Refining Puppet

Huo Xuan shifted his gaze away from the ring, then took a Dou Zun corpse from his Storage Ring, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Old Ya, come out."

"Young Clan Leader Yan, what business do you have with this old man?" Yao Chen's soul form drifted out from the ring and spoke to Huo Xuan.

"This junior naturally wishes to help Old Ya revive." As he spoke, Huo Xuan took out a pre-prepared Flesh Bone Regeneration Pill and pointed at the body on the ground. "Old Ya, what do you think of this body?"

Hearing this, Yao Chen carefully inspected the body. Though Huo Xuan appeared calm on the surface, he was extremely nervous inside.

After examining it for a while, Yao Chen found that the body seemed somewhat strange. A moment later, he asked, "Young Clan Leader Yan, what exactly is this body? Why does this old man feel that something is off?"

"This is a body specially prepared by the Flame Clan for Old Ya. It is only natural for it to be somewhat different. I can tell you that if you revive using this particular body, your strength will at least return to the level of an Eight Star Dou Zun. In two or three years, you will be able to recover to your peak, perhaps even surpass it."

After hearing Huo Xuan's explanation, Yao Chen still felt that something was wrong. Yet he could not say exactly what it was.

In the end, faced with the temptation of revival, he swallowed the Flesh Bone Regeneration Pill and plunged directly into the Dou Zun corpse.

"Good thing he didn't notice..." Huo Xuan let out a long breath after Yao Chen entered the body.

This body had indeed been specially prepared for Yao Chen, but not for his revival. It had been prepared specifically for refining a puppet. Yao Chen had failed to discover this because the body had been tampered with. The ones who had altered it were the Dou Sheng elders of the clan themselves; naturally, Yao Chen, a mere Dou Zun, could not detect it.

As for that Flesh Bone Regeneration Pill, it was naturally a fake pill. Huo Xuan had personally asked that group of old alchemists in the clan to refine it specifically for Yao Chen.

Although Yao Chen was known as the Continent's Number One Alchemist, he was only the number one alchemist in the open. While the Flame Clan had no alchemist stronger than Yao Chen, it possessed quite a few whose abilities rivaled his. With all of them working together, producing a Flesh Bone Regeneration Pill that Yao Chen could not distinguish from the real thing was well within their capabilities.

Once Yao Chen entered the corpse, Huo Xuan summoned Strange Fire and continuously tempered the body.

As the Strange Fire burned, Yao Chen finally sensed that something was amiss. After swallowing the Flesh Bone Regeneration Pill, his soul had indeed begun to merge with the body. At first, he truly gained control over it, but as time passed, he gradually lost that control.

"Something's wrong! There's something wrong with both this pill and this body! Young Clan Leader Yan, what are you trying to do to this old man?!"

"You only noticed now? That's right, both the pill and the body have problems. That pill is no Flesh Bone Regeneration Pill, and this Dou Zun body was carefully prepared by me as nothing more than material for making a puppet." Huo Xuan said with an amused smile.

Yao Chen's expression changed drastically. If he still did not understand what Huo Xuan intended to do, then he would truly be an idiot. Huo Xuan intended to refine him into a puppet.

Yao Chen's soul began struggling violently, trying to escape the body. At that moment, wisps of faint black flames suddenly erupted from within the body without warning, enveloping it entirely. The flames seeped into every crevice, surrounding Yao Chen's soul within the body.

"Young Clan Leader Yan, you promised this old man that you would not kill me!"

"Yao Chen, seeing as you are about to die, I'll tell you why I want to kill you." Although Huo Xuan had begun talking with Yao Chen, his hands did not stop. Instead, he worked even faster.

"I am indeed a man who keeps his promises, but I also made it very clear to you last time—do not become too deeply entangled in your bond of master and disciple with Xiao Yan. But what about you? Not only were you hopelessly trapped in it, you even wanted to beg me to spare Xiao Yan. Since you are already so deeply involved, you are my enemy. Only an idiot would let his enemy go."

"Though I know that an ant trying to shake a tree is overestimating itself, one can never be too careful. If I revived you and let you return, perhaps one day you might become a threat to me."

"Some things must either not be done at all, or be done thoroughly! Since I intend to kill Xiao Yan, how could I possibly spare you, his teacher who cares so much for him?"

Ignoring Yao Chen's furious curses, Huo Xuan sped up the refinement.

Ordinary methods of refining puppets could produce bodies as hard as metal and immune to pain, but a puppet was still only a puppet. It possessed none of its own combat experience.

A perfect puppet needed not only a body as tough as gold and iron and immunity to pain, but also seasoned combat experience and methods of killing. Yet puppets were generally controlled by their masters. If left unattended, even the strongest puppet would appear somewhat stiff and mechanical. Such puppets were far from perfect. To solve this flaw, a puppet needed to possess a certain degree of intelligence—or rather, combat experience...

Since Yao Chen had become a Dou Zun, he must have experienced countless great battles throughout his life. His combat experience was surely incomparably rich. As long as his soul could be refined and completely fused with the puppet, the resulting puppet would become a true killing machine!

"Huo Xuan! I curse you! I curse your Flame Clan! Your Flame Clan will surely be destroyed by the Hun Clan!"

By then, Huo Xuan no longer wished to waste words on Yao Chen. With an indifferent wave of his hand, the Strange Fire surged forth. In less than a few minutes, Yao Chen's soul was completely refined.

"No! Don't!"

As Yao Chen was refined, threads of somewhat illusory currents slowly drifted out and quietly merged into the puppet's mind.

As those illusory currents seeped in, the corpse's formerly vacant eyes gradually began to shine with a metallic, icy cold gleam.

Huo Xuan flicked his finger, sending a drop of blood containing a trace of Soul Imprint flying from his fingertip. It landed between the puppet's brows and immediately transformed into a faint blood mark. At the same time, a feeling of spiritual connection arose within him.

With the Soul Imprint planted, Yao Chen—no, this puppet—would henceforth be his closest guard. It would obey every one of his commands without question and would never harbor any thought of betrayal.

"You should have a new name. From now on, you shall be called... Chen Venerable."

Huo Xuan looked at the puppet and spoke with a faint smile.

Hearing this, the puppet's gaunt face twitched slightly. At last, a hoarse voice devoid of the slightest emotion slowly emerged from its mouth. "Yes, Master."