Chapter 293: Resolving Doubts

"Boom, boom, boom..."

A series of dull rumbling sounds rang out as a giant warrior puppet, nearly a thousand feet tall, climbed over a ridge that lay across the square and then staggered through the dense ranks of green-armored soldiers, running toward the square.

Its journey here had evidently not been smooth; much of its massive body was broken and battered, with a huge gaping hole in its chest and the silver giant blade in its hand snapped off by half.

Before it could even set foot on the stone pavement of the square, over a hundred green-armored soldiers swarmed around it, sending down a dense storm of blade light and sword radiance.

These attacks would not normally have caused it much harm, but by the time it had fought its way here, it was already at the end of its strength. Before long, with a crack, one of its giant legs gave way and snapped in the middle.

The warrior puppet's enormous body crashed to the ground, and its huge head rolled with a clatter, tumbling toward the square.

Cultivators along the way quickly activated their escape light and dodged to either side, while some unlucky ones, unable to evade in time, were sent flying backward, covered in blood from the impact.

Seeing the puppet's head rolling onward with no sign of stopping, Han Li soared into the air, flicked his sleeve, and a stream of white light shot out, wrapping around the puppet's head.

With a thunderous boom,

the seemingly unstoppable giant head came to an abrupt halt, deeply embedded in the ground of the square.

The round tower atop the head was already shattered, revealing within it the corpses of the Sacred Puppet Sect cultivators who had long since died—the very ones who had been controlling the puppet from inside the tower.

Han Li's gaze swept over them, and his brow suddenly furrowed. He waved his sleeve again, sending a stream of green light to knock aside a piece of the tower wall, pulling Qi Heng out from the rubble.

The latter's face was as pale as paper, with a thread of blood trickling from each of his seven orifices like a small snake, but he still had breath and was not dead.

It seemed that this man, too, had severely overextended his magical power while controlling the giant puppet earlier, leading to such a miserable state.

Han Li landed, turned his hand over, and took out a golden pill, placing it into Qi Heng's mouth. With a glow of green light on his palm, he gently pressed it against the man's chest, helping to dissolve the medicinal power.

After that, he laid it flat on the ground, and immediately several elder disciples gathered around, softly calling out "Elder Qi" repeatedly.

Han Li turned his head and exchanged a glance with Lin Jiu not far away. They both then looked up toward the high sky, their expressions under the masks growing increasingly grim.

There was basically no suspense left in the battle on the main island. With the aid of a large number of bean soldiers, the cultivators of the Ten Directions Tower already held an absolute numerical advantage. The eight giant puppets of the Sacred Puppet Sect were now beyond reliance, and over half of the True Immortal cultivators were dead or wounded. Even among the sixteen members of the Unchanging Alliance, several had not appeared. Barring the possibility of desertion, they might have met with misfortune.

In other words, if the Sacred Puppet Sect had no hidden trump card left, the final outcome of this battle would be settled before the Golden Immortals in the high sky could determine their victor.

Just then, a patch of earthy yellow radiance exploded in the high sky, nearly covering half the heavens. Waves of terrifyingly violent tremors rolled in, carrying a fierce gale that swept out for hundreds of miles.

A white figure plummeted straight down from the high sky, crashing toward the square.

Close behind, a water-blue figure chased after it like a shadow, catching it just before it hit the ground, with eyes full of distress.

That white figure was none other than the puppet Daoist who had been fighting alongside Bai Fengyi earlier. It had just taken a deadly and insidious blow meant for Bai Fengyi from the scar-faced man, causing it to fall.

Han Li swept his gaze over and saw that the puppet Daoist's eyes held no trace of light, and there was no flow of spiritual power in its body. A large, pitch-black hole was broken through the center of its chest, clearly indicating that its core had been destroyed, rendering it completely ruined.

A shadow of gloom passed through Bai Fengyi's eyes. He put it away and quickly walked over toward Bai Suyuan.

Bai Suyuan hesitated for a moment before stepping forward to meet him.

Seeing this, Han Li couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt: was there also a connection between them?

"How is it? Are you injured?" Bai Fengyi looked Bai Suyuan up and down and asked.

"Fortunately, two fellow allies from the alliance rescued me at the critical moment, so I'm fine," Bai Suyuan said, glancing toward Han Li and Lin Jiu before shaking her head.

Hearing this, Bai Fengyi followed Bai Suyuan's gaze toward Han Li and Lin Jiu and nodded slightly to them.

Seeing this, Han Li became even more convinced that the relationship between Bai Suyuan and this deputy sect master of the Sacred Puppet Sect was definitely not ordinary.

"Li Feiyu..."

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded in Han Li's mind. His heart tightened, and he turned his head to sweep a glance without changing his expression, only to find that Qi Heng had somehow already woken up and, supported by someone beside him, sat up staring straight at him.

"Brother Li, do not be puzzled. It is I who am transmitting to you."

Immediately after, another voice sounded, confirming to Han Li that it was indeed Qi Heng who was transmitting to him now.

"Oh, you recognize me?" Han Li asked with a puzzled tone, his expression unchanged.

"I do not recognize your person, but I recognize that powerful black wheel treasure of yours. Back in the Xuanbing Mountains, I suffered from that thing. Later, you destroyed my physical body, and only my Nascent Soul escaped." Qi Heng continued transmitting.

"So it's you. No wonder I felt a vague sense of familiarity when we first met. What, do you intend to settle the score from that day?" Han Li realized inwardly, then replied with an unchanged expression.

"I originally intended to avenge such a great enmity... but now you have come to help us Saint Puppet Sect resist foreign enemies, and just now you saved my life. No matter how irreconcilable our enmity, I cannot bear a grudge against you anymore. Besides, given your cultivation, even at my peak I was no match for you." Qi Heng transmitted with a bitter laugh.

"Helping you defend the Saint Puppet Sect is merely a task for reward, and saving you just now was a trivial effort. If you want revenge in the future, come as you please. But before that, I am very curious: why did you kidnap our Candlestick Dragon Sect's disciple back then?" Han Li transmitted back.

"Alas... speaking of it, it was all a misunderstanding. That female disciple was a junior of our Vice Sect Master Bai's clan. I was ordered to escort her to the Saint Puppet Sect, but things went awry..." Qi Heng said helplessly.

"If that's the case, why didn't you openly present a visiting card and come to receive her? Why act so stealthily?" Han Li asked, his heart stirred.

"This was instructed by the Vice Sect Master, to be done in secret. As for why, I am not clear." Qi Heng explained.

Han Li found it somewhat speechless upon hearing this—just because of a misunderstanding, this man had nearly been beaten to the point of utter destruction; it was truly absurd.

Just then, a thought occurred to him, and he quickly asked, "Does your Vice Sect Master have the surname Bai? What is his name?"

"Bai Fengyi." Qi Heng transmitted.

Han Li was stunned inwardly, and turned his gaze once more toward the woman in the blue palace dress.

So this woman was the ancestor of the Bai family, the long-missing genius disciple of the Candlestick Dragon Sect, Bai Fengyi. What a...

Just then, rumbling sounds came from the high sky again, and a rainbow light plummeted straight down, landing toward the square.

As the light landed, Yun Ni's figure emerged from it. One sleeve at her shoulder was shattered, revealing a patch of snow-white skin, but she seemed unharmed.

Bai Fengyi and Bai Suyuan saw this and hurriedly went up to meet her.

"Master, are you all right?" Bai Suyuan asked quickly, a trace of worry flashing in her eyes.

"It's nothing. I was just ambushed by another person from the shadows; no serious injury." Yun Ni shook her head and said.

"It is all due to this disciple's incompetence for failing to hold that person back." Bai Fengyi's expression dimmed slightly as she spoke.

"It no longer matters. Now that the situation on the island has fallen into disadvantage, even if the two of us hold them off, it is of little significance." Yun Ni sighed and said.

"In fact, the main island of the Saint Puppet Sect is also an enormous mechanism array. As a last resort, I will activate the array and completely blow up the entire main island, sinking it to the bottom of the sea. I will never let these villains gain any benefit from our sect." Bai Fengyi's expression hardened as she said coldly.

"Alas... if that coward had agreed to come with me back then, how could things have come to this? What a fool. He has lived so many years in vain, and still clings to those stale grudges." Yun Ni's eyes flashed with resentment as she spoke bitterly.

Upon hearing this, Bai Fengyi's countenance actually relaxed, revealing a charming smile, and said:

"It's rare to hear you curse, Master. It's just a pity. I had thought that after I left, the rift between you and him would be eliminated, at least gradually fade with time. I never expected that in the end..."

As she finished speaking, her smile gradually faded, and she couldn't help but let out a faint sigh.

"You were the least at fault in that matter back then, yet you ended up bearing all the blame. You have truly suffered. No matter what happens today, I will ensure the safety of both of you." Yun Ni said resolutely.

"The Saint Puppet Sect has been immensely kind to me over the years, and the Sect Master has always taken good care of me. At a time like this, I cannot leave. I only wish for you to take Suyuan away. Now that I have been reunited with her, I am already content." Bai Fengyi slowly shook her head and said.

"Ancestor..." Bai Suyuan couldn't help but cry out upon hearing this.

As the three spoke as if no one else were present, Lu Ji and the other's figure had already flown down, hovering a thousand zhang high, coldly scanning the crowd below.

With the appearance of the highest-cultivation individuals from both sides, the two parties that had been fiercely fighting gradually came to a temporary halt.

The remaining Saint Puppet Sect members gathered around Bai Fengyi, forming a circle, while the cultivators from the Ten Directions Tower, deterred by the presence of Bai Fengyi and Lin San, dared not approach too closely. Together with the azure-armored soldiers who had also stopped moving, they completely surrounded the entire square.