Having managed the 82 mu of Low Grade Spiritual Fields, I'll go find some Wind Spirit Grass to plant tomorrow.
Li Mu returned to the manor courtyard and entered a sealed stone room.
Li Mu sat at a stone table, taking out the Hundred Refinement Cauldron, amber jade, and soul nurturing urn from his nine storage spiritual pearl and placing them on the table.
Picking up the amber jade, Li Mu's expression became hesitant.
This was his first time attempting to unseal a Fourth-Order Yao Beast, then catalyze its eggs, and finally refine a Gu Spirit. The series of steps was quite complex, and if any step went wrong, all his efforts would be for naught!
It would be difficult to find such an opportunity again!
Li Mu watched as he continuously simulated the operation in his mind. Relying on his powerful Divine Soul, as well as his rich experience in Artifact Refining, Puppet Art, and Spiritual Charms Drawing, a look of determination gradually appeared on his face.
Hesitating was not Li Mu's character. He fully activated his Divine Sense, gazing at the amber jade. He took out the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome from his storage grid, infused it with spiritual power, and borrowed its thunder power to generate thunder fire, which could then melt the amber jade.
【Golden Amber Stone】
【Grade: Fourth-Order Spiritual Item】
【Properties: Time Stasis, Impervious to Water and Fire】
【Amber stone formed from the overflowing sap of a Fourth-Order Golden Amber Tree. It has the effect of sealing time and fixing vitality, and is impervious to water and fire. It can only be melted by roasting with thunder fire.】
The attribute information of the amber jade appeared in the character's virtual frame. Li Mu held the Five-Order Thunder Talisman Spiritual Tome, infused a large amount of spiritual power, generated thunder spiritual essence, and a large number of blue electric snakes gathered to form a blue thunder fire.
Under Li Mu's Divine Sense manipulation, the amber jade flew up on its own, suspended above the blue thunder fire. The solidified golden amber quickly turned into wisps of green smoke and dissipated, and a scent of amber filled the sealed stone chamber.
Under the roasting of the blue thunder fire, the golden amber stone melted rapidly, and the Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly encased within gradually revealed itself.
Li Mu's Divine Sense flickered, and he immediately remotely controlled the 'soul nurturing urn' to fly up, opened its lid, and quickly sliced open the abdomen of the fully unsealed Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly, taking out a cluster of insect eggs and placing them into the soul nurturing urn.
Li Mu manipulated the soul nurturing urn with his Divine Sense, preventing the nascent souls from escaping the soul nurturing urn. He then observed the changes in the insect eggs within the soul nurturing urn. He saw that over a thousand insect eggs unconsciously absorbed the nascent Soul Power from the soul nurturing urn, and their vitality gradually grew stronger.
【Illusionary Demon Butterfly Eggs】
【Grade: Fourth-Order Yao Beast】
【Properties: Fatal Dream, Spirit Absorption and Soul Devouring】
【Status: Weak vitality, recovering with Soul Power infusion.】
【Unhatched Illusionary Demon Butterfly eggs, Fourth-Order Yao Beast, skilled in confusing creatures, preys on souls for food. Recovering with abundant nascent Soul Power, expected to successfully hatch in 27 days.】
Under the Divine Ability talent of Identifying Myriad Spirits, the status of the insect eggs was fully displayed. Li Mu clearly saw the real-time status of the insect eggs, and his worried expression vanished, replaced by a hint of joy.
Over a thousand Illusionary Demon Butterfly eggs, the vast majority were alive. Once they all hatched and were raised for a period, this number would be sufficient to put into the Hundred Refinement Cauldron and refine a Gu Spirit.
Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief, covered the soul nurturing urn, and placed it directly on the table, letting them recover slowly.
Putting the Thunder Spiritual Tome into his storage grid, Li Mu's gaze fell on the corpse of the Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly. He frowned, wondering how to refine it into a Yao Beast Puppet. Among the Puppet recipes of the Thousand Machine Puppet Art, there was no method for refining small Yao Beast Puppets, only for large Yao Beasts, such as the Nine Mother Earth Spider and the Death Demon Mantis Puppet.
The Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly's body was too small to embed a Puppet core.
Thinking of something, Li Mu's mind stirred. He took out a laborer puppet from his nine storage spiritual pearl, opened the laborer puppet's central Puppet core, and took out the Puppet core refined from a Fourth-Order Soul Wood Spirit Seed. This was a Puppet core only the size of a small fingertip, perfectly suited for the palm-sized Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly.
Li Mu's eyes lit up, and he immediately became energetic. He took out the spiritual Materials specifically used for refining Yao Beast Puppets from his nine storage spiritual pearl: Yao Bones, foul-smelling spiritual liquid, carving knives, containers, and various other miscellaneous spiritual items and tools. He began to modify the Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly's body and engrave Puppet patterns.
Li Mu used his Divine Sense as a carving knife, the Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly's corpse as a base, and engraved Puppet patterns. He removed the demon butterfly's colorful wings and replaced them with carved feathers made of Third-Order Yao Bones, with the Soul Wood Puppet core as the main component... After three days of refining, he finally refined a small and exquisite Illusionary Butterfly Puppet.
No, it was no longer an Illusionary Butterfly, but a Second-Order miniature insect-type Puppet refined from the corpse of a Fourth-Order Illusionary Butterfly, Third-Order Yao Bone feathers, and a Fourth-Order Soul Wood Spirit Seed Puppet core.
It did not possess the terrifying soul-devouring ability of the Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly, nor the offensive capabilities of a Battle Puppet. It was refined into a micro-reconnaissance Puppet, only half the size of a palm, with extremely fast flight speed.
Amidst faint 'hissing' sounds, the Butterfly Puppet flew around Li Mu at high speed, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes up, sometimes down, as fast as thunder, almost invisible to the naked eye.
The Butterfly Puppet flew at high speed for a while, its small body flickering with spiritual light, and finally lost its endurance, slowly descending into Li Mu's palm.
Li Mu sighed. The design concept of this Butterfly Puppet was correct, and it fully met the design requirements. Its stealth, speed, and body flexibility were all sufficient. The only problem was its endurance.
The Butterfly Puppet had to be driven by Spirit Stones, but its body was too small. It could only use three small fingertip-sized pieces of fragmented Spirit Stone cut from a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone to power this Butterfly Puppet.
When the Butterfly Puppet flew at full speed, its flight speed was comparable to that of a Light Cloud Spirit Boat, and this small amount of Spirit Stone was not enough for it to fly fifty li.
Although the Butterfly Puppet had no combat power, it was a Sharp Weapon for reconnaissance, suitable for some special occasions. With Li Mu's Divine Sense attached, his observation distance increased significantly.
"Hmm! If I get the chance, I'll try cutting an High-Grade Spirit Stone or even a Top-Grade Spirit Stone to use." Li Mu put away the Butterfly Puppet.
With the success of this Puppet modification, Li Mu immediately broadened his thinking, no longer limited to refining Puppets according to the Puppet recipes provided by the Thousand Machine Puppet Art. Instead, he chose to design them himself from scratch, refining Puppets according to his own ideas.
For example, he could make the Sentry Spider Puppet larger, adding Puppet array patterns for pouncing, increasing the eight wooden legs' ability to spring up and embrace, and so on. He could also open a hidden slot in its abdomen for Spiritual Charms, and add trigger array patterns to place a Blasting Thunder Amulet or a Fireball Amulet.
With such a modification, the Sentry Spider Puppet would immediately gain the lethality of jumping and self-detonating.
When a dense swarm of Sentry Spider Puppets swarmed towards the enemy, pouncing to embrace faces, hands, feet, and bodies, and then triggering the Blasting Thunder Amulets and Fireball Amulets within their abdomens, causing them to explode one after another—that scene would be truly beautiful.
As soon as he thought of this application scenario, Li Mu was immediately moved, wishing he could devote himself entirely to the modification of the Puppets.
...
Next, Li Mu immersed himself in a reclusive, pastoral life. He planted Wind Spirit Grass in the 82 mu of Spiritual Fields, watered them with spiritual rain daily, and in his free time, refined Puppets, helped Wanbao Pavilion refine a few Spiritual Artifacts, purchased Yao Beast meat, and Cultivated the Spirit Devouring Life Nurturing Art. Every eight or nine days, he would spare some time to fly to Xiao Liang Mountain to inspect the tea fields.
Li Mu's days at the Southern Hidden Mountain Villa were both fulfilling and leisurely.
Time flew by, and twenty-seven days passed.
Li Mu entered the stone room, observing the hatching of the Fourth-Order Seven-Colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly eggs in the soul nurturing urn.
The nascent souls in the soul nurturing urn had long been consumed. One by one, the Illusionary Demon Butterfly eggs broke out of their shells, like small white caterpillars. When they crawled, their bodies would appear and disappear, which was quite miraculous. However, their bodies emitted a dangerous aura, and faint soul-sucking fluctuations emanated from them, carrying a hallucinatory scent.
Almost all the Illusionary Demon Butterfly larvae had hatched. It was almost time!
Over twelve hundred Illusionary Demon Butterfly larvae. How many nascent souls would it take to raise them to maturity! Li Mu didn't have the ability to raise so many; raising just one was probably enough.
Immediately, Li Mu poured all twelve hundred-plus Illusionary Demon Butterfly larvae from the soul nurturing urn into the Hundred Refinement Cauldron. Then, he closed the cauldron lid and infused spiritual power to activate the Hundred Refinement Cauldron's Thousand Insects Soul Seizing Array.
With the infusion of a large amount of spiritual power, the Hundred Refinement Cauldron was activated. The Thousand Insects Soul Seizing Array started, releasing a reddish blood-god gu essence. The twelve hundred-plus Illusionary Demon Butterfly larvae collectively surged with energy as if injected with chicken blood, boiling with frenzy and fighting each other.
The Hundred Refinement Cauldron hummed, and as the Thousand Insects Soul Seizing Array activated, the furnace body shook violently. The artifact foundation became unstable, and an artifact pattern quickly dissipated. The entire furnace body seemed about to explode, and its spirituality rapidly weakened.
Li Mu was startled. With one hand, he infused spiritual power to maintain the Thousand Insects Soul Seizing Array, while his Divine Sense entered the Hundred Refinement Cauldron. He simultaneously injected Artifact Refining condensation spiritual power to prevent the artifact patterns from dissipating...
Time passed bit by bit. Li Mu felt every second was like a year, and his spiritual power consumption was enormous.
Li Mu's face turned pale, and he secretly groaned. If the Thousand Insects Soul Seizing Array didn't end soon, he wouldn't be able to hold on.
The Hundred Refinement Cauldron's artifact foundation had already begun to collapse. This Gu Spirit refinement would be its last glory.
Hold on!
"Chirp!" A crisp insect sound suddenly rang out from the Hundred Refinement Cauldron, as if celebrating victory, full of pride.
Hearing this faint sound, the sounds of the thousand insects fighting within the Hundred Refinement Cauldron also ceased. Li Mu's spirits lifted, and he was immediately overjoyed. It was finally over.
Li Mu's Divine Sense swept across, confirming the situation, and he immediately withdrew his spiritual power support for the Hundred Refinement Cauldron.
With a crisp 'bang', the Hundred Refinement Cauldron, like a taut spring, exploded outwards in all directions, turning into countless fragments and powder. In the center of the furnace, a blood-red Illusionary Demon Butterfly larva appeared, its body five or six times larger than its previous white larval state.
"Chirp!" The sudden explosion of the Hundred Refinement Cauldron startled the blood-colored larva, which was at a loss.
The blood-colored larva discovered Li Mu, and its dark eyes immediately became bloodshot and crimson, exuding a fierce, bloody aura. A powerful mental illusionary force immediately surged out.
Li Mu's mind wavered for a moment, then he quickly sobered up, breaking out in a cold sweat.
If he hadn't raised his Quenching Spirit Art to Level 10 and gained the Divine Soul Self-Stabilization Divine Ability for Divine Soul defense, he would have definitely fallen victim to that attack.
Although this little fellow had just hatched, its strength should not be underestimated!
Li Mu looked at the little fellow with both joy and lingering fear. If he gave it some time to grow, he would definitely be unable to resist its innate ability. But now! It had no chance!
"Chirp?" The blood-colored Yao Beast chirped in confusion. Its usually infallible hunting method had failed. What was going on?
"Little fellow, not convinced? Try mine!" Li Mu chuckled, forming the Spirit Control Contract Seal with his hand, and a spiritual light from his Divine Soul entered the blood-colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly larva's body.
The next moment, a blood-colored insect shadow, branded with the Spirit Control Contract Seal, immediately appeared in Li Mu's Sea of Consciousness.
Through this Spirit Control Contract Seal, Li Mu could perceive the insect shadow's emotions: confusion, hunger, loss, doubt, and other small emotions.
"Little fellow, are you hungry? Call me 'Daddy', and I'll give you something good to eat!" Li Mu extended his index finger, gently nudging the blood-colored larva's head, and said with a smile.
"Chirp chirp!" The little fellow seemed to understand, chirping twice. With the Spirit Control Contract Seal formed, it now felt no hostility towards Li Mu, only intimacy and obedience.
"Haha! Of course it's good stuff, I just don't know if you can eat it all, I'm afraid you can't digest it!" Li Mu laughed heartily, then looked at the little fellow's attribute information and immediately felt relieved.
Li Mu took out a jade bottle from his nine storage spiritual pearl. This jade bottle contained the essence soul of a Third-Order Yao Beast—a Azure Eyed Tiger—obtained from a Foundation Establishment trade fair in exchange for a Low Grade crimson-gold Spiritual Sword.
Li Mu had originally planned to try using the Divine Refinement Spirit Fusion Method to refine this Yao Tiger essence soul into a Spiritual Artifact, creating a Low Grade Spirit Treasure with an artifact spirit. However, due to the lack of suitable Artifact Refining Materials and a method to tame the Yao Beast's soul, and to avoid damaging his Divine Soul, he had never fully committed to it.
But now! The little fellow was hungry, wasn't it! This Yao Tiger essence soul was just right to become its food.
After taking out the jade bottle, Li Mu brought it closer to the little fellow, and then, with a 'pop', opened the lid of the soul gathering bottle.
As soon as the soul gathering bottle opened, an Azure Eyed Tiger essence soul roared, about to rush out. Immediately, the Azure Eyed Tiger essence soul saw the blood-colored Yao Beast. Its roaring abruptly stopped, and like a mouse seeing a cat, it 'whooshed' back into the soul gathering bottle.
The little fellow saw the Azure Eyed Tiger essence soul, and its dark, round eyes flashed with a bloody glint. Its body sprang out like a coiled spring.
With a 'plop', the little fellow was too fat, its chubby body getting stuck in the mouth of the jade bottle. Its small butt wiggled, looking very comical.
"Hahaha! Little glutton, stuck, aren't you!" Seeing this scene, Li Mu laughed heartily.
However, given the little fellow's innate attributes, even if it didn't crawl into the soul gathering bottle, it could still eat the Azure Eyed Tiger essence soul. It being stuck now was good, as it perfectly blocked the bottle's mouth, leaving the Azure Eyed Tiger essence soul nowhere to escape.
"Hmm! I should give you a name. What should it be? Blood Coral? Spicy Strip?" Li Mu, who was terrible at naming, looked at the blood-colored Illusionary Demon Butterfly larva wiggling its butt while stuck in the bottle's mouth, feeling a headache.
"Chirp chirp! Gurgle gurgle!" The blood-colored Yao Beast, blocking the bottle's mouth, greedily absorbed the Azure Eyed Tiger essence soul's Soul Power in large gulps. Its blood-colored little butt wiggled even more happily.
As it absorbed a large amount of Soul Power, the blood color on its body rapidly began to lighten. Li Mu looked at the little fellow's attribute information and immediately decided to call it 'Little White'.
The essence blood of the Blood God Gu was being rapidly absorbed by Little White. Little White had successfully advanced to a Fifth-Order Gu Spirit, and it would soon return to its original snow-white color.