Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 270 - 269: Core Formation Puppets (Please Subscribe) _1

Chapter 270: Chapter 269: Core Formation Puppets (Please Subscribe) _1

Evergreen Pavilion.

After celebrating his achievement for several days, Fang Xi returned to the closed-door cultivation room.

Although achieving the Golden Core was gratifying, the path ahead was still very long.

Besides sending messages to Ruan Xingling and others to inform them of his Core Formation, he prepared for another round of cultivation.

"On Dragon Fish Island, the second-order spiritual vein isn’t suitable for increasing magic power—it’s inefficient..."

"However, some methods for enhancing combat power can still be prepared."

Fang Xi fell into deep thought.

Upon entering the Core Formation Stage, he discovered his talisman crafting skills had improved, and he was sure that with dedicated study, it wouldn’t be long before he would advance from a quasi third-order to a true third-order Talisman Master!

He had always been studying arrays, and now he had hit a new bottleneck.

Fortunately, he wasn’t worried at all, as he had obtained the key to unlock the Fragment World, ensuring that he would have a vast amount of treasure patterns to comprehend—raising his array mastery wouldn’t be a problem.

"Magical artifacts, talismans, puppets..."

"Currently, my second-order puppets are almost all broken, and I can’t return to Great Liang to replenish them for the time being... Moreover... second-order puppets aren’t of much use to me now."

"Except for forming the ’Sky Wolf Battle Array,’ which is still somewhat valuable, but even if it can move... its escape speed is far slower than that of genuine Core Formation cultivators, who are more agile and swift..."

"So... third-order puppets?"

After pondering for a while, Fang Xi realized he had no inheritance for crafting third-order puppets, and had not even heard of it, which suggested it was quite rare.

Fortunately, he did have suitable materials on hand and could manage to piece one together without too much trouble.

A flash of silver light!

His body was moved through the void by the ’Nine Nether Profound Wood Array’, and he directly appeared beneath the Monster Tree.

"Open!"

Fang Xi looked at the tangled roots of the Monster Tree, a hint of a smile surfaced on his face as he cast a magic spell.

The tree’s roots parted, revealing the top-tier Exotic Treasure trapped by dark chains—"Nine Dragon Balls"!

"These balls are called Exotic Treasures, but it’s more appropriate to say they are an external pill..."

After all, Fang Xi had wider experience than local cultivators and had also encountered the external pill techniques of the Primitive Devil Door.

The so-called ’External Pill’!

It involved refining an object that resembled a Golden Core, which could enhance a Foundation Establishment cultivator, granting them magic powers like those of a Core Formation cultivator!

Because it was an external object, it was called an ’External Pill’!

When Fang Xi accompanied Danya in resisting the Sky Demon siblings, he saw similar methods used by the lower-ranking yet Core Formation-level body refining Demon Cultivator!

"Since it’s an external object, if it’s lost, it would revert to its original form, and it wouldn’t have the extended lifespan of a true Core Formation Cultivator... However, with every loss comes a gain, as it would still be a Foundation Establishment cultivator and thus could continue to improve their cultivation level, aiming for the Core Formation bottleneck!"

"And so-called ’Jia Dan cultivators’ actually rely on the power of Demon Pills to condense a Golden Core. Although their cultivation cannot progress further, they truly break through to a higher realm and possess the lifespan of an old Core Formation ancestor..."

"This ’Nine Dragon Balls’ undoubtedly belongs to the External Pills, much more precious than a Demon Pill... The only pity is that there are bloodline spirit bans within them, and not only can outsiders not refine it, but even rashly infusing magic power for sacrificial refining might trigger the malicious traps hidden within, causing one’s Dantian to explode and leading to death..."

Fang Xi sighed, then clapped his hands.

An old puppet with wrinkled face, white hair, and limbs as thin as kindling appeared beside him—it was ’You Kun’!

After killing You Kun, and adhering to the principle of not wasting resources, Fang Xi still turned him into a wood puppet.

Although it’s best to create a wood puppet while the subject is still alive, a freshly deceased body wasn’t much of an issue.

It was just that when he used the ’Kuyong Skills’ secret technique to search the soul, the memories he obtained were less complete than those of You Chong, likely because the soul had started to dissipate. If the subject had been dead for more than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, then even a wood puppet could no longer extract memories from the soul.

Moreover, Fang Xi didn’t find a way to disable the ’Nine Dragon Balls’ prohibition within You Kun’s Storage Bag.

That was quite normal; he even suspected that the You family might not have such a method at all! After all, they would only complain that the prohibitions on the ’Nine Dragon Balls’ weren’t strong and tight enough. How could they possibly research a way to break it, which would only bring discomfort to their own family?

’Such a treasure, yet it fell into the hands of outsiders...’

’If it hadn’t been for the great battle in the cultivation world, perhaps the entire You family would have come after me for revenge, right?’

’Even now, they must still be coveting it...’

Fang Xi pointed casually.

You Kun stepped forward immediately, forming seals with his hands, and drops of dark red blood fell into the ’Nine Dragon Balls’!

Yes!

That was Fang Xi’s material for creating a Core Formation puppet!

As for whether the ’Nine Dragon Balls’ would recognize the bloodline of the ’wood puppet,’ Fang Xi remained somewhat skeptical, so he decided to give it a try.

For him, failure would only mean the loss of one wood puppet, which was not a big deal.

A humming sound!

In the next moment, the ’Nine Dragon Balls’ shone brightly, with runes on the surface of the spiritual pearls flickering. Flame dragons emerged from it, drawing fire attribute spiritual power from heaven and earth, and quickly returned into You Kun’s body.

Roaring!

You Kun opened his mouth, swallowed the ’Nine Dragon Balls,’ and his aura exploded. Nine fire dragons accompanied him, and his magic power reached that of the Core Formation level!

"Not bad... It actually worked?!"

Fang Xi rubbed his hands together excitedly, "My first Core Formation puppet!"

Seeing this, he did not hesitate and formed a magic spell with his fingers.

A point of Divine Consciousness shot out, turning into a grain-sized streak of light, and burrowed into You Kun’s mind.

This was one of the eight major strands of Divine Consciousness he had divided through cultivation of the ’Thousand Thread Puppet Controlling Skills’ to the third layer!

A Core Formation puppet was enough for him to make a choice.

When the Divine Consciousness entered You Kun’s body, Fang Xi’s control over the Puppet immediately improved by leaps and bounds, no longer hindered by the need to relay through the Monster Tree.

The expressions on You Kun’s face also changed rapidly, from stiff and distorted... to expressionless... and then he let out a sinister smile and a hoarse, deep voice, "I, the Supreme Elder of the Yu Family... You Kun, are here to end your life, junior!"

Roar! Roar!

As this person clasped his hands to cast a Magic Spell, nine Fire Dragons burst forth, continuously spewing flames that could melt metal and petrify stone!

Their momentum was incredibly astonishing!

Even their escape speed was extremely fast!

"However... Puppet Skill has its limitations, and the maximum distance for controlling a Puppet will not exceed the limit of the controller’s Divine Consciousness... In other words, once the distance between myself and the You Kun Puppet exceeds twenty miles, it will ’disconnect’ immediately?!"

Fang Xi then manipulated ’You Kun’ to test flying, defending, attacking, etc., and roughly understood the Puppet’s weaknesses.

"Even though I’m manipulating it with a technique that divides the mind and extends consciousness, it’s still far more flexible than a wooden Puppet... but after all, it cannot compare to a real Core Formation Cultivator."

"Moreover, the inherent physical weakness of human Puppets has also been inherited..."

Real third-order Puppets are mostly made from treasure-level materials and are as hard as magical artifacts, which is why they dare to clash head-on with Cultivators’ magical artifacts.

Although Fang Xi’s wooden Puppets were made from simple materials, the strength of the Puppet itself was that of its former body.

The current You Kun, due to being overly weakened by age, didn’t even match up to an average Foundation Establishment body cultivator.

During combat, one must allocate a large portion of their Magic Power to protect the physical body, otherwise, it’s easy to be exploited and killed by a peer Cultivator.

"Strictly speaking... Beast Puppets are better!"

"Third-order Demonic Beasts?"

Fang Xi stroked his chin, beginning to set his sights on the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.

"Pity... I dare not venture deep into the mountain range. If only a Monster King would run out and get separated, that would be perfect..."

With his current Divine Skills, facing a third-order Monster King wouldn’t pose a serious problem, and at least he could escape.

Before undergoing the Transformation Heavenly Tribulation, Monster Beasts of ordinary bloodlines are always somewhat inferior to Cultivators of the same level.

"By then, I could refine a third-order wooden Puppet, and also the Demon Pills..."

"Wait a minute, after taking out the Demon Pill, the power of a third-order Monster Beast Puppet would also plummet, wouldn’t it? Perhaps it could be called a ’quasi third-order Puppet’?"

"No, that’s not right... I’m still in prison... unless a third-order Monster King directly charges into Dragon Fish Island..."

"However, it can be considered an option for the future."

Suddenly, Fang Xi thought of Ruan Xingling and wondered how she was doing.

’Pity... for any Cultivator, reaching Core Formation is a major hurdle, even for Jia Dan!’

’Even with the absorption of a Monster King’s Inner Core, there’s still a chance of failure, it’s not guaranteed to succeed...’

’Of course, an Inner Core of the same attribute as the Cultivator can nearly increase the success rate as much as the Five Elements Spirit Fruit; coupled with the Cultivator’s own foundation and the aid of Spiritual Pills and magical elixirs, the probability of condensing Jia Dan is still quite substantial...’

After handing over the ’Three Yang True Fire Cover’ to You Kun, Fang Xi casually left the closed-door cultivation room.

Now, not only did he possess two life-bound magical artifacts, one for attack and one for defense, but he also had a Core Formation level Puppet.

Even when faced with an average Core Formation mid-stage Cultivator, he dared to engage in a fight.

In the Cultivation World of the Three Kingdoms, he was more than capable of wielding great power.

If he were within the ’Nine Nether Profound Wood Array’, even if three Golden Core Sects’ Elders joined forces to attack, he would remain serene and unafraid!

Therefore, his state of mind was very calm, bearing a sense of peaceful detachment.

...

Evergreen Pavilion.

"The young master has emerged from seclusion..."

Yan Ying’s demeanor was respectful yet carried a hint of warmth, "Mr. Hong’s people came to ask... when will the Island Master hold the Golden Core Ceremony?"

Achieving a Golden Core is a significant event, and in the Cultivation World, it is almost always celebrated with a Golden Core Ceremony to inform everyone widely.

’I haven’t sealed off Dragon Fish Island since reaching Core Formation... Counting the days, those who should be aware are already aware, right?’

Fang Xi contemplated for a moment, responding nonchalantly, "I’ll think about it..."

The Cultivation World of the Three Kingdoms was ultimately too small. Besides Zhang Zhusheng and Old Qing, should he also send an invitation to Master Yan of Yiling Valley?

...

Outside Thousand Island Lake.

A five-color building ship streaked across the sky.

The ship bore the mark of the Mysterious Heaven Sect.

A man stood on the deck with a majestic face but bearing an ill look, it was Elder Zhang who had been recuperating in seclusion within the Mysterious Heaven Sect!

His arm had been reattached, but the occasional cough made Xuan Xuanzi very worried, "Elder... even though that person has formed a Golden Core, I could go to congratulate him on behalf of our sect, why trouble yourself with such a journey?"

"Cough cough... ever since Bai Feng, another Individual Cultivator has formed a Golden Core... such an occasion cannot be missed..."

Zhang Zhusheng coughed twice, his face betraying no clear sign of pleasure or anger, "I’ve read the intelligence on this person... He started his Immortal Path from Bamboo Mountain with mediocre aptitude, yet his tenacity of mind is remarkable, achieving Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty, and reaching Core Formation before the deadline... he’s truly extraordinary. Besides... this person is also a third-order Array Master, and has slain great enemies for our sect!"

"Yes... those odds for Mysterious Water Essence, could he really just stumble upon it?" Xuan Xuanzi felt profoundly frustrated internally.

In his view, Fang Xi must have used ’Mysterious Water Essence’.

But to think that such low odds would still lead to forming a Golden Core, it seemed like the heavens were unjust!

He thought of the several individuals from the Mysterious Heaven Sect who were at the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment and had better external conditions for Core Formation than ’Mysterious Water Essence’, yet still failed!

"Heh... Mysterious Water Essence is merely a bit of help; to talk about condensing a Golden Core, it’s far from sufficient..."

Zhang Zhusheng shook his head, "Have you forgotten about Nine Leaves Sect’s ruins in Thousand Island Lake?"