Heaven Beyond, Xiao Tian Ce's residence.
Heavenly Demon Puppets were divided into three grades, ranked from lowest to highest as Human, Earth, and Heaven. The most direct way to distinguish the Heaven, Earth, and Human Tiers was to look at their skin color: gold for Heaven, silver for Earth, and bronze for Human.
The differences between these three tiers depended on the materials and the flame used in their refinement.
What Xiao Tian Ce intended to refine was a Heavenly Demon Puppet of the highest grade. Once completed, it would possess boundless power, knowing neither joy nor sorrow, neither pain nor injury-a true instrument of slaughter.
In the original story, Xiao Yan had refined two Heavenly Demon Puppets. One was made at Jia Nan Academy using Earth Demon Old Ghost's body and Iron Protector's soul.
The other was a Dou Sheng-level Heavenly Demon Puppet refined after the unification of the Ancient Void Dragons, using North Dragon King's body and soul fused with the bodies of the West and South Dragon Kings. It possessed intelligence and all of North Dragon King's former combat experience, with strength comparable to a Six-Star Dou Sheng.
He had also obtained ten puppets in a Dou Sheng's cave abode, all of which evolved into Heavenly Demon Puppets by absorbing the power of lightning.
Now, however, every material Xiao Tian Ce used was of the finest quality, and his Heavenly Flame was a supreme flame like the golden emperor burning heaven flame. It was fair to say that Xiao Yan's Heavenly Demon Puppet, which had been upgraded little by little, could not compare at all.
To preserve as much of Huang Jiuji's bodily strength as possible, Xiao Tian Ce first reinforced his body with medicinal ingredients, then strengthened it with a top-grade special metal, adding an indestructible metallic layer to its surface.
Next, he continuously scorched it with the golden emperor burning heaven flame. Only after the metal and body had completely fused did he incorporate the magic core of a specially selected ninth-rank magical beast.
Once everything was ready, Xiao Tian Ce separated a wisp of his own soul and instantly cast it inside, continuing to burn it with the golden emperor burning heaven flame.
By the time the soul and body had completely fused, the Heavenly Demon Puppet had turned a brilliant gold from head to toe. Judging by the aura it emitted, it had actually reached the late-stage eight-star Dou Sheng level, slightly higher than he had anticipated.
At that point, his face pale, Xiao Tian Ce stopped the Heavenly Flame's scorching.
"Whew!"
After forcefully exhaling a breath of stale air, Xiao Tian Ce dropped straight to the ground.
A full half month had passed since he began refining the Heavenly Demon Puppet.
Throughout that half month, he had supplied Dou Qi and spiritual strength without interruption. Compared with Xiao Yan's relatively easy refinement in the original story, his expenditure of energy and time had increased considerably.
Since the soul he had used was his own, looking at the Heavenly Demon Puppet before him felt like looking at himself. It was a rather strange sensation.
After briefly resting and recovering, Xiao Tian Ce led the Heavenly Demon Puppet out of the secluded chamber.
"Third Uncle!"
Xiao Qing had stood guard here for almost the entire half month. The moment she saw Xiao Tian Ce, she hurried forward.
Suddenly, before Xiao Tian Ce could reply, Xiao Qing's pupils contracted, and she stared fixedly behind him.
After all, Xiao Qing's cultivation had already reached the peak of Seven-Star Dou Saint. If even she found it daunting, that showed just how powerful the Heavenly Demon Puppet behind Xiao Tian Ce was.
"No need to be nervous. This is the Heavenly Demon Puppet made from Senior Huang's body. Would you like to test it?" Seeing Xiao Qing poised as though facing a formidable enemy, Xiao Tian Ce quickly spoke with a faint smile.
As he spoke, Xiao Tian Ce stepped aside, bringing the Heavenly Demon Puppet's entire appearance into Xiao Qing's view.
After looking it up and down, Xiao Qing could not help drawing a sharp breath. She sighed. "So this is a Heavenly Demon Puppet? No wonder you insisted on making a Heavenly Demon Puppet rather than a beast puppet, Third Uncle!"
"Hahaha, Qing'er, come test this Heavenly Demon Puppet's strength!" Xiao Tian Ce said with a hearty laugh.
"All right, I'll give it a try!"
Once Xiao Qing agreed, Xiao Tian Ce had her and the Heavenly Demon Puppet move to an open area. Then both Xiao Qing and the Heavenly Demon Puppet rose into the air.
Facing a Heavenly Demon Puppet whose strength had reached the late-stage eight-star Dou Sheng level, Xiao Qing did not dare let her guard down in the slightest.
Dou Qi surged rapidly around Xiao Qing as she activated her cultivation method and Dou Technique, calling out in a low voice, "Heaven Tier Dou Technique-Ten Thousand Swords Floating in the Air!"
As her words fell, longswords suddenly appeared around Xiao Qing. Within moments, they numbered in the thousands upon thousands, each sword carrying enough power that even an ordinary Dou Sheng would struggle to withstand it.
Opposite her, the Heavenly Demon Puppet remained motionless, watching Xiao Qing quietly.
Suddenly, Xiao Qing thrust both palms forward with force. All the floating longswords shot toward the Heavenly Demon Puppet, reaching it in the blink of an eye.
Clang, clang, clang!
A series of metallic clangs rang out as those sharp, terrifying longswords struck the Heavenly Demon Puppet.
Unfortunately, although Xiao Qing had yet to use her full strength, the power carried by those longswords still failed to breach even the slightest bit of the Heavenly Demon Puppet's defenses.
After the attack, the Heavenly Demon Puppet remained entirely unchanged.
Below, Xiao Tian Ce laughed heartily, then called loudly to Xiao Qing, "Qing'er, that was merely a simple defensive test. Next comes the attack!"
"Bring it on, Third Uncle!"
Unwilling to concede, Xiao Qing immediately took a defensive stance.
In a flash, the Heavenly Demon Puppet flickered out of sight, then silently appeared before Xiao Qing and threw an utterly unremarkable punch.
Boom!
The punch looked ordinary, but to Xiao Qing, its power was no less than that of a High-grade Earth-tier Dou Technique.
Clang!
As the sound of fist striking arm rang out, Xiao Qing was sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut. She was driven back several thousand meters before barely managing to steady herself.
So strong. A single, simple strike could beat anyone below Dou Sheng to death. And judging by the force it used, it was holding back considerably. Otherwise, that punch would have sent me flying at least tens of thousands of meters away, Xiao Qing thought, her expression grave.
Below the Heavenly Demon Puppet, Xiao Tian Ce was also assessing its true combat strength. Although its aura had reached the late-stage eight-star Dou Sheng level, it could not yet use Dou Techniques. Still, its intelligence and the combat experience left behind by Senior Huang Jiuji alone were enough to fight an Early Eight-Star Dou Saint without losing.
If its only task was to hold an opponent back, then this Heavenly Demon Puppet was strong enough to keep a late-stage eight-star Dou Sheng firmly occupied.
At that thought, Xiao Tian Ce was already very satisfied. With a mental command, he had the Heavenly Demon Puppet slowly descend beside him. He then took a pure white mask from his Spatial Storage Ring and placed it over the puppet's face.
"Whew!"
Xiao Qing returned as well and said respectfully, "Third Uncle, this Heavenly Demon Puppet is far too strong! I feel that if I fought it head-on, I would definitely be the one to lose!"
"This is a Heavenly Demon Puppet of the highest grade. Once refined, it possesses boundless power, knowing neither joy nor sorrow, neither pain nor injury. It is a true instrument of slaughter. Moreover, you can run short of Dou Qi, but it cannot, unless you destroy the core inside its body.
"But destroying its core is something even an ordinary Early-Stage Nine-Star Dou Sheng might not manage, let alone you," Xiao Tian Ce explained with a smile.
"Amazing. If you'd had a Heavenly Demon Puppet like this back then, Third Uncle, that bastard Hun Tiandi probably couldn't have severely wounded you with a sneak attack, could he?" Xiao Qing said with a sigh.
"Hehe, there's no rush. We'll take it slowly. Sooner or later, the time will come to settle accounts with Hun Tiandi."
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