It made sense when one thought about it.
Although the combat power of these mechanical puppets was suppressed to the Qi Refinement realm, they were physically tough enough to withstand attacks from a Nascent Soul cultivator.
How could Qi Refinement cultivators possibly harm them?
After that barrage of flashy attacks from the thirty-plus Qi Refinement cultivators, the seventeen puppets hadn't even flinched.
The cultivators simply couldn't break their defense!
Conversely, with the puppets' offensive power also restricted to the Qi Refinement realm, their attacks weren't that terrifying either.
After the fight, the third expedition team, though thoroughly beaten, had mostly managed to preserve their lives.
At this point, everyone finally woke up from their fantasies.
The treasures of Tian Yang’s cave dwelling were not something lowly Qi Refinement cultivators like them could hope to covet.
The seventeen mechanical puppets guarded the door, barring all outsiders from entry.
Li Fan thought it over; even if he had gone, the result would likely have been similar. He wouldn't have gained anything.
I wonder how the matter with this cave dwelling was ultimately resolved in my past life? Li Fan pondered to himself.
After he had joined the Myriad Immortals Alliance, he had never heard anyone mention Tian Yang's cave dwelling.
Clearly, by that time, the cave dwelling had long since vanished.
Perhaps a mighty figure stepped in to settle the matter.
That was Li Fan's guess.
And so, the turmoil stirred up by Tian Yang's cave dwelling gradually subsided.
Faced with a treasure trove they could see but not taste, everyone decisively chose to forget about it.
Of course, there were those who thought themselves clever, hoping to gather a hundred or even more Qi Refinement cultivators to explore the place again.
Using the strategy of overwhelming numbers, one group would hold off the seventeen puppets. The other group could then charge straight in to search for opportunities deep inside the cave dwelling.
But no one paid them any heed.
They were all Qi Refinement cultivators; why should they risk their own potential demise for someone else's opportunity? No one was willing to be the sacrificial pawn.
And so, just like that, fewer and fewer cultivators kept Tian Yang's cave dwelling in their thoughts.
Even the Myriad Immortals Alliance seemed to have forgotten about it, never bringing it up again.
The Congyun Sea became peaceful once more.
Li Fan also found a rare opportunity to settle his mind and focus on his cultivation.
Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed. It was now Anchor Year 13.
On this day, Li Fan was examining the results of his last six months of dedicated cultivation.
He had been cultivating the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture and the Heaven-Swapping Art in tandem, using each for reference.
He had reached the late-stage Qi Refinement level in both, and he could faintly sense the presence of a bottleneck.
All he needed to do was break through this bottleneck, and he could build his Dao Foundation with a Curio of heaven and earth, becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
As for the Cloudwater Dream Illusion Art, after breaking through to the third level, his progress had slowed to a crawl, forcing him to temporarily abandon it for now.
The third level of the Dream Illusion Art could already affect Foundation Establishment cultivators to a certain degree, depending on the gap between the target's mental strength and Li Fan's own.
As for the Shadow Stalk Art and the Nether Spirit Illusion Art, there simply hadn't been enough time to cultivate them yet.
It seems cultivating too many techniques isn't necessarily a good thing. Perhaps I should consider merging and streamlining them...
With my current understanding of cultivation techniques, I can't accomplish that yet.
But if I maintain this epiphanic state while constantly researching, then success is not entirely impossible.
Back in the early-stage Qi Refinement realm, Li Fan’s cultivation and comprehension efficiency in the epiphanic state had been thirty times the norm.
As his cultivation gradually advanced, that efficiency had diminished somewhat.
For his mid-stage Qi Refinement avatar, Lin Fan, the combined effects of the epiphanic state and the Exquisite Liuli Pearl roughly led to a twenty-sevenfold increase in cultivation efficiency.
With an ample reserve of contribution points, Lin Fan could remain in this boosted state indefinitely.
Ten years in this condition was equivalent to 270 years of non-stop, ordinary cultivation.
Li Fan felt that even if merging and refining his techniques might prove difficult, it was absolutely worth attempting. After all, he had more than enough opportunities for trial and error.
The avatar Lin Fan remained deep in contemplation.
His consumption of contribution points had already soared past six thousand.
Far from feeling any distress, Li Fan was actually pleased.
The longer the epiphanic state lasted, the stronger the divine abilities gained would likely be. Li Fan would be thrilled if his avatar could spend all one hundred thousand contribution points on this.
Suddenly, Li Fan’s mind stirred.
The lock he had placed on Zhang Haobo with Formless Killing Mechanism showed faint signs of weakening.
Has Zhang Haobo finally broken through to the Qi Refinement realm? Excellent. It’s faster than I anticipated. He might actually reach the Golden Core realm within a dozen years.
In less than a year, he had gone from a mortal to a Qi Refinement cultivator.
After the change in his fate, Zhang Haobo’s cultivation speed was even faster than in his previous life.
The faster he cultivated and the stronger he became, the greater the turmoil he would be able to stir.
Even if he might not personally be involved in the battle with Crimson Flame, Li Fan, who had already begun comprehending the Interlocking Chains of Life and Death, understood clearly that one must never underestimate the chain reaction a Golden Core cultivator could set in motion.
The descent of Crimson Flame in this lifetime is truly something to look forward to.
***
Three months later, while in seclusion, Li Fan received a message from Yuwen Xing.
"Fellow Daoist Li Fan, have you heard? Our Liuli Island has recently produced a truly remarkable figure!"
Li Fan’s eyes glinted. "Oh? I’d like to hear the details."
"Heh, see for yourself." Yuwen Xing transmitted a video.
In the video, seventeen massive, dark-red puppets swung their enormous fists, each engaged in combat with a blue water sword.
At the center, surrounded by these seventeen puppets, was a single person—Zhang Haobo!
Seven additional blue swords hovered around him, spinning continuously in a protective formation.
He was simultaneously controlling twenty-four water swords, battling all the puppets at once.
This kind of combat was clearly immensely mentally taxing. Before long, three puppets broke through the blockade of water swords and closed in on Zhang Haobo.
Instantly, three of the seven blue swords guarding Zhang Haobo shot out to meet the three puppets.
Zhang Haobo then flew backward in the blink of an eye, withdrawing from the cave dwelling under the furious roars of the puppets.
A moment later, Yuwen Xing’s voice came through, brimming with pride. "Well?”
“Are those seventeen puppets from Tian Yang’s cave dwelling? To fight seventeen puppets alone, even if only for a brief moment, is quite astonishing. Who is this person?" Li Fan feigned ignorance.
"Heh, this person is called Zhang Haobo. Just over a year ago, he was still an ordinary mortal.
"A few months ago, after breaking through to the Qi Refinement realm, he joined our Myriad Immortals Alliance with my referral.
"After hearing the rumors about Tian Yang’s cave dwelling, he went there alone.
"At first, I didn't know what he was doing. I only found out later that he was using those seventeen mechanical puppets for training!
"In the beginning, they say he could only last a few breaths. But with each attempt, he’s able to last longer under the puppets’ onslaught.
"This recording I sent you is already over half a month old.
"I can only wonder what the situation there is like now."