Just as Xuan Ke was about to step forward and join the fight, Chen Yuyang quickly returned flying through the air.
“Spread out and surround them. Use spells to wear them down. That guy is controlling so many puppets at once—his spiritual power consumption is huge. He can’t afford to drag this out.”
Xuan Ke was stunned and couldn’t help asking, “If that’s the plan, then why did you dismantle that one just now?”
Chen Yuyang rolled his eyes at her in exasperation.
‘When did this sharp girl turn so stupid after spending time with me?’
“I was just expressing my frustration. If you want to learn, feel free to start body refinement now. In three to five years, you might achieve some minor success.”
Xuan Ke’s mouth twitched.
She quickly waved her hand.
“No, no, I’ll pass.”
The dozen or so cultivators began to spread out, surrounding Dongfang Yun’s puppet formation from all sides.
They used spells and long-range attacks, no longer charging in recklessly.
Working together, they steadily chipped away at the defensive line of the puppets.
Dongfang Yun stood at the center of the formation, his face dark.
Though he had boasted earlier about not fearing numbers, being ground down like this meant he would not only lose a large number of puppets but also eventually face defeat himself.
‘Looks like I have no choice but to use that!’
A strange glint flashed in Dongfang Yun’s eyes.
He took a deep breath, having made up his mind.
The next moment, an ancient black wooden box appeared in his hand.
The box opened by itself, and a humanoid object inside flew out.
As spiritual power poured into it, its size instantly swelled.
It was a set of imposing silver-white mystic iron battle armor!
The armor plates on its back spread open like wings, revealing a space large enough for a person to step into.
Without any hesitation, Dongfang Yun stepped forward and entered the armor.
With a crisp series of mechanical clicks, the back plates overlapped, interlocked, and locked into place, completely encasing Dongfang Yun’s body.
The armor stood nearly three meters tall, its surface smooth, but when it moved, the spiritual power inside could be seen flowing in rippling patterns.
The glow of the inscribed formation runes seeped out through the gaps in the armor’s joints.
Seeing this, Chen Yuyang raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
‘The Puppetry Art still has this kind of trick?’
It was the first time he had seen a puppet that encased a person inside.
‘Was this a new technique developed in the last few thousand years? Using a human to pilot the puppet—not a bad idea.’
Based on its principles, Chen Yuyang thought to himself.
‘So removing key parts or disrupting its spiritual power flow would probably be useless against it.’
‘After all, its core and control center is a living person.’
‘This also solves the problem of puppets lacking autonomy and having slow reactions.’
‘But the drawback is obvious—only one can be controlled at a time. Traditional puppet masters usually rely on numbers to win.’
Inside the armor, Dongfang Yun’s face was pale, and fine beads of sweat quickly formed on his forehead.
With his current cultivation level, forcibly driving this “War Puppet” was a tremendous strain and cost a huge amount of spiritual power.
But… there was no turning back now!
He swallowed a few medicinal pills, his eyes filled with pride.
A powerful aura, far stronger than before, erupted from the War Puppet.
The pressure made everyone’s expressions shift slightly.
Chen Yuyang’s eyes lit up.
‘With just the first level of the Nascent Soul stage, he can use this puppet to unleash strength equivalent to the sixth level of Nascent Soul.’
‘And… most importantly, the armor of this puppet is extremely thick, reaching the level of a fifth-grade spiritual artifact. Even many cultivators at the ninth level of Nascent Soul might not have such physical toughness.’
‘In other words, even if Dongfang Yun just stood there, none of these dozen or so Golden Core cultivators have an effective way to break through his defenses.’
‘Let alone defeat him.’
‘But…’
‘The consumption must be enormous.’
Chen Yuyang thought to himself, quickly summarizing the pros and cons.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder.
‘If I were to build something similar using a ninth-grade immortal artifact… and arrange the core with my formation skills, what level would the result reach?’
‘Unity? No, achieving combat power at the Mahayana stage is absolutely possible.’
‘Even… by shaping a small world inside and laying down laws, reaching the Tribulation Transcendence stage or even half-immortal would not be impossible…’
‘Of course, the cost would be exorbitant.’
‘So high that even I would feel the pain.’
As Chen Yuyang pondered this, Dongfang Yun’s War Puppet moved.
Despite its massive size, its speed was not slow at all.
Only a silver afterimage flashed by.
In its hand, the War Puppet wielded a matching giant halberd over six meters long. Its first target was a cultivator from the Xuan Clan.
The halberd swept out, tearing through the air.
Sensing the threat, the Xuan Clan cultivator immediately activated his spiritual power to defend while dodging backward.
However, a puppet suddenly moved, charging recklessly to block his retreat.
Though it only delayed him for an instant, that was enough for the War Puppet.
The halberd swung, shattering the Xuan cultivator’s protective spiritual power and striking his body.
Thud!
A dull sound, accompanied by the cracking of bones.
Before the cultivator could even scream, his body vanished from the spot—directly teleported out of the secret realm.
The War Puppet did not pause after its successful strike.
It turned its head, its gaze locking onto Xuan Ke.
Boom!
Spiritual power pulsed behind it, propelling it through the air like a true war god, bearing down on Xuan Ke.
At the same time, the killing intent and pressure of the Nascent Soul stage locked onto her.
The cold aura made Xuan Ke’s heart tremble.
Her body froze in place, her face turning pale.
But just as the War Puppet’s halberd was about to strike Xuan Ke, a figure appeared swiftly.
Without any courtesy, he kicked the girl’s rear end, sending her tumbling aside.
Chen Yuyang had taken Xuan Ke’s place.
Facing the oncoming War Puppet, the young man raised his head slightly, showing no fear.
“Oh? Spiritual attack too?”
“Courting death!”
Inside the armor, Dongfang Yun sneered at Chen Yuyang’s appearance and swung the halberd with all his might.
Instead of dodging, the young man took a deep breath.
Just as the halberd was about to hit, he abruptly raised his right arm.
Beneath his sleeve, his muscles twitched almost imperceptibly.
Clang!
The blade of the halberd slammed into Chen Yuyang’s raised forearm, producing a sound like metal striking metal.
Chen Yuyang stepped back half a step.
The sleeve where the halberd hit shredded into pieces, revealing a small cut on his forearm.
Within the cut, an invisible Primordial Flame burned, visible only to Chen Yuyang himself.
A gleam flashed in Chen Yuyang’s eyes as he praised, “Quite a lot of strength!”
But at that moment, the one even more shocked was definitely Dongfang Yun controlling the War Puppet.
‘I’m at the early Nascent Soul stage now. With a full-powered strike from the War Puppet, how terrifying is the force?’
‘Yet this mere Golden Core brat stopped my full-force attack with just his bare body—only a scratch and half a step back!’
The immense disparity made Dongfang Yun wonder if he was dreaming.
‘Is this the physique of a Golden Core cultivator?!’
Dongfang Yun questioned inwardly, feeling an unprecedented absurdity.
He gritted his teeth, shook off his shock, and growled fiercely, “I don’t believe you can take many more!”
The halberd vanished from the War Puppet’s hand.
In the next second, the puppet spread its arms, the shoulder mechanisms bulging, and blunt spikes like brass knuckles emerged from its fists.
Like cannonballs, the two massive fists punched toward Chen Yuyang’s body in rapid succession!
Abandoning the halberd, the War Puppet’s attack speed was pushed to the limit, and the power it unleashed became even more concentrated.
Chen Yuyang’s eyes narrowed.
He quickly crossed his arms in front of his chest, bracing for the storm of blows.
At the same time, he observed.
Observing the puppet’s operating pattern and the flow of spiritual power inside it.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The dull impacts rang out continuously.
Watching from the side, Xuan Ke’s face grew paler.
The sounds made her heart pound.
Such a ferocious assault.
If it were her, she could only withstand two or three punches at full strength.
And in an instant, he had endured dozens of hits.
‘Is Yuyang really okay?’
Under the relentless barrage of heavy punches, Chen Yuyang was indeed forced back step by step.
The upper part of his clothes shattered under the force of the punches, revealing a torso that wasn’t overly muscular but impeccably proportioned.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
After another round of concentrated punches, the War Puppet spun around and swung its leg in a full arc, putting all the weight and power of its body into a kick that struck Chen Yuyang.
Under that blow, Chen Yuyang finally lost his balance in the air, flying backward and crashing to the ground.
Boom!
The ground shook violently.
The trees around the impact point were uprooted by the shockwave, and a cloud of dust exploded from the crater.
Inside the armor, Dongfang Yun gasped for breath, sweat beading on his forehead.
But he didn’t dare relax for a moment.
He stared at the dust-filled area below, uncertain.
‘Did… did I defeat him?’
Yet why did a strong sense of unease still cling to him like a bone-deep maggot?
The dust slowly cleared, revealing the scene within the crater.
The young man stood at the bottom.
The air around him was slightly distorted.
Chen Yuyang raised his hand and tore off the tattered remains of his clothes, revealing his upper body covered in purple-blue bruises.
Although the bruises were striking, that was all they were—just bruises.