Chapter 39 Refining the Puppet

Lin Fan's gaze, like a morning star piercing the dawn, locked onto an unassuming stone brick.

This stone brick, much like its hundreds of companions, was carved with mysterious and intricate symbols.

Without a careful look, it was difficult to notice the subtle differences in the details of these symbols.

Yet, to Lin Fan, the symbols on this particular stone brick carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

He pondered for a brief moment, a flash of inspiration crossing his mind—were these not the very symbols he had seen upon first entering the corridor?

Executing the Phantom Movement technique, Lin Fan deftly evaded the puppet's attack, arriving in front of the stone brick in the blink of an eye.

He took a deep breath, his finger tracing slowly along the lines of the symbol.

A faint vibration traveled from his fingertips, as if he had triggered a dormant mechanism within the ancient array.

As Lin Fan's finger moved, those previously static symbols began to emit a soft glow, with lines of energy seemingly flickering between them. The atmosphere of the entire basement shifted accordingly.

The puppet's movements suddenly grew sluggish, as though constrained by some unseen force.

At that moment, a beam of light pierced through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating a small protrusion.

Following the beam of light, Lin Fan discovered that the protrusion was a cleverly concealed button.

Without hesitation, he pressed it decisively.

As the button was depressed, the barrier of light within the basement suddenly dissipated. The puppet stopped moving as if it had lost all control, crashing heavily to the ground, its previous threat entirely gone.

Simultaneously, the puppet's chest split open as if sliced by a sharp blade, revealing a rhombus-shaped crystal core at its heart.

Seeing this, the expressions of everyone present tightened. Gu Ningyun, enduring the pain wracking her injured body, stared at the crystal core and said, "This must be the spirit core that controls the puppet. If one refines this object, they might just be able to take complete control of this puppet."

What?

At these words, a brilliant light flashed suddenly in everyone's eyes. This puppet, after all, was a terrifying entity capable of withstanding Gu Ningyun's Mysterious-tier spirit skill head-on.

To be able to control it would be equivalent to having a powerful warrior of the Origin Realm companioning by one's side.

For a moment, nearly everyone's gaze burned with fervor, fixed intently on the spirit core in Lin Fan's hand.

Gu Ningyun gave a dry cough and said in a deep voice, "This spirit core was discovered by Lin Fan. Furthermore, if he hadn't discovered it in time and immobilized the puppet, all of us might have perished here. In my view, this spirit core should be entrusted to Lin Fan to control."

After a few moments of silence, the others nodded one after another. When they looked at Lin Fan, their eyes were filled with absolute trust. "I agree. We have all witnessed Young Master Lin's actions over these past few days. I have nothing to say against him controlling this puppet."

"I agree as well!"

"I am in favor of it too..."

Seeing that everyone consented, Gu Ningyun smiled at Lin Fan and said, "It is the consensus of all. Lin Fan, hurry up and refine this puppet."

Hearing this, Lin Fan did not hesitate. He immediately sat cross-legged, squeezed a drop of blood from his index finger, and let it fall onto the spirit core.

In an instant, the spirit core burst into a dazzling radiance, and within a mere fraction of a second, it melted into Lin Fan's body.

At the same time, the puppet seemed to come back to life; its chest wound healed, and it stood up once more.

Upon seeing this, Gu Ningyun and the others instantly panicked. With Gu Ningyun currently injured and Han Feng having betrayed them, the strongest combat power within this group was Lin Fan, who was at the peak of the Divine Dan Realm.

Yet, a puppet capable of injuring even Gu Ningyun was surely not something Lin Fan could resist.

Just as everyone grew tense, Lin Fan, whose eyes had been closed, suddenly opened them. A slight smirk played at the corner of his lips as he laughed, "Everyone, there is no need to be nervous. This puppet is now under my command."

As Lin Fan's voice trailed off, the puppet straightened its posture like a loyal guard and stood right behind the young man.

Hoo...

The group let out a collective sigh of relief. Gu Ningyun looked at Lin Fan with curiosity and asked, "How did you manage that?"

Although she had never refined a puppet spirit core herself, according to common knowledge, it should have taken at least half an hour.

Yet Lin Fan had mastered the spirit core in the span of a single breath.

Such a speed was nothing short of astonishing.

"This spirit core had been derelict for a long time, and fighting with you consumed a significant amount of its energy, which is why it was so easily refined by me," Lin Fan explained with a smile. Naturally, he wouldn't mention that the moment the spirit core merged into his body, it was swallowed up by the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace, allowing him to gain complete mastery over it instantaneously.

Yet, there was a measure of truth in his words.

The energy within the spirit core had indeed been heavily depleted, and if he wanted to restore the puppet to a level capable of contending with the Origin Realm, he would need to infuse it with energy.

The energy required by the puppet was none other than spirit crystals—a type of crystalline stone forged from spirit stone veins through numerous complex procedures.

For martial artists, apart from absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and consuming rare treasures, cultivation could also be achieved by absorbing the energy stored within spirit crystals.

Spirit crystals were, after all, the hard currency of the martial arts world.

"Since I have obtained this puppet, the other items on the stone platform should be left for the others." Lin Fan glanced at the stone platform. Aside from the halberd taken by Han Feng, there were still a few treasures remaining. However, because the puppet had been refined by Lin Fan, the light barriers protecting these treasures had completely vanished, allowing anyone to take them freely.

Gu Ningyun nodded slightly, knowing that Lin Fan was doing this to appease the others.

"There are five items in total. The five of you, take one each. As for the remaining two, I have two medicinal pills here to compensate for you not obtaining any treasures."

Hearing Gu Ningyun's words, smiles broke out on the faces of the others. Even the two martial artists who had only received medicinal pills as compensation beamed with joy.

The medicinal pills Gu Ningyun spoke of were no ordinary items; they were Tier 7 medicinal pills.

The group successively divided the treasures within the basement and then sat cross-legged to refine them, while Gu Ningyun swallowed a healing pill to regulate her internal injuries.

Standing alone by the stone platform with a piercing gaze, Lin Fan stared intently at a portrait that lacked a human face.

This painting seemed to have weathered the sandstorms of countless ages; the portion depicting the human face had been worn away, leaving only a vague outline.

Lin Fan gazed at the scroll, a flash of insight glowing in his eyes.

He stepped forward, reaching out to gently stroke the surface of the painting, as if feeling the breath behind every single stroke and line.

Suddenly, his fingers stopped at the collar of the figure in the painting. There was an extremely faint crease there, almost imperceptible unless examined with utmost care.

Lin Fan gently pressed against that crease. With a soft click, the picture frame shifted slightly, revealing a hidden compartment.

He carefully opened the compartment to find an antique ring lying inside, marked with a peculiar brand and emitting a faint, secluded glow.

The material was exceptionally hard, yet it seemed otherwise unremarkable. Lin Fan frowned slightly. Intuition told him that a ring hidden away with such secrecy could never be a mundane object.

He could not recognize its origins, attributing this to his own lack of experience, and decided to ask Gu Ningyun about it once she recovered.

After all, Gu Ningyun hailed from the Gu family of the Tiandu Imperial Dynasty, and her horizons were vastly broader than Lin Fan's.

For a full three hours, everyone refined the treasures they had harvested. Lin Fan clearly saw the undisguised excitement and thrill on their faces.

Clearly, these treasures were far from ordinary.

Rumble...

Just as Gu Ningyun slowly opened her eyes and prepared to rise, a deafening explosion echoed from deep within the corridor. The entire passage trembled as if on the verge of collapse, with falling rubble showering down continuously.

The expressions of both Lin Fan and Gu Ningyun shifted drastically in unison. Guessing the cause behind the commotion, they shouted at the top of their lungs,

"Let's go!"