A few days later
Fully recovered, Li Ye once again descended into the underground lava cave.
As usual, he first conducted a thorough survey of the surrounding array restrictions and fire beast activity, carefully noting down any changes.
Ever since Xu Pingyang and Ma Ying had recklessly barged in and shattered the balance that had been maintained here for thousands if not tens of thousands of years, the arrays and fire beasts had become increasingly active.
The entire expansion trend was now irreversible. The chain reactions had already triggered tremors across the Chidi Mountains, and it was only a matter of time before the lava palace would be fully exposed to the world.
Even so, Li Ye's efforts over the past year hadn't been in vain!
Everywhere he passed, the chaotic arrays were largely sorted out, reducing instability and destructive potential across the region.
In particular, after he embedded three large formations into the wildest sections of the arrays subduing and refining them he carved out three designated safe zones. From there, the surrounding array fields had grown significantly more stable under his observation.
This, in turn, helped slow the overall pace of expansion.
However, the true scale of this lava palace extended vastly beneath the surface. Even after a full year of exploration, Li Ye had only covered a small corner of the area.
Compared to the full extent of the array network, his progress was barely worth mentioning.
All he could do was seize whatever advantages he could before this place inevitably drew the attention of others.
Once he confirmed the area was safe, Li Ye passed through two array-formed safe zones and reached the edge of the third.
After a brief calculation, he dispatched a total of nine puppets to proceed ahead.
Through the long-term use of puppets to temper his spiritual sense, Li Ye's progress in this aspect outpaced his cultivation of magical power.
Even without the follow-up techniques of the Thousand Thoughts Divine Refinement Technique, the innate strength of his divine sense already superior to his pre-breakthrough mental capacity had allowed him to reach the level of one mind, twelve threads.
Controlling nine puppets in tandem during exploration was far from his limit now, but he intentionally reserved some focus to remain alert and respond quickly to any surprises a cautious and steady approach.
......
With a core disciple token in hand and his growing familiarity with the array formations, the restrictions no longer posed a serious obstacle for Li Ye.
The puppet squad advanced almost unhindered.
If it weren't for the need to clear out fire beasts along the way and search the island buildings to avoid missing anything valuable, they might've progressed without ever needing to stop!
Even so, the progress he made today alone already surpassed the total of several previous expeditions combined!
Soon, the structure that was likely the Assessment Hall came into view.
Li Ye, feeling a hint of anticipation, commanded the puppet squad to carry the token and step onto the ruined building.
Based on his observations, the restrictions in this area were almost entirely at the second tier and above. Some that he couldn't fully decipher might even possess third-tier or higher power. Without the puppets paving the way, he wouldn't have dared to entertain any thoughts of entering.
Yet the moment the puppets stepped onto the island, the formations within the structure began to respond, resonating with the token in the puppet's hand.
A slightly archaic voice with an indistinct accent echoed intermittently from within the ruins:
"Core… Core disciple… Nie Yanyu… verification passed…"
"No disciple presence detected… Detected… nine second-tier puppets… lower than disciple's cultivation… Unable to initiate puppet combat assessment…"
"Clack! No… record… begin assessment from Yellow Rank…"
Li Ye's expression turned to surprise as he listened to the broken sentences that required a bit of interpretation.
"Is that a formation spirit… or a puppet intelligence created through mechanical craft?"
He muttered to himself before making a judgment.
"From how mechanically it reacts, this should be a pre-programmed puppet intelligence… If it were a formation spirit, it would possess full awareness, like a true sentient being…"
"Besides, if a real formation spirit existed here, all the noise I've made these past months would've already drawn its attention. It wouldn't have blindly accepted the token's verification."
Was this just an assessment mechanism?
Li Ye's expression grew complicated. He had no idea how much of this broken-down building could still function.
If he recklessly initiated the assessment and triggered a formation backlash, then what?
As thoughts raced through his mind, he immediately ordered the puppets to retreat.
But despite how sluggish the system seemed taking ages just to form a coherent response it now reacted with surprising speed.
The formations shifted, sealing off the area.
Under Li Ye's darkened gaze, light rippled from the ruined structure, as if something was stirring and about to manifest before the puppet squad…
And then nothing happened.
"Clack… defeated equivalent first-tier trial puppets in three seconds… assessment passed…"
"Huh?"
Li Ye froze in place, then couldn't help but chuckle.
Most likely, the original assessment puppets had been removed or destroyed, or simply weren't located on this section of the Assessment Hall.
So despite the mechanism attempting to run its procedure, it couldn't summon the proper opponents.
As a result, for some unknown reason, the puppet logic simply auto-validated the assessment as passed and issued an evaluation accordingly.
The raised formations quickly receded without triggering any further reactions.
Li Ye, watching from afar through the puppets' linked perception, finally let out a huge sigh of relief.
Thank goodness it was just a false alarm.
For a moment back there, he was this close to turning tail and running.
Just then, the broken voice resumed from the ruins:
"Updating assessment record… True Disciple potential is confirmed… Reward granted: First Layer of Heavenly Craft Scripture…"
Whoosh
A beam of light shot out from the ruined structure and entered the core disciple token.
"Heavenly Craft Scripture?!"
Li Ye's eyes widened, joy bursting across his face.
The Heavenly Craft Scripture was the foundational technique of the Heavenly Craft Hall. Even core disciples had to earn the right to learn it and only True Disciples could hope to access the complete version.
Even just the first layer was a tremendous opportunity for him!
But the surprises didn't stop there.
"Yellow Rank assessment complete… Initiating Profound Rank assessment…"
The mechanical voice continued. The formations activated again, seemingly recognizing that puppets had been deployed.
And again nothing showed up.
A few moments passed, and once more came the verdict:
"Defeated second-tier puppets in three seconds… assessment passed…"
"New record set… Reward granted: Second Layer of Heavenly Craft Scripture…"
"…"
"Earth Rank assessment…"
"Defeated third-tier puppets… assessment passed…"
"New record set… Reward granted: True Disciple Seal… Third Layer of Heavenly Craft Scripture…"
"Heaven Rank assessment… clack… insufficient permissions to proceed…"
Three successive beams of light entered the disciple token. After that, all movement ceased, as if the site had reached its limit.
Standing in the safety zone, watching all this unfold through his puppet's shared senses, Li Ye was left completely speechless.
Just like that with no real effort, without even using a single puppet spirit stone or fire beast core he had acquired the first three layers of the Heavenly Craft Scripture and the True Disciple Seal?
At this point… was there even any need to visit the Mechanical Hall?
Wiping his face, feeling like all of this was slightly unreal, Li Ye let out a heartfelt sigh.
"Artificial fool… truly magnificent."
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