Chapter 676: Beaten into a Pretzel

Even cultivators would be exhausted and powerless after continuous exertion, let alone puppets!

These things have spirit-gathering arrays installed inside them, operating by relying on spiritual energy or spirit stones. If the consumption is too great, they will likewise lose energy and stop functioning.

No wonder Yu Fei'er and the others said that more than twenty puppets had attacked together before but later left—it turned out that their continuous attacks on the light membrane had drained their energy, and they came here to replenish it.

“This underground spirit vein gathers spiritual energy from thousands of kilometers around, so replenishing energy is indeed fast, but… it shouldn't be so easy for the puppets to fully recover… There's something strange about this heart!”

Puppets absorbing energy to maintain operation is the same as cultivators recovering after exhausting their strength—it requires an accumulation of time.

Recovering completely in just a few breaths is far too bizarre.

It seems this must be related to the heart.

A river that sustains spiritual energy actually contains a heart full of killing intent. The more Zhang Xuan looked, the stranger he felt, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

It was too bizarre!

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!

While he was puzzled, another alien tribesman walked over. As the heart pulsated, this fellow also regained his strength, full of energy.

“Damn…”

Seeing the puppets that had arrived recover their strength one after another, Zhang Xuan's heart sank.

At this rate, these puppets would soon all recover, and then when they attacked Yu Fei'er and the others again, the latter would surely die!

“I must rescue them before they all fully recover and escape directly!”

He clenched his fists.

These fellows all gathered here, recovering their strength—this was an opportunity. Once missed, when they all returned, it would be impossible to save anyone!

“But… even if so many puppets aren't there, two are still left over there, and I can't defeat them either…”

Even if there were only two at that place, he couldn't contend with them. Moreover, once a fight started, it would inevitably cause energy fluctuations, and he probably wouldn't even escape before being surrounded by other puppets. By then, even if he wanted to flee, he would be powerless.

He had been able to kill that previous puppet because Luo Qiqi had cooperated with him and he had also used the Red Flame Cauldron, a refining treasure. Now Xiao Qi and that thing were both absent, so trying to kill two… was almost impossible!

In the end, his strength was still too low.

“Right, I can do this…”

Rubbing his brow, just as he didn't know what to do, his mind suddenly stirred, and an idea popped up.

After carefully considering it, his eyes grew brighter. His mind moved, and he flew straight back. After a moment, he flew back again.

This time, he didn't go to the altar where Yu Fei'er and the others were staying. Instead, he found a narrow alley without puppets, stopped, and with a thought, his clone appeared before him.

Just now, when he went back, he had used his storage ring to bring his clone along.

Then, with another thought, a tall corpse appeared before him—it was the one he had killed earlier in the underground palace.

“Witch Soul Entering the Body!”

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan murmured inwardly.

Whoosh!

The witch soul immediately drilled into the puppet lying on the ground.

These puppets, like the Soul-less Golden Men from before, were refined from living people, so merging with them wasn't too difficult.

It was just that the killing intent inside was too strong, and only his Heavenly Dao witch soul could enter.

If it were any other witch soul master, they probably wouldn't even get close before their soul was scattered and they died on the spot.

Creak!

As the soul drilled into the body, the puppet that had been lying on the ground shook and struggled to stand up.

“It works indeed…”

Smiling lightly, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Just now, while considering how to rescue the people, he suddenly remembered that he still had this corpse in his storage ring.

Although this fellow's head had been chopped off, it should still be possible to merge a soul with it. As long as the soul possessed it, it could move as before, and perhaps he could fool the other side and take the chance to rescue the people.

The puppet possessed by the witch soul bent down, grabbed the head from the ground, placed it on its neck, turned it around a few times to get used to it, and after confirming that walking was no problem, it walked excitedly toward the altar.

After just a few steps, with a “bang!” it crashed into a nearby beam, and the head rolled far away.

Flustered, it ran over, picked up the head again, and put it back on its neck.

The witch soul entering the puppet indeed made it impossible to tell the difference at a glance. The only drawback was that since the head had been cut off earlier, this fellow's head was a bit unstable—it would fall off whenever he walked.

“Better hold it…”

Seeing that the head wobbled left and right as he walked and would be exposed at any moment, Zhang Xuan helplessly reached out a hand, held the head steady, and strode toward the altar.

The place where he had been hiding was not far from the altar, and soon he arrived nearby.

“It's over…”

Yu Fei'er and the others were sitting in place, hoping Zhang Xuan would come to rescue them, when they saw a puppet holding its head walking over. Their faces all sank.

The two puppets' continuous attacks had already made the light membrane on the verge of shattering. If another one came, they definitely wouldn't hold out!

But this puppet looked a bit strange—its head was tilted to one side, and it was even holding it with one hand, looking very bizarre.

The tilted-head puppet soon arrived nearby and patted the shoulders of the two puppets that were attacking.

The two attacking puppets stopped and glared over with both eyes.

Roar!

The tilted-head puppet pointed backward, and then Yu Fei'er and the others saw, under the illumination of a nearby night pearl, a human figure tiptoeing toward them.

“It's… Master Zhang!”

Seeing the figure clearly, they were all filled with anxiety.

They had seen foolish people, but never someone this foolish.

Since you want to rescue people, no matter what, you should at least hide your traces!

Walking out directly from under the night pearl—isn't that just asking to be discovered?

Most importantly, now that the tilted-head puppet had spotted him, instead of fleeing, he was walking over with a dazed look—are you afraid you won't die fast enough?

This isn't rescuing people; it's delivering yourself to death!

Roar!

Before their thoughts ended, the two puppets also spotted Zhang Xuan. Enraged, one of them stamped its foot on the ground and lunged over.

Facing the attack, Zhang Xuan's face changed in fright. He tried to flee, but under the lock of the puppet's aura, he couldn't escape at all, and the puppet's fist hit his head.

Bang!

His face turned into a flat pancake, and his body fell heavily to the ground.

“Master Zhang…”

“Zhang Xuan…”

Before the man could even reach them, his head was blown off. Xing Yuan, Wu Zhen, and the others all swayed, nearly fainting.

He had just sworn to come and rescue them, but the moment he showed up, he was killed…

You're not here to save people; you're here to die, right?

“Aren't you… pretty tough? I haven't won our bet yet; you can't die…” Yu Fei'er's eyes reddened as she shouted loudly.

What the hell is this!

Weren't you pretty good at bullying me?

Why are you so cowardly against puppets? You couldn't even block one blow and got your head blown off—can you be any weaker?

You cultivated in the Purification Pool and turned yourself into a corpse. I thought you'd get smarter, but before you could save anyone, you got your head blown off—can you even do anything right?

As the others grieved and mourned, the puppet that had punched Zhang Xuan's head off shook its head, ignored the dead guy, and turned back.

Before it had gone far, it saw the tilted-head puppet pointing behind it again.

The puppet frowned and turned around, only to see that the guy from before had somehow stood up again, with a large flat pancake hanging on his neck, wobbling in the faint light, but standing firm.

“Huh?”

“This…”

Xing Yuan, Wu Zhen, and the others, who had been grieving, all opened their mouths wide and stared with bulging eyes.

With your head flattened like that, you can still stand up—are you kidding me?

“He… isn't dead?”

Yu Fei'er's beautiful eyes also went wide, completely dumbfounded.

“Could it be… another corpse rising?”

Her red lips trembled as she couldn't help saying.

This Master Zhang had already risen from the dead once in the Purification Pool, sneaking into the water when they weren't paying attention. Could it be that this time, with his head blown off, he was rising from the dead again!

Rising once was already baffling and inexplicable, but now twice in a row…

Is your family running a corpse-rising shop?

“Roar?”

The others were dizzy, and the puppet was even more bewildered. Gritting its teeth, it turned and walked over, kicking out with a “bang!”

With one kick, the “resurrected” Zhang Xuan's chest immediately caved in, and he tumbled backward again, seemingly dead.

Seeing that this time he was probably killed, the puppet nodded in satisfaction. Just as it turned to leave, it again saw the tilted-neck puppet pointing behind it in terror.

It quickly turned around and indeed saw the figure with the caved-in chest standing up again, hands on his hips, as if nothing had happened.

“Ahhh…”

Yu Fei'er, Xing Yuan, and the others could no longer grieve. They slapped their own faces hard, wondering if they were seeing things.

What the hell is going on?

Your head turned into a pancake and you don't die, fine; but now your chest is as flat as paper and you still stand up—are you messing with us?

Whoosh!

Not expecting that after two attacks the guy still wasn't dead, the puppet roared in fury and lunged over again, punching and kicking wildly.

Zhang Xuan was already severely injured, so how could he withstand that? He was immediately beaten beyond recognition.

Half his head was missing, his body was flattened into a thin sheet, and his leg bones and arm bones were crushed to powder.

Seeing the guy trampled into a pulp, the puppet finally breathed a sigh of relief, turned around with satisfaction, and walked back.

Still, before it had gone far, it again saw the tilted-head puppet pointing behind it.

Roaring in fury, it spun around and indeed saw the figure that had been trampled into nothing standing up again, hands on his hips, his two squeezed-together eyes seemingly filled with intense mockery.

“What the hell…”

“Is this really Master Zhang?”

“How the hell is he not dead?”

“Am I dreaming?”

Yu Fei'er, Xing Yuan, Wu Zhen, Ye Qian, and the others were even more bewildered, all going crazy.

The puppet had used so many lethal moves, each one fatal. If his head exploded, you could call it a corpse rising, but now his body was twisted into a pretzel, with no human form left, and he could still stand up—this probably wasn't just a simple corpse rising anymore!

Have you ever seen a corpse that's been turned into this still able to rise?