The Fierce Tiger Puppet stomped its four claws on the ground, its Dark Gold metallic body transforming into a streak of light, hurtling straight at his face.
The Giant Bear Puppet took large strides, each step causing a slight tremor in the ground, and its two palms slammed down from the left with the force of Mountain-Splitting Stone-Cracking.
The giant python puppet shrank its body, then shot out like an arrow, opening its massive metal maw to bite at its waist from the right side.
The giant ape puppet leaped up from behind, its dark silver arms reaching past its knees, its fists clenched together like a giant hammer crashing down.
With a flap of its wings, the Giant Eagle Puppet's bronze-colored metallic feathers sliced through the air as it swooped down from above, its sharp talons aimed straight for the top of its head.
The Mantis Puppet's scythe-like forearms slashed out, leaving two distorted trails of eerie blue light in the air.
The Spider Puppet's eight metal legs exerted force simultaneously, its jet-black body circling to the side and rear, with sharp spears at the ends of its eight legs thrusting out from eight different angles.
And that Scorpion Puppet—
Its speed is astonishing.
Its dark red metallic body left a distorted afterimage in the passage, its tail hook raised high, the eerie blue light at the end like the gaze of death.
Instead of attacking directly, it circled around the perimeter of the encirclement, its tail hook always pointed at Bai Yan's back, waiting for the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
Eight puppets, in eight directions.
It's even more formidable and deadly than the sixth level.
Bai Yan placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Clang--"
The longsword was drawn, its pale blue blade gleaming brilliantly.
The Wood Sword Intent erupted with a roar, its vigorous and inexhaustible essence being released without reservation at this moment.
A verdant light flowed across the sword's blade, and faint shadowy figures of grass and trees appeared in the air, as if the entire mountain forest had awakened in that instant.
A sword strike was unleashed.
No, not one sword strike, but eight sword strikes.
The sword light left eight verdant trails in the air, slashing at the eight puppets almost simultaneously.
"Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang--!"
Eight metallic clangs rang out almost simultaneously, converging into a long, resonant bell-like sound that echoed through the passageway.
The Fierce Tiger Puppet was sent flying backward.
The Giant Bear Puppet staggered backward.
The giant python puppet's head was knocked to the side.
The giant ape puppet's fists were knocked away.
The Giant Eagle Puppet soared into the sky.
The Mantis Puppet's scythe was jolted high into the air.
The Spider Puppet's eight legs spread out and rose up.
And that Scorpion Puppet—
Its tail hook was jolted to one side by the sword strike, and its dark red metallic body slid back several meters.
But in just a moment, it pounced again, its tail hook drawing a strange arc as it pierced through the gap in the Bai Yan.
Bai Yan's expression hardened slightly, and he shifted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the stab.
The tail hook grazed his side, tearing a gash in his moon-white robe, and leaving a shallow bloodstain on his skin.
He swung his sword backhand, sending the Scorpion Puppet flying more than ten meters.
However, the other puppets have already regrouped.
The Fierce Tiger Puppet pounced again, the Giant Bear Puppet slammed its paws down from the left, and the giant python puppet swept its tail across from the right.
The Mantis Puppet's scythes slashed out in a crisscross pattern, while the Spider Puppet's eight legs thrust in from all sorts of tricky angles.
The offensive was like a tide, one wave subsiding only for another to rise.
"Clang clang clang--"
Bai Yan's sword light crisscrossed the passage, his Wood Sword Intent pushed to its limit. His Sword Technique was steady yet agile, always able to deflect the puppet's attacks at the last second.
However, the attack from eight early- Second Grade puppets was simply too dense.
Thirty moves.
His left shoulder was grazed by the Fierce Tiger Puppet's claws, tearing his moon-white robe and leaving a bloody mark.
Fifty moves.
The giant python puppet's tail swept across his side, causing his blood to surge and a trace of blood to spill from the corner of his mouth.
Eighty moves.
One of the Spider Puppet's metal legs pierced his right arm, blood splattering and instantly soaking the cuffs of his moon-white robe.
Bai Yan's brows furrowed slightly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
But he did not back down.
A glint flashed in his eyes, and his Wood Sword Intent was unleashed to an unprecedented extreme.
The emerald light on the sword suddenly surged, and an even more vigorous and inexhaustible aura erupted.
He unleashed several sword strikes in quick succession.
The sword light flashed like a rainbow, repelling all the attacking puppets.
The Fierce Tiger Puppet was sent flying backward, the Giant Bear Puppet staggered back seven or eight steps, the giant python puppet's head was slapped to one side, and the giant ape puppet's fists were knocked away, causing it to fall backward.
The Giant Eagle Puppet was slashed and sent soaring into the sky, the Mantis Puppet's scythe was raised high, and the Spider Puppet's eight legs were scattered and raised.
The Scorpion Puppet was also shaken by the sword and slid back several feet, its tail hook trembling violently.
"Whoosh!"
Bai Yan did not let this opportunity slip by.
He moved with lightning speed, transforming into a streak of Moon-White light, and passed through the gaps revealed by the puppet.
The Spider Puppet's eight legs stabbed at him from the side. He dodged six of them, but the other two pierced his left leg and abdomen.
Blood splattered.
He grunted, but used the force of the thrust to increase his speed by three points.
The Scorpion Puppet's stinger stabbed from behind. He twisted his body with all his might, and the stinger grazed his back, tearing his moon-white robe and leaving a deep bloodstain.
But he made it through in the end.
The moment he stepped through the passage, he staggered, fell to one knee, and gasped for breath.
The moon-white robe was soaked in blood and clung tightly to his body.
His left shoulder, right arm, left leg, waist, abdomen, and back—he had more than ten wounds of varying sizes all over his body; his face was as pale as paper, and he was barely breathing.
Bai Yan slowly stood up, swallowed a healing Danyao, and tore off strips of cloth to simply bandage several of the deeper wounds.
His movements were steady and methodical, as if the wounds were not on his own body.
He turned around, his gaze falling on the other end of the passageway.
There, Fang Han stood quietly.
"My turn."
Fang Han strode towards the passageway.
His green robe swayed slightly, the Cloudsplitter Sword hung at his waist, and his steps were neither hurried nor slow.
The moment I stepped into the passage, I saw tigers, Giant Bear, giant pythons, giant apes, Giant Eagle, mantises, spiders, and scorpions—
Eight metallic figures rushed in from eight directions simultaneously.
Fang Han placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword.
"Clang--"
The Cloudsplitter Sword was drawn.
The Dark Cyan blade gleamed with a restrained luster under the light of the Night-Luminescent Pearl.
The next moment--
A sharp aura, many times stronger than before, suddenly erupted from his body.
The aura was so fierce and sharp that it seemed to tear the entire passage to shreds.
An invisible Sword Intent flowed faintly in the air, leaving fine white marks on the walls on both sides of the passage wherever it passed.
The Minor Success Stage of the < Void-Sundering Sword Manual >!
This was the first time Fang Han had used this master-level Sword Technique, which he had already mastered to Minor Success Stage, without reservation.
On the sword's blade, the cyan-gold light transformed into a sharpness that was almost transparent yet solidified.
The light wasn't dazzling, but it was so intense that people dared not look directly at it, as if a single glance would wound them with its sharpness.
A sword strike was unleashed.
Not one sword strike, but eight sword strikes.
The sword light left eight faint, almost imperceptible trails in the air, slashing at the eight puppets almost simultaneously.
"Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang--!"
Eight metallic clangs rang out almost simultaneously, converging into a longer, more resonant bell-like sound that echoed through the passageway.
The Fierce Tiger Puppet was sent flying backward, its Dark Gold metallic body crashing heavily against the wall.
The Giant Bear Puppet staggered backward, taking more than ten steps before barely managing to regain its balance.
The giant python puppet's head was slammed to one side, and its massive metal body rolled several times on the ground before crashing into the wall and coming to a stop.
The giant ape puppet's fists were jolted high into the air, and it flipped backward, crashing heavily onto the tunnel floor.
The Giant Eagle Puppet was slashed into the sky by a sword, crashing into the dome with a dull thud before falling back down, its metal wings scraping white streaks across the ground.
The Mantis Puppet's scythe-like forearm was shaken so badly it almost flipped over, and its Dark Gold metallic body slid back nearly ten feet. The eerie blue light at the blade flickered violently, almost going out.
The Spider Puppet's eight protruding metal legs were shaken and scattered, its dark body sliding backward, and the dark red light in its more than ten compound eyes flashed rapidly.
And that Scorpion Puppet—
Its tail hook was jolted high by the sword strike, and its dark red metallic body slid back nearly ten feet, the eerie blue light at the end of the tail hook trembling violently.
It tried to steady itself, but still plowed two white tracks into the ground.
Eight metal puppets, comparable to those at the early stage of the Second Grade, were simultaneously repelled by this sword strike.
Fang Han didn't stop, and continued walking forward.
Activating the < Wind God Step >, his figure moved like an invisible gust of wind, passing through the gaps revealed by the puppet.
The Fierce Tiger Puppet tried to pounce again, but he slid to the side and used his sword to knock it back once more.
The Scorpion Puppet's tail hook stabbed from the side, but he swayed slightly and dodged it. The sword light pierced straight into its body, causing it to slide backward.
The Spider Puppet's eight legs stabbed from behind. He lightly touched one of the legs with his toe, using the momentum to float forward several feet. At the same time, he swept his sword horizontally, knocking back both the Mantis Puppet and the Giant Bear Puppet.
His figure moved freely amidst the encirclement of eight puppets, his swordplay and Body Movement perfectly coordinated.
After dozens of moves.
A glint flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly accelerated.
"Whoosh--"
Like a streak of blue light, it flashed past between the giant python puppet and the giant ape puppet.
When the eight puppets regrouped, he had already passed through the passage and landed steadily at the other end.
She was slightly out of breath, but had no injuries and was in much better condition than Bai Yan.
In the lobby of level eight.
Bai Yan's gaze fell on Fang Han.
That face, which rarely showed emotion, now held a hint of undisguised surprise.
" Minor Accomplishment..."
He spoke in a low voice, so softly that only he could hear it.
Artistic Conception -level Sword Technique, Minor Accomplishment.
The young man in front of me, who is only twenty years old and comes from a remote county, has not only comprehended the Sword Intent, but he has also mastered Sword Technique of the Artistic Conception level to the Minor Success Stage.
Even within the Heavenly Origin Sect, there are only a handful of disciples who can master Sword Technique at the Artistic Conception level to Minor Accomplishment before the age of thirty.
Those people were all nurtured by their sects from a young age, with no shortage of resources, cultivation techniques, or renowned teachers.
But what about Fang Han?
Born in a remote place like Qingyang Prefecture, the sect he belonged to was just an ordinary top-tier power. Compared with the Heavenly Origin Sect, the gap in resources, cultivation techniques, and inheritance was like heaven and earth.
Despite these circumstances and conditions, he accomplished something that only the most outstanding disciples in the Heavenly Origin Sect could achieve.
Even better.
At the age of twenty, Minor Accomplishment the Artistic Conception level of Sword Technique.
Bai Yan remained silent for a moment before slowly withdrawing his gaze.
He has seen many geniuses, and he has also seen many prodigies.
But he had never seen anything like Fang Han, who could bloom so beautifully on such barren land.