Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Puppet Inheritance

He sat cross-legged, lost in thought for a long while.

Li Ping shook his head, then got up and walked out of his room into the courtyard.

Now that he had squeezed every last bit of value from Yan Liming’s life soul, he decided it was time to feed it to the Inheritance Tree as nourishment.

WHOOSH!

He took a ten-foot-long section of thousand-year-old ironwood, as thick as a bowl, from his Storage Bag and stood it upright in the courtyard.

Next, he took out a hundred multicolored, thumb-sized spirit stones and placed them beside the ironwood. These were all Middle-grade Spirit Stones of various attributes.

Then, with a slight wave of his hand, Li Ping summoned the diligent, uncomplaining All-Purpose Puppet.

Finally, he once again drew Yan Liming’s Life Soul from the purifying bottle.

A section of thousand-year-old ironwood, a Tier Three Life Soul, one hundred Middle-tier Spirit Stones, and, most importantly, the All-Purpose Puppet—an artifact that embodied the prized techniques of generations of Puppet Masters from the Celestial Skill Sect.

Li Ping had now gathered all the nourishment required to inherit the memories of a Tier Three Puppet Master, as researched by the Celestial Skill Sect.

In truth, Li Ping was quite reluctant to feed the All-Purpose Puppet to the Inheritance Tree.

After all, the puppet had been crafted mostly from Tier Three materials. It was only because it was damaged that it could only unleash Tier Two combat power.

But its durability was still comparable to a Magical Treasure, qualifying it as a half-step to Tier Three. Melting it down seemed like a terrible waste.

But the thought ’out with the old, in with the new’ crossed his mind. ’Once I learn the art of puppetry,’ he thought, ’I’ll be able to build not just Tier Two puppets, but Tier Three ones too.’ With that, Li Ping’s resolve hardened.

’Let’s begin!’

He held his hands out, and countless transparent, gaseous tendrils extended from his palms, wrapping around the various items before him.

The transparent tendrils completely enveloped and absorbed all the items, and Li Ping’s consciousness gradually sank into an Illusion Realm.

In this Illusion Realm, he became an ironwood tree that had grown for several thousand years.

For thousands of years, he weathered the wind and dew, absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, slowly growing from a small sapling into a great tree dozens of feet tall.

One day, a Cultivator in a light-yellow robe discovered him. The robed Cultivator let out a hearty laugh, then spat a blade of cold light from his mouth, felling the tree at its base and taking it back to his Sect.

"Haha! With this ironwood as the frame, I’m confident I can refine a Tier Three Puppet."

The wild laughter was still ringing in his ears when the Illusion Realm shifted. Li Ping had now become a puppet with a rudimentary humanoid shape.

A hundred years passed. The yellow-robed Cultivator’s initial excitement for refining the puppet had faded into dejection.

Finding a thousand-year-old ironwood to serve as the main material for a Tier Three Puppet was only the most basic step.

For a puppet to possess combat power comparable to a Core Formation Cultivator, it must be able to deploy a burst of Magical Power equivalent to such a master in a single instant.

The difficulty of refining such a power core far exceeded that of a Tier Two puppet.

The yellow-robed Cultivator researched it his entire life but failed to succeed, ultimately passing away in dejected meditation.

"I will fulfill my Master’s final wish."

When the yellow-robed Cultivator passed away, the half-finished puppet fell into the hands of a quaint-looking youth. He dedicated himself to researching a method for instantly mobilizing Spiritual Power equivalent to a Core Formation Cultivator.

He even neglected his own cultivation for this purpose, ultimately passing away with regret, his cultivation only at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment realm.

"Master was too clumsy. It looks like only I can finish refining this puppet."

The one who took over the puppet was a quirky young girl. The first thing she did after receiving the half-finished puppet was to give it a handsome face.

She nodded in satisfaction. "That’s much easier on the eyes."

Four hundred years later, the quirky young girl had become a young matron dressed in courtly robes. She, too, was not far from the end of her life, but the problem of the puppet mobilizing Spiritual Power was still unresolved.

In the end, she passed away in meditation, resigned to her failure.

Before her passing, she handed the puppet to a sturdy-looking, honest-faced youth.

Nearly a thousand years of research by three generations of Puppet Masters culminated in his work.

He finally solved the problem of mobilizing a burst of Spiritual Power equivalent to a Core Formation Cultivator, taking a firm step forward in the creation of a Tier Three Puppet.

But the road ahead was still long and fraught with obstacles.

Generations of Puppet Masters from the Celestial Skill Sect wracked their brains over one problem after another.

Thousands of years passed, and through their tireless research, these problems were solved one by one.

The Tier Three Puppet was born!

The advent of this puppet pushed the Celestial Skill Sect’s puppetry skills to a new height.

The Celestial Skill Sect placed the puppet in the Sect’s Dharma Hall, where all Puppet Masters could reference and study it. Occasionally, Cultivators would submit their latest research and techniques.

After discussions, rejections, and modifications by the Sect’s Puppet Masters, a proposal would be approved and then integrated into the puppet’s body by a Puppet Master.

Under this system of internal, open-source innovation, it always represented the highest standard of the Celestial Skill Sect’s puppetry skills.

Pneumatics, circuits, Shields, array patterns, attacks... it constantly evolved toward perfection.

It became the vessel for the Celestial Skill Sect’s puppet technology. Generation after generation of Puppet Masters learned the latest techniques from it, only to build upon them with new innovations!

The best materials, the best techniques, the best puppet!

...

In the courtyard, Li Ping slowly opened his eyes, a hint of ancient weariness in their depths.

The Illusion Realm had lasted for quite some time. When he finally awoke, three full days had passed.

’Thousands of years... painstaking research by generations of exceptionally talented Puppet Masters... So that’s how the All-Purpose Puppet was created,’ Li Ping mused, sighing with emotion.

He had to admit, these Cultivators from the Celestial Skill Sect had a certain straightforward style reminiscent of the programmers from his world.

The All-Purpose Puppet was like a large, open-source project. After the proof-of-concept model was refined, any Puppet Master could propose enhancements and improvements.

Once a proposal gained the approval of the majority, it would be integrated into the prototype. This served to both verify the technique’s feasibility and make it available for all other Puppet Masters to study and learn from.

Thus, the All-Purpose Puppet might not have been the Celestial Skill Sect’s strongest Tier Three Puppet in terms of combat power, but it was absolutely the most technologically comprehensive, and also the ’best’ puppet.

The All-Purpose Puppet was the progenitor of all the Celestial Skill Sect’s Tier Three Puppets.

By digesting and absorbing the techniques from the All-Purpose Puppet, Li Ping had essentially learned nearly all of the Celestial Skill Sect’s High-tier puppetry techniques, including those concerning Magical Treasures suitable for a Puppet’s Spirit Binder.

Of course, the core of puppet technology boiled down to just a few things: the power core, Spiritual Power circuits, Magical Power conversion, and Divine Sense control. The other assorted techniques were merely icing on the cake; their absence was not a major issue.

’Thousand-year-old ironwood, iron essence, Earth Core Warm Jade, a Tier Three Life Soul...’ The Spiritual Materials needed to refine a Tier Three Puppet flashed through Li Ping’s mind, and he shook his head inwardly.

Most of these were the kind of materials needed to refine Magical Treasures. ’Where would I even get them?’

’Fortunately, with the blessing of the Inheritance Tree, my success rate for refining puppets is one hundred percent.’ As Li Ping thought this, his consciousness turned to the Inheritance Tree in his sea of consciousness.

Now that he had successfully inherited the Tier Three Puppet Master techniques from the Celestial Skill Sect, the Inheritance Tree had grown considerably taller. A thick, long branch had sprouted above the ones representing his Tier Two Upper Grade Talisman Maker and Tier Three Alchemist skills.

Inscribed upon the branch was a line of mystical characters.

[Puppet Master: Tier Three Lower Grade.]

...

Returning to his senses, Li Ping shook his head. ’Even if I have a one-hundred-percent success rate, I don’t have enough materials to craft a Tier Three Puppet,’ he thought. ’But making a Tier Two puppet should be no problem.’

The materials needed to refine a Tier Two Upper Grade puppet were about the same as those needed for an Upper Grade Dharma Artifact.

However, since a puppet is much larger than a Dharma Artifact, it requires significantly more materials. Add to that its complex functions and the need to refine a Tier Two Upper Grade Life Soul into it to act as the puppet’s spirit.

Li Ping did a quick calculation. The material cost to refine a single Tier Two Upper Grade puppet was roughly equivalent to that of over ten Upper Grade Dharma Artifacts.

In other words, purchasing the materials alone would cost over nine thousand Spirit Stones.

Moreover, puppet refining was a complex art, several times more difficult than Artifact Refining. A single careless mistake could easily waste all the materials.

Considering material waste, labor costs, and the value of the materials themselves, a Tier Two Upper Grade puppet cost as much as fifteen thousand Spirit Stones to produce.

That many Spirit Stones would be enough to refine a Magical Treasure for a Core Formation Cultivator, yet building a puppet would only get you combat power comparable to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment realm.

Li Ping suddenly understood why the Artifact Refining Master from the Ying Sea Commerce Association had cursed the Cultivators of the Celestial Skill Sect as being ’stubbornly archaic and a waste of resources.’

A Core Formation Cultivator wielding a Magical Treasure could slice a Tier Two Upper Grade puppet to pieces as easily as chopping vegetables.

When you compared the combat effectiveness, it was a terrible deal!

But Li Ping was still determined to make them. He could control three Tier Two Upper Grade puppets at once, and adding in spares, he would need to refine at least five.

The thought of the security he’d feel when a battle broke out—three helpers at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment level instantly appearing at his side—made the cost of refining the puppets entirely worth it.

Besides, he would be refining them himself, so there were no labor costs, and his success rate was a guaranteed one hundred percent.

For him, a Tier Two Upper Grade puppet would only cost a mere nine thousand Spirit Stones, which was entirely manageable.

That was without even considering the earning potential of his several High-tier skills; the Spirit Stones currently in his Storage Bag alone were a huge sum.

There was no point in letting Spirit Stones sit around. It was better to convert them into actual combat power as soon as possible.

’I have to build them. I must! While the danger I’m sensing is still not too intense, wait...’ Li Ping suddenly frowned.

Only now did he realize it.

At some unknown point, the warning from his Sudden Inspiration had vanished.

The warning of danger had appeared for no apparent reason, and now it had vanished just as mysteriously.

Li Ping thought silently, ’During this time, I haven’t done anything other than inherit the Tier Three puppetry techniques of the Celestial Skill Sect, so... was the danger related to Yan Liming’s Life Soul? That old bastard truly lived up to his reputation as a veteran Demon Cultivator. Did he actually have the ability to plot against me even in his remnant soul state?’

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Li Ping realized the problem must have been with Yan Liming.

He had no idea what kind of scheme the man had been planning, though.

’Thankfully, I was decisive enough to use Soul Searching on him and then feed him to the Inheritance Tree as nourishment!’ Li Ping felt a jolt of alarm, but also couldn’t help but feel relieved.

At the same time, he made a mental note to himself.

In the future, he had to be extra vigilant when dealing with Demon Cultivators.

Casually placing Yan Liming’s Life Soul in his Storage Bag had been far too careless.

He could never be so reckless again.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.