Chapter 36: In a Blink of 10 Years! Great Achievement Accomplished!
The auction only delayed Lu Qingfeng for half a day.
Half a day later, after returning to Yuan Yi Mountain, Lu Qingfeng started a new round of cultivation and research.
Promotion to the True Qi Realm made cultivation increasingly difficult.
From the First Level of the True Qi Realm to the Ninth Layer, one must advance through 100 levels to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage. The experience value required for each level also increased from an incremental 5 to an incremental 10.
Regarding Elixir Pills.
Yellow Dragon Pill and ordinary Golden Marrow Pills no longer had any effect on Lu Qingfeng's cultivation. Only Elixir Recipes that were strengthened five times like the 'Special Golden Marrow Pill' and others such as the Qi Union Pill and Qi Movement Powder provided assistance for cultivation in the True Qi Realm.
However, the cultivation speed inevitably plummeted.
The increase in experience value was considerable, but it was hard to keep up due to the large amount of experience required for each level, and each level was further divided into ten ranks.
""Primordial"divides cultivation levels and ranks so meticulously that even if one stays at the same realm for a long time, cultivators can see their own progress through visibly observable experience value and rank data."
"But at the same time, it also brings despair!"
According to the current pace, without using experience value for Derivation, Lu Qingfeng hoped to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage before his Life Span nearly ended.
However, it is said that every three layers of True Qi Realm present a minor bottleneck. Advancing from the True Qi Realm to the Foundation Establishment Qi Introduction Realm presents a major bottleneck that stops many cultivators.
Lu Qingfeng was uncertain.
Even after advancing to the True Qi Realm, his Life Span limit had increased from 68 to 100.
"Leave cultivation to fate."
"In the game, a hundred years is a lifetime, but it's just one year in reality. According to my current real-life cultivation progress, it would take three to five years to even think of advancing to the True Qi Realm."
"That means I have at least three to five lifetimes in the game to repeatedly cultivate in the True Qi Realm and accumulate experience."
If one lifetime is not enough to break through, then two!
If two lifetimes are not enough, then three!
After several lifetimes of accumulation, surely I will break through the True Qi Realm and advance to Foundation!
Keep a balanced mindset!
Continue cultivating relentlessly!
If in doubt, consult Zhang Zong, Wang Tao, Lu Hongwen, Mu Yuanyi, and others. Ponder over various hurdles in cultivation without rushing the speed, but fully mastering it.
Puppet refining is another area where Zhang Zong could offer significant help.
Zhang Zong himself was a top-level artifact refining apprentice and had studied Puppet Refining for more than twenty years, with rich experience. With his guidance, Lu Qingfeng made rapid progress.
Time passed.
In a flash.
Ten years had passed since the first Xuanji auction.
...
Cui Ping Mountain, Earth Realm.
Yuan Yi Mountain.
Located beside the Black Sand Alchemy Room, a massive building had been newly constructed over the years. It wasn't an alchemy room, but an artifact refining room.
This Artifact Refining Room was built with funds provided by Lu Qingfeng himself and was named 'Black Sand Refining Room'.
As his research on puppets deepened, his visits to Zhang Zong's Seven Mysterious Refining Room became more frequent. Sometimes, being struck by inspiration, it was common for him not to emerge for ten days to half a month.
Although Zhang Zong, Mu Yuanyi, and others wouldn't say anything, it's hard to guarantee others in the Yuan Yi Guild would not have minor complaints.
Over the years, the Yuan Yi Guild had grown and strengthened, already far from the makeshift organization when Lu Qingfeng first joined.
Lu Qingfeng was conscientious.
Next to the Black Sand Alchemy Room, he built the Black Sand Refining Room, dedicated to his puppet refining research.
That day.
In the Black Sand Refining Room, Lu Qingfeng held a Rune Needle in his hand, infusing True Qi, and outlined in front of him on the chest of a metal puppet that was as tall as him.
Lu Qingfeng was extremely focused.
Each time the Rune Needle touched down, it was incredibly precise. The tracing of each circuit, the pauses at each node, were meticulously executed.
After about half an hour.
Lu Qingfeng drew a beautiful curve with the Rune Needle on the chest of the metal puppet, revealing lines that were ancient and mysterious, captivating one's gaze!
He stared at the metal puppet in front of him, silent, his consciousness suddenly shifted, and his perspective changed, revealing a rather handsome young man standing bewilderingly in front of him.
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This is Lu Qingfeng linking with the Thousand Machine Stone inside the metal puppet in front of him, entering and controlling it through the Spirit Control Talisman Array within the Thousand Machine Stone.
Just like looking at 'oneself' in the mirror, he shares the vision with the puppet.
Mu Yuanyi also controls the giant puppet in this way.
Various vision and survey techniques all come from the talisman arrays on the puppet's body.
Lu Qingfeng controls the metal puppet; lifting his left foot to step forward, he unexpectedly moved half a step backward!
The puppet didn't stop, and continued to move.
Suddenly to the left, suddenly to the right.
Advancing, retreating, jumping, flipping...
Lu Qingfeng kept trying, this seemingly cumbersome metal puppet was as agile as a normal person. Its special metal, like skin and flesh, could contract and extend at will. It could perform any action a normal person could, and even those beyond human limits.
Lu Qingfeng's consciousness moved forward a few steps, and he suddenly delivered a palm strike on the puppet.
The puppet immediately stepped back three steps, a scorching palm print appeared on its chest, looking terrifying. However, the puppet stopped retreating and continued to move freely without any impact.
Lu Qingfeng did not stop.
Burning Heart Palm!
True Yang Finger Skill!
Fire Bomb Technique!
Ice Freeze Skill!
...
Martial skills and techniques were continuously unleashed, attacking all over the puppet. After a brutal assault, the puppet was a mess, black and white marks all over.
Yet, the joy on Lu Qingfeng's face intensified.
Until the last kick sent the metal puppet flying several meters before it crashed to the ground. The metal puppet bounced back and stood up again.
"Great success!"
Lu Qingfeng did not pursue further, he just stood there immensely excited!
Eighteen years had passed in this life.
The first eight years, Lu Qingfeng began laying the foundation in puppetry technique.
Like the basics of Artifact Refining, handling various ores, metals, and materials, etc.
As well as Mechanical Techniques.
After solidifying various foundations and clarifying principles, Lu Qingfeng began formally studying puppet refining.
He first obtained widely spread puppet refining methods from Yuan Yi Guild and Zhang Zong.
These included the overall structure of the puppet, the construction of various talisman arrays inside and outside of the puppet, covering Spirit Core Formation, Spirit Control Formation, the refining of ordinary Thousand Machine Stones and the construction of several dozen talisman arrays.
This kind of puppet, limited by the Thousand Machine Stone, only allowed cultivators to reside inside and control the puppet for combat by touching the Thousand Machine Stone.
Thus, the puppet was huge, at least more than two meters tall.
Lu Qingfeng started his research from this type of puppet, and later at the first Xuanji auction, he obtained the "Huang's Puppet Manual" and then shifted to studying smaller puppets.
A full ten years.
From the initial seven years of continuously pondering each talisman array and every structure. Then just barely able to refine a puppet with a complete structure, yet encountering various problems.
Failure after failure, starting over again and again!
Although he used very common materials, countless trials still cost a fortune! Lu Qingfeng's income from refining Elixir Pills was all used for puppet refining.
With Lu Qingfeng's attainments in alchemy, elixirs like Yellow Dragon Pills, Golden Marrow Pills, Qi Union Pills, Qi Movement Powder were very popular, bringing in at least a dozen Spirit Stones each year.
Ten years later, that totaled over a hundred Spirit Stones.
Enough to buy several Level 1 Magic Artifacts, or dozens of Second Rank Puppets!
Such huge investments, no wonder Zhang Zong gave up after more than twenty years of research. No wonder Hundred Skill Sect founded their sect on puppetry, but kept the high-end puppet refining methods secret, with very few Artifact Refiners in the sect actually able to refine puppets.
No other reason!
The cost was too great!
Lu Qingfeng's research focused on ordinary First Rank and Second Rank puppets, with common, inexpensive materials. And because the puppets were small, they also used less material.
If he were to study large-scale or high-level puppets, the cost would be ten times, a hundred times more?!
Lu Qingfeng reflected on the hardships of these ten years, looked at the puppet in front of him, and finally burst into silent laughter!
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