More than just not losing money, Shen Yunhao made a killing on this!

Although he appeared to be covered in wounds, they were all superficial injuries and were not a serious matter for a cultivator at the Profound Soul Realm.

Not only did it surprise the arrogant Nie Qingshuang, but it also yielded such a powerful magic weapon!

It has to be said that the Palace Master of Guanghan Palace is incredibly generous, casually pulling out top-grade Xuan weapons.

Of course, Shen Yunhao wouldn't be so shameless as to think that Nie Qingshuang gave him this magic weapon for his sake. It was more likely because of the Heart-to-Heart Mantra between him and Ning Yuyao that Nie Qingshuang was really worried about him, which is why she frantically layered armor on him, fearing that it would implicate Ning Yuyao.

The only bad thing is... this girl seems genuinely sad, her eyes are brimming with tears, she looks so upset.

Not to mention Shen Yunhao, even Nie Qingshuang saw Ning Yuyao cry for the first time, and that's why she slunk away.

"Alright, Yao'er..." Shen Yunhao raised his hand to wipe away the girl's tears and said softly, "What's there to be sad about? This little injury is nothing serious. If it really doesn't work... Yao'er, you can go back and massage it for me..."

The girl blushed and glared at him. "You wicked man who tries to make people cry! Why didn't you use this trick sooner? You're just suffering all this pain and causing people worry..."

"..."

Shen Yunhao pursed his lips, somewhat speechless.

Isn't that obvious? If I had that ability, I would have beaten that spirit puppet to a pulp long ago. Who would want to get beaten up?

It's not like I have masochistic tendencies.

Although he dealt with the spirit puppet so easily in one go, it was actually not easy at all.

He was beaten so many times, and each time he did two things.

First, by observing the attack trajectory of the spirit puppet, one can anticipate and dodge in advance.

Second, find the possible "weaknesses" of this spirit puppet.

Ning Yuyao was right. Although the spirit puppet was faster than him, it was still rather clumsy overall. Its attack trajectories showed obvious similarities. With more observation, one could discover the patterns. And by dodging those attacks at crucial moments, Shen Yunhao had the opportunity to "break" the spirit array.

It is called a spirit puppet not only because of the spirit stones used as energy, but more importantly because of the spirit array on it.

However, it is unrealistic to break the spirit array on the spirit puppet. With Shen Yunhao's control over spiritual energy, he simply does not have the ability to break those spirit arrays, not to mention that the spirit puppet's tireless attacks would not give him that much time to break the spirit arrays.

With his powerful soul perception, Shen Yunhao finally found some key spiritual energy nodes after being constantly beaten.

Nie Qingshuang thought he had broken the spirit array, but he hadn't. He had simply disrupted the spiritual energy transmission nodes using a special method.

Moreover, disrupting one or two of these nodes will not affect the overall situation; only by disrupting them simultaneously within a short period of time can the spirit puppet temporarily lose its ability to move.

It can only be said that his six months of learning basic knowledge of spirit arrays was not in vain, otherwise he definitely would not have been able to do this.

After the spirit puppet temporarily short-circuited, Shen Yunhao had the opportunity to attack its true weakness from behind, which was the control center behind it.

Only with the Returning Snow Sword could he break through the spirit puppet's armor.

However, Shen Yunhao wasn't foolish enough to explain directly. Instead, he chuckled and pinched the girl's cheek, saying, "If I didn't deliberately get a beating, how would I know how much Yao'er cares about me!"

"Hmph! I'm not going to care about you anymore!"

Ning Yuyao stopped crying, slapped his hand away, and ran away into the distance.

Shen Yunhao watched her retreating figure with a smile on his lips.

"Silly girl... Hmm? No! How am I supposed to get back to Lan Xiaofeng if you leave! Hey! Yao'er, wait for me!"

...

In the afternoon, Shen Yunhao studied the Netherworld Shield that Nie Qingshuang had taught him, and also had Qing Teng help test it. Its defensive power was indeed extremely exaggerated.

Once activated, a circular shield-like cover will form around Shen Yunhao, which Qing Teng cannot break through no matter how it attacks.

The only thing to be careful about is that using this shield isn't just about channeling in a little spiritual energy; it requires consuming spirit stones.

Careful calculation shows that it takes about fifty spirit stones to withstand one attack from the Green Vine. Based on this calculation, if a Soul Control Realm cultivator attacks him, it would probably take five hundred spirit stones. If a Void Soul Realm cultivator were to attack, it would take even more.

Whether the shield can block it or not is unknown, but it certainly can't block the spirit stones in the backpack.

"Sigh! Giving the car a gas pump won't do any good!"

Just then, Ning Yuyao entered the house carrying a small bag.

"This is what my master asked me to give you. There are five hundred top-grade spirit stones inside."

"puff--"

Shen Yunhao spat a mouthful of tea onto the cat's head.

Milk Tea: "I'm wet again..."

"Oh dear! Oh dear!"

Shen Yunhao immediately stood up and greeted her with a smile, hugging the spirit stone and the little girl together in his arms.

"Since the Palace Master is not here, let Yao'er take his place in being held..."

Five hundred top-grade spirit stones, with a minimum value of five hundred thousand spirit stones, is enough to buy a high-grade Xuan weapon!

If I could earn this kind of income every time I got beaten up, I'd be happy to do it hundreds more times!

"Five hundred top-grade spirit stones are quite valuable. All the spirit mountains in the entire Qingyou Palace combined might not produce that many top-grade spirit stones in a year. Master told Brother Yunhao not to spend them recklessly, but only to use them to maintain the Tongming Barrier."

The Tianshan Mountains are a vast expanse of peaks, but naturally, there aren't many sacred mountains containing spiritual veins.

"Hehe! I know, Yao'er, don't worry!"

Sometimes, when you have a huge sum of money, you really don't know what to do with it.

We already have the Wind Chariot for transportation, and the Green Vine humanoid storage bag; we can't possibly use these spirit stones to buy magical artifacts or anything like that…

When does Brother Yunhao plan to set off?

"Hmm... within the next couple of days, as soon as possible!"

Ning Yuyao pursed her lips, raised her head and said, "Brother Yunhao, Yao'er is on the verge of reaching the mid-stage of the Soul Condensation Realm, but Master won't let Yao'er go down the mountain, so I can only rely on Brother Yunhao alone..."

"Is that so? Don't worry, I'm still..."

He froze halfway through his sentence, "Yao'er, you're already at the mid-stage of the Soul Condensation Realm?"

If you calculate the time, it hasn't even been two years since Ning Yuyao came out of seclusion...

This speed... isn't it a bit frightening?

You know, the highest cultivation level on the list of thirty-year-olds in the Chronicles of the Nine Provinces was only the early stage of the Soul Control Realm. At Ning Yuyao's speed, the top spot on the list... seems to be really not far away!

"actually……"

Ning Yuyao raised her head, but ultimately did not speak.

Actually, if she hadn't spent so much time with Shen Yunhao over the past two years, she would have already broken through to the mid-stage of the Soul Condensation Realm.

But she didn't feel it was a bad deal at all.

On the contrary, she is much happier now than she was before she turned eighteen.

"Brother Yunhao..."

Ning Yuyao blushed and hugged the boy.

"Is your injury...is it better?"