As Xia Xi made more and more of those Mechanism Technique toys,
and the number of [Yoriichi Modified] series puppets he produced and dismantled continued to grow,
his proficiency in [Puppet Mechanism Technique] naturally rose along with it.
Finally,
this Life Skill reached LV.3.
After it reached level 3, the most obvious change was a substantial, visible increase in both production speed and quality.
The Combat Puppets he made now mostly maintained stable energy levels between 200 and 300.
Production time could also be kept to around half a month.
And if he adopted the more time-consuming, more meticulous [Perfect Development] approach,
a puppet's peak energy level could even reach an astonishing 450.
This meant that Xia Xi's technical expertise with this model of Combat Puppet...
was already no worse than that of the legendary master of mechanisms back then.
Of course, using this development approach meant making a single puppet took several times longer than normal production.
Xia Xi tried it only once before he stopped using it.
After all, it really was not very cost-effective. It took too much work.
In his view, that was something he would only consider after reaching level 4 or 5, at the very least.
By this point, the "Yoriichi" series of puppets had already reached its sixth generation.
In a sense, they differed considerably from the prototype he had copied in the Swordsmith Village.
Besides transforming to fit inside a wooden box for carrying around and changing the number of their arms,
at level 3, they also unlocked a new [Combination] function.
Basically... a Combat Puppet could cobble together parts from nearby general-purpose puppets.
By running in overload, it could temporarily strengthen itself.
In a sense, it abandoned a humanoid structure in pursuit of strength and extreme endurance.
Xia Xi, their creator,