Chapter 29: Battle, Part 1

In an instant, the puppet charged forward, engaging in close combat with the three adversaries. Lin Yang released Panpan and commanded it to fight against the dozen or so rogue cultivators.

“Panpan, go and kill those people. I'll give you an extra meal.”

Panpan’s eyes gleamed at the promise, and it rushed in with a howl. Its claws, gleaming faintly with a metallic sheen, tore through defenses, ripping a cultivator's body into fragments.

The puppet’s actions forced the three opponents into a defensive stance. Seizing the opportunity, Lin Yang aimed a punch at the formation plate, hoping to shatter it. Unfortunately, the plate was crafted from superior materials; his strike only managed to break off a corner.

Still, the suppression effect of the formation was nullified, leaving only the barrier that trapped Lin Yang within the forest.

The sudden turn of battle stunned the dozen demonic cultivators. Awakened by the fierce counterattack, they promptly activated the grand formation, using blood as their weapon.

The entire forest transformed into a sea of blood. Waves formed by the blood crashed layer upon layer toward Lin Yang.

Lin Yang enveloped himself in the peak effect of his fire control technique, becoming a man of flames.

Relentless heat evaporated the blood as it approached, but his spiritual energy was quickly diminishing.

Knowing he couldn't last, Lin Yang applied a Vajra talisman to himself, hoping to endure a bit longer.

He gripped his longsword and dashed toward a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The puppet, its core energy still abundant, managed to stall two other cultivators.

Lin Yang, wielding his sword, charged through the blood sea. The Foundation Establishment cultivator stood ready.

Sword clashed with sword; the cultivator raised his blade to block, but Lin Yang dodged. Both swords slashed toward each other's necks.

Neither could evade. In a flash, Lin Yang severed his enemy’s head, but his own throat was sliced, cutting his windpipe.

Lin Yang immediately clutched his throat and swallowed a Life Pill. The wound healed at once, and he stretched his body.

“Second Brother, I’ve killed you.” The two main cultivators unleashed their strongest techniques upon the puppet. The puppet took the hit, losing an arm to the flames.

“Puppet!” Only then did the two Foundation Establishment cultivators realize how long they'd been entangled with the puppet.

Lin Yang charged again at the remaining rogue cultivators. With Panpan’s help, he swiftly slaughtered all of them.

Now, only two Foundation Establishment cultivators remained. Seeing Lin Yang’s swift and resolute actions, they grew tense.

The two glanced at each other. “Retreat.”

Grabbing the damaged formation plate, they quickly fled, hiding somewhere unknown.

Lin Yang watched the enemies disappear once more. He was still trapped. If he did nothing, he would surely die.

Examining the formation, Lin Yang thought, “I should be able to modify it.” He decided to set up a new formation at the northern edge, near the boundary, to nullify all suppression effects and prevent attacks from both sides—creating a circle within a circle.

Without delay, he swallowed a Restoration Pill and hurried north to prepare for the coming battle.

Climbing a small hill to the north, Lin Yang placed his prepared formation plate and set up several formation flags according to the cardinal points.

Once everything was arranged, he began repairing the puppet.

Inspecting the puppet’s damaged arm—one segment had been blasted to pieces, but the area near the elbow remained intact—he attached a long blade there, tested it, and found it worked smoothly.

Lin Yang then carved an explosive trigger array onto the puppet.

He stroked Panpan’s stout body, noting how the fur had been singed miserably by fire.

“When we get back, I’ll give you an extra meal and find you a mate.” Panpan rolled its eyes at him. It was only seven years old, still in its youth.

“Never mind, I’ll just give you extra food.”

Bored, Lin Yang decided to set up a killing array.

He took out his twelve longswords and placed them within the formation. The swords vanished, merging into the array as its foundation of slaughter.

Testing the killing array, the twelve swords sliced a fake mountain into stone blocks with silky precision. “Impressive—this will be a trump card.”

Meanwhile, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, having fled, returned to the valley and found Bloodthirst Immortal.

“Immortal, Immortal, something terrible has happened!” The two men scrambled to kneel before Bloodthirst Immortal.

“What’s going on? Where are the others?” Bloodthirst Immortal sensed his control marks had vanished.

“He’s tough—he has a peak Foundation Establishment puppet. The others are all dead,” Slave One babbled incoherently.

“What? Worthless fools!” Bloodthirst Immortal erupted in fury, manipulating his marks to make the two cultivators writhe in agony, nearly dying from the pain.

“Useless! Must I handle this myself?” Bloodthirst Immortal’s eyes flashed scarlet.

“So many henchmen lost—I'll turn you into iron corpses!” He thought this was the best way to minimize losses.

With a shudder, Bloodthirst Immortal stepped into the blood pool. The blood within boiled and surged toward him.

His skin absorbed the blood at such speed it formed a whirlpool. Within two hours, the pool was drained, and Bloodthirst Immortal’s body took on the appearance of a normal person, though his skin remained unnaturally red, as if blood flowed beneath.

Prepared, Bloodthirst Immortal took up his formation plate.

Seeing the missing corner, he sneered, “Fools—what use are you?”

Soon, Bloodthirst Immortal arrived at the perimeter of his trap formation.

Observing Lin Yang’s upgraded defenses, he realized his opponent was a formation master like himself. He refrained from entering directly, instead flooding the area with blood to wear down Lin Yang.

“I refuse to believe you have an endless supply of spirit stones.” Bloodthirst Immortal intended to deplete Lin Yang’s spiritual energy with his formation, to kill him at minimal cost. Yet he greatly underestimated Lin Yang’s wealth.

He drew blood from underground, where countless animal and human corpses lay, extracting every corpse into a dried husk.

Masses of blood and toxic gas surfaced. All trees were corroded away, leaving only stumps.

Lin Yang, repairing the puppet, suddenly noticed the formation engulfed in blood, swiftly submerging his defenses.

The temporary array dimmed rapidly. Lin Yang hurriedly took ten mid-grade spirit stones from his storage pouch. Thus began a tense stalemate between the two.

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