Black mist surged forth. These puppets were, after all, mindless objects; they did not even know to dodge and were instantly swallowed by it. The black mist continued to billow out, engulfing several more puppets at the Spirit Cultivation Stage.
The Spirit Cultivation Stage puppets turned to ash moments after being swallowed by the black mist, but the Ascension Stage puppet emerged entirely unharmed. Yan Chihuo spread his wings and flew into the black mist as well, arriving before the Ascension Stage puppet in the blink of an eye.
This puppet had once been the Ghost Shadow King, most skilled in stealth attacks. Yet beneath the Cycle of Life and Death, such attacks had lost all effect. Had its intelligence remained, even without a means of countering it, it would have been on guard. Unfortunately, having been a puppet for years, its mind had become dull and wooden. It only knew to carry out stealth attacks as before, utterly unaware that they no longer worked.
Yan Chihuo was overjoyed at the sight. With a raised hand and falling palm, he struck the puppet squarely on the head, stamping a mark upon its crown. The puppet swayed, then attacked again. Under the Cycle of Life and Death, Yan Chihuo saw it clearly. With a mere turn, he evaded the blow, then struck back with his palm, imprinting another mark upon the puppet's back.
Before long, Yan Chihuo had stamped thirteen marks onto the puppet's body. With the Cycle of Life and Death in play, every other puppet that rushed forward was reduced to ashes; not a single one could come near.
Yan Chihuo was secretly puzzled as well. Logically, if someone were controlling these puppets, they would never act like this. But if no one controlled them, who had refined them?