Chapter 318: Sword Puppets!

A cold, desolate hall, dimly lit, spacious and quiet, with a biting chill.

"Hiss... This damn place makes my hair stand on end!" Tianyu exclaimed.

A gust of cold wind made him shiver.

"This hall is surrounded by formations. Though long abandoned, it's spotless. This sect must have had extraordinary foundations in the way of formations back then," Ye Yuan said.

The entire secret realm, from inside out, was guarded by grand formations. Especially the Heavenly Thunder Locking Yuan Formation, which was extremely powerful even among fifth-rank formations.

"The Southern Domain is quite barren in the way of formations. Only a major sect like Heavenly Qian Sect can train fourth-rank formation masters! But compared to this sect's formation masters, theirs are far too weak," Mei Zhen remarked.

Ye Yuan nodded. "Everyone, be careful. This hall might also hold some danger."

Actually, Ye Yuan didn't need to warn them; after all they'd been through in the secret realm, no one dared to be careless.

"Ye Yuan, look over there—there's a portrait!" Tianyu suddenly shouted.

Ye Yuan nodded. He had seen the portrait too. His face showed no expression, but inside, ten thousand grass-mud horses were galloping by!

He was all too familiar with the person in that portrait!

The figure in the portrait had an immortal air, graceful and handsome, but with a youthful face that differed considerably from the person Ye Yuan knew.

Yet with just one glance, Ye Yuan recognized him—it was a younger version of himself, the ninth-rank formation emperor Lu Linfeng!

And Lu Linfeng had another title: one of the ten great divine kings of the Divine Realm—the Great衍 Divine King!

The ten great divine kings had each reached the pinnacle in their respective fields.

Though their paths differed, they shared one trait: extraordinary strength!

That Lu Linfeng could secure a place among the ten great divine kings through formations alone showed how profound his mastery was!

"Damn it! No wonder I felt a familiar vibe as soon as I entered the secret realm. Turns out this sect is the legacy left by that bastard Lu Linfeng! But he probably never imagined his legacy would be buried for who knows how many years. Who'd have thought that bastard came from the Boundless Realm, and I've been reborn in his hometown!"

For a moment, Ye Yuan was filled with endless emotion.

After all the commotion in this secret realm, it turned out to be the legacy of an old acquaintance!

"What a pity your disciples and descendants aren't around. Otherwise, I'd have loved to discipline them for you and vent this pent-up anger," Ye Yuan grumbled inwardly.

In the world of martial artists, seniority was never based on age, but on strength.

Back then, Ji Qingyun was the youngest among the divine kings in the Divine Realm, yet his alchemy skills were unmatched in his era!

Only his father Ji Zhengyang and one or two old fellows from the Alchemist Guild could surpass him!

So Ye Yuan had always interacted with the ten great divine kings as equals.

And this Great衍 Divine King Lu Linfeng was an old monster who had lived for thousands of years.

Speaking of which, Ye Yuan and Lu Linfeng had a considerable grudge!

That old bastard once wagered his own 'Nine Scrolls of Formation Dao,' goading Ye Yuan into a formation duel. Ye Yuan lost badly and obediently refined three ninth-rank pills for him!

Three ninth-rank top-grade pills!

Ye Yuan had nearly coughed blood refining those three ninth-rank top-grade pills!

And then that guy said, 'Haha, let's bet again next time!'

Ji Qingyun almost spat out a mouthful of old blood at that moment.

Though Ji Qingyun was also a ninth-rank formation master, the gap between him and the Great衍 Divine King was naturally enormous.

Such a great humiliation—Ye Yuan had remembered it until now.

Now he had stumbled into Lu Linfeng's lair by accident, but couldn't bully his disciples and descendants—this frustrated Ye Yuan immensely.

"Ye Yuan, Ye Yuan! What's wrong? Do you know the person in the portrait?" Pang Wannian's words interrupted Ye Yuan's thoughts.

Ye Yuan snapped back to reality and coughed dryly. "That guy's so ugly, how could I know him?"

Pang Wannian looked at the portrait, somewhat puzzled.

The person in the portrait was truly elegant and handsome—how could he be ugly?

But then he looked at Ye Yuan. Hmm, compared to Ye Yuan, he did seem a bit lacking.

Handsome men had such confidence!

"You old bastard, when I fight my way back to the Divine Realm, I'll definitely settle the score!" Ye Yuan swore inwardly.

But before he could finish venting, he heard a 'creak'—Du Cheng had stepped on a loose stone slab!

The slab sank slightly, and everyone's hearts sank with it!

Before anyone could react, the eighteen statues in the corners of the hall all moved at once!

This time, they had stirred up a hornet's nest!

Everyone had seen those eighteen statues when they entered, thinking they were just stone carvings.

But now, the outer layer of those eighteen statues all fell away, revealing brown skin.

Apart from their skin color, these eighteen statues were no different from humans!

Ye Yuan had also thought they were ordinary statues, but now ten thousand grass-mud horses galloped through his heart again!

Sword puppets!

Eighteen sword puppets!

That old bastard Lu Linfeng loved tinkering with these things!

Seeing these sword puppets, Ye Yuan knew they must have been left behind before that old bastard ascended!

So-called sword puppets were actually mannequin puppets powered by yuan crystals.

Fortunately, these sword puppets were likely early works of Lu Linfeng, only at the third rank.

If they were things he left before ascending, they'd be in deep trouble today—everyone would die here!

Ye Yuan had seen ninth-rank sword puppets at Lu Linfeng's place—they were incredibly powerful!

And Lu Linfeng's strongest suit was formations; he could use sword puppets to set up a sword formation that could rival divine kings!

Ye Yuan had once wanted to ask for a few to play with, but that old miser wouldn't give even one.

"Lu Linfeng, our feud is growing deeper. Just wait for me to return to the Divine Realm and deal with you!" Ye Yuan gritted his teeth in anger.

The eighteen sword puppets moved swiftly, soon encircling Ye Yuan and the other seven.

Though these sword puppets were only third-rank, Ye Yuan knew they wouldn't fight individually; picking them off one by one was impossible!

The only way to destroy these sword puppets was to break the formation!

"Elder Mei, fellow disciples, don't move recklessly. When we engage, follow my commands and don't act on your own!" Ye Yuan said.

Seeing Ye Yuan's grave expression, everyone felt a chill.

They had thought that with Mei Zhen and Mo Yuntian present, these third-rank puppets posed little threat.

But now, it seemed that wasn't the case at all!