The Thousand Luo Ancient Ape was refined with Thousand Luo Stone as the main material. Thousand Luo Stone was a type of worldly anomaly, often found in places with dense spiritual energy from plants and vegetation. It was mainly of the wood attribute, but from its birth, it had its own five-element cycle system, which could evolve the five-element rules of heaven and earth for its own growth. The stone was as hard as ancient refined steel. Even without being refined, a full-force blow from an initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator could at most deform it, but not shatter it.
It was not born in all places with dense plant spiritual energy, but only in places where the essence of plants and vegetation had all five elements, and under the effect of certain laws of heaven and earth, was there a sliver of a chance of it being produced.
Back then, in order to find the Thousand Luo Stone, Shuang Qingqing had spent a hundred years. In the end, during a journey across the Desolate Moon Continent to the Qingqing Continent, she had occasionally found a piece of Thousand Luo Stone. This piece of Thousand Luo Stone was less than the size of a baby's fist, but just this much had made Shuang Qingqing ecstatic, as if she had found a priceless treasure.
After Shuang Qingqing returned to the sect, it took her a full ten years just to temper the Thousand Luo Stone and turn it into a liquid state. Because the Thousand Luo Stone she had obtained was too small, in the end, she could only evenly coat the surface of the ancient ape puppet's body with it.
After another seven years of sacrificial refining, she finally succeeded in refining the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape.
The reason why the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape was so powerful was not because it was refined with Thousand Luo Stone, but because of a micro secret formation constructed within its body by the Wood Flow Sect. This micro formation was the core of the Wood Flow Sect. It allowed the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape to ultimately possess the same great divine ability as the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix—"Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart."
The Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix, although not refined with Thousand Luo Stone, was refined with an even more precious worldly treasure, the demonic core of an "Amethyst Beast." The "Amethyst Beast" was a demonic beast that devoured the dazzling crystal stones at the bottom of the sea. It was gentle in nature and not good at fighting. It had already gone extinct in the Mortal Realm more than a hundred thousand years ago. The reason for its extinction was that the crystal stones it devoured were not ordinary crystal stones, but a type of purple crystal stone from the bottom of the deep sea. This type of crystal stone grew slowly, and a piece of ten zhang in size could only be formed in ten thousand years. This was not even enough for a few mouthfuls for a young "Amethyst Beast," so it became more and more difficult for the "Amethyst Beast" to reproduce, and their population decreased sharply.
What truly caused the extinction of the "Amethyst Beast" was the cultivators. The body and bones of an adult "Amethyst Beast" had already crystallized and could resist the heavenly thunder tribulation. And this characteristic of it had accelerated its extinction process.
Not counting mid-level cultivators like the Golden Core stage, what did high-level cultivators fear the most? They feared tribulation transcendence the most. Since ancient times, not even one in ten of the cultivators who had survived the tribulation had been left. Therefore, before the tribulation, all high-level cultivators would turn a deaf ear to worldly affairs and concentrate on preparing for decades, hundreds of years, or even thousands of years, often just to prepare a few more magical treasures that could ensure their success in the tribulation.
When the "Amethyst Beast's" body was found to be able to resist the heavenly thunder tribulation, it faced a catastrophe. Even a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator could not do anything to an adult "Amethyst Beast," so cultivators began to capture young "Amethyst Beasts" everywhere. After catching them, they would forcibly sign a bloodline contract. When they had raised them to adulthood, they would have them help them pass the tribulation again and again. Although an adult "Amethyst Beast" could resist the heavenly thunder tribulation, it could only resist it; it was not an indestructible body.
Besides the initial fixed tribulations of forming a core, forming a Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation, after the Spirit Transformation stage, it was recorded in the records that tribulations would become more and more frequent. This was because a Spirit Transformation cultivator had already touched upon the shackles of heaven and earth and was not allowed by the rules of heaven and earth. The power of the heavenly tribulation became stronger and stronger, and it became more and more difficult to pass. So no matter how tough the body of an adult "Amethyst Beast" was, in the end, it would perish along with the thunder tribulation between heaven and earth.
Not many people knew the details of the tribulation above the Nascent Soul stage. It was a very secret matter. Li Yan was the same; he had only seen a few words about it.
The "Amethyst Beast" was a water-attribute demonic beast, and a single-attribute water demonic beast at that. The spiritual energy in its body was so pure that it had no impurities. To compare it with a human cultivator, the "Amethyst Beast" was a natural water-attribute Saint Spirit Root. This also made the "Amethyst Beast's" demonic core extremely soft and easy to refine. Its uses were immeasurable.
A pure, saint-level attribute demonic core would cause a boundless bloody storm the moment it appeared. Even a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator would fight for it with all their might. But the probability of this happening was extremely small.
That was because the flesh and blood of an adult "Amethyst Beast" could not even be damaged by a thunder tribulation, so it was impossible to refine it into any magical treasure. Or rather, in this realm, there was no cultivator who could melt its body. And no one would kill a young "Amethyst Beast" for its egg. Therefore, magical treasures refined with the "Amethyst Beast's" demonic core were almost non-existent in this world.
But Shuang Qingqing had once obtained an "Amethyst Beast's" demonic core by a stroke of luck. It was just that the rank of this demonic core was extremely low. It was the demonic core of a young "Amethyst Beast." This young "Amethyst Beast" had been dead for an unknown number of years, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps millions of years. The cause of its death was also unknown.
When Shuang Qingqing saw it, she only saw a deep, sunken shape of a small "Amethyst Beast's" body in a rock trough. Its bones had long since been annihilated in the long river of history. If it had been an adult "Amethyst Beast" that had died, Shuang Qingqing absolutely believed that with the toughness of an adult "Amethyst Beast's" body, it should have been preserved.
In the rock trough in the shape of a body, however, a walnut-sized, almost dried-up demonic core was left. The spiritual energy within it had also been worn away by the years and was about to be exhausted. But even so, Shuang Qingqing was both surprised and delighted. In the end, she used this to refine the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix. The core of the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix's formation was this "Amethyst Beast's" demonic core. Of course, all of this was before the refining of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape. Otherwise, she might have also refined the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape into her Natal Magical Treasure.
Although the refining materials were different from those of the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix, they had a similar effect. Their bodies were both refined with the Wood Flow Sect's sect-guarding secret formation, and possessed a set of incredible divine abilities—"Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart."
The "Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart" divine ability itself had almost no offensive power. Its most powerful aspect was that it could borrow spells to cast spells, and borrow force to strike back. In other words, "Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart" could only be used when an opponent attacked. And the more powerful the opponent, the sharper its counterattack. It could often reflect seventy percent of the opponent's attack back. But in the eyes of outsiders, it was as if they were using the same divine ability as the opponent. Of course, it could also convert this part of the power into its own divine ability and release it.
This was also the reason why Shuang Qingqing had dominated the world back then. As long as she wasn't besieged by too many people, she had a full chance to contend with her opponents. By quickly consuming her opponents' spiritual energy, she could kill them with the unexpected counter-borrowed divine ability's power, which gave her opponents a headache.
This divine ability also had its limits. The person controlling the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape or the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix had to have a very high strength themselves. In Shuang Qingqing's case back then, with her initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, she still had a chance of winning when dealing with one or two cultivators below the mid-stage of Nascent Soul. Even if she couldn't win, she had a great chance of escaping. But when faced with two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, she would surely die. Against one late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, she had a thirty to forty percent chance of escaping. This divine ability was already world-shaking. This was the power of a secret art. The reason a secret divine ability was called a secret art was because it absolutely had an unexpected effect.
Besides this, it was as Shuang Qingqing herself had said. Without enough strength, if one could possess high-grade spirit stones, then one could also contend with an initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator for a while. But high-grade spirit stones were something that even Nascent Soul cultivators could only hope for.
Besides being a unique secret art of the Wood Flow Sect, Shuang Qingqing's divine ability also required corresponding refining puppet materials. The requirements of "Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart" for spiritual energy conversion were extremely strict. It belonged to two extremes. Either the refining material was extremely pure, or it was the same as the rules of heaven and earth, that is, the five elements derived. Only such puppet materials could complete the smooth conversion of the formation within the body. Otherwise, if there was even a sliver of stagnation, the spiritual energy absorbed into the puppet's body would explode before it could be converted. Whether it was the puppet or the person controlling it, they would either die instantly, or the puppet would be shattered and the person controlling it would suffer great damage to their Divine Sense.
When Shuang Qingqing was leaving the sect back then, after some consideration, she left the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape in the sect and carved and left a control jade slip. She solemnly handed the jade slip to the late-stage Golden Core elder with the highest cultivation in the sect at that time, and told him that he could only use the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape when the sect was in great danger, so as not to attract trouble by possessing a treasure. With a Golden Core stage cultivation, if a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator or two or more Nascent Soul cultivators came, they would not be able to protect the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape at all.
At that time, Shuang Qingqing only thought that the siege of the demonic creatures would only last for fifty years. For a high-level cultivator, fifty years might not even be enough for one seclusion. Shuang Qingqing thought she would soon return to the sect, and the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape she left behind was just a backup plan.
This late-stage Golden Core elder of the Wood Flow Sect of course regarded this as his life. But when Shuang Qingqing disappeared more than twenty years later, the situation of the Wood Flow Sect went from bad to worse. Some of the sects or families that had originally been trying to curry favor with them to buy puppets began to covet the Wood Flow Sect. In their desire to annex the Wood Flow Sect, they also wanted to obtain the secret art of refining puppets from the Wood Flow Sect. They joined forces to suppress the Wood Flow Sect. In the end, they were even ambushed when they went out to buy some common refining materials. So several Golden Core elders of the sect had to take turns to go out to buy refining materials, and then sell the puppets at a slightly higher price to barely maintain the survival of the Wood Flow Sect.
And that late-stage Golden Core elder also disappeared after going out once. From then on, the secret of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape was lost. The other elders in the sect only knew that the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape held a great secret of the sect, but they didn't know the specific details. In desperation, the Wood Flow Sect had no choice but to abandon their original sect location. After several relocations, they finally arrived at the most remote place, and the strength of the sect became weaker and weaker.
Hearing this, Li Yan had another doubt. According to what Bai Rou had once said, it was not only Shuang Qingqing who had successfully formed a Nascent Soul in the history of the Wood Flow Sect. There were also two others before her who had successfully formed a Nascent Soul. He couldn't help but ask with doubt.
"This junior has heard from Senior Sister Bai Rou that the Wood Flow Sect has had three great Nascent Soul cultivators since its establishment. If every Nascent Soul senior had left a puppet similar to the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape before ascending or leaving the sect, at least the Wood Flow Sect would know a thing or two about the use of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape."
Hearing Li Yan's words, Shuang Qingqing rolled her eyes, snorted lightly, and said in a bad mood, "Do you think that a puppet of the level of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape is like a cabbage on the roadside that you can just pick up? Not to mention that its refining materials are extremely rare, even the refining incantations and heart methods, besides the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Wood Flow Sect, no one can understand them. Once they look at them, they will suffer a backlash because their cultivation is not enough. At best, they will become an idiot. At worst, they will die on the spot."
"It was just that my fortune was heaven-defying that I was able to continuously obtain the materials to refine the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix and the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape. Of the previous two Nascent Soul elders, only one of them found the refining materials. And that took him a full six hundred years. The puppet he finally refined of course became his Natal Magical Treasure. Have you ever seen anyone give away their Natal Magical Treasure? Even for the sect, it's not possible."
"As for the other Nascent Soul elder, as far as I know, when she embarked on the path of ascension, she was still looking for materials that could be used to refine a puppet that used 'Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart.' Without the help of a puppet, her chances of successfully ascending were less than thirty percent. But her time was up. After failing to reach the Spirit Transformation stage, she would have had to pass away in the Mortal Realm. Only by ascending to the Immortal Spirit Realm, where the spiritual energy is said to be incredibly dense, can a Nascent Soul cultivator's lifespan exceed two thousand years. It's even much easier to break through to the Spirit Transformation stage than in the Mortal Realm. Alright, you don't need to know too much about these things."
"In short, it's enough for you to know that the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape was an extra magical treasure that I obtained by chance."
Shuang Qingqing waved her jade-like hand, as if she didn't want to say more about the realms. The fact that she could say something about the Immortal Spirit Realm was already out of consideration for Li Yan indirectly saving her life. Otherwise, these secrets would only circulate among cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above. The rest of the cultivators could not even dream of knowing half of it.