"Spirit Pivot Sect?" Qin Tiexin searched for this name in his mind. Unlike when he entered the secret realm and found out "Pure Land Chan Sect", Spirit Pivot Sect is the sect of Ten Thousand Stars City has heard of the sect that was famous as Puppet Technique a thousand years ago. It is said that the inheritance was passed down until the sect collapsed three hundred years ago, the last Golden Core monk died, and the entire sect was divided among the major sects.
It is said that Puppet Technique of the Spirit Pivot Sect has novel and unique ideas. Many sects now famous for Puppet Technique still have the shadow of the Spirit Pivot Sect back then.
"Yes, it's the sect that makes puppets." Liu Suifeng has obviously heard of it. "Thousands of years ago, their Puppet Technique could beat ten on the battlefield. There must be special formations in it that are different from those now. Anyway, the distance is not far. Waiting here is just waiting. Senior Brother Ming Do you want to go and see it together?"
Qin Tiexin thought about it, and he naturally had no interest in Puppet Technique, but Senior Brother Chen Xi was indeed extremely proficient in Puppet Technique. Qin Tiexin sometimes even suspected that what he had been seeing was Senior Brother Chen Xi's puppet instead of him.
During the time he came to Heavenly South Domain, Chen Xi helped him a lot, disguising his identity, traveling, helping to detect the whereabouts of the medical cultivator, inquiring about information, and even helping him hunt down Demon Beast. He was not cultivated enough and had nothing good to repay his senior brother. If he could find a good puppet inheritance in the secret realm, it would be a small kindness.
"Let's go and have a look, but you have to leave a mark for them before leaving." Qin Tiexin stood up and said to Liu Suifeng.
"It's easy."
Liu Suifeng walked to the corner in front of the cave entrance, took out several cyan formation flags from Storage Bag, and planted them on the ground one by one.
The formation flag was about the size of a palm, with extremely fine warning Spirit Rune embroidered on the flag, and a miniature Spirit Stone embedded at the bottom of the flagpole. He inserted two flags on each side of the cave entrance, and embedded a sensing array eye on the stone wall directly opposite the cave entrance.
After doing this, he took out a blank Jade Slip from his arms, injected a wisp of Divine Sense, and then embedded the Jade Slip in an extremely inconspicuous stone crevice next to it.
"Okay, after Lin Chuan comes out, Jade Slip will automatically tell him where we are." Liu Suifeng checked the spiritual power circuit of the array flag one last time and hung a sub-array disk on his waist.
"Let's go, fifteen miles to the northwest. With our pace, we can get there in less than an hour." Suifeng put the formation disk in his arms and walked toward the northwest. "While we are nearby, let's explore the way first to avoid being jumped on by others."
Qin Tiexin held the Zen staff in his hand and followed Liu Suifeng. After the two left the cave entrance valley, they rushed northwest.
Liu Suifeng took out an array plate engraved with wind patterns from his arms and hung it on his waist. Light cyan light spread from the surface of the array plate and enveloped the two of them.
The moment the formation plate was activated, Qin Tiexin felt that the steps under his feet were lighter, as if there was a gust of wind carrying the soles of his shoes forward.
"The acceleration disk is a gadget I researched myself." Liu Suifeng explained without looking back, "It's not fast, but it's stable. It can run for two consecutive hours without fading."
Liu Suifeng looked down at the formation board as he hurried on, and from time to time he said "go around to the left" and "there is a space crack area ahead, cut through the gravel slope on the right."
The integrated map was drawn in detail, clearly marking where there were abandoned formations, where there were landslides, and where there were residual spiritual energy turbulence. The two of them followed the cleanest route on the map and headed northwest. In less than a quarter of an hour, the surrounding scene gradually changed.
The blue-gray gravel beach began to be replaced by large tracts of ruined walls. Broken stone pillars fell to the ground in various directions, and the Spirit Rune on the pillars had long been smoothed by wind and sand. Several half-collapsed stone houses were scattered on the gentle slope. The walls of the stone houses were embedded with rusted metal brackets. It looked like the structure was used to hang something. The dry dust smell in the air began to be mixed with a very light metal rust.
"We're almost there." Liu Suifeng glanced at the mark on the array plate, "It's over the slope in front."
Before he finished speaking, there was a faint sound of spiritual collision and metal collision coming from the front. The sound was not loud, and it sounded muffled across the slope, but the rhythm was very dense, as if someone was fighting.
Qin Tiexin and Liu Suifeng looked at each other. Could it be that someone got there first?
The speed of the two slowed down. Qin Tiexin held the Zen staff in his hand tightly and took the initiative to step forward. Liu Suifeng changed a formation disk and held it in his hands. He followed Qin Tiexin over the gentle slope, and the terrain in front suddenly opened up.
In an open space surrounded by rubble and broken walls, there stood a large stone house.
The entire stone house is built with blue-gray ashlar, and the exterior walls are quite intact. Only the roof has collapsed. The stone door is tightly closed, and the lintel is engraved with an eight-pointed star interlocked by gears, which is the unique mark of the Spirit Pivot Sect.
There were many broken metal parts and wood fragments scattered around the stone house, but the stone door was tightly closed. It showed that someone had tried but failed to open it.
In front of the stone house, two tall puppets were fighting with five monks.
The puppet is about one foot tall and is dark green in color. Its torso and limbs are made of some kind of dense spiritual wood, and its joints are embedded with dark copper-colored metal gears.
Each puppet holds four weapons, with each arm holding a knife and a shield. Two auxiliary arms extend from the back, holding a short spear and a crossbow-like thing respectively. The eight weapons are coordinated between the two puppets, including knife attack, shield block, short spear thrust, and long-range crossbow. The transition between offense and defense is as smooth as a dead object.
The person commanding them stood at the door of the stone house. Qin Tiexin took a closer look and saw that he was an acquaintance.
Ling Shuyao of Imperial Dao Arts Workshop.
Today she changed into a dark blue outfit that was easy to move around. The cuffs were tightened, the waist was belted, and her hair was neatly pulled back. Even so, her natural charm could not be concealed. Against the surrounding gray background, she stood there as if she had placed a bright pearl in a pile of dust.
The fingers of her hands flew around, and the spiritual power of her fingertips turned into extremely thin threads that connected the control eyes behind the two puppets. The movement of each finger accurately corresponded to a joint of the puppets.
The cooperation of the five monks on the opposite side was quite poor.
Three Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and two Foundation Establishment Late Stage were wearing various robes and had various weapons. One was holding a broad sword, one was using a pair of knives, and one was carrying a spear. The other two practitioners were hiding behind and casting spells from a distance.
The five people were obviously a makeshift team, and their attack was completely unstructured.
The one with the broad sword wanted to break through the puppet's defense from the front, and the one with the double sword came around from the side, but neither of them waited for the other, and they fought independently. Every time they were about to break through the puppet's defense, another puppet would take over from the side and force them back.
The situation at the rear was even worse. The fireballs and water arrows hit the puppet's dark green spirit wood shell, leaving only shallow scorch marks, and could not even penetrate the texture of the wood.
But after all, having more people still gives her a certain advantage, and there are always people who want to bypass the side and directly attack the Ling Shuyao body. On the one hand, she has to control the attack and defense of the puppet, and on the other hand, she must always pay attention to whether there is any fish that slips through the net and make up for it in time.
After a while, there was a slight sweat on her forehead, and a few strands of hair were stuck to her temples. Her face was slightly red due to the continuous consumption of spiritual power, but her eyes were always calm.
"Fellow Daoist, why bother!" The leader was Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator, who was holding a broad sword. He waved his sword to block the short spear coming from the puppet while shouting to Ling Shuyao, "You put that Hand over [High Antiquity Array-Breaking Mystic Key], and we will naturally let you go. There are five of us, and you alone, even with two puppets, can't last long. When the spiritual power is exhausted, you will be the one who suffers."