Chapter 63: Craftsmanship!
“Martial-Uncle, is there any danger in this trip?”
At the Spirit Lake of Chaotian Peak, Lu Qingyang and Jun Moyan sat facing each other.
“There was danger, but fortunately, the puppet you refined resolved it all.”
Jun Moyan shook his head, then asked curiously, “By the way, what are those talking puppets on the island?”
Hearing this, a slight curve lifted the corner of Lu Qingyang’s mouth. He beckoned toward the air.
“Bzz!”
In the next instant, a circular metallic object appeared out of thin air before the two of them.
The metallic object was round, its surface covered in flickering inscriptions, exuding an ancient, weathered sense of countless years, as if it had existed for a very long time.
It floated in the void, slowly rotating, emitting a mysterious fluctuation that carried the breath of time, intoxicating to the senses.
Lu Qingyang reached out and stroked the metallic object, speaking softly.
“Say hello, Jiangxin.”
As his words fell, Jun Moyan watched as the inscriptions on the metallic object suddenly blazed with brilliant light. Then, an indifferent, mechanical voice transmitted over.
“Greetings, Supreme Elder. My name is Jiangxin.”
“Hiss—!”
Hearing this voice, Jun Moyan could not help but suck in a breath of cold air. His eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the metallic object.
“Jiang… Jiangxin, it’s actually alive?”
Jun Moyan swallowed, looked at Lu Qingyang, then looked at the metallic object, and for a long while failed to react.
Lu Qingyang smiled faintly, looked at the Jiangxin he had refined by exhausting the Chaotian Sect’s years of savings, and spoke softly.
“This metallic object is now the Chaotian Sect’s treasure to guard the sect, and also the first Spirit Artifact I ever refined.”
“All the puppets in the Chaotian Sect are actually controlled by it. That is precisely why those puppets can speak.”
“By the way, I also inscribed over a hundred kinds of formation recordings of cultivators in combat into Jiangxin. Under its control, the puppets’ combat power has increased by at least fifty percent.”
Listening to Lu Qingyang’s calm, casual account, a colossal wave surged in Jun Moyan’s heart, and his face was filled with an expression of disbelief and utter shock.
“Spirit Artifact…”
After a long while, he forced out two words, feeling his throat go dry and his chest ache sharply.
Such a treasure, and he had the fortune to witness it with his own eyes!
After all, he had only heard of Spirit Artifacts in rumors.
He never imagined he would actually see one!
“Martial-Uncle, what’s wrong?”
Looking at the dazed Jun Moyan, who seemed to have gone silly, Lu Qingyang frowned and asked.
“Cough cough~~”
Jun Moyan gave a dry cough, covering his embarrassment.
“No… nothing, I was just too shocked.”
Jun Moyan shook his head and took a deep breath.
“Then… if all the sect’s puppets are controlled by it, could something go wrong?”
He hesitated for a moment, then could not help but ask.
Lu Qingyang was startled. He looked at Jun Moyan, pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
“Martial-Uncle worries too much. Although Jiangxin is a Spirit Artifact, it has already been refined by me. I only need a single thought to control it.”
Jun Moyan nodded. That was good.
“By the way, then aren’t you now already a top-tier artificer?”
In the Prison Dragon Realm, the standard for a top-tier artificer was the ability to refine Spirit Artifacts.
“Mm, a fortunate breakthrough.”
Lu Qingyang nodded, his expression calm.
“Congratulations, Sect Master! Felicitations, Sect Master!”
Jun Moyan immediately cupped his hands. Over the years, he had traveled abroad and seen some of the world.
He knew very well how sought-after top-tier artificers were in the Seven Stars Sea.
Not to mention anything else — a top-tier artificer of the Seven Stars Pavilion would have four Soul Transformation attendants protecting him when going out. His status was inexpressibly noble.
“Heh heh, Martial-Uncle is too kind.”
Lu Qingyang smiled faintly and spoke modestly.
“But Martial-Uncle, your return is well-timed. As long as you can break through to Nascent Soul, when facing the Heavenly Saber Sect, our Chaotian Sect will have one more card to play.”
“The Heavenly Saber Sect?”
Seeing Jun Moyan’s puzzled look, Lu Qingyang recounted the scene from many years ago in full.
After hearing it, Jun Moyan’s expression turned solemn.
He never imagined the Chaotian Sect now had a Nascent Soul sect as an enemy!
After all, in the Great Zhou, Nascent Soul was almost synonymous with invincibility.
“Martial-Uncle, your cultivation has now reached peak Golden Core. If you can break through to Nascent Soul, and with the Tier-Three spiritual power armor, you should be able to contend with a mid-stage Nascent Soul.”
“As long as you can break through to the Nascent Soul realm, our Chaotian Sect’s deterrent power will increase severalfold.”
Lu Qingyang looked at Jun Moyan, his tone warm.
Having said that, he stood up and instructed Jiangxin before him.
“Go make preparations. I’m going to open the furnace and refine the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill.”
“Yes, Master!”
Hearing the command, Jiangxin flashed with blue light and controlled several puppets to head to the underground palace to prepare.
And after taking the Glazed Seed and Nascent Dragon Fruit from Jun Moyan’s hands, Lu Qingyang’s figure appeared in the underground palace.
The underground palace cavern at Chaotian Peak had been expanded year after year.
Now it was a full thousand meters in both length and width.
Inside the underground palace, several puppet production lines ran ceaselessly day and night.
Parts for Tier-Two and even Tier-Three puppets were continuously produced.
Through conveyor belts, they were transported to the next part.
There they would be assembled into form.
And finally, on the arm, the words “Made by Tiangong” would be inscribed.
At the very back of the underground palace, rows of freshly finished puppets stood neatly arranged, like a well-trained army.
Each puppet had a sleek form, covered in black iron-blue spots, as if forged from steel, full of intense visual impact.
“Whew, the puppets are somewhat saturated now.”
“I just need to find a suitable opportunity to have Old Huang transport them to Vast Sea City for sale.”
“Perhaps this could become the Chaotian Sect’s second-largest industry.”
After making a round of the underground palace, Lu Qingyang’s mouth curved into a faint arc.
Now, all three puppet production lines were controlled by Jiangxin.
This Tier-Four Spirit Artifact was like a brain. Not only could it connect to and control all the puppets on the island, it could simultaneously supervise production.
It could even link with the Skybase Weapon above Tiangong Island.
It saved Lu Qingyang no small amount of worry. However, Jiangxin’s current rank was still too low. At most, it could simultaneously mobilize several thousand puppets across the island.
Any more and it would be strained.
There would be risks of control failure, or even crashes.
“Now… let me see what’s so extraordinary about this Nascent Soul Pill.”
Lu Qingyang took a deep breath and walked slowly to a furnace cauldron about a zhang tall, entirely crimson red.
This cauldron was also something he had obtained in the Simulation. Though its rank was only Tier-Three, it was already extremely precious.
This time, he planned to use it to refine the Nascent Soul Pill.
“Bzz~”
Lu Qingyang raised his right hand and pressed it to the crimson cauldron’s wall.
“Rumble~”
Accompanied by a deafening thunder, dense flames immediately surged from the crimson cauldron’s surface.
These flames were a dark, deep blue, blazing as if they possessed spirituality.
It was precisely the Deep-Sea Blue Flame!
Lu Qingyang formed hand seals with his left hand, and according to the pill formula recorded in his mind, began continuously throwing in spirit medicines…
And just as he was intensely refining the Nascent Soul Breaking Pill.
At Beixuan Island, in the Sect Master’s hall.
Ancestor Lidao, wearing a purple robe with disheveled hair, sat on the great chair with a cold expression.
At his feet, over a dozen figures knelt in submission.
“Sect Master, we have investigated clearly. Before Elder Wang’s incident, he was leading sect disciples to explore a Secret Realm.”
“Afterward, it seems the Dharma Ship was damaged, and contact was lost.”
“However, the last location where Elder Wang disappeared seems to be called… Tiangong Island?”