On this ruined island of the Assessment Hall, the puppet squad had surprisingly gained significant results without expending any effort just by stepping onto the island and standing idle.
Even Li Ye himself was still in near-perfect peak condition.
Now that he had obtained the Heavenly Craft Scripture, although he hadn't officially begun cultivating it, his current spiritual sense was already strong enough to utilize some of the puppet control techniques within it.
Given that, the combat strength he and his puppet squad could exert now might even surpass what they were capable of before.
With things going so smoothly, there was no reason to waste the opportunity.
After organizing his various gains, Li Ye briefly contemplated the first layer of the Heavenly Craft Scripture in his mind, only to find it vast and profound far too intricate to grasp in a short time.
So he gave up on studying it immediately and instead sent out his puppet squad again, this time heading toward the Mechanism Pavilion located behind the Assessment Hall, on the next pair of ruined building islands.
"If any legacy manuals remain there, with the True Inheritor Mark I now have… I might be able to obtain the complete version of the Heavenly Craft Scripture."
A trace of anticipation rose in Li Ye's heart.
Though the first three layers he had already acquired were enough to cultivate the Golden Core stage, the strange activation within the Assessment Hall moments ago had made him all the more vigilant.
Judging by the mechanisms within these buildings, there was no telling when some dormant fire beast or other construct might be triggered and spring into operation.
If the structure functioned internally like the Assessment Hall, things could remain relatively stable.
But if any building components with active combat functions were to be activated, it could lead to serious consequences.
No one knew when a greater upheaval might erupt in this place.
If he didn't seize the full inheritance now, he might never get another chance if something were to go wrong later.
....
The Core Disciple Token was already incredibly powerful in terms of access its effectiveness was impressive even amid the current state of damaged formations and restrictions.
But after gaining the True Inheritor Mark at the Assessment Hall, its capabilities revealed an entirely new level before Li Ye.
What had been effortless traversal within the ruined Assessment Hall was now nearly the same elsewhere too.
The formations and restrictions, which were previously the most troublesome part time-consuming and requiring meticulous handling to avoid being trapped were now no longer a threat at all!
Most formations would open a clear path with just a wave of the token, even becoming part of its control.
Even the more tangled and dangerous ones became significantly less threatening in the presence of the token, offering the possibility of being unraveled or bypassed.
As for the fire beasts and flame puppets, they were no longer a danger.
Even without actively using formations to assist, the token alone was enough to disrupt their ability to phase through the battlefield. They were locked down by the surrounding formations and isolated with ease.
From there, it was a simple matter of picking them off one by one and collecting their crystal cores almost like plucking fruit.
Moving swiftly and smoothly, Li Ye passed through two relatively worthless ruined building islands and arrived at the base of the structure believed to be the Mechanism Pavilion.
Part of this building was fully submerged in magma, with the exposed portion resembling the base of a pagoda embedded into a vast expanse of bare stone.
Atop the small remaining tower segment, a powerful array of restrictive formations blanketed the shattered upper portion.
Not only was it impossible to see inside, but even approaching it required extreme caution. A wrong move could trigger a devastating outburst.
These formations were estimated to be of third or even fourth tier if they were activated, the consequences could be dire. The puppets would be instantly obliterated, and even if Li Ye remained in the safe zone, he wasn't confident he'd survive unscathed.
So, he proceeded with increased vigilance.
This time, when the puppet squad stepped onto the pavilion's domain, it didn't trigger any internal mechanisms like the Assessment Hall had.
Li Ye was quite pleased with this.
"No autonomous puppet minds to react on their own? Good. This lava dungeon is filled with dangers there's no way every broken building is going to be as mindless as that Assessment Hall…"
"If I run into one that's fully operational, it might be a death trap."
The puppet squad, holding the token aloft, scouted around the outer rocky edge of the building.
It didn't take long to locate the main entrance and several breaches where the structure had been broken through.
These openings bore the marks of blades, swords, and elemental spells likely the result of a multi-pronged attack causing collateral damage.
Each of these could serve as an entry point into the ruined Mechanism Pavilion.
But after considering it, Li Ye chose to go through the front entrance.
Since the puppet carried the token, any recognition system likely wouldn't flag it as hostile.
Going through the breaches, on the other hand, was far riskier.
With a wave of the token, the heavy door's barrier shifted and dissolved, opening a path.
And so, Li Ye finally laid eyes on the inside of the Mechanism Pavilion.
It was a mess of collapsed architecture, building components piled atop one another in disorder.
All around were restrictive formations of varying strength, interconnected with the massive formation covering the upper remains of the tower.
Just sensing the faint spiritual light from afar made Li Ye's expression change.
The formations here were vastly more powerful than those in the Assessment Hall.
They were nearly all third tier some even fourth! If Li Ye's real body were here, the slightest misstep might reduce him to ashes on the spot.
What's more, these formations were different from those outside. Even with the token in hand, his ability to influence or bypass them was limited.
It was as if the True Inheritor Mark's authority had been suppressed in this place.
"Good thing I never put my real body in danger. Even if a puppet gets obliterated, I won't lose sleep over it."
Li Ye felt rather fortunate.
Looking around this supposed archive of sect techniques and legacies, there were no jade slips or scrolls in sight.
Instead, there were multiple stone pedestals, each topped with a smooth, mirror-like stone surface faintly pulsing with restriction runes.
Most of them had been damaged. Only two seemed relatively intact.
After confirming there were no signs of fire beasts or other creatures, Li Ye finally sent a puppet inside.
The puppet walked straight to the best-preserved pedestal, which still glowed with spiritual light.
It placed the token onto the mirror.
Buzz
Light flared. A beam scanned over the puppet's body.
Text appeared immediately:
"Core Disciple Nie Yanyu, identified as using a puppet proxy. Authentication complete…"
"Sect Contribution Points: 67…"
"True Inheritor Mark detected. Eligible to exchange for cultivation techniques and secret arts…"
"To still function after ten thousand years… this thing's honestly even more impressive than the Assessment Hall. Looks kinda like a stone-age iPad from my past life."
Li Ye chuckled and checked what he could do with 67 contribution points.
Finding that it wasn't enough to even redeem a single spell, he moved on to the section for exchanging with the True Inheritor Mark.
At the top of the list…
Was the Heavenly Craft Scripture.
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