Chapter 969: Anomaly Within the Array

Sun Tu and Duan Tong, facing the gaping maw of the white wolf puppet, hastily leaped backward to dodge.

Unexpectedly, though the white giant wolf's body was massive, its movements were surprisingly agile and swift. Duan Tong's vision darkened as a millstone-sized front claw appeared out of nowhere and slammed down fiercely.

Duan Tong's expression changed drastically, but being midair, he could not dodge. He could only swing his thick right arm in a punch, upon which the apertures on it blazed with starlight, condensing into a dazzling white beam that clashed hard with the claw.

A crisp crack sounded!

Duan Tong's previously invincible thick right arm snapped and twisted directly. He himself was sent flying like a straw, crashing heavily to the ground, spewing blood from his mouth.

But the white wolf puppet's massive body also shook, stumbling back a step, yet it immediately steadied itself. At the same time, it opened its mouth wide again and spat fiercely toward Duan Tong.

A white flash passed through the giant wolf puppet's mouth, its entire head trembled violently, and instantly emitted a low rumble.

A burst of white light shot out from its mouth—countless white flying needles, howling like ghosts, struck Duan Tong's body and the ground several zhang around.

These needles carried immense force, causing the ground within several zhang to cave in directly.

Duan Tong was embedded in the ground, his body riddled with countless holes pierced by the needles. Without even uttering a scream, he died.

Seeing this, Sun Tu's face showed fear, and he turned to flee.

At that moment, his head suddenly darkened as the bald man, riding another silver leopard puppet, pounced from the air, its two giant leopard claws grabbing down fiercely.

Having just witnessed the power of the other giant wolf puppet that easily killed Duan Tong, Sun Tu dared not resist. White light blazed on his legs as he dodged sharply to the side, barely evading the silver leopard puppet's attack.

Just then, a piercing howl sounded. The giant wolf puppet not far away opened its mouth toward Sun Tu, white light flashed in its mouth, and countless white flying needles sprayed out like rain, covering the area.

Sun Tu let out a low growl. Black light flashed in his hand, and a slender black bone sword appeared out of thin air. He slashed through the air toward the rain of needles.

On the black sword, a patch of black radiance suddenly rose. It spun and transformed into the phantom of a black monster resembling a wildcat, which rushed toward the rain of needles and opened its mouth to inhale fiercely.

A black light swirled out like a whirlwind, wrapping around those needles.

A white shadow flashed, and all the needles vanished without a trace.

The black beast phantom also flickered and shrank back into the black sword, disappearing from sight, and the sword's black light dimmed considerably.

However, Sun Tu turned his palm over, revealing a white crystal grain, which he pressed into a groove on the black sword's hilt.

The crystal grain flashed with white light and disappeared in an instant, and the light on the black sword's blade immediately restored to its original state.

“Eh!”

Seeing this, Zhuo Ge let out a soft exclamation, but his hands did not slow; his ten fingers moved continuously.

The giant wolf puppet's four hooves moved, and its massive body turned into a white shadow charging forward, instantly arriving before Sun Tu, its speed twice as fast as the silver leopard puppet. Its two front claws grabbed down with a wind that seemed to tear everything apart.

Sun Tu was not panicked. White light blazed from the apertures on his legs, and he dodged again.

But after the giant wolf puppet missed its pounce, it landed on all fours and immediately kicked off, its massive body like a small mountain continuing to ram into Sun Tu with almost no time interval.

Sun Tu's body shook violently, barely dodging.

After two consecutive misses, white light flickered on the giant wolf puppet's body. It turned its head like lightning and opened its mouth to bite Sun Tu, leaving afterimages between its teeth, its speed even faster than before.

Sun Tu's steps shifted repeatedly, his body technique changing, and he dodged again.

As the lord of White Rock City, even though he was severely injured, his strength far exceeded that of Duan Tong and the others. The giant wolf puppet could not get the better of him for a time.

The giant wolf puppet roared repeatedly and attacked again, pouncing, biting, tearing, and clawing in a storm of attacks. Every part of its body was a weapon, even more agile than a real creature. However, the needle attack had not been used, perhaps because it had run out.

Though lacking the great killing weapon of the needles to defeat the enemy in one blow, the white light on the giant wolf puppet's body grew brighter, and its speed increased. Its body turned into a white shadow, gradually catching up to Sun Tu.

The other bald man simply stood in the distance on the silver leopard puppet, watching, without offering assistance.

Zhuo Ge's “Lone Wind Phantom Wolf” was a top-quality puppet in Puppet City. Handling an injured Xuan City lord was no problem. Besides, intervening would only get in the way, so he did not act.

But the white wolf puppet's attack speed grew faster and faster. Suddenly, it swiped a claw horizontally.

Sun Tu tried to sidestep to dodge, but the angle of the claw was tricky and the speed too fast; it seemed he would be hit.

He shouted loudly, and the black sword in his hand slashed through the air again. The sword body erupted with a large amount of black light, once again transforming into the phantom of the wildcat monster, which bit the white wolf's front claw and sucked fiercely.

A white shadow flashed, and the white wolf puppet's front claw seemed to melt, vanishing into thin air.

The black monster flickered again and shrank back into the black sword's body.

But at that moment, the white wolf puppet rolled its body, and its other front claw swung like lightning, as if it had calculated exactly when the wildcat monster phantom would appear. Both timing and angle were perfect. At the instant the wildcat monster phantom shrank back and disappeared, the front claw swept through and struck Sun Tu's chest.

Blood burst forth!

Sun Tu was also sent flying. Several long, deep gashes appeared on his chest, blood gushing out. With a “bang,” he fell stiffly to the ground.

Before he could get up, a sharp whistle sounded. A short halberd shot like lightning, piercing through Sun Tu's lower abdomen at his dantian, pinning his body to the ground.

Sun Tu struggled twice, then soon stopped moving entirely.

“Lord Zhuo's puppet manipulation art has improved greatly! It seems that in Puppet City, besides the city lord, no one can surpass you. Admirable,” the bald man said with a smile, urging the silver leopard puppet forward.

“Brother Hei flatters me. When it comes to puppet manipulation, not to mention Lord Wu Yun, even Lord Kun Yu is not inferior to me. The newly arrived Miss Xiao Zi has astonishing talent, and even the city lord has praised her, personally instructing her over the years. Her puppet manipulation skills have likely already inherited the city lord's true teachings. How dare I claim precedence?” Zhuo Ge said with a faint smile.

As he spoke, he leaped down, landed beside Sun Tu, and retrieved the short halberd with one hand.

Then his gaze shifted to the black bone sword lying nearby. He waved his hand to pick it up, flipped it over a couple of times, his eyes brightened slightly, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Sun Tu put away the bone sword, then reached into Sun Tu's bosom and fumbled for a while, taking out some items and storing them. Soon he leaped back onto the white wolf puppet.

Hei Da watched Sun Tu's actions without saying anything.

Sun Tu was killed by Zhuo Ge, so naturally his belongings belonged to Zhuo Ge.

The two then turned to look toward Wu Yun and Chen Yang. Wu Yun and the others were locked in fierce combat with Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing.

The Zhu siblings had no injuries and were powerful. Although Wu Yun and the others were going all out, they could not subdue them for the time being. However, Wu Yun and his group had gained the upper hand, and victory was only a matter of time.

But Chen Yang and Xuan Yuan Xing were standing near the blood array, looking into it, motionless, apparently not having acted since the beginning.

Zhuo Ge's expression darkened. He urged the white wolf puppet to gallop over and soon arrived near Chen Yang and the other.

“Daoist Chen Yang, why aren't you attacking?” Zhuo Ge asked in a deep voice.

“Eh, what's wrong with them?” Hei Da also came over and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Hearing this, Zhuo Ge swept his gaze over their vacant, dull eyes, and his expression changed. He floated down from the puppet.

“What's the matter with you?” Zhuo Ge touched their bodies, but Chen Yang and Xuan Yuan Xing remained unresponsive.

“It looks like their souls have been imprisoned,” Hei Da said, studying their expressions.

“I think so too. But who did it? Could it be related to this blood array?” Zhuo Ge muttered to himself, then suddenly looked toward Han Li and Fu Jian inside the blood array.

The blood cocoons around Han Li and the other were getting thicker, completely obscuring the inside from view. Only a rumbling sound could be heard.

“Whether it was done by those inside or not, this blood array must not continue to operate.” A cold glint flashed in Zhuo Ge's eyes. He leaped onto the back of the white wolf puppet and began to manipulate his fingers.

Bright white light emerged from all over the white wolf puppet's body and, as he cast the spell, converged toward its only front claw.

“Open!” Zhuo Ge's expression was solemn, his ten fingers moving continuously.

The white wolf puppet's massive body leaped up, and its front claw swung through the air.

With a tearing sound, five crescent-shaped white blades appeared out of thin air and rapidly expanded.

In an instant, each of the five light blades grew to several tens of zhang in size, emitting a dazzling white light that was impossible to look at directly.

The light blades cut through the void with a terrifying sizzling sound, exuding a sharpness that seemed capable of cutting through everything.

Far away, Wu Yun, Zhu Ziyuan, and the others, sensing the situation at the blood array, slowed their movements and turned to look.

The five white light blades seemed slow but were fast. With a flicker, they appeared before the blood-colored light screen and struck down fiercely.

At that moment, countless blood-colored runes suddenly emerged on the blood-colored light screen. A blood-colored crystalline light flowed, and the light screen suddenly thickened twofold, erupting with skyward blood light that met the five light blades.

A thunderous roar shook the heavens!

Red and white light burst into the sky. The entire hall shook violently, countless stones of all sizes fell like rain, and the cracks on the walls deepened further.

The hall's shaking soon subsided, and the red and white light quickly dissipated, revealing the blood-colored light screen, which remained intact without any sign of damage.

Seeing this, Zhuo Ge's expression immediately darkened.

“It seems that Chen Yang and the others are like this because of the two inside the blood array. Lord Zhuo, I'll help you break this restriction together!” Hei Da shouted from the side.