any parts of a dragon to concoct this pill. Why would dragon blood be generated in one’s body if they consumed it?”
“Do you understand rhetoric?”
The system was speechless. “Can you allow others to brag a little? If not, how are they supposed to sell their alchemy pills?”
Sun Mo was speechless. (You made it sound so logical that I’m speechless.)
“However, the dragonfire pill is indeed the most suitable pill for the Blood-Ignition Realm. Right now, you should start to gather the medicinal ingredients. After your personal students level up, they will cultivate very quickly after they consume the pill.”
The system suggested.
“I thought it wasn’t good to depend on alchemy pills to level up?”
Sun Mo frowned.
“Moderation is the key. There’s a limit to everything, alright? Have you seen any cultivators who never ate alchemy pills before? Also, if the level of the alchemy pill is high enough, the impurities will be next to nothing.”
The system explained.
“Do you know how wealthy people cultivate? They don’t eat rice and only eat alchemy pills. Even for the water they drink, they are drinking alchemy potions.
“There has never been any fairness to speak of in this world. There’s an extremely cruel sentence in the cultivation world. ‘The poor people depend on cultivation, the rich depend on eating alchemy pills. If you don’t have resources, why the fart are you even cultivating?’”
The words were rough, but the meaning was apparent enough.
Sun Mo nodded. It was like those high officials who had money and power. Why would they usually be able to live to ripe old age?
Because the food in their homes and the medical services they enjoyed were all the best quality ones.
When ordinary people were worrying about the queue in hospitals, the rich could just lie down in their villas and receive treatment from the best doctors.
Those with resources would surely live a better life compared to others.
This was also the reason why Sun Mo wanted to build a botanical garden.
Honestly speaking, given his current status, he wouldn’t even be able to purchase those top-graded alchemy pills even if he wanted to.
“It wasn’t easy for you to hug Mei Yazhi’s thigh, so why don’t you hug it tighter? She’s an alchemist with a close-to-ancestor-level strength.”
The system wanted to scold Sun Mo.
(So what even if the honest guy’s aptitude cannot make it?)
(Can’t you just feed him some alchemy pills? He would surely be able to surpass his peers then.)
And just when Sun Mo was opening his treasure chests, a group of students from one of the Nine Greats entered Battlegod Town.
Note: The cat-eyed sisters are from a manga in Jump