Lin Ming's consciousness swept over the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Magic Core, which was suspended in mid-air, radiating immense energy and colorful brilliance. With a slight thought, the fist-sized, magnificent crystal seemed to be pulled by invisible threads, and floated lightly over to the area where the Hall of Souls Vice Hall Master and the Great Heavenly Venerate were imprisoned.
The Magic Core slowly rotated, casting rays of colorful light that illuminated the two desperate figures below, adding to the eeriness and ominousness of the scene.
"Alright, break time is over. Now, it's your turn to shine and show your final value."
Lin Ming's icy mental fluctuations, like the tolling of the final judgment bell, once again clearly entered the senses of Hall of Souls Vice Hall Master Hun Yan and the Great Heavenly Venerate Venerable. His gaze refocused on the two of them, and his calm tone now carried a chilling sneer.
Both the Hun Yan's cocoon of Soul Light and the Great Heavenly Venerate's nailed body trembled involuntarily. They didn't understand what Lin Ming meant by "playing a role," but even a fool could tell that it couldn't possibly be anything good!
Lin Ming already had a plan in mind. He wanted to refine this person and their soul into Puppet, but not a traditional Heavenly Demon Puppet.
He had already crafted several Heavenly Demon Puppet using the same method. The process involved using a powerful body as a base, a high-level Magic Core as the energy source, and then inserting a soul that had been stripped of its intelligence and left only with Soul Body to serve as the receiving and executing unit for driving commands. The resulting Puppet were fearless, incredibly strong, and excellent meat shields and fighters.
However, ever since he obtained the two Ancient Human Puppet in the Ancient Ruins that could use the Dou Technique they had before birth, Lin Ming has developed a strong interest in them.
He spent a considerable amount of time researching this and finally glimpsed a bit of its secret.
That wasn't a simple soul-driven process. Instead, after the Puppet body was crafted, a special sealing technique was used to inject into it a Soul Body that had been heavily Restriction but retained its understanding of combat, memories of Dou Technique, and some of its fierce fighting instincts!
Such Puppet not only possess powerful physical strength, but can also unleash various Dou Technique they mastered before birth, making their fighting style more flexible and varied, and their power far surpasses that of ordinary Heavenly Demon Puppet, making them true "fighting machines"!
Now, he happens to have the perfect materials at hand.
Body: The Great Heavenly Venerate's physical body, at the level of Two-Star Dou Saint Sheng! Although severely injured, its foundation remains intact. After tempering, it is sufficient to become a top-tier Puppet body.
Soul Body: Soul Hun Yan, the Hall of Souls Vice Hall Master, Soul Body Late Stage Three-Star Dou Saint! His combat experience, understanding of Space Power, and mastery of various Hun Clan Secret Technique and timing in battle are all priceless treasures.
Energy Core: A newly refined Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Magic Core at the Dou Sheng level! Its immense energy is enough to support this Puppet in prolonged, high-intensity combat, and may even endow it with some of the characteristics of Ancient Heavenly Phoenix!
With the right timing, location, and people all in place, how could Lin Ming possibly let go of this opportunity to forge an unprecedentedly powerful Puppet?
His consciousness was locked on Hun Yan and the Great Heavenly Venerate. Without further hesitation, he activated the power of the rules within his Inner World!
"Buzz!"
First, the Netherworld Seal on the Great Heavenly Venerate, which had been laid down by the South Dragon King Zhu You and shimmered with a dark light, broke and dissipated inch by inch in a subtle spatial ripple, just like ice and snow melting away.
Immediately afterwards, the Purple-Gold Spatial Runes seal that the North Dragon King had placed on the Hun Yan's Soul Light cocoon was also wiped away as if by an invisible hand, peeling off and disintegrating layer by layer!
The seal... has been broken?!
This sudden change stunned Hun Yan and Great Heavenly Venerate, who had resigned themselves to their fate.
Immediately, a surge of ecstasy mixed with boundless resentment ignited wildly in their hearts like a wildfire!
The seal being broken means they have regained their freedom! Although the Great Heavenly Venerate's physical body was severely injured and Hun Yan was reduced to its very Soul Origin, they were still Dou Sheng! Powerful figures standing at the pinnacle of the continent!
Lin Ming, standing before them, was merely a Nine-Star Dou Venerate! The difference in their cultivation levels was an immense, abyssal chasm!
"You little beast! You're courting death!"
Hun Yan's Soul Projection let out a sharp roar. Almost without hesitation, its illusory hand suddenly rose, gathering its remaining soul power and transforming it into a sinister and sharp soul blade that tore through the void and slashed straight at the location of Lin Ming's consciousness!
He wanted to take this opportunity to completely eliminate this brat who knew too many secrets and had brought him endless shame!
The Great Heavenly Venerate Venerable roared, enduring the excruciating pain of his collapsing body. Black Mist surged from his withered palm, and a bone spear containing the Law of Death instantly condensed, carrying a ruthless edge that could pierce through everything. Together with the Hun Yan's attack, it sealed off all of Lin Ming's space to dodge from both the left and right!
Even if the two Dou Sheng were barely alive, the power of their furious attack would be enough to kill any Peak Dou Venerate expert instantly!
However, faced with this sudden and deadly counterattack, Lin Ming's consciousness remained completely undisturbed, only a mocking and icy laugh swept through him like a cold wind from the heavens:
"Fools! Use your pig brains to think! If I dared to break your seals, wouldn't I be absolutely confident in controlling you? If I didn't have a way to deal with you, would I have gone to all this trouble to break the seals just to invite you out for tea and a reunion?!"
Before the words had even finished --
Boom!!!
The entire Inner World, over nine thousand feet long, seemed to come alive at that moment!
In the sky, the dark blue dome suddenly pressed down, as if it had transformed into a tangible barrier; on the ground beneath their feet, the Five Elements Qi surged into the sky, transforming into countless chains of Law of different colors; the surrounding void completely solidified, becoming billions of times harder than ten-thousand-year-old Mysterious Iron!
An indescribable, irresistible, terrifying force, seemingly crushing down from the very heavens and earth themselves, descended with a deafening roar, instantly impacting Hun Yan and the Great Heavenly Venerate Venerable!
"Pfft!"
The soul blade that Hun Yan had just formed shattered instantly like a bubble. His Soul Projection was gripped tightly by an invisible force, and all his soul power was forcibly suppressed back to its source, with not even a slight fluctuation allowed.
The Great Heavenly Venerate fared even worse. Before he could even unleash his condensed bone spear, he was struck as if by an invisible, ancient divine mountain. His body, which had just been lifted into the air, was slammed back to the ground at an even faster speed. The bones around his body emitted a teeth-grinding cracking sound, and his already severe injuries instantly worsened. He gushed out mouthfuls of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, and was firmly pinned to the ground, unable to move even a single finger!
The World Shackles!
Within this Inner World belonging to Lin Ming, he is the creator god, he is the supreme rule! With a single thought, he can mobilize the power of the entire world to suppress!
Let alone their current severely Remnant Soul state, even if they were three-star or Two-Star Dou Saint Three-star Dou Sheng in their prime, their life or death would be in Lin Ming's hands if they were captured into this world!
Rebellion? It was a joke from the very beginning!
"No... no way! Where am I?!"
Hun Yan let out a desperate and terrified roar. He felt like an insect caught in a spider's web, all his power seemed so insignificant and laughable in the face of the mighty power of heaven and earth.
The Great Heavenly Venerate Venerable's eyes widened in disbelief and horror. This absolute control was beyond his understanding of Space Power and domain!
"Now, we can set off with peace of mind."
Lin Ming coldly pronounced his verdict, and with another thought, the Chaos World Origin Fire reappeared out of thin air, like living tentacles, splitting into two streams. One stream enveloped the Great Heavenly Venerate's physical body, which was firmly pressed to the ground, while the other stream coiled around the Hun Yan's soul, which was imprisoned in mid-air by an invisible force!
"Ah--!!!"
A scream so piercing it defied description instantly echoed throughout the land!
That World Origin Fire is no ordinary flame; it directly burns the very essence of existence! For the Great Heavenly Venerate's physical body, it is not simply incinerated, but rather undergoes the most thorough "tempering" in an almost cruel manner!
The flames seeped into every inch of his muscle, every vein, and every bone.
All the impurities and stagnant substances caused by severe injuries, the residual foreign energy, and even the toxicity and hidden injuries accumulated in his body over many years of cultivation... all the impure and harmful substances were forcibly stripped away, vaporized, and annihilated under the burning of the Origin Flame!
This process is tantamount to being torn to pieces, to being slowly sliced to death!
The Great Heavenly Venerate Venerable's body convulsed violently, his skin bulging and collapsing repeatedly, as if countless insects were crawling and gnawing inside him.
His screams were beyond Human Form, filled with extreme pain.
At the same time, another Origin Flame entangled with Hun Yan's soul.
This was an even more cruel torment for him! The burning on the soul level was far clearer and deeper into his bones than the physical pain!
The flames did not directly destroy his soul, but rather, like a precise scalpel, began to trim the structure of his soul.
Those personal memories, emotions, loyalty to the Hun Clan, resentment towards Lin Ming... all the imprints of consciousness closely related to the individual Hun Yan were gradually stripped away and erased under the scorching of the Origin Flame!
"No! My memories! My... who am I?!"
Hun Yan let out a chaotic and painful howl, feeling his self being forcibly dismantled and dissipated. The feeling of being stripped of his senses was more terrifying than the complete annihilation of his body and soul!
What Lin Ming wanted to preserve was his combat experience, his understanding of Space Power, his mastery of various advanced Dou Technique, and the fierce fighting instincts honed through countless battles.
These are the valuable assets that constitute the core of a powerful Puppet's combat command.
As for his personal will and his sense of belonging to the Hun Clan? Those are redundant information and unstable factors that must be eliminated.
This was an extremely meticulous and brutal process. Under Lin Ming's absolutely precise control, the World Origin Fire, like the most ruthless craftsman, meticulously sculpted these two materials.
The screams gradually faded away, eventually fading into silence.
An unprecedented super combat Puppet, capable of unleashing Dou Sheng -level Dou Technique, is about to be born in his hands!
The Great Heavenly Venerate's physical body, through painful tempering, had all impurities removed. Although its size had shrunk, it had become more refined and pure. Its bones exhibited a jade-like luster, and its muscle fibers were as tight as dragon tendons, faintly radiating a powerful sense of strength. A perfect Puppet shell of the Two-Star Dou Saint level was taking shape.
Hun Yan's soul gradually became "blank" amidst his wails. The consciousness belonging to "Hun Yan Hall of Souls Vice Hall Master the Hun Yan Hall" faded more and more, eventually dissipating completely. What remained was a pure and powerful "soul core" that only retained combat-related memories and instincts. It still possessed the Soul Essence of Late Stage Three-Star Dou Saint, but it had become a masterless soul, waiting to be infused with a new body and transformed into a killing weapon that only obeyed Lin Ming.
Lin Ming coldly "stared" at the completed body and soul core, as well as the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Magic Core floating to the side, surging with energy.
Next, it was time to perfectly fuse these three elements into one using the Ancient Human Puppet Secret Art.