For the first time in a week, Liam finally stepped outside.
The fresh air of the inner city. Crisp, lovely, and most definitely not sour from the horrible drainage system by the streets.
His foot landed lightly on the tiled path just beyond his doorstep.
Morning sunlight spilled across the stone, bright and soft, and he instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness.
"…I really am a shut-in nerd, huh," he muttered with a dry chuckle, sighing through his nose.
Looking around the space, most houses were built out of dark yellow wood.
Double storey for most, walls surrounding each house courtyard and backyard, and in a way, this place appeared to be quite high end.
The tiles he stepped on, square greyish stones with occasional grasses stuck out of the tiny gaps.
Drains channel on each sides, and obviously no koi fish to speak of.
Without rushing, he moved forward, his presence drifting quietly into the rhythm of the neighborhood street.
Behind him, the door creaked faintly as it closed on its own.
His puppet, silent, followed at his side like a shadow cast in wood and metal.
Liam gave the tall construct a quick glance and nodded, satisfied. "A tier 2 energy container really does make long-term deployment viable."
The puppet didn't respond, of course, but its presence was sturdy, reassuring. He felt a bit more safe.
With that, Liam continued walking toward the center of the city.
He'd barely made it several steps down the street when a quiet click broke the morning's calm.
A door opened across from his own.
A man stepped out from the opposite house, blinking at the unexpected sight of Liam.
His expression shifted quickly into amusement.
"Well, I'll be damned. I thought you finally died holed up in there, Old Li."
Liam's smile twitched like a poorly animated puppet.
Clearly, this wasn't an interaction he'd been prepared for.
He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling awkwardly. "Brother Fu… it's been awhile"
"It has"
"judging by your tone, I take it there's a rumor about me?"
"There is," the man answered bluntly, laughing as he patted his own stomach.
"Dead, of course. I didn't believe it, though. I've known you for decades. These newcomers just don't get your… style."
"It's fine," Liam waved a hand, half-grinning.
"Better for people not to know whether I'm dead or alive. Keeps them from getting any ideas."
"Plenty already have," Brother Fu laughed again, eyes gleaming with mischief.
"But I doubt any of them are stupid enough to make a move. Nobody knows how many puppets you've got tucked away."
He nodded toward the towering wooden figure at Liam's side.
The puppet stood motionless, but the air around it was quietly intimidating. "That a new product?"
"Yeah," Liam said, patting the puppet's arm with a flicker of pride. "My strongest creation so far."
"Oh?" Brother Fu stepped closer, examining the construct with a glint of curiosity. "How strong is it?"
His tone was casual, but there was a sharpness in his eyes, genuine interest, maybe even a hint of envy.
Probably?
Liam didn't answer.
Instead, he tilted his chin slightly toward the puppet.
"Show him."
Boom.
A surge of spiritual pressure burst forth from the puppet's body.
The air rippled faintly, and an unmistakable aura radiated out from the puppet's body.
Peak Qi Refining Realm.
The moment it hit, Brother Fu stumbled back a few steps, his face taut with surprise.
As someone at the fifth layer of Qi Refining himself, the weight of that aura made him feel like a flimsy leaf trying to float in a current.
"P-Peak Qi Refining?!" he gasped. "Such power"
He turned quickly to Liam, his eyes wide and a little wild, but his surprise quickly melted into laughter.
Steadying himself against the lingering pressure, he pulled out a rolled parchment from his sleeve and offered it with both hands.
"Judging by this alone… there's no doubt you've stepped into the peak of First Grade Puppet Arts. I'm amazed, truly."
Liam accepted the parchment without much ceremony, then tucked the accompanying bag of spiritual stones into his robes.
Free money was free money, after all.
He waved a hand, half-embarrassed, half-playing along. "A fluke, honestly… Never thought I'd hit this level in my lifetime."
"But now that you have, it's great news for the neighborhood," Brother Fu said, clearly trying to curry favor.
"How about coming to my house this evening? Eating my wife's specially made dishes, and I can also introduce my daughter to you"
"Haha, I will think about it"
The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, words light but layered.
Eventually, Liam gave a polite nod and turned away, stepping back onto the street path with his puppet trailing close behind.
Brother Fu stayed behind, watching his retreating figure with a strange look in his eyes, something thoughtful.
"…Seems like patience really does pay off for those who work hard," he murmured to himself. "I thought he was depressed for not being able to break through for so long. But it seems I am the fool instead"
His gaze drifted inward, recalling something Liam had said in passing just moments earlier.
'Why should my spiritual root decide my future if it's me that decides my destiny?'
That single sentence hit harder than expected.
He glanced toward his own house.
The image of dusty stacks of unused talisman paper came to mind, paper that had sat untouched for far too long.
He clenched his fists.
"I'm not stepping out again until I succeed as a talisman master," he declared to himself with renewed resolve.
"If Old Lin can do it, why can't I do the same?"
And with that, he turned on his heel and rushed back into his home.
The walk from his house to the main street wasn't long, short, actually.
And more importantly, safe.
After all, the place he'd bought decades ago sat within the city's inner ring, the kind of district where middle-tier cultivators and the comfortably wealthy chose to live.
Safety wasn't a luxury here, it was built into the price.
The outer ring, though?
That was another story entirely.
Out there, it was chaos, poverty and danger tightly woven together.
If you were weak, life was a gamble.
One wrong move, one bad day, and you could lose everything… including your life.
He stepped onto the main road, and the noise hit him all at once.
Crowds.
Dozens, maybe hundreds, of people flowed along the wide street.
Most of them were mortals, unsurprising, since they made up nearly seventy percent of the city's population.
They moved like currents in a river, men and women alike, each carrying tools, baskets, or crates.
Mortals were the city's silent backbone, the laborers and servants supporting the cultivation world.
Women often found work as maids. Men handled the physical grind, building, lifting, hauling.
Their treatment was rarely kind, but they persisted.
Many laughed at their reasons. Liam didn't.
"To break free from mortal shackles," he thought, the phrase echoing in his mind.
He still remembered the day this body, back when it was younger, was tested at a sect.
A spiritual root had been found… but a trash-grade one.
Cultivating would be like trying to cross a sea with a spoon.
The Foundation Realm?
A fantasy.
Something unreachable without a miracle.
"But with the dungeon system in my hands," Liam muttered, his eyes narrowing, "cultivation isn't even necessary."
He grinned to himself. "Egg hunting's the way now!"
He threw up a hand as if in celebration, only to notice the startled glances around him.
Nearby mortals flinched, quickly stepping back and scurrying away.
Realizing the scene he'd just caused, Liam scratched the side of his head, a little embarrassed.
"Right… need to cut down the monologues," he muttered under his breath. "Keep the image clean."
He let out a quiet sigh and pressed forward.
As he walked, he couldn't help noticing how many more mortals there were in the city now compared to years past.
The increase was obvious, and it didn't take long to figure out why.
Passing conversations floated to his ears. Something about dynasties at war, outer regions in conflict.
Of course.
Secular world is always in turmoil.
They were refugees, seeking shelter in immortal cities, trying to survive.
A good thing, in theory.
Still, Liam could only wonder how many never made it here alive.
He shook the thought off and kept walking, eventually reaching the heart of the city's marketplace.
It was a massive area layered in two circles: the outer section for mortals, the inner reserved for cultivators.
As he crossed into the central zone, gazes immediately turned his way.
Some subtle. Some not.
They weren't looking at him exactly, but rather, at the aura clinging to his body… and the puppet beside him.
In seconds, people understood: this wasn't someone to provoke.
A peak Qi Refining Realm puppet wasn't something you saw every day.
Honestly, even the city lord might not have such a thing.
Liam ignored the stares. He was used to it.
Without breaking pace, he chose a random street among the dozen that stretched outward and made his way toward the first storefront that caught his eye.
It was a chamber of commerce.
Nothing too flashy.
In fact, he recalled it being relatively unknown, not that popularity mattered to him.
All he needed was a place that could handle the transaction.
Selling a puppet that powerful, however, wasn't smart.
At least, not openly.
Not unless you wanted greedy eyes tracking your every step.
So, before stepping inside, Liam had already modified the three puppets in his storage bag.
Their power had been adjusted, each one now restrained to around the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
Still strong, late-stage strength, in fact.
And very valuable to most cultivators.
He entered the shop.
The first person to greet him was a mortal woman dressed in a revealing, figure-hugging outfit.
Her expression lit up the moment she saw him.
"Welcome to the store, Senior," she said sweetly, her smile a little too practiced, perhaps she had done many "incredible" things for immortal cultivators as side services.
Shop policy, that is.
She leaned forward ever so slightly, eyes flicking toward his chest, then the puppet beside him.
A silent attempt to charm, maybe.
The subtle exposure of white flesh enticed him a little. But only a little.
Liam, however, wasn't one to fall easily… well, not completely.
He coughed lightly and got to the point. "I'm here to sell puppets."
At that, the woman straightened and nodded quickly, her demeanor becoming more professional.
She guided him to the staircase at the back, leading him to the upper floor.
There, he was met by a much more striking woman.
She wore a deep violet dress that clung to her body like silk, with a high slit revealing her left thigh and a chest that left little to the imagination.
Her black hair cascaded down her back in waves, and those lavender eyes gleamed with sharp awareness.
She smiled and offered a respectful bow. "This junior greets Senior Li."
Liam blinked, caught off guard.
She noticed and chuckled softly. "Senior Li is quite well-known. After all, very few in this city practice the puppet arts… and even fewer manage to retain a youthful appearance like Senior."
"Ah… I see," Liam replied, a little awkward as he nodded.
Her knowing his age wasn't exactly comfortable, even if he didn't show it.
Outwardly, he remained calm, composed.
She noted it silently and praised him in her mind.
Composure, even under surprise, clearly someone not to be underestimated.
"Then," she said, glancing toward the doorway, "This junior heard from the staff that Senior wishes to sell puppets?"
Liam didn't answer right away. Instead, he gave her a curious look.
"For a mortal to reach such a position in this business… impressive."
"I've simply been lucky," she replied smoothly, her smile never faltering.
With a flick of his wrist, Liam waved to his side, and in a flash, three tall figures appeared in the room.
Their presence filled the space instantly.
Their auras, while restrained, were still far from subtle.
The woman's eyes flicked to them, a faint glimmer of surprise flashing across her face.
She recognized it immediately, these were late-stage Qi Refining Realm puppets.
Despite being a mortal, it seems she possessed some hidden means up her sleeve.
Liam noticed this.
"Three puppets," Liam said casually, lifting a cup of tea from the table and taking a sip.
"Each one seventh layer. Two close-combat. One long-range. Several basic spells equipped on them"
The tea was warm. The woman's interest, warmer.