Wu Protector's Soul Perishes! Refining the Heavenly Demon Puppet!

"With this, the Soul Hall Branch is entirely under my control."

Inside the valley, Gu He slowly opened his eyes.

He had witnessed everything that had just happened in the Soul Hall through his Soul Avatar.

A Soul Avatar condensed through the Soul Splitting Art could not stray too far from its original body.

However, that distance was greatly related to the strength of the original body's soul.

With Gu He's current Spirit Realm soul, even while deep within Jia Nan Academy, he could still observe everything happening around the Soul Avatar at all times.

This was the immense benefit of a soul force breakthrough into the Spirit Realm!

Thinking of the attitude those Soul Hall experts had shown toward his Soul Avatar, a smile could not help appearing at the corner of Gu He's lips.

Given the strength of those Soul Hall experts, they could not possibly see through the true nature of his Soul Avatar.

The only thing Gu He worried about was that Soul Hall Venerable suddenly returning.

With the strength of the Dou Zun Realm, he might be able to see through the truth of this Soul Avatar.

Gu He only hoped that the Soul Hall Venerable would return later, allowing him enough time to grow stronger.

Perhaps by the time that Soul Hall Venerable returned, his strength would have undergone earth-shaking changes.

Even if he discovered something suspicious, Gu He could suppress him in turn and replace him!

At that thought, an idea emerged in Gu He's heart.

Perhaps he could rely on the strangeness of the Soul Fusion Art to gradually infiltrate the Soul Hall and slowly rise through its upper ranks.

By then, the Soul Hall's every move would be under his control.

Of course, the idea was good, but with his current strength, he clearly could not accomplish such things.

His most urgent task was still to increase his strength.

"Next, it is time for Yun Protector's corpse to serve its final purpose."

Gu He suddenly recalled the Heavenly Demon Puppet he had obtained from Old Ghost Demonic Earth's treasure vault, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

With a thought, Yun Protector's corpse was released.

At this moment, Yun Protector's corpse remained frozen, its entire body encased in a thick layer of ice.

Gu He then directly activated the Destiny Divine Flame within his body. In the next instant, a surge of Purple Flame burst forth.

With a flick of his finger, the Purple Flame rushed toward Yun Protector's corpse, instantly enveloping it completely.

Under the blazing heat of the Destiny Divine Flame, the thick ice encasing Yun Protector's body rapidly melted away.

As the ice melted, with its final protection gone, Yun Protector's robes immediately turned to ash and vanished.

Gu He looked expressionlessly at Yun Protector's corpse wrapped in Purple Flame.

As the Destiny Divine Flame burned, Yun Protector's corpse gradually turned fiery red.

Then, under the unceasing roasting, faint strands of black vapor suddenly seeped out from the corpse and were burned into nothingness by the Destiny Divine Flame.

This black vapor was corpse qi, faintly carrying traces of the subtle will its owner had possessed in life. If it was not completely expelled, another soul would find it difficult to fully fuse with the body.

The refinement of a Heavenly Demon Puppet required the body, Magic Core, and soul to fuse completely. Therefore, this so-called corpse qi had to be expelled.

Gu He controlled the flame's temperature at an exceptionally precise level. It could force out the residual corpse qi while ensuring the body would not be burned apart.

This purification process alone took Gu He a full three hours before all the corpse qi within the body was finally expelled.

When the final trace of corpse qi left the body, Gu He breathed a sigh of relief. He then flicked his finger, sending out two blasts of force that opened fist-sized holes in the corpse's chest and forehead.

No blood flowed from the holes, because the remaining blood had already completely evaporated during the purification of the corpse qi. This, too, was a minor step in refining the Heavenly Demon Puppet.

Yun Protector's corpse had now shrunk by several sizes. The skin across its body had become a chilling grayish white, clinging tightly to the dried-up muscles. Its hands had also become especially slender, like sharp daggers.

Following the instructions in the bamboo scroll, Gu He lightly refined the corpse. Then, with a beckoning gesture, a fiery-red Seventh-Tier Magic Core floated out and dropped into the small hole in the corpse's chest.

After completing this, Gu He retrieved from the Soul Palace the soul pearl containing Wu Protector's soul.

Now that the Soul Hall Branch at Soul Burial Ridge was under his control,

even if Soul Hall experts discovered that Wu Protector's soul mark had disappeared, none of them would investigate the cause of Wu Protector's death without Gu He's permission.

Therefore, Wu Protector's soul no longer had any reason to exist. It was perfect for refining the Heavenly Demon Puppet.

With a flick of his finger, Gu He sent out a ripple of soul force that shattered the soul pearl. Wu Protector's soul immediately burst out.

The instant he emerged, Wu Protector reacted. His body transformed into a cloud of black mist as he prepared to flee.

But a net of Purple Flame instantly enclosed him.

"Gu He, what exactly will it take for you to let this old man go?"

Within the purple fire net, Wu Protector glared at Gu He with a twisted expression and roared furiously, his voice full of venom.

"Wu Protector, do not rush. I will send you on your way soon enough."

A cold smile appeared on Gu He's lips. He clenched his hand, and the purple fire net vanished with a bang, revealing a black soul body within.

The instant the soul body appeared, it ignored everything else and shot toward the valley exit. However, Gu He, who had long been prepared, grabbed it and pulled it back.

Gu He cast a chilling glance at Wu Protector's desperately struggling soul. Purple Flame surged from his hand and directly engulfed it. Miserable screams and venomous curses immediately echoed through the valley.

"Gu He, you will die a terrible death!"

"You dare kill me? The Soul Hall will never let you go!"

"Ahhh! Gu He, I truly regret not killing you sooner!"

Gu He acted as if he heard none of the venomous curses and continued raising the flame's temperature. Under the refinement of that scorching heat, Wu Protector, who had been sealed for so long, let out a faint sound as the consciousness hidden within his soul dissipated completely in that instant.

After refining away Wu Protector's consciousness, Gu He glanced at the cloud of black mist in his palm before lightly tossing it out. The black mist transformed into a black qi dragon and shot like lightning into the hole in Yun Protector's forehead.

As this soulless spirit entered, Yun Protector's tightly shut eyes abruptly opened, his pupils filled with nothing but blackness.

Gu He was not surprised by this sight. As his ten fingers flicked in rapid succession, strange metallic objects glowing with an unusual luster flashed out from his Storage Ring and floated before him.

Gu He glanced at the many strange metals drifting before him and nodded slightly. He clenched his hand, and Purple Flame erupted from his palm like a pillar of fire. A force of suction emerged, pulling those metals into the flames.

Under the terrifying heat of the Destiny Divine Flame, these strange metals gradually began showing signs of melting, though they were still far from fully liquefied.

Gu He was now dividing his attention in two. On one side, he controlled the flames at a steady temperature to refine the corpse; on the other, he used an extremely high temperature to melt the strange metals. Maintaining both high and low temperatures required extraordinary control over fire. Fortunately, after devouring the souls of Han Feng and Qi Shan, two Sixth-Grade Alchemists, Gu He had acquired many fire-control techniques and did not feel overwhelmed.

Both refinement processes required considerable time. In particular, the corpse had to be refined to a certain degree before it could achieve perfect compatibility with the soul and Magic Core placed inside it.

Knowing that this was not a task that could be completed in a short time, Gu He, seated cross-legged on the ground, gradually closed his eyes and quietly waited for the moment perfect compatibility would be reached.

This wait lasted a full five days. During those five days, the strange metals were completely refined into a mass of dark-golden liquid that slowly flowed within the flames, releasing an indescribable glow.

The metal refinement was completely finished, but the perfect compatibility required between the body, soul, and Magic Core had still not arrived.

Gu He was not the least bit impatient. He knew that the more anxious he became, the more likely he would be to miss that perfect moment, which would appear for only an instant.

If that happened, not only would the body be ruined, but even the Magic Core and soul within it would instantly become useless. This was practically the most difficult aspect of refining a Heavenly Demon Puppet to control.

Gu He maintained this calm, unruffled state of mind. Another three days passed.

At a certain moment three days later, Gu He, who had been sitting motionlessly atop a massive rock like an old monk in meditation, suddenly trembled. His tightly closed eyes flew open!

An irrepressible ecstasy filled his dark eyes.

That perfect instant, flashing past like lightning amid the refinement, had finally been firmly grasped by him!

Within the valley, Gu He's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, a flash of delight crossing them. His hands swiftly formed a strange seal, and an odd cry came from his mouth.

As that cry rang out, Yun Protector's corpse suddenly shuddered. The soul circling within its mind seemed to be forcibly shattered by an invisible force, transforming into countless tiny points of light that scattered densely through every part of its body. At the instant the soul became points of light, the Magic Core resting in its chest also emitted a faint hum.

Immediately afterward, waves of berserk energy surged out from it like a rushing lake, flowing explosively through the body's meridians.

With these changes in the soul and Magic Core, the grayish-white color on the body's surface grew increasingly dense, while its entire frame gradually shrank. A vast aura devoid of all emotion slowly spread from the corpse.

Feeling an aura comparable to that of an Eight-star Dou Zong, Gu He's eyes brightened slightly. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he moved his hand, causing the mass of dark-golden liquid floating before him to slowly drift forward and pour over the cold corpse.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The extremely hot metal liquid dripped onto the corpse, immediately producing bursts of white vapor and a faint burnt smell. Yet the skin touched by the liquid showed no signs of damage. After the previous series of refinements, the puppet's physical strength had reached an extremely formidable level.

Gu He's soul force swept over the puppet's body like rippling water, while the dark-golden liquid was slowly spread across every part of its body. For a time, foul-smelling white vapor continuously rose from the puppet, and the sizzling sounds caused by the intense heat touching its skin were enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Once all the liquid had been spread over the puppet's body, the chilling grayish-white color was replaced by dark gold. As golden light flickered, it gave off an extraordinarily solid and peculiar feeling.

Gu He glanced at the puppet, now covered in liquid, and exhaled softly. Then, with a sweep of his sleeve, Purple Flame surged out once more and completely enveloped the puppet as terrifying heat slowly seeped in.

As the high heat continued to roast it, the dark-golden liquid gradually began to penetrate the puppet's skin. As this penetration deepened, the puppet's body slowly turned a dark greenish color, vaguely resembling a block of bronze.

Looking at the puppet whose color had changed to bronze, Gu He frowned slightly. "Only bronze?"

According to the bamboo scroll's records, Heavenly Demon Puppets were divided into three grades: Heaven, Earth, and Human. The easiest way to distinguish them was by the color of their skin. Heaven was gold, Earth was silver, and Human was bronze. The color displayed by this puppet was clearly only the lowest of the three grades, so it was no wonder Gu He was somewhat dissatisfied.

Though he was rather disappointed, Gu He did not stop roasting it with the flames. Terrifying heat continuously seeped out, slowly driving the dark-golden liquid into the puppet's skin and dried muscles.

The refinement method of the Heavenly Demon Puppet used these metal materials to transform the strength of a human body. If it were a living person, they would likely explode and die on the spot after undergoing such treatment. Yet, without pain or awareness, the puppet could ignore this incomparable agony. Thus, if successfully refined, although the puppet would not understand Dou Techniques, its body alone would be a perfect weapon for killing.

As the dark-golden liquid was gradually completely absorbed by the puppet, traces of silver light suddenly flashed across its faintly green skin.

At the same time, the puppet's aura abruptly surged, reaching the level of a Nine-star Dou Zong!

Gu He did not overlook the suddenly appearing silver light. He immediately stared fixedly at the puppet's body, and excitement quietly rose in his heart.

Under Gu He's unblinking gaze, more and more silver light began to appear, while the dark-green color on the puppet's body slowly faded away.

As the silver light emerged, the aura spreading from the puppet steadily climbed as well!

After a short while, it reached the Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong realm!

This transformation took only around ten seconds. Then, the dark-green puppet became completely covered in silver light. Though traces of green light could still faintly be seen amid the silver radiance, they were practically negligible compared to the overwhelming silver glow.

Once the silver light reached its peak, it completely stopped, and the rising aura abruptly came to a halt. The silver radiance then gradually dimmed, as though all of it had sunk into the puppet's body. Yet although the silver light faded, Gu He could sense that the puppet's aura had not weakened in the slightest. Clearly, the disappearance of the silver glow was merely a small measure to prevent the puppet from being too conspicuous.

Within the Purple Flame, the puppet slowly straightened its body. It then stood motionless in midair within the cave without any support, its eyes filled with hollow blackness.

Gu He lightly bit the tip of his tongue. A drop of blood containing traces of a soul mark slowly floated out and accurately landed on the puppet's forehead. It gradually seeped in, eventually becoming a thumb-sized dark-red blood spot.

After the drop of blood entered the puppet's mind without obstruction and imprinted an indelible mark there, a faint trace of life gradually appeared in its hollow black eyes. It twisted its still somewhat stiff neck, lowered its head to look at Gu He seated cross-legged before it, then placed its foot on the ground, knelt on one knee, and slowly lowered its head toward Gu He.

Gu He slowly closed his eyes. When the soul-marked blood had entered the puppet's forehead, he had clearly felt as though his soul had split into two parts. One part controlled himself, while the other controlled the puppet before him.

At that moment, he had a vague feeling that the puppet would obey any command he gave. Even if he ordered it to attack Gu He himself, it would likely launch its attack without the slightest hesitation.

With the soul mark imprinted, this puppet would become Gu He's closest guard from this day onward, because it would never harbor thoughts of betrayal.

Excitement flickered in Gu He's eyes as he stared at the Heavenly Demon Puppet kneeling on one knee before him. Or perhaps it was more appropriate to call it an Earthly Demon Puppet, because this puppet had not yet reached the highest grade recorded in the bamboo scroll.

Even though it was merely an Earthly Demon Puppet, Gu He remained extremely satisfied. He could sense that this Earthly Demon Puppets strength was likely no weaker than that of a Nine-star Dou Zong.

After sweeping his gaze over the Earthly Demon Puppet for a moment, Gu He suddenly let out a chuckle and moved toward a nearby cliff wall.

The Earthly Demon Puppet followed closely behind. Perhaps because it had not yet adapted to its strength, every time it set foot down, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground. Even Gu He was startled by that powerful force.

Beside the cliff wall, Gu He stood suspended in the air. At his side, the Earthly Demon Puppet stood expressionlessly upon empty space.

"Throw a punch." Gu He pointed toward the valley wall below and gave the command.

The instant his words left his mouth, a red glow appeared in the Earthly Demon Puppets eyes. It clenched its fist and threw a straightforward punch!

Screech!

As the punch was thrown, the space before the Earthly Demon Puppet actually twisted. Centered on its fist, the air formed a concave arc, and at the front of that arc, a compressed air cannon roughly thirty meters wide emerged. With a bang, it shot downward like a cannonball, carrying a piercing shriek and powerful gusts of force!

Boom!

The air cannon slammed fiercely into the cliff wall. An earth-shaking explosion immediately echoed through the valley.

At the spot where the Earthly Demon Puppet's attack landed, a terrifying fissure rapidly spread outward. It eventually affected the entire valley, causing it to shake violently as though an earth dragon had turned over and the mountains and ground were trembling.

The power of a single punch was actually so terrifying!

Looking at the enormous crack continuously spreading below, a wild delight flashed through Gu He's eyes.

That punch from earlier could absolutely inflict severe injuries upon Dou Zong experts around the three-star or four-star level!

If the opponent were a little less fortunate, it might even be possible to kill them with a single punch!

The Heavenly Demon Puppet truly deserved its reputation as a killing weapon passed down since ancient times. With such terrifying destructive power, it was worthy of being called frightening.

Moreover, Gu He's puppet had only reached the level of an Earthly Demon Puppet. He truly could not imagine just how powerful the so-called Heavenly Demon Puppet would be.

At that thought, a fiery light burst from Gu He's eyes, but he quickly shook his head helplessly. Refining this Earthly Demon Puppet alone had consumed the body of a Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong, a Seventh-Tier Magic Core, and the soul of an Eight-star Dou Zong. If he wished to refine a true Heavenly Demon Puppet, would he not need the body of a Dou Zun expert, an Eighth-Tier Magic Core, and a Dou Zun soul?

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Gu He wisely threw this unrealistic thought out of his mind. With a sweep of his sleeve, he stored the Earthly Demon Puppet in his Storage Ring. Storage Rings could not hold living beings, but the Earthly Demon Puppet was merely a puppet without any consciousness.

"The Earthly Demon Puppet has been successfully refined. Next, I should begin preparing to refine the Pill to Break Dou Zun."

Gu He murmured as his fingers rubbed against his Storage Ring.

His strength had remained at the Peak Nine-Star Dou Zong level for some time now.

During this period, he had devoured a great many soul bodies containing extensive cultivation insights, allowing his cultivation to reach an extremely complete state.

It was now time to begin his attempt at breaking into the Dou Zun Realm.

The Pill to Break Dou Zun was precisely a Seventh-Grade Pill specially used to aid one in breaking through to the Dou Zun Realm!

Although Gu He's soul had already broken through to the Spirit Realm and he possessed the initial ability to refine Eighth-Grade Pills,

he had not even refined a Seventh-Grade Pill until now.

Therefore, even though he already possessed the ability to refine the Pill to Break Dou Zun, Gu He still lacked confidence.

"Let us try it!"

"At worst, I will only waste some medicinal ingredients."

For Gu He, medicinal ingredients were what he lacked least right now.

(End of Chapter)