Without delay, Siddharth began refining the puppet.
The first step was blood.
He placed the Acharya-realm monster blood into the refining array. As he circulated the Beast Transformation Art, the blood began to tremble violently. Impurities burned away, condensed, and refined under the control of his prana.
Slowly—
The blood transformed into pure blood essence.
Next came the body.
Using the bones of a Sadhak-realm monster, Siddharth carefully crafted a humanoid doll. Every joint, every structural point was reinforced according to the puppet refining art.
When the skeletal body was complete, Siddharth took out the Sadhak-rank monster core and embedded it directly into the doll's forehead.
Then came the most critical step.
Dipping his finger into the blood essence, Siddharth carved an ancient rune formation directly onto the monster core. As the final rune was completed, he infused the entire structure with prana energy.
The cave trembled.
A blinding light erupted from the doll.
Cracks echoed as the puppet's body expanded.
Bones reshaped. Flesh formed. Skin covered the structure.
In a matter of breaths, the doll grew to the size of a normal human.
When the light faded—
A humanoid figure stood silently before Siddharth.
It looked like an ordinary person, except for the monster core embedded in its forehead, faintly glowing.
Following the final step of the refining art, Siddharth bit his finger and dropped his own blood onto the core.
The moment it touched—
The core sank inward, disappearing beneath the skin.
The puppet's forehead smoothed out, making it look completely human.
"Kneel," Siddharth commanded.
The puppet dropped to one knee instantly, without the slightest delay.
Siddharth's eyes gleamed.
"Can you talk?"
The puppet tilted its head slightly, then shook it from side to side.
It could not speak.
But it understood commands perfectly.
By the time everything was finished, dawn had already arrived.
Refining the puppet had taken the entire night.
Unable to wait any longer, Siddharth left the city and headed straight for the Forbidden Valley to test its strength.
"Hunt," he ordered.
The puppet moved like a shadow.
Shishya-rank monsters were slaughtered effortlessly—crushed bones, snapped necks, clean kills.
Satisfied, Siddharth carved out a hidden cave inside a mountain. There, he began refining blood essence while ordering the puppet to continue hunting and bring back the corpses.
Since he was now in the Expert Class, attending basic theory classes was no longer mandatory. The same was true for the Genius Class.
Here, only improvement in strength mattered.
Which meant—
No one cared where he went.
Seven days passed.
When Siddharth finally stopped, he checked his results.
120 drops of Shishya-rank blood essence.5 drops of Sadhak-rank blood essence.
Perfect.
Siddharth once again met Shubham, still concealed beneath his black robe and mask.
This time, he sold only 20 drops of Shishya-rank blood essence.
The result was shocking.
25 million rupees.
He also sold most of the monster materials he had accumulated for 5 million rupees, keeping only three complete sets:
Materials to refine two Shishya-realm puppets
Materials to refine one Sadhak-realm puppet
With the money, Siddharth made his purchases:
10 bottles of Yogi-realm monster blood — 10 million rupees
5 bottles of Sadhak-realm monster blood — 500,000 rupees
Then he disappeared again.
Back in his hidden cave, Siddharth refined without rest.
One puppet.
Then another.
Then a third.
The process was smoother this time—his control sharper, his movements flawless.
After three days, it was complete.
Siddharth stood inside the cave, looking at the figures before him.
Four puppets.
Two Shishya-realm puppets
Two Sadhak-realm puppets
They stood silently, awaiting orders.
Loyal.Unquestioning.Deadly.
Siddharth's eyes hardened.
"This is only the beginning."
And deep within the Forbidden Valley—
A hidden army had truly begun to form.