With his extensive experience in crafting puppets, Xiao Yan controlled the flames in his hands with exceptional precision.
The black-and-white flames flickered and danced, causing the surrounding air to distort and blur.
Various materials were thrown into the fire, and Xiao Yan's eyes remained focused, ensuring every detail was handled flawlessly.
The materials he refined were diverse—minerals, metals, and even rare crystals—each carrying unique properties.
As more materials were added, Xiao Yan's movements became increasingly swift, his hands weaving through the air like a masterful artist plucking leaves from a tree.
This was the first time Xiao Yan attempted to create a puppet of such high caliber, using materials he had painstakingly gathered over the past six months.
Yet, despite this being his first attempt, his extraordinary perception made it seem as if he had practiced this process countless times before.
Standing still like a wooden stake, Xiao Yan appeared to establish a mysterious connection between himself, the flames, and the materials.
About half an hour later, the materials within the flames rapidly fused together.
They tumbled and melted in the fire before finally condensing into a completely pitch-black puppet.
The puppet was tall and robust, its human-like features growing more refined, making it appear almost alive.
Xiao Yan exhaled in relief, knowing his efforts had not been in vain.
With a flick of his finger, the earth-elemental fifth-tier Magic Core from the ornate box on the stone table embedded itself into the puppet's chest.
With a low hum, the magic core's earthy-yellow energy slowly dispersed under the flames' tempering, flowing through the puppet like blood, giving its surface a strange, shimmering luster.
The puppet's body was now perfectly refined. Xiao Yan reached for the jade bottle on the table and crushed it, revealing a weak and feeble soul trapped within.
"Young brat, what do you plan to do to me this time?" the soul wailed in terror.
The flames were simply too powerful—any more burning, and he feared he would be incinerated entirely.
"My puppet lacks intelligence. Your soul will serve me just fine." Xiao Yan smirked.
The soul shuddered in fear. In his past dealings, he had only ever captured souls, yet today, he had encountered someone even more ruthless.
Ignoring the soul's desperate struggles, Xiao Yan's eyes turned cold, and flames surged from his palms, engulfing the spirit.
Agonized screams and venomous curses filled the air.
Xiao Yan remained indifferent to the soul's hateful cries and intensified the flames even further.
Within just a breath or two, a faint sound came from within the black mist—at that moment, the soul's consciousness was completely erased.
Having refined the soul's consciousness, Xiao Yan flicked his hand, sending the black mist surging like a dark dragon, which shot into a pinhole-sized opening on the puppet's forehead.
As the soulless spirit merged into the puppet, its tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing pitch-black pupils.
With the soul's integration, an immense, emotionless aura slowly emanated from the puppet.
Yao Lao glanced at it and chuckled, "A puppet at the Five-Star Dou Wang level—not bad."
"That's not all," Xiao Yan smiled slightly, taking a step back. His hands quickly formed an intricate seal, and he uttered a strange incantation.
As his voice echoed, the puppet's body trembled. Suddenly, it stepped forward in a powerful stance, its iron fist hurtling toward Xiao Yan's chest.
"Eight Extremities Collapse!"
Seeing the puppet's opening move, Yao Lao was utterly astonished.
Typically, a puppet's combat prowess depended solely on the materials used in its forging. This, however, was the first time he had ever seen a puppet capable of performing battle techniques.
"Void Annihilation!"
Facing the puppet's powerful punch, Xiao Yan did not dodge. Instead, he stood firm in a "Two-Character Clamp Sheep Stance," directing all the force into the ground beneath him.
A series of muffled booms erupted from his body, and as he dispersed the impact, the stone slab beneath his feet shattered instantly.
"Hidden Force!" Yao Lao was so shocked that he instinctively took flight.
It was already incredibly rare for a puppet to use battle techniques—yet this one could even utilize hidden force!
The Eight Extremities Collapse was a high-tier Xuan-rank battle technique, renowned for its sheer destructive power in close combat.
When mastered to perfection, it concealed eight layers of hidden force, which, when stacked together, could rival a low-tier Di-rank battle technique.
Ordinary practitioners took one to two years to grasp even the basic form of Eight Extremities Collapse, while geniuses could master it in about a month.
However, hidden force was notoriously difficult to control. Even prodigies needed at least a year or more to grasp its essence.
Yet now, this technique had been perfectly replicated in a puppet, something truly beyond belief.
Void Annihilation was not an invincible technique—it required a brief moment to reset after dispersing force.
Although Xiao Yan's profound cultivation allowed him to minimize this interval, the eight-layered hidden force surged toward him like an unstoppable tide.
Drawing a circle with his hand, Xiao Yan swiftly redirected the force using Void Annihilation's Reincarnation Tribulation, then struck the ground with a powerful palm.
Boom!
The sturdy floor shattered in an instant, breaking into fine fragments before ultimately turning into dust, sending a thick cloud of debris into the air.
"What an incredible puppet!" Yao Lao couldn't help but praise.
In battle, when two fighters were equally matched, the outcome was often determined by the strength of their battle techniques.
Having a puppet capable of executing battle techniques made defeating an opponent effortless.
For someone like Xiao Yan, who lacked neither techniques nor resources, even equipping this puppet with Di-rank battle techniques wouldn't be difficult.
Xiao Yan waved his sleeve, dispersing the lingering dust. Seeing Yao Lao's excitement, he shook his head slightly.
"Eight Extremities Collapse is a close-combat technique, making it particularly suitable for a puppet with such a durable body. If it were another type of technique, this wouldn't have been possible."
Yao Lao now understood—the limitations were greater than he had expected.
If the puppet could only use close-combat techniques, then even though Xiao Yan had mastered many techniques, only a few would be applicable.
And if they had to find techniques on par with Eight Extremities Collapse, the selection would be even more limited.
However, Xiao Yan's derived technique, Eight Extremities Sky Cannon, was powerful enough to rival a low-tier Di-rank battle technique. Implementing it into the puppet could prove highly effective.
Yao Lao was a master in alchemy, unmatched across the continent, but his knowledge of puppetry was limited. Relying on his own experience, he commented:
"Puppets mainly depend on the materials they're made from. Given that the Jia Ma Empire is rather remote, reaching the Dou Wang level is likely this puppet's limit."
Xiao Yan nodded slightly, agreeing with Yao Lao's assessment.
Knowing that his disciple had his own judgment, Yao Lao said no more. Spreading his wings, he ascended into the night sky and vanished in an instant.
Not long after Yao Lao left, Ya Fei gracefully approached, her voice tinged with playful reproach:
"I was only preparing things for a little while, and you decided to destroy my courtyard?"
Hearing her charming and intoxicating voice, Xiao Yan lifted his head and replied with a smirk:
"I was just tinkering with something small and decided to test its power. You're just in time—come take a look."
(End of Chapter)
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