Nie Gan stared at the puppet that Nie Shan had damaged yesterday. Truth be told, his understanding of the mechanisms behind its functioning was rather superficial.
He knew where each gear was supposed to go, but that was only because every gear had been numbered by the creator. Besides, each gear had a different size and shape. With some experience, it was a no brainer figuring out where a loose gear went. Thus, Nie Gan was more than capable of recalibrating the puppet.
Even if he had to reassemble it piece by piece, he could probably do it after much trial and error so long as no essential parts were damaged. Nevertheless, if an essential part, such as the steam engine that used spirit stones as fuel, was damaged, the puppet would be as good as scrap metal.
Detaching the last patch of broken armor, he sighed. If it were the puppet's original armor, of which several parts still remained here and there, Nie Shan would have been unable to even scratch it. However, for reasons unknown, it had been destroyed in the past. The armor Nie Shan had destroyed had been actually made by Nie Gan from thousand year ironbirch wood.
"What a bother..." He thought to himself as he rubbed his temples. Creating another armor for the puppet would take him at least half a week of hard word, and it was sure to be broken in a day or two by one of his half-siblings. He did get paid a salary to take charge of the puppet, but it was just enough to cover his basic needs. In fact, if his father hadn't felt bad for not giving him his surname and left him and his mother a modest house, he would be unable to afford a rent within the inner district of Gray Road City.
"Well, time to work." He muttered under his breath, taking out a large chunk of thousand year old ironbirch wood, and putting it inside a machine that spewed copious amounts of steam onto it as he opened and closed a large bellow that was connected to a sealed tank of water that had an oil fire burning beneath. This process would ensure that the wood became malleable after some hours. If it wasn't executed properly, he would be unable to give the plank the shape required for the armor.
As he worked, he entered a state of "flow". The steps that followed were smooth sailing. Molding the wooden planks into the shape of a chestplate, pauldrons, plackart, etc. took the entirety of the first and second day, in which he did not stop even once. By the time he came out of the workshop, his whole body was weary, and his callous hands were redder and number than normal.
"Took you a long time." A woman's voice rang out just behind him, so Nie Gan was given quite a fright.
"Xiao Lan, you surely scared me... What are you doing out here at this time?" Said Nie Gan, his gaze turning gentler. He did not like most of his half-siblings, but when it came to Nie Lan, he did like her and considered her his sister.
"Looking for you, duh."
"If it's about the training puppet, forget it. Nie Shan just ruined it, and it..."
"It's not about that. Just follow me." She instructed before turning around and sprinting away using a rather eye-catching movement technique that Nie Gan had seen her use innumerable times; the Falling Plume Steps.
Needless to say, he could not keep up with her. Thus, she stopped at fixed intervals to let him catch up.
"You're so slow bro." She teased as she increased her speed even more. It did not take long for her to reach her residence, a two storied pagoda surrounded by plum trees in full blossom. It was much more luxurious than Nie Gan's modest home, showing the contrast between the status of a true scioness of Nie Clan and a mere illegitimate son like himself.
Nie Lan beckoned for him to enter her residence with her small, delicate hand. He followed, only to see her take out a large, black colored coffin made of what he recognized as Tempered Obsidian, a rare but not overly expensive storage material. She carefully poured her Qi into the coffin, causing the lid to fly off on its own.
Upon laying his eyes on the contents of the coffin, Nie Gan's pupils shrunk to the point they were barely visible. His breathing became unstable, and he lost his bearing.
"This... this is..." He stuttered. What lay inside was the upper half of a humanoid puppet that looked to be even better preserved than the one he was in charge of fixing.
"How did you get your hands on it?" Nie Gan's hands and eyes were skillfully inspecting each and every piece that made up the puppet.
"Me and Brother Nie Yan bid for it at Opal Hall's Auction. We actually spent almost all our savings on it. Of course, neither of us has a clue as to how to control it, and as you can see, even if we did, we still need to restore it. We were hoping that you could repair and make use of it. Can you do it?"
There was a long silence as he got a grasp of the situation and formulated an appropriate answer, taking into account his experience and the condition of the puppet.
"I am not entirely sure, but the Qi-Steam Engine that powers it seems to be in a perfect state. I will probably have to string the qi conducting cables, change these fractured pipelines, and forge the gears, armor and frame for the lower half, but it is not impossible. What worries me is that my metallurgic knowledge might be a bit lacking. The gears will most likely slowly but surely lose shape or even outright melt due to the immense friction and heat they will be subjected to..." His tone, confident and excited at first, slowly degenerated into one of worry as a myriad scenarios flashed in his mind.
Puppets were complex machines. The average person in the present day would not have even 1% of the knowledge required to operate or restore one, much less craft one from scratch. This was one of the reasons why puppetry had gradually disappeared from the mainstream cultivation practices. It was simply too knowledge-intensive; the payoff it offered was not worth the effort one had to put in when compared to other paths such as body refinement or spells, which was what dominated the modern cultivation world.
Even someone like Nie Gan, considered to be quite knowledgeable in matters of puppetry for nowadays standards, would be nothing more than a mere apprentice in ancient times. When compared to the people who actually crafted the puppets, the legendary puppetmasters, it would not be wrong to say he was like a cub and they were like fully grown tigers.
"But can you make it work?" This was her only concern. As for the specifics, she didn't really care.
"Ah, well, yes. In principle, it should be doable. Now, if the engine is..." Once again, he let his mind wander to the worst case scenarios. But he did have a reason to worry. After all, judging from the craftsmanship, this puppet was older than the one from the training grounds by quite a bit. Its engine being in perfect condition was suspicious, and it wasn't unreasonable to think that it might only seem like it on the surface, but its internal workings could be damaged somehow.
"That's all I wanted to hear." She interrupted, clearly uninclined to listen to all his worries.
"May I ask, why did you buy something like this?" He was aware she could have probably bought a low grade magic treasure for the same amount she had probably spent on the puppet.
"That lowlife Nie Shan has somehow managed to convince Nie Dan to give up on his right to inheritance. With this, it is almost certain he will win the inheritance contest. Neither Nie Yan nor me can realistically challenge him. Once he wins, not only would he have the authority that comes with the position of Marquis, but also the vote of Nie Dan guaranteed whenever Clan Council is convened. Nie Yan and I are just two votes. While in theory they need a majority to have the final say, in practice, for most decisions half of the votes is enough so long as the Marquis backs that decision. However, if you claim your right to inherit, and it gets acknowledged by the leaders of the other branches during Clan Assembly, then you would gain the status of a Scion, just like me and the rest. This means that even if you fail to win the inheritance, which is what will most likely happen considering your cultivation, you would still have a vote in the Council." She explained, her beautiful countenance distorted by her furrowed brow and narrowed eyes. Her hatred for Nie Shan was clearly palpable.
Her words were like a bucket of cold water to Nie Gan. Truth be told, he had hoped deep inside that this was a show of fraternity and recognition from Nie Yan and Nie Lan. That they had done all of this just to give him a chance at participating in the inheritance, even if he was unlikely to win. As it turned out, and as his unconscious had been constantly suspecting, there was a hidden agenda behind this. Laughing inwardly, he nodded, showing no hint of his disappointment.
"I see. Well, I will do my best to repair the puppet. However, I will need some materials. I hope you can help me procuring them, Xiao Lan." Nie Gan asked. As an illegitimate son, his livelihood was based solely on the work he did for the clan. From his father's estate, he had not even received a single penny since he could remember. Naturally, for his siblings, who had been born in legitimate marriages, this was not the case.
Their wealth actually well surpassed Nie Gan's highest estimate. He did believe that Nie Yan and Nie Lan had spent a majority of their savings to purchase the puppet, but truthfully, she had greatly exaggerated that part to rope him in. At the very most, they had used a third of their savings, and considering that most of their wealth was illiquid, the joke told itself.
"That's a minor issue. So long as they are not out of my financial means, I can help you gather them. Just pass the list to Fufu, she will be responsible for that. I need to continue cultivating. Who knows, maybe I can achieve another breakthrough before the Succession Contest begins." She excused herself, placing the lid onto the coffin where the puppet was stored once again.
"Of course, I will be taking the puppet then." He bade farewell to his half sister, leaving for his modest home at the edges of the Inner District of Gray Road City.
Once he got home, instead of crashing down as he usually did, Nie Gan sat down in a position he had not adopted since long ago and started breathing in a specific pattern.
"The reason I gave up on cultivation was because I had to make a living, and no matter how much effort I put into it, I would never be able to match the others in terms of speed and power. However, if I am to control that puppet, I need to reach at least the 4th stage of Qi Condensation. Although this is only the bare minimum. For a sustained battle, 5th stage is probably the only way." Just thinking about facing Nie Shan in battle made a chill run down his back.
As he breathed in and out, particles of light were created. It was not that he could not cultivate. Actually, 99% of people could cultivate, and those who could not were either due to illness or injury. It was just that only 10% or so could do so at a rate that was acceptable. The rest, even if they were to grind their whole lives, would have very little hope of ever getting to Foundation Establishment without the aid of precious medicinal pills.
Take Nie Gan for example. When he was younger, he had cultivated assiduously for over three years, yet had only gotten to the 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation. However, someone with outstanding talent like Nie Shan was capable of cultivating to the 8th stage in a matter of two and a half years.
Luckily, puppeteering had one huge advantage for all its downsides. One could fight against those of higher cultivation with a comparatively lower cultivation, provided that the puppet they controlled was of a high enough caliber. This was one of the reasons why Nie Gan still had a sliver of hope. The Succession Contest was to be held six months from now. He had six months to achieve two breakthroughs, repair an ancient puppet and actually learn how to control it in battle.
"I will probably have to cultivate every waking hour that is not destined to fixing the puppet. But... once it's fixed, it might very well level the playing field for me!" He grinned, an ominous light shining in his gaze. It was the light of ambition.