Formless Divine Canon

The moment those words were spoken, the black-robed middle-aged man's expression changed drastically. He immediately raised his guard and swept his gaze across all directions.

In the end, his eyes even landed on Li Musheng not far away.

"Why are you looking at me? Look over there!"

Li Musheng pointed with his hand, signaling for him to look into the valley.

Just then, Meng Shan and Yuan Mei, who had been preparing to seize the chance to flee after seeing the masked woman surrounded and heavily wounded, suddenly felt the world spin around them.

The next instant, both of them fell stiffly to the ground.

The shabby scholar who had followed at their side, protected by them all along the way, slowly straightened up.

"Senior Sister was too obsessed with cultivating that Blood Aspect Poison Claw Technique to great mastery. In the end, she was still careless."

The shabby scholar shook his head. The dull, impoverished look he had worn was long gone, replaced by coldness, indifference, and absolute confidence.

"Good Junior Brother, stop talking nonsense and make your move. If you don't act now, Senior Sister may be beaten to death by these petty people!"

The masked woman forcibly endured a punch from one of the old men. The blue-black poisonous mist swirling around her was nearly blasted away entirely, and she violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

"So this old man misjudged you. This poisonous woman killed so many people from our alliance, all for the sake of a scholar like you."

The black-robed middle-aged man narrowed his eyes. Yet the moment his words fell, he suddenly attacked without warning.

The Thousand Leaf Wind-Destroying Palm silently unfolded. True qi within his body intertwined like wind-blown leaves, instantly condensing into a two-foot palm imprint. Carrying the force of wind and thunder, it shot toward the masked woman in a sneak attack.

Clearly, he intended to deal with the masked woman, who possessed poison arts, before handling the scholar.

After all, the scholar's strength was unknown. If the two joined hands, the situation ahead would likely become difficult to control.

"Senior Sister, be careful. As long as you survive blocking this move, you'll be safe!"

The scholar suddenly spoke with a smile, while the masked woman's face turned livid.

Blocking that old man's punch had already worsened her injuries. With the black-robed middle-aged man's palm strike added on top, it would probably cost her another half of her life.

"You're really something. Senior Sister won't be able to protect you anymore after this, so look after yourself!"

The masked woman gritted her teeth as she spoke. At the same time, she mobilized every last shred of true qi in her dantian and gathered it into her clawed hands, doing everything she could to resist the two-foot palm imprint capable of splitting mountains and shattering stones.

At the same time, the black-robed middle-aged man and the other two old men seemed to sense something. Their expressions all changed greatly.

They suddenly discovered that, at some unknown point, their bodies had become exceedingly stiff.

The circulation of true qi through the dantians and meridians within them had also become incomparably sluggish. Their limbs, bones, and muscles seemed to be obstructed by some immense invisible force, making it difficult for them to move as they wished.

"What is going on?!"

Terror filled the black-robed middle-aged man's eyes. He could be certain that he had not been poisoned, yet he could not understand what exactly had gone wrong with his body.

For a moment, he and the other two old men all turned to look at the shabby scholar, who had yet to make a move from beginning to end.

Faced with the gazes of the three men, a mocking smile surfaced on the scholar's gaunt, sallow face.

Then, he spread his five fingers and suddenly clenched them. Threads of true qi took shape and scattered from his fingertips.

The black-robed middle-aged man and the two old men instantly widened their eyes. They saw transparent threads emerge from the air, densely connecting their bodies to the scholar's fingers.

The scholar merely curled his little finger lightly, and one old man's arms rose beyond his control.

The next moment, the old man raised both fists and smashed them down toward his own head.

Although the old man desperately circulated the martial true qi within him, trying to snap the countless threads connected to his body,

he simply could not do it!

For even the martial true qi in his body was now controlled by those threads. The martial true qi he had cultivated day and night through breathing exercises seemed no longer to belong to him.

"It's actually the Formless Puppet Technique."

Outside the valley, Cang Yinyue cried out in surprise upon seeing this scene.

When Li Musheng beside her looked over, she softly explained:

"The Formless Puppet Technique originated from the Formless Divine Canon, and the Formless Divine Canon was the supreme martial arts secret scripture of a sect called the Myriad Form Demon Sect several hundred years ago."

"However, the Myriad Form Demon Sect was destroyed centuries ago. In recent years, fragments of its surviving legacy have occasionally appeared in the martial world, but they never stirred up much of a storm."

"The power of the Formless Puppet Technique lies in its ability to condense qi into threads—colorless and formless—that silently invade an opponent's body and true qi. They are extremely difficult to detect, and once one is controlled, even one's life and death fall into another's hands."

As she spoke, Cang Yinyue turned to look into the valley.

At that moment, the black-robed middle-aged man and the two old men were all uncontrollably mutilating themselves under the scholar's manipulation.

Though all three were Grandmaster-level martial arts experts, and because they had plotted to ambush the masked woman, they had not suffered much injury and had expended little of their strength,

even so, once controlled by the Formless Puppet Technique, they could not help themselves and could not break free.

Even at the peak of their condition, the result would have been the same. They could not even kill themselves.

"Your technique is still more formidable, Junior Brother. It's a pity my talent is insufficient. Otherwise, Master would not have passed down only poison arts to me."

The masked woman dragged her severely wounded body over to the scholar's side.

The scholar's fingertips danced as he controlled the black-robed middle-aged man into striking another old man across the face, collapsing the bones on half of his face and turning it into a bloody pulp.

The other old man then smashed a fist into the black-robed middle-aged man's shoulder, deforming his entire shoulder blade and punching out a bloody crater.

"Don't say Junior Brother didn't avenge you. Are you satisfied now?"

The scholar tilted his head toward the masked woman, smiling from the corners of his eyes.

The masked woman stared coldly at the three men. With one casual motion, she tore off her veil, revealing hideous blue-black scars crisscrossing her face.

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and said:

"If Junior Brother can hand them over to me to cultivate the Blood Aspect Poison Claw Technique, then I'll be even more satisfied!"

Hearing this, the scholar shook his head.

"Don't rush. Once I capture those two over there, all these people will be yours, Senior Sister!"

As he spoke, the scholar cocked his head, a faint smile lingering at the corner of his lips as he stared fixedly at Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue.

"Not good!"

Cang Yinyue's expression changed drastically. She was about to retreat with Li Musheng when she discovered that her movements had suddenly become stiff.

With a thought, a shadow was about to emerge from her body and extend toward the soft blade at her waist.

But halfway there, the shadow abruptly stalled and dispersed. Cang Yinyue's gaze darkened at once.

"I was careless. This is actually the complete Formless Puppet Technique."

She knew something about the Formless Puppet Technique. Over the past several centuries, only incomplete versions had circulated through the martial world, and those who used the technique could control targets no farther than ten zhang away.

But the distance at which the scholar before them wielded the Formless Puppet Technique clearly far exceeded ten zhang.