Starting From A Son In Law To Build An Long Lasting Family Chapter 1971: 516:
Previously on Starting From A Son In Law To Build An Long Lasting Family...
Following the discussion on the Immortal City Secret Realm with Hong Lian and Ling Zixiao, Lu Changsheng reached Zhuyan's Puppet Hall.
The hall extended widely, cluttered with heaps of assorted puppets of varying sizes, scattered components, and multiple forging furnaces.
Zhuyan's rigid form was meticulously buffing an arm guard.
"My Lord."
Upon noticing Lu Changsheng's entrance, she uttered the words in a rough, gravelly tone.
As a pinnacle Third Rank puppet, she required no sustenance or liquids in her routine existence; thus, through the passing years, beyond mere repose, she devoted her time in the hall to forging puppets and delving into puppetry arts.
Lu Changsheng gave a subtle nod, his features softening into a warm smile as he spoke, "Zhuyan, on this journey, I've obtained certain Fourth Rank materials that could accelerate your rise to Fourth Rank puppet status."
Truth be told, the necessities for elevating to Fourth Rank puppet were readily assembled from the loot in Purple Grey True Monarch's and Heavenly Silkworm True Monarch's storage rings post-departure from [Vast Sand Illusion Realm].
However, should the process seem overly straightforward, Zhuyan might deem it insignificant.
Moreover, urgency to assist her ascension was absent from his mind.With plans to venture toward the Starry Sky Sea, aiming to employ the Sea Splitting Mystic Dragon Whale as interim protection, he sought alternative avenues to bolster his might.
To his thinking, Zhuyan presented an excellent option.
As a supreme Third Rank puppet adept at commanding several Third Rank puppets into a formation for battle, she ranked among the elite forces shy of Nascent Soul attainment!
She could even hold her ground against a Nascent Soul True Lord or a shape-shifted Demon King for a few exchanges.
Should Lu Changsheng aid her further evolution, she might manage to stall a Nascent Soul Cultivator briefly using a puppet battle array.
"Fourth Rank puppet!"
These words ignited a flare in the Soul Fire within Zhuyan's gaze, causing it to intensify.
Her ultimate aspiration had always been to reach Fourth Rank and then settle her vendetta.
Never had she foreseen that within mere years, Lu Changsheng would amass Fourth Rank Spiritual Materials once more.
"Examine these materials, identify the useful ones for you, and devise a scheme for your upgrade."
With a soft gesture of his palm, Lu Changsheng released beams of shimmering spiritual radiance from the Qiankun Shadow-Confining Belt.
In addition to the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Materials secured previously from Lou Mountain True Monarch, Purple Grey True Monarch, and Heavenly Silkworm True Monarch, a bounty of Fourth Rank materials lay there, encompassing spoils from vanquishing a Fourth Rank Flood Dragon King and from the Myriad Demon Abyss following the demise of a Double-headed Demonized Lizard.
The hall abruptly brimmed with the luster of valuables, stacked high with Fourth Rank Spiritual Materials, underscored by the subtle aura of a Fourth Rank Demon King.
"Such abundance..."
Zhuyan stood frozen, awed by the towering mound of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Materials arrayed before her.
In the past, she had expended every ounce of effort to procure scarce Fourth Rank Spiritual Materials.
But presently, they accumulated like worthless refuse, forming veritable mountains.
She could elevate herself to Fourth Rank puppet and even craft an additional one if desired.
"Thank you, My Lord!"
Zhuyan conveyed her thanks with evident delight, then proceeded to inspect the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Materials tenderly, evaluating their conditions and qualities, contemplating methods for her self-enhancement and alteration.
"Once you ascend to Fourth Rank, how assured are you against Nascent Soul Cultivators?"
Lu Changsheng posed the question to Zhuyan once more.
In typical scenarios, a puppet would fall short against a cultivator.
It served merely to hinder, draining the cultivator's duration.
Yet Zhuyan transcended the ordinary puppet.
"Should this puppet frame reach Fourth Rank, I ought to withstand a Nascent Soul Cultivator briefly, though to genuinely oppose and overcome them, my Puppet Spirit must attain Fourth Rank, complemented by forging several pinnacle Third Rank puppets..."
Zhuyan had observed the prowess of Nascent Soul Cultivators, understanding that mere Fourth Rank advancement wouldn't suffice against a Nascent Soul True Lord.
This realization prompted her alliance with others and her allegiance to Lu Changsheng.
Nevertheless, upon her soul—the Puppet Spirit—reaching Nascent Soul tier, granting command over greater puppet numbers and superior battle arrays, she would possess the surety to clash with a Nascent Soul True Lord.
Accomplishing such a feat proved immensely challenging!
"Puppet Spirit..."
Lu Changsheng recognized that Zhuyan's prime distinction from typical puppets lay in her soul's evolution into a Puppet Spirit, permitting flawless puppet mastery.
Via this mechanism, she could cultivate her soul and Puppet Spirit akin to a true cultivator.
Still, the divide between Core Formation Divine Soul and Nascent Soul resembled an insurmountable gulf.
Despite his earlier acquisition of a fragment of Fourth Rank Soul Nourishing Wood, incorporated into Zhuyan's puppet brain to steadily nourish her Puppet Spirit Soul, a minimum century would pass before any prospect of Nascent Soul breakthrough emerged.
"That should prove adequate; proceed with upgrading your puppet body, emphasizing control and auxiliary functions..."
Given his present battle prowess, Lu Changsheng could overpower numerous initial Nascent Soul cultivators.
Yet, should the foe resolve to flee, capturing and slaying them posed considerable difficulty for him.
Hence, he envisioned Zhuyan's fighting style centering on restraint, aiding him in blocking and disrupting adversaries.
At that juncture, he would spearhead the offense, supported by Zhuyan and the Golden-Winged Heavenly Peng in flanking maneuvers.
"Understood."
Zhuyan promptly started devising an upgrade route aligned with Lu Changsheng's directives.
In the course of this, Lu Changsheng contributed ideas drawn from his artifact refining expertise.
For instance, from Lou Mountain True Monarch and Purple Grey True Monarch, he had claimed a collection of supreme Magical Treasures.
These could be entirely reforged and fused into Zhuyan to amplify her fighting strength and skills.
Though such integration might appear profligate.
But with Lu Changsheng lacking leisure to reforge these Magical Treasures presently, allowing them to languish unused would squander them equally.
Were it not for Yangming True Master's prior overcautious meddling, fretting over potential scrutiny from circulating these pilfered items, he would have offloaded these Magical Treasures long ago.
Thus, the duo persisted in the hall, conferring and outlining the puppet's enhancements.
...
Concurrently, after settling the Secret Realm overhaul scheme in the Great Dream Marsh alongside Hong Lian and Ling Zixiao, they notified the Core Formation cultivators from Jiang Country's Four Great Immortal Sects.
They declared it a standard Core Formation tier Secret Realm devoid of exceptional treasures, intending to repurpose it as a testing Medicine Garden Secret Realm, accessible to the Four Great Immortal Sects and cultivators of Jiang Country.