Starting From A Son In Law To Build An Long Lasting Family Chapter 1971: 516:

Having conversed about the Immortal City Secret Realm with Hong Lian and Ling Zixiao, Lu Changsheng made his way to Zhuyan’s Puppet Hall.

The hall itself was expansive, cluttered with various big and small puppets, components, and a few forging furnaces.

Zhuyan’s somewhat rigid form was busy refining an arm protector.

"My Lord."

Upon spotting Lu Changsheng’s arrival, she greeted him in a raspy tone.

As a peak Third Rank puppet, she required no food or water in her routine, so through the years, aside from periods of rest, she devoted herself to constructing puppets and delving into puppetry arts within the hall.

Lu Changsheng gave a slight nod, offering a warm smile as he spoke, "Zhuyan, on this journey, I obtained certain Fourth Rank materials that could accelerate your rise to Fourth Rank puppet status."

Truth be told, the necessities for elevating to Fourth Rank puppet were readily available from the loot in the storage rings of Purple Grey True Monarch and Heavenly Silkworm True Monarch once they exited the [Vast Sand Illusion Realm].

However, should it seem overly straightforward, Zhuyan could deem it insignificant.

Furthermore, he wasn’t rushing to assist her elevation at that moment.

With plans to venture into the Starry Sky Sea, aiming to employ the Sea Splitting Mystic Dragon Whale as a provisional protector, he pondered bolstering his forces via alternative avenues.

To Lu Changsheng, Zhuyan presented an excellent option.

Being a pinnacle Third Rank puppet who could command numerous Third Rank puppets into a puppet battle array, she ranked supreme among beings below Nascent Soul!

She was capable of clashing with a Nascent Soul True Lord or a Transformed Demon King for a few exchanges.

Should he aid Zhuyan in progressing further, she could perhaps stall a Nascent Soul Cultivator briefly using a puppet battle array.

"Fourth Rank puppet!"

These words caused the Soul Fire in Zhuyan’s eyes to flicker and intensify.

Her ultimate aspiration had always been to reach Fourth Rank and then seek vengeance.

She hadn’t foreseen that within mere years, Lu Changsheng would assemble Fourth Rank Spiritual Materials once more.

"Examine these materials, determine which suit your needs, and devise an enhancement scheme."

With a soft wave of his hand, Lu Changsheng released beams of sparkling spiritual radiance from the Qiankun Shadow-Confining Belt.

In addition to the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Material procured from Lou Mountain True Monarch, Purple Grey True Monarch, and Heavenly Silkworm True Monarch previously, there lay a trove of Fourth Rank materials, encompassing those from vanquishing a Fourth Rank Flood Dragon King and from the Myriad Demon Abyss following the defeat of a Double-headed Demonized Lizard.

The hall abruptly brimmed with the luster of valuables, heaped with Fourth Rank Spiritual Materials, along with a subtle aura of a Fourth Rank Demon King’s pressure.

"So much..."

Zhuyan stood dumbfounded before the mound of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Material.

In the past, she had exhausted all means to amass scarce Fourth Rank Spiritual Materials.

But presently, they were stacked like worthless refuse, towering like peaks.

She could not merely upgrade to Fourth Rank puppet herself but even create an additional Fourth Rank puppet if desired.

"Thank you, My Lord!"

Zhuyan promptly voiced her thanks with delight, then proceeded to inspect the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Materials fondly, assessing their conditions and traits, mulling over methods to refine and alter her form.

"Once you reach Fourth Rank, how assured are you against Nascent Soul Cultivators?"

Lu Changsheng questioned Zhuyan once more.

Typically, a puppet couldn’t rival a cultivator.

It served mainly to hinder, draining the cultivator’s duration.

Yet Zhuyan differed from standard puppets.

"Should I raise this puppet frame to Fourth Rank, I ought to withstand a Nascent Soul Cultivator briefly, but to genuinely oppose and overcome them, my Puppet Spirit needs to ascend to Fourth Rank, followed by forging several pinnacle Third Rank puppets..."

Zhuyan had observed Nascent Soul Cultivators’ methods and realized that even at Fourth Rank, she wouldn’t match a Nascent Soul True Lord.

This realization prompted her alliance with others and allegiance to Lu Changsheng.

Nevertheless, if her essence, the Puppet Spirit, attained Nascent Soul stage, permitting command of greater puppet numbers and a mightier puppet battle array, she’d possess the assurance to battle a Nascent Soul True Lord.

Accomplishing this, however, proved immensely challenging!

"Puppet Spirit..."

Lu Changsheng understood that Zhuyan’s key distinction from typical puppets lay in her soul evolving into a Puppet Spirit, granting flawless puppet mastery.

Via this, she could cultivate her soul and Puppet Spirit akin to a cultivator.

Still, the divide between Core Formation Divine Soul and Nascent Soul resembled an abyss.

Although he had earlier bartered for a fragment of Fourth Rank Soul Nourishing Wood to embed in Zhuyan’s puppet brain, steadily fostering her Puppet Spirit Soul, it would demand no less than a century to anticipate Nascent Soul breakthrough.

"That should work well; enhance your puppet body, emphasizing control and auxiliary functions..."

Given his present battle prowess, Lu Changsheng could overpower numerous initial Nascent Soul cultivators.

Yet, if foes resolved to flee, hindering and slaying them posed significant difficulty.

Thus, he believed Zhuyan’s fighting style should prioritize control, aiding him in blocking and disrupting adversaries.

At that juncture, he’d spearhead the offense, with Zhuyan and the Golden-Winged Heavenly Peng flanking and supporting.

"Understood."

Zhuyan at once started devising an upgrade route aligned with Lu Changsheng’s directives.

In this endeavor, Lu Changsheng also provided insights drawn from his artifact refining expertise.

For instance, from Lou Mountain True Monarch and Purple Grey True Monarch, he secured a collection of supreme Magical Treasures.

These could be fully remolded and fused into Zhuyan to amplify her fighting strength and skills.

Though such integration might appear profligate.

But with his current schedule, Lu Changsheng lacked opportunity to recast these Magical Treasures, and leaving them unused would squander them likewise.

Were it not for Yangming True Master’s prior overcautiousness, fretting that these pilfered items could draw notice upon circulation, he’d have handled these Magical Treasures outwardly ages ago.

Hence, the duo persisted in deliberating and outlining the puppet’s improvement within the hall.

...

Concurrently, after settling the Secret Realm overhaul scheme in the Great Dream Marsh alongside Hong Lian and Ling Zixiao, they notified the Core Formation cultivators from Jiang Country’s Four Great Immortal Sects.

They declared it a standard Core Formation level Secret Realm lacking exceptional resources, intending to establish it as a trial Medicine Garden Secret Realm, accessible to the Four Great Immortal Sects and Jiang Country cultivators.