Chapter 66: The Puppet-Breaking Talisman
Relying on combat instincts honed through countless life-or-death situations and his superhuman agility, Chu Yun narrowly dodged the relentless onslaught. He couldn't fight head-on. He knew the dwindling Taiyi Qi within him wouldn't withstand even a single direct collision with the "monster" before him. He could only buy time, giving Li Ge and Mo Li a chance to breathe and strike back. But Elder Zhang clearly saw through his intentions: "How much longer do you think you can hold out? Look at your companions; they're almost overwhelmed." Chu Yun's eyes darted across the battlefield, his heart sinking. He saw that Mo Li, despite having temporarily held back several of the Tianshi Mansion's traitors with her ingenious chain traps, had turned pale as paper. Each activation of the traps severely drained her already depleted mental strength. Li Ge's situation was even more precarious. She was tightly surrounded by several of Shadow Pavilion's top assassins. Though she managed to hold on with her elusive agility and poisoned silver needles, she was already suffering from numerous deep wounds, bleeding black blood. If this continued, they would both be defeated within thirty breaths. By then, he would be powerless. "What should I do...what should I do?" Chu Yun's mind raced at an unprecedented pace, desperate to devise a solution that would break the deadlock as quickly as possible. At this moment, Elder Zhang, completely frantic, seemed to have lost all patience. "Game over!" He roared even more furiously, abruptly halting his attack on Chu Yun and slamming his hands down on the altar covered in blood-red runes at his feet. "In my name, awaken the dormant... 'War Spirit'! Come out! Tear apart these reckless... ants before me!" As he roared, the entire massive altar began to tremble violently! "Boom!" The eight massive stone pillars surrounding the altar, carved with reliefs of evil spirits and used to stabilize the formation, suddenly split in the middle. Dozens of figures slowly emerged from the cracks! They were dressed in a variety of righteous sect attire, all equally imbued with the aura of righteousness! Some wore the flowing white sword robes of the Shushan Sword Sect, some wore the heavy golden armor of the Kunlun Immortal Sect, and some even wore the same black official uniforms of the Evil Suppression Division as Chu Yun and his men! But all of them had the same numb, empty expressions as those "soulless puppets" outside, and their bodies were branded with the "blood sacrifice curse" filled with filth and evil! "This...
Relying on the fighting instincts honed through countless life-and-death experiences, and his agility far beyond that of an ordinary person, Chu Yun dodged the violent storm of attacks with great risk.
He couldn't fight head-on. He knew the already dwindling Taiyi Qi in his body wouldn't be able to withstand a single head-on collision with the "monster" before him. He could only buy time, giving Li Ge and Mo Li a chance to catch their breath and counterattack.
But Elder Zhang clearly saw through his intentions: "How long do you think you can hold on? Look at your companions, they are almost gone."
Chu Yun's eyes quickly swept across the battlefield, and his heart sank. He saw that although Mo Li had temporarily held back several traitors from the Tianshi Mansion with her ingenious chain traps, her face was as pale as paper. Every time she activated the trap, it severely consumed her already exhausted mental strength.
Li Ge's situation was even more precarious. She was tightly surrounded by several of Shadow Pavilion's top assassins. Although she managed to hold on with her elusive agility and poisoned silver needles, she already had several deep wounds on her body, bleeding black blood.
If they continued like this, they would both be defeated within thirty breaths. By then, he would be unable to hold on alone.
"What should I do...what should I do?" Chu Yun's brain was working frantically at an unprecedented speed. He had to come up with a way to break the deadlock in the shortest time possible.
At this moment, Elder Zhang, who had gone completely mad, seemed to have lost all his patience: "Game over!" He roared even more violently, suddenly stopped attacking Chu Yun, and slammed his hands hard on the altar covered with blood-red runes at his feet: "In my name, awaken the sleeping... 'Fighting Spirit'! Come out! Tear apart these ignorant... ants in front of me!"
As he roared, the entire huge altar began to tremble violently!
“Boom—”
The eight massive stone pillars surrounding the altar, carved with reliefs of evil spirits and used to stabilize the formation, suddenly split in the middle. From the cracks, dozens of figures slowly emerged! They were dressed in a variety of righteous sect attire, all imbued with the same righteous aura!
Some wore the flowing white sword robes of the Shushan Sword Sect, some wore the heavy golden armor of the Kunlun Immortal Sect, and some even wore the same black official uniforms of the Evil Suppression Division as Chu Yun and the others! But all of them had the same numb and empty expressions as those "soulless puppets" outside, and their bodies were also branded with the "blood sacrifice curse" filled with filth and evil!
"This... what is this?!" Mo Li looked at the figures walking out of the stone pillars, his eyes filled with indescribable shock and anger.
"It's... those elite disciples and elders from the major righteous sects who mysteriously disappeared over the past few decades." Li Ge's voice was so cold it seemed to freeze the soul. "He... he actually refined these righteous monks who were supposed to protect the human world into his own puppet army!"
This discovery sent a chill down everyone's spine. Elder Zhang's madness and viciousness far exceeded their imagination.
"Kill!" Elder Zhang pointed fiercely at Chu Yun and the other two. Upon receiving the command, the dozens of puppets, refined by righteous cultivators, instantly lit up with a cold, bloodthirsty red light in their eyes, a stark contrast to the righteous attire they wore. Then they moved!
Their movements were no longer as stiff and slow as those "soulless puppets" outside, but were extremely swift and professional, and they could even use some of the powerful techniques they had practiced in their lifetime!
"Shushan Sword Control Technique!"
"Kunlun Thunder Palm!"
"Evil-Suppressing Soul-Locking Chain!"
For a moment, the entire altar was ablaze with sword energy, flashes of lightning, and flying talismans. Powerful spells meant to slay demons and monsters became deadly weapons, fiercely blasting down upon the three young men representing the "righteous path"!
"Be careful!" Chu Yun shouted, forcibly mobilizing the last bit of Taiyi Qi in his body, condensing it into a huge "Vajra Talisman" to block the three people!
"boom--!"
Dozens of powerful spells slammed fiercely onto the golden light shield. The "Vajra Talisman" that was powerful enough to withstand thousands of troops only lasted for less than three breaths before it completely shattered with a "crack!" Chu Yun's body was violently attacked, and he could no longer hold back, spurting out a mouthful of boiling blood!
"Hahaha..." Elder Zhang looked at the three figures in such disarray before his most proud 'Puppet Army' that he laughed wildly with pride and cruelty. "See? This is the 'righteous path' you believe in! In front of me, they are nothing more than a group of more useful... tools! It's over! It's all over! Kill them!"
He issued the final killing order, and those dozens of powerful puppets once again rushed towards the young man who was in desperate situation!
It's over... this time it's really over... Mo Li and Li Ge's eyes flashed with a trace of deep despair. They had exhausted all their strength and could no longer think of any way to break the deadlock.
But at this moment, Chu Yun, who should have been the first to fall, suddenly had a strange light in his eyes. It was a flash of inspiration born in the deepest despair!
"Purify... the puppet..." His mind uncontrollably flashed back to the battle with the controlled ghost messengers in the underworld. He recalled how he had used the "life" form of Taiyi Yuanqi to awaken the last trace of "goodness" in the ghost messengers' hearts, allowing them to free themselves; he also remembered how he had used the talisman in the "destruction" form of Taiyi Yuanqi to forcibly purify the evil "puppet threads" from the ghost messengers.
"The principle... is the same..."
"Whether it's the ghost messengers from the underworld or these puppets before us, they're not truly 'dead'. They're all controlled by an external, evil 'energy core'... 'shells'! As long as... as long as we can accurately locate and destroy that 'evil core' within their bodies... then these invulnerable 'shells' will instantly turn back into ordinary... piles of iron!"
This thought, like a flash of lightning that cut through the darkness, illuminated Chu Yun's desperate heart! There was a way! Although it was risky and the success rate might be less than 10%, this was their only hope now!
"Li Ge! Mo Li!" He roared with determination and hope while his souls were connected. "Help me buy... three more breaths of time!"
Li Ge and Mo Li didn't know what Chu Yun was thinking, but they sensed an unprecedented confidence from the sound of him rekindling the flame. Without hesitation, they burned the last of their soul essence and used their shattered bodies to transform into two sturdy barriers, blocking Chu Yun's way!
Chu Yun, taking advantage of the precious three breaths of time his companions had bought him, executed a move that baffled everyone present. He didn't condense any powerful attack talismans, but simply pulled out a piece of ordinary blank talisman paper from his bosom. He bit his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of his lifeblood, condensed with all his blood, energy, and vitality, onto the talisman paper. "Use my blood as a guide!"
Then, he gathered the last trace of the purest Taiyi Qi in his body into his fingertips: "Use my Qi as the core!"
His fingers danced swiftly across the blood-stained rune paper, drawing no longer any familiar rune, but a brand new one, improvised and "created" at this moment, based on his new understanding of "Taiyi-Yuanqi," "purification," and "destruction." It was an unprecedented rune, a perfect fusion of the domineering nature of "destruction" and the precision of "birth"!
"Imperial decree!"
The moment he put down the last stroke, the plain, blank piece of paper suddenly erupted with an extremely restrained, yet incredibly terrifying golden light. A brand new, unique talisman, belonging only to Chu Yun, was born. He named it...
"Breaking Puppet Talisman!"
At this moment, Li Ge and Mo Li finally gave up and were blasted away by the combined attack of dozens of puppets! With cold murderous intent, the puppets rushed towards Chu Yun, who had just finished drawing the talisman. One of the puppets, dressed in the uniform of the Evil Suppression Division, rushed to the front, holding a "Soul Locking Chain" filled with "suppressive" power and wrapped it around Chu Yun's neck!
It's you!
A terrifying gleam flashed in Chu Yun's eyes, and he threw the "Puppet-Breaking Talisman" in his hand, which had just been completed and still had body temperature, towards the puppet without hesitation!
The talisman did not explode in mid-air, nor did it emit any dazzling light. It just turned into a simple, subtle golden light, and in the puzzled eyes of everyone, it accurately sank into the chest of the puppet of the Evil Suppression Bureau.
The next second, a miracle happened.
The puppet that had rushed towards Chu Yun froze violently, the bloodthirsty red light in its eyes instantly extinguished. Its solid, invulnerable "shell," formed by the "Blood Sacrifice Curse Seal," crumbled and peeled away from the inside like a weathered sand sculpture. Finally, with a crashing sound, it completely shattered, revealing a lifeless, cold, iron-like body within.
The powerful puppet that was invulnerable to swords and guns fell to the ground silently and turned into a pile of ordinary... "corpses".
The energy Chu Yun consumed in this attack was less than one-tenth of the energy he consumed when he used the "Thunder and Fire Talisman" before!
The whole place was dead silent.
Everyone, whether it was Elder Zhang, the traitors from the Tianshi Mansion, or the masters from the Shadow Pavilion, stared at Chu Yun, whose face was as pale as paper but with a confident smile on his lips, as if he were a monster.
They all realized that the appearance of this brand new, unprecedented "Talisman" might be the key to completely turning around this battle that was already a foregone conclusion!
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