Four corpse puppets surrounded them from all sides.
Their vital energies were interconnected, and each could borrow the power of the other three. The corpse energy condensed into a gray-black cage in mid-air.
Chu Yunfei raised his sword and slashed repeatedly.
The first corpse puppet had a sword wound on its chest, but its power was dispersed to the other three puppets along with its energy flow.
The second sword strike brought the same result.
The joy in Yin Hanmei grew stronger.
The greatest ability of the Nether Puppet Spirit Physique is to allow the corpse puppets it controls to share its power and injuries.
Unless all four corpse puppets are destroyed simultaneously, any single attack will be quickly distributed among them.
Chu Yunfei's two consecutive sword strikes failed, seemingly proving that he was unable to break this connection.
"I see."
Chu Yunfei discerned the flow of spiritual energy among the corpse puppets, and a hint of interest appeared in his eyes. "Not bad physique, it's a pity they fell into your hands, it's such a waste."
Yin Hanmei was most sensitive to others underestimating her physical condition.
Her face suddenly turned cold, and she pressed her ten fingers down hard.
The four corpse puppets simultaneously ignited their corpse energy, causing their combat power to surge once again, and they crashed into Chu Yunfei from four directions.
Chu Yunfei held his sword horizontally in front of his chest.
Ninefold Overturning Sea, the Sixth Sword!
The six-fold sword aura did not strike any of the corpse puppets, but instead condensed into a dark golden sword tide around him.
The moment the four corpse puppets stepped into the sword tide, the gray-black soul lines on their bodies simultaneously appeared.
This was the moment Chu Yunfei had been waiting for.
The Abyss-Devouring Sword pressed down.
The sword tide flowed upstream along the four soul lines, simultaneously blasting into the cores of the four corpse puppets.
The four explosions almost overlapped.
The cores on the chests of the corpse puppets exploded simultaneously, and their massive bodies were torn to pieces by the tide of swords.
Yin Hanmei's soul was connected to the corpse puppet. After suffering a backlash, she coughed up blood, and the puppet pattern between her eyebrows cracked open.
"Impossible..."
She staggered backward, a look of horror appearing on her face for the first time. "How could you possibly shatter all four corpse puppets, enhanced by the Nether Puppet Spirit Physique, with a single sword strike?"
His prized trump card, the spiritual power capable of defeating powerful enemies, couldn't even withstand a single sword strike from his opponent!
Boundless fear completely overwhelmed Yin Hanmei.
Looking up, Chu Yunfei's cold, dark eyes were already inches away.
The tip of the Abyss-Devouring Sword dripped with the blood of her fellow cultivators, carrying the shadow of death, and pointed directly at her throat.
" Chu Yunfei, you forced me to this!"
A crazed glint flashed in Yin Hanmei as she faced imminent death.
Trembling, she pulled a strange jade stone covered in mysterious blood-red patterns from her bosom and roared:
"Die!!"
She crushed the jade stone into pieces!
A terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from the shattered jade.
The floor of the underground palace sank three feet, and cracks dozens of feet wide appeared on the rock walls. The dome above trembled violently and seemed about to collapse at any moment.
Divine Sea Realm Ninth Level... No! It has surpassed the Divine Sea Realm!
This is the true power of the Dao Profound!
Where the jade shattered, a phantom, withered palm print slowly coalesced, and the space around the palm print faintly showed distorted and torn black lines.
The Supreme Elder of the Puppet Sect sealed away one of the attacks' power!
A deadly trump card powerful enough to instantly kill any expert at the Divine Sea Realm!
" Dao Mysterious Realm... that was an attack from the Dao Mysterious Realm!"
Zhao Manshan's voice changed in terror as he grabbed the Rogue Cultivator beside him and fled frantically into the depths of the passage.
Xiao Yihan and Si Yunshu's expressions changed drastically, and their protective sword energy was crushed inch by inch by that aura.
Situ Shuang'er's pupils contracted sharply, and she instinctively gripped the Ice Soul Sword tightly. The three-colored spiritual energy around her surged uncontrollably. "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
Wu Changge, Si Yunshu, and Situ Shuang'er all took half a step forward, wanting to lend a helping hand.
Chu Yunfei raised his hand to stop them.
He stared at the earth-shattering attack, his expression turning solemn for the first time.
Unlike others, he had lived two lives and was more aware of the qualitative leap between the Dao Mysterious Realm and the Divine Sea Realm.
Even a pre-sealed attack contains a preliminary grasp of the power of heaven and earth.
To take the Divine Sea Realm First Level is tantamount to courting death.
Since that's the case, there's no need to hide it anymore.
A fierce glint flashed in Chu Yunfei's eyes, and his black hair danced wildly in the air.
Because he no longer held back in the slightest, he completely released his restraint.
The disguise of being at the Divine Sea Realm First Level deep within his body was torn to shreds.
A powerful spiritual force fully revived from the depths of his meridians, its oppressive aura rising layer by layer, directly breaking through the void's confinement!
Divine Sea Realm Second Layer!
Divine Sea Realm Fourth Level!
Divine Sea Realm Sixth Layer, peak power unleashed!
The dark golden spiritual light shot straight to the dome, its power in no way inferior to that illusory Dao Profound palm print!
At the same time, the Abyss-Devouring Sword vibrated violently, and the space around the sword's body caved in dramatically.
First sword, third sword... sixth sword... eighth sword!
Eight swords stacked!
Sea-Overturning Ninefold Sword, Eighth Form!!
A raging sea suddenly appeared out of thin air, and eight layers of sword energy descended from above, fiercely slashing down to meet the Dao Profound palm print that was shattering heaven and earth!
"Destroy them!!"
Chu Yunfei shouted loudly.
The two forces collided head-on in the void!
A deathly silence descended in an instant, followed by a blinding light and shockwave that swept across the entire underground palace.
Hundreds of cultivators who were nearby were thrown several meters away by the shockwave, spitting out blood.
The water pool in the center of the underground palace was mostly evaporated, turning into a sky full of blood mist.
The stalemate lasted no more than two breaths. The seemingly invincible, illusory, withered palm print, under the layers of dark gold sword sea, suddenly developed cracks and finally shattered with a bang!
The sword's momentum had not yet dissipated.
The power of the Eightfold Overturning Sea, carrying a destructive edge, struck down solidly on the terrified Yin Hanmei below.
Blood splattered on the spot.
"No!!"
Yin Hanmei let out a short scream.
The next moment, the Sword Qi directly cleaved his entire right shoulder and half of his body into a bloody pulp!
His mangled body flew dozens of feet backward, crashing heavily into the stone wall, his life extinguished, and he died on the spot!
The violent shockwave gradually subsided.
Chu Yunfei landed back on the ground, his feet leaving two shallow marks on the broken stone slab.
The recoil from the attack of the Dao Mysterious Realm was too strong, causing his blood and qi to surge, his meridians to ache, and blood to slowly trickle from the corner of his mouth.
But he remained upright amidst the mess.
The entire underground palace was deathly silent.
The surviving cultivators were all filled with horror, completely forgetting to breathe.
" Divine Sea Realm... sixth level?!"
"He's actually at the Divine Sea Realm Sixth Layer?!"
"How is this possible... He even annihilated Dao Mysterious Realm expert's divine sense attack head-on?!"
A trembling voice echoed intermittently through the crowd.
Xiao Yihan and Si Yunshu stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with shock and horror.
Others might only see Chu Yunfei's formidable strength, but these two, as the legitimate successors of the Heavenly Edict Sect, knew all too well what this meant!
" The Sea-Overturning Ninefold Sword... the eighth fold?!"
Si Yunshu covered her red lips with her jade-like hand, her eyes trembling violently, her voice shaking. "Back then... even Grandmaster Lu Shaoyuan, before his disappearance, hadn't been able to develop this sword technique to the eighth form..."
Xiao Yihan's apple bobbed, his heart filled with bitterness and horror. "From the time he obtained this sword technique until now... how long has it been? Less than a month, right? Is this person... even human?!"
Not far away, for the first time, shock and unease appeared on Situ Shuang'er cold face.
Her jade-like fingers, gripping the Ice Soul Sword, were bloodless from the force she exerted.
" Divine Sea Realm Sixth Layer... One sword breaks through the Dao Profound..."
The Body Tempering Realm disciple she once rejected at the Azure Mystic Sect, whom she considered a waste, has somehow become so powerful in just a few months that he can even destroy a Dao Mysterious Realm cultivator with a single blow?
How is that possible?!
The pride and composure bestowed upon her by the Nine-Colored Imperial Phoenix Physique were shattered at this moment by the blood-stained figure in black.
On the other side...
Qin Hao's legs went weak, and he slumped to the ground, his lips trembling uncontrollably, his eyes unfocused.
"They're all dead... completely dead..."
More than two hundred elite and core disciples, and even the holy sons and daughters of the Puppet Sect, were slaughtered within half an incense stick's time!
How could he be so strong?
How could he dare to use such a cruel method?!
He Yang, standing to the side, was ashen-faced. He swallowed hard, and only at this moment did Xie Yunyi's words before leaving suddenly resound in his mind.
So... Xie Yunyi had seen through it all along!
She wasn't backing down; she was genuinely saving their lives!
A strong stench of blood filled the air.
Chu Yunfei indifferently raised his sleeve and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He didn't even glance at Yin Hanmei's mangled corpse. He turned slightly, and his cold, dark eyes pierced through the dust, landing on Qin Hao was slumped on the ground.
A cold voice echoed softly in the underground palace:
" Qin Hao, you're the only one left."