For the sake of the Enlightenment Skill, Wang Ping had converted Yang Zhiping’s former room into a woodworking workshop.

After his recent studies, the workshop was filled with parts for wooden puppets. However, these were all just for show. To create a puppet that was both tough and combat-ready, each individual component had to be separately refined.

This just went to show how much painstaking effort Tongyu Taoist must have poured into creating his own puppet back then.

While Wang Ping was busy in his workshop, Yu Lian would always sneak into the small courtyard to secretly nibble on the flowers he had planted. Their faint, sweet taste utterly captivated her. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Today was no different. After stealing a glance at the intently focused Wang Ping, Yu Lian shrank herself down and hid behind a clump of flowers. First, she carefully surveyed the blossoms, trying to determine which cluster she could nibble one or two flowers from without being noticed, and without killing the plant itself. Then, she slowly crept closer...

Her snack finished, a satisfied Yu Lian somersaulted through the flowers, then rode a small cloud up to the workshop window. Just as she arrived, she heard Wang Ping ask, "Do you like sweets?"

"Nope, they’re too cloying!"

"Er... have you ever tried honey?"

"Never!"

"I’ll have someone bring some for you another day."

"Yay!"

As they spoke, Wang Ping finished the simple puppet in his hands. He immediately began nourishing it with Spiritual Qi, and within half an hour, he felt a faint resonance from it.

Wang Ping immediately condensed his spiritual sense and, using his Wood Spirit Qi, infused the puppet with a human’s survival instincts and basic memories, channeling it in a manner similar to the "Turning Plants into Soldiers" technique.

A green light flashed across the puppet. Its previously limp body immediately responded. It stood, walked back and forth, then moved in front of Wang Ping and bowed politely. The next moment, however, it lost its balance and toppled over.

"Hahaha!"

Tongyu Taoist roared with laughter. "I told you not to underestimate puppet making! The concept of balance alone is something you’ll have to study for a long time!"

Wang Ping wasn’t the least bit annoyed. With a soft chuckle, he waved his hand and used his Spiritual Qi to lift the puppet back up. The puppet instinctively tried to bow again, but then it seemed to recall something and froze in place. A faint pop of Spiritual Qi was heard, and its component parts scattered across the floor.

"Did I give it too much consciousness?" Wang Ping asked.

Tongyu Taoist spoke like a seasoned expert. "You did. This is ordinary wood. The most you can give it is the instinct to run back and forth. After that, you have to slowly refine and teach it. Only after years and years of accumulation does it have a chance of becoming a true puppet."

Wang Ping picked up a brush and recorded everything that had just happened on a bamboo slip. Yu Lian, curious, perched on his shoulder to watch. After a little while, Wang Ping had filled the entire slip with notes.

After stowing away his notes, Wang Ping didn’t continue experimenting with his Enlightenment Skill. Instead, he went to the Alchemy Room at the back of the workshop to prepare a batch of Power Pills. The market for them was hot recently, and he needed to seize the opportunity to make a hefty profit.

「Three months passed...」

News arrived from Hu Mountain Country. They had found a Celestial and Earthly Treasure with a Wood Spirit affinity, called the Blood Demon Vine.

The name sounded grotesque and terrifying, but in reality, it was just a plant with an unearthly appearance. It was blood-red from top to bottom and typically grew at the base of cliffs shrouded in poisonous miasma. Its countless roots wound through the solid rock, making it not only incredibly difficult to find, but even harder to excavate.

Zhao Qing had used his connections with the Daoist Scripture Hall to acquire it for nine hundred fifty thousand taels, then spent another twenty thousand taels to have the Hall escort it back to Shang’an Prefecture.

By the time it reached Wang Ping’s hands, a month had passed. The vine was coiled into a tight ball, but if unfurled, it would be over five feet long. Its entire body was a strange, demonic red. To one sensitive to Spiritual Qi, the Wood Spirit Qi surrounding it was incredibly dense, and it even possessed a faint flicker of self-awareness.

On the morning of the third day after the Start of Autumn.

Wang Ping awoke from his meditation before the pagoda tree. As two young attendants brought in his breakfast, he cast a quick divination for each of them.

After breakfast, Wang Ping first instructed the attendants at the gate to turn away all visitors. He then went into his workshop and took out the puppet that Tongyu Taoist had created.

Sensing the seriousness in Wang Ping’s mood, Yu Lian didn’t dare to sneak any snacks today. After he entered the workshop, she simply behaved herself, perching on the windowsill and playing the part of a curious onlooker.

From his perch atop the Purgatory Banner hanging on the workshop wall, Tongyu Taoist watched Wang Ping take out the puppet. His chibi-style head shook solemnly a couple of times before he spoke.

"Are you ready? You must follow my instructions for every single step. Otherwise, you’ll spend years just trying to piece it back together!"

"Ready."

Wang Ping simply nodded.

Then, under Tongyu Taoist’s guidance, he slowly began to dismantle the puppet’s chest...

First came the external armor, which had six separate mechanisms. Once opened, they revealed a dense-packed array of gears and components. Following Tongyu Taoist’s instructions, Wang Ping dismantled them piece by piece, only reaching the housing for the puppet’s core four hours later.

Inside the core was a "Bone Stone," an object Wang Ping recognized. ’This thing is a real treasure; it could sell for over five hundred thousand taels!’ Under Tongyu Taoist’s complicated gaze, Wang Ping removed the Bone Stone and tucked it into his storage pouch with lightning speed.

"Now, you need to use your Wood Spirit Qi to disperse the Taiyin Qi from the core region. Then, place the Blood Demon Vine inside and patiently reassemble all these parts. Finally, use your Wood Spirit True Essence to activate the Array that connects the core to the rest of the puppet. Once that’s done, you can begin the enlightenment. And remember, you must completely assimilate the remnant aura I left behind in the Array."

Tongyu Taoist gave his instructions with grave seriousness. Overhearing the conversation from the windowsill, Yu Lian retreated with all possible speed. ’I was so bored!’ she thought. But the atmosphere in the workshop had been so tense that she hadn’t dared to move, afraid of making a noise and disturbing Wang Ping. Now that the two were talking, it was the perfect chance to make her escape.

After Yu Lian left, Wang Ping glanced instinctively in her direction before immersing himself once more in his patient work.

Another four hours passed, and noon came and went. The attendants outside didn’t bring a meal, just as Wang Ping had instructed them earlier. Gazing at the fully reassembled puppet, Wang Ping felt a swell of satisfaction.

Yu Lian, who had been napping on the eaves, immediately sensed the shift. She instinctively rode her cloud, intending to go take a look, but the memory of how boring it had been earlier stopped her. She flew halfway there before turning back to the roof, her vertical pupils filled with indecision.

By now, Wang Ping was already following Tongyu Taoist’s command. He circulated the Wood Spirit True Essence from his Qi Sea to guide the Blood Demon Vine within the core, sending the Wood Spirit Qi along the puppet’s internal Rune Lines to complete a full Grand Circulation.

This step would take at least three days. Before he knew it, night had fallen, but Wang Ping had no intention of stopping. While continuing to guide the Wood Spirit True Essence along the Rune Lines, he formed a hand seal for a spell, gathering Spiritual Qi until it coalesced into a bright white light—the most basic Lighting Technique.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Wang Ping patiently guided the energy through the final section of Rune Lines, then exhaled and withdrew his power. All that was left was to cultivate a tiny sliver of independent consciousness within the puppet, just as he had before. Then, he could finally use the Enlightenment Skill.

Wang Ping was in no hurry to take this final step. He returned to the courtyard, cast a simple cleaning spell on himself, and sat down. He took out his teapot, lit the stove, and prepared to drink a cup of tea to settle his spirit before continuing.