Chapter 264 - 252: A Leap in Foundational Knowledge

Chapter 264: Chapter 252: A Leap in Foundational Knowledge

In Cultivation Immortal, time flies.

Over a year had passed quietly since he stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The once-tidy cave was now a complete mess after more than a year.

All sorts of Artifact Creations, both finished products and failures, were piled up everywhere in the cave.

Wangcai was curled up in a corner. Unsurprisingly, after more than a year, it was still at Tier One Perfection, without the slightest change.

It squinted, half-asleep, occasionally glancing up at the disheveled, almost savage-looking Chu Mu. It seemed a little confused as to why its usually neat master had become so obsessed lately.

It glanced at the metal lump in front of Chu Mu. Its brain wasn’t large, but based on recent experience, it could guess that the metal thing was probably another new contraption its master had built.

Just like these other little gadgets in front of it.

Wangcai pawed at a few small, puppy-shaped metal lumps before it.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The next second, several explosions roared, and balls of fire erupted in front of Wangcai.

But in the next moment, Wangcai slammed its paw down, extinguishing the explosions, each of which was no weaker than a strike from a Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation cultivator.

It shot a guilty look at Chu Mu, then immediately flopped to the ground, pretending to be fast asleep. It secretly peeked through its squinted eyes, observing its master’s reaction.

However, Chu Mu’s attention wasn’t on the explosions at this moment.

Over the past year, Wangcai had broken quite a few of these little gadgets, and he couldn’t be bothered to care. After all, being cooped up in this cave with him was probably suppressing the pup’s natural instincts.

Right now, his focus was entirely on the humanoid Puppet before him.

This was the Human-shaped Puppet he had conceived, designed, refined, and assembled himself!

He had designed the Puppet himself, so naturally, he knew all its specifications by heart.

The Puppet stood 1.68 meters tall. Its outer shell was forged from Tier One Upper Grade black steel, giving it a glossy black finish. The internal skeleton was made from Tier One Upper Grade Red Flame Leopard Bone fused with Celestial Flame Powder.

The upper body was humanoid, but the lower half was spider-like, with several ink-black iron legs supporting the Puppet’s movement.

The Puppet’s upper torso had an arm on each side, connected to the body in a human-like fashion, allowing them to move as a person’s would.

The right arm was fitted with a repeating Divine Fire Tube composed of eight arm-thick barrels. An Array Prohibition linked the eight Divine Fire Tubes, creating something akin to the Gatling gun from his previous life.

He estimated that within a single second, these eight Divine Fire Tubes could unleash fifteen to twenty Fire Attribute Spiritual Power attacks. Each attack was comparable to a full-force strike from a Late Stage of Qi Cultivation cultivator.

The Puppet’s left arm, on the other hand, had been directly converted into a cannon barrel.

This cannon was more complex. Its principle was derived from the Spiritual Energy Cannons on the Longevity Flying Boat. However, he couldn’t obtain the rarest Spiritual Materials, so even though he understood the Refining technique from the Artifact Refining General Outline, he could only create a Lower Grade imitation.

But unlike the right arm’s revolving Divine Fire Tube, which relied entirely on firepower, the left arm’s Spiritual Energy Cannon utilized the identification and targeting knowledge from Divine Simulation.

It could deliver a blow equivalent to a full-force strike from a Qi Cultivation Perfection cultivator, and it was a homing attack, too.

To support the Spiritual Power attacks of both arms, he had to set aside a dedicated Spirit Stone Cabin in the Puppet’s abdomen.

He also set up a self-destruct Array Prohibition around this Spirit Stone Cabin. At a critical moment, he could trigger the self-destruct Array Prohibition to detonate the Spirit Stones inside.

The exact power of the explosion would depend on how much Spiritual Qi was left in the Spirit Stone Cabin.

However, after installing this self-destruct trump card, he became reluctant to waste a Soul Condensing Stone on it.

Without a Soul Condensing Stone to give it an intelligent control hub, the Puppet was undoubtedly much more rigid and unintelligent.

"I’ll call you... Fire Cavalry, Generation One!"

Chu Mu gave a nearly crazed smile. He couldn’t hide his grin as he looked at the formidable Fire Cavalry Puppet before him.

Although it was only a Tier One Puppet and not very useful for his current Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivation, it was his own masterpiece.

It wasn’t something he had simply copied from a template.

’If I’ve created the first generation of Fire Cavalry, can the second and third generations be far behind?’

Obviously not.

After more than a year of intense study, supported by a vast amount of Spiritual Radiance Value, he had accumulated a foundation of knowledge that an ordinary person might not achieve even in ten or even several decades.

The first-generation Fire Cavalry was just a practice piece he had created using his existing Spiritual Materials, without even touching his few precious Tier Two Spiritual Materials.

He already had drafts in mind for the second and third generations.

’No need to rush...’

Chu Mu suppressed the eager impulse in his heart and tidied up the mess in the cave.

Then, the pile of Spatial Spiritual Materials from the Secret Realm, which had been corroded by that evil Black Fog Energy, floated before him.

Sensing the surging evil Energy within these Spatial Spiritual Materials, a glint appeared in Chu Mu’s eyes. His previous plan had evidently changed.

’Given the nature of this evil Energy, what if I used it to refine some Artifact Creations...?’

The moment the idea appeared, countless designs centered around this concept subconsciously flooded his mind.

With the vast foundation of knowledge accumulated from over a year of hard study, he had the confidence to do it.

As his idea changed, his original plan for purification naturally changed as well.

It went from purification to separation.

The process was tedious, but for an ordinary Cultivator, it would probably be an extremely dangerous task.

After all, given the tyrannical nature of this evil Energy, it would unknowingly corrode a person even if they sealed their Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Even if they weren’t corroded, it would stir up the evil thoughts in their heart.

And an ordinary Cultivator didn’t have the ability to dispel and suppress the effects of this corrosion.

’So "All Evil Repelled" truly lives up to its name.’

Sensing the Black Fog Energy trying to corrode his body, the corners of Chu Mu’s mouth lifted slightly.

The Great Sun Scripture, the True Flame Refining Technique, and Body Refining.

They stood in natural opposition to such evil.

Even when it managed to corrode his flesh and skin, it was almost instantly incinerated and refined the moment it entered.

The Divine Sense Awareness Saber didn’t even have a chance to act. The corrosion from the Black Fog Energy was firmly blocked at the first line of defense, unable to advance an inch.

By the sixteenth day, the inky black and the shimmering white before him had been completely separated.

On the left were more than ten soybean-sized, shimmering white stones. The stones were solid, but whether viewed with the naked eye or through Divine Sense Perception, they flickered as if they were unreal illusions.

Their Spatial Attribute was unmistakably clear.

And on the right were five head-sized spheres of Black Fog Energy, sealed by an Array Prohibition. They were bound together, unable to disperse or run rampant.

After some consideration, Chu Mu put away the five spheres of Black Fog Energy and turned his gaze to the dozen or so soybean-sized Spatial Attribute Spiritual Materials before him.

The preciousness of Spatial Attribute Spiritual Materials was, of course, beyond doubt.

In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, the price of anything related to the word "space" was bound to be exorbitant.

Take the Storage Talisman, for example. It merely drew upon a few wisps of the Power of Space to open an extremely unstable, temporary space.

At any given moment, countless resources and riches belonging to the Cultivation Immortal Realm were likely lost in chaotic Spatial Turbulence due to damaged Storage Talismans.

Yet, such an item was an absolute necessity in the Cultivation Immortal Realm. Any cultivator with even a little extra wealth could not do without a Storage Space.

As for higher-level storage Artifacts, they were clearly out of reach for ninety-nine percent of Cultivators.

Chu Mu pursed his lips. With a wave of his hand, the dozen or so Spatial Spiritual Materials hovered in the air. A flicker of flame appeared, and under his control, the Great Sun True Flame fully manifested before him.

Wangcai instinctively flinched, its gaze on the flame filled with a clear sense of fear.

Chu Mu didn’t stop. The dozen or so Spatial Attribute Spiritual Materials were already enveloped in the raging flames.

Storage Artifacts were, of course, documented in the Artifact Refining General Outline.

Due to their Spatial Attribute, storage-type Artifact Creations were classified as at least Tier Three Lower Grade in the Artifact Refining General Outline—the level of a Magical Treasure.

The specific tier, however, depended on any additional extended functions.

For example, did it have other functions besides storage? How large was the Storage Space? How stable was the space?

As the True Flame burned, Chu Mu silently pondered.

’With the Power of Space contained within these dozen or so soybean-sized Spatial Spiritual Materials, the space I can create...’

"At its maximum extension, it shouldn’t be smaller than this cave, right..."

Chu Mu surveyed the cave, which was roughly five zhang in length, width, and height, already forming a plan in his mind.

Pushing the spatial extension to its limit would lead to instability, just like the Storage Space in a Storage Talisman, which used a minimal amount of Power of Space to create the largest possible space.

This made Storage Talismans extremely fragile; the slightest mishap could cause the space to shatter.

According to the Artifact Refining General Outline, when refining a Storage Space, the minimum ratio of Power of Space to spatial area was 3:1, with the optimal ratio being 5:1.

Only by following these ratios could one ensure the stability of the refined Storage Space.

Storage Talismans, however, usually had ratios of 1-to-dozens or even 1-to-a-hundred. Some temporary Storage Talismans that only lasted a few days could even reach ratios of 1-to-several-hundred.

As thoughts raced through his mind, the fire blazed. Chu Mu formed a hand seal, and one by one, Artifact Refining Techniques designed to control the Power of Space sank into the pool of molten Spatial Spiritual Materials.

Within his Divine Sense Perception, a space roughly one zhang in length, width, and height slowly began to take shape.

He couldn’t directly manipulate this process. With his current Cultivation, he couldn’t yet touch a high-level force like the Power of Space. He could only rely on the various Techniques from the Artifact Refining General Outline to indirectly stimulate the Power of Space and influence it.

As the space was forming, the molten Spiritual Materials also began to slowly change shape.

A bracelet, a pouch, a Token, a ring...

The material morphed through various forms, following Chu Mu’s thoughts.

Finally, a shimmering white ring solidified and hovered before him.

’It’s too conspicuous...’

As the thought flashed through his mind, he swiped at his chest, and half a bloody head fell before him.

With a wave of his hand, he tore off a palm-sized piece of its scalp.

It was half of the two-headed giant serpent’s head, and he remembered its Concealing Breath and stealth effects vividly.

Under the control of his Divine Sense, he roasted the palm-sized Beast Hide with his True Flame, slowly fusing it with the Storage Ring.

The conspicuous shimmering white vanished without a trace, but Chu Mu still didn’t stop.

One after another, Artifact Pattern Array Prohibitions landed on the surface of the Storage Ring.

They had no other function, only... the ultimate concealment he could possibly achieve.

Concealing Breath, and invisibility.

Combined with the Beast Hide’s natural Concealing Breath and stealth talent...

He slipped the ring onto his finger.

To the naked eye, to Divine Sense...

...not the slightest trace of its existence could be detected.

...