Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 744: Taking The Apprentice Puppet Artisan Test

Han Yu did not leave the workshop immediately.

If the completion of the Bane of Amateurs had been a coincidence, then he needed to know. Luck was not something one could rely on in the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect. Assuming success without verification was the fastest way to get oneself crippled or killed.

So he tested himself again.

And again.

He selected five puppets that were notorious among apprentice level puppet artisans. Not legendary nightmares like the Bane of Amateurs, but still infamous enough that even senior apprentices avoided them unless they were confident in their foundations.

The first was a Split-Joint Guard Puppet.

It had overlapping joint structures that shared stress between paired limbs. If the distribution was off by even a fraction, the puppet would either lock itself rigid or tear its own joints apart when activated. Han Yu assembled it calmly, adjusting the joint tolerances mid process without even consciously thinking about it.

It activated smoothly.

The second was a Twin-Core Relay Puppet.

This one required two small spirit jade cores to synchronize their output perfectly. If the resonance drifted, the puppet would stutter, collapse, or burn out one of the cores. Han Yu felt the imbalance the moment he placed the second core in, adjusted the inscription lines slightly, and sealed it.

Perfect synchronization.

The third was a Hanging Spine Scout Puppet.

Lightweight. Fragile. Designed to hang from surfaces and crawl upside down. Its failure rate was absurd because of how thin its structural spine needed to be. Han Yu reinforced it in three subtle places that were not in the manual, places most artisans never noticed.

It clung to the ceiling and moved without issue.

The fourth was a Variable Load Mule Puppet.

Its purpose was simple. Carry heavy loads. Its construction was not. The internal Qi channels had to dynamically adjust based on weight, or the puppet would snap its frame under sudden stress. Han Yu watched the channels as he built them, predicting how they would deform under load before it ever happened.

Stable under maximum capacity. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The fifth was a Swarm Node Controller.

A puppet designed not to fight, but to issue commands to several smaller puppets at once. The internal formation was dense and unforgiving. One wrong line and the command signals would interfere with each other.

Han Yu finished it in silence.

It worked.

Five puppets.

Zero failures.

Han Yu finally stepped back and exhaled slowly.

"This is not a fluke..." he murmured.

He leaned against the workbench, closing his eyes, replaying the sensation in his mind. The process had felt different from before. He was not simply following diagrams or memorized steps. He was seeing.

Not with his eyes.

With his soul.

Each material, each joint, each formation line carried subtle information. Tension. Instability. Latent conflict between energies. His spirit sense brushed against them, and his mind instinctively adjusted before the problem ever manifested.

It was as if theory and practice had fused.

Everything he had studied over the years, every failed puppet, every collapsed frame, every snapped joint, was now reflected back at him in real time. Not as memories, but as intuition.

Han Yu opened his eyes, a faint light flickering in them.

"So this is what Soul Cultivation really does..." he muttered.

Not brute force.

Not raw power.

But refinement.

Control.

Perception so sharp that mistakes could be strangled in their cradle.

A thought surfaced naturally after that.

If this was truly his level now, then there was no reason to delay anymore.

He would take the Apprentice Puppet Artisan test.

Han Yu left the workshop and headed straight for the Puppet Testing Hall. Unlike the open practice workshops, this area was heavily regulated. Large formation arrays pulsed faintly along the walls, monitoring everything that happened inside.

He approached the registration counter.

"Apprentice test," Han Yu said flatly.

The attendant disciple looked up, briefly surprised, then nodded. "Two hundred and fifty merit points."

Han Yu transferred the points without hesitation.

The disciple handed him a token and gestured toward one of the sealed chambers. "You have six hours. Failure means forfeiture of points."

Han Yu entered without another word.

The chamber sealed behind him.

Inside, the layout was simple. A clean workshop on one side, fully stocked with standardized tools, chisels, hammers, pliers, brushes and more. On the other, an assessment platform where the finished puppet would be tested.

At the center floated a formation screen.

The task appeared.

Basic Labor Puppet.

Han Yu almost laughed.

The puppet itself was simple in function. A box shaped body, four wheels, limited movement, no combat ability. But the test was not about complexity. It was about fundamentals.

No prefabricated parts.

No shortcuts.

Everything had to be made from raw materials.

Spirit Oak Wood planks rested neatly on a rack. Spirit Bronze strips and nails were laid out beside them. A small spirit jade core was kept within a glass box. Several low grade spirit stones sat in a tray nearby.

Han Yu rolled his shoulders once and got to work.

He began by cutting the Spirit Oak Wood.

Each plank was measured precisely, trimmed into uniform panels. He carved and sanded the wheels next, ensuring perfect symmetry. As he worked, he inscribed the basic Qi channeling formations directly into the wood, his hands steady, his soul sense guiding each stroke.

The formations were clean.

Efficient.

No wasted lines.

He then moved to the Spirit Bronze strips.

While forging was not required, inscribing the connecting nodes was. These nodes were where many failed. The connection between wood and metal often introduced energy loss or instability.

Han Yu inscribed them smoothly, each node harmonizing with the formations already carved into the wood.

He assembled the frame.

Spirit Bronze nails secured the panels together, locking the structure into place.

Next came the core.

Han Yu lifted the small spirit jade, narrowing his eyes. This was the heart of the puppet. The control array inscribed within it would determine responsiveness, stability, and efficiency.

He worked carefully.

Line by line.

Curve by curve.