Chapter 344: Dancing With The Demonic Path Puppet! This Might Not Be An Ai Video!
Chen Han looked in surprise at the pile of J-16 mech parts that had only been refined to +1 by the artifact refining furnace.
As the +2 J-16 mech part in front of him was modified, he could clearly see those +1 parts being drawn in.
One head part actually floated up, then shot over to the modified +2 mecha model, where it was caught by the rune light from the demonic puppet modification.
Before Chen Han could react, that drawn +1 part actually began to slowly soften within the rune light.
Or rather, it was dissolving.
Under his stunned gaze, that +1 head part turned into metallic liquid.
At first there was quite a lot of this liquid, but in the blink of an eye it was as if it had been refined, with not much left, and then it flowed into the J-16 head.
Chen Han understood. The game system thought this +2 J-16 was too poor in quality and needed a bit of quenching and enhancement.
As he was thinking this, another +1 head part flew over, and just like the previous +1 head part, it began to melt, turning into metallic liquid that merged into the +2 J-16 head.
Moreover, after this metallic liquid merged into the +2 J-16 head, the metal color of the head actually began to deepen and a trace of dusky black appeared.
Even the runes condensed from the light of the demonic puppet modification stone began to show a faint crimson.
It seemed that some special gas was pouring into the mecha model.
He immediately realized this was resentful energy.
By the time Chen Han reacted, the light emitted by the demonic puppet modification stone had already shrouded the entire J-16, and the condensed runes covered the entire mech.
After that, the pile of +1 parts around the artifact refining furnace was once again drawn in, flying one after another to surround the +2 mecha model, shrouded in the light from the demonic puppet modification stone.
In just a moment, the entire mech had been wrapped in the melted liquid.
Chen Han wanted to record this scene, but as soon as he turned on mobile phone recording, the entire screen filled densely with a snowflake pattern.
It was still affected by the energy, making it impossible to record anything at all.
He had no choice but to give up.
What shocked him even more was that when all the liquid had merged into the +2 J-16 mecha model, the entire mech had completely turned dusky black, looking very deep and heavy.
Compared with its original color, it was as if it had changed to another skin, and at a glance it also looked more solid.
But the modification was not over. The puppet modification stone still emitted red light that enveloped the mecha model, and that red light began to condense into profound runes, spreading across the mech.
At the same time, the demonic puppet modification stone itself began to merge into the body of the mech.
The game prompt followed immediately:
【Demonic puppet structure modification complete. Resentful energy condensed. Demonic puppet heart condensing in progress…】
At this moment.
When Chen Han looked again, perhaps it could no longer be called a mech, because this J-16 had completely turned dusky black, truly matching the color of a demonic puppet.
Moreover, its entire body was covered with crimson runes. At a glance, one could tell this was a product of profound power.
Chen Han took a look and was satisfied with the appearance of this demonic puppet. It was domineering enough, so he immediately picked up his phone to record, using it as part of a later video.
People online were very curious about why he purchased this mecha model. Refining the original mecha model into this form should be abstract enough for the viewers, right?
He simply did not know what the demonic puppet would be like in the end; he had to wait until that resentful energy condensed into the demonic puppet heart.
Clearly, this would take some time.
He looked again at the mech parts beside the artifact refining furnace. Although most had been dissolved by the demonic puppet modification stone, quite a few remained.
Honestly, compared to the original parts, these were basically a different thing entirely.
Lightness +1, willful +1, flexibility +1, hardness +1, that was a full tier ahead.
Especially the flexibility +1 attribute.
Right now, the fundamental problem robots and mechs needed to overcome was flexibility.
From the robot’s first clumsy appearances, to being able to twirl a handkerchief, to performing wushu routines, it was all breakthroughs in flexibility.
Many people said that robot still looked ugly, with no improvement in appearance at all, but in fact there was no need to change it.
Flexibility was the fundamental issue robots now had to overcome.
Once flexibility was solved, appearance and similar aspects would no longer be technical problems, only design problems.
Whatever cool look you wanted, designers could create it.
Now this mecha model had been refined by the artifact refining furnace and gained these attributes. As long as this could be used as a foundation to develop a set of systems to provide drive, perhaps this mech could directly be put into use.
As Chen Han was thinking, his uncle’s surprised voice sounded from behind: “Xiao Han, did you remake this yourself?”
The moment he came in, he was drawn at a glance to this fully dusky black mech covered in crimson runes.
“Sort of,” Chen Han answered ambiguously.
Chen Lin circled the demonic puppet with amazement, then could not help praising, “Xiao Han, this mech seems very different from the original. Just looking at it, it feels much more impressive.”
After praising, he did not forget the serious matter. “Xiao Han, did you guide a driver yesterday, the one going around online?”
Chen Han nodded. “The Chen Clan I rode back with in his car. He had a bit of good fortune, so I gave him some guidance.”
Chen Lin explained, “He brought the three ritual animals and fivefold offerings to fulfill a vow and thank you. Your aunt-grandmother says you should see him. It is also the rules; we should not reject sincere good intentions.”
“Of course, aunt-grandmother also said, if you do not want to be entangled by such mundane affairs, you can establish a vow-fulfilling master specifically to handle these matters.”
“Looks like we need to cultivate a vow-fulfilling master within the family,” Chen Han said directly, then left the family cave mansion with his uncle.
He really did not like all kinds of ceremonies that wasted time and effort.
Like this time, the Evolution Bagua Plate Fragment had just happened to trigger; it was that driver’s good fortune. He did not take such a small matter to heart, let alone intend for the other party to make a big show of fulfilling a vow.
But sometimes when people receive benefits, especially from mysterious phenomena or matters involving deities, they naturally develop the wish to fulfill a vow.
They feel that if they do not fulfill it, they are being disrespectful to the deity, and might not even sleep well.
So cultivating a vow-fulfilling master was necessary. A dedicated person would handle believers who came to fulfill vows.
This time there was no way around it; he had to deal with it in person. After all, the matter had already stirred up such popularity online.
The key point was that it had brought him over a million additional fans at once. With such a boost in reputation, showing his face to put the other party at ease was also good.
When Chen Han and his uncle came out of the Affairs Hall and headed to the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation Hall, they found many tourists gathered outside the hall, all there to join the fun.
After all, the matter of the Chen Family Head taking a ride and divining the situation had gone viral online.
As Chen Han and Chen Lin walked over, many tourists were already pointing their phones at him and filming, including Cai Mengya.
She was very shocked to see this Chen Family Head in person.
Online, everyone said he was miraculous and very capable, but in reality he was very young and, crucially, handsome.
Yet such a handsome person was the head of a family. Seeing him arrive, and the Chen Clan’s Demon Subduing Hall men respectfully greeting him as “Patriarch,” she could see his patriarchal authority.
This was probably like the aristocratic heirs often portrayed in television and movies, right?
Indeed so. The Chen Clan was officially confirmed as a family with a thousand-year inheritance.
Many had seen the announcement and cultural write-up from Linhe County at that time; the Chen Clan’s ancestor was also a very powerful Daoist priest in legends.
It was probably because families like this had passed down unbroken for a thousand years that those mysterious legendary things survived.
Not only did Cai Mengya think this way; the surrounding tourists who saw this Chen Family Head had similar thoughts.
Thinking again of how he had this time divined with a pinch of his fingers and casually saved a family, even three lives, and that he was a purple-robed Daoist priest as well.
This was probably what people meant by an immortal-like figure descending to the world.
Chen Han had no idea the tourists were thinking so far. He entered the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation Hall with his uncle and met the driver from yesterday, who had two elderly people with him.
When Liu Hao saw the Chen Family Head arrive, he did not hesitate and led his parents forward.
He was so excited that he was about to kneel on the spot.
Truly, if not for the Chen Family Head reminding him, reminding the doctor in advance to prepare blood bags, his wife and child might really have been in danger.
So he was sincerely grateful.
“This is modern society. Do not kneel at every turn,” Chen Han said as he saw the man bend his knees to kneel. With a light wave of his hand, Liu Hao’s kneecaps, already dropping toward the floor, stopped in mid-air.
He really hated it when people knelt and kowtowed to him.
In this case, it was “just” fulfilling a vow.
But some people used kneeling and kowtowing as a kind of moral blackmail when begging for help.
Often, helping or not was someone else’s freedom, but once this move was used, the meaning changed.
Some fake saintly mothers and fake good people, seeing this, would righteously denounce, “So cold-blooded, they are so pitiful, already kneeling, and you still will not help.”
Yet such people only shouted. If asked to help themselves, it would feel worse to them than death.
So he really was annoyed by kneeling and kowtowing at every turn.
Liu Hao’s eyes went wide.
It was as if his knees had hit an invisible support; he could not press down at all.
The tourists who had come to join the fun around them also stared, wide-eyed.
Everyone understood how gravity worked. When a person knelt, there was no support point beneath the knees. Now Liu Hao’s kneecaps were hanging suspended in mid-air; it was extremely unreasonable and utterly unscientific.
Everyone looked at the Chen Family Head in disbelief. It clearly had to be related to him; had they not seen him lift his hand and cause this?
Just then, Chen Han gave another gentle wave, and Liu Hao’s knees straightened involuntarily. He stood back up, stunned in place.
The surrounding tourists were completely shocked. A person kneeling in mid-air with no support point could not possibly stand up against gravity like that.
Scenes like this only appeared in movies.
So awesome.
Chen Han, meanwhile, walked to his aunt-grandmother’s side and let her begin the repayment ceremony. He just needed to cooperate.
This repayment ceremony did not require complicated steps and was finished quickly.
After handling Liu Hao’s family and sending them off, he had the Chen Clan’s people come distribute the meat, letting the onlooking tourists take a share of good fortune.
Chen Han also mentioned training a vow-fulfilling master to his aunt-grandmother.
“Do not worry, Patriarch, I will keep this in mind,” his aunt-grandmother said with a smile. She could tell the Patriarch did not like dealing with such matters.
Moreover, now that the Chen Clan had developed to this stage and already entered the Daoist Sect’s registry as an independent branch, some things had to be completed.
After all, the Chen Clan had gone from having no one permitted to wear a Daoist robe to having some people qualified to wear them.
As soon as Chen Han left the Heavenly Lord of Demon Subjugation Hall, the game system gave a prompt:
【Congratulations, demonic puppet modification complete. Demonic puppet heart condensation complete. After a drop of blood, the demonic puppet can recognize its master and be controlled by thought!】
Without hesitation, he headed straight for the Affairs Hall, entered the family cave mansion through the entrance, and at a glance saw the demonic puppet standing quietly there.
At this moment, it still looked like a lifeless object.
But it was really handsome. The metallic sheen matched with those crimson runes made it both cool and wicked.
In modern terms, it was wickedly handsome.
If this were applied to a man, it would be exactly the type many women online liked.
In the past, villains in TV shows were simply villains; no matter how handsome, they were still villains, and the values were very upright.
Now villains were not necessarily villains. As long as they were handsome, some women wanted the writers to change the script so the villain would win and the protagonist must die.
Whether something was righteous no longer mattered; values followed facial features.
So, if earthlings ever started cultivation, saying seventy percent would walk the demonic path was not a joke, and women would make up most of that seventy percent.
Chen Han did not hesitate. He walked up, took out a blood lancet, pricked his fingertip, and dropped a drop of blood on the demonic puppet’s brow.
In the next moment, red light flickered at the puppet’s brow, directly absorbing the drop of blood and merging it into the puppet.
The game prompt appeared right after:
【Congratulations, demonic puppet blood recognition successful. You can now control the demonic puppet with your mind!】
As Chen Han received the prompt, he tried operating the demonic puppet. With a thought, he saw the demonic puppet walk outside.
With another thought, the demonic puppet spun three circles on the spot.
With yet another thought, the demonic puppet started doing broadcast gymnastics.
He directly used sword control technique to throw a mech part toward the puppet, and saw the demonic puppet swing the sword in its hand. With one slash, it cut the mech part cleanly in two.
Then the demonic puppet spun the greatsword twice in a dashing flourish and very stylishly slid it into the slot on its back.
One could say this puppet’s flexibility was extremely strong.
The key point was that a single thought could issue orders. It was absolutely awesome. In future dungeon runs, he would not need to work hard himself; with one thought, the demonic puppet could go kill.
He could even take tea tools from the game warehouse, sit and brew tea, and watch the demonic puppet create a river of blood.
Chen Han tested the demonic puppet, then looked at the data in his mind.
On the game panel there was now an additional demonic puppet entry:
Demonic puppet: level
One low-tier skill can be infused: current infused skill （0/1）.
Upgrade conditions: 100,000 wish power. Sufficient special metal. Condense a blood spirit pearl （The demonic puppet heart was condensed from resentful energy. To trigger its power, it needs to absorb the essence blood of ten thousand people to condense a blood spirit pearl and merge it into the heart. Blood spirit pearl not yet condensed!）
Obviously, this demonic puppet was also a treasure that could be upgraded.
A level one puppet could be infused with a level one skill. This was easy to understand; many games had similar mechanics where treasures or pets carried skills.
Refining treasures or pets could produce new skills.
Some skills were good, some were bad. To get good skills, one had to keep refining.
Some xianxia games were truly ruthless in this area, like a certain Journey to the West game’s pet washing.
But these upgrade conditions for the demonic puppet really made Chen Han want to complain.
The first was 100,000 wish power.
He could accept this now that he had a stable source of wish power, and this demonic puppet was indeed extraordinary.
The second, sufficient special metal, was troublesome.
Was this going to require the same grade of special metal used to refine a flying sword? If it really needed that grade, he did not even have enough materials for flying swords.
He could only hope the special metal requirement was below that of flying sword materials.
And the third, essence blood of ten thousand people to condense a blood spirit pearl.
This was true demonic path.
The demonic methods were getting more vicious.
He had obtained resentful energy by holding the Honor of Kings event. But how was he supposed to get essence blood of ten thousand people?
He could not really kill ten thousand people.
He had not killed anyone for the resentful energy before; now he could not run away from killing ten thousand for this, right?
He let out a heavy sigh.
This was really hard to handle.
But he also had no way to solve the special metal problem for now. This could only be studied later. For the moment, he planned to look into the skill infusion.
Almost as soon as he had the thought, a game prompt appeared in his mind:
【Currently available low-tier skill: 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》. Infuse it?】
Chen Han had basically guessed this.
Among the skills he currently knew, only the 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》 could count as low-tier. Basic Sword Control Technique, basic as it was, was still a cultivation method.
He directly chose yes.
The game prompt sounded again:
【Demonic puppet skill infusion in progress: 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》…】
This time, Chen Han did not wait long before receiving the prompt that the demonic puppet had successfully been infused with 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》.
Looking at the demonic puppet again, there was no visible difference, but when he moved his thoughts, the demonic puppet moved too, directly lifting its leg and using a move of 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》.
Then the demonic puppet began practicing 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》 in front of him, very flexible and skilled, even surpassing Chen Dalong and those Chen Clan prodigies who had practiced it a lot.
The most crucial point was that the demonic puppet’s practice of 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》 had more imposing momentum than Chen Dalong and the others.
With its +2 refined metal body, further enhanced by the demonic puppet modification stone, its physical toughness was terrifying, absolutely beyond any flesh-and-blood body.
Seeing this, Chen Han took out his phone to start recording.
Soon, he and the demonic puppet walked into the lens together in the recorded footage, their movements perfectly synchronized.
This entrance alone was an excellent shot.
Next, the two moved at the same time, practicing 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》 in perfect unison. The moves and footwork were exactly the same. Who would imagine that one of them was a mech-forged puppet?
Compared with this, the robots performing wushu routines in Douyin videos were child’s play.
In the footage, the scene was simply explosive.
Only when a full set of 《Tai Xu Chasing Wind Leg》 finished and both Chen Han and the demonic puppet stopped together did it end.
After watching the video himself, he could only say he was very satisfied. It was explosive.
He immediately began editing the footage, from the mecha model to the unboxing video, then the video of refining in front of the alchemy furnace, then the demonic puppet and finally the joint performance.
He believed once the video was uploaded, the demonic puppet would amaze people.
Of course, he would also run the video through AI to tag it as AI-generated.
When the real seems fake, and the fake seems real; he would apply that principle thoroughly.
…
By night.
Online news about the Chen Clan had reached extreme heat because two hot topics were stacking.
One was naturally the Honor of Kings cosplay competition held by the Chen Clan and Linhe County. The winner had not yet been decided today, and it would even continue tomorrow.
But the related popularity had already given Linhe County and Timi enough exposure. Topics like 3 million bonus, Honor of Kings cosplay, and Linhe County were constantly trending.
Those professional players who led teams to advance to the finals the next day were also becoming well-known in this heat. Their live streams had gained many more viewers that night.
It could be said all sides were winners.
This made many game companies very envious. Rumor had it some were already contacting Linhe County, and some places wanted to imitate this kind of activity.
But those places did not have the Chen Clan, and lacked the pull.
The other hot topic was the video of the driver guided by the Chen Family Head, going to the Chen Clan to fulfill a vow. That had already hit trending searches yesterday and exploded even more today.
Suddenly, word spread that the Chen Family Head could divine fate. Now, not only Daoist Sect Daoist priests were studying divination-related matters; even in the capital city, Minister Ma’s special department had pulled out all the related I Ching books.
Late at night, Minister Ma sat with Daoist Sect researchers as they pored over those books. Of course, he was just present; the actual reading was done by the researchers.
Unfortunately, after studying all day, they had found nothing.
What Minister Ma did notice was the high attention this matter was getting online.
“We still need to suppress this a bit,” Minister Ma instructed his secretary. After all, something that could not currently be explained with scientific explanation was not suitable for too much attention.
Feng Shui and Bagua Zhouyi had already been verified to have scientific explanations and even technological applications; those were different.
“Understood, I will take care of it,” the secretary nodded.
Just then, someone came in and reported to Minister Ma, “Minister Ma, please take a look at this, a new video from the Chen Family Head.”
Minister Ma took it with some confusion and watched. Seeing the content, he thought of an earlier trending topic: the Chen Family Head had bought many mecha models. So, it turned out they were for making this video.
But this was an AI video and did not seem to require special attention. Had the Chen Clan’s cave mansion and artifact refining furnace in previous videos not also been made using AI? The furnace skins and such were even collected from netizens’ AI design images.
Their team had checked and indeed found obvious AI traces in many places in those videos.
As he was thinking this, the man who had brought the report said solemnly, “Our technicians have analyzed it. It seems only the end segment of this video shows AI traces. The rest appears not to be AI. We suggest asking the AI software company to cooperate and confirm.”
“What?” Minister Ma was directly confused.
This might not be an AI video?
The things shown in the video were a joke, right?
……
（Votes, votes, votes）
