Chapter 159 - 151: Tier 2 Corpse Puppet, Puppet Dao Battle Array
Chapter 159: Chapter 151: Tier 2 Corpse Puppet, Puppet Dao Battle Array
’It’s fine! Once the Puppet Battle Formation is fully integrated, I can use the Puppet Array to control the Corpse Puppets, and the strain on my Divine Sense will naturally decrease. Besides, I still have those three Nourishing Spirit Fruits. Once I split off my ninth Divine Sense Thread and my Divine Sense grows even stronger... I refuse to believe it won’t be enough!’ Lu Zhao quickly adjusted his mindset. He saw this minor shortcoming as motivation and didn’t let it bother him.
After briefly manipulating the Tier Two Corpse Puppet, he carefully guided his Divine Sense, using the Divine Seal as a bridge to cautiously probe every corner of the Demon Ape Corpse Puppet’s Dark Gold Body. He meticulously examined this deadly weapon—the culmination of years of his painstaking effort.
Through his Divine Sense, Lu Zhao could perceive the Yin Evil Power inside the Corpse Puppet. It was as viscous as liquid metal, surging violently through the thick main channels.
Probing deeper, he found the core supporting this terrifying shell: a bead, the size of a pigeon’s egg, located in the center of its chest. It was pitch-black, its surface naturally etched with profound patterns—this was the Corpse Dao Origin, the Corpse Bead!
Deep within the Corpse Bead, a Rune that looked like congealed dark blood circulated slowly, emitting a unique ripple of aura.
’A Lifebound Technique!’ Lu Zhao’s spirits soared. He focused his will, activating the Rune!
HUMMM!
The delicate Dark Gold Horn Layer on the Strong Demon Ape Corpse Puppet’s body suddenly flared with brilliant light! A crimson glow, so dense it seemed tangible, burst out from within, instantly blanketing every inch of its body!
As the light solidified, a suit of Battle Armor with sharp edges and menacing, horn-like protrusions instantly formed, covering all its vital points as if it were a living shell. This was its Lifebound Technique: the Blood Armor Technique!
Lu Zhao gazed at the Corpse Puppet. The savage, crimson Battle Armor clung tightly to its dark gold demonic body. The Demon Ape Corpse Puppet, already overwhelmingly ferocious, felt its aura explode once more, like an erupting volcano!
The dense Blood Evil emanating from the Blood Armor led Lu Zhao to an instant conclusion: a full-powered strike from an ordinary Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would probably not be able to pierce it.
’Excellent! Its offense is peerless, and its defense is like a mountain! This perfectly suits my path of slaughter!’ A sharp glint flashed in Lu Zhao’s eyes, his joy nearly bursting from his chest. The power of this Demon Ape Corpse Puppet had already firmly crossed the threshold of an Early Stage Tier Two Monster Beast. Now, with the added power of the Blood Armor Technique, it could clash head-on with an ordinary Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and perhaps even suppress them!
At Lu Zhao’s command, the three Strong Iron Ape Corpse Puppets, which stood nearby like iron towers, were all awakened.
Upon receiving the command, flames flickered in the eyes of the three Iron Ape Corpse Puppets. They immediately began to move, their heavy footsteps taking them behind the Main Puppet, the Demon Ape, like unwaveringly loyal guards protecting their king.
"Corpse Puppet Battle Array... activate!" An indescribable fervor swelled in Lu Zhao’s chest. He took a deep breath of the cold valley air as his vast Divine Sense spread out like an invisible net, using the core seals and Spirit Patterns to link the wills of all four Corpse Puppets.
For the next month, deep within Yinmu Mountain, in the desolate Valley of Death, Evil Qi surged to the heavens like a rising yin dragon. A dull, terrifying roar, like the drumming of a Giant, echoed day and night without end.
Lu Zhao, like a Commander-in-Chief at the Peak of the Nine Netherworld, poured his entire Heart Spirit into mastering the Battle Array. Under his precise control, the three Strong Iron Ape Corpse Puppets would at times form an unbreakable wall, flawlessly guarding the flanks of the Main Puppet, the Strong Demon Ape.
At other times, they acted as three Earth-Splitting Heavy Hammers, following close behind whenever the Strong Demon Ape Puppet unleashed a terrifying Fist Gang. They coordinated with its peerless strength to launch a synchronized attack from a different angle!
The Strong Demon Ape Corpse Puppet, meanwhile, was the undisputed soul and spearhead of the entire Battle Array. The crimson light of the Blood Armor Technique flowed across its body. Every swing of its giant arms and every side kick of its long legs carried an absurdly brutal force, ripping through the air with piercing sonic booms. It smashed into the hard canyon walls—weathered over ten thousand years—as if they were tofu, blasting out one shocking crater after another.
The Puppet Battle Formation evolved from its initial state of disjointed, uncoordinated movements into a fluid, flowing force like molten lava. Forged and tempered day and night by Lu Zhao’s tireless Heart Spirit, after a month of arduous effort, the power of the Battle Array slowly began to emerge.
The four powerful streams of Yin Evil and ferocious Qi began to resonate under the influence of the Battle Array. Amidst howling Yin Winds, they attracted and superimposed upon one another, faintly condensing, gathering, and enhancing! A monstrous ferocity—far exceeding the simple sum of the four Corpse Puppets and enough to make even Foundation Establishment Cultivators turn pale—was slowly but unstoppably taking shape within the deep valley.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
During the final drill at the end of the month, Lu Zhao focused his entire Heart Spirit and issued a command: channel the Battle Array and unleash a full-power burst!
The auras of the Strong Demon Ape Puppet and the three Strong Iron Ape Corpse Puppets behind it fused, resonating as one. In that instant, as it took an earth-shaking step forward, a giant Dark Gold arm wreathed in dense Corpse Evil shot up and tore through the air with a single punch!
A dark red Fist Gang, condensed to its absolute limit until it seemed almost solid, viciously slammed into a steep cliff face a thousand feet away!
The blow was like the hammer of a celestial thunder god striking the mortal world.
A deafening explosion tore through the dead silence of Yinmu Mountain! The entire massive cliff face shuddered and disintegrated, as if gnawed by a colossal beast. A terrifying crater, well over a hundred feet in diameter and tens of feet deep, had appeared!
Massive boulders, each weighing many tons, were flung high into the air like toys, only to crash violently back to the ground.
Lu Zhao stood on a high boulder at the other end of the canyon, his robes whipping in the violent currents of air.
He gazed at the cliff face, its landscape so thoroughly changed it looked as if struck by divine punishment. He felt the immense power flowing between his Divine Thought and the Battle Array. This power was a far cry from the crude force of a month ago; it was now violent, condensed, and seamlessly integrated. It carried the unique suppressive effect that came from the combined might of a Puppet Battle Formation, enough to... utterly crush an ordinary Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator!
’Two years of painstaking work and a mountain of Spiritual Materials... all for this moment, to create this Tier Two Puppet Battle Formation!’
Seeing this, Lu Zhao finally broke into a smile. After a moment’s thought, he raised his right hand and took a blood-red, longan-sized bead from his Storage Bag. This was the very Yin Thunder Bead he had obtained from Qian Yuan.
It lay quietly in his palm, emitting a fearsome, destructive aura. Over the years, Lu Zhao had consulted countless volumes in the Bixia Sect’s library, and based on the descriptions in those Ancient Texts, he was now certain of what it was.
This was the infamous Tier Two Thunder Bead of the Demon Dao: the Blood Evil Yin Thunder Bead. If a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was struck by this, they would be crippled, if not killed outright.
Lu Zhao raised his left hand slightly. Before him stood the four Corpse Puppets, radiating monstrous ferocity, forming the Corpse Puppet Battle Array. In his right hand, he held the blood-red Thunder Bead.
In one hand a bead, in the other an array—both were weapons of boundless slaughter.
Lu Zhao’s gaze pierced through the perpetual fog of Yinmu Mountain, seeming to ignore the vast distance of mountains and rivers, locking deadly onto Northern Plains County.
At that moment, an icy killing intent, suppressed for several years, finally erupted like scorching magma.
The corners of his mouth slowly curled into a chilling smile. The blood-red, ferocious light hidden deep within his eyes for so long was finally unleashed without restraint.
A declaration, carrying a bone-chilling cold, echoed clearly through the dead land:
"Zheng Family old ghost... your time... has come!"