Chapter 359

Chapter 360: Immortal Qian Ji

Yu Sheng sometimes really wondered how the 66.6-centimeter-tall shorty on his shoulder could cook up such amazing turns of phrase in her head, but one thing was clear to him: the little Doll’s resentment about her height had reached a whole new level.

For example, right now she did not even mind staying at her real height of 66.6 centimeters if she could “pilot” a body that was 1.67 meters tall.

Yu Sheng could not help sighing as he said: “You really know how to settle for second best, but this is way too second.”

“I can’t help it,” Irene hugged Yu Sheng’s head and shook it hard as she said: “Just say if this can work.”

“Let go, my hair,” Yu Sheng flailed while prying at the Doll’s tiny claws as he said: “I’ll ask around for you later. Let go.”

Only then did Irene release him, tilt her head back, and keep staring at the twelve-meter-tall Assault Titans with a silly look.

“I always feel like I used to be super tall, like I looked down on everything,” she muttered as she said: “Now I can’t even remember what it felt like to lower my head and look at people. These days I have to look up at everything. If I see a chow chow mixed with a Pomeranian I dodge it, I’m scared it will carry me off.”

Hearing this, Yu Sheng could only laugh and cry. He reached up to pat the little Doll on the head to comfort her, then turned to Immortal Yuan Ling and asked: “You took this Automaton apart this far. Did you find anything new?”

“If I have to say it, yes,” Immortal Yuan Ling nodded for real as he said: “On the inner side of the Automaton’s rib armor there is an inscription that should have been left by the artisan. It reads, ‘Forged, Tianyuan Year 127, Third Month the Eighth, Supreme Radiance Valley Goldforge Pavilion, Artisan Song Xing Zhi.’ It uses the same script the Youth Form uses today, except the characters for Heaven, Valley, and Artisan are in ancient form.”

Irene blinked as she asked: “What does that even mean?”

Yu Sheng had already understood, so before Immortal Yuan Ling could speak he said: “It means that part rolled off the line on March 8 of Tianyuan Year 127. The place was a shop called Supreme Radiance Valley Goldforge Pavilion, and the person directly responsible for making it was an artisan named Song Xing Zhi. Is that right?” He aimed his last line at Immortal Yuan Ling.

“Exactly,” Immortal Yuan Ling nodded.

“An Automaton dug up from an Otherworld not only has real-world markings on it, but even carries a formal production trace,” Yu Sheng said as he grew thoughtful: “That really is a bit strange.”

Immortal Yuan Ling’s face turned serious as he slowly shook his head and said: “It’s more than that. The bigger problem is we do not know what year ‘Tianyuan Year 127’ is, and we also do not know where this ‘Supreme Radiance Valley Goldforge Pavilion’ is.”

Yu Sheng froze for a second when he heard that.

He was about to ask for details when a clear sound like wind chimes rang out from somewhere, and Immortal Yuan Ling tilted his head to listen.

“Elder Qian Ji of the Reclining Cloud Ten Halls has arrived,” after a moment Immortal Yuan Ling nodded at Xuan Che as he said: “Xuan Che, go bring him in.”

Xuan Che bowed at once, turned, and flew out of the hall.

Yu Sheng waited with patient curiosity. After about twenty minutes he heard the sound of mechanisms operating outside the hall door. The heavy door finally opened again, and a tall figure entered the group’s line of sight and walked quickly toward Immortal Yuan Ling.

Yu Sheng was startled the instant he saw the person’s appearance.

The one who walked in looked almost like an Automaton. This “Immortal Qian Ji” was metal from head to toe, copper skin and iron bones giving off a hazy spiritual glow. Even his Daoist robe shone with a metal sheen, as if it were one with the steel shell. His chest was deliberately open, almost like he was showing off. A thick, transparent plate was set over his chest cavity. Through it, you could clearly see ticking gears, rods, and shafts, and in the middle of those moving parts a heart of iron gray beat slowly. With every beat, many profound and complex Talismanic Runes faintly surfaced on the heart’s surface. The sight was delicate and eerie.

The tall “Automaton” strode in and, from afar, cupped his hands toward Immortal Yuan Ling as a deep voice with a slight tremor rumbled from his chest as he said: “Yuan Ling, your Soul-Quelling Tower has picked up many new curiosities. When will you let me study them?”

“Immortal Qian Ji, I hope you have been well,” Immortal Yuan Ling smiled and returned the salute as he said: “We have honored guests today, so please keep it in check.”

Only then did “Immortal Qian Ji” seem to notice that there were other “things” in the hall besides Immortal Yuan Ling and the Assault Titans. He turned his head to look at Yu Sheng’s group.

His gaze landed on Luna, who was spacing out.

“Hello, fellow daoist,” Immortal Qian Ji gave a very formal bow as he asked: “May I ask what material your bones are made of?”

Luna did not react at all.

“Ahem,” Immortal Yuan Ling quickly coughed and raised a hand to introduce as he said: “This is Yu Sheng, the ‘expert’ I mentioned to you, and he is the host here. The one you greeted is Miss Luna. This Nine-Tailed Silver Fox is Miss Foxy. And on Yu Sheng’s shoulder…”

Immortal Yuan Ling was halfway through when Immortal Qian Ji had already turned to stand in front of Yu Sheng. He gave another formal bow as he said: “Hello, fellow daoist. Is that small Automaton on your shoulder something you refined yourself? It is truly small and delicate.”

The moment Yu Sheng heard the words “small Automaton,” he sensed trouble. Sure enough there was a whoosh by his ear as Irene shot out like an angry bird, leaving a trail of flowery curses as she yelled: “You XX, saying ‘small’ would have been enough, but you had to say ‘small and delicate’ too. I’ll show you small…”

Luckily, after spending so long with this little Doll, Yu Sheng had learned a few tricks. The instant he felt his shoulder lighten, he guessed the shorty was about to launch. He had already reached out to catch her in midair and grabbed Irene around the waist. Dangling by her belt, she could only rage without doing anything, kicking and waving and cursing, though her target had shifted to Yu Sheng.

Immortal Qian Ji’s face of layered copper plates and soft metal instantly showed shock. He watched Irene thrash in the air, gears at the corners of his eye sockets clicking as he said: “So nimble, and with quite the temper.”

“Her name is Irene,” Immortal Yuan Ling finally found his chance to speak as he said: “She is an Alice’s Doll. She suffered an accident years ago and has to live in this shell for now. Yu Sheng refined this shell.”

There was a click from the gear cluster in Immortal Qian Ji’s chest, and he froze for half a second.

Yu Sheng was still wondering how to handle this “ten halls elder,” who seemed a bit odd, when the latter suddenly turned, faced Irene, and gave a deep bow as he said: “Fellow daoist Irene, hello. I offended you. Please forgive me.”

Now it was Irene’s turn to be at a loss: “…”

Clearly, the little Doll was used to arguing online with very “polite” netizens, going hundreds of posts without stopping. This was her first time running into a situation like this. She was tongue-tied for a long moment, then squeezed out her last bit of manners as she said: “Uh, it’s fine. Hello to you too.”

Just then Luna suddenly looked up and gave Immortal Qian Ji a nod as she said: “Mm, okay.”

Immortal Qian Ji froze. He had no idea what Luna’s sudden “mm, okay” was supposed to mean.

Right after, he seemed to notice something else and looked back at Yu Sheng.

From deep inside his ticking mechanisms came a strange clattering sound.

“This Fellow Daoist Yu…” Immortal Qian Ji muttered, the lenses set into his eye sockets telescoping in and out, his tone unsure as he said: “Fellow daoist, are you here in a body-double? I cannot see you clearly.”

Yu Sheng went blank as he said: “Uh?”

“Just pretend your lenses need a wipe,” Immortal Yuan Ling said, sounding annoyed, then added as he said: “And why does this body of yours keep making odd noises? Which number is this one?”

“Heaven No. 22,” Immortal Qian Ji said casually as he said: “I was going to send Earth No. 16, but Earth No. 16 went to repair the Earth Veins a few days ago and accidentally fell into lava, so it burned up. I could only send Heaven No. 22, which was free. The odd sound may be because I bumped into a mountain on the way here. Some of the joints got a bit loose. It is fine.”

Hearing talk of “Heaven No. 22” and “Earth No. 16,” Yu Sheng grew curious. Immortal Yuan Ling noticed and explained as he said: “We each have ways to handle heavy affairs without delaying cultivation or teaching. I use the method of external avatars. Immortal Qian Ji built a large number of identical bodies, grouped as Heaven, Earth, and Human, for research, craftwork, and administration.”

He went on as he said: “You can call this a unique avatar method of the refining path. What you see here is not his true body, only a mechanical avatar. Of course, after so many years, Immortal Qian Ji probably cannot tell which one was his original body anymore.”

“Haha, sometimes I really can’t,” Immortal Qian Ji laughed, not caring at all, as he said: “I just draw lots and use whichever. The Primordial Spirit is the source. Bodies are all inns. This is the mechanism Path of Ascension.”

Irene understood and excitedly poked Yu Sheng’s head as she said: “Hey, this is kind of like my setup.”

Immortal Qian Ji turned right away as he said: “Fellow daoist Irene also cultivates the mechanism Path of Ascension?”

Irene said: “I have no idea. Yu Sheng made my body.”

Immortal Qian Ji looked to Yu Sheng again as he said: “Fellow daoist Yu also cultivates the mechanism Path of Ascension?”

At this point Yu Sheng felt a headache coming on as he thought: [Why is this so messy.]