He Zhen's greatest talent was embroidering animals.
The spiritual items she nurtured were all half-phantom beast spirits that emerged from her embroidery pieces. Most of her works produced beast spirits that were only visually appealing. Aside from the tiger-bear war fan, which had impressive combat capabilities, only the Cat Chasing a Butterfly embroidery had any practical value.
She had been thrilled when the Spirit-Appraising Bronze Mirror showed the line: "Can transform into a large feline mount and carry its master at full speed." But then came the catch: "Will completely lose control upon seeing a butterfly and will not stop until it catches one."
After seeing that result, He Zhen wasn't ready to give up. She tried riding the cat herself. The outcome? She almost ended up hospitalized with a fractured bone.
The video circulating in the group was from that test.
She had been too embarrassed to bring it up until now.
[He Zhen]: I seriously regret adding that butterfly. This was the embroidery I was most proud of lately, and now it's got such a huge flaw.
[Le Pengkun]:Hey! If you don't want it, sell it to me! I'm up in the northeast—barely any butterflies around here!
[Zhang Yunxi]:So it's basically a mount exclusive to high-altitude or cold regions! It'll work during winter where I live.
[Miaow Zhu]:Master He, does the beast spirit cat feel like a real cat when you pet it?
[He Zhen]:To its master, it feels soft and furry, even warm. But no one else can touch it, unless it attacks them.
[Miaow Zhu]:Then I want a Cat Chasing a Butterfly embroidery too!
Rideable giant cat? Song Miaozhu couldn't resist.
Of course, she could use the point-spirit method of the Secret Art of Paper Crafting to make a large paper cat mount herself. But most paper crafts only looked and felt real on the surface. They rarely retained any warmth.
As for He Zhen's Cat Chasing a Butterfly piece, she only had that one. Same with Yuan Liben's Red Berry Fasting Plate—he had fired an entire kiln of porcelain but only successfully nurtured one.
For now, these could only be pre-ordered.
…
About six months later, thanks to the spiritual energy gathered by her bowl-hugging paper servants, Master Yang Shuqin completed eleven Spirit-Appraising Bronze Mirrors and sent them out using spiritual paper kites.
Yuan Liben had also finished nurturing the red berry fasting plates from his kiln. Both spiritual items arrived on the same day at Song Miaozhu's place. The bronze mirror was palm-sized, engraved with the likeness of Di Ting, and reflected every detail with crystal clarity, no worse than modern mirrors.
She infused it with spiritual power and brought out her collection of paper crafts for examination.
Her little paper servant, Grade-4 Paper Clothes, Paper Armor, Spiritual Paper Kite, Yin Paper Horse, Paper Soldiers, and even a cursed paper doll in her basement that had absorbed a grudge from a Japanese ghost—all were correctly identified by the mirror.
It could identify function, but not crafting method. To the bronze mirror, a point-spirit paper craft and a spiritual-item-grade paper craft were just two different kinds of spiritual items with different capabilities.
That was good news for Song Miaozhu. At least no one would use the bronze mirror to discover that her "spiritual items" had been made through a different method.
She scanned every item she had. The results matched what she already knew. There were no errors or omissions.
The point-spirit paper crafts had their functions accurately described. The spiritual-item-grade paper crafts were even more detailed, such as the current weight capacity of the kite and the exact teleportation range of the substitution paper servant.
Then, she aimed the bronze mirror at the substitution paper servant she had been nurturing with spiritual power.
The mirror displayed a line of text that shocked her:
"When receiving a fatal blow on behalf of its master, it will simultaneously transfer all negative statuses and injuries from the master to itself and teleport the master to the safest place in their heart."
"???"
Song Miaozhu stared in disbelief. "When did the substitution paper servant finish nurturing?"
All her previous items had confirmed the bronze mirror's reliability. And the Secret Art of Paper Crafting, tested through generations, certainly couldn't be wrong. The original function of the substitution paper servant was only to take fatal damage for its master. Which meant only one possibility—the item had already completed its nurturing process without her realizing it.
Most cultivators judged whether a crafted item had become a spiritual item by observing whether its spiritual glow stabilized. But that method didn't apply to Song Miaozhu's paper crafts. Her point-spirit creations stabilized as soon as the ritual was complete, and she often wouldn't know nurturing had succeeded until the item changed noticeably on its own.
In the case of the substitution paper servant, its function was still single-use and conditional, so it was easy to miss. From now on, she would need to regularly scan her paper crafts with the bronze mirror to monitor changes. Otherwise, she might not even know they had evolved.
This newly upgraded spiritual-item-grade substitution paper servant had become a three-in-one: it could take damage, take status effects, and teleport the user away. Its ability to protect her life had become significantly stronger.
Song Miaozhu felt like her survival rate had just leveled up again.
The other item that arrived today—the Red Berry Fasting Plate—was a uniquely shaped porcelain dish.
She channeled red spiritual power into it. For every unit of power, a single red berry, about the size of a thumb, appeared in the dish.
Fresh and juicy, it looked as if it had just been picked.
She ate one herself. The sweet juice burst across her tongue, pleasantly tart and refreshing.
She pressed a hand to her stomach. One berry didn't even make her feel full.
She used the bronze mirror to check. The result said that eating more would only extend the feeling of fullness, though it might cause bloating if eaten alongside regular food. No other side effects were listed.
Relieved, she used more spiritual power to produce a few extra berries and ate them happily. Then, she called over the cats playing in the courtyard and placed three berries in their food bowl.
The three big cats—who usually ignored fruit—sniffed out the red berries instantly, even with kibble in the bowl. Their tongues flicked, and the berries were gone in a blink.
After that, Little Coal and Little Snowball lost interest in their food. They rubbed against her legs, then went back to sunbathing in the courtyard.
Only Little Goldie lingered, eyeing the bowl, then glancing up at Song Miaozhu, letting out a soft, hoarse "Meow~"
Clearly, it wanted more.
But Song Miaozhu didn't give in. She decided to observe how long one berry could keep a cat full.
Little Goldie, disappointed, turned and bolted.
"Even Little Goldie couldn't care less about the kibble after eating that red berry… it really works!"
Little Goldie was usually the type who wouldn't leave a single pellet behind.
If she was late feeding them, it would even eat the scattered crumbs around the bowl.
She had switched cat foods so many times, unsure whether what she bought was really good for them. But this Red Berry Fasting Plate had been evaluated by the bronze mirror. The berries it produced were both nutritious and filling.