Chapter 29 Puppet

The so-called First Rank Talisman and Second Rank Talisman are classified by the amount of talismans. However, due to the varying standards of Artifact Refiners, it is quite possible to encounter assertions such as 'a First Rank Talisman with the might comparable to a Second Rank Talisman.'

Such cases, however, are relatively rare.

After all, optimizing talisman arrangements, or even forming an entirely new talisman array, is far beyond the ability of an ordinary Artifact Refiner. Some spend their entire lives without being able to optimize a single talisman or Magic Artifact.

Lu Qingfeng, with the help of the Derivation Technique from the Yellow Court Scripture, is able to optimize every talisman, every Magic Artifact!

Provided he has enough Experience Value!

Lu Qingfeng thought silently, his heart filled with joy.

Being able to refine the Red Flame Pill Furnace in the game means he could also do the same in reality. This way, he could finally free himself from the plight of using a boiler for Alchemy and significantly increase the efficiency of alchemy.

"Only this Artifact Refining—"

Lu Qingfeng reined in his thoughts and reflected on his years of artifact refining career, shaking his head.

Alchemy is difficult!

It is difficult due to the control over the properties and ratio pairing of various medicinal ingredients, as well as Fire Control, etc.

Talisman refining is difficult!

It is difficult due to the drawing of talisman, the precision of the strokes, mastery of Erosion Text, the coordination with Inner Breath, Dan Sand, talisman pen, talisman paper, and many other details, and controlling the amount of Spiritual Energy drawn, etc.

And the difficulty of Artifact Refining encompasses both.

Firstly,

Before Artifact Refining, handling various ores and metals, although seemingly similar to processing different medicinal ingredients, is more difficult than handling medicinal ingredients. After processing, these ores and metals also need to be paired in different proportions, forged with proper Fire Control.

Besides Fire Control, there is also the control of the strength of the blows.

For example, when Lu Qingfeng was refining the Red Flame Pill Furnace, he continuously issued commands, allowing nine apprentices to control the power of fire and wind. At the same time, he used Inner Breath to control the chaotic and disordered wind within the smelting furnace, condensing it into powerful forces to shape the metal in the furnace.

The principle is the same as when Zhang Zong forges sword equipment with the Wind and Thunder Hammer.

These aspects seem similar to Alchemy, but they are vastly different in essence.

Moreover, Lu Qingfeng also had to control his Inner Breath with precision, using it to guide the metal in the smelting furnace and outline complicated Erosion Text characters one by one, which combined to form talismans. Then, he had to arrange these talismans into sets of talisman arrays.

This meticulous task, during the outlining and arranging process, consumes a great deal of mental energy.

It is also the biggest difficulty in Artifact Refining.

First, there are countless Erosion Text characters; each one manifests the Great Dao, can be comprehended but not conveyed in words. Complex and ever-changing, they resemble paintings of the world's mountains and rivers. It is already not easy to outline one by one, yet grouping them to form talismans, let alone overlaying them, is even more challenging.

At least with drawing talismans, you still use a pen in hand!

For Artifact Refining and outlining talismans, however, it is done by guiding with Inner Breath. This requires training the Inner Breath to act as if it were an arm and also requires being extremely familiar with the properties of various metals, their repulsion to each other, and so on.

The difficulty of Artifact Refining thus seems to be subtly regarded as the foremost among the three.

The reason that it took Lu Qingfeng nearly eight years to refine the Red Flame Pill Furnace is precisely because he has been conquering these challenges one by one. Among them, the primary ones are the understanding of Erosion Text and the control of Inner Breath.

Through countless practices, Lu Qingfeng can now control Inner Breath with precision and skillfully outline Erosion Text talismans.

Although it takes a long time, he will not need to waste time on Inner Breath in the future when refining other talismans.

"The Red Flame Pill Furnace was just an experiment. Next, it's time to study Mechanical Techniques and then master Puppet Refining!" A gleam of light flickered in Lu Qingfeng's eyes.

Ever since he witnessed the might of Puppets for the first time eight years ago, Lu Qingfeng had been fascinated by them.

Over the years, as his understanding of Puppets deepened, so did his interest. These types of Magic Artifacts, akin to the combat robots of his previous life, aligned perfectly with Lu Qingfeng's combat philosophy—

No need for close combat, no comparison of Magic Artifacts!

In battle, thousands of Puppets charging forward, no matter how many ranks higher your opponent is, they would still be overwhelmed under the 'Puppet Sea' strategy!

However, the refinement of Puppets, on top of Artifact Refining and talisman, also involves Mechanical Techniques. These techniques encompass biomechanics, physics, mechanical construction, and so on, truly embracing every conceivable concept.

Even within the Hundred Skill Sect, known for their Puppet Refinement, Artifact Refiners capable of refining Puppets are exceedingly rare.

Zhang Zong has studied this technique for more than twenty years and can only refine somewhat insignificant, assistant-type Puppets, having already given up and shifted his focus to refining Talismans and Magic Artifacts instead.

"Zhang Zong is already a top-level artifact refining apprentice; one more step and he can refine First Rank Magic Artifacts, becoming a First Rank Artifact Refiner. For him, time is too precious to waste. But I have a hundredfold time difference, with plenty of energy and time to research!"

Lu Qingfeng made up his mind that, aside from cultivation and Alchemy, his main effort in this life would be on refining Puppets.

For him, as long as he mastered offense, defense, and escape tactics, and perhaps added a type of Qi Men Talisman, that would be sufficient for use. After all, it is very difficult to find excellent materials for refining talismans in Miao Yin City. Rather than spending energy in the game on various talismans and Magic Artifacts, it's better to refine Puppets.

"The materials for refining Puppets, even if ordinary, can still be used as cannon fodder, winning by numbers!"

But not for talismans!

Lu Qingfeng alone could only use a limited number of talismans.

Thinking this way, Puppets naturally became the preferred choice.

After routine Alchemy, Lu Qingfeng took out the books on Mechanical Techniques obtained from the Guild and started to study and ponder over them.

In the Primordial, Mechanical Techniques are the foundation for refining Puppets.

Such as the wooden ox and horse, the wooden bird flying falcon, the Huntian Instrument, the Earthquake Detector, and so on, are all forms of Mechanical Techniques, and are also among the basic types in the mortal world.

Even higher-level constructs, like Mechanical Wooden Men and Mechanical Wood Beasts, can move flexibly and are competent for various tasks.

This has some similarities with the robots of the twenty-first century.

One level higher, and it could be referred to as a Puppet.

Puppets use the skeletons of various demon beasts, ferocious beasts, or peculiar metals as frameworks. They are connected by Beast Tendon or other methods, giving them extremely strong defensive power and the ability to move freely.

Either imitating human forms or beast forms.

On this basis, numerous talisman arrays are inscribed using the method of Artifact Refining, endowing the Puppets with various incredible abilities. They could have invincible defenses, immense strength, capable of wrestling with demon beasts, or capable of releasing techniques, skilled at long-range attacks.

In short.

All the abilities of the Puppets depend on the talisman arrays that the refiner inscribes on them.

Like the Human-shaped Puppets of the Yuan Yi Guild.

The giant puppet controlled by Mu Yuanyi has strong defensive power and great strength. Its arms hold a Sawtooth Sword that rivals a Second Rank Magic Artifact. The joints of its legs and arms hide mechanisms that can shoot White Bone Door Arrows, catching people off guard. The left hand holds a Magic Shield to block all attacks.

This kind of giant puppet, with Mu Yuanyi hidden inside, can amplify its own combat power by dozens of times through controlling the pivot points in battle. As long as it is well-synchronized, in theory, whatever combat power a Puppet can achieve, it can actually exhibit in battle!

Similar to the Mechas of the interstellar era, they involve entering the Puppet and controlling it to engage in combat.

Naturally, Lu Qingfeng was not interested in this kind.