Global Games: Reporting the Great Ascension Stage at the Start

"Deacon Xia, could you..." Mo Jun stopped mid-sentence, staring expectantly at Shen Hua. His meaning was clear: he wanted to see the puppet refine medicine on the spot.

"No problem," Shen Hua replied with a smile.

He walked behind the puppet and inserted a low-grade spirit stone into the spirit stone slot. With a soft hum, the silver patterns all over the puppet lit up, and it immediately began to move.

Shen Hua took out a low-grade alchemy furnace from his storage bag. This was the [Common Iron Gathering Furnace] he had used before. He had long since replaced it with a higher-quality alchemy furnace, and he kept this old one for his black iron golem to practice with.

He placed the Ordinary Iron Gathering Furnace in front of the Black Iron Golem, and then took out several packets of medicinal herbs, including Qi Gathering Grass and Green Wood Leaves... These were the main materials for refining Qi Gathering Pills.

With everything prepared, Shen Hua pressed the mechanism on the puppet's shoulder, and the puppet immediately began to move.

It stretched out its right hand and activated the spirit control talisman, fire control talisman, and object control talisman on the alchemy furnace in turn, and the spiritual energy in the furnace immediately began to circulate.

Immediately afterwards, the black iron golem used its left hand to open the medicine packet, took out the powder, and precisely measured the amount, then put it into the furnace one by one in order.

Then it stretched out its right hand and pressed it on the object control talisman, and the spiritual patterns on the talisman emitted a faint white light.

The black iron golem used a control talisman to continuously mix the medicinal powder inside the furnace.

Its movements are highly mechanized and stable.

Mo Jun stood to the side watching, his eyes wide open.

The black iron golem's movements looked stiff, but its alchemy movements were steady and without the slightest mistake, and the precision in taking medicine and adding ingredients was impeccable.

Judging solely from its performance, the Black Iron Golem truly possesses the level of a novice alchemist! At least, it surpasses the level of a newly initiated alchemist.

The alchemy process continues.

Since it takes at least three hours to complete a batch of Qi Gathering Pills, Shen Hua simply gave instructions and turned to cultivate, leaving Mo Jun and the black iron puppet in the quiet room.

He wasn't worried about Mo Jun stealing the technology. The core structure of the puppet was hidden inside the machine. Without disassembling it and studying it carefully, it was impossible to master it.

Besides, the current puppet manufacturing process is still very crude and it's not profitable at all. Even if he were to open-source the technology, it wouldn't be a big problem.

In the end, Shen Hua believed in Mo Jun's character.

As he left, Mo Jun assured him that he would never try to uncover the secrets of the black iron golem's creation. As a master craftsman, he still had to maintain his reputation.

……

Three hours later, Shen Hua finished his cultivation and returned to the meditation room, just as he was finishing up the medicine refining process.

"Is it ready?" he asked as soon as he entered the room.

Mo Jun looked at the alchemy furnace with wide amazement and said, "It's really done!"

Inside the alchemy furnace in front of the black iron golem, the pills had taken shape. Five cyan Qi Gathering Pills lay at the bottom of the furnace, their rich medicinal fragrance spreading in all directions.

Mo Jun exclaimed in admiration, "I never imagined your alchemy puppet could reach such a level!"

Shen Hua smiled and said, "But unfortunately, we still can't make any money."

The Black Iron Golem is only at the level of a novice alchemist; at best, its alchemy skills are only enough to break even. Only by upgrading it to the intermediate level can it become profitable.

Only now did Shen Hua finally understand why no one ever made a potion-making puppet in the game.

Even with his skill level and the immense effort he put in, the puppets he created still couldn't generate profit.

It's easy to imagine that even a master craftsman would find it difficult to create a profitable alchemy puppet.

Those grandmasters, however, didn't even consider such a small amount of profit.

This is why alchemy puppets have disappeared.

Mo Jun looked the black iron puppet up and down, then clicked his tongue: "I was just about to advise you not to waste your energy on these unorthodox methods. But now it seems that if you continue to study it, you might actually be able to create a profitable alchemy puppet. By the way, I have an idea."

He looked at Shen Hua and continued, "I've been observing for three hours straight. In my opinion, wouldn't it be better to replace the puppet's hands with a high-quality material like refined iron?"

"The quality of ordinary black iron is really too poor. If we replace it with better materials, the puppet might actually be able to reach the threshold of an intermediate alchemist."

Upon hearing this, Shen Hua shook his head with a wry smile: "I've thought about this before."

He had considered replacing the inferior black iron with high-grade materials, but the problem was that the cost was too high.

He researched alchemy puppets, intending to mass-produce them and make money by selling in large quantities.

If a puppet requires iron essence worth seven or eight hundred spirit stones, even if the puppet can reach the level of an intermediate alchemist and make a profit, the cost is too high, and the cost recovery period will be particularly long, making it a complete loss.

"However, I still appreciate your guidance, sir. I will study it further when I get back," Shen Hua said, bowing in thanks.

He suddenly remembered that he still had a piece of [Wind Amber Stone]. This high-grade wind-elemental material is lightweight, flexible, and adaptable, making it ideal for the main material of a puppet's hands.

Shen Hua thought to himself, "Why not first use top-quality materials to create a high-quality puppet and find out its limits? Then I can gradually try replacing it with ordinary materials to reduce costs."

"Okay, I'll do that when I get back."

……

While chatting with Mo Jun, Shen Hua put the medicine furnace and puppet into his storage bag.

Just then, he received a private message from Xixue.

Xi Xue: "Brother Xia Ye, our guild leader asked me to come and thank you! He took your advice and made a lot of money hoarding spirit stones, and now the guild is doing exceptionally well."

Shen Hua: "It was nothing, is there anything else?"

Xi Xue: "There's another thing I wanted to ask. Brother Xia Ye, you have a wide network of connections and know quite a few high-level NPCs, right?"

Shen Hua: "I'm fine, what's wrong?"

Xi Xue: "Do you know any high-level alchemists from other sects?"

Shen Hua: "I do know a few of you, but we don't interact much. What exactly happened?"

Xi Xue: "It's like this, yesterday the sect leader posted a high-priced commission at our Alchemy Department, hiring top-tier alchemists to heal a Golden Core cultivator. If he can cure him, the reward will be a full thousand low-grade spirit stones!"

Shen Hua: "A thousand spirit stones? I might as well give it a try."

Fine Snow: "Huh? You?"

Shen Hua: "Yeah, do you remember my server-wide announcement when I cleared the dungeon? The first thing I said was, 'Accepting orders for all kinds of difficult-to-craft pills and magical artifacts.'"

Shen Hua: "With such a high reward, of course I have to give it a try."

Xi Xue: "But I remember you're a high-level 'weapon refiner,' and you can even refine medicine?"

Shen Hua: "I also know a little about alchemy. Let's get down to business. Which sect deacon do you need treatment for?"

Xi Xue: "He's not a sect steward, but a Golden Core cultivator from another sect, surnamed Lan. He was seriously injured in the battle a few days ago and is in critical condition."

Xi Xue: "The sect leader was at a loss, so he sent out a wide message to summon alchemists from all over to come and treat the patient."

……

A few minutes later, Xi Xue sent another message: "Brother Xia Ye, are you still there?"

However, she never received a reply from Shen Hua.