"Dawn, create a refining plan and optimize it to the best possible degree."
A blue light flashed in Yan Qingshan's eyes. Endless data was processed rapidly. Information was interwoven, and soon a win-win variable plan was formed that would achieve his goals.
"Protector Xuan, Protector Tie, I should actually thank you. You taught me so much about soul techniques. I think this method of refining fierce souls is very good!"
Yan Qingshan spoke again, then took out Protector Xuan's soul bag. As he loosened the opening, countless black mists gushed out amidst mournful screams.
A cloud of black mist billowed above the lava world. Countless sharp, piercing screams echoed endlessly. Dense swarms of souls moved through the black mist like malevolent spirits hidden in the night. Their blood-red eyes looked exceptionally eerie in the dark environment.
"Protector Xuan, do you know how powerful a fierce soul refined with a Dou Ancestor as its main soul can become?"
Yan Qingshan's gaze shifted, locking onto Protector Xuan. More fierce souls lingered around him, which meant these fierce souls had a deeper impression of him.
"What do you mean... Ah..."
Protector Xuan seemed to have realized something. The next moment, he was wrapped in a cyan blade of energy and thrown into the midst of the countless fierce souls. Then, sharp, piercing screams and the sounds of various soul forms devouring each other erupted.
The black mist surged, and blood-red light erupted. Piercing screams came from within, faintly mixed with some chilling chewing sounds. From the eerie black-red cloud, a wave of alarming, violent emotions spread, causing Protector Tie next to it to shrink.
Within the black-red mist, a dense swarm of souls was devouring each other like hungry wolves. They were just like the gu worms in a jar. After a brutal fight and devouring their companions, they would become the last survivor.
Protector Xuan was first besieged, then he came to his senses and began to devour frantically. As a former Dou Ancestor, he had an advantage in this regard.
Four exceptionally powerful soul fluctuations appeared. Then, like tigers entering the mountain, they rushed into the countless souls and began to devour madly. These four souls were Protector Xuan's treasured collection; with the addition of four peak-Dou Emperor fierce souls, the devouring ended quickly.
Five powerful soul auras radiated fluctuations. As Yan Qingshan formed another seal, the four fierce souls pounced on Protector Xuan for a new round of devouring.
"Protector Tie, stop watching. He still has some time, but your time is running out. Let's continue!"
It would take some time for these five fierce souls to devour each other to create the ultimate fierce soul. Yan Qingshan was preparing to deal with Protector Tie first. As his gaze shifted, Protector Tie completely panicked.
"No, Yan Qingshan, let me go... You piece of trash, you son of a b..."
Protector Tie was trembling with fear. Seeing that begging was useless, his words turned venomous. Yan Qingshan's Green Lotus Core Flame unceremoniously enveloped him. The miserable screams and vicious curses that echoed in the cave suddenly came to a halt.
Protector Tie's final greeting did not affect Yan Qingshan's work. He continued to increase the temperature of the flame. As he refined it, Protector Tie's intelligence was gradually worn away, leaving only the soul form's instincts.
Yan Qingshan glanced at the black mist in his palm, then gently tossed it. The black mist turned into a black Qi dragon and shot into the hole on Yan Luotian's forehead.
With the influx of this soul, Yan Luotian's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, and his pupils were filled with an eerie, pitch-black color.
Yan Qingshan did not stop. With a flick of his fingers, metallic objects with a strange luster shot out from his storage ring. The pure cyan flame gushed out from his palm like a pillar of fire. A suction force pulled the metals inward.
Yan Qingshan multi-tasked. He controlled the flame to temper the corpse at a constant temperature while using an extremely high temperature to refine the strange metals.
This high-low temperature of the flames required extremely high flame control ability. However, while Yan Qingshan was not strong in other areas, with the cooperation of his AI assistant Dawn and having simulated this process countless times in his mind, he was able to do it with ease.
Seven days later, the devouring of the five incredibly powerful fierce souls was nearing its end, and Yan Qingshan's first puppet was also close to being completed. The strange metals had been completely refined into a dark golden liquid. They flowed slowly within the flames, emitting a strange luster.
The metal refining was completely done, and Dawn had accurately calculated the perfect moment for the body, soul, and monster core.
Half an hour later, Yan Qingshan's hands quickly formed a strange seal, and a slightly odd chant came from his mouth.
The originally silent puppet suddenly trembled. The soul hovering in its head, as if forcibly shattered by an invisible force, turned into countless tiny specks of light, which densely scattered to every part of its body.
At the moment the soul turned into specks of light, the monster core in its chest also let out a faint hum. Then, streams of violent monster core energy flowed into the puppet's limbs…
The golden color on Yan Luotian's body grew brighter, turning pale white. Its body was also slowly shrinking, and a powerful aura, devoid of any emotion, slowly radiated from the corpse.
The dark golden liquid floating in front of Yan Qingshan slowly drifted out and gently poured onto the cold corpse.
Sizzle…
The extremely hot metal liquid dripped onto the corpse, immediately causing white steam to burst forth, and a faint scorched smell to spread.
The soul power swept across the puppet's body like a wave, and the dark golden liquid was slowly applied to every part of its body.
When the liquid was completely applied to the puppet's body, the pale silver was replaced by a dark golden color. As the golden light flickered, it gave a strange sense of extreme durability.
The Green Lotus Core Flame rolled back on. The dark golden liquid slowly eroded into the puppet's skin under the high temperature. The puppet's body color gradually turned dark cyan, looking like a block of bronze.
Yan Qingshan looked at this scene and silently took out a mass of cyan and red intertwined substance. "As I expected, Yan Luotian is still too weak. If I didn't use a fierce soul, even the stronger soul of Protector Tie would still be a bit lacking. But luckily, I was prepared."
With this mass of energy containing the Heaven Demon Phoenix's resentment and death aura merging into the wings behind Yan Luotian, the golden wings flashed with light. A powerful Dou Ancestor aura rose up, and a brilliant silver light suddenly shone, covering the entire puppet's body.
Time passed by, and the puppet's aura began to recede. It then slowly stood up from the Heavenly Flame, floating in mid-air in the cave without any support. Its eyes were filled with empty blackness.
Yan Qingshan accurately dripped a drop of fresh blood containing a hint of his soul imprint onto the puppet's forehead. It slowly seeped in and finally turned into a thumb-sized dark red blood spot.
After this drop of blood entered the puppet's mind without any hindrance and left an indelible imprint, a hint of life, as if it were there and not there, slowly appeared in the puppet's empty black eyes.
The puppet twisted its still-stiff neck, lowered its head, and looked at Yan Qingshan, who was sitting on a large stone. It landed on the ground, knelt on one knee, and slowly lowered its head towards Yan Qingshan.
"A Three-Star Dou Ancestor level. It seems that the Heaven Demon Phoenix's rank could indeed have been close to or even at the Dou Ancestor level. Even just a little death aura and resentment could make this puppet so powerful."
A look of satisfaction flashed in Yan Qingshan's eyes. Although the materials used for this puppet were all Dou Ancestor level, besides the Tier 7 monster core, Yan Luotian had just broken through and was at the bottom of the One-Star Dou Ancestor level. Protector Tie was only at the Three or Four-Star Dou Ancestor level.
Under these circumstances, it was quite remarkable to be able to refine an Earth-tier puppet. It's worth noting that in the original novel, Xiao Yan used the body of the peak-Seven-Star Dou Ancestor, the Old Ground Demon Ghost, along with two other things that were the same as Yan Qingshan's, to refine an Earth Demon Puppet at the Five or Six-Star Dou Ancestor level.
"This one is a success. The other one should be almost done too."
Yan Qingshan's gaze shifted to another direction, where a mass of black-red mist was constantly surging. He pointed at the mist and coldly shouted, "Go! Tear it apart!"
A bright light flashed in the Earth Demon Puppet's eyes. It moved and slammed into the black mist, moving so fast that even Yan Qingshan couldn't catch its trail.
This Earth Demon Puppet of Yan Qingshan's had been specially designed and improved by his AI assistant Dawn. It retained Yan Luotian's Heavenly Goose Nine-Step Wings and had the Heaven Demon Phoenix's energy refined into the golden wings. This Earth Demon Puppet's extreme speed was even faster than Yan Luotian's.
Boom!
With a muffled sound, the black mist shattered, revealing the scene inside. After being shaken back, the Earth Demon Puppet proactively stood in front of Yan Qingshan.
Amidst an incomparably mournful scream, countless black-red mists suddenly solidified, and a savage aura slowly descended from within.
A faint sense of coldness and oppression, the source of this negative emotion was the blood-red figure opposite.
This blood-red figure was similar to a human, with blood-red color permeating its body. The blood-red was especially dark, as if it was made of countless condensed blood. Just a glance at it gave a sense of dizziness.
This slightly illusory figure had no face. At its head, the blood mist surged, making it impossible to see anything else. Only a pair of blood-red eyes shone through.
These blood-red eyes contained no human emotions. They were filled only with endless savagery and killing intent. This thing was basically a monster born for slaughter, a killing machine filled with a bloody and savage nature.