In the barren woodlands outside the Elemental Altar, scarlet flames blazed fiercely, transforming the entire forest into a sea of fire. The expert players who had come to gather herbs nearby stood rooted in place, staring in stunned silence.
Because soaring above the woodland was a fire dragon of staggering proportions—eight or nine meters tall, with wings that stretched over twenty meters wide. The flames engulfing its entire body illuminated the dim sky until it blazed bright as day.
"A Fire Dragon?"
"Holy crap! An 80-level Tier 3 Primordial Species! I'm pretty sure the monsters in that area are supposed to be below level 75."
"Could some kind of event be happening over there?"
The expert players gathering herbs in the surroundings gazed up at the fire dragon hovering in midair, their curiosity swelling. One after another, they rushed toward the scene, desperate to see what was going on. After all, events popped up from time to time in the Divine Realm, and resolving one was no different from completing a rare, high-tier quest—often yielding generous rewards.
And within this scorching inferno, a battered and mangled Steel Puppet lay quietly on the ground.
"As expected of a Bronze Rank puppet—destroying one really isn't easy." Shi Feng looked at the completely wrecked Steel Puppet, a flicker of anticipation rising in his mind.
He already possessed the blueprint for crafting Bronze Rank puppets. As long as the Candlelight Trading House cultivated enough Master Blacksmiths and all the necessary materials were gathered, he could begin production at any time.
War puppets, much like other weapons of war, required sufficient numbers to truly shine. Had there been three or four Steel Puppets here instead of one, he would have had a hard time even escaping.
The reason numbers mattered so much was a common flaw shared by many war tools: their attacks were monotonous, making them relatively easy to dodge or block. However, once that monotonous attack reached a critical mass, even top-tier experts could only wait for death.
Right now, a single Bronze Rank Steel Puppet already wielded such devastating power. He dared not imagine what ten or even a hundred such puppets could accomplish. When that day came, it would truly be nothing short of slaughtering entire cities.
Just as Shi Feng was about to recall the Fire Spirit and use the Seven Star Ring to teleport away, two glints of gold caught his eye among the puppet's wreckage.
"Loot from Iron Fang?" Shi Feng stepped forward without hesitation.
After picking up the two items from the ground, a faint look of surprise crossed Shi Feng's face.
One of them was a level 55 Mythril Rank plate armor leg piece. The other was a gemstone encased in a square steel casing.
A level 55 Mythril Rank item was absolutely top-tier equipment by current standards—even first-rate guilds would be hard-pressed to own many of them. In Shi Feng's estimation, it was almost certainly a drop from Iron Fang.
The gemstone casing, however, was not a drop from Iron Fang. It was a drop from the Steel Puppet itself after being destroyed.
An Iron Core!
This was the power source that drove the Steel Puppet, and also an indispensable component for crafting war puppets.
In the entire war puppet crafting process, the power source was the most difficult part to produce. Even Intermediate Blacksmiths had a low success rate when making them—it barely met the minimum crafting threshold.
But once you had the power source, crafting the rest of the components became far easier. An Apprentice Master Blacksmith and other apprentice-level masters could handle it. Simply attach the power source afterward, and a war puppet was ready to go.
"So I've essentially gained a war puppet for free." Shi Feng examined the Iron Core and found it completely undamaged. A faint smile tugged at his lips. All he needed to do now was craft the body, and he could deploy it immediately.
After that, Shi Feng stored the Iron Core and activated the Seven Star Ring to teleport to the Icefire Mountain Range.
It was only after Shi Feng had been gone for quite some time that the Tier 2 assassin players who had been gathering herbs in the area cautiously crept over. But once they arrived and saw the toppled Steel Puppet and the devastation surrounding it, every single one of them was left dumbstruck.
"What a massive machine!"