Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 1018: Puppet Battle
"The Soul-Cleansing Liquid only works best the first time it’s taken, and only before reaching the Spiritual Infant Realm. After that, its effect diminishes greatly, so giving you more would be pointless." The old man handed the two jade bottles to the boy and girl as he explained.
Then he pointed his finger lightly toward the stone cauldron and pressed down gently. The barrier within the cauldron flickered and began to swirl, forming a vortex. The remaining Soul-Cleansing Liquid vanished, no one knowing where it had gone.
The two disciples held the jade bottles with delight, carefully putting them away as though they were the most precious treasures in the world.
"Alright! Junior Sister, we’ll part ways here. You stay on the outskirts and check the state of the ancestral and celestial barriers once more. I’ll take these two into the inner hall and tell them of our true ancestral teachings," the old man said.
The old woman nodded, then added in a solemn tone, "Senior Brother, be careful. Lingzhuzi and the Devil Lord are both cunning old foxes. Avoid meeting them if you can. If they ever learn the location of the Four Saints Palace, they’ll never let the matter rest. Since our ancestors’ time, the Four Saints Palace has been growing weaker, forced to withdraw from the world. We can no longer withstand any turmoil."
The old man sighed softly. "I only hope that among them, someone can reach the Divine Transformation Realm and unlock the legacy our ancestors left behind. Perhaps within it lies a way to escape Canglang Sea. But unfortunately, we, their descendants, have accomplished nothing. No one has broken through to the Divine Transformation Realm, and we remain trapped here like prisoners."
The old woman fell silent at that, her expression complicated. Afterward, the four of them teleported back to the wooden hall and emerged from the clouds.
The old woman departed alone, while the old man led his two disciples toward the depths of the inner hall.
***
Qin Sang stepped through the gates of Seven-Kill Hall, entering the trial realm. He was on full alert, unsure what the first trial would entail.
The instant he passed through the barrier, his entire body tensed. Darkness engulfed his vision, and all the cultivators who had entered alongside him vanished. He was alone.
Then light flared before his eyes. Qin Sang squinted slightly, scanning his surroundings, and saw that he was standing in a vast, circular hall. It was completely empty except for a round battle platform beneath his feet.
At the far end of the hall stood a stairway leading upward, but it was sealed beneath a layer of radiant light.
"This is the Puppet Battle?" Recognizing the scene, Qin Sang’s eyes narrowed as he recalled what he had heard.
The so-called Puppet Battle required challengers to face various puppets in combat within the arena, fighting until the puppets were destroyed or until they themselves were slain. There was no such thing as surrender. Though the rules sounded ruthless, it was actually considered one of the simpler trials.
It was said that the puppets’ strength was not excessive, the challenge not particularly high. Anyone daring enough to enter the inner hall should at least have the ability to pass the Puppet Battle. Otherwise, they were simply overestimating themselves.
Indeed, among the first three trials, the Puppet Battle was one of the most common. Of course, that did not mean one could take it lightly. The puppets varied widely, some possessing strange abilities, and a single careless moment could lead to disaster.
Standing at the center of the platform, Qin Sang glanced around. The hall remained completely still.
He frowned slightly, wondering whether there was some mechanism he had yet to trigger. Then, without warning, the platform beneath him shuddered. Several dark figures burst upward, surrounding him in an instant.
"Six of them..." Qin Sang examined the puppets.
They looked ferocious and identical, resembling tigers crouched low on the platform, baring their fangs at him.
He let out a quiet murmur. Something about them felt familiar. These puppets closely resembled the puppet beasts from the first six levels of the Sky Tower; even their appearance and the way they emerged were nearly identical.
Puppet beasts from the sixth level of the Sky Tower... Even late-stage Core Formation cultivators would have to exert some effort to defeat them. Are these ones of similar strength? Qin Sang thought to himself.
Just then, a powerful gust of wind rushed at him from behind. Without turning, he summoned his ebony sword and flicked his fingers in a cutting motion.
Swish! The ebony sword hovered in mid-air and split into six streams of sword light that shot toward the six puppet beasts simultaneously.
Boom! The sword light struck each puppet squarely between the brows, piercing through their skulls and leaving finger-sized holes. The six puppet beasts froze, then crumbled into dust, scattering into the air.
"As expected, they’re the same kind as those in the Sky Tower, of the same origin. But these don’t start from the Foundation Building Realm; each is equivalent to a late-stage Foundation Building cultivator. If the trials ahead continue like this, with so many at once, most people would be completely overwhelmed," Qin Sang said.
Having entered the Sky Tower twice before, Qin Sang was thoroughly familiar with puppet beasts and the most efficient ways to deal with them. This first round was no challenge at all.
"Daoist, do you want to practice a little? If so, I’ll take a break," he said, turning his head.
For some reason, Bai had come out of the Corpse Puppet Pouch. Bai replied indifferently. "Outside, I noticed a few flaws in the Fire Curse Seed. If I stay too close, Old Devil Mou might sense it. I’ll refine the barrier a bit more."
Qin Sang nodded, sheathing his sword as he walked toward the stairs. The moment he destroyed the six puppets, the screen over the stairway had vanished. Bai followed behind, holding the Fire Curse Seed, focused on its refinement.
As soon as Qin Sang stepped onto the stairs, his body tensed again. He had been transported to the second platform. The second level was nearly identical to the first.
Without giving him a moment to rest, new puppets appeared, stronger than before, equal to early-stage Core Formation cultivators. Qin Sang cut through them effortlessly, breaking through two more levels in rapid succession and arriving at the fourth.
There, he noticed that the stairs no longer continued upward. "So this is the final stage?"
Summoning his ebony sword once more, Qin Sang did not dare to lower his guard.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... Six panther-shaped puppets leapt out at once.
At the same time, Qin Sang suddenly sensed something and understood instantly. The objective of this trial was not to destroy the puppets, but to endure their assault for the duration of one incense stick’s time. If he could last that long, it would count as passing.
His gaze sharpened as he stared intently at the puppets, realizing that this round of the Puppet Battle was anything but ordinary.
He noticed that the claws of the panther puppets gleamed with a chilling light like blades, and their positions were not random. They had not simply surrounded him but were arranged in a precise formation.
Swish! One of the puppets suddenly lunged forward.
The others followed in perfect coordination. In that instant, Qin Sang felt a strange illusion, as though the puppets around him had vanished, replaced only by countless streaks of fierce, shifting sword light.
"The one who refined these puppet beasts was no ordinary craftsman. Unfortunately, the puppets’ strength is restricted. Otherwise, even if you and I fought together, they would still pose a threat." Bai’s voice came from behind, his tone filled with rare admiration.
"This isn’t a puppet array, it’s a sword array!" A flash of insight struck Qin Sang’s mind like lightning.
Whoever created these puppet beasts had achieved a remarkable feat, embedding a sword array within them. When they attacked, their movements even carried traces of true sword force.
Rather than being alarmed, Qin Sang was delighted. He had long struggled to grasp the essence of sword force and had found no mentor to guide him, forced instead to fumble his way into developing an imperfect sword wheel.
Originally, he had intended only to defend himself and survive the incense’s duration. But now that he had encountered a true sword array, he would not let such an opportunity slip by.
