Li Mu and Mingyue began refining the composite core for the Puppet, but they quickly encountered an insurmountable problem.
Despite carefully selecting various Advanced spiritual materials and experimenting with different Fusion methods, the refinement of the composite core consistently failed to achieve the desired effect.
The essences of spiritual materials with different attributes repelled each other during the Fusion process, leading to extreme instability in the core, making it unable to support the Puppet's normal operation.
If refined through Artifact Refining, it would be difficult to bring out the inherent nature of the core material, making it hard to nurture the spirituality required by the Puppet.
Li Mu tried many methods, but problems arose one after another; refining a composite core for the Puppet seemed almost impossible.
"Master, refining this composite core is much more complex than we imagined! This direction doesn't seem to be working," Mingyue said, her brows tightly furrowed and a look of frustration on her face as she looked at the failed cores in her hand.
"Indeed," Li Mu nodded, his eyes not showing much disappointment, but rather contemplating a solution.
"Perfectly fusing the essences of spiritual materials with different attributes without conflict is the key to refining the composite core."
"Yes! But to fuse multiple spiritual powers or spiritual materials of different attributes under specific conditions into a brand new spiritual essence with multiple attributes, that's probably impossible!" Mingyue sighed helplessly, gently turning the failed core fragments in her hand, full of unwillingness.
Hearing this, Li Mu's gaze suddenly deepened, as if he had caught some inspiration, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.
"Perhaps we shouldn't be limited to traditional Fusion thinking.
What if we don't forcibly fuse spiritual materials of different attributes, but instead find a way to make them work together to provide primal power for the Puppet, even without fusing?" Li Mu said, smiling at Mingyue, indicating his thoughts.
Hearing this, Mingyue's eyes lit up, but then she looked puzzled, asking, "Master, have you thought of a solution?
If spiritual materials with different attributes don't fuse, how can they be stably used by the Puppet?"
Li Mu smiled and shook his head, explaining, "The reason we believe they must fuse is because we are accustomed to the operating mode of a single core.
But all things in the Universe coexist, mutually restraining and yet mutually dependent.
If we can design a special Puppet Formation that allows each spiritual material to exert its maximum effect within the Formation, while also avoiding conflicts between them through the Formation's regulation, then the problem of the composite core might be easily solved."
At this point, Mingyue's gaze became even more dazed.
Li Mu smiled and did not explain further, but instead took out several low-grade spiritual materials from his tianxuan ring and began to refine them.
This method was no longer just about refining a Puppet core; it was about Li Mu integrating all his knowledge of Artifact Refining, Alchemy, talisman crafting, and Formations, along with his cultivation of the Chaotic Great Dao and Three Thousand Divine Runes, to create an unprecedented method of Puppet construction.
Traditional Puppet Art relied on a core Puppet primal core, a Puppet Formation to drive the Puppet's body, and Spirit Stone power embedded in the Puppet's body to activate Puppet Runes and drive the Puppet's actions.
However, this traditional Puppet Art had many flaws.
Firstly, traditional Puppet primal cores were often refined from a single spiritual material, and the primal power attributes they could bear were singular, limiting the Puppet's diversity and adaptability.
In battle, facing enemies or environments with different attributes, such Puppets often struggled to perform optimally.
Secondly, the design of traditional Puppet Formations was relatively simple, lacking sufficient flexibility and variability.
When a Puppet was attacked, the Puppet Formation often could not effectively disperse or transfer the attack power, leading to the Puppet being easily severely damaged or even collapsing.
Traditional Puppet Art heavily relied on Spirit Stones as a power source, and the quantity and quality of Spirit Stones directly determined the Puppet's sustained combat capability and combat power.
Furthermore, the higher the grade of the Puppet, the more precise it was, and the higher the cost of its refinement and maintenance.
This was not just a matter of Spirit Stone consumption, but also involved the collection of rare spiritual materials, the hiring of Advanced Artifact Refiners, and the mastery of complex refining processes.
Many Cultivators, even if they had the ability to refine Advanced Puppets, often could not apply them on a large scale due to resource limitations.
In addition, the control methods of traditional Puppets were relatively singular, mostly relying on the Cultivator's Divine Sense for direct control or remote control through specific Magical Artifacts.
This method often proved inadequate for long-distance control or in complex combat environments, and could even lead to the Puppet losing control due to the controller's distraction or error.
Moreover, traditional Puppets lacked self-repair and learning capabilities.
Once damaged in battle, they often required the Cultivator to personally repair them, which was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but could also increase repair difficulty due to harsh battlefield conditions.
At the same time, the Puppet's combat strategy relied entirely on the refiner's preset, lacking the ability to flexibly adjust according to actual situations, which was undoubtedly a huge disadvantage when facing unknown enemies or complex combat strategies.
It was for these many reasons that Li Mu, even though he had refined many Advanced Puppets and stored a Puppet army, rarely brought them out to face enemies, so as to avoid significant losses.
Traditional Puppet Art had too many flaws, which is why Li Mu decided to innovate Puppet Art, attempting to break conventions and create truly powerful Puppets.
The nine spiritual materials in Li Mu's hand were not of high grade, all around fourth-grade, but each had a unique attribute, covering the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, space-time, and the power of Years, serving as the main cornerstones for forming Chaos Power.
He took out a piece of green vine spiritual wood imbued with the vitality of wood, its luster warm and vibrant, representing the reproduction of life and the cycle of nature.
Li Mu's Chaos Fire condensed in his hand, covering it.
The flame not only did not burn it but instead stimulated the potential of the wood spiritual wood, causing a faint green light to emerge on its surface, making its vitality even more lush.
Li Mu used Chaos Power as a medium to begin transforming this spiritual material, carving Puppet Runes.
Then, under the control of his Divine Thought, that piece of fourth-grade Profound Essence Gold flew into the Chaos Fire, quickly turning into a metallic solution flowing within the Puppet spiritual runes.
Subsequently, fourth-grade Mystic Nether True Water fell into the Chaos Fire and was not evaporated by the high temperature; instead, it intertwined with the flames, forming a peculiar scene of water and fire intermingling.
The Mystic Nether True Water slowly permeated into the Puppet Runes, echoing the previous Profound Essence Gold, one rigid and one soft, complementing each other, adding endless resilience and agility to the Puppet.
Before long, five fourth-grade Five Elements spiritual objects successfully constructed a Puppet body.
Immediately after, the Yin Spirit Stone and purple yang jade, guided by Li Mu, slowly floated above the Chaos Fire.
Under the pull of Chaos Power, the two slowly approached, finally converging in the air, the Yin and Yang Qi intertwining, forming a unique energy field.
As the Yin and Yang Puppet Runes were carved, this energy field was perfectly integrated into the Puppet, granting the Puppet the supreme ability to harmonize all things and create life and death.
Li Mu did not stop; his gaze turned to the last two fourth-grade mystical spiritual materials—the Time Realm Pearl and the Profound Moon Crystal Core.
These two spiritual materials, containing the power of space-time and Years respectively, were the best choices for refining the eyes of this Chaos Puppet.
They would serve as the finishing touch.
Whether this creative Puppet refinement would succeed depended on the next step.
This Puppet would no longer have a Puppet body; instead, it would use the special attributes of various spiritual materials, balance Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and then gather other space-time power and the power of Years, all integrated by the Chaos Formation carved inside the Puppet, ultimately giving birth to a Chaos core.
Li Mu took a deep breath, his expression solemn and focused.
His hands quickly formed seals, Chaos Power flowing at his fingertips, leaping like a living thing, guiding this power to begin refining the Time Realm Pearl and the Profound Moon Crystal Core, integrating them into the Puppet's body.
Chaos Power surged out from Li Mu's body, and solidified Divine Runes continuously poured into the Puppet's body as his movements accelerated.
The Chaos Formation gradually took shape, emitting surging and vast fluctuations.
When the Chaos Formation was fully formed, Li Mu roared, guiding all the space-time and Years power from the Chaos Fire, as well as the previously integrated Five Elements and Yin and Yang power, into the Formation.
At this instant, the entire space seemed to freeze.
Inside the Chaos Formation, various powers began to intertwine, collide, and fuse, and waves of immense energy erupted from the Puppet's body.
Mingyue's apricot eyes widened, staring intently at the Puppet body Li Mu was refining, sensing its extraordinary nature.
At this moment, she fully understood the true meaning of Li Mu's "composite core"—it was not just a theoretical innovation, but also a bold practical attempt, a profound understanding and application of the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
The Puppet body before them, under Li Mu's meticulous refinement, was gradually revealing a powerful force that surpassed conventional Puppets.
As the Fusion of powers inside the Chaos Formation reached its Peak, the light on the Puppet body's surface became even more dazzling, as if a miniature Universe was gestating within it.
Suddenly, the Puppet body trembled violently, and an unprecedentedly powerful aura erupted from within, soaring into the sky.
This aura contained multiple powers such as the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, space-time, and Years; they intertwined and depended on each other, forming a perfect whole.
Mingyue watched Li Mu's miraculous refining process, an indescribable admiration welling up in her heart.
Such a bold and ingenious attempt, through a clever Formation, perfectly combined seemingly impossible-to-fuse powers, forming a brand new life form with endless potential.
However, this new Puppet remained like a dead object; although it emitted a powerful aura, it seemed to have lost its power, showing no signs of awakening.
Li Mu stopped casting, silently observing the Puppet he had just refined, his brows tightly furrowed, as if he had encountered a problem.
"Did it fail? Why did it fail? I thought Master's method was feasible!
Using the Puppet's body to gather various primal Formations and jointly foster a fused core, how could it have failed?" Mingyue stared blankly at the 'dead' Puppet, asking Li Mu in confusion.
In Mingyue's eyes, the Puppet Li Mu had refined had almost perfectly fused all the necessary powers; it should have awakened like a true living being, displaying astonishing power.
However, reality was vastly different from their expectations.
Under his Talent Divine Power - Identify Myriad Spirits, Li Mu had already found the true reason for this Puppet's refining failure.
There was no hint of defeat on his face; after deep thought, a hint of joy instead appeared on his face.
Noticing the change in Li Mu's expression, a hint of curiosity arose in Mingyue's heart, and she couldn't help but ask, "Master, have you discovered some turning point?"
Li Mu smiled slightly, a glint of wisdom in his eyes: "Yes, this Puppet seems to have failed to awaken as expected, but in reality, it has not failed.
On the contrary, it gave me an unexpected revelation."
"Revelation? What revelation?!" Mingyue became even more confused.
She widened her eyes, waiting for Li Mu's explanation.
"During the refining process, I was too focused on the perfect Fusion of power, but I overlooked the Puppet's inherent 'Soul'.
Although this Puppet has a powerful body and the foundation for giving birth to a core, it currently lacks a Soul strong enough to drive itself into existence and give rise to a powerful Soul for it to drive itself," Li Mu slowly explained, a hint of Epiphany in his tone.
"Master, that's not right! It already has the qualification for 'activity', it's complete, how can it still lack spirituality?!" Mingyue frowned, clearly somewhat puzzled by Li Mu's statement.
In her opinion, this Puppet already had a complete Puppet body, Puppet Formation, and a specially modified core, possessing all the characteristics of a finished Puppet.
Li Mu smiled slightly and explained, "That's right, on the surface, this Puppet indeed seems to have the ability to move, and can even be said to be a complete existence.
However, just like an adult's physical body, no matter how strong, if it lacks a Soul, it is merely an empty shell; while an embryo, though its form is not yet complete, already contains the essence of life, which is its Soul."
Li Mu continued to explain, "This Puppet, although it possesses a powerful body and core, is like an adult's physical body without a Soul, having only power but lacking true vitality."
Hearing this, Mingyue fell into contemplation, roughly understanding Li Mu's meaning.
"Then, Master, how do we imbue this Puppet with spirituality?
Under the circumstance that the core has not even been born yet!" Mingyue looked up at Li Mu, her eyes gleaming with the light of curiosity.
The Puppet core is the Puppet's Soul, the key to carrying spirituality.
The Puppet Li Mu refined this time used a powerful Puppet body to give birth to a composite core.
However, without first forming a Puppet core, it was impossible to activate its spirituality, which had already become a self-contradictory and difficult problem to solve.
"Mingyue, your question hits the crucial point," Li Mu smiled slightly, and after deep thought, he answered, "Indeed, according to conventional refining methods, the core needs to be condensed first after the Puppet body is constructed, and then its spirituality activated.
But this time, using the Dao Fusion refining method, using a powerful body to give birth to the core, undoubtedly increases the difficulty of refining, but it's not without a solution!"
"Master, do you already have an idea?" Mingyue's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but ask.
Li Mu smiled and nodded, waving his hand to put away the 'dead' Puppet before him.
Then, he summoned several Advanced spiritual materials, preparing to refine another Puppet. (End of Chapter)
