Qi Refining Ninth Layer, Second-Tier Puppet

Qin Fei spent the last two years in seclusion.

He only finished his cultivation three months ago and came to the Luoping Mountain Range, where Demon Beast gathered.

The results of the retreat were very gratifying; it was truly a double celebration.

His daily practice allowed him to make further progress, successfully breaking through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, just one step away from Foundation Establishment!

After the breakthrough, his Spiritual Power surged, and the accumulated power of the Everlasting Spring Art Technique was fully revealed.

Compared to other cultivators of the same realm, Qin Fei's Spiritual Power is about 50% greater.

The growth in his spiritual power was even more gratifying; he discovered that his Divine Sense could cover an area of about one mile in radius.

This greatly shocked Qin Fei. Normally, Qi Refining Realm, due to insufficient spiritual strength, the Divine Sense cannot stray too far from the body.

Generally speaking, it can only cover a distance of about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Within a radius of one mile, this is almost comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In this way, the function of Divine Sense is multiplied, and it has endless uses, whether for scouting enemy positions or escaping danger.

The second piece of good news was that he finally succeeded in refining the Puppet Core he had been studying for so long.

In total, including material losses, it cost nearly 20,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

If Qin Fei been so wealthy, even an ordinary Rogue Cultivator who knew how to refine Spirit Stone would have been crushed by them.

The second-tier puppet has now been successfully crafted; only the final step remains before it can be used.

This is also why Qin Fei came to the Luoping Mountain Range.

The biggest difference between a second-tier puppet and a first-tier puppet is that the second-tier puppet can be driven autonomously.

This is mainly reflected in two aspects.

One is the Puppet Core, which can automatically absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Qin Fei has now successfully refined it.

Secondly, second-tier puppets now possess the concepts of soul and spirit.

The soul is the vessel, and the spirit is the consciousness.

If a cultivator wants to successfully control a second-tier puppet, he must first use the Soul Drawing Technique.

Extract the soul from a creature that has recently died.

Then, use the Soul Condensation Technique to condense multiple souls together, forming an even more powerful vessel.

Finally, the Soul Refining Technique was used to modify this vessel, allowing it to be perfectly integrated into the puppet.

The ball of light that Qin Fei just merged with was the soul he extracted from the Yin Wind Wolf pack.

After Soul Drawing Technique and Soul Condensation Technique, the strength of this soul is now sufficient for its use.

All that's needed is to use the Soul Refining Technique to fuse it with the puppet, and the task will be complete.

A fine layer of sweat appeared on Qin Fei's forehead. This was the first time he had ever modified a soul. This thing was extremely fragile, and if there was even the slightest mistake, the soul would be completely destroyed.

With a wave of his hand, a shimmering puppet landed on the ground.

Embedded in the puppet's chest is a sphere emitting a blue light, which is its Puppet Core.

Qin Fei took out a jade bottle, made a hand Method Formula, and a gentle stream of Spiritual Power flew out from his fingertips.

The Spiritual Power slowly enveloped the jade bottle, carefully drawing out the soul stored within.

With his other hand, he changed his Method Formula, his Spiritual Power enveloping the soul and slowly attaching it to the Puppet Core.

The puppet convulsed, seemingly on the verge of spiraling out of control.

Qin Fei's eyes narrowed, and he flicked out more than ten beams of white light with two fingers, finally stabilizing it again.

Then, the puppet flew into the air and hovered in front of Qin Fei.

He bit his tongue hard, spitting a mouthful of Essence Blood onto the puppet, then brought his two fingers together to increase the output of his Spiritual Power.

The puppet shone brightly and began to spin rapidly in the air.

The cave was dimly lit, and a terrifying aura gradually formed.

Half a month later, the strange phenomenon disappeared, and the cave finally returned to peace.

Looking at Qin Fei again, his Spiritual Power was almost completely depleted, and even his skin had become somewhat shriveled.

However, his face betrayed his excitement.

"To imbue an inanimate object with a living soul, thus creating new life—these soul techniques are truly miraculous."

The Soul Drawing Technique, Soul Condensation Technique, and Soul Refining Technique are all recorded in the last few pages of the "Divine Soul Sensing Chapter," used as accessories for second-tier puppets.

It's worth mentioning that during his previous conversation with Wei Zhao, he discovered that the latter was using a different kind of soul technique.

It's unclear which is stronger or weaker.

Regaining his composure, Qin Fei stopped thinking about it.

The puppet's soul vessel is now complete; all that is needed is to attach one's own divine sense to it to activate it.

With Qin Fei's current mastery of the Divine Soul Sensing Chapter, he can only barely separate a wisp of divine thought; any more would likely damage his divine soul.

However, even a wisp of divine thought was enough. He only needed to use this divine thought to control this second-tier Battle Puppet, while continuing to use his Divine Sense to drive the others.

The difference between the two is that, with the control of divine will, the puppet no longer needs to be inseparable from its master and can go out to carry out missions on its own.

Everything seen and heard will be transmitted into the master's mind through divine thought, just like experiencing it personally.

For some simple tasks, instructions can be given directly.

For example, when looking after a spiritual field, the puppet will automatically fetch water and irrigate it. No matter what happens, as long as the puppet is still there, it will carry out the task without hesitation.

However, controlling it directly through Divine Sense is limited by the range covered by that Divine Sense.

Once the range is exceeded, or if the caster is busy with other things and unable to control it, the puppet will stop moving.

The difference in strength is immediately apparent.

Qin Fei took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind.

To separate one's divine sense involves a secret technique called the Spirit Splitting Technique.

This technique is recorded on the last page of the "Divine Soul Sensing Chapter," and it causes immense pain when performed.

After casting the spell, one's soul will become extremely weak and will need a long period of nurturing to recover.

Qin Fei was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages, but he still decisively used the Spirit Splitting Technique.

It concerns the Foundation Establishment Pill, and he is determined to obtain it.

As the secret technique progressed, the soul within the sea of consciousness began to split.

A searing pain shot straight to his brain, and Qin Fei's vision went black; he almost fainted from the pain.

However, he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

After enduring for half an hour, a wisp of grayish-white light emerged from between his eyebrows.

His expression relaxed, his robes already soaked with cold sweat.

Qin Fei disregarded all of this and controlled the ball of light to merge into the Puppet Core.

The puppet suddenly twisted and slowly stood up from the ground.

Qin Fei's consciousness was already very weak. He gave an order to protect himself and then fell into a coma.

"Tick-tock..."

"Tick-tock..."

A recent rain has left a shallow puddle at the cave entrance.

Qin Fei's eyelids twitched slightly, and then he slowly opened his eyes.

His head felt heavy, like paste, and he couldn't concentrate.

He rubbed his temples, which helped ease the discomfort somewhat.

"The side effects of the Spirit Splitting Technique are so severe; it's best to use it sparingly in the future. I don't even know how many days I was unconscious."

The pain of his soul being torn apart is still vivid in his memory.

The feeling was indescribable; it sent shivers down your spine.

Qin Fei shook his head, looked at the figure standing at the cave entrance, and finally revealed a smile.

With the second-tier puppet complete, everything from before seemed insignificant.

"Since you are entirely black and possess a body of steel, from now on I shall call you Iron Guard."

With a thought, the figure at the cave entrance slowly turned around, revealing an aura of Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

Qin Fei, feeling playful, controlled the puppet to come to his side and respectfully bowed.

"I am Iron Guard, greetings to Fellow Daoist Qin."