Ye Chen looked down from above at the three Quasi-Monarch corpses, capable of withstanding such Quasi-Monarch might, and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
After pondering for a long time, a glint of inspiration suddenly flashed in his eyes. "Perhaps they can be refined into puppets. Although puppets refined through ordinary methods still have some gap compared to true Quasi-Monarchs, lacking the corresponding Quasi-Monarch soul and unable to operate Quasi-Monarch laws—merely possessing the physique of a Quasi-Monarch—they would still be enough to rival a Seven Tribulation super Divine King. Combined with the Primordial Heaven and Earth within them, they might not even be inferior to peak Eight or Nine Tribulation Divine Kings."
"Moreover, I can refine three Quasi-Monarch puppets. This wouldn't just benefit me; it could also provide protection for A Beinu, Yu Qing, and the others."
In an instant, numerous thoughts flashed through Ye Chen's mind, and he immediately made a decision.
However, refining puppets was not that simple; one couldn't just refine them at will.
It must be known that ordinary methods of refining puppets were quite crude, similar to alchemy. Without proper techniques, one merely roughly combined various materials. Although the result might still be a pill, its efficacy would be far less than twenty or thirty percent of a pill refined using a proper alchemical formula, with most of the medicinal effects being wasted.
Similarly, refining puppets was the same. The ordinary puppet-refining methods in the world were this crude and sloppy. During the refining process, many parts of the original puppet might even be damaged, potentially causing the refinement to fail and the materials to be wasted in vain.
Even if finally refined, the power it could unleash would only be twenty or thirty percent of its former strength in life, perhaps not even ten percent, making it nothing more than the most trash-tier puppet.
"Although puppet refinement isn't as widely spread as alchemy, many forces within the various Primordial Chaos Ancient Universes know how to refine puppets. Even among the various imperial clans and Immortal Clans, several know puppet-refining methods. One Immortal Clan, in particular, is renowned throughout the Chaos Sea for its puppet refinement."
Ye Chen murmured to himself and soon locked onto one Immortal Clan—
The Corpse Immortal Clan!
As the name suggested, the founding Supreme Immortal of this clan was a corpse that was reborn and achieved the status of a Supreme Immortal, also known as the Corpse Immortal. Even if not an Immortal King, it was still extremely famous in the Chaos Sea.
Throughout the ages, there had been quite a few Emperors and Supreme Immortals who reincarnated and achieved the Supreme position. However, reviving within a deceased corpse, giving birth to a completely new consciousness, and achieving the status of a Supreme Immortal was undoubtedly very unconventional.
Especially since 'Immortal' and 'Corpse' seemed so incompatible. Corpses were filled with deathly and Yin energy, while Immortals were supremely Yang and transcendent above the Thirty-Three Heavens. It was hard for anyone to imagine the two being connected.
But the Corpse Immortal achieved it, becoming an Immortal with a corpse body, creating a mythical record throughout the ages and becoming famous throughout the Chaos Sea.
What was even more shocking was that the Corpse Immortal focused on cultivating the divine soul path. After becoming an Immortal, to advance further and achieve greater immortality, it actually refined its own Supreme Immortal body into an invincible Supreme-grade puppet body, with its divine soul residing within. It also created the Supreme Puppet Chapter, which could maximize the effectiveness of puppet refinement.
Fortunately, among the various Emperor Scriptures and Immortal Scriptures obtained at the Ninth Heavenly Pass, one was the Immortal Scripture of the Corpse Immortal Clan, which also contained parts of the puppet-refining method.
Back then, Ye Chen hadn't paid much attention to such puppet-refining methods. He never expected that now he would need to use this Immortal Scripture technique.
"The Immortal Dao Puppet Method can use living beings as a foundation, corpses as a foundation, mountains and rivers as a foundation, trees and stones as a foundation... It can use all things between heaven and earth as a foundation to refine puppets."
This was the introduction to the Immortal Dao Puppet Method, from the Corpse Immortal. It was incredibly heaven-defying, capable of refining all things between heaven and earth—even a stone, even a speck of dust—into puppets. It was omnipotent, shocking even Ye Chen.
Truly worthy of the Corpse Immortal who dared to refine its own Supreme Immortal body into a puppet body; it was indeed the pinnacle of the puppet path.
"Naturally, the most superior method is to use the corpses of powerful beings as a foundation for refining puppets. This saves a lot of refining materials and also grants a powerful puppet body."
"Puppet refinement is divided into nine grades: lower three grades, middle three grades, and upper three grades."
"The most basic direct puppet refinement isn't even considered a ninth-grade method; it's called an ungraded method. The power it can unleash is merely ten to twenty percent of the corpse's strength in life."
"If one can supplement with some materials to refine a corpse puppet possessing over thirty percent but less than fifty percent of the corpse's strength in life, it can be considered lower three grades."
"Possessing over fifty percent but less than seventy percent is middle three grades."
"Over seventy percent but less than one hundred percent is upper three grades."
Ye Chen read the introduction silently, never expecting puppet refinement to also have distinctions between ungraded and nine grades.
"However, these are still just ordinary nine grades. The puppet refinement of my Corpse Immortal Clan, as long as no major mistakes occur during the refining process, can allow the puppet to unleash over seventy percent of its strength in life. There's even a certain probability of achieving a full one hundred percent."
When the introduction reached this point, the Corpse Immortal Scripture exuded an undeniable sense of pride.
Refining a puppet to possess one hundred percent of its strength in life was basically impossible to achieve, but the Corpse Immortal Clan could achieve it, fully demonstrating the fearsomeness of this Immortal Clan.
"To make a puppet possess strength surpassing its original master in life—this is the Ultimate Chapter!"
When Ye Chen saw this, his heart suddenly raced. Even he couldn't help but be shocked.
To be able to refine a puppet that surpasses the strength of the corpse in life—how astonishing that would be.
However, when Ye Chen continued reading, he found that the restrictions for refining such an Ultimate puppet were truly immense. The required corpse not only had to be complete but also required a flawless divine soul, along with numerous puppet-refining materials. Each one was truly top-tier material, often rare divine materials that even Divine Kings might not possess. It also required the assistance of a grandmaster-level formation expert to refine such an Ultimate puppet, enabling it to unleash strength surpassing its former life.
"Heaven Soul Stone, Chaos Nine Mysterious Bamboo, Heaven-Opening Glazed Earth, Burial Ground Ash..."
Ye Chen listed some of the material names required for refining the Ultimate puppet. There were exactly one hundred materials in total. However, even with Ye Chen's extensive knowledge, he barely recognized about eighty percent of them, which wasn't many.
As for the other divine materials, even he had never heard of them.
When he saw the final requirement, he instantly drew a sharp breath.
Because the puppet corpse required for the Ultimate Chapter was far from an ordinary corpse; it required a Supreme-grade corpse like that of an Emperor or Supreme Immortal. Only such a Supreme corpse could refine a true Ultimate puppet.
Seeing this, Ye Chen could only smile wryly, because this was simply impossible. Emperors and Supreme Immortals were invincible Supreme beings standing at the very peak of the Chaos Sea. How could they be refined into such Ultimate puppets?
In the end, Ye Chen could only settle for the next best thing. Although he couldn't refine an Ultimate puppet, the puppet methods of the Corpse Immortal Clan were at least upper three grades. Moreover, the methods for refining puppets of specific realms were recorded in the corresponding realm chapters.
Fortunately, Ye Chen possessed the Divine King and Monarch chapters of the Corpse Immortal Clan, allowing him to refine Quasi-Monarch puppets.
"Quasi-Monarchs, strictly speaking, still belong to the Divine King level. They are merely a special realm achieved after the extreme sublimation of a Divine King, infinitely close to an Ancient Monarch—similar to Half-Saints, Half-Step Divine Kings, and Monarchs. They can be refined using the puppet methods from the Divine King Chapter. However, to ensure the Quasi-Monarch puppet can reach the peak level of its former life, some Monarch-grade materials are still needed."
"Using my Corpse Immortal Clan's Corpse Immortal Puppet Method to refine puppets, once successful, they will at least belong to the upper three grades; it's impossible for them to become middle or lower three grades."
"Third-grade puppets can unleash seventy percent of their strength in life; second-grade, eighty percent; first-grade, ninety percent. If there's a certain probability of reaching super-first-grade, the puppet can possess one hundred percent strength, not inferior to a true Quasi-Monarch, and can even unleash Quasi-Monarch-level divine abilities and Great Dao."
Following the puppet-refining method recorded in the Divine King Chapter of the Corpse Immortal Clan's Immortal Scripture, Ye Chen focused on reading it and couldn't help but nod. With the Corpse Immortal Clan's puppet method, even in the worst-case scenario, as long as the refinement succeeded, it would possess seventy percent power, which was quite good.
This was the fearsome aspect of the Corpse Immortal Clan—the puppets they refined were at least upper three grades from the start.
Ye Chen began preparing to refine the Quasi-Monarch puppets.
"Nine Revolutions Heaven Soul Stone, Diamond Glazed Stone, Heaven Poison Liquid, Sun Essence Iron, Star Blue Silver, Nine Yin Water..."
After glancing at the materials required for puppet refinement, even Ye Chen couldn't help but frown slightly.
Because these materials were all top-tier divine materials; some were even rare divine materials that would tempt Ancient Monarchs. Moreover, the vast majority were metal-type divine materials. Only such metal-type divine materials could maximize the unleashing of the puppet's former strength.
Fortunately, the divine treasures he had obtained over the years were not few. He had even taken half of an imperial clan's divine treasure hoard, not to mention completely wiping out the Heavenly Emperor Palace in the Chaos Holy Realm and obtaining a great deal. Thus, he was wealthy and powerful.
Following the puppet-refining method from the Divine King Chapter, he first began refining one of the alien race Quasi-Monarch corpses, placing it in the Chaos Great Cauldron.
This Quasi-Monarch corpse belonged to a Quasi-Monarch from the alien race's Dark Heavenly Emperor Clan in life. After perishing, it no longer retained a human form, instead being a Dark Golden Crow. Even under the Supreme suppression of the Ten Heavens Ancient Domain, it could still reach a size of one hundred thousand li, far beyond what the Immortal Pond could accommodate.
However, under Ye Chen's deliberate refinement, the Dark Golden Crow Quasi-Monarch corpse was reduced to just three zhang in height and slowly landed in the Chaos Great Cauldron. Its entire body exuded a faint Monarch Heavenly Might, extremely terrifying, enough to make ordinary Divine Kings unable to withstand it, their forms and spirits collapsing.
If not for Ye Chen's unfathomable cultivation, an ordinary Five Tribulation Divine King would be utterly incapable of facing a Quasi-Monarch so directly, even if it was just a Quasi-Monarch corpse.
"To refine a Quasi-Monarch puppet, merely having the materials is not enough. There are also extremely high requirements for the refiner: possessing sufficiently powerful divine soul strength, at least comparable to an Eight Tribulation Divine King's divine soul strength. Otherwise, when refining the Quasi-Monarch corpse, backlash is very likely to occur, causing uneven refining force and wasting a Quasi-Monarch corpse in vain."
This was some important information Ye Chen learned from the puppet-refining method in the Divine King Chapter of the Corpse Immortal Scripture.
Naturally, with his divine soul strength fully comparable to a Nine Tribulation Divine King, this point was more than sufficient.
"I have met all the various requirements. It's time to refine the Quasi-Monarch puppets. I hope they will give me a pleasant surprise!" A glint of anticipation flashed in Ye Chen's eyes.