Boom!
Flames shot up into the sky, and a violent explosion shattered several rushing puppets into pieces.
"Something's wrong! Everyone, be careful," Ning Zhuo shouted, alerting everyone.
"Did we really get rid of the mechanical monkeys?" Zhou Zeshen furrowed his brows.
In the next moment, the door in front of everyone swung open, and three mechanical monkeys that resembled the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng shuffled in.
"How can there be so many?"
"Is it because there are so many of us that the Magma Fairy Palace raised the difficulty?"
"But isn't this too difficult?"
The three mechanical monkeys wasted no time and charged forward with killing intent.
"Change formation, use the battle array!" Zhou Zeshen ordered in a low voice.
The cultivators of the Zhou Family stepped forward, forming a human wall to block the three mechanical monkeys.
However, before they could activate the battle formation, another fierce explosion erupted.
In the flames and smoke, the Zhou Family cultivators were left in tatters, but there were not many casualties.
Their battle formation increased their defensive power significantly, making them much more resilient than individual fighters.
However, taking advantage of the explosion, the remaining two mechanical monkeys had already reached the rear of the formation.
The rear-line cultivators fell into chaos.
Their coordination could not compare to that of the Zhou Family cultivators, and more critically, the middle of the team was filled with mechanism artifacts.
Boom!
Another violent explosion.
The explosion directly destroyed over twenty mechanism artifacts, rendering the previous efforts of the group worthless, turning the artifacts into a pile of junk.
The remaining mechanical monkey rampaged, forcing everyone to retreat in fear of being blown to bits.
In this critical moment, Ning Zhuo stepped forward: "Everyone fall back, leave it to me!"
The crowd quickly retreated, and Ning Zhuo, wielding a giant axe, rushed up to kill.
The giant axe was larger than his entire puppet body. When Ning Zhuo swung the axe, it created a tremendous momentum, like a tiger on the prowl.
A floating hand hovered by his side, continuously releasing various spells, bombarding the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng relentlessly.
According to their secret rehearsal, the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng moved nimbly, dodging the spells with thrilling precision before reaching Ning Zhuo and pushing him with a forceful palm.
Ning Zhuo hastily raised his door-sized axe to block the strike, but he was sent flying backwards.
As the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng was about to give chase, Zhou Zhu intercepted its path.
After a few rounds, Zhou Zhu was also knocked away.
But at this moment, Zhou Zeshen, Zheng Jian, and Ning Xiaohui surrounded it.
Thanks to the full efforts of the talented cultivators, the joint forces of the three families barely managed to stabilize the situation.
"This is the real mechanical monkey, the others are simple constructs meant for self-destruction!" During the fierce battle, a cultivator inspected the battlefield and discovered the truth, quickly shouting to inform everyone.
A heavy feeling sank in their hearts.
They had been tricked!
They had wasted a large amount of resources, and the eight crossbow carts they had painstakingly built were now useless.
"We are ready, quickly lure it in!" The Zhou Family's battle formation was fully operational, displaying maximum power.
Each member of the Zhou Family in the battle formation bore immense pressure to maintain and operate the active formation.
Zhou Zhu and the others fought while retreating.
Yuan Dasheng did not pursue, focusing instead on destroying the mechanism artifacts.
Seeing Yuan Dasheng unaffected by the diversion, everyone grew increasingly anxious.
"Damn it!"
"This guy has become too smart."
Ning Zhuo: "It's probably the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit controlling it!"
Upon hearing these words, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit, observing the battle, spat a mouthful of red fire in fury, scratching its heart and lungs in vexation.
"As expected, driven by spiritual nature."
"No wonder it's said that spiritual treasures can secure clans, sects, and even nations."
The cultivators of the three families instantly focused all their attention, facing the enemy with full effort.
Everyone chased and blocked the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng, with many even sacrificing themselves just to delay it for a breath or two.
Ning Zhuo continued to "fight fiercely" while fully assisting Yuan Dasheng.
During special training, he had come to understand the power of the Zhou Family's battle formation. If Yuan Dasheng got caught in it, there was little chance of escape.
At that point, the various mechanism artifacts prepared for him would be deployed in turn, making Yuan Dasheng's fate sealed!
"Qi Bai, to battle!" Ning Zhuo secretly manipulated the Life Hanging Thread, ordering Qi Bai.
Qi Bai pushed open the door and charged into the battlefield, eliciting low exclamations from everyone.
"It's here!"
"The Servant Ghost Puppet has appeared."
"Quick, follow the plan to entangle it!"
Zhou Zhu charged ahead, wielding the Mud Gate Quake Hammer, rushing toward Qi Bai.
Zheng Jian temporarily used bow and arrow components, firing arrows at Qi Bai's face before Zhou Zhu arrived.
But Qi Bai slightly lowered his head, deflecting the arrows with his conical hat. Sparks flew as the arrows followed the curve of the hat and shot into the air.
Zheng Jian's pupils contracted in surprise.
According to intelligence, the Servant Ghost Puppet's defense should not be this formidable.
"Its materials have been upgraded!"
"Not just it, but also the mechanical monkey."
Zheng Jian quickly turned his head, observing for a moment before fully confirming that Yuan Dasheng, although appearing as per the intelligence, had significantly upgraded materials.
"Curse it, the Magma Fairy Palace really did raise the difficulty deliberately!"
According to the original plan, Zheng Jian and Zhou Zhu were to engage in melee to entangle Qi Bai. But now that Qi Bai had grown stronger, Zheng Jian's confidence wavered, feeling that their previous battle plan was now inadequate.
"Do not panic! I'll handle it!!" Ning Zhuo shouted.
He adorned himself with mechanism artifacts he had crafted.
Two breaths later, his neck, wrists, ankles, and other areas were equipped with hangman's nooses.
These nooses, of course, had been modified.
Ning Zhuo, wielding a giant axe, rushed at Yuan Dasheng. During the fight, the nooses on various parts of Ning Zhuo's body continuously shot out threads, attaching to the Golden Blooded War Ape - Dasheng.
Yuan Dasheng's movements slowed dramatically, giving others a chance to act.
The Zhou Family's active array finally enveloped Yuan Dasheng.
"Nice job, Ning Zhuo!" Zheng Jian praised.
"Haha, Brother Ning, you are indeed reliable at critical moments," Zhou Zeshen also conveyed via voice transmission.
Yuan Dasheng roared and for the first time cast a spell—the Grasping Fire Technique.
The Grasping Fire Technique further ascended, bathing him in crimson flames.
The flames burned away the threads from Ning Zhuo.
Yuan Dasheng continued to roar, the door opened once again, and this time, numerous mechanical wind fire wheels flew out.
The wind fire wheels moved extremely quickly, and as the wheels rolled, they sprayed flames with immense power.
Many puppet bodies were consecutively burned to ashes.
The cultivators of the three families, tormented by the wind fire wheels, retreated continuously.
"Why are these wheels so agile?" Many cultivators cast spells repeatedly, but missed frequently.
The mechanical wind fire wheels were more agile than everyone imagined.
"How could they not be agile? I acquired their spiritual nature through repeated cremations. They will burst forth with all their brilliance in this battle," Ning Zhuo thought to himself.
"We can't hold on anymore!"
"The casualties are severe."
"Deploy the smoke cart!!" some people loudly requested.
"No, it is reserved for the soul army of that puppet," Ning Zhuo immediately denied.
The fierce battle continued.
The wind fire wheels rampaged, and puppets were continuously burned and destroyed.
The casualties had reached forty percent.
"Deploying the smoke cart can stop these wheels!" someone suggested again.
"No, if we use it, and the enemy releases ghosts, we will have no effective means to counter them," Ning Zhuo denied again.
The casualties reached sixty percent.
"Ah!" A cultivator shouted, finally unable to bear it and moved to activate the smoke cart.
However, Ning Zhuo quickly stopped him: "Hold on, endure! A small lack of patience will disrupt the greater plan!"
Soon, Yuan Dasheng smashed through the Zhou Family's battle formation and was about to break through the encirclement.
"Where do you think you're going!" Unable to bear it any longer, Ning Xie launched an attack.
"Senior Ning Xie, let me assist you," Ning Xiaohui unleashed her Ice-jade Hands.
Ning Xie cast Snow Soul Frost Spirit!
The two joined forces, erupting with peak Foundation Establishment-level strength at once.
The temperature of the air dropped sharply, frost formed a vast expanse, and the entire room was quickly covered in white.
Yuan Dasheng, receiving focused attention, moved with tremendous difficulty.
The flames on its body struggled to resist the extreme cold and frost.
"Let me deal a fatal blow!" Ning Zhuo shouted, jumping high and descending from above.
He raised the giant door axe over his head, then chopped down fiercely!
However, just as everyone was watching in anticipation, Ning Xiaohui inexplicably changed the direction of her spell, enveloping Ning Zhuo as well.
Frost quickly formed on Ning Zhuo's body, freezing him solid.
Bang.
The next moment, Yuan Dasheng attacked, directly piercing Ning Zhuo's chest. Then, he lifted his leg and swept it horizontally, sending Ning Zhuo's upper body and head flying far away.
"Ning Xiaohui!" Ning Zhuo roared furiously.
Everyone was shocked and furious, many finding it hard to believe what had just happened before their eyes.
Despite facing a formidable enemy, someone had used personal vendettas, and such a clumsy method was blatantly obvious to everyone.
"Ning Xiaohui, you disgrace the main family!" Ning Chen yelled.
Ning Yong roared, "Ning Xiaohui, what are you doing? Without Brother Zhuo, how can we deal with the mechanical monkey?"
Ning Xiaohui was stunned: "I, did I do this?"
She also did not understand why she had acted this way.
In her daze, she exposed a huge flaw.
Three mechanical wind fire wheels attacked from three directions, crushing her into pieces.
Without a host body, Ning Xie roared in anger, on the verge of being expelled from the Immortal Palace.
But the next moment, Qi Bai arrived, raised a finger, and from his sleeve flew out a swarm of mechanical ropes.
The mechanical ropes, like a swarm of snakes, tied Ning Xie up securely.
"Someone, save me?!" Ning Xie suddenly lost all resistance and his face changed dramatically.
And the next moment, Qi Bai arrived in front of him.
The array and spell activated simultaneously, forcibly capturing and suppressing Ning Xie!
The battle continued for another measure of tea time.
Yuan Dasheng and Qi Bai, both severely wounded, narrowly won.
The allied team of the three families was narrowly defeated!
After the battle, countless people exited the Immortal Palace, glaring at Ning Xiaohui with resentment, their anger ready to erupt like a volcano.
Ning Xiaohui's face turned ashen as she lowered her head and hurried away from the crowd.
Many people stepped forward to comfort Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo, with a dark expression: "We were so close to success, so close!"
"This was not your fault."
"Cheer up, Brother Zhuo! You performed the best."
"Ning Zhuo, this time I stand with you, Ning Xiaohui must give us an explanation!"