Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

Li Mu and Mingyue started to refine the composite source core of the puppet. However, they soon encountered an unsolvable problem. They carefully selected a variety of high-level spiritual materials and tried various fusion methods, but the refining of the composite source core could not achieve the expected results.

The essences of spiritual materials with different properties repel each other during the fusion process, resulting in extremely poor stability of the source core, which is unable to support the normal operation of the puppet; if it is refined, it is difficult to bring into play the nature of the source core material and it is difficult to cultivate the spirituality required by the puppet... Li Mu tried many methods, but encountered many problems. It is almost impossible to refine a composite source core for the puppet.

"Master, the refining of this composite source core is much more complicated than we thought! This direction doesn't seem to work." Mingyue looked at the failed source cores in his hands, frowned, and said with frustration.

"Indeed, the key to refining a composite source core is to perfectly integrate the essences of spiritual materials with different properties without any conflict." Li Mu nodded, his eyes did not show too much disappointment, but he was thinking about a solution.

"Yes! However, to fuse spiritual powers or spiritual materials of different attributes into a new spiritual essence with multiple attributes under specific conditions, this is probably impossible to do!" Mingyue sighed helplessly, gently turning the failed source core fragments in her hands, full of unwillingness.

Hearing this, Li Mu's eyes suddenly became deep, as if he had caught some inspiration, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Perhaps we should not be limited to the traditional fusion idea. What if we don't force the spiritual materials of different properties to fuse, but find a way to allow them to work together without fusion and jointly provide energy for the puppet?" Li Mu smiled at Mingyue and gestured.

Hearing this, Mingyue's eyes lit up, but then she showed doubts and asked in confusion: "Master, have you thought of a solution? If spiritual materials of different properties are not fused, how can they be used stably by the puppet?"

Li Mu smiled and shook his head, explaining: "The reason why we think it must be integrated is because we are used to the operation mode of a single source core. But all things in the world coexist, complement each other, and are interdependent. If we can design a special puppet formation so that each spiritual material can play its maximum effect in the formation, and at the same time avoid conflicts between them through the adjustment of the formation, then the problem of the composite source core may be solved."

Hearing this, Mingyue's eyes became more blurred.

Li Mu smiled and did not continue to explain in depth. Instead, he took out several low-level spiritual materials from the Tianxuan Ring and tried to refine them.

This method is not just about refining a puppet source core, but Li Mu has mastered refining equipment, alchemy, talismans, magic arrays, and has practiced the Great Way of Chaos, three thousand divine runes, etc. He has integrated all the knowledge to create an unprecedented way of constructing puppets.

In traditional puppetry, the core puppet nucleus drives the puppet array, and the power of the spirit stone embedded in the puppet is used as the driving force to activate the puppet pattern and drive the puppet to move. However, this traditional puppetry has many flaws.

First, traditional puppet protocores are often made from a single spiritual material, and the elemental force they can carry is single in nature, limiting the diversity and adaptability of puppets. In battle, facing enemies or environments with different attributes, such puppets often find it difficult to perform at their best.

Secondly, the traditional puppet formation design is relatively simple and lacks sufficient flexibility and variability. When the puppet is attacked, the puppet formation often cannot effectively disperse or transfer the attack force, causing the puppet to be easily severely damaged or even collapse.

Traditional puppetry relies heavily on spirit stones as a power source. The quantity and quality of spirit stones directly determine the puppet's sustained combat capability and combat effectiveness.

Furthermore, the higher the level of the puppet, the more sophisticated it is, and the higher the cost of refining and maintaining it. This is not just a matter of spiritual stone consumption, but also involves the collection of rare spiritual materials, the employment of senior refiners, and the mastery of complex refining processes. Even if many cultivators have the ability to refine high-level puppets, they are often unable to use them on a large scale due to resource constraints.

In addition, the traditional puppet control method is relatively simple, mostly relying on the direct control of the monk's spiritual consciousness or remote control through specific instruments. This method often seems to be inadequate when controlling at a long distance or in a complex combat environment, and may even cause the puppet to lose control due to the distraction or mistakes of the operator.

In addition, traditional puppets lack the ability to self-repair and learn. Once damaged in battle, they often need to be repaired by the monks themselves, which is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also may increase the difficulty of repair due to the harsh battlefield environment. At the same time, the combat strategy of the puppets is completely dependent on the preset of the refiner, and lacks the ability to flexibly adjust according to the actual situation. This is undoubtedly a huge disadvantage when facing unknown enemies or complex combat strategies.

It is precisely for these reasons that even though Li Mu has refined a lot of high-level puppets and stored a large army of puppets, he rarely uses them to fight the enemy in order to avoid suffering heavy losses.

Traditional puppetry has too many flaws, so Li Mu decided to innovate it, trying to break the rules and create a truly powerful puppet.

The nine spiritual materials in Li Mu's hand are not of high grade, all around the fourth grade. However, each of them has a separate attribute, covering the five elements, yin and yang, time and space, and the power of years. They are the main cornerstones of the power of chaos.

He took out a piece of green vine spirit wood that contained the vitality of wood. Its color was warm and full of vitality, representing the reproduction of life and the cycle of nature. The chaotic fire in Li Mu's hand condensed and covered it. Instead of burning it, the flame stimulated the potential of the wood spirit wood, causing a faint green light to appear on its surface, making it more vibrant.

Li Mu used the power of chaos as a medium to transform this spiritual material and carve puppet patterns. Then, under the control of his divine mind, the fourth-level Taixuan refined gold flew into the fire of chaos and soon turned into a metallic solution flowing in the puppet spiritual patterns. Afterwards, the fourth-level Xuanming true water fell into the fire of chaos and was not evaporated by the high temperature. Instead, it intertwined with the flames, forming a strange scene of the fusion of water and fire.

The Xuanming True Water slowly seeped into the puppet pattern, echoing with the previous Taixuan Refined Gold. One was hard and the other was soft, complementing and helping each other, adding endless toughness and agility to the puppet...

Not long after, five fourth-order five-element spiritual objects successfully constructed a puppet body. Then, under the guidance of Li Mu, the Yin Ling Stone and the Zi Yang Jade slowly floated above the Chaos Fire. Pulled by the power of chaos, the two slowly approached each other and finally met in the air. The Yin and Yang Qi entangled with each other, forming a unique energy field.

With the engraving of the Yin-Yang Puppet Pattern, this energy field was perfectly integrated into the puppet, giving the puppet the supreme ability to harmonize all things and create life and death.

Li Mu did not stop, and turned his gaze to the last two fourth-level magical materials - the Time Realm Pearl and the Mysterious Moon Crystal Core. These two spiritual materials, which contain the power of time and space and years, are the best choice for refining the eyes of this Chaos Puppet.

It serves as the finishing touch.

Whether this creative puppet refining can be successful depends on the next step.

This puppet will no longer have a puppet body, but with the special properties of many spiritual materials, yin and yang, the balance of the five elements, and the gathering of other time and space forces, the power of time, and the chaos array engraved inside the puppet as a collection, it will eventually give birth to a chaos source core. Li Mu took a deep breath, his expression solemn and focused, his hands quickly formed seals, the power of chaos flowed through his fingertips, jumping like a living thing, guiding this power, and began to refine the Time Realm Bead and the Xuanyue Crystal Core, integrating them into the puppet's body.

The power of chaos surged out of Li Mu's body, and materialized divine patterns continued to flow into the puppet's body as his techniques became faster. The chaos formation gradually took shape, emitting surging waves.

When the Chaos Formation was fully formed, Li Mu shouted loudly, guiding all the power of time and space and years in the Chaos Fire, as well as the power of the Five Elements and Yin and Yang that had been integrated into the formation, into the formation.

At this moment, the entire space seemed to be still. Inside the chaos array, various forces began to intertwine, collide, and merge with each other. Large waves of energy burst out from the puppet's body.

Mingyue's eyes widened as she stared at the puppet body that Li Mu was refining, and she felt its extraordinaryness.

Now, she understood the true meaning of the "composite source nucleus" that Li Mu talked about. It was not only a theoretical innovation, but also a bold attempt in practice, and a profound understanding and application of the laws of heaven and earth.

The puppet body in front of him, under Li Mu's careful refining, is gradually showing a powerful force beyond that of ordinary puppets. As the fusion of the internal power of the chaos array reaches its peak, the light on the surface of the puppet body becomes more and more dazzling, as if a small universe appears inside the body and is gestating in it.

Suddenly, the puppet's body shook violently, and an unprecedented powerful aura burst out from it and rushed straight into the sky. This aura contained various forces such as the five elements, yin and yang, time and space, and years. They were intertwined and interdependent, forming a perfect whole.

Mingyue looked at Li Mu's miraculous refining process and felt an indescribable admiration in her heart. Such a bold and ingenious attempt would perfectly combine the seemingly impossible forces through an ingenious formation to form a new life form with endless potential.

However, this new puppet was like a dead object. Although it exuded a powerful aura, it seemed to have lost its power and showed no signs of waking up.

Li Mu stopped casting the spell and silently stared at the puppet he had just refined, his brows furrowed, as if he had encountered some problem.

"Failed? Why did it fail? I think the master's method is feasible! Using the puppet's body to gather many element arrays and nurture and give birth to a fusion source core, how could it fail?" Mingyue stared blankly at the 'dead' puppet and asked Li Mu in confusion.

In Mingyue's eyes, the puppet refined by Li Mu has almost perfectly integrated all the necessary power. It should wake up like a real living being and show amazing power.

However, the reality is quite different from their expectations.

With his innate magical power - identifying all spirits, Li Mu has already found the real reason why the puppet's refining failed. There was no sign of dejection on his face. After deep thought, a hint of joy appeared on his face.

Noticing the change in Li Mu's expression, Mingyue couldn't help but feel curious and asked, "Master, have you found any turning point?"

Li Mu smiled slightly, his eyes gleaming with wisdom: "Yes, this puppet seems to have failed to wake up as expected, but in fact, it did not fail. On the contrary, it gave me an unexpected revelation."

"Revelation? What revelation!" Mingyue was even more confused. She widened her eyes and waited for Li Mu's explanation.

"During the refining process, I was too focused on the perfect fusion of power, but neglected the puppet's essential 'soul'. Although this puppet has a strong body and the foundation for the birth of a source nucleus, it now lacks a soul strong enough to give birth to a strong soul to drive itself." Li Mu introduced slowly, with a hint of enlightenment in his tone.

"Master, this is not right! It already has the qualifications to 'move', it is complete, how can it lack spirituality!" Mingyue frowned, obviously a little confused about Li Mu's statement. In her opinion, this puppet already has a complete puppet body, puppet formation, and a special source core that has been transformed, and has all the characteristics of a finished puppet.

Li Mu smiled and introduced: "Yes, this puppet does have the ability to move on the outside, and can even be said to be a complete existence. However, just like an adult's body, no matter how strong it is, without a soul, it is just an empty shell; and an embryo, although not in full form, already contains the essence of life, which is its soul."

Li Mu continued to explain: "Although this puppet has a powerful body and source core, it is like an adult body without a soul. It has power but lacks real vitality."

Hearing this, Mingyue fell into deep thought and roughly understood what Li Mu meant.

"Then, master, how can we give spirituality to this puppet! When the source core has not even been born!" Mingyue looked up at Li Mu, with a gleam of curiosity in her eyes.

The puppet source core is the puppet's soul and the key to its spirituality.

The puppet that Li Mu refined this time used its powerful puppet body to give birth to a composite source core. However, without first gathering the puppet source core, its spirituality could not be activated. This has become a contradiction and a difficult problem that is difficult to solve.

"Mingyue, your question hits the nail on the head." Li Mu smiled slightly, and after deep thought, he answered: "Indeed, according to the conventional refining method, it is necessary to condense the source core first and then activate the spirituality after the puppet body is constructed. But this time, the refining method of Rong Dao is used to stimulate the source core with a powerful body, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of refining. However, there is a way!"

"Master, have you come up with an idea?" Mingyue's eyes lit up and she couldn't help but ask.

Li Mu smiled and nodded, and with a wave of his hand, he put away the dead puppet in front of him. Then, he summoned several high-level spiritual materials and prepared to refine another puppet. (End of this chapter)