To the north of Meteor Island lay a range of mountains, where spiritual energy was relatively thin. These mountains had remained undeveloped and untouched by human presence for a long time.
However, at some point, a vast space had been artificially hollowed out within the northern mountain range.
At the very center of this underground space was a colossal hall, spanning over ten mu.
Within the hall, dozens of cultivators were lifting and assembling massive wooden beams.
These beams were crafted from spirit wood aged over five thousand years and further refined by master artifact refiners, their surfaces covered in intricate patterns.
"Each of these wooden beams is a priceless treasure. An ordinary cultivator would cherish a single beam like this as a family heirloom."
"Indeed. Even if I sold myself, I couldn't afford one of these beams."
Two Golden Core stage artifact refiners lifted a beam, installing it onto the main frame of a flying boat's keel.
This colossal flying vessel required 120 such beams to form its primary structure.
Around the hall, dozens of passages extended into the distance.
These passages connected to numerous other individual halls or stone chambers, each responsible for refining different components of the flying boat.
Once refined, the parts were then transported to the central hall for assembly.
...
After emerging from his seclusion for a few days, Xiao Fei returned to his cave dwelling to continue his cultivation.
The "Secret Records of the Artifact Sect" he had obtained contained two main parts: the refinement of flying boats and puppet secret techniques.
The refinement of flying boats required the mobilization of vast manpower and resources, making it nearly impossible for an individual to accomplish.
Even though he was wealthy now and possessed ample time within his spatial domain, if he didn't mind the trouble, he could indeed refine a flying boat.
However, a flying boat required dozens or even hundreds of people to operate. What was the point of him refining one alone?
Therefore, he delegated the task of refining the flying boat to Huang Feifei. With the current manpower and resources of Meteor Island, they could manage to refine one or two.
In the future, the completed flying boats would become a significant asset for Meteor Island's development.
As for the puppet refinement techniques, Xiao Fei could utilize them himself. He intended to refine a batch of puppets, which would serve as a great aid in his future battles.
Within his spatial domain, Xiao Fei, carrying a large saber, moved among a grove of spirit wood.
The main structure of a puppet could be crafted using metal artifact refining materials or spirit wood.
Xiao Fei naturally opted for readily available resources. His spatial domain was planted with a large number of spirit trees, many of which were over ten thousand years old, making them excellent refining materials.
After searching his spatial domain, he finally selected a spirit peach tree that had grown for over ten thousand years.
The trunk of this tree required several people to embrace, its branches were gnarled and twisted, and its canopy spread out, covering an area of over ten zhang. Most importantly, the tree was not hollow.
As most trees aged, they tended to become hollow, with few truly maturing into usable timber.
Within his spatial domain, the occurrence of hollow spirit trees seemed to have significantly decreased.
Xiao Fei felled the peach tree, removed its branches and leaves, leaving only the trunk for later use.
In addition to this ten-thousand-year-old spirit wood, he had previously asked Huang Feifei to help him collect numerous auxiliary materials.
The core functions of puppet creation were primarily divided into two aspects.
The first was the puppet's energy source and conversion.
For a puppet to move and make sounds, it required energy.
Generally, puppets had several energy sources, such as spirit stones, demon cores, or demon crystals.
Some puppets also utilized special materials as energy sources, such as fire or ice.
During puppet refinement, arrays and runes were used to decompose and utilize this energy. Internal energy transmission channels had to be established, similar to a person's meridians.
Finally, arrays and runes were employed to convert this energy into various functions. For instance, simple locomotion involved numerous complex arrays and runes to achieve.
Furthermore, the primary function of combat puppets was to cast spells and divine abilities. This required converting the energy within the puppet into spells and divine abilities through arrays and runes, and then releasing them.
Besides energy conversion, the second crucial core was the puppet's intelligence.
Puppets crafted through artifact refining were, after all, inanimate objects.
To control them as if they were extensions of one's own body, they needed to possess a certain degree of sentience.
A cruder method involved creating larger puppets and having a person physically enter and control them.
A further advancement was akin to controlling a magical artifact, where a wisp of divine sense was attached to the puppet to control its combat.
However, this method could only enable the puppet to perform simple, linear movements.
Another method involved extracting the primordial spirit of a demon beast or another person, erasing its consciousness, and then refining it into the puppet.
This method was somewhat sinister. A more conventional approach was to divide a portion of the cultivator's own divine sense and refine it into the puppet, serving as its intelligence.
In essence, both the energy conversion process within a puppet and its intelligence represented the integration of the highest-end technologies in the cultivation world.
To achieve mastery in these areas required simultaneous expertise in several professional skills, such as formations, runes, and artifact refining.
Fortunately, Xiao Fei possessed a basic understanding of all these disciplines.
After toiling alone in his spatial domain for five years, he finally refined his first puppet with the strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
At this moment, Xiao Fei, who had been resting in his cave dwelling for over a month, finally sat up.
Suddenly, another person, identical to him, appeared beside him. Their height, build, facial features, and all other details were exactly the same.
The two Xiao Feis turned simultaneously, standing face to face. One blinked, and the other blinked at the same time.
I bared my teeth, and he bared his teeth too. I twisted my waist, and he twisted his waist. I raised my hand, and he raised his hand. I slapped myself hard, and he hesitated, then stopped!
The appearance of this puppet was meticulously crafted by Xiao Fei, mirroring his own body, down to the precise location of every single hair.
To imbue this puppet with some degree of self-awareness, he had divided a significant portion of his own divine sense and refined it into the puppet.
Within the puppet, he had used Soul Nurturing Wood to create a core, specifically for this divine sense to reside in.
With its divine sense residing within the Soul Nurturing Wood, it would not decay upon leaving the physical body. Instead, it would even grow slightly under the nurturing effect of the thousand-year-old Soul Nurturing Wood.
However, although this puppet's outward appearance was identical to Xiao Fei's, its true strength was only at the early Nascent Soul stage, and it lacked Xiao Fei's various divine abilities.
Many of his current divine abilities could not yet be replicated through arrays and runes.
But this was merely one puppet. He could refine a large number of them and treat them as expendable items, overwhelming quality with quantity.
When engaging in combat, he would simply need to beckon, and countless Xiao Feis would fearlessly rush forward and swarm the enemy.
Moreover, this puppet could wield magical artifacts. At critical moments, he could even throw his ultimate weapon, the "Bloodthirsty" evil blade, to the puppet.
He could then distance himself, letting the puppet charge forward and perish with the enemy.