Dao of Money

251. Breaking puppets

As soon as Wang Jun suggested that the solution might be hidden inside a puppet, Chen Ren’s mind began to race.Without wasting another second, he moved. He rushed through the workshop, weaving between broken frames and scattered limbs, scanning every corner for anything unusual that might be a hidden door.

He was hoping for something like a hidden chamber to find a puppet that might have the solution.

A boss fight, in simple terms. But no matter how far he went, Chen Ren found nothing. The chamber was vast, stretching vastly in every direction, but there were no additional rooms.

He had already fought every puppet that tried to kill him on his way here. Which meant only one thing. The solution was hidden somewhere among the countless puppet bodies scattered across the chamber.

Chen Ren exhaled slowly. Honestly, this was the worst possible outcome for one simple reason, his [Void Sense] technique didn’t work on these puppets.

He had already tried again and again. Each time he attempted to probe into their structure, something blocked his qi completely. It was like trying to sense through a wall of absolute resistance.

Pushing harder didn’t help. If anything, it only drained his energy faster. After failing multiple times, Chen Ren came to a conclusion.

The puppets were likely made from a special type of metal, one that prevented qi from entering or inspecting their internal structure.

If he wanted to bypass that limitation, he would need a more advanced version of his sensing technique, which he didn’t have.

That left him with only one option. Beside him, Wang Jun clicked his tongue.

“You’re not seriously thinking of breaking them all open, are you? Even if they’re incomplete, these puppets could be far more valuable than whatever’s written in those books or parchments.”

Chen Ren sighed. “I don’t want to destroy all of them.” He walked toward the nearest puppet and crouched beside it. “If I’m lucky… we’ll find what we need in the very first one.”

Wang Jun burst out laughing. “Yeah, sure,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “If either of us were lucky, we wouldn’t be crawling through this pagoda barely surviving every floor.” He clicked his tongue. “The heavens aren’t that generous.”

Chen Ren didn’t argue. “We’ll see,” he replied simply.

And with that, he moved.

He stepped toward the nearest puppet and drew in a breath as lightning began to gather around his arm. The air crackled faintly as he activated [Thundering Fist], the energy coiling tightly around his knuckles before he drove his fist forward.

The punch landed squarely into the puppet’s chest. A sharp metallic crack rang out as his fist pierced straight through the torso.

Unlike the ones that had attacked him earlier, these puppets lacked completed rune circuits. Without them, their defenses were far weaker. His strike tore through the metal with little resistance.

Chen Ren immediately leaned forward and looked inside.

There was nothing.

He frowned slightly and didn’t stop there. He grabbed the puppet’s arm and tore it off, then broke apart part of its upper body, even prying open the head to make sure he wasn’t missing anything hidden deeper within.

Still nothing.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Chen Ren stored the broken puppet into his spatial ring before moving to the next one. Then the next.

And the next.

One by one, he began breaking through the puppets scattered across the chamber.

Each time, he carefully pierced through their bodies, inspected the interiors, and confirmed the same result. They were all empty.

After a while, even Wang Jun stopped commenting. If Hong Yi was here and saw what Chen Ren was doing… He would probably lose his mind.

Destroying half-finished puppets of this level—even partially—was nothing short of a crime in the eyes of a craftsman. But Chen Ren had no choice.

If the solution was hidden inside one of them, then he had to find it. Still, he was careful.

He avoided unnecessary damage wherever possible, only breaking enough to inspect their insides. After checking each one, he stored the remains properly.

After all, he still intended to follow through on his earlier idea. A puppet army. Even damaged, these puppets could potentially be repaired and completed once he returned to the real world.

But being careful came at a cost. It slowed him down, and even after working for an entire hour… Chen Ren only managed to go through about two dozen of them.

There were still hundreds of puppets scattered across the workshop, and yet after all that effort, he hadn’t found a single clue.

A faint sense of disappointment crept in and Wang Jun took the opportunity to grumble, “I’m going to laugh so hard if you break every single puppet here… and still find nothing.”

Chen Ren didn’t even look at him. “Wasn’t it you who said Xuan Mo would hide it in a puppet?”

Wang Jun scoffed. “That was a guess. I never said it was definitely true.”

Chen Ren paused. His eyes fell on another untouched puppet nearby. For a moment, he hesitated.

Should he really keep going like this? But then again, what choice did he have?

If he had to guess, this entire setup was probably a test left behind by Xuan Mo. There were likely clues hidden around the workshop—patterns, mechanisms, something an artificer would recognize. But Chen Ren wasn’t an artificer.

He didn’t understand runic crafting to that level, nor had he seen enough of Xuan Mo’s work to decipher his methods. Which left him with only one option.

Brute force.

Letting out a slow breath, Chen Ren looked around the workshop one more time before making a decision.

He walked back toward the central table and took Wang Jun off his side, placing the head down carefully.

Wang Jun raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

Chen Ren cracked his knuckles slightly. “Breaking them one by one is going to take too long.”

His gaze swept across the numerous puppets around them. “I don’t want to waste time if there’s actually nothing hidden inside them. So I’m going all out.”

“You’re going to destroy everything?” Wang Jun asked.

Chen Ren couldn’t help but shrug. “Maybe.” He glanced toward the far end of the workshop. “I don’t see another way. And if this place really has nothing to offer… then I’d rather find out quickly and move on.”

After all, other climbers could already be on this floor, and Chen Ren had no intention of falling behind.

After saying that, he turned and walked toward the center of the workshop, choosing a position where he could strike the largest number of puppets at once.

He took a slow breath, drawing in the qi within his body and steadying it.

Then, without hesitation, he let it spread.

The energy flowed through his meridians and across his limbs, coating his entire body. In the next instant, lightning burst to life around him, crackling violently as it wrapped around his frame.

A bright flash filled the chamber. Chen Ren raised his hand, and released it.

Bolts of lightning shot outward in all directions.

They tore through the air like living serpents, striking puppet after puppet. But this wasn’t wild destruction—he controlled each arc carefully, directing them to pierce through key points.

Metal shattered and holes blasted open through torsos and limbs. One puppet collapsed, then another, then dozens more as the lightning continued to spread.

The chamber filled with the sound of cracking metal and falling bodies. Heads rolled, limbs snapped, and incomplete frames crumpled to the ground in waves as Chen Ren moved through the workshop, guiding the lightning to hit as many as possible.

Behind him, Wang Jun shouted something, but Chen Ren didn’t even glance back.

His focus was absolute. Every second, more puppets broke. And with every passing moment, a thought crept deeper into his mind.

What if this is all pointless?What if there really was nothing here? What if he was destroying something valuable… for nothing?

But just as that doubt began to take root—there was a sound.

Chen Ren’s eyes snapped toward it. One of the lightning bolts had struck a puppet directly in the chest. From within the shattered metal, something small had fallen to the ground.

A distinct, unmistakable sound of glass hitting the surface.

He immediately paused. The lightning around him flickered and faded as he withdrew his qi, letting the storm settle into silence.

Without wasting another second, he moved toward the source.

The ground was now littered with broken puppet parts—twisted limbs, cracked plating, shattered frames. He stepped carefully over them, scanning the debris until he reached the spot.

Then he crouched. At first, he saw nothing. But after shifting aside a broken metal arm, something caught his eye.

It was a small cap half hidden beneath all the dust.

He picked it up, and immediately reached further in, pulling out what it had been attached to.

A small bottle. Inside it, there was a faintly glowing silvery liquid shimmering. Chen Ren held it up, narrowing his eyes slightly.

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It didn’t look like any kind of potion he had seen before. A slow smile formed on his face. He had found the solution.

Now all that remained was to see if it worked the way he expected. But just as he turned to move towards the table, a sudden vibration ran through the walls.

Chen Ren’s brows furrowed as he stopped mid-step, looking around to figure out what was happening. The entire workshop seemed to tremble faintly, the ground beneath his feet giving a subtle shake.

From the table, Wang Jun muttered, “What was that?”

Chen Ren shook his head slightly. “I have no idea.”

He took a step forward, but before he could move further, another vibration rippled through the chamber—stronger this time. It was followed by a harsh, grinding sound, like metal gears turning somewhere deep within the walls.

At once, Chen Ren froze.

His instincts screamed that whatever was happening… wasn’t going to be good.

Without hesitation, he stored the small bottle into his spatial ring and immediately rushed toward the table, intending to get the head and move to a safer position. But he had barely taken a few steps—

When the wall to his left exploded.

Stone and metal burst outward as something massive tore through it. Chen Ren only caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye, but that was enough to set off every warning in his body.

He reacted instantly, pulling qi into motion to form his [Starlight Armour].

But he was too slow. Before the armour could fully take shape, a massive wave of flames erupted toward him, washing over his body in a blazing torrent.

The impact blasted him off his feet.

Chen Ren was sent flying across the workshop as heat and force slammed into him. He groaned, forcing his body to twist mid-air, barely managing to slow himself before he smashed into the far wall.

He landed roughly, sliding across the ground before pushing himself up.

When he looked ahead, he finally saw it clearly.

The puppet.

Chen Ren was certain it hadn’t been there before.

Yet now, it stood before him.

It was humanoid in shape, but far larger than the other puppets he had fought. Its arms were thick and mechanical, splitting open at the ends to reveal hollow chambers glowing faintly with heat. Its eyes burned with a deep red light as they locked onto him. The air around it shimmered with heat.

Chen Ren’s expression tightened. As he watched, both of its arms opened again. The next moment—

Several objects shot out from within them.

Missiles.

They streaked through the air, heading straight toward him.

“Fuck,” Chen Ren cursed under his breath and reacted instantly, releasing a bolt of lightning toward them.

The moment the two forces met they exploded, sending a blast wave through the chamber and igniting everything around them. Flames spread rapidly across the workshop, consuming broken puppets and scattered debris as the entire place was plunged into chaos.

From across the room, Wang Jun shouted, panic clear in his voice. “Chen Ren, help me!”

Chen Ren’s head snapped toward the table.

Flames were already crawling across the floor toward it, spreading fast. In just a few seconds, they would engulf everything—including the head.

Without hesitation, Chen Ren moved.

Lightning surged around his legs as he activated his movement technique, darting straight through the flames. Heat licked at his body as he passed, but he didn’t slow down.

Behind him, the puppet let out a low mechanical roar, and Chen Ren could hear the sharp whistling of more missiles cutting through the air.

He didn’t look back.

Instead, he zigzagged forward, constantly shifting his path to make it harder for the puppet to lock onto him. The missiles tore through the space behind him, some exploding as they hit the ground, others narrowly missing him.

But one of them detonated too close.

The blast caught him from behind and flung him forward.

Chen Ren grit his teeth as his body was thrown ahead, but this time, the distance worked in his favor. He was already close to the table.

He landed hard but immediately reached out, grabbing Wang Jun before the flames could reach him.

“I nearly died!” Wang Jun cried out.

Chen Ren snorted, already pushing himself up. “Be happy you didn’t.”

He secured the head at his hip before turning his attention to the table. The edges were already beginning to burn, flames licking at the parchments and books.

Without wasting a second, he swept his hand across them, storing everything into his spatial ring. Some of the outer pages had already caught fire, but the damage seemed minimal.

Just as he finished, a grinding sound echoed right beside him.

Chen Ren immediately turned.

The puppet had closed the distance.

It stood directly before him, its massive frame towering overhead as its arms shot forward, trying to grab him.

Chen Ren reacted instantly, jumping back. But before he could escape—

The puppet’s hands suddenly extended.

The mechanical limbs shot outward unnaturally, stretching far beyond their original length and snapping shut around his waist. The grip tightened immediately.

Chen Ren felt the pressure crush against his body, forcing the air out of his lungs. Even Wang Jun groaned from the impact.

He hadn’t expected that. He twisted his body violently, trying to break free, but the puppet’s grip only tightened further, locking him in place.

The puppet’s mouth opened.

And Chen Ren could already imagine what was about to come out of that open mouth.

He didn’t hesitate.

With no other choice, he pushed his qi outward and unleashed [Lightning Frenzy]. Bolts of lightning burst from his body at close range, striking the puppet repeatedly. The attacks didn’t seem to do any real damage, but the force behind them made the puppet take a step back.

That was enough.

Its grip loosened just slightly.

Chen Ren immediately twisted his body, freeing one arm before slamming it down onto the puppet’s extended limbs. The impact created just enough space for him to wrench himself free, and he pulled back with everything he had.

But the moment he broke away—

The puppet reacted.

Flames erupted from its mouth, blasting forward in a concentrated stream that hit Chen Ren square in the chest.

The force sent him tumbling again.

He crashed through another pile of broken puppets, something sharp digging into his back as he landed.

“Fucking hell! Why is it so strong?” Chen Ren muttered, pushing himself up.

Under him, Wang Jun groaned and snapped back, “Obviously, it is strong, kid. If I had to guess, it’s at peak foundation establishment eealm… maybe even higher. You don’t stand a chance against it.”

Chen Ren thought the same.

Even his [Lightening Frenzy] hadn’t left a dent on the puppet. It stood there, completely intact, its red eyes still locked onto him with the same cold intensity.

If he couldn’t damage it, there was no way he could win.

His mind began to race, running through every option he had. His spatial ring held enough items that might give him an edge, and for a brief moment, he considered fighting it head-on with everything he had.

But among all the possibilities, one idea stood out the most.

As the puppet raised its arms again, the chambers within them opening to launch another wave of qi missiles, Chen Ren moved forward.

He dashed straight toward the puppet.

The missiles fired, streaking toward him, but he ducked low at the last second, letting them pass just over his head.

Then, without slowing down, he dropped even lower and slid across the ground, slipping through the narrow space between the puppet’s legs.

Before it could turn to get him, he was already running.

Straight out of the workshop.

***

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