Outside, the winds were rising and clouds were gathering, yet Chen Lin remained secluded in his house once again.
The sun rose and set day after day.
No cooking smoke was seen; only the intermittent, low thuds could be heard.
Three days later, Chen Lin emerged from the house looking disheveled and exhausted.
Though his frame was haggard, his eyes flashed with brilliance, and he could not hide his smile no matter how he tried.
During these three days, aside from drinking water, he had worked tirelessly to refine the puppet without sleep, having not eaten a single meal.
However, the results were astonishing.
Finally, through his unremitting efforts, he had successfully crafted this late-stage Qi Refinement snake puppet!
The hardships involved were too much to recount to outsiders, but the process had been smooth, without any major errors.
Now, it was time to witness the miracle!
Walking to the flat area of the courtyard, Chen Lin tapped his storage bag, and a grey snake about three feet long appeared in his hand.
The workmanship was somewhat crude, looking a bit rough and uneven due to his subpar carving skills, but this did not affect its power.
There was a hidden compartment in the snake's belly; upon opening it, he placed a mid-grade spirit stone inside.
A late-stage Qi Refinement puppet required a mid-grade spirit stone to be driven.
"Go!"
Placing the snake puppet on the ground, Chen Lin gave a light command.
In truth, puppets did not require sound for control; they relied on the connection between spiritual power and the puppet seal. Furthermore, once a cultivator left their exclusive imprint on the seal, no one else could interfere with it using spiritual power or seize it.
This was the brilliance of the puppet seal.
Unfortunately, refining puppets was far too complex. If it weren't for his innate talent, he would likely have ended up like that fat cultivator, spending years just to produce a single tiger puppet.
As he gave the command, Chen Lin also issued an instruction to the snake puppet. The seal on the snake's head lit up, and with a *whoosh*, it shot forward, carving a streak of grey light through the air.
Then, with an arc-like maneuver, it circled back and landed on his shoulder, coiling around his neck.
"Hahaha!"
The test was a success, and Chen Lin laughed heartily.
Just as the ancient texts described, a late-stage Qi Refinement puppet utilizing more profound formations no longer required step-by-step manual control.
This snake puppet possessed the preliminary ability to perform actions according to programmed instructions. Although it could not yet compare to a spiritual-soul puppet, it was far more useful than a tiger puppet.
Chen Lin was extremely satisfied.
It was well worth the effort of consuming all his Enlightenment Pills to comprehend the formations, even if it had left him with a headache.
Next, with a thought from Chen Lin, the snake puppet sprang from his neck and charged toward a decorative rock in the distance like a grey flying sword.
Just as the snake puppet was about to hit the rock, its head suddenly released a conical light shield. With a *pfft* sound, the enveloped head pierced straight through the rock, leaving a smooth, fist-sized hole.
The joy on Chen Lin's face deepened.
This was one of the snake puppet's skills: Sword Transformation!
As the name implied, it transformed into a flying sword to attack.
According to the *Puppet Scripture*, even weaker defensive spells could not block this skill. Moreover, it was as fast as lightning and could change its attack angle at any time, making it nearly impossible to defend against.
This single skill alone was more than enough to satisfy Chen Lin.
Furthermore, this snake puppet had another skill.
As his intent moved once more, the snake puppet shot up from the ground again.
The grey shadow performed a large loop in the air, opened its mouth, and a chilling, ice-like object shot out, striking the decorative rock once more.
With a loud *bang*, the rock instantly shattered, scattering countless fragments across the ground.
First-grade high-tier spell—Ice Spike Technique!
"Good, good, good!"
With every test being a success, Chen Lin was so happy he nearly jumped for joy.
This was equivalent to having an extra late-stage Qi Refinement assistant!
Moreover, it could be controlled starting from the mid-stage of Qi Refinement and did not occupy his own spell-casting capacity. It was truly a versatile tool for killing, looting, and traveling.
The more he watched, the more satisfied and delighted he became. Chen Lin decided to press on and refine another one.
With his spiritual power, controlling two puppets simultaneously would be no problem. When the time came, he would strike with two assistants at the level of late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, which would surely give his enemies a massive surprise.
Of course, he first had to make some money by crafting talismans.
Overjoyed, Chen Lin waved his hand to call the snake puppet back.
To his astonishment, however, the snake puppet did not move at all.
"What's going on? It didn't break, did it?"
This gave Chen Lin quite a fright.
It would be a joke if something he spent a fortune to refine broke after only two uses. He felt like crying.
"Come back!"
Chen Lin issued the command again, but the snake puppet remained limp and motionless on the ground.
"Come back!"
"What are you doing?"
"Can you move at all!"
After several failed commands, Chen Lin approached the snake puppet with a dark expression.
He bent down, picked up the grey snake, and began to inspect it carefully.
Then, he froze in place.
"This is too much of a rip-off! The consumption is this high?"
After his inspection, Chen Lin discovered that it wasn't broken; rather, the spirit stone had run out.
The mid-grade spirit stone in the hidden compartment had turned into powder, having truly squeezed out the last drop of energy.
One mid-grade spirit stone was equal to one hundred low-grade spirit stones, and it could only perform two attacks.
That meant one attack cost fifty spirit stones.
This wasn't a puppet; it was a gold-swallowing beast!
For a moment, Chen Lin didn't know how to complain. The item was useful, but it was incredibly expensive to run.
Was he destined to follow the path of a "pay-to-win" cultivator?
The key issue was that it could only attack twice consecutively before its power dropped significantly. Aside from use in critical moments, it couldn't be used as regular combat strength. If it ran out of energy halfway through an attack, there would be no time to replace the stone.
Chen Lin's joy vanished by more than half.
A puppet's combat power could never truly compare to a cultivator of the same rank, and this limitation made its effectiveness even lower.
Unless... he used high-grade spirit stones!
Chen Lin suddenly thought of a solution.
However, high-grade spirit stones were not common circulating items. At least among Qi Refinement cultivators, he hadn't seen anyone possess them; most people only had low-grade and mid-grade stones.
High-value items were mostly traded through barter.
High-grade spirit stones seemed to be something only those in the Foundation Establishment stage were qualified to use.
Chen Lin's mood turned somber, and his joy largely dissipated. He thought that the next time he went to the market, he would inquire about it first.
But even if he could buy one, a single high-grade spirit stone was worth one hundred mid-grade spirit stones. He truly couldn't afford it!
Helplessly, he replaced it with a new mid-grade spirit stone and stowed the large snake into his storage bag.
Even if it could only attack twice, it was still a rare assistant that would directly increase his combat power.
Over the next few days, Chen Lin entered a state of alternating between cultivation and talisman crafting.
Whenever he ran out of materials, he would go to the market to sell his products and buy new materials to refine, acting almost like a robot.
In this manner, ten days passed in a flash.
Sitting in his quiet room, Chen Lin's body suddenly trembled, and his aura surged abruptly, causing his robes to billow violently.
A moment later, his eyes opened, and a flash of light passed through them.
After several months, his cultivation level had finally risen another stage!
Chen Lin checked his body in pleasant surprise, feeling the surging magical power within him.
Then, he began testing the effects of this new level of spells and the control of his magical tools.
After a series of tests, he nodded in satisfaction. The magical power of the fifth level of Qi Refinement was much more robust than the fourth, allowing him to cast spells faster and with greater power.
In particular, the Wind Control Technique saw a significant increase in both flight height and speed, along with better endurance.
"As expected, everything else is just support; increasing one's cultivation is still the most important thing!"
After a moment of reflection, Chen Lin prepared to head to the market for a stroll.
However, before he could even leave the house, he heard the sound of gongs and drums in the distance, accompanied by the cheerful playing of a suona.
Was someone getting married?
Chen Lin was puzzled.
This courtyard was in a remote location, with neighbors at least a hundred meters away. When he had moved in, he had checked the surrounding neighbors and hadn't found anyone of marriageable age.
He stepped out of the courtyard gate and slowly walked toward the source of the sound.
Having been in this world for several months, he had never actually seen a wedding. He figured he might as well go see for himself and soak up some of the celebratory atmosphere.