Human Puppet, Medusa's Unyielding Heart

Xiao Ming controlled the temperature of the flames to a very precise degree, enough to expel the residual Corpse Qi from the body without burning it.

It took Xiao Ming a considerable amount of time just to temper his physical body before he could completely expel the corpse's Corpse Qi.

As the last trace of Corpse Qi left the body, Xiao Ming breathed a sigh of relief. He then flicked his finger, and two powerful gusts of wind shot out, finally creating fist-sized holes in the corpse's chest and forehead.

No blood flowed out of the cave, because any remaining blood had been evaporated during the tempering of the Corpse Qi. This was also a small step in the refining of the "Heaven Demon Puppet".

At this moment, Xie Biyan's corpse had shrunk several times in size, and the skin of his entire body was a cold grayish-white color. The skin clung tightly to the dry muscles, and his hands had become exceptionally thin and long, like sharp daggers.

According to the records of the Heavenly Demon Puppet Refinement Method, Xiao Ming slightly tempered the corpse, then reached out and summoned a Seventh Tier Magic Core containing a large amount of pure energy, which floated out and finally fell into the small hole in the corpse's chest. After doing this, Xiao Ming calmly took out a Jade Bottle Jade Bottle, from which a powerful Soul Fluctuation faintly emanated.

"Xiao Ming, what will it take for you to release me?!"

The moment the Jade Bottle appeared, a furious roar filled with resentment and venom emanated from it.

As a Dou Zong, Xie Biyan's Soul Body was incredibly solid after death, so Xiao Ming naturally couldn't let him leave.

"Release you? How could that be? You're still very useful to me. But don't worry, you'll be free soon." Xiao Ming said calmly, shaking his head.

With a clenched fist, the Jade Bottle shattered, revealing a white soul within. The soul, upon appearing, disregarded everything and dashed towards the secret chamber's door, only to be caught and pulled back by Xiao Ming, who was prepared.

He glanced indifferently at the struggling soul of Xie Biyan, then a burst of flames erupted from his hand, engulfing it completely. The next moment, Xie Biyan's eyes went vacant, and he ceased his struggle.

After estimating the degree of refining, Xiao Ming continued to increase the temperature of the flames. With this high-temperature refining, Xie Biyan directly transformed into a pure soul with a faint sound.

Xiao Ming glanced at the ball of Soul Power in his palm, then gently tossed it. The Soul Power transformed into a white dragon of energy, which swiftly burrowed into the hole on the corpse's forehead.

As this pure soul entered, Xie Biyan's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, his pupils filled with pitch black.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Ming was not surprised. With a flick of his fingers, a series of metallic objects with strange luster flashed out from his Na Ring and finally floated in front of him.

Glancing at the numerous strange metals floating before him, Xiao Ming nodded slightly. He clenched his fist, and Pale White Flame erupted from his palm like a tongue of fire. A suction force surged forth, drawing the metals in.

Under the terrifyingly high temperature of the White Glass Heart Flame, these strange metals gradually showed signs of melting, although they were still quite far from being completely melted.

At this moment, Xiao Ming was multitasking, controlling the flames to temper the corpse at a constant temperature.

On one hand, he used extremely high temperatures to refine these strange metals. The high and low temperatures of the flames required extremely high flame control skills. Fortunately, Xiao Ming's Fire Energy have always been strong, so he did not feel flustered.

Both refining processes require a considerable amount of time, especially the tempering of the corpse. It must reach a certain level before it can achieve perfect compatibility with the soul and Magic Core placed inside.

While Xiao Ming was refining the Heavenly Demon Puppet, a considerable amount of time had passed, and Xiao Yi Xian had also awakened from her slumber.

As soon as Xiao Yi Xian woke up, her first priority was to search for Xiao Ming's whereabouts.

She quickly found Xiao Ming in a corner of the secret room.

Looking at the blankets covering him tightly, and then at Xiao Ming sitting cross-legged, he felt a bit awkward about the Space Barrier between them.

A hint of sweetness flashed in Xiao Yi Xian's eyes.

After staring at Xiao Ming for a moment, Xiao Yi Xian seemed to remember something, got up and dressed.

With a wave of his hand, he stored the clothes and bedding he had just received into his Na Ring.

After doing all this, she reached out and touched the simple Space Barrier that Xiao Ming had set up.

At this moment, Xiao Ming seemed to sense something and slowly opened his eyes.

"Xian'er, you're awake?" Looking at the lovely girl in front of him, Xiao Ming smiled gently.

"Hmm." Looking at Xiao Ming's smile, Xiao Yi Xian nodded gently, and a captivating blush rose to her face, as if she had thought of something.

"Don't you want to rest a bit? After all, you were... cough cough, a little too tired before."

"Or..." Upon hearing this, Xiao Yi Xian murmured softly and quickly left the secret chamber.

Watching Xiao Yi Xian leave, Xiao Ming had a strange smile on his face. She had been quite bold before, but now she was shy again.

"Oh no, I forgot to tell Xian'er and Zi Yan that we're leaving in a few days. Oh well, it's okay if they don't tell us. Anyway, as long as I stay here, they can't run away."

Muttering to himself, Xiao Ming waved the door shut, then closed his eyes and continued refining the corpses and strange metals.

This time, Xiao Ming's refining process lasted for three full days. During those three days, the strange metals, completely refined into a dark golden molten liquid, slowly swirled within the flames, releasing a mysterious luster.

The metal forging is complete, but the perfect fit required for the body, soul, and Magic Core is still not achieved.

Xiao Ming was not impatient at all. He knew that the more impatient he was, the more likely he would miss that perfect moment that would only last for a fleeting instant.

In this way, not only will the body be destroyed, but the Magic Core and even the soul within it will also instantly lose their function. This is almost the most difficult aspect to control when crafting a "Heaven Demon Puppet".

Xiao Ming maintained this calm and composed state of mind, and another day passed.

Three days later, at some point, Xiao Ming, who had been sitting motionless on the boulder like an old monk in deep meditation, suddenly trembled and his tightly closed eyes snapped open!

A hint of joy flickered in his dark eyes, and then his hands quickly formed a strange hand seal, from which a slightly odd shout came.

As the shout rang out, the corpse of Xie Biyan suddenly trembled. The soul that had been swirling in its brain was as if it had been forcibly shattered by an invisible force, turning into countless tiny points of light that densely scattered across every part of its body.

The instant the soul turned into specks of light, the Magic Core resting on its chest emitted a faint buzzing sound. Then, bursts of violent energy surged forth from it like a rushing lake, finally flowing through the meridians of the body with a thunderous roar.

With the changes in the soul and the Magic Core, the gray-white color on the surface of the body became increasingly intense, and the size of the entire body was slowly shrinking. A powerful aura, devoid of any emotion, slowly emanated from the corpse.

Sensing the aura that was comparable to that of Three-star Dou Zong expert, Xiao Ming's eyes lit up slightly. With a flick of his hand, the dark golden liquid that was floating in front of him slowly floated out and finally poured onto the cold corpse.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The extremely hot molten metal dripped onto the corpse, instantly releasing bursts of white mist and a faint smoky smell. However, the skin that came into contact with the solution showed no signs of damage. After the previous series of refining processes, the puppet's physical strength had now reached an extremely formidable level.

Soul Power swept across the puppet's body like ripples on water, while the dark golden solution was slowly applied to every part of its body. In an instant, a foul-smelling white mist continuously emanated from the puppet's body, and the hissing sound produced by the high temperature in contact with the skin was quite eerie.

When the solution was completely applied to the puppet's body, its cold, grayish-white color was replaced by a dark gold, which shimmered and gave it an extremely solid and strange feel.

Xiao Ming glanced at the puppet whose body was covered in the solution, let out a soft breath, and then waved his sleeve. The Pale White Flame surged out again, enveloping the puppet completely. The terrifying high temperature slowly seeped out.

As the high temperature continued to scorch, the dark golden solution began to slowly erode into the puppet's skin. As this erosion intensified, the puppet's body gradually turned dark blue, vaguely resembling a block of copper.

"Human Puppet...?"

The Heaven Demon Puppet are divided into three grades: Heaven, Earth, and Human. The best way to distinguish these three grades is to observe their skin color: Heaven is gold, Earth is silver, and Human is bronze. The color displayed by this puppet is clearly the last grade among the three.

Xiao Ming wasn't too disappointed by this, after all, Xie Biyan was only a Three-star Dou Zong, and it was undoubtedly a pipe dream for him to want to refine an Earth Puppet or a Heaven Puppet.

Moreover, this Bronze Puppet isn't destined to remain just Bronze Puppet. It can devour Pill Lightning and evolve, eventually reaching the Heavenly Demon Puppet, comparable to Dou Zun.

Xiao Ming will then have a lot of time to refine pills.

This Heavenly Demon Puppet will evolve sooner or later.

Thinking this, Xiao Ming did not stop the flames from scorching the puppet. The terrifying high temperature continued to seep out, slowly penetrating the dark golden solution into the puppet's skin and withered muscles.

The so-called "Heaven Demon Puppet" Refinement Method involves using these metal materials to modify the human body's strength. A living person would likely explode and die instantly from such an act, but this puppet, devoid of pain and sensation, can completely ignore this unparalleled agony. Therefore, if successfully crafted, although the puppet doesn't understand Dou Skill, its physical body alone would be the perfect killing weapon.

... As the dark golden solution was gradually absorbed by the puppet, the Human Puppet suddenly unleashed a powerful aura.

Outside, inside the cave, Medusa was sitting next to Zi Yan and Xiao Yi Xian. The sudden surge of powerful aura attracted the attention of the three of them.

"This aura... Dou Zong? But it seems a bit strange." Medusa's face showed a hint of surprise. Compared to a few days ago, Medusa's complexion was much better now.

The Xiao Yi Xian sitting next to him also suddenly stood up. In her perception, this aura was no weaker than hers, and it was coming from the secret chamber where Xiao Ming was in seclusion.

Thinking of the corpse Xiao Ming had created when she came out, Xiao Yi Xian had a plan in mind.

"This commotion must have been caused by Xiao Ming; he should be coming out of seclusion soon."

Upon hearing that Xiao Ming was about to emerge from seclusion, Zi Yan's face lit up with a happy smile, "Hehehe, Xiao Ming is finally coming out! I haven't seen him for days. Come on, let's go pick him up!"

After saying this, Zi Yan skipped and hopped toward the direction from which the aura came.

Xiao Yi Xian and Medusa exchanged a glance, then followed.

When the two arrived outside the secret chamber, they found Xiao Ming and Zi Yan surrounding a bronze-colored humanoid creature that was walking around.

With each step the humanoid creature took, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground, the sheer force of which astonished the two onlookers.

"This thing's Aura seems no weaker than Yun Shan's, perhaps even stronger! But it doesn't seem like a living person; it's more like... a puppet?"

Just as a hint of doubt flashed through Queen Medusa's mind, she heard Zi Yan ask a question.

"Xiao Ming, what is this?"

"This is Human-Monster Puppet, roughly equivalent to Three Star Dou Ancestor cultivator."

"Three Star Dou Ancestor?" Upon hearing this, Zi Yan's eyes lit up. With this, she wouldn't have to worry so much when she went out to "gather" herbs in the future.

Thinking of those Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, Zi Yan couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Xiao Ming, could I borrow this for a couple of days...?"

Who is Xiao Ming? How could he not understand what Zi Yan meant by those words?

Nodding helplessly, Xiao Ming handed over control of the Heavenly Demon to Zi Yan.

"You can play around with it, but remember to return it to me when I need it."

The Heavenly Demon Puppet was used by Xiao Ming to block the Pill Lightning. There were no other materials available, otherwise, it wouldn't have mattered much to give it directly to Zi Yan.

In fact, if circumstances allowed, Xiao Ming would like to forge a few more sets and leave one set for the Xiao Family.

However, there weren't many Dou Zong powerhouses around for him to kill. If Xie Biyan and Yan Luotian hadn't attacked the Jia Ma Empire, Xiao Ming wouldn't have been able to refine this Heavenly Demon Puppet.

Upon hearing Xiao Ming's reply, Zi Yan happily began to fiddle with the Human-Monster Puppet.

Queen Medusa, watching from the side, was very envious; she wished her Snake People Race had such a puppet.

If such a puppet existed, the Snake People Race could certainly escape the harsh Tagor Desert.

However, despite her envy, Medusa knew that the Snake People Race could not obtain such a puppet, so Medusa thought of evolution.

Indeed, Medusa has never given up on evolving. After the events in the Chu Yun Empire, Medusa has become even more thirsty for power.

Without strength, one cannot protect one's people.

However, she now knows that it is difficult for her to evolve through conventional means, and Xiao Ming will not refine the Snake Saint Soul Advancement Pill.

Therefore, she could only focus her attention on the evolution of the Heavenly Flames.

Providing the Heavenly Flames wouldn't be a difficult task for Xiao Ming; if the reward were sufficient, he might be able to agree.

Just as Medusa was hesitating about how to speak, a huge explosion suddenly came from outside, and the entire cavern shook.

"Xiao Ming, I know you're in there. Please come out!"