Time passed bit by bit; Li Mu and Azure Moon True Dragon both entered a deep casting state, their minds completely immersed in the refining of the Taiyin Spirit Wood.
The Taiyin Spirit Wood Heart floated in the air, emitting a powerful and rich Yin power.
The Blue Spirit Glass Water flowed rapidly, countless wood chips falling, and the surroundings were enveloped by a powerful Yin power.
At this moment, Li Mu's body glowed with red and silver lightning and fire, which simultaneously strengthened the Azure Moon True Dragon beside him, together resisting the Yin power emanating from the Taiyin Spirit Wood Heart.
As Li Mu and Azure Moon True Dragon continuously output their True Yuan, the Blue Spirit Glass Water circulated rapidly, fiercely scouring the Taiyin Spirit Wood Heart.
The spiritual patterns on the surface of the spiritual wood heart became clearer and clearer, and its surface gradually became smooth.
Under Li Mu's control, the Azure Moon True Dragon manipulated the flow rate of the Blue Spirit Glass Water, continuously adjusting the scouring force.
After several days, perfect Puppet cores gradually emerged, carved one after another from the Taiyin Spirit Wood Heart.
Exactly seven Puppet cores, shimmering with mysterious light, quietly floated in the air, exuding powerful spirituality and vitality.
Li Mu and Azure Moon True Dragon opened their eyes simultaneously, a joyful smile on their faces; they had successfully refined the seventh-grade Taiyin Spirit Wood Heart into seven powerful Puppet cores.
Li Mu disconnected his Divine Ability - Shared Soul, and summoned the seven Puppet cores before him, examining them carefully.
Except for the first Puppet core, which had some flaws due to being the first attempt at refining and was of slightly poorer quality, only a sixth-grade Low Grade, the other six Puppet cores all exuded spirituality and Yin power of Top-Grade sixth-grade quality.
"Master, we finally succeeded!" Azure Moon True Dragon looked at Li Mu with a tired but joyful expression, saying, "This refining was too difficult, but my Dragon Soul indeed gained a significant improvement during this process."
Li Mu nodded, looking at the seven Puppet cores, his heart filled with a sense of accomplishment.
The difficulty of this refining was indeed considerable, and its success was largely thanks to the help of Azure Moon True Dragon.
"Qing Yue, you've worked hard.
It's thanks to your great help this time, otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to succeed!" Li Mu said with a smile, looking at the True Dragon's tired but satisfied expression.
Azure Moon True Dragon shook his head slightly and quickly said, "It is my honor to be able to exert myself for you, Master.
Besides, this refining has brought me much gain."
Every time he refined Spiritual Artifacts and Magic Treasures with Li Mu, Azure Moon True Dragon gained a lot, and this time was no exception.
This time, assisting in the refining of the Puppet core, his Divine Soul received another baptism, which, after digestion, would greatly aid his advancement to the next Realm.
"Mm! You go rest and consolidate your cultivation well!
If I need you, I will summon you again." Li Mu nodded with a smile, indicating.
"Yes!" Azure Moon True Dragon respectfully responded, put away the Blue Spirit Glass Water, and his figure gradually blurred, finally transforming into a mist of water that instantly vanished from the spot.
Watching Azure Moon True Dragon leave, Li Mu put away the seven Puppet cores, calming his excited mood, and prepared to begin the next important task—refining the Puppet bodies.
After possessing the Puppet cores, the immediate task was to shape suitable bodies for these cores.
Li Mu had made ample preparations for this, carefully selecting various rare spiritual materials.
He planned to use seventh-grade Taiyin Spirit Wood as the body's Foundation, as it shares the same origin as the Puppet core and is of wood attribute, its hardness and contained Yin power could perfectly support the Puppet's body; then, sixth-grade metal-element spiritual material - Golden Rainbow Essence Crystal, melted into bones, which would be sturdy and light, capable of supporting the entire Puppet structure; and seventh-grade Indeterminate True Water, serving as the Puppet's Meridians, flowing within the Puppet's body, bringing it agility and vitality.
To make the Puppet's body even more realistic and powerful, Li Mu also selected sixth-grade Blazing Flame Spirit Crystal to construct the Puppet's muscles, giving the Puppet powerful explosiveness and endurance; and sixth-grade earth-element spiritual material - Illusory Spirit Soil, to refine the Puppet's skin, allowing it to possess the effects of shadows and illusions, giving the Puppet the ability to transform, and even more remarkably, if successfully refined, it could grant the Puppet a certain degree of stealth ability.
Taking out several spiritual materials one by one from the nine storage spiritual pearl, Li Mu began to refine, fully operating the power of the Five Elements, skillfully fusing these spiritual materials together, forming sword seals with his hand, controlling his sword to carve the Taiyin Spirit Wood, condensing the Five Elements Spiritual Fire, and melting several spiritual materials within the Puppet's body...
Soon, under Li Mu's precise sword carving, wood shavings fell away, and a section of Taiyin Spirit Wood gradually revealed a human-like outline, with smooth lines, covered in complex and mysterious Puppet spiritual patterns, exuding rich Yin power.
With the Puppet body mostly refined, Li Mu took a deep breath, put away his spiritual sword, and began to melt the other spiritual materials.
This process required even more precise operation, as different spiritual materials had different melting points and characteristics, and even a slight mistake could lead to failure.
Li Mu fully operated the Yin Yang Five Elements Scripture, condensing the Five Elements Spiritual Fire, and began to melt the Golden Rainbow Essence Crystal and Blazing Flame Spirit Crystal, precisely controlling the melting speed of the two spiritual materials, gradually refining them into the Puppet's body.
Under the blessing of the Five Elements Spiritual Fire, the Golden Rainbow Essence Crystal and Blazing Flame Spirit Crystal slowly melted, perfectly fusing with the Taiyin Spirit Wood Puppet body.
Next, melting the Puppet's Meridians and refining the Puppet's skin, the Indeterminate True Water could flow freely within the Puppet's body, bringing it agility and vitality.
Li Mu carefully injected the Indeterminate True Water into the Puppet's body, forming a crisscrossing network of Meridians.
Finally, using Illusory Spirit Soil to refine the Puppet's skin... When all the spiritual materials were perfectly fused into the Puppet's body, Li Mu formed hand seals, infused spiritual power into it, and activated the built-in Five Elements formation.
The Five Elements formation built into the Puppet's body gradually lit up, emitting powerful spiritual power fluctuations.
The moment the Five Elements formation was perfectly activated, the entire Puppet body seemed to complete its final transformation, radiating brilliant spiritual light.
Thousands of densely packed Puppet spiritual patterns on the torso, under this circulating spiritual light, seemed to be summoned and quickly fused into one.
As the spiritual patterns gradually faded, a gray-silver wooden Puppet body with restrained Five Elements spiritual light appeared before Li Mu's eyes, like a sleeping warrior awaiting the moment of Awakening.
Seeing this, Li Mu took out a Top-Grade Puppet core and eighteen shimmering, mysterious Top-Grade Spirit Stones from the nine storage spiritual pearl, placing them above the wooden Puppet's chest, as if performing a mysterious ritual.
The next moment, the Puppet core and the eighteen Top-Grade Spirit Stones approached the wooden Puppet, immediately attracted by a mysterious force, absorbed into its chest cavity, and slowly merged within it.
The Puppet core firmly integrated into the Puppet's chest, and the eighteen Top-Grade Spirit Stones dispersed throughout its body.
The eighteen Top-Grade Spirit Stones glowed faintly in various parts of the Puppet's body, and an endless stream of spiritual power emerged, quickly forming a perfect spiritual power circulation System with the Five Elements formation and the Puppet core, providing continuous power to the Puppet.
With a soft 'clink,' the entire Puppet body suddenly trembled, as if it had gained life, floating up into the air, radiating five-colored spiritual light.
It suddenly opened its eyes, Awakening, and a pair of empty eyes stared directly at Li Mu.
Li Mu looked at the living wooden Puppet before him, gently touched its face, feeling the powerful force contained beneath its cold skin, and his eyes sparkled with satisfaction.
At this moment, Li Mu seemed to feel the Puppet's "heartbeat," a unique rhythm belonging to spiritual power and formations.
Under the Talent Divine Power - Identify Myriad Spirits, all the attributes of the substitute Puppet appeared on the character panel.
【Unnamed】
【Grade: Sixth-Grade High Grade Spiritual Puppet】
【Characteristics: Shadow Puppet Illusion Body, Agile Stealth, Myriad Illusions of Breath, Five Elements Power, Five Elements Escape, Five Elements Body Protection.】
【Status: Puppet Spirit Newborn, Spiritual Energy Abundant】
【Refined a sixth-grade Five Elements Spiritual Puppet using seventh-grade Taiyin Spirit Wood as the core, seventh-grade Taiyin Spirit Wood as the base, seventh-grade Indeterminate True Water as the Meridians, supplemented with sixth-grade Illusory Spirit Soil, Golden Rainbow Essence Crystal, and Blazing Flame Spirit Crystal.
This Puppet is skilled in Five Elements transformation, body illusion, stealth, and Five Elements illusion.】
Looking at the powerful attributes of the substitute Spiritual Puppet, Li Mu revealed a satisfied smile.
The substitute Spiritual Puppet he refined this time, both in grade and characteristics, met his expected results.
Next, it was time to test the characteristics of this substitute Spiritual Puppet.
Li Mu formed hand seals, poured in his Divine Thought, and began to control the Spiritual Puppet, changing its form.
He saw a Five Elements spiritual light flash across the substitute Spiritual Puppet's body; its body structure, skin, and facial features began to undergo magical changes.
Its face gradually became identical to Li Mu's, and the clothes it wore also transformed, making it almost an exact replica of him.
Li Mu tried to connect his Divine Thought with the substitute Spiritual Puppet, controlling it to perform various actions, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the substitute Spiritual Puppet's flexibility and coordination were excellent.
Its spellcasting, True Yuan gathering speed, and combat movements were almost identical to his, possessing about two to three tenths of his combat power.
Looking at the Puppet that was almost identical to himself, Li Mu frowned, feeling some dissatisfaction.
Although the substitute Puppet's face, aura, and True Yuan aura were highly similar to his, being indistinguishable from him in appearance, and even mimicking his temperament to eighty or ninety percent, as if it were his shadow, its gaze was slightly hollow.
Although its eyes were bright, they lacked the injection of a Soul, making its gaze appear somewhat dull.
Clearly, this Spiritual Puppet mimicked him perfectly in appearance and movement, but the hollowness in its gaze was an undeniable flaw.
This sense of hollowness was an insurmountable chasm between the substitute Spiritual Puppet and an Immortal Master.
Li Mu pondered for a moment and had an idea in his mind, deciding to refine two spiritual eyes to solve this problem.
Li Mu immediately found two Ape Demon Eye spiritual materials from the nine storage spiritual pearl, began to condense Five Elements Spiritual Fire, and used unique Artifact Refining techniques to refine two crystal-clear, Spiritual Qi-filled fourth-grade spiritual eyes, which he then installed into the substitute Spiritual Puppet's eye sockets.
As the eyeballs were embedded, the substitute Spiritual Puppet's eyes immediately became clear and vibrant, full of emotion, as if a Soul had been infused into them.
Li Mu carefully observed the changes in the substitute Spiritual Puppet and found that its eyes were no longer hollow and lifeless, but instead revealed a spirited glow.
This made him very happy, and he immediately broke into a joyful smile, as if he had thought of something pleasant.
To further test the effectiveness of the substitute Spiritual Puppet, Li Mu attached a part of his Divided Soul to the substitute Puppet, as if giving it life.
Then, he controlled the substitute Spiritual Puppet to leave the Painting World Treasure Mansion and step out of the Sect Leader's Mansion.
Under Li Mu's control, the substitute Spiritual Puppet transformed into his appearance, flying through the air with an elegant posture, like an Immortal descending to the mortal world, traversing several main peaks of the Seven Profound Sect.
Everywhere it went, it caused a warm response from the Sect Disciples, who respectfully bowed to him.
"Disciple - Chen Su, greets Sect Master!" a female Disciple said with an excited voice.
"Greetings, Sect Master!" all the Disciples echoed in unison, their voices shaking the clouds.
'Li Mu' smiled and nodded in response, then slowly landed near the Doujian Stage on Golden Sword Peak.
At this moment, a fierce duel was unfolding on the Doujian Stage.
Peak Master Fang Shixin, agile in body, wielded a golden longsword, locked in an intense battle with a Green-Eyed Golden Ape, two golden afterimages crossing in the air, sword light and ape roars intertwining into a fierce combat scene.
Fang Shixin's swordplay was sharp and precise, his sword strikes like thunder, while the Green-Eyed Golden Ape was not to be outdone, counterattacking with its agile movements and powerful strength.
The spectators were deeply engrossed in this duel, their eyes fixed on the Doujian Stage, fearing to miss any exciting moment.
Li Mu multitasked, simultaneously preparing the refining of the Puppet body within the Painting World Treasure Mansion and controlling the substitute Puppet through Divine Thought, personally attending the scene to experience this fierce battle.
As the battle continued, Fang Shixin and the Green-Eyed Golden Ape, these two combatants, seemed to enter a mysterious rhythm.
Their figures moved rapidly on the Doujian Stage, their movements becoming swifter, like lightning and thunder, dazzling to the eye.
Fang Shixin's longsword danced like a soaring Dragon, thousands of sword glints erupting, while the Green-Eyed Golden Ape was not to be outdone, displaying its astonishing strength and speed.
Its fists were like two golden meteors, constantly swinging, striking out golden fist shadows that filled the sky.
The sky full of golden fist shadows violently collided with the thousands of sword glints in the air, emitting deafening roars and dazzling light, intertwining into a magnificent scene, as if the entire Doujian Stage was being torn apart.
Suddenly, Fang Shixin made a swift charge, merging with his spiritual sword, transforming into a golden light, directly stabbing towards the Green-Eyed Golden Ape's chest.
The Golden Ape roared and swung its huge fist to meet it.
"Bang!" A loud crash, golden light splattered, and Fang Shixin and the Green-Eyed Golden Ape both retreated several steps simultaneously.
The surrounding Cultivators erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers, applauding this magnificent duel.
Perceiving Li Mu's presence, Fang Shixin and the Green-Eyed Golden Ape both restrained their Battle Intent and flew before him to pay their respects.
"Greetings, Sect Master!" Fang Shixin saluted Li Mu with his sword, his expression solemn.
"Master!" The Green-Eyed Golden Ape looked at 'Li Mu', affectionately calling him, without the slightest suspicion that the 'Master' before him was a Puppet body.
In the Painting World Treasure Mansion, 'seeing' this scene, Li Mu couldn't help but show a happy smile.
This substitute Puppet had not only successfully deceived everyone, but even his close Little Gold hadn't detected it, so using it to replace his true self in the future should not be a problem.
"You two fought wonderfully, don't mind me, continue your match." Li Mu controlled the substitute Puppet and spoke.
Hearing Li Mu's words, Fang Shixin and the Green-Eyed Golden Ape were both stunned for a moment, but then quickly reacted and agreed.
They returned to the Doujian Stage and once again engaged in a fierce duel, while 'Li Mu' stood quietly to the side, continuing to watch the intense battle between the two on the stage, as if he was reviewing their combat power.
