Free Web NovelChapter 301: Repairing the golden puppet Once More
Inside the Earth Fire Chamber of Room Three, Heaven Grade, in the Tiangong Villa.
Scorching heat steamed within the enclosed space, the air slightly distorted. The Earth Fire vent spewed a steady bluish-white flame, heating the entire Artifact Refining furnace until it was glowing red. Fang Hao sat cross-legged before the furnace, his expression solemn and eyes tightly shut. Only at the center of his brow did a speck of dark golden light flicker slightly, showing that he was pouring all his focus into the battered dark golden humanoid Puppet before him—the golden puppet.
The repair work had already lasted for nine full days.
During these nine days, Fang Hao had hardly slept or rested, his entire mind immersed in Artifact Refining. Using the Earthly Fiend Golden Flame as the core and supplemented by the stable earth vein fire of the Earth Fire Chamber, he cautiously took the "void crystal," "geng metal marrow," "ten thousand year ironwood heart," and dozens of other rare Materials. Following a specific order and ratio, he either smelted, purified, or inscribed them, bit by bit repairing the hideous hole in the golden puppet’s chest and the complex, precise, yet fractured core driving Formation within.
This was an extremely delicate and mentally taxing process that allowed for no errors. In particular, the reconstruction of the core driving Formation involved the balance and Fusion of various attributes of spiritual power, such as space, metal, and wood, placing extremely high demands on Divine Sense consumption and control. Fortunately, Fang Hao possessed a powerful Divine Sense and had also preliminarily mastered the Earthly Fiend Golden Flame, an exotic fire that fused the characteristics of soldier fiend spirit fire. He had a natural affinity and control over metal-attribute Materials and Formation runes. Although the repair process was slow, it proceeded steadily, advancing step by step.
The "ten thousand year ironwood heart" provided pure Yimu essence and stable toughness, perfectly fusing with the golden puppet’s original metallic body and compensating for its flaw of being too rigid and easily broken. The "geng metal marrow" further strengthened its metallic Origin’s sharpness and sturdiness. The "void crystal" was inscribed into the core Formation by Fang Hao using a special technique, stabilizing the spatial power required for the Formation’s operation and making the golden puppet’s driving core even more stable, even faintly gaining a slight ability to self-absorb stray Spiritual Qi and slowly recover.
By now, the shocking hole in the golden puppet’s chest had long since vanished, filled by a new material that was dark golden and shimmering with a metallic luster, yet also had faint wood-like grain flowing through it. It was perfectly integrated with the surrounding shell, showing no trace of repair. The color of the entire golden puppet’s body seemed deeper and more restrained than before, and its lines were smoother and more natural. Although it still stood motionless, the spiritual power fluctuations it faintly emitted were more condensed and heavy than before, even carrying a faint spatial ripple.
The most crucial core driving Formation had already been ninety-nine percent repaired under Fang Hao’s sleepless reconstruction. Only the final step remained, which was also the most critical—using the Earthly Fiend Golden Flame as a guide to ignite the Formation’s core, activating the entire driving System and making it perfectly compatible with the newly fused Materials.
Fang Hao took a deep breath and suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light bursting from his pupils. His hands formed seals so quickly they left a trail of afterimages in the air as he let out a low shout: "Fuse!"
As the final hand seal was cast, with a thought, the flame intertwined with dark gold and blazing white in his Dantian trembled slightly. It separated into a strand of dark golden fire as thin as a hair but condensed to the extreme, which shot from his fingertip and vanished into the center of the golden puppet’s chest—the middle of the newly repaired core driving Formation.
Buzz—!
A low and long hum suddenly emanated from within the golden puppet. Immediately after, with the chest as the core, countless fine and complex dark golden Formation lines suddenly lit up. As if coming to life, they rapidly spread and moved across the golden puppet’s dark golden shell, eventually covering every inch of its body! The light of those lines flowed, faintly forming an extremely profound and complex three-dimensional Formation network that emitted powerful and stable spiritual power fluctuations.
At the same time, the golden puppet’s originally dull eyes suddenly lit up with two clusters of crimson-gold light, like a sleeping Vicious Beast suddenly awakening! A terrifying aura, irresistible and heavy as a mountain yet sharp as a divine weapon, boomed out from the golden puppet! This aura was so strong that it far exceeded ordinary Golden Core Cultivators, and was even several times more powerful than any Perfected Golden Core Cultivator Fang Hao had seen before—it had strikingly reached the level of the Nascent Soul Stage!
The layers of protective Restrictions arranged in the Earth Fire Chamber shook violently under the impact of this aura, letting out an overwhelmed hum. Had Fang Hao not been prepared and reinforced the Restrictions in advance, this aura might have leaked out and attracted unnecessary attention.
"It’s done!" An irrepressible joy erupted in Fang Hao’s eyes. He could clearly feel that a close mental connection had been re-established between himself and the golden puppet before him. He could even "see" the core Formation within the golden puppet’s body, which was running again and emitting vast power, as well as the terrifying strength contained in every part of its body.
This golden puppet had not only been successfully repaired but, because it incorporated top-tier Materials like the "ten thousand year ironwood heart" and "geng metal marrow," along with the Formation he reconstructed using the Earthly Fiend Golden Flame as the core, its power seemed to have gone a step further compared to before it was damaged! According to his estimation, the golden puppet’s current combat strength was definitely firmly at the Middle Nascent Soul Stage! Moreover, the sturdiness of its body, the burst of its power, and the stability of its Formation operation might even be a notch stronger than an average Middle Nascent Soul Stage Body Cultivator!
With this golden puppet in hand, Fang Hao felt greatly reassured. As long as he didn’t encounter a Late Nascent Soul Stage Great Cultivator or get besieged by multiple Middle Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, he had sufficient power to protect himself. Even if Mo Yunhe himself came knocking, with the golden puppet and his current strength, he wouldn’t necessarily lack the power to fight!
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Fang Hao did not immediately test the golden puppet’s specific combat strength. Instead, with a thought, the crimson-gold light in the golden puppet’s eyes slowly faded, and the terrifying aura around it receded like a tide. It turned back into that seemingly ordinary dark golden puppet made of special Materials, standing quietly in place. However, at its chest core, dark golden light faintly flowed without end, showing the terrifying power contained within.
"Next is the silver light shuttle." Fang Hao put the golden puppet into his Storage Ring and took out the palm-sized, silver-dull small boat.
Compared to the golden puppet, repairing the silver light shuttle was much simpler. The main damage to the silver light shuttle lay in the wear and tear of the Formation runes caused by long-term use and battle, poor spiritual power transmission, and a bit of sluggishness in the driving core. Its main structure was not significantly damaged.
Fang Hao once again channeled the Earthly Fiend Golden Flame. This time, he controlled it even more finely, only separating an extremely tiny flame that acted like the most dexterous carving knife, cautiously burning and repairing those worn Formation lines inside the silver light shuttle.
