The Art of Trolling and the Puppet Alchemist
Trolling, too, requires a sense of timing. Returning to her quarters, Baek Cheong threw herself onto the bed. Though the exhaustion from days of banquets seeped into her bones, her mind remained sharp and clear. "Everyone will be busy for a while, anyway." Her father was currently discussing state affairs with the Great Cultivators of the Nascent Soul stage. With the likes of Feng Jinhai of the Biun Sect, Xiao Xuanzheng of the Manxiang Pavilion, and Zhen Wuxue of the Taihyeon Sect present, the movements of such powerful figures were rare, making it highly likely that secret talks to strengthen ties between their clans would continue for days. On top of that, her uncle’s schedule was packed tight as he had to figure out where and how to place the newly arrived Golden Core hermits.
"No one to nag me." The corners of Baek Cheong’s mouth curled upward. Without delay, she logged into the Mumyungbang.
Posts from confused and panicked users unfolded before her eyes. "Looks like it appeared again." The original post of the Zhenxian-Cas had already been deleted. It seemed the board moderator had detected it and dealt with it immediately. However, even though the image post was gone, the terror remained. The board was flooded with posts from users warning each other, interspersed with traces of those who had been terrified out of their wits.
[Fortunately, the moderator caught it quickly this time too.]
└ DaoistFriend(11.23): I heard a user last time clicked on it by mistake and lost their Nascent Soul even though they retracted their divine sense quickly.
└ DaoistFriend(43.21): Why do cultivators in the Upper Realm Mumyungbang keep invading the Lower Realm board?
└ DaoistFriend(9.2): They’re doing it to offer the realm to the Zhenxian after being eaten by them.
└ DaoistFriend(43.21): How would a user know that...?
She felt a surge of curiosity about this suspicious user, but she didn't dare reply. It was safer in every way to keep her distance from suspicious characters. "Well, that ruins my chance to stir up some chaos." Baek Cheong smacked her lips in disappointment. It wasn't a good idea to provoke users who were already on edge due to dangerous incidents like the Zhenxian-Cas. To be a true troll, one had to follow a code of conduct to keep the chaos going for a long time. "Besides, I had something I wanted to ask anyway."
As luck would have it, the board refresh rate had slowed down, meaning new posts weren't getting buried as quickly. It was the perfect opportunity to ask the question that had been circling in her mind.
As soon as she posted the question, the frozen users of the Mumyungbang began to stir. Perhaps judging that a safe question was better than the dangerous Zhenxian-Cas, the view count climbed rapidly.
[DaoistFriend(88.4): It’s not that they don’t, it’s that they can’t.]
[DaoistFriend(11.23): People are cheaper than puppets.]
└ DaoistFriend(88.4): A single alchemy puppet would easily cost several premium spirit stones. It’s more profitable to just grab three or four disciples and work them for free.
[DaoistFriend(422.9): Alchemy itself is enough to make you lose your mind; adding puppet control on top of that is just asking for death.]
└ DaoistFriend(201.9): Alchemy while controlling a puppet? Perfect way to create a schizophrenic maniac.
└ DaoistFriend(11.23): Even a Transformation-stage cultivator would go crazy if they tried to do both at once.
Soon, the replies were pouring in as fast as the views. It seemed the users, intimidated by the Zhenxian-Cas, felt like they could finally breathe after encountering a safe topic.
On the other hand, alchemy is an art that handles medicinal herbs with energy. In the process of extracting essence with fire-attribute energy and binding it with wood-attribute energy, what is truly needed is the energy itself. Most alchemists prefer to work with energy alone without using divine sense.
This is where the problem lies. To make a puppet perform alchemy, the user's energy must be sent to the puppet, but the path from divine sense to divine sense stone to spirit threads is designed for movement, not as a conduit for energy. There is no way to do it.
Even if there were a way for a puppet to handle energy, the precision required is an issue. Controlling a puppet requires extreme focus of divine sense, and alchemy requires extreme focus to manage energy. Is there any cultivator in the cultivation world who can do both simultaneously?
Conclusion: It’s an interesting idea, but it has no practical use.
It was a reply filled with the detailed, step-by-step analysis typical of the ever-serious DaoistFriend(55.19).
└ DaoistFriend(88.4): There’s no way DaoistFriend(913.14), who is only at the Qi Refining stage, would understand that.
└ DaoistFriend(201.9): It’s creepy how personality can inhabit puppet arts; I heard if a puppet breaks, your own mind breaks with it.
└ DaoistFriend(553.24): DaoistFriend(55.19)’s reflections are always admirable. However, DaoistFriend(913.14) is an extraordinary cultivator, so I believe they will succeed in puppet alchemy.
Baek Cheong nodded as she read the replies. The users' analysis was certainly valid. Then, a strange user appeared while she was reading.
But even if you could handle energy, precision is the problem. When extracting essence during alchemy, an alchemist handles the herbs directly with their own energy and adjusts the furnace heat solely by sensation. If you leave this process to a puppet, the sensitivity of the energy drops, and the error leads to fluctuations in the heat, which could cause the quality of the pill to plummet.
You might be able to help with simple tasks like trimming herbs, but precisely controlling energy while performing alchemy with a puppet is a separate issue.
└ DaoistFriend(55.19): A good supplement.
└ DaoistFriend(88.4): Oh, a real puppet master appeared.
└ DaoistFriend(11.23): DaoistFriend(17.89) appears everywhere whenever puppets are mentioned.
And while the idea of a puppet replacing alchemy itself, as DaoistFriend(913.14) mentioned, is fine, honestly, to make an alchemy puppet the way I’ve seen it done, you’d need over a dozen premium spirit stones for just one unit.
└ DaoistFriend(322.38): If you hire an alchemist, that’s just a puppet lol.
└ DaoistFriend(99.102): That... never mind...
└ DaoistFriend(88.4): lol, a biological puppet.
While the replies were in a state of chaos, Baek Cheong was intrigued by DaoistFriend(99.102)’s reply. Everyone else had shouted that it was impossible, but this user was the only one to offer a solution. "If you replace the material of the spirit threads with spirit wood or ores that contain elemental energy..." It was a condition that sounded astronomical in cost even at a glance. But the deal she had made with her uncle was fair and square. "Besides, it’s not the family’s money, it’s the merchant association’s budget, right?" Even if it cost a terrifying amount of spirit stones, it was a problem for her uncle to handle. If he couldn't cover it with the budget, it was only natural for him to dig into his own pockets. "A man’s word is worth a thousand gold; he wouldn't go back on his word, would he?" Baek Cheong felt relieved that she was a girl and continued on the Mumyungbang.
└ DaoistFriend(11.23): This guy always asks weird things and then disappears.
└ DaoistFriend(88.4): I have a feeling they’re going to cause some trouble.
└ DaoistFriend(55.19): DaoistFriend(913.14)’s intentions are always impossible to know.
As she giggled while reading the replies, DaoistFriend(17.89) added another.
Baek Cheong denied the truth while feigning ignorance. There was nothing more foolish than revealing one’s true intentions on the Mumyungbang.
└ DaoistFriend(17.89): Is that so...
└ DaoistFriend(88.4): It’s never "just because" when DaoistFriend(913.14) says it is.
└ DaoistFriend(201.9): That’s true.
She giggled at the users' reactions and logged out of the Mumyungbang. Her mouth was already watering—no, dopamine was already flooding her brain just from the imagination. "Ah, I hope it gets finished soon." Baek Cheong had already forgotten about her uncle’s conditions. The discomfort and the identity of the special guest didn't matter. Only one thought filled her mind now. "Would it be too greedy to use the Five Elements Taiji Alchemy Method with the puppets?" It was about putting in full effort to reap the rewards without doing the work.