Puppet

The so-called First Grade Talisman Artifact and Second Grade Talisman Artifact are classified by the number of Talismans they contain. However, due to the varying skill levels of Artifact Refiners, there can be instances of "First Grade Talisman Artifacts whose power is comparable to Second Grade Talisman Artifacts."

This situation is, however, quite rare.

After all, optimizing the arrangement of Talismans, or even forming new Talisman Formations, is far beyond the capabilities of ordinary Artifact Refiners. Some Artifact Refiners may never be able to optimize even a single Talisman Artifact or Magic Artifact in their entire lives.

Lu Qingfeng, with the Derive Arts characteristic of the Yellow Court Scripture, can optimize every Talisman Artifact and every Magic Artifact!

As long as he has enough Experience Points!

Lu Qingfeng mused inwardly, a sense of joy filling him.

Being able to refine the Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron in the Game meant he could also refine it in reality. This way, he could finally escape the predicament of refining pills with a boiler and greatly increase his Alchemy efficiency.

"But this Artifact Refining--"

Lu Qingfeng collected his thoughts and, recalling his years of experience in Artifact Refining, couldn't help but shake his head.

Alchemy is difficult!

It's difficult because of controlling the Attributes of various Medicinal Herbs, their proportions, the heat, and so on.

Talisman Crafting is difficult!

It's difficult because of drawing Talismans, the precision of each stroke, mastering Erosion Text, coordinating Inner Breath with Cinnabar, Talisman Brush, Talisman Paper, and many other details, as well as controlling the amount of Spiritual Energy drawn.

And the difficulty of Artifact Refining encompasses almost both of these.

Firstly.

Before Artifact Refining, one must process various ores and metals. While seemingly similar to processing Medicinal Herbs, it is far more difficult. After processing, they must also be combined in different proportions and forged with heat.

In addition to heat, the control of force is also crucial.

Just as when Lu Qingfeng was refining the Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron, he continuously issued commands for the nine Apprentices to control the heat and wind. Simultaneously, he used his Inner Breath to control the chaotic and disordered wind within the smelting furnace, condensing it into powerful forces to shape the metal within the furnace.

Zhang Zong's forging of swords with the Wind Thunder Hammer follows the same principle.

These actions, while seemingly similar to Alchemy, are actually vastly different.

Furthermore, Lu Qingfeng must meticulously control his Inner Breath, using it to guide the metal in the smelting furnace and sketch out extremely complex Erosion Text characters, thereby forming Talismans. He then needs to arrange these Talismans into groups of Talisman Formations.

This is a delicate task. The process of sketching and arranging consumes a tremendous amount of mental energy.

This is also the greatest difficulty in Artifact Refining.

Firstly, there are thousands upon thousands of Erosion Text characters. Each Erosion Text character is a manifestation of the Great Dao, something that can be understood but not easily explained. They are complex and ever-changing, like patterns of mountains and rivers in the world. Sketching them individually is already difficult, and combining or layering them to form Talismans is even more so.

When drawing Talismans, one at least uses a brush in hand!

When sketching Talismans in Artifact Refining, Inner Breath is used for guidance. This requires Inner Breath to be trained to obey like an extension of one's own limbs, and one must also be intimately familiar with the properties of various metals, their repulsive forces, and so on.

This makes the difficulty of Artifact Refining subtly rank highest among the three.

The reason Lu Qingfeng took nearly eight years to refine the Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron was in overcoming these challenges one by one. The most significant of these were the understanding of Erosion Text and the control of Inner Breath.

Through countless repetitions, Lu Qingfeng can now control his Inner Breath with extreme precision and skillfully sketch Erosion Text Talismans.

Although it takes a considerable amount of time, he will not need to waste time on Inner Breath when refining other Talisman Artifacts in the future.

"The Crimson Flame Pill Cauldron was just an experiment. Next, I should study Mechanism Art and then master the refining of Puppets!" Lu Qingfeng's eyes gleamed.

Ever since he first witnessed the power of Puppets eight years ago, Lu Qingfeng had been captivated by them.

Over the years, as he understood Puppets more and more, his desire grew. These unique Magic Artifacts, akin to combat robots from his previous life, perfectly aligned with Lu Qingfeng's combat philosophy--

No need for close combat, compete with Magic Artifacts!

During battles, thousands of Puppets would swarm forward, overwhelming any opponent, no matter how many Grades higher they were, with the "Puppet Sea" tactic!

However, the refining of Puppets, in addition to Artifact Refining and Talisman Crafting, also incorporates Mechanism Art. This Mechanism Art encompasses biomechanics, physics, mechanical structures, and more, making it incredibly comprehensive.

Even within the Hundred Crafts Sect, renowned for refining Puppets, Artifact Refiners capable of refining Puppets are not common.

Zhang Zong has been studying this art for over twenty years, and currently, he can only refine auxiliary Puppets that are almost useless. He had long since given up and focused on refining Talisman Artifacts and Magic Artifacts.

"Zhang Zong is already a top-tier Artifact Refining Apprentice. With one more step, he can refine First Grade Magic Artifacts and become a First Grade Artifact Refiner. For him, time is too precious to waste. But I have the Hundredfold Time Difference, giving me ample energy and time to study!"

Lu Qingfeng made up his mind. In this life, apart from Cultivation and Alchemy, his main focus would be on refining Puppets.

For him, as long as he mastered offense, defense, escape, and perhaps a type of exotic Talisman Artifact, it would be sufficient. After all, it's difficult to find excellent materials for refining Talisman Artifacts in Miao Yin City. Instead of spending his in-game energy on refining various Talisman Artifacts and Magic Artifacts, it would be better to refine Puppets.

"The materials for refining Puppets, even if ordinary, can still be used as cannon fodder, winning through sheer numbers!"

But Talisman Artifacts are different!

Lu Qingfeng, as an individual, can only use a limited number of Talisman Artifacts.

Thinking this way, Puppets are naturally the preferred choice.

After his routine Alchemy session, Lu Qingfeng took out the books on Mechanism Art he obtained from the Guild and began to study them.

The Mechanism Art in Primordial Chaos is the foundation for refining Puppets.

Things like the Wooden Ox Flowing Horse, Wooden Bird Flying Kite, Armillary Sphere, and Seismograph are all forms of Mechanism Art and are among the more basic ones in the mortal world.

More advanced forms include Mechanism Wooden Man and Mechanism Wooden Beast, which can move flexibly and perform various tasks.

This was already somewhat similar to the robots of the 21st century.

One layer above this could be called a Puppet.

Puppets use the skeletons of various Demon Beasts and Fierce Beasts, or special metals, as their framework. They are connected by beast sinews or other means, making their defense extremely strong and allowing them to move freely.

Some imitate human bodies, while others imitate beast bodies.

On this foundation, numerous talisman arrays are inscribed through Artifact Refining, granting the Puppets all sorts of incredible abilities. Some possess invincible defense and immense power, capable of engaging Demon Beasts in close combat. Others can cast spells and excel at ranged attacks.

In short.

The source of all a Puppet's abilities lies in the talisman arrays inscribed upon them by the refiner.

Take, for example, the humanoid Puppets of the Yuan Yi Guild.

The Giant Puppet controlled by Mu Yuanyi has strong defense and great power. Its arms wield a Serrated Sword comparable to a Second Grade Magic Artifact. Its legs and arms conceal mechanisms that can launch the White Bone Funeral Arrow, making it impossible to guard against. Its left hand holds a Magic Artifact shield, used to block all attacks.

Mu Yuanyi hides within this type of Giant Puppet, controlling its combat through a control hub, which can amplify his own Combat Power by several dozen times. As long as there is careful coordination, the combat power a Puppet can achieve in theory is the combat power it can actually exert!

It's somewhat similar to the mechs of the interstellar era, where a person enters inside and controls the Puppet to engage in combat.

Lu Qingfeng naturally didn't want this kind.

Thanks to 'Fei Ku Ku' for the 1000 reward.

Thank you all for your recommendation tickets and collections!