170: Puppet Maker

These days, Chen Cuo's diligent study of Puppet crafting was also for his own Cultivation.

Low Grade Magical Artifacts like the Shadowless Sword and Snake Heart Shield are mostly prepared for low-level Cultivators in the Qi Refinement Stage. Although profitable, their pricing cannot be too high, otherwise many low-level Cultivators wouldn't be able to afford them, leaving no choice but to rely on small profits and quick turnover.

However, if Chen Cuo were to refine all these Magical Artifacts himself, it would waste a lot of time, leaving him no time for Cultivation.

Instead, a brilliant idea sparked when he was learning Puppet Art: why not combine Artifact Refining and Puppets? Thus, he meticulously developed this specialized Artifact Refining Puppet.

Currently, all low-level Magical Artifacts at the Hua Jian Trading Company are produced by Artifact Refining Puppets.

"Activate!" Chen Cuo commanded.

After Chen Cuo injected his Magical Power, the entire Puppet's chest cavity opened completely, and its arms swiftly grabbed the surrounding Artifact Refining Materials, stuffing them all into its belly.

In just a short moment, most of the Materials were melted into an Artifact embryo. Inside the Puppet's abdomen was a very special candlestick, with a flame burning continuously within it.

In fact, this is a special flame called the Stone Heart Flame. This candlestick was also specially crafted by Chen Cuo. Its principle is similar to the Fire Spirit Ring, based on the rotation of the Five Elements. The candlestick can bear and enhance the power of the Stone Heart Flame, and can be called the Stone Fire Spirit Candle.

The Stone Heart Flame has the characteristic of being inextinguishable; as long as the fire source can absorb earth power, it can burn indefinitely.

This fire is not particularly precious, but without the right connections, ordinary people would truly not be able to find it. It was only because Chen Cuo was a True Disciple of Lingbao Mountain that he found a wisp of the fire seed and was able to continuously Cultivate it.

Naturally, it can serve as the Origin of the Artifact Refining Puppet. Soon, the Puppet retrieved Artifact Refining tools such as carving knives, chisels, and hammers from its abdominal cavity. Its abdominal cavity itself also has a certain storage function, containing a wide array of tools that can process various Materials.

The Puppet's hands moved swiftly, shaping the Artifact embryo at an extremely fast pace, then quenching and melting it, all in one go. The speed was like a precision machining lathe, or similar to a 3D printer.

Its various wonderful uses were truly remarkable; Chen Cuo spent a considerable amount of time researching this thing.

Finally, the Puppet's eyes lit up, and it meticulously began engraving inscriptions on the refined Magical Artifact, without a single error or oversight.

If there is one place where humans are most prone to error when refining Magical Artifacts, it is in engraving inscriptions on them. However, Puppets do not have this problem, because they are all set programs.

In less than half an hour, the Puppet presented a treasure sword that could cut iron like mud into Chen Cuo's hands.

"Haha, it's actually a High Grade first-tier Magical Artifact! Does this mean this Puppet is already equivalent to a high-level Artifact Refiner? That's too monstrous!"

Chen Cuo was overjoyed, recalling the talent he gained from Cultivating Puppet Art during these days; it truly helped him tremendously.

["Puppet Craftsman: An excellent Puppet Craftsman, whose research into Puppets is incisive, and whose craftsmanship is even more skilled, able to fully integrate with learned knowledge."]

Although researching Puppets was a bottomless pit for Spirit Stones, the benefit was that it greatly saved Chen Cuo's time in refining low-level Magical Artifacts, allowing him more time for Cultivation.

Since the successful development of the Artifact Refining Puppet, the Chamber of Commerce's supply has never been interrupted, and its scale has been continuously increasing.

This Puppet, comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, was his first attempt to refine; most of the ones he had refined before were first-tier Puppets, only capable of refining Low Grade to Medium Grade first-tier Magical Artifacts.

High Grade Magical Artifacts and second-tier Magical Artifacts could only be refined by Chen Cuo himself. Under Chen Cuo's deliberate control, the output was extremely small, with every piece being a masterpiece, valuing quality over quantity.

This was the first time a Puppet could refine a High Grade first-tier Magical Artifact. One must know that in Magical Artifact Refining, it is usually easy to upgrade the grade, but difficult to achieve High Grade.

Some High Grade first-tier Magical Artifacts are sometimes more valuable than Low Grade second-tier Magical Artifacts.

"This means I can mass-produce High Grade Magical Artifacts!"

Chen Cuo looked at the Artifact Refining Puppet before him, his eyes blazing. This was simply a mountain of gold!