Zhao Ping'an had always wanted to clear his family's name. Without the protection of a major sect, refining puppets would inevitably target them from sects claiming to be orthodox righteous factions. Therefore, he had entrusted the first attempt at puppet refining to Qin Nan. The puppet arts mastered by the Zhao family required at least the Core Formation stage to properly control.
Qin Nan intended to refine the Chiyou Tribe elders into living puppets—preserving their vitality so they would appear like ordinary people, yet erasing their divine sense and implanting his own Divine Sense.
Once a cultivator reached the Core Formation stage, their divine sense could be refined into a higher-tier Divine Sense. This Divine Sense was akin to a living spiritual entity; even when detached from the body, it could still act according to the master's consciousness and will. This was precisely why puppet control required someone at or above the Core Formation stage, unless an individual possessed the rare ability to cultivate a Divine Sense while still in the Foundation Establishment stage.
Chapter 326