Chapter Summaries

Li Chen tracked down a street thug wearing Wu Ding’s feather robe and secretly followed him to a martial arts school. There, he learned that the men had captured a Spellcaster practicing the Outer Dao and planned to take him to Master Lu.

• Li Chen confirmed the feather robe belonged to Wu Ding by recognizing the blade cut in its hem.
• Li Chen disguised himself, concealed his body, and followed the robe’s wearer and two lackeys to a martial arts school.
• Li Chen entered the courtyard unseen and listened as the men finished training.
• Brother Hei’s lackey revealed that the robe had been taken from a captured Spellcaster they called a meat pig.
• Brother Hei said Master Lu had ordered them to find a suitable candidate and had rewarded him with the enchanted robe after he helped capture the Spellcaster.

Li Chen overheard Earthly Sha Sect thugs discussing Wu Ding’s capture and learned that Wu Ding was being held at the Black Market. He followed Brother Hei there and infiltrated the guarded compound by disguising himself as a Mechanism Puppet.

• Li Chen suspected that the Earthly Sha Sect had acted on a standing order from a buyer seeking human materials, though he could not confirm the details.
• Brother Hei’s underlings revealed that Wu Ding was imprisoned at the market, and Brother Hei promised to punish him for killing their men.
• Li Chen decided to scout the market himself and followed Brother Hei and two lackeys after they left for guard duty.
• Li Chen traced them through a disguised shop into the heavily guarded Black Market compound and noticed its sentries and Mechanism Automatons.
• Li Chen stopped his blood from flowing, imitated a Mechanism Puppet, and slipped past the automatons behind Brother Hei.

Li Chen infiltrated an underground Human Market and discovered that Wu Ding had been captured and tortured. The chapter left Wu Ding barely alive in an iron cage while Li Chen watched from nearby.

• Li Chen entered the Black Market and evaded the unusually powerful divine sense of a Qi Refining guard.
• Li Chen followed Brother Hei and his companions underground, where he found a dungeon holding people for sale.
• Li Chen overheard the guards discuss a captive reserved by Master Artisan Luo for experiments in refining human puppets.
• Li Chen searched the dungeon’s cells and found Wu Ding suspended in an iron cage, tortured and barely alive.

Li Chen waited for a chance to rescue Wu Ding and watched as Young Master Gu and Miss Bai collected him for Master Artisan Luo. He followed their Mechanism Beast out of Merchant Street, keeping close to Wu Ding’s new captors.

• Li Chen decided to wait until Master Artisan Luo's subordinates transported Wu Ding, since he believed he could handle Qi Refining cultivators but not a Foundation Establishment master.
• Chief Steward Xin brought Young Master Gu and Miss Bai to inspect the injured Wu Ding, and an attendant gave him a Blood Essence Pill.
• Miss Bai confirmed receipt of Wu Ding, while Chief Steward Xin asked them to bring an acceptance certificate to settle payment later.
• Miss Bai loaded Wu Ding into an oversized Warg Mechanism Beast, and Young Master Gu and Miss Bai left Merchant Street with him.
• Li Chen followed the attendants out of the market, staying close behind Wu Ding's captors.

Li Chen followed Young Master Gu and Miss Bai out of Suyang City, then ambushed them on a deserted stretch of the Imperial Road. He killed Young Master Gu with his puppets, while Miss Bai remained alive nearby.

• Li Chen secretly followed Young Master Gu and Miss Bai from Suyang City into the wilderness.
• More than three hundred li from the city, steel needles burst from the roadside bushes and struck Miss Bai.
• Young Master Gu summoned his Mantis Spider Battle Puppet as Li Chen's puppets and Flying Discs trapped him on the road.
• Li Chen's Flying Claw seized Young Master Gu and lifted him into the air, where Flying Discs peppered him with needles.
• Li Chen pinned Young Master Gu's arms with two more Flying Claws and snapped his neck before dropping his body to the ground.

Li Chen killed Young Master Gu and pursued Miss Bai, only to discover that she had feigned weakness and possessed a three-star human puppet. Their battle turned into an aerial contest, and Li Chen narrowly avoided crashing into the Imperial Road after Miss Bai’s strange maneuver.

• Li Chen killed Young Master Gu, while Miss Bai fled on her Warg.
• Li Chen attacked Miss Bai, but a human puppet intercepted him, and he realized she had been pretending to be wounded.
• Li Chen identified the puppet as a three-star human puppet and threatened Master Artisan Luo and his disciples.
• Li Chen used the Water Spider to fight from the air, but the puppet’s movements and Miss Bai’s control disrupted his attack.
• Li Chen dove toward Miss Bai, plunged toward the Imperial Road, and used his magic power and Zhao Ke’s nerve graft to pull up and leap from the Water Spider.

Li Chen fought Miss Bai, whose illusion and Human Puppet initially threatened him, but he exposed her true position and killed her. Her Human Puppet then went berserk, and a voice from it demanded to know why Li Chen had killed its speaker’s disciple.

• Miss Bai recognized that Li Chen had undergone the Draw Silk, Rejoin Meridians modification, while Li Chen identified her illusion as a means of concealing herself.
• The Human Puppet attacked Li Chen as the Water Spider and Flying Claws targeted Miss Bai, whose illusion concealed her real position.
• Li Chen used the attacks to reveal Miss Bai and wounded her with the Water Spider and a Flying Claw.
• Li Chen evaded the Human Puppet and killed Miss Bai by piercing her heart, despite her warning that her master would seek revenge.
• The Human Puppet went berserk and pursued Li Chen until a weathered voice from its mouth asked who he was and why he had killed its disciple.

Li Chen realized Master Artisan Luo was remotely controlling the Human Puppet through Sentient Intelligence and assessed the limits of that control. After recognizing the puppet’s restrictions and remembering that it had killed his disciple, Li Chen faced Luo’s threat of death.

• Li Chen recognized that the puppet’s voice came from a remote operator and reasoned that Miss Bai’s earlier magic fluctuations might have carried a warning.
• Li Chen recalled how Puppet Masters used Capture Shadows, Refine Souls and Awaken Spirituality to create Sentient Intelligence, and considered how simple commands could cross Spiritual Essence interference.
• Li Chen concluded that Master Artisan Luo’s remote enhancement of the Human Puppet was limited and decided the puppet was not worth taking because of its backdoor restrictions.
• Li Chen accused Master Artisan Luo of killing his disciple and trying to profit from it.
• Master Artisan Luo threatened Li Chen through the Human Puppet, declaring that his life was forfeit.

Li Chen fought a powerful Three-Star Human Puppet with the help of his Water Spider and the arriving Puppets, but struggled to damage it. Under the pressure of the battle, his Qi Refining bottleneck began to loosen, leaving him on the verge of a breakthrough.

• The Human Puppet struck at Li Chen with a supersonic dive, but he evaded it and retreated into the mountain woods.
• Li Chen used flying steel needles and the Water Spider’s broken legs to trip the Human Puppet, though the collision also sent him crashing into a tree.
• Five Puppets arrived from the nearby battlefield, but the Human Puppet quickly broke and wounded several of them.
• Li Chen reconsidered whether to fight or flee as he assessed the Three-Star Puppet’s superior power and resilience.
• Li Chen felt his Primordial Energy surge and sensed his Qi Refining bottleneck begin to loosen under the pressure of the battle.

Li Chen broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm in the middle of the battle against Master Artisan Luo’s Human Puppet. He rejoined the fight just as the Human Puppet attacked his last standing puppet.

• Li Chen focused on his cultivation as his true essence transformed into spirit liquid and his body absorbed heaven and earth vital energy.
• Master Artisan Luo’s Human Puppet destroyed several of Li Chen’s puppets while the battle continued around him.
• Li Chen’s cultivation surged more than tenfold, and he officially achieved Foundation Establishment.
• Li Chen reopened his eyes and used the Silk-Threading Art to control the Keen Warrior, which blocked the Human Puppet’s strike and counterattacked.

Li Chen used his Foundation Establishment strength and String-Puppet Theater to overwhelm Master Artisan Luo’s Three-Star Battle Puppet. After surviving its Golden Wind Wave, Li Chen destroyed the puppet’s power supply and pierced its core, leaving Master Artisan Luo’s fate unresolved.

• Li Chen revealed that he had been hiding his Foundation Establishment cultivation and commanded the Keen Warrior Puppet to attack Master Artisan Luo’s Three-Star Battle Puppet.
• Li Chen used String-Puppet Theater to strengthen and precisely control the Keen Warrior Puppet, forcing the Three-Star Battle Puppet to retreat and suffer deep wounds.
• Master Artisan Luo tried to flee, but the Keen Warrior Puppet chased him through the forest and caught up.
• Master Artisan Luo’s Human Puppet unleashed Golden Wind Wave, devastating several wrecked puppets and severely damaging the Keen Warrior Puppet.
• Li Chen guided the Keen Warrior Puppet through most of the blades and struck the Human Puppet’s waist and abdomen, damaging its Furnace.
• The Keen Warrior Puppet battered the Human Puppet with Twenty Forms of Mortal Swordsmanship until its core was pierced and it collapsed motionless.

Li Chen rescued Wu Ding after defeating the Earthly Sha Sect’s forces and successfully reaching Foundation Establishment. He reunited with He Ran and returned to Suyang City, where Wu Ding explained how he had been captured and admitted that he had lost all his savings.

• Li Chen inspected the defeated Three-Star Battle Puppet, returned to the road, and rescued Wu Ding from the Warg.
• Wu Ding regained consciousness, ate and drank, and told Li Chen he had been held captive for seven days and nights.
• Li Chen hid the bodies and equipment, then reunited with He Ran by the Miao River at dawn.
• Li Chen disguised himself, and the three entered Suyang City and discussed his rescue of Wu Ding and his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.
• Wu Ding explained that the Earthly Sha Sect had captured him after he confronted two of their men, and he vowed revenge while admitting he had no money left.

Li Chen learned that Yunshan Valley was a lower-grade blessed land controlled by Master Artisan Luo and considered securing a spirit valley of his own. After settling in the city, he prepared to repair and upgrade his puppets, beginning with an attempt to make chips by hand.

• He Ran explained that Yunshan Valley was a lower-grade blessed land occupied by the Foundation Establishment cultivator Master Artisan Luo.
• Li Chen considered claiming a blessed land as a foothold, while He Ran warned that Luo had deep foundations and powerful connections.
• Wu Ding encouraged Li Chen to grow strong enough to challenge Luo, and Li Chen said he planned to visit Yunshan Valley after secluded cultivation.
• Li Chen, He Ran, and Wu Ding rented rooms at an inn and a warehouse where Li Chen could work on his puppets.
• Li Chen took out conductive stones and set out to make chips by hand for a Mechanical Intelligence Core and worker bee system.

Li Chen practiced micro-engraving until he could inscribe nanometer-scale runes, then used that skill to manufacture a Puppet Core for his Worker Bee System. After testing the core in the Keen Warrior, he confirmed that he had mastered the crucial techniques for making Puppet Cores.

• Li Chen attempted to engrave a conductive stone with his Divine Sense but made a groove that was too thick, then resolved to keep practicing.
• Li Chen repaired two Armored Warrior Puppets by stripping parts from the Sickle Demons and dismantling the Wooden Soldier, then largely repaired the Keen Warrior using market components.
• Li Chen spent nearly half a month practicing micro-engraving and, on the second day of the eighth month, consistently inscribed rune script one nanometer across.
• Li Chen spent three days and nights manufacturing a fist-sized Puppet Core and loading it with the Worker Bee System.
• Li Chen installed the core in the Keen Warrior and tested its commands, confirming that the system ran smoothly and that he had mastered Puppet Core manufacturing.

Li Chen completed a rudimentary Mechanical Intelligence Core and took his first step toward becoming a Master Artisan. With He Ran's loan, he bought materials and Armored Warrior Puppet chassis to build the foundation for a Puppet Legion.

• Li Chen finished drafting a low-level Mechanical Intelligence Core that combined a new mechanical architecture with remnants of Sentient Intelligence.
• He Ran and Wu Ding joined Li Chen for a celebratory meal, where he told them he could now try refining Puppets on his own.
• Li Chen explained that he would use his travel funds for resources, and He Ran lent him fifty thousand Talisman Coins; Wu Ding hesitated after mentioning his losses to beasts.
• Li Chen used the two hundred thousand Talisman Coins available to buy materials, especially Armored Warrior Puppet chassis, Furnaces, and Spirit Pumps.
• Li Chen chose Armored Warrior Puppets as the basis of his future fighting force, planning to apply his Mechanical Intelligence Core and Swarm of Bees Technique to build a Puppet Legion.

Li Chen completed the first Worker Bee Core and assembled ten Armored Warrior Puppets to strengthen his defenses. He then decided to use the Head-Swapping Technique to protect his fragile body by giving his head a mechanical body.

• Li Chen refined a Worker Bee Core in one day and named the first model Worker Bee One.
• Li Chen assessed the core's low production cost and its potential to establish a new school of Puppet Masters.
• Li Chen spent over half a month assembling ten Armored Warrior Puppets and installing the new cores.
• Li Chen considered how to protect his body and chose the Head-Swapping Technique from The Second of Mysterious Arts.
• Li Chen concluded that his Spirit-Infused Blood and reconnected nerves would make the procedure manageable, with Foundation Establishment cultivation sustaining his life afterward.

Li Chen used the Head-Swapping Technique to transfer his head onto a prepared Keen Warrior Puppet body, then began adapting his original body for future use. He left both bodies with modified connection interfaces and started programming the original one to maintain its vital functions.

• Li Chen severed his head from his body and used magic power and the Qi-Attracting Formula to sustain both parts.
• Li Chen healed the severed surfaces, grew new nerves, and attached his head to the prepared Keen Warrior Puppet body.
• Li Chen drank spirit-mercury nutrients and covered his vulnerable neck joint with a Painted Skin neck guard.
• He Ran and Wu Ding entered the warehouse, and Li Chen told them he might eventually try Head-Swapping for them.
• Li Chen fitted the Keen Warrior Puppet's mechanical head onto his original body and began programming it to control its blood and vital energy.

Li Chen preserved his original body by using a mechanical head and an intelligent program to keep its primordial energy circulating, while explaining the Puppet Masters’ safeguards and their costs. He stored the body in a Storage Ring and kept it in his throat, then inspected the damage Golden Wind Wave had caused to his arm.

• Li Chen explained to Wu Ding and He Ran that Puppet Masters preserved their original bodies as backups by replacing the brain with mechanical constructs and sustaining the body.
• Li Chen successfully used the Keen Warrior puppet’s head, a program, spirit blood conduits, and his spirit blood to maintain his original body’s primordial energy circulation.
• Li Chen and He Ran discussed Magic Power Circulation Pumps and how their expense made advanced methods difficult for ordinary Rogue Cultivators.
• Wu Ding suggested using Li Chen’s Corpse Concubines as substitute bodies, but Li Chen rejected the idea, and He Ran teased Wu Ding about swapping into a woman’s body.
• Li Chen placed his original body and the connected Keen Warrior head in a Storage Ring, swallowed it, and examined his still-damaged arm.

Li Chen lamented that he lacked the resources to strengthen himself as a Puppet Master, and he and He Ran discussed the costly paths of flesh puppetization and war puppets. Wu Ding offered Li Chen an extraordinary talisman treasure, leaving its potential as a weapon to be explored.

• Li Chen admitted he could not afford valuable beast hides or the costly enhancements he wanted for his Combat Puppet and his own body.
• He Ran explained that Puppet Masters grew stronger through flesh puppetization and Divine Ability Mechanism Devices, while Li Chen described war puppets and recalled the Lei Family's Thunder God Giant Elephant.
• Wu Ding argued that Li Chen needed a suitable Foundation Establishment weapon or treasure more than worldly wealth and offered him a secret treasure to use.
• Wu Ding drew a palm-sized, Dao Pattern-covered talisman from his ancestral aperture, startling Li Chen and He Ran with its overwhelming presence.
• Wu Ding identified the artifact as the Supreme Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Talisman of the Unified Primordial Breath, a talisman treasure left by a master Spellcaster from the Earthly Immortal Continent.
• Li Chen recognized the talisman as the kind of magic treasure mentioned in the Record of Strange Lands, often used by Outer Dao cultivators for protection and combat.

Li Chen examined the Supreme Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Talisman of Unified Primordial Qi and considered how talisman treasures related to Dao patterns, spells, and other cultivation systems. He recognized the talisman as a packaged method for invoking the Great Dao, similar to a Divine Ability Mechanism Device, and concluded that users only needed to understand how to operate it.

• Li Chen recalled the origins of Dao patterns and the development of talismanic spells from ancient scripts and natural imprints.
• He compared sage script, talisman treasures, External Elixirs, magic arrays, and Magical Treasures as different tools built from the same underlying principles.
• Li Chen accepted the lightning talisman and examined its pure Foundation Establishment spiritual essence and the divine ability principles within its blood ink.
• He compared talisman treasures to programming-language packages and explained that cultivators needed to know their interfaces and usage rather than how they were made.