You Fucking Slashed My Puppet?!

Half an hour earlier.

Walking through the dense forest, Xiao Yan wore a bewildered expression. "Teacher, what should I do next?"

There was nothing here but trees.

"Find medicinal herbs and find a place," Yao Lao said in his mind. "Didn't you want to learn an Earth-tier Dou Technique?"

"Find somewhere with a waterfall, preferably a taller one. Pick up some medicinal herbs along the way too... I should've just bought them in Qingshan Town."

Yao Lao spoke with some regret. Something that money could have solved now had to be resolved by wasting time. He had been careless.

Hearing that, Xiao Yan rolled his eyes. I knew it. Skipping Myriad Medicine Zhai would come back to bite me.

"Head deeper in. There's nowhere suitable here," Yao Lao said. His Soul Perception had swiftly swept through the terrain in this area.

"Alright!" Xiao Yan plunged into the vast forest, heading toward the deepest reaches of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Yet not long after they started walking, Yao Lao suddenly cried out, "Eh... Wait!"

Xiao Yan came to an abrupt stop. "Teacher, what is it?"

"To the north, there seems to be a fairly powerful soul force..." Yao Lao murmured, somewhat surprised. There was actually a powerful expert in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

"Should we go take a look?" Xiao Yan stroked his chin.

"Your call." Yao Lao chuckled. "Though the other party is no weakling, your teacher is still confident he can defeat him... Besides, that place seems pretty suitable."

Licking his lips, Xiao Yan's eyes flashed. "Then let's take a look!"

With that, he pushed off the ground and dashed northward. Under Yao Lao's guidance, he soon arrived beside a river. Sneaking upstream along its banks, Xiao Yan saw a sight that shocked him.

"Damn it, why is that guy so much more handsome than me?!" Xiao Yan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. They both had one head resting on two shoulders, so why the hell was he so much more handsome?!

"What is he doing?" Xiao Yan asked in surprise, but his attention quickly shifted elsewhere. After all, he was a man. Staring at a shirtless handsome guy for too long was rather inappropriate.

Beside the waterfall floated a corpse with a black metallic sheen, covered in numerous strange runes.

"He should be refining a puppet..." Yao Lao said gravely. His soul force slowly spread out, completely enveloping Xiao Yan.

In his perception, the puppet was not floating in midair on its own. It was supported by a ball of flame that was slowly scorching it.

The flame was formless and intangible, yet its temperature was far from low. Even from such a distance, they could feel the heat coming from it.

"Could it be the Fallen Heart Flame?" Yao Lao wondered.

"The Fallen Heart Flame?" Xiao Yan's heart leaped, and excitement rose within him. "Is it a Heavenly Flame?"

He had had enough of the suffering brought by the Yellow-tier Low-level Flame Mantra!

"You fool!" Yao Lao snapped irritably.

Just as Xiao Yan wondered why his teacher was speaking in that tone, a chill suddenly ran through his heart. A pair of eyes abruptly met his own.

"Fuck! Teacher, he spotted us!" Xiao Yan shouted.

"Kill him!"

Before Yao Lao could reply, a sharp cry rang out.

A flash of black light streaked before them. The black puppet stomped the ground and instantly turned into a black line as it shot toward Xiao Yan.

Its steel-like fist smashed out, carrying terrifying force as it hurtled toward Xiao Yan's face.

"Damn it!"

Xiao Yan jumped in fright and instinctively drew the Mysterious Heavy Ruler, blocking it before him.

Clang!

A deafening boom like the tolling of a great bell erupted.

Xiao Yan felt an irresistible force crash into him. His body flew backward out of control, slamming into the ground and blasting out a huge crater.

"So strong!" Xiao Yan was horrified. He scrambled out of the pit in a sorry state. "Teacher, I can't beat him!"

"This puppet's combat power isn't that great. It only knocked you flying. Try and see whether you can defeat it," Yao Lao said.

Xiao Yan: "..."

You call that not great?

Before Xiao Yan could finish being speechless, the rune puppet flashed and charged again. Its black fist slammed toward Xiao Yan's face just like before.

"Fuck!"

Xiao Yan's temper flared. With a twist of his hand, he stored the Mysterious Heavy Ruler in his Ring. His right hand clenched into a fist as he sidestepped the rune puppet's blow, then drove a punch viciously into its body.

Eight Extremes Collapse!

Xiao Yan shouted inwardly. His clenched fist tore through the air, producing a sharp whistle.

Lu Bu stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching Xiao Yan battle the rune puppet. He had spent a full three months refining this rune puppet, and he wanted to see its true combat power.

In truth, refining a rune puppet did not require so much time. However, Lu Bu had added a few tricks to this one. He had needed to rethink the formation, then carve it anew, so it had taken quite a while.

Bang!

With a loud blast, Xiao Yan's fist struck the rune puppet squarely in the chest. Yet Xiao Yan felt no joy whatsoever.

It felt completely different from when he had used Eight Extremes Collapse in the past. Instead of the sensation of hitting metal, the puppet seemed to possess a faint suction force, as though the instant he touched it, several portions of his strength were weakened.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The rune puppet staggered back two steps, but then its back arched as it pounced again.

"Explode!"

Xiao Yan shouted, and the hidden force carried by Eight Extremes Collapse instantly erupted inside the rune puppet.

"Idiot, that's a corpse. It can't feel anything. Hidden force is useless!"

Yao Lao could not help speaking up. Xiao Yan had made a serious mistake in battle.

Just as Yao Lao had said, a soft bang exploded within the rune puppet, but it felt nothing at all and continued charging straight at Xiao Yan.

"Damn it!"

Xiao Yan raised his hand and grabbed the broad Mysterious Heavy Ruler, holding it before himself as a shield.

Clang!

Another thunderous impact rang out. Xiao Yan felt half his body go numb as he flew backward and smashed into the dirt once more.

"Teacher, I really can't beat this thing..." Xiao Yan said with a bitter smile.

"Let's go," Yao Lao said. "We'll find another place."

Xiao Yan stored the Mysterious Heavy Ruler in his Ring, clawed at the ground with both hands, and used the force to leap from the pit before darting into the forest.

"Hmph! As if it'll be that easy!" Lu Bu snorted coldly, swiftly forming a hand seal.

At once, pale green Dou Qi appeared and coiled around the rune puppet's feet. With a soft whoosh, the rune puppet appeared at Xiao Yan's side as if it had teleported.

Its Dou Qi-wreathed leg lashed out in a whip kick, viciously striking Xiao Yan.

"Eh? How can this puppet use Dou Qi?" Yao Lao asked in shock.

"Now isn't the time to be talking about that!" Xiao Yan yelled. He pulled out the Mysterious Heavy Ruler again and held it before himself as a shield.

With a clang, Xiao Yan, who had been running straight ahead, was kicked sideways like a football and smashed into the cliff beside the waterfall.

"It really is Dou Qi..." Yao Lao marveled.

This was the result of Lu Bu's efforts over the past three months. He had used formations to seal the Dou Qi within the corpse and store it inside the formation. Then, he set up specific techniques to convert it into Dou Techniques.

Simply put, when ordinary people used Dou Techniques, it was like playing King of Fighters—they needed to manipulate the controls and input a string of commands before they could unleash a finishing move.

But Lu Bu sealed specific techniques into the puppet. When needed, they could be released with a single command. Thus, the Dou Techniques used by the rune puppet were like skills in Honor of Kings: one press to unleash an ultimate, incredibly fast and convenient.

Of course, this had its limitations. The sealed Dou Qi would gradually dissipate over time and needed to be replenished periodically.

Moreover, it depended on the puppet's strength when it was alive. Its upper limit was the puppet's combat power from before death.

Lu Bu nodded. "Other than the hassle of carving the formations, there aren't any problems..."

Rubbing his chin, Lu Bu's eyes lit up slightly. If he could find a way to leave Devouring Power inside a puppet's body, perhaps he could create something similar to a Devouring Celestial Corpse...

Brilliant!

At that thought, Lu Bu's eyes lit up. This actually seemed feasible!

He would make a note of it and study it later.

"Little Yan, leave the rest to me," Yao Lao said solemnly in Xiao Yan's mind. Xiao Yan truly could not escape on his own. If this continued, he might end up getting his disciple killed.

"This should've happened long ago..." Xiao Yan complained, rolling his eyes. Both his arms had gone numb.

Buzz buzz buzz~!

A vast and surging soul force swept out. A violent gale instantly tore through the tranquil forest, as if even the air had begun to wail.

A faint white layer covered Xiao Yan's black eyes. He swung the Mysterious Heavy Ruler fiercely, slashing it into the rune puppet.

With a bang, the rune puppet was smashed into the lake beneath the waterfall. A clear ruler mark appeared across its chest.

"Kid, you fucking slashed my puppet?"

Lu Bu grinned. Formation patterns slowly emerged beneath his feet as equally surging soul force howled forth.

Boom!

The two powerful soul forces collided.

In an instant, the lake surface exploded, trees were sheared in half, and endless shockwaves roared outward.

"Little Yan, we're in trouble!" Yao Lao said gravely. Pale, chilling flames slowly appeared in his palm.

This man's soul force was actually on par with his current self. It was terrifying beyond belief!

"Oh? Bone Spirit Cold Fire?" Lu Bu chuckled. His hands hung at his sides, his fingers curled into loose claws, while his own Spirit Fire rose in his palms.