Chapter 1316: Bazhahei

"Fine, don't regret it if you get hurt..."

Qingyu shook her head, displeased, and handed over a card: "If you really can't hold on, crush the card, and the puppet will stop attacking..."

"Many thanks!"

Zhang Xuan clasped his fists, turned, and walked in the direction Senior Sister Water had gone.

"He really doesn't know his limits!"

Seeing him leave, Qingyu snorted coldly.

"What's wrong?"

Another server walked in and, seeing her displeased expression, smiled and looked over.

"Nothing, some guy at the early Out-of-Body stage insists on charging into Lane C, and no amount of persuasion works..."

Qingyu shook her head.

"Early Out-of-Body stage... Lane C? Is he sick?"

The new server's mouth fell open in disbelief.

As a staff member of the Righteous Hall, she knew very well the difficulty of Lane C. Countless geniuses at the peak Out-of-Body stage had come and left empty-handed. A kid at only the early Out-of-Body stage wanting to challenge it... was he asking for death?

"Whether he's sick or not, I don't know, but I know he's got quite the lustful heart!"

Qingyu snorted.

"Lustful heart?" The server was puzzled.

"Senior Sister Water just went into Lane C, and he wants to go too. Isn't the intention obvious?"

Qingyu said.

"This..."

The server suddenly understood: "The Righteous Hall's Puppet Lane is all about 'righteousness.' In a multi-person trial, multiple puppets appear, and you must cooperate and trust each other to win. Seeing Senior Sister Water enter Lane C and following her in is clearly trying to get her to take care of him and build a relationship... How shameless!"

The Righteous Hall's Puppet Lane trial could be done in single mode or multi-person mode.

The single mode tested strength, while the multi-person mode tested cooperation.

With his level of strength, charging in like that was obviously trying to cooperate with Senior Sister Water and seize the chance to get closer.

Senior Sister Water was beautiful, came from a good family, and was famous even in the Saint Son Hall. Countless people had such intentions, but he was the first to be so blatant.

His lustful heart was truly huge.

"Yeah, but with such weak strength, running over like that probably won't make Senior Sister Water like him; it'll just disgust her!"

Qingyu smiled slightly.

Senior Sister Water had been coming for a month straight, clearly wanting to pass the trial solo. You come over, cooperate with her, ruin her plan, and worst of all, hold her back... It would be good if she didn't get annoyed, let alone develop any fondness!

"That's true. Let's wait; he'll probably be beaten half to death and come back soon..."

The server also laughed.

...

Unaware of their conversation, Zhang Xuan followed Senior Sister Water and soon arrived before a door.

On it was written the character "C."

Taking out her card, Senior Sister Water gently swiped it in front of the door, and the stone door slowly opened.

Seeing her enter, Zhang Xuan copied her and followed in.

His vision blurred, and a spacious room appeared before him.

Like an arena, it was a circular space surrounded by seals that could isolate aura and combat power, preventing damage to the walls.

"Who are you?"

Just as she stood in the center of the hall, ready to face the puppet, she saw him walk in, and Senior Sister Water's pretty face darkened.

Two people entering at the same time triggered the cooperation mode, meaning at least two puppets would appear—completely different from a solo trial.

"I'm here for the trial too. Doesn't the Puppet Lane trial allow unlimited participants? You do your trial; don't mind me..."

Zhang Xuan smiled.

The jade token only mentioned that the Puppet Lane allowed multiple people to trial simultaneously, without detailed rules. So he didn't know that the so-called multi-person mode meant cooperation; he thought everyone did their own trial.

Since she entered first, he could also watch first to gauge the difficulty and prepare.

"Don't hold me back, or I'll make you regret it!"

Eyes narrowing, Senior Sister Water snorted coldly.

"Hold you back? Hold what back?"

Startled, Zhang Xuan was about to ask clearly when he heard the room's mechanisms creak, and then the door in front opened, and a puppet walked out.

Dressed in black, indistinguishable from a real person, it saw Senior Sister Water standing in the middle and immediately charged at her.

Boom!

At the same time, the surrounding formation activated.

This formation was like an Out-of-Body stage soul attack, making the air viscous and restricting movement and power.

"Hmph!"

With the puppet attacking, Senior Sister Water had no time to say more; she turned her delicate body and met it.

It had to be said that this Senior Sister Water's strength was indeed not weak. Her cultivation was at the peak Out-of-Body stage, but her combat power was no worse than a half-step Domain stage.

"The technique she practices is water-attributed, continuous and unending. Although each attack's power isn't great, when linked together, it's like a flood or a fierce beast, unstoppable!"

Zhang Xuan nodded inwardly.

This Senior Sister Water lived up to her name. The power of a single move might be far inferior to the puppet's, but when combined, it was like the momentum of flowing water, impossible to block.

A single drop of water won't cause much effect, but drip long enough, and it can pierce stone.

The girl before him was like that—seeming soft, but the puppet's storm-like attacks could never break through her defense, like a hammer striking a river.

No matter how strong the force, after it passed, everything returned to normal.

"Get down!"

After a dozen exchanges, the girl raised her delicate brows, let out a sharp cry, and her rolling palm slipped through a gap, pressing against the puppet's chest.

Bang!

True energy surged, and the puppet stumbled back seven or eight steps, leaving a series of footprints on the ground.

Roar!

Stabilizing itself, the puppet didn't fall but grew angry. With a roar, as if completely enraged, it moved faster than before.

Ssshh!

The air seemed to tear as its solid claws came at the girl with swift gale force.

"Her attacks are continuous and her defense is excellent, but the flaw is obvious... Unfortunately, her attack power is insufficient, and she often misses good opportunities..." Zhang Xuan rubbed his chin, shaking his head and sighing.

The girl's attacks were unbroken and could indeed unleash more power than imagined, but once interrupted, the power weakened.

Moreover, even when opportunities arose, if the power wasn't accumulated to the extreme, it couldn't cause damage.

Like that last move—the puppet showed a flaw. In his hands, a single punch could have shattered its head, but the girl only made it retreat a few steps without substantial damage... Thus, it was judged as failing the trial.

"What a pity!"

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan was full of regret.

While he was shaking his head and sighing, the girl was about to go mad. Seeing the puppet charge again, her pretty face paled, and she quickly bent backward, forming a graceful arc.

Rip!

Though she dodged quickly, the puppet's claws were too fierce. With a crisp sound, a piece of her clothes was torn off, and a bloody mark appeared on her shoulder.

Boom!

Not hitting a vital spot, the puppet grew angry, changed its move mid-air from claw to palm, and pressed down heavily.

Though it had no true energy, the power within it had reached the half-step Domain stage. Combined with the surrounding formation, it exerted an irresistible force. As its palm came down, the entire hall's space seemed to freeze, making escape impossible.

Seeing the palm about to land on her, Senior Sister Water gritted her teeth, seeming to use some secret technique. Her figure shrank like stretched noodles, and in the blink of an eye, she escaped from under the palm's pressure.

After the secret technique ended, her pretty face was pale, clearly having expended a great deal.

Panting heavily, she turned to look behind her and saw the young man who had triggered the cooperation mode standing with one hand on his chest and the other under his chin, watching with great interest.

"You..."

She clenched her silver teeth, about to explode.

Since it was a cooperation trial, shouldn't he at least make a move? Standing there motionless like a dead man—what was he trying to do?

Just as she was about to call out, the door in front creaked open again, and another puppet charged out.

Because the young man hadn't yet entered the arena, this puppet also headed straight for her.

One puppet was already hard to handle; with two charging together, the pressure instantly increased, and sweat covered her head.

"This puppet's strength is about the same as Zhang Qian's..."

Unaware of the girl's thoughts, Zhang Xuan continued observing.

No wonder this Lane C was hard to pass; the puppets were indeed powerful.

Zhang Qian was a pushover in his hands, but in reality, he was a half-step Out-of-Body stage expert. Add to that his status as a Zhang family genius, and outside, he could even fight above his level. Both puppets had such strength and worked together... indeed, they were hard to deal with.

Still, this Senior Sister Water could hold out this long—that was impressive.

"Too bad, she'll definitely fail."

He sighed.

After watching for a while, he had an accurate assessment of her true strength. Against a single puppet, she would struggle to win; with two working together, she was certainly no match.

Failure was only a matter of time.

No wonder she had been trying for a month without passing; this level was indeed tough.

"When I start, if I take out both puppets in one move and don't give them a chance to cooperate, I can save a lot of trouble..."

Considering his tactics, Zhang Xuan nodded inwardly.

These two puppets coordinated very well. Even he would suffer if he faced them. So, when he started his trial, he would strike first and gain the upper hand.

Kill one instantly.

"Damn it..."

Sweating profusely, Senior Sister Water could no longer hold on. She had hoped the young man would act, but he still stood aside, looking like he was enjoying the show.

Her chest heaved with anger, about to explode: "How long are you going to watch?"

"Ah?"

Not expecting her to address him, Zhang Xuan was taken aback: "Then... what can I do?"

"You... you..."

Shaking with rage, Senior Sister Water was so angry that her movements faltered. A puppet swept a palm across her shoulder, causing a sharp pain, and she couldn't help shouting: "Can't you fight?"

What the hell... You come in, trigger the dual mode, and then leave me to fight the monsters alone while you play around on the side... And you ask what you can do?

Even if your strength is low, you could at least pull aggro!

"Fight?"

Zhang Xuan was full of conflict. If he interfered in her trial, that would be against the rules...

After thinking it over, he gritted his teeth, raised his fist to his chest, and with a face full of sincerity and expectation, shouted words of encouragement:

"Senior Sister Water, go for it! Senior Sister Water, go for it! Go, go, bazhahei!"