Chapter 0320: The Formidable Puppet

Chapter 0320: The Formidable Puppet

Qin Yun stared at the puppet, his fists clenched tightly, as if confronting a deadly foe.

This puppet was unlike those on the previous floors, exuding an overwhelming aura of menace!

Qin Yun scanned the other staircase leading up from the third floor. If the Blue Spirit saintess had enough strength, she could ascend to this floor.

If he were to engage in battle with the puppet and suddenly a Blue Spirit saintess rushed up, she could charge directly to the fifth floor. He definitely didn’t want to see that happen.

The puppet stood motionless at the staircase to the fifth floor, watching Qin Yun, its body radiating powerful energy, poised to strike at any moment.

"This puppet is formidable. I can’t comprehend its strength and have no idea how to approach it!" Qin Yun gritted his teeth and finally decided to make his move.

His fists glowed with a fiery light, flames erupting as he stepped forward with Fire Cloud Step, arriving in front of the puppet in an instant!

The Flaming Fist struck out, exploding with searing fire.

To Qin Yun’s surprise, the puppet’s reaction speed was alarmingly swift. In a split second, it thrust out a palm to meet his fist!

Boom!

Fist and palm collided, generating a shockwave that rippled through the air, the heat filling the entire combat chamber.

Qin Yun was forced back more than a dozen steps, his painful fist bleeding, his mind reeling in shock. The puppet’s strength far exceeded his imagination!

That punch had been fueled by his inner energy!

Yet, after striking out, it was deflected effortlessly by the puppet’s palm!

What terrified him was that the puppet stood unshaken, while he was the one sent reeling.

"If the fourth-floor puppet is this powerful, I dread to think what the higher floors hold!" Qin Yun thought of the higher levels and couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

The puppets on the higher floors are undoubtedly more formidable!

"This puppet is purely defensive! It hasn’t launched an attack, which eases the pressure somewhat." Qin Yun had barely caught his breath when he noticed the puppet standing at the staircase entrance had suddenly disappeared.

The puppet lunged at him with astonishing speed!

Bang!

Caught off guard, Qin Yun was blasted by the suddenly appearing puppet, its palm slamming into him!

His body was sent flying like a ragdoll, crashing into the wall of the combat chamber.

Though in severe pain, Qin Yun summoned his reflexes. The moment he hit the wall, he darted away from the impact zone!

Boom!

The puppet pursued, its palm slamming into the wall, sending a thunderous crash echoing through the chamber.

The force of the palm surged out like a storm, raging uncontrollably within the combat chamber.

"It’s using thunder-based power!" Despite his shock, Qin Yun activated his Runes Equipment to mend his wounds. Then, with a shake of his fists, he charged forward, unleashing Tsunami Strike, sending out nine shockwaves.

The puppet’s attacks were relentless, one after another. This time, as it charged at Qin Yun, it was pushed back by the nine shockwaves of Tsunami Strike!

The continuous waves of Inner Energy forced the puppet back against the wall, where it continued to endure the relentless assault.

Qin Yun's injuries had healed significantly!

He rushed over, using the Mountain Shaking Style to hurl the burly puppet onto the ground, then followed up with the Ten Thousand Horses Palm, delivering several thunderous strikes to the grounded puppet.

The puppet lying on the ground suddenly burst into a frenzy of lightning, several bolts of electricity striking Qin Yun like venomous snakes!

"Ah!"

Qin Yun was hit by the lightning barrage, his body numb and in pain, letting out a low roar as he was sent flying backward, crashing into the wall.

The puppet, despite being repeatedly struck, remained unfazed, its reactions as sharp as ever.

After getting up, it darted toward Qin Yun like lightning, its palms like two giant axes, crackling with electricity, and slammed down like axes at Qin Yun's shoulders.

Qin Yun had no time to dodge, but his body instinctively surged with Vibrating and Nether Sun energies, gathering at his shoulders.

Bang!

Qin Yun was knocked to his knees, his shoulders in pain but not seriously injured.

If it weren't for the Vibrating and Nether Sun energies to block the attack, his arms could have been shattered.

"Back off!"

Qin Yun roared, unleashing the Heavenly Lion Roaring Sky Sound, channeling his mental energy into it, and simultaneously using Jushensha, sending the sound waves vibrating toward the puppet.

The puppet was powered by its internal mental energy!

When refining puppets, the mental energy core is usually reinforced to resist mental energy attacks.

However, Qin Yun's close-range attack, combined with the sound wave vibrations, penetrated the puppet's body, disrupting that strand of mental energy.

Qin Yun suddenly stood up, using the Heavenly Lion Arm to unleash the Heavenly Lion Grappling Dragon Claw!

He charged at the stunned puppet, unleashing the Six Forms of Wind Slash!

The puppet's body was incredibly tough, as expected of something crafted from Imperial Bone Steel!

After just one move, Qin Yun knew the Heavenly Lion Grappling Dragon Claw was ineffective against the puppet's formidable defense.

He shifted to the Six Forms of Dragon Forging!

Clenching his fist, the totem patterns on the Heavenly Lion Arm glowed brightly, amplified by the heavenly lion bloodline within his body, making the arm even more terrifying!

The clenched fist suddenly flashed with purple-gold lightning, slamming into the puppet's head with the Thunder Shaking Style!

Boom!

The explosive flash of lightning, accompanied by a deafening roar, shook the entire arena!

The puppet's head was dented, cracks appearing as energy started to seep out!

Just as Qin Yun was about to launch the second form of Dragon Forging, the puppet counterattacked, slamming a palm into Qin Yun's abdomen!

Qin Yun let out a roar, staggering back a few steps, feeling as if his body was being ripped apart by lightning!

After delivering that strike, the puppet also collapsed to the ground, crippled and immobilized!

"This guy, he actually counterattacked at the last moment!" Qin Yun hurriedly activated his light-imbued attire, channeling healing energy to stabilize his injuries.

He had both internal and external injuries. If it weren’t for the protective powers of Nether Yang and Shock, he would have been torn apart by the puppet long ago.

He wasn’t in a rush to enter the fifth level. The puppets on the higher levels were stronger, and now that he was on the fourth level, he was certain to advance to the next round.

The elders monitoring from the ninth level were all shocked by Qin Yun’s formidable strength, and none could stay indifferent!

However, while Qin Yun was healing, he suddenly sensed a presence—someone was approaching!

This level’s combat chamber had two staircases leading up, one of which Qin Yun had used earlier.

The other staircase led from another combat chamber!

The person coming up was a man, clad in golden-blue precious armor, with an ordinary appearance but a face full of arrogance. He was a Blue Spirit saint!

As soon as he saw Qin Yun healing, his eyes turned dark and gleamed with malicious delight.

This Blue Spirit saint was the very one who had framed Qin Yun, claiming that Qin Yun had stepped on his foot!

His name was Huang Yukun, and as a Blue Spirit saint, his strength was undoubtedly not weak.

"Qin Yun, your strength is truly impressive, reaching the fourth level so early and defeating the puppet here!"

Huang Yukun sneered as he walked over, glancing at the damaged puppet.

"You can go to the fifth level now," Qin Yun replied coolly.

"To be honest, I’ve also trained here before. To handle the puppet on the fourth level, I had to give it my all. So when I went to the fifth level, I couldn’t defeat the puppet there. In fact, as soon as I went up, I might have been severely injured or even killed."

Huang Yukun approached Qin Yun, his eyes filled with venom, and continued, "Qin Yun, Qin Yun, I never thought you’d fall into my hands!"

Qin Yun was startled and quickly said, "Fighting isn’t allowed here!"

"Who said that? There’s no such rule! Since it’s not mentioned, it’s allowed. The only rule is that you can’t kill each other! This is a martial competition, so fighting is naturally normal!"

Huang Yukun sneered maliciously as he took out a light blue orb from his storage bag and began infusing it with energy, though it wasn’t clear what he was up to.

As he infused energy into the light blue orb, he suddenly swung his leg at Qin Yun, striking his left cheek and releasing a burst of purple-gold mist filled with a beastly aura.

Qin Yun, already injured inside and out, couldn’t recover fast enough. With this strike, he was sent flying and crashed into the wall.

Huang Yukun laughed maniacally a few times, then rushed over and delivered several more brutal kicks to Qin Yun, leaving him bruised and bloodied, struggling on the ground.

"You beast, I won’t let you get away with this!"

Qin Yun bellowed in rage, the veins on his forehead popping, his entire body seething with fury.

"How dare you curse me!" Huang Yukun shouted in fury, stomping hard on Qin Yun’s cheek to prevent him from speaking.

...

Lan Huayu, in a private chamber on the ninth level, witnessed this and was about to charge out, but he was stopped by several elders from the Sacred Palace.

"Huang Yukun is violating the rules, don’t you see?" Lan Huayu shouted in anger.

"No, he’s not. Combat within the tower is permitted!" said a high-ranking elder with a faint smile. "If you wish to rescue Qin Yun, go ahead, but then he won’t be able to advance to the next round. Do you think he’d want you to rescue him?"

"If Qin Yun can’t win, he can always flee. You don’t need to worry!"

The head of the West Palace chuckled, "He’s a disciple from my West Palace. I’m not concerned, so why should you?"

Lan Huayu's face was stern and unyielding as he said coldly, "Do you really think I don't recognize the bead in Huang Yukun's hand? That's an ancient totem heritage bead!"

"You have several of them, and I suppose you've given them to those saintesses, so that upon encountering Qin Yun, they can attempt to seize his Sky Lion Totem, right?"

"Lan Huayu, what are you going to do about it?" The high-ranking elder of the Holy Palace sneered with a mocking tone: "No matter what happens, we're not letting you through!"

Lan Huayu was furious to the extreme: "Alright, since you don't respect me as a Runes Master, after the festival, I will leave the Holy Palace, venture deep into the Yunlong Mountains, and no longer involve myself in the runic affairs of the Holy Palace."

His words visibly altered the expressions of several elders.

Clearly, Lan Huayu still held significant importance in the Holy Palace.

"Old Lan, if we get our hands on those totem runes, we'll surely study them with you. This would be a tremendous boon for our entire Blue Spirit Holy Palace. Why throw this away? Are you really giving up such a chance for Qin Yun, an outsider?"

"Exactly! If our Blue Spirit Star Palace masters those totem runes, we'll undoubtedly grow stronger, and then we can march back to Wuhuang and crush our foes!"

Suddenly, Qin Yun's scream pierced the air, drawing everyone's gaze to a mirror on the wall!

They witnessed Huang Yukun stomping on Qin Yun's face, using the totem heritage bead to siphon the totem from Qin Yun's Sky Lion Arm!