Chapter 1054: Chapter 448: Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet Successfully Forged; War Rises Again

"Buzz!"

The Nether Soul Suppressing Cauldron trembled violently, and the ghostly patterns on its body seemed to come to life, frantically devouring the dark red liquid.

With each bit devoured, the cauldron’s body became denser, its color growing deeper, and the powers of suppression, devouring, and confusion it emitted began to increase at a visibly rapid pace.

This process lasted for three months.

When the last trace of dark red liquid was completely devoured and fused—

"Boom!"

A terrifying ghostly aura several times more formidable than before exploded from the cauldron’s body.

The entire Nether Ghost Cavern shook, and countless roaming low-level ghosts shivered and prostrated on the ground.

At this moment, the Nether Soul Suppressing Cauldron shimmered with dark light, like a miniature black hole, and its aura had completely stabilized, surpassing ordinary supreme treasures.

"It’s done!"

The Nine Nether Elder’s sallow face cracked a particularly unsightly smile.

He could clearly feel the earth-shattering transformation of his life-bound ghost treasure’s power.

"With the assistance of this cauldron, the success rate of my plans can increase a bit more."

The Nine Nether Elder calculated in his mind, "This trip to the Central Domain, besides achieving the apparent goals, has unexpectedly yielded such a harvest. Truly fortunate."

He withdrew the aura of the more profound Nether Soul Suppressing Cauldron into his ghost body to nourish it, beginning to calmly ponder the next steps.

"The most important thing now is to resolve the stalemate in the Wind Origin Realm."

"The core lies in slaying the Lust Demon and sealing the ancient demon passage completely."

Ghostly flames danced in his eyes, "As long as the Star Palace’s foreign aid is cut off and the ancient demon threat eliminated, Ao Guang, leveraging the rules of the outer sea, will be enough to maintain balance with the Dual Saints of Star Palace."

"At that time, the war in the Wind Origin Realm can come to a temporary halt."

"And I will be able to free myself from this quagmire and fully plot for... the Nanchuan Realm."

Thinking of the Nanchuan Realm, a faint, almost imperceptible gleam flickered in his eyes.

"As for Xu Ping, that boy..."

The Nine Nether Elder’s mouth curved into a peculiar arc, "I think he’ll agree to join forces too. The allure of the Divinity Transformation Realm is something no Late-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator can resist."

"Moreover, with his exceptional talent, he certainly won’t be content to stop here."

...

Three months later.

Xu Ping quietly returned to Blood Bone Island.

No one knew he now possessed three supreme treasures.

However, Xu Ping was not the least bit complacent from his increase in power.

He knew very well that the threat of the Star Palace and the ancient demon still loomed overhead.

Returning to his underground refuge, Xu Ping almost without pause threw all his efforts into the final refinement of the Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet.

Now that the conditions were ripe, he must succeed in one go.

Deep within the refuge, the Artifact Refining Room blazed with earth fire, though it was not the main source.

Xu Ping used his own Nascent Soul True Flame as the core, aided by many rare spiritual materials melted into a solution, and with his divine sense split into a thousand threads, like the most precise carving knife, inscribed countless extremely complex runic restrictions onto the puppet’s core components.

Time slipped away quietly in focused refining, and another three years passed.

On this day.

A heavy, vast aura with a cold metallic quality erupted within the underground refuge.

A humanoid battle puppet, three zhang tall, with a sleek dark golden luster and its joints engraved with mysterious space runes and power-amplifying arrays, stood silently before Xu Ping.

Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet—success.

"After so much time and effort, it has finally been refined successfully!"

Feeling the powerful aura emitted by the puppet, capable of daunting Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivators, Xu Ping couldn’t help showing an expression of excitement.

"A Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet, even in forces like the Star Palace and True Dragon Hall, at the Divinity Transformation Power level, is an extremely valuable strategic resource!

A sect like the Mystic Water Sect, if they obtained one, would certainly treat it as a treasured sect guardian, not to be used unless in times of life and death necessity.

For Xu Ping, however, this puppet held even greater significance.

"My puppet array can finally undergo a substantial upgrade."

Xu Ping eagerly began testing.

With a single thought, the original nine Fourth-rank Middle-grade Puppets and the newly refined Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet were activated simultaneously, their energy and puppet core power instantly connected, arranged in a profound formation.

"Buzz!"

A combined force field far exceeding the previous one spread out, the defensive barrier thickened, and the attack prism sharpened.

Yet, after carefully sensing, Xu Ping frowned slightly.

"Although the power has significantly increased, it still hasn’t reached a qualitative change, remaining at the Nascent Soul Perfection level, unable to truly touch the Divinity Transformation Domain."

Xu Ping quickly drew a conclusion, "It seems that a single Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet is still not enough to trigger a fundamental leap in the array.

"I might need more Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppets as core nodes."

This conclusion did not dispirit him; rather, it excited him further.

He immediately began deducing based on existing data, "If I can gather six Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppets as the core, supplemented by other Middle-grade Puppets, the resulting array’s power could certainly reach the Divinity Transformation Level."

"It might even be able to contend with or suppress the Lust Demon’s state at the Divinity Transformation level!"

This prospect was undeniably tempting.

"Continue, continue refining!"

Xu Ping suppressed his excitement, carefully storing away the brand-new Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet, and immediately delved into the refinement of the next one.

With the experience of the first success, although the subsequent refinements remained intricate, the path was now clear.