Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 264 The God Lu Wu
Su Qing had the courage to create puppets beyond his level.

This is inseparable from his own efforts. He obtained the divine beast and the Li Huo rune for free from the witch, and refined puppets day and night, thus acquiring the fourth-order bionic rune and the fourth-order intelligent rune through his own skills.

Secondly, it depends on the puppet's own efforts. If the puppet itself does not strive for improvement, even with its current second-tier puppeteer level, it will be difficult to refine a third-tier puppet.

Fortunately.

Both he and Hudan worked very hard!

The proud tiger egg, as Su Qing's first second-tier puppet, was only proud for a few days before its arrogance was completely suppressed by the second-tier puppets that were refined afterward.

He was shoveled by the mountain demon, overpowered by the bear king, looked down upon by the serpent dragon, and despised by the roc king.

The proud tiger egg had never suffered such humiliation. It tormented itself day and night, asking itself if it was willing to continue living like this, at the bottom of the hierarchy of all second-tier puppets, earning the basic salary given by its master, with even the combat allowance being pitifully small.
No, Tiger Egg shouldn't be such an unambitious puppet!
When the tiger egg can contemplate so deeply, it has already undergone a transformation.

Even if a puppet has third-order intelligence and a corresponding personality, it shouldn't have such thoughts of being unwilling to be inferior and striving for progress.

It developed self-awareness, transformed from a puppet into a puppet demon, and from an inanimate object into a living thing!
This made Su Qing overjoyed, secretly thinking that her decision to give Tiger Egg a personality and put up with its foul mouth was absolutely right!

The reason why Tier 3 intelligent runes are so rare and valuable is precisely this: by setting a personality, puppets are more likely to develop self-awareness!
Once a tiger egg develops self-awareness, it can independently cultivate demon race combat techniques. Although tiger race combat techniques are not easy to obtain, the Gangjing Qi Jin of the Gangjing Pig King, which, according to the Pig King himself, is a second-tier high-grade combat technique among demon race combat techniques, can barely allow the tiger egg to make do with its cultivation.

A year of hard work: Tiger Egg swallows the Golden Essence, refines its Qi, practices Tiger Fist, and toughens its body!
From second-tier mid-grade to second-tier high-grade, and now to the second-tier limit.

Tiger Egg put in a lot of effort, and it paid off!
It has finally gotten its chance—a chance to overpower all of Su Qing's puppets!

"Tiger Egg, this reforging process is fraught with danger. If you are not careful, you will collapse. Let me ask you one more time: are you prepared?"

Refining the tiger egg is still beyond Su Qing's capabilities. The tiger egg's cooperation is needed for the process to have any chance of success. Therefore, he needs to determine the tiger egg's mental state before refining it.

After all, the puppet has grown up and has its own ideas.

"My lord, rest assured, I know that your strength is insufficient and your realm is not high enough. This time, I am forced to undergo retraining because I am in a difficult situation. But since you have given me this opportunity, how could I not risk my life for you and go through fire and water!"

The tiger egg that gave birth to self-awareness quietly improved its cultural literacy.

Although I use idioms haphazardly, and even though I thought I was quite good at interpersonal relationships, I'm completely clueless about them, so it's better not to learn them at all.

But Su Qing knew its intentions, and that was enough. Refining a third-tier puppet was a major matter, so she didn't want to argue with it too much for the time being.

"Because you are now a second-tier limit puppet, you are only one step away from becoming a third-tier puppet."

This step is an insurmountable chasm for ordinary puppets, and it won't be easy for you either.

"You must first swallow this third-tier demon core to suppress its violent energy, subdue it, and make it your own. This step is the most dangerous and perilous. I can lend you a hand, but the key lies with yourself. Do you understand?"

Su Qing said in a deep voice, "Refining a third-order puppet is not the most difficult step. The most difficult part is drawing fourth-order runes."

But for a cultivator like him who is in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, this step is the most difficult!

If a witch were to create a third-tier puppet, she could easily subdue the third-tier demon core with the power of her golden core, making it obedient. However, he lacked such methods.

Tiger Egg's words were blunt, but they weren't wrong. It's just that his strength was too low, which made this refining process particularly thrilling.

After hearing his instructions, Tiger Egg's furry face revealed an expression of determination to die for his cause.

Tiger's eyes gazed in the direction of the flowing silver, a hint of reluctance in them.

Having developed self-awareness, it already understands the feeling of unrequited love. Unfortunately, Liu Yin still has the mind of a puppet, and it cannot comprehend its feelings.

"Stop looking! Once Liu Yin develops self-awareness, I'll betroth her to you!" Su Qing said, rubbing his forehead and making empty promises.

"Really?" Tiger Egg's eyes lit up.

"Indeed!" To encourage it, Su Qing agreed very readily.

He was just curious whether the result of two puppet demons combining would be a puppet or a demon beast.

If they were all puppet demons, that would be wonderful!
Gathering his thoughts, he fed the Wind and Thunder Demon Core into the mouth of the spirited tiger egg.

According to Su Qing's divine sense, the demon core slid into the tiger egg's belly, and in an instant, black gales and purple lightning surged out from its body.

The power of wind and thunder is extremely difficult to deal with even from the outside, let alone when it erupts directly from within.

Even though Tiger Egg was prepared, it was still being tormented by the wind and thunder demonic power, making it feel like it was dying.

It turns out that the more you think, the more pain you can experience.

At least when it doesn't have a brain, it won't feel pain!
With the power of the second-tier limit, it suppressed and conquered the third-tier demon core. Even though this demon core was a tiger-type demon core and was extremely compatible with the tiger egg, it was not very resistant to it.

But Tiger Egg can't do it on its own; it needs the help of its powerless owner.

His proficiency is much higher than before, and he can now use the "Mountain and Sea Seizing" technique to subdue a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, holding the rampant third-tier demon core in his grasp for a moment.

"Quick, now's the time to give it a good whack!" Su Qing roared at the tiger egg, his arm veins bulging as he struggled to support it.

Tiger Egg knew its master's limits; at most, it could only withstand this tremor, so it dared not waste this precious moment.

Demonic energy, the puppet's will, the demon king's arrogance—everything was condensed by the tiger egg into this third-tier demon core.

Once the demon core in Su Qing's hand stopped trembling, and the tiger egg began to emanate the unique aura of a third-tier demon king.

Su Qing understood that the most dangerous ordeal for them, master and servant, man and puppet, had passed!
"I'm really amazing!" Su Qing nodded and boasted.

"I'm really amazing!" Tiger Egg shook his head.

"What makes you so great? Lie down properly. You're all show and no substance, all you have is a demon core and no fourth-tier runes. You're just a pretty face with no substance!"

Su Qing slapped the tiger egg's head back, climbed onto its back, and shouted, ordering the two wood spirits to put a tiger skin on it.

Normally, it would be necessary to replace its bones, flesh, and skin, giving it a complete makeover.

But right now, the conditions are limited, and our strength doesn't allow it!
·······
Poverty has its hardships, and wealth has its moments of abundance.

Su Qing is neither wealthy nor as capable as Liang Haishun of living off women.

The tiger egg can only be temporarily covered with a tiger skin made from a mixture of third-tier spiritual spring water, lotus root juice, spiritual wood, obsidian, and many other materials.

This has already cost him nearly a hundred spirit stones, and even though he now owns many businesses and earns a lot, he still feels the pinch.

The main reason is that more and more rogue cultivators are dying in the city. Even though he was good at slaughtering fat sheep, all the fat sheep have been taken by Yunshan Sect and Gao Erqiang. He has no sheep to slaughter, and his income has decreased sharply. So he has to be careful with his spirit crystals and spirit stones.

"Is this all you have, this tiger skin? I know you're short of money and destitute, but even in poverty, you can't skimp on your puppets. I'm your number one warrior, how can you be so stingy? If you cut corners, how can I unleash my full potential?"

Tiger Egg slightly raised its head, expressing its dissatisfaction.

It can only suppress its dissatisfaction.

Su Qing wouldn't tolerate it in the slightest.

"What's the point of replacing it? With this tiger skin, I can just draw fourth-order bionic and fourth-order intelligent runes. Even if I replace your tiger bones and meat, the rest of the runes are still only third-order. How much use can they be!"

"It turns out that not only is the master short of money, but his rune abilities are also far inferior. Little Tiger understands, so please bear with it for a while!"

It even started to complain! Unable to bear it any longer, Su Qing deprived Tiger Egg of its right to continue speaking.

In a quiet atmosphere, the appropriate amount of water was prepared.

The dragon-snake tree spirit led the group of wood spirits, large and small, who had finished brushing the tiger skin, to retreat.

He took out a fourth-tier bionic talisman and focused on drawing the Divine Lu Wu from the puppet blueprint.

Drawing fourth-order runes requires two things: first, proficiency, which he already meets; and second, the ability to condense a massive amount of spiritual power during the drawing process.

Even a powerful witch would inevitably be drained of her body when drawing fourth-tier runes.

He, Su Qing, was far inferior to the witch; if he were to forcibly draw it, he would naturally need to prepare some extra methods.

Bang bang bang.

The moment he grasped the talisman brush.

The two pairs of hands behind them moved in unison, each crushing a spirit stone.

The spiritual power contained within the spirit stone vibrated outwards, and before it could dissipate, he forcibly condensed it onto the talisman brush using the Mountain and Sea Capture technique.

The spiritual energy, transmitted through the talisman brush, imprinted the talismanic water, brimming with spiritual power, onto the tiger skin.

With each stroke of the brush, Su Qing's heart trembled.

Four spirit stones in one stroke.

This was arguably the most extravagant he had ever done since he started drawing talismans!
It truly hurts.

But there's no other way.

If you lack the strength, you can only make up for it with money.

In fact, since he advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, spirit stones have become a necessity for him.

Not only are high-level puppet materials mostly priced in spirit stones, but even a second-tier Black Boy needs more than ten spirit stones every month to cultivate.

The more important a spirit stone is, the less willing one is to spend it.

At this moment, I only hope that this fourth-tier rune can be completed in one go, so that he doesn't have to spend a second time on it.

Lu Wu of the Gods was originally a third-tier ultimate puppet of the divine beast type.

It should be dominated by fourth-tier divine beast runes.

However, because he started working on divine beast runes relatively late, he was completely unable to draw them.

We can only settle for the next best thing.

It was modified into a biomimetic armored puppet, but it was only a mid-grade third-tier puppet.

Although it is still a biomimetic divine beast Lu Wu, it only has the form but cannot inherit the divine Lu Wu's talent, ability, and divine beast aura.

This was unavoidable, since even if he could draw fourth-order divine beast runes, he couldn't provide the necessary materials.

Amidst the popping sounds of spirit stones, he finally successfully drew a fourth-order bionic rune worth four spirit stones.

The moment it took effect, the tiger egg, which had been lying on the ground, underwent a dramatic change in shape.

A colossal creature, hundreds of feet tall, with a tiger's head and a human face, wings on its shoulders, and nine fox tails behind it, its movements accompanied by the sounds of wind and thunder.

This is Lu Wu's true form, majestic and awe-inspiring, which Su Qing himself is extremely satisfied with.

Tiger Egg muttered to himself, feeling that his human face wasn't as handsome as his tiger face, and that he had too many tails.

Since the remaining runes had not yet been drawn, Su Qing temporarily suppressed the urge to have it demonstrate the armored puppet form.

Just like before, spirit stones were used to pave the way and draw fourth-order intelligent runes.

The wonder of the fourth-tier intelligent rune lies in its ability to grant the puppet the capacity to comprehend the laws of heaven and earth and to appreciate the mysteries of the Great Dao.

Even if it lacks self-awareness, it can still learn and continuously improve itself.

This rune isn't actually very useful for the tiger egg, since the tiger egg has already developed self-awareness and is a promising self-taught talent.

But as I said before, it doesn't matter whether there is demand or not; what matters is what Su Qing can do!

After forcibly drawing fourth-order intelligent runes on the tiger egg, its comprehension improved to a higher level than before.

With two types of fourth-tier runes, the tiger egg has already crossed the threshold of becoming a third-tier puppet.

Because the amount of Tier 3 materials invested in it was limited, based on Su Qing's estimate and Tiger Egg's own judgment.

He can also inscribe eight third-tier runes and more than twenty second-tier runes on it!
Su Qing, who had already invested a great deal in Hu Dan, naturally wanted to give him his all.

Although the success rate of drawing third-tier divine beast runes is extremely low, it is still necessary to use them so that the beast can at least understand some of the abilities of the divine beast Lu Wu.

Next up:
Tier 3 Mountain Moving, Tier 3 Materials, Tier 3 Damage Reduction, Tier 3 Weapons, Tier 3 Combat, Tier 3 Exorcism, Tier 3 Aerial Flight, Tier 3 Illusionary Heart.

There's nothing in this world that can't be accomplished with a liver.

No matter how difficult it was, and after several days of work, he finally managed to draw most of the third-tier runes he had mastered onto the tiger egg.

He casually equipped Tiger Egg with all the runes he currently only had a second-tier proficiency in, including the Fire Rune, Space Rune, Immortal Path Rune, and Sealing Rune.

Thus, the brand-new tiger egg, the freshly hatched Lu Wu, became the first puppet to gather all of his accumulated runes!
"Fully equipped with puppets, ten-star generals!"

"No way! The Earth Bear King is already a five-star general. I, Tiger Egg, should be a marshal by now!"

"Alright, then he shall be a ten-star marshal!"

Having single-handedly crafted his first Tier 3 puppet, Su Qing was in high spirits and readily agreed to Tiger Egg's small request!
It's already a marshal.

I should be at least a third-tier puppeteer!
Before the information could even appear on the panel, Su Qing impatiently transformed the tiger egg into an armored puppet.

Give an order.

Then they saw the tiger egg's body condense into countless black light spots, which then solidified into a shape outside his body.

Tiger armor and helmet covered his entire body, leaving only his eyes exposed. The entire armor was covered with patterns: a majestic celestial palace shrouded in celestial aura, its true face obscured; the divine beast Lu Wu leading thousands of divine beasts to guard the palace gates; a strange and unpredictable black demonic shadow; and an immortal standing proudly on the clouds.

This pattern was formed autonomously by the armor puppet and could not be drawn by Su Qing, just like the fire phoenix pattern on Liu Yun'er's fire phoenix armor puppet.

It is the mysterious connection between Heaven and Earth and the Fire Phoenix and Lu Wusheng. All magical artifacts, puppets, and other spiritual things created using them as templates will display patterns that are intricately connected to them.

For Su Qing, this pattern, besides making his armored puppet look even more imposing, also...

The only significance was to let him know that Lu Wu's ancestors were indeed wealthy, and it seemed that they had once clung to the thigh of the Heavenly Emperor!
(End of this chapter)