Chapter 899 - 688: New-Type Puppet
Flowers bloom and fade.
Seasons pass silently, four years flow by like water.
Deep within the Tier Two Upper Grade Fire Spirit Cave Mansion, inside the practice room.
Shen Xuan slowly opened his eyes, with a flicker of crimson-gold light flashed through his gaze.
"Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer, it’s done."
With a slight movement of his mind, mysterious golden characters from the Jade Talisman appeared before him:
[Lifespan: 224/890]
[Nine Revolutions Fiery Sun Technique Great Success (1600/1600)]
[Pure Yang True Flame Art Great Success (1600/1600)]
Four years of arduous cultivation were not wasted.
True Master Primordial Fire’s Golden Core had been completely refined, not a drop remained.
True Master Yanghuo’s core had been half refined as well.
In comparison, the quality of the latter was much inferior.
The refining process had many impurities, hindering progress.
"Fortunately, there’s still this item."
Shen Xuan turned his hand, revealing a Demon Core in his palm.
The pill body was perfectly round, shimmering with golden light, its surface inscribed with natural red flame patterns, exuding a pure and majestic fire spirit aura.
It was precisely the Tier Three Upper Grade Purple-eyed Fire Demon Pill obtained from the Profound Celestial Sect.
"Once the remaining golden cores are fully refined and Foundation Establishment Perfection is achieved, I can attempt to refine this pill."
To refine a Tier Three Upper Grade Demon Pill in the Foundation Establishment Realm is almost a path of self-destruction.
The demon power is rampant, prone to backlash; at best, it can ruin the meridians—at worst, destroy the divine soul.
But Shen Xuan is different.
His flesh body has undergone thousands of refinements, far sturdier than those of the same rank.
The strength of his divine soul and the range of his divine sense are far beyond ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Additionally, the Nine-Colored Treasure Lotus in his dantian continues to exhibit its divine nature, greatly enhancing the power to suppress and mediate.
If he proceeds cautiously, taking calculated steps, it can be pursued slowly.
At least, the risk of losing control is nearly non-existent.
Shen Xuan rose and walked out of the practice room.
The outer defense array of the cave mansion was emitting a series of crisp notification sounds, like the gentle chiming of wind bells.
When he first chose this location, he personally arranged a Tier Two Upper Grade composite array in the perimeter.
In the entire Four Bright Mountain, apart from Patriarch Yang Shengguang and the Yang Family’s ancestral elder who is frequently in secluded meditation, no one can breach the array and enter his cave mansion.
In truth, he also set up a Tier Three Illusion Array inside the cave mansion.
Even the patriarch and the ancestral elder of the Yang Family cannot silently cross through in a short time.
"Brother Shen! Are you here?"
It was Yang Yunshu’s voice, carrying the distinct clarity of a youth.
Four years have passed, the boy from the past has grown into a young man of eighteen or nineteen, his cultivation securely stepped into the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.
During these years residing on Four Bright Mountain, Shen Xuan lived a secluded and unusually low-profile life.
All external trivial matters were handled by the siblings Yang Yunqiao and Yang Yunshu on his behalf.
The vast majority of his time was spent within the cave mansion, focused on cultivation, occasionally researching puppetry refining techniques, seldom interacting with the outside.
If necessary, he’d carve things into a jade scroll for the Yang siblings to manage.
Therefore, besides the Yang Family’s core clan elders and these three siblings, of the vast Four Bright Mountain, there are only a handful privy to the fact that their family hosts such a mysterious honored guest.
Shen Xuan waved his sleeve, the stone door of the cave mansion silently slid open.
Outside the door, Yang Yunshu was waiting with anticipation, holding several storage pouches.
...
Over the four years, amidst his cultivation, Shen Xuan devoted much thought to the art of puppetry.
The work he was researching was the common puppet dog.
The structure of this creation is simple, movements are agile enough to navigate various complex terrains like forests and caves.
More importantly, the materials required are cheap and easily obtainable, even if wasted in refining it’s not distressing.
Ordinary puppet dogs are often used for reconnaissance and warning.
Yet in Shen Xuan’s hands, they became different.
He installed a set of intricate talisman activation mechanisms on the back of the puppet dog.
Cultivators just need to split a strand of divine thought, activate the mechanism, and the embedded spirit stones will unleash spiritual qi, instantly activating the pre-set attack talismans on the dog’s back.
Fireballs, wind blades, and even steel needles can be triggered instantly.
In this way, the seemingly unremarkable puppet dog gains a considerable surprise attack capability.
Shen Xuan had Yang Yunshu take several puppet dogs to test the waters in the nearby Immortal City, which were indeed well received.
This time, Yang Yunshu came with more and complete puppet materials based on Shen Xuan’s list.
"Brother Shen, everything you asked for has been prepared."
The young boy handed over the storage pouch, a smile on his face.
Shen Xuan accepted it, scanned it with divine sense, and nodded slightly.
Yang Yunshu recalled his brother’s exhortation and asked, "By the way, my brother wants to know if the puppet dog can be made even stronger?"
"Yes."
Shen Xuan’s tone was calm.
Solely relying on talisman activation is ultimately a shortcut.
He already had a blueprint in his mind.
To integrate a miniaturized spiritual energy cannon onto the puppet dog.
Or more accurately referred to as "spiritual energy gun."
Using upper grade spirit stone as the core power source, inscribing miniature energy-gathering, transformation, and activation arrays onto a specially designed gun body to achieve remote, precise, and considerably powerful energy shooting.
However, although the idea is good, its realization is quite challenging.
The gun body material must balance strength, spiritual conductivity, and cost; it needs to withstand high-frequency spiritual power impacts without deforming or bursting.
The inscribed array needs to be exceptionally concise and stable, also integrating a basic locking function.
Moreover, the cooling and buffering systems cannot be neglected.
These elements can be resolved within large spiritual energy cannons through complex structures and multiple cultivators cooperating, but compressing them into a single "spiritual energy gun" is an ultimate test of artifact refining and array dao foundations.
Shen Xuan continued his experiments, seeking the most balanced combination of materials and array schemes.
"Xiao Su, take these three puppet dogs back for your brother to see."
He took out three slightly different puppet dogs and handed them over to Yang Yunshu.
"Wow! Is this the mini spiritual energy cannon?"