Where Immortals Once Walked

He Lingchuan did, in fact, pick out several items from the shop. The first of which was a new grappling hook. Although it was not as exquisite as the one Li Fubo had personally crafted for him, the precision, durability, and responsiveness of which bordered on artistry, this reinforced model was leagues above the shabby one he was currently using. The upgraded barbed hook was plated with refined gold and fitted with a soft, anti-slip layer at the grip, making it far less likely to lose hold once latched onto something. The retrieval mechanism of this grappling hook was smoother as well, having been polished to a neat, springy tension.

Most importantly, its construction allowed it to sync with his sleeve arrow case. Once the hook was folded shut, the entire item could slide neatly into the case like a concealed projectile. It came with adjustable fittings so that it could be used with various case models, no extra modifications required.

Next, he acquired several spirit maps.

These, Bai Guo proudly proclaimed, were Spirit-Nurturing Isle’s own invention. They looked like nothing more than ordinary sheets of tanned goatskin, but once opened, they revealed a beautifully detailed rendering of the Panlong Wasteland and all surrounding territories.

You simply pricked a starting point with your fingernail, spoke your intended destination aloud, and the parchment would bloom with a faint shimmering line. The map would then trace out a dotted path, guiding your direction like a patient, unblinking shepherd.

What was even more magical about it was that as you walked in the real world, the map dynamically adjusted. Every step you took caused the parchment’s scale to shift proportionally, as though it were constantly breathing with your movements. Thanks to that, there was no need to reorient or recalculate.

Each map could be used seven times, and reaching a destination consumed a “charge.” The price was surprisingly reasonable, and it was clearly designed as the shop’s crowd-drawing bestseller.

He Lingchuan slapped the counter with delight. “Give me ten!”

Isn’t this just like what I used countless times back in my original world?

Bai Guo immediately had everything wrapped up and presented it neatly. “Allow me to demonstrate how it works.”

“No need.” He Lingchuan chuckled. “I’m already very familiar with this.”

He had practically grown up using these sorts of items—in a different life, a different world.

The shop’s inventory was impressively complete. He restocked his consumables, pre-ordered a batch of ghost-shadow cicada shells, and by the time he was done, the entire month’s rent he had just collected had gone straight back into the shopkeeper’s hands and then some. Only after stepping away from the counter did he finally remember to ask, “Oh, right, Sun Fuling, did you want to buy anything?”

Since this is partly my store, I should be treating her, right?

But she simply smiled and said, “No. They don’t have what I want.”

Bai Guo puffed up indignantly at that. “There’s nothing in this world I can’t procure! Just tell me what you want, and I’ll fetch it.”

“A book,” Sun Fuling replied calmly. “A particular set of notes from the northern monster state.”

“A notebook?” Bai Guo blinked. “What sort?”

“I heard that Monster Emperor Wu Chen once recorded his life’s insights into a collection called the Records on Worshipping the Gods. He then had it copied widely and distributed among the noble families of Beijia. I want to read it.”

Bai Guo said with some confusion, “I don’t seem to recall the northern monster state’s current monarch being named Wu Chen.”

“Of course not, he was the monarch over three hundred years ago.”

“Ah...” Bai Guo instantly admitted defeat. “Then I really can’t find that.”

Leaving the shop, they boarded the donkey cart once more. As the wheels creaked forward, He Lingchuan asked, “The shopkeeper seemed to think you were deliberately making things difficult for him.”

“He guessed correctly.” She snorted, and a rare emotion flickered across her usually placid face. “His prices are outrageous. I don’t like merchants who smirk and squeeze people with every smile.”

It was a rare flash of irritation from Ms. Sun. He Lingchuan turned back to glance at the storefront and suddenly remembered the old woman he had run into the day he first came to clean the place.

Her surname he had forgotten, but he still recalled her wiry frame, sunken cheeks, and oddly distended belly.

She had walked out of this shop carrying a glazed clay jar.

He remembered that back then, the shopkeeper next door had teased, saying that she looked to be a few months along.

What if...

“Is something wrong?” Sun Fuling noticed his mind wandering.

“No, it’s nothing.” He chased the thought away. The idea was too wild to voice aloud.

The donkey cart turned several corners, eventually rolling past the Office of Military Merit.

“Hey.” Sun Fuling tugged his sleeve. “Didn’t you say that patrolman from earlier felt suspicious? Why don’t we go to the Bureau of Bright Prospects and check whether your new merits were actually recorded?”

“Hm, that makes sense, but weren’t we heading for the Divine Descent Platform?”

“The heavenly sacrifice isn’t starting that soon.”

“Alright.” He hopped off the cart, paid the driver, and followed Sun Fuling inside.

He was beginning to realize that Sun Fuling was not exactly gentle. Either that, or she cared very little for ceremony despite today being the Day of Heavenly Sacrifice.

Inside the Bureau of Bright Prospects, the duty clerk happened to be someone he was familiar with. It was Merits Clerk Liu.

The man’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw Sun Fuling. “Oh, Ms. Sun!”

Sun Fuling nodded. “Long time no see.”

“Ah...” Merits Clerk Liu faltered, then simply said, “Yes.”

He Lingchuan stepped forward. “Four hours ago, I caught a man-eating creature in the city and entrusted Patrol Liu Xinyi to bring it in. Could you check whether the submission went through?”

“Four hours ago?” Clerk Liu lowered his brush and pulled out the neighboring stack of dossiers.

After a short search, his eyebrows rose. “Found it! One captured—classification: ferry-crossing ghostspawn.”

“Ferry-crossing ghostspawn?” He Lingchuan blinked. “It’s been officially identified?”

He was even more shocked when he saw that the merit points had, in fact, been credited to him.

So that patrolman wasn’t actually compromised?

The man had returned promptly and dutifully logged the submission, so He Lingchuan came to the conclusion that he had misjudged him.

“Yes, it’s already been identified. These are newborns from the Ferry-Crossing Mother. The Ferry-Crossing Mother can gestate using another person’s womb, so its offspring have fleshy shells and can walk under daylight. They’re not ordinary ghostly creatures.”

“They can borrow another person’s womb?” He Lingchuan murmured. “Are you saying that they use a living human as a mother?”

“Yes. The one you handed in still had amniotic fluid on it, so the authorities have already begun screening pregnant women across the city.”

Clerk Liu flipped the dossier and spun it around. “Here, this is the merit you earned for capturing two ghostspawn. What would you like to redeem?”

The rewards were generous, likely due to accidentally completing a bounty task. Most importantly, his nearly depleted merit balance had been restored to a respectable amount.

“Hm, I’d like to exchange them for a technique.” After a moment of thought, he said, “I’d like a divine technique this time.” He had not yet fully digested the Wave-Cleaving Saber or the Swallow’s Return movement technique, and adding more martial techniques would only slow his progress in learning the ones he already had.

Meanwhile, divine techniques expanded his tactical options and gave him tools that could turn a battle on its head.

Merits Clerk Liu immediately pulled out the catalog of techniques for He Lingchuan to choose from.

“This Mirror Image Art looks good.” He Lingchuan tapped a technique on the catalog. The Mirror Image Art allowed the user to create one or more afterimages of themselves, each carrying about twenty percent of the original’s strength and lasting for four breaths. If these mirror images were gravely injured or strayed more than sixty meters away, they dissipated.

As one advanced the technique, the number, power, and duration of the mirror images all increased. At mastery, one could summon up to four at once.

In essence, it created a squad of powerful backup fighters that obeyed orders without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the art could only be used in combat, not for chores or manual labor.

Still, it would greatly compensate for his lack of large-scale offensive abilities.

He continued browsing and saw two more divine techniques that were incredibly tempting. However, his merit was not infinite.

Seeing his hesitation, Sun Fuling asked, “Where’s your biggest weakness in battle?”

“Weakness?” He Lingchuan frowned. He had been thinking about that.

She was right. It was better for him to plug the biggest hole first. Any technique, no matter how good, would only be decoration if he did not survive long enough to use it.

Finally, he pointed to a different entry in the catalog. “I’ll take this.”

Merits Clerk Liu glanced at what he was pointing at and kindly warned, “This one is expensive.”

“I know.” Money was a treacherous beast, but if he could exchange money for survival, he would gladly pay any price.

Merits Clerk Liu retrieved the tome that recorded the secret art from the storage cabinet and slapped it onto the table.

“Congratulations. You’ve acquired the bankrupting-your-future Golden-Armored Copper Man. In all of Panlong City, fewer than five people study this technique.”

Sun Fuling let out a surprised sound, then said, “You’ll need to start saving diligently.”

The secret art he had redeemed was strictly speaking less of a divine technique and more of a blueprint.

The cover of the tome read: Golden-Armored Copper Man.

It detailed the secret art for forging a golden-armored copper man.

He had watched Dong Rui command his ghost ape and werewolf, letting them wreak havoc among trained soldiers with brutal efficiency. He had also seen a Cloud-Piercing Pavilion disciple summon azure-kerchief laborer summons using grass-head talismans. Summoned aides were extremely useful as they could fight, carry supplies, open paths, or trigger traps.

A golden-armored copper man would undoubtedly be sturdier than an azure-kerchief laborer summon. In a dire moment, it could take a fatal blow meant for its master, practically making it offense and defense combined into one.

Wu Shaoyi had owned a copper man as well, though his was of mediocre quality and was bestowed upon him by Hong Xiangqian. Even so, during the battle at Immortal Spirit Village, it had turned the tide.[1]

After surviving several battles himself, He Lingchuan knew exactly where he fell short, and that was defense. Magical artifacts could help patch that gap, but they remained passive. He needed something that actively shielded him, and that was where a golden-armored copper man could come in.

If danger approached, it would take the hit. If arrows rained, it would catch them first. If a beast charged, it could tackle the thing head-on.

These constructs were forged and kept in miniature form, no bigger than half a palm. In battle, one tossed it out, recited the summoning incantation, and it would grow into a towering warrior over three meters tall.

However, the difficulty lay in the control. Unlike mirror images, which acted semi-autonomously, a copper man required constant mental focus. Without the master’s mind guiding it, the big oaf would not even take a single step.

Summoning one already demanded attention. As for summing several? The difficulty multiplied tenfold.

Rumor had it that true masters could control six at once, but that was the very limit.

Moreover, copper men could evolve. They went from copper man to copper guardian to copper general. Each stage brought immense improvements compared to the last.

Unfortunately, the complete secret art had long been lost within the realm of Yuan. Even if Hong Xiangqian could craft the basic copper man, he had no way to further upgrade them.

Merits Clerk Liu added, “It’s not that the golden-armored copper men are bad, but hardly anyone in Panlong City learns it for one simple reason: it devours money.”

He was not joking.

Of the twenty-one materials required to craft one, seven were terribly expensive. Just Wu Metal, which was one of the materials required, was a familiar nightmare.

He Lingchuan winced.

He had nearly gone bankrupt just to plant his Fleeting Life saber. If not for Sun Fuping’s relics, he would never have been able to gather the funds.

This secret art required Wu Metal as well. Granted, only a tiny amount per construct, so nothing compared to the saber’s gluttonous appetite, but in Panlong City, Wu Metal was nearly impossible to buy even with money.

And that was not the worst part.

Every upgrade—copper man to copper guardian, and copper guardian to copper general—required a new round of astronomical expenses. It was a bottomless pit that happily ate silver ingots for breakfast.

Even worse, the merit price of the blueprint itself was sky-high. They were far from what would be considered cost-effective, and no sane person would typically choose it.

Moreover, these golden-armored copper men ran on profound crystals, so he needed plenty of those too.

However, as far as He Lingchuan was concerned, none of this was a real problem... probably.

1. Note that Wu Shaoyi’s was instead a bronze figurine. Still, they’re probably similar in that they’re copper golems of sorts. Honestly, I probably should have also just translated Wu Shaoyi’s golem as a copper figurine, but I really thought that the author meant bronze since copper isn’t exactly strong. The thing is, 铜像 (bronze figurine) does carry the connotation of actually being made of bronze (青铜), but the same can’t be said for 铜人 (copper man). Anyway, I don’t think this is really bound to realism all that much since gold isn’t exactly strong either, yet this golem is “golden-armored” and considered stronger. ☜