Refining a Level 96 Puppet, Considering His Family's Soul Rings

Having finished tempering his body with ice and fire, Zhuang Xingyu did not have time to rest. He immediately took out the Ice Fire Space Stone, Ice Fire Spring Water, and Aromatic Silk Beauty from the Chaos Bead's storage space and began refining a Puppet.

The Aromatic Silk Beauty was an Immortal Herb formed by absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, along with the radiance of the sun and moon. It had remarkable effects on enhancing treasures. In the original story, Ning Rongrong had absorbed a Aromatic Silk Beauty, allowing her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to evolve into a Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.

A Puppet itself was also a type of treasure. Adding the Aromatic Silk Beauty would not only raise the chances of a successful refinement, but also grant the Puppet the potential to continuously evolve.

More importantly! Zhuang Xingyu intended to refine a female Puppet. After adding the Aromatic Silk Beauty, the Puppet's skin could become more lifelike, and even her facial expressions would be nearly indistinguishable from a human's. She could also emit a natural tulip fragrance. No one would recognize her as a Puppet, making her seem far more believable as a real person.

As for why he was making a female one, there was no special reason. She was simply easier to refine! After all, she lacked quite a few things. It saved materials and lifted his mood.

Zhuang Xingyu also planned to add some of his own blood, which would make the Puppet easier to control. Her martial soul could then imitate an Extreme Yin Yang Leopard.

He would publicly claim that she was from the Dark Vein of the Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Clan!

He would say that, in order to ensure the clan's everlasting prosperity, the clan's first Titled Douluo had divided the family into two branches: one in the open, one in the shadows, supporting each other.

Now that the clan's public branch had declined, the hidden branch had sent this Titled Douluo to help the family escape its predicament.

He named her Zhuang Shushen, taken from "Gentle and kind to the end, prudent in her conduct" in The Book of Songs: Bei Feng—Yan Yan. It meant, "Always gentle and compassionate, kind and cautious in conduct." It could be considered an embodiment of the Dark Vein's spirit.

Zhuang Xingyu unleashed the Innate Ice Fire Yin Yang Flame. Empowered by Soul Power, the flame's temperature instantly reached several thousand degrees Celsius. He first refined the Ice Fire Space Stone, then added the Aromatic Silk Beauty. It took a full two shichen to melt them.

Just as it was about to take shape, he dripped in a quarter drop of essence blood, allowing its martial soul to manifest.

Then, he slowly simmered it over low heat—ah, no, that was wrong. Start over!

Then, he reduced the sauce over high heat—ah, no, wrong again. Start over!

Those were habits from his previous life! Zhuang Xingyu had majored in Water Quality Science and Technology in his previous life. Anyone familiar with the field knew that biology, chemistry, and materials science—three of the four infamous career pitfalls—had begun to crawl out of the hole, while environmental science remained bottomless!

Left with no choice, Zhuang Xingyu had gone to study at Xin Dongfang for half a year. At night, he developed a street-stall business near parks, roadside areas, and elementary school gates, honing his cooking skills. Before he could use them to win over a rich older woman, he had arrived on Douluo Continent.

"Crackle, hiss, pop, pop." As time passed, the Puppet's outward form was mostly complete. Next came the crucial stage: constructing the Puppet's internal meridians!

This would determine the Puppet's final Soul Power. Zhuang Xingyu focused his Spiritual Power even further, completely unaware that his back was soaked through.

About three more shichen passed before a powerful aura surged out of the cave. All Soul Beasts within a thousand meters were startled into fleeing, while many hundred-year Soul Beasts that had not escaped in time were knocked unconscious.

Fortunately, Zhuang Xingyu reacted quickly and brought the Puppet under control, making her conceal her aura. Only then were those Soul Beasts spared serious harm. They would fully recover after one or two shichen.

The Puppet was finally complete!

"Level 96? It's actually Level 96! A perfect refinement! Looks like my talent for artifact refinement is pretty high!" Zhuang Xingyu said with a smile.

Lowering his head to look at this perfect work of craftsmanship, he said, "The first eight Soul Rings are all at their maximum age limits, while the ninth Soul Ring is ninety-five thousand years old. What a pity, what a pity. It didn't reach the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring level."

"After all, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring is a huge threshold, with an enormous bottleneck. If I get the relevant materials later, I can slowly improve it." Zhuang Xingyu stopped lamenting. The Puppet's current strength was sufficient for the time being.

The Puppet, Zhuang Shushen, stood 175 centimeters tall. Her features were delicate and refined, and her bright eyes were as clear as those of a college student. Her skin was fair and smooth, like jade, while her black hair was glossy and soft, revealing her beautiful neck. Then there was her impressive F-cup chest, enough to make countless women feel inferior.

He poked it with a finger. Hmm, quite soft! It could even produce moisture and required no maintenance.

As expected of the Ice Fire Space Stone. The material really was excellent!

Unfortunately, this was a Puppet. Zhuang Xingyu had no unusual fetishes; he was merely appreciating it.

Besides, in order to maximize the Puppet's Soul Power, many internal structures had not been refined at all. It could not be used for that purpose anyway.

Oh no, he had forgotten to refine clothes. Fortunately, there was no one nearby, or his lifelong reputation would have been ruined.

He hurriedly took out a set of purple-gold clothing from the Young Pure Yang Sacred Leopard Ring. These were spare clothes of Zhuang Xingyu's, in a style suitable for either men or women.

Zhuang Xingyu usually preferred clothing in three colors: white for staying at home, black for going out because it did not show dirt easily, and purple-gold for formal occasions because it looked luxurious and solemn.

Today was an important occasion, so purple-gold clothing was just right.

It had quite a charm!

Because Zhuang Xingyu had refined her and added his blood, the Puppet now felt like a newly grown arm of his. With a thought and a touch of Spiritual Power, whether she walked normally or unleashed Soul Skills in battle, she was no different from an ordinary person. No one could tell that she was a Puppet.

Now, Zhuang Xingyu finally possessed the means to truly protect himself on Douluo Continent!

There were still some scraps of Ice Fire Space Stone left. Their effects were similar to Ten Thousand Year Cold Marrow, but their quality was not particularly good, and they contained many impurities. Purifying them would be too troublesome. Although Soul Masters could increase their Soul Power by consuming them, the drawbacks outweighed the benefits.

What should he use them for?

"Ah! I've got it! Grandmother's ninth Soul Ring should ideally be a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, but there aren't many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts on Douluo Continent right now. Those two simps, Da Ming Er Ming, are always together screwing around. Zhuang Shushen alone would have a hard time dealing with them."

"There are still quite a few ninety-thousand-year Soul Beasts in Star Dou Forest. I can first control one that's over ninety thousand years old, then feed it scraps of Ice Fire Space Stone. Like how Sky Dream Ice Silkworm consumed Ten Thousand Year Cold Marrow, I can forcibly mature it into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast! Then Grandmother will have a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring."

"As for Father's ninth Soul Ring, that would be Xiao Wu! When Father breaks through to Level 90, Grandmother will have a good chance of becoming a Super Douluo with her Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, as well as the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Spirit Bone obtained from hunting a Soul Beast. At that point, the family will have Murong Yunxue and Zhuang Shushen, two Super Douluo with extraordinary Combat Power. We won't need to fear Tang Hao anymore. We can just capture Xiao Wu!"

Rabbits and leopards shared quite a few similarities. For example, both were fast and possessed strong explosive power. However, rabbits were significantly lacking in strength.

But she was still a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and she could also yield a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. That alone was enough!

As for Zhuang Xingyu's own Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, that would be even simpler.

There were two methods!

First: Zhuang Xingyu would probably be able to withstand Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings around Level 50 or 60. With the pills refined by Zhuang Xingyu, the family would have many Titled Douluo by then. They could simply kill Da Ming Er Ming, or take the more conservative approach and hunt three Thousand Jun Ant Emperors!

Second: participate in a God Trial. Unlike Tang San, who had seized another body, Zhuang Xingyu was someone who had seen through the Mystery of the Womb. He could be considered a true native of Douluo Continent, with a spotless background. Unlike Qian Renxue, he was not a descendant of a god, branded as such so that no other gods wanted her.

Any god seeking to pass on their divine position would generally find it difficult to refuse such an outstanding inheritor.

Next, it was time for Zhuang Xingyu's specialty: refining pills!

The next chapter will take another two or three hours to update. Dear readers, get some sleep first. You'll be able to see it when you wake up tomorrow morning!