When Li Chen left the shop, his meager wealth had shrunk by more than half. In its place were a dozen or so small Floating Balls and a great heap of spirit materials related to mastering magnetic force.
Yet he was not the least bit worried. Instead, he visited other places, spending an entire morning and well over three thousand Talisman Coins procuring additional supplies.
For some time now, he had wanted to stock up on spirit materials and assorted components for making low-tier puppets. Only after spending all the money from his last tiger hunt, leaving nothing in his purse but his emergency savings, did he return contentedly to the inn and begin working in the storeroom he had rented.
This time, he intended to upgrade his Flying Discs to an entirely new generation, abandoning their mechanical rotor structure altogether!
The proper path for such wondrous devices ultimately lay in the supernatural powers native to this world. Its materials were far more varied than those of Past-Life Earth, and its civilization was much more advanced as well.
Still, Earth's technology was not without merit. The new Flying Disc, shaped and cast with magical power, used iron essence for its framework and light steel for its shell, incorporating several ideas and designs Li Chen had brought from his previous life.
The new Flying Disc measured a little over three inches across and slightly more than an inch and a half high. It had a disc-shaped body that bulged in the middle and felt almost weightless in his palm.
Inside, Li Chen had already sealed his carefully crafted Flying Disc core within a specially made Sealed Box. A spherical housing tightly enclosed the small Type-D Floating Ball he had bought earlier, securing it at the central point of balance.
The surface of the spherical housing and the interconnected framework were all micro-engraved with Dao-pattern restrictions and filled with spirit mercury to conduct magical power.
Spirit mercury was a peculiar spirit material similar to mercury on Past-Life Earth, but imbued with Spiritual Essence properties that allowed it to conduct magical power, vital energy, and lightning Gang power. Among Yan Shi's Creation-Promotion Secret Art techniques was a secret art called Fill with Mercury as Blood, and this was the mercury used to fill the puppets.
It also went by another name, puppet blood, and was widely used in all sorts of Mechanism Puppets.
With this substance, the pathways for the restrictions were complete. During flight, he only needed to control the contact switches on the spherical housing with his spiritual sense to move freely through a full three hundred and sixty degrees, without a single blind spot.
For Li Chen, all this was merely assembling and modifying ready-made parts, so he finished in no time.
Li Chen tried releasing the Flying Disc and controlling it with his spiritual sense and magical power. Sure enough, it drifted nimbly up and down. Whether rising, descending, or darting left and right, it was far more agile than its previous rotor-driven version.
"Just as I thought, magnetic force is a higher-order power than rotor propulsion!"
"But the real key is still the Control Chip I made using ideas from my previous life. Its rune-script algorithms help adjust the direction and strength of propulsion, letting me control several Flying Discs at once with only a small amount of spiritual sense!"
"Ordinary people struggle to divide their attention and control several Mechanism Puppets like these at the same time. But I can control more than a dozen at once without sacrificing precision!"
In both materials and craftsmanship, the Mechanism Puppets Li Chen currently made were merely above average. After all, as a Wilderness Rogue Cultivator, he had no advantage over the geniuses of this age.
Yet the ideas and inspiration he had brought from Past-Life Earth had utterly transformed their underlying nature. Combined with his unique Control Chips, they drastically reduced the difficulty of controlling them.
This was the ace he kept at the bottom of his chest, his true exclusive secret art. What he had given the Creation Sect in exchange for the Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting secret art was merely a localized derivative.
After confirming that everything worked properly, Li Chen took the opportunity to adjust the weight distribution while installing Needle Launchers and other concealed mechanical weapons, assembling several more new-model Flying Discs in one go.
For now, however, he finished assembling only the two Reconnaissance Flying Discs equipped with Eye Crystals before turning his attention to the magnetic ore and floating gold he had purchased.
Magnetic ore was a yellowish-brown metallic mineral, like gold hidden in earth, while floating gold was the dark-gold substance refined from it.
Probing it with spiritual sense revealed that the force field around it was naturally undergoing slight distortions.
This was the magnetic force inherent in the mineral at work.
A Puppet Master had once conducted an experiment and found that, after its magnetic force was completely eliminated, floating gold was actually heavier than gold. Under the influence of that wondrous power, however, it could float even when placed in water.
The quality of both the mineral and the metal refined from it was also easy to assess. A rough calculation of their specific gravity based on volume and buoyancy would suffice. The lower the specific gravity, the purer the substance within.
Li Chen had heard that the very finest magnetic ore could yield naturally occurring floating gold.
Floating gold of that quality could float even in air. It could only be found on the vaulted ceilings of underground caverns, at the boundary walls of the heavens, or in similar places!
The magical power of this world's cultivators is a special power born from the union of mental strength and life essence. It normally resides in the Divine Sea and can resonate with heaven and earth, change its properties, and accord with the truth of the Dao.
Whether Sword Cultivators, Spellcasters, Martial Artists, or demons, the various Dao Paths all fundamentally use this kind of power to manipulate Heaven and Earth Vital Energy and unleash divine abilities, spells, and innate powers.
The most common cultivation method is to draw energy into the body, tempering oneself with various forms of Heaven and Earth Vital Energy and Sun and Moon Essence.
Through this, cultivators combine the common currents of Five Elements Vital Energy in the outside world with their own Spiritual Roots to cultivate magical power with corresponding properties.
The Puppeteer Dao Path also makes use of this principle, achieving quantitative and qualitative changes in magical power by continually refining spirit materials and crafting puppets.
Quantitative change is easy enough to understand. Consuming and replenishing magical power continually stimulates the Divine Sea to expand and the Spiritual Root to grow stronger.
Qualitative change, however, involves the most wondrous transformations of the great Dao of heaven and earth: resonance between heaven and humanity, magical power following the heart, and the exchange and merging of one's inner microcosm with the greater cosmos of heaven and earth.
My magical power originally had no Magnetic Origin properties whatsoever. But if I ritually refine this substance, continually following its changes and comprehending their principles, I will eventually be able to cultivate them.
Then I will be able to imbue floating gold with greater magnetic force and create Magnetism Components such as Floating Balls.
The cultivation methods of the Puppeteer Dao Path were clear and straightforward, but they were strongly influenced by an individual's aptitude, talent, and comprehension. Diligence also played a significant role.
Li Chen considered his aptitude above average, but compared with those true geniuses, it was hardly worth mentioning. He could only choose to make up for his shortcomings through diligence, investing more time and effort to achieve the advancement he should.
He did not know how much time and energy he would have to expend. Racing against every minute and second, he began the ritual refinement, carefully sensing every slightest change that occurred throughout the process.
Through it, he was probing the mysteries of the magnetic force born from nature's creative workings.
Amid those subtle shifts, the properties of his magical power were gradually changing as well.