"Ningyuan!"
The delicate flying sword hovered in the palm, its radiant light retracted, transforming into a dense and abyss-like pitch-black sword intent.
In that moment, the air around seemed to freeze from the sword’s intent.
"This isn’t good!"
The man in the bamboo hat suddenly felt a chill run through him, instinctively ready to retreat while ordering all his puppets to return for defense.
The dim sword light flickered momentarily and then vanished.
Swish—
A subtle black line appeared on the four puppets that had rushed to protect him.
In the next instant, they silently split into two, the cut surfaces smooth like mirrors.
"Pfft!"
The man in the bamboo hat spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood, looking down at a deep bone-revealing sword mark on his chest, fury erupted!
If it wasn’t for his protective magical treasure,
this sword strike would have slain him on the spot!
"What a pity..."
Chen Ye sighed slightly; although Ningyuan’s sword heavily wounded the opponent, it failed to kill him in one strike.
This was his first time wielding Ningyuan.
It was just... the casting time was too long, allowing the man in the bamboo hat to react.
But there was nothing to be done; for someone at the Qi Cultivation Stage to even perform Ningyuan was already a miracle.
As for instantaneous casting? Absolutely impossible.
The man in the cloak wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes burning with murderous intent: "A mere Qi Cultivator can harm me? And dare to destroy my puppets!"
Four puppets equal to Qi Cultivation Perfection, valuable and expensive, now completely destroyed with one sword, was a serious blow.
Yet, what on earth happened!
He had intended to toy with the situation like a cat with a mouse, relieving his daily exhaustion.
But how... how did this Qi Cultivation Cultivator sever four puppets in one strike, even injuring himself?
The man in the bamboo hat was in no mood for games anymore, yanking off the bronze puppet head from his waist.
The bronze puppet head grew larger with the wind, transforming instantly into a three-zhang tall bronze warrior.
"Master... go ahead!"
Zhiwei suddenly dashed forward to block the way, the Canchen Sword hanging in front of her.
The little girl’s fingers pinched a seal, and a clear light like moonlight surfaced around her.
"When does a master need protection from their disciple? Don’t worry."
Chen Ye glanced at the little white fox, whose ears twitched with joy, chirping happily.
Hmm?
The little white fox said that its friend was coming?
Could it be Bai Susu?
The bronze warrior suddenly slammed down from its pedestal, the ground nearby cracking like a spider’s web and collapsing.
In the nick of time, a crimson thunderbolt suddenly slashed down from the sky!
"Boom—!"
The blade’s light intertwined with thunder and fire, crashing down like a falling meteor, forcing the bronze warrior three steps back.
"Who goes there!"
The man in the bamboo hat was startled, observing the aura, unexpectedly yet another Foundation Establishment Cultivator!
He dared not act rashly anymore.
Cultivators from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect were experts at using few against many, but they were most afraid of being outnumbered.
This was because their cultivation relied on puppets, making their body relatively weak, and controlling puppets left gaps in their own defenses.
If targeted, the chance of death was extremely high.
"It’s me."
The dust cleared, revealing a gaunt man who sighed deeply, gripping his knife handle.
"A dog from the Emotion Crossing Sect!"
The man with the cloak’s face changed, although the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect seemed sinister, they and the Emotion Crossing Sect both targeted the Lingyin Sect.
But this didn’t mean the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect was part of the Demon Sect, nor did it mean they were allies with the Emotion Crossing Sect.
In reality,
the grudge between the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect and the Emotion Crossing Sect was far greater than with the Lingyin Sect.
His gaze lingered on Hee Qi’s blood-stained robe for a moment, immediately forming a seal to recall the puppets: "Consider yourselves lucky today!"
"Running away?"
Hee Qi sneered.
The man in the bamboo hat suddenly tensed, disregarding everything else as he pinched a seal.
The four broken puppets suddenly self-destructed, toxic mist spread everywhere, forming a temporary maze using the four puppets as array cores!
The Ten Thousand Puppet Sect’s cultivators loved to hide, often manipulating puppets to ambush from behind; correspondingly, they were also experts at escaping,
As the mist cleared, only a few puppet remains were left on the ground—the man in the bamboo hat had abandoned his precious puppets and fled.
"Brother Hee...?"
Chen Ye never imagined it would be Hee Qi.
He thought it was that golden-furred ball...
Seeing Hee Qi was beyond his expectations, even though Chen Ye knew that Hee Qi had entered a Grotto Heaven long ago, he didn’t expect to meet him here.
Hee Qi stumbled, blood seeping from his chest, looking severely injured.
He leaned on his long knife, laughing heartily: "Brother Chen’s abilities are extraordinary! We haven’t met in months, yet you can now battle across realms! In my opinion, even True Inheritor Bai is no match for you!"
Uh...
Meeting again with such praise made Chen Ye awkward.
Chen Ye smiled wryly: "Let’s skip the pleasantries. Brother Hee, you were so hard to find! What exactly happened during this time? And how did you get those injuries?"
Seeing Hee Qi nearly unable to stand, Chen Ye hurried to support him.
This man really scared the cloaked man away.
Lucky that the man in the cloak was cautious, or else Chen Ye might be fine, but Hee Qi would have been killed by the puppets.
"It’s a long story, a long story indeed."
Hee Qi waved repeatedly, his eyes looking at Chen Ye with a hint of implication,
"Brother Chen..."
Chen Ye paused, pulling out a smile: "Exaggerated, exaggerated. Still, Brother Hee’s presence is extraordinary, scaring away a Foundation Establishment Cultivator!"
Hee Qi finally looked at ease, sighing deeply:
"It’s a long story indeed!"