Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

Seeing its owner finally back to normal, it finally felt relieved. However, the love story of its owner still haunted it. It thought about how lucky it was to always be by its owner's side, and how its owner never left it. If they ever separated, would it miss him as much as in the story?

Liu Xing examined the Yunluo Umbrella in his hand. The entire crafting process was natural and fluid, seamless, reaching a new level for him. The umbrella's surface was made of python skin, its black base dotted with a variety of intriguing patterns, embodying a wild romance. The ribs were crafted from rebar mixed with refined copper, possessing a hardness yet a softness that evoked the texture of metal. He poured spiritual energy into the umbrella, and the Yunluo Umbrella slowly spun, forming a gray shield that enveloped Liu Xing, airtight and watertight, providing a comprehensive, all-encompassing defense. He summoned the Bibo Sword and attacked the shield from the outside, using 50% of his magic power, but the shield remained motionless. The defense was astonishing, a far superior quality to his original Yunluo Umbrella. Liu Xing nodded with satisfaction. Now with the Yunluo Umbrella on the outside and the Lizard Armor on the inside, his defense had instantly increased tenfold, and he felt a surge of security.

With the experience of refining the Soul-Enriching Pill, his alchemy skills advanced. He proposed to Chang Qing that he only accept tasks for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, freeing up time for cultivation. This would significantly reduce his workload, allowing him to complete a single alchemy task every three months. Chang Qing readily agreed. What he needed was a high-level alchemist. Liu Xing had a very high success rate with Foundation Establishment Pills and other Foundation Establishment Pills on several occasions, so he recognized his ability. However, this would significantly reduce his income from alchemy, but he had to make some compromises; after all, cultivation was his top priority.

With the experience of refining the top-grade magical instruments, the Lizard Armor and the Cloud Umbrella, his refining skills have also reached a new level. He discussed with Nie Xiaoqian the purchase of raw materials for refining top-grade magical instruments, at least the bones of demon beasts at level 2 or above, and stopped refining low-grade magical instruments. Nie Xiaoqian was shocked, amazed at how talented Brother Liu was at refining instruments and how fast he was improving. However, she agreed without hesitation. The higher the level of the magical instrument, the higher the price it can be sold for, and the higher the profit. However, top-grade precious materials are more difficult to obtain, and the output will be greatly reduced. Now, only one top-grade magical instrument can be produced every two months, and the profit has been greatly reduced. However, Liu Xing has no choice but to save time for cultivation. Nie Xiaoqian can understand very well that money is external and cultivation is the foundation.

Aside from refining weapons and pills, Liu Xing spent almost all of his time studying puppetry. Although the few puppetry manuals he had previously exchanged for were relatively basic, he carefully studied them and was able to connect the dots and develop a basic framework.

A puppet is like a robot from a previous life: it requires a supporting body and a control system. The construction of the body is closely tied to the art of refining a weapon, something Liu Xing excels at. Creating the exterior of a Qi Refining Stage puppet is effortless for him. However, unlike a magical weapon, the puppet's joints are more challenging to refine. They require a special material called "Ximo," which is found in the ink sac of a sea monster called the "Ximoyu." While Ximo allows the Ximoyu to eject murky seawater to escape danger, it acts on the puppet's joints, transmitting commands and enabling the puppet's various body parts to move freely. Naturally, the higher the level of the puppet, the more advanced and complex the materials used, taking into account the body's strength, flexibility, and ability to transmit spiritual energy.

The most challenging aspect of creating a puppet is the control system, which consists of two parts: the power system and the command center. The power system houses the spirit stone, the source of power. Complex restrictions must be inscribed to conserve spiritual energy while increasing its release rate. Therefore, to successfully refine a puppet, one must also master the art of restrictions. Liu Xing, coincidentally, possesses extensive knowledge of these techniques, surpassing his peers. The second component is the command center, which requires the spirit of a living being. Theoretically, any spirit from a human, demon, or ghost will suffice. Once a spirit is integrated into the puppet, its consciousness is lost, leaving only its instinctive soul power. The Juyin Bowl, a supreme artifact Liu Xing seized from the young master of the Xuanyin Sect, contains the spirits of numerous demonic beasts, enough to wreak havoc for him for a long time. Furthermore, to control the puppet, the master must implant his own spiritual consciousness within the fused spirit, thereby directing the puppet's actions. Controlling puppets consumes a great deal of spiritual power, so the stronger the spiritual power, the higher the level of the puppets controlled, and the greater the number of puppets controlled. Theoretically, with a strong enough spiritual power, one could even control an entire puppet army, but of course, that was just a wishful thinking and essentially impossible to achieve. Liu Xing's spiritual power far surpassed that of his peers, so he possessed the most important condition for controlling puppets.

Liu Xing possessed the ability to refine artifacts, control restrictions, and possessed a powerful spiritual sense. It felt as if puppetry was tailor-made for him. However, as with many other techniques, Liu Xing needed to start from scratch and practice to gradually improve his abilities. Therefore, he naturally began his research with Qi Training puppets. Among the secret manuals he acquired were methods for refining Qi Training puppets: the Mechanical Monkey and the Mechanical Wolf.

So Liu Xing rushed to the mall and spent over 20,000 yuan, buying the raw materials for over a hundred mechanical monkeys and wolves. For the next year or so, he embarked on a frenzied puppet-making spree. After tireless effort, even at the cost of destroying most of the materials, he finally succeeded in crafting over a dozen mechanical beasts. These puppets ranged in strength from the eighth to tenth level of Qi training. Equipped with spirit stones, the monkeys unleashed crescent-shaped flying knives, while the wolves spitted round balls of light, each with considerable attack power. Liu Xing watched the puppets scurrying swiftly, their heads wagging, their tails wagging. Though their strength was a bit weak, there was still plenty of time. With the right materials and higher-level secret manuals, he could craft even more powerful puppets.

His success rate in refining mechanical puppets wasn't that bad. The main problem was the raw materials being destroyed in the first six months. He'd just started, needing a lot of trial and error, so there were few successes. Things improved in the following months, with most of his successes occurring in the final month. If we calculate his success rate based on that final month, it's actually as high as 90%. If these dozen puppet beasts were sold, each would probably only be worth the price of a high-grade magical instrument, fetching only four or five thousand spirit stones in total, far less than the investment in raw materials. The financial loss was significant. But Liu Xing didn't feel the loss at all; instead, he was delighted. Clearly, improving his puppet-refining abilities was more important to him.