Chapter 168 - 157: Reverse-Slaying Foundation Establishment
Chapter 168: Chapter 157: Reverse-Slaying Foundation Establishment
The moment the Jade Bottle appeared, the light around it warped slightly. Zheng Feng carefully uncorked it, and an indescribable, ethereal Spiritual Charm instantly filled the air. It even briefly diluted the Evil Qi on the Luming Mountain Peak. The item in the bottle was none other than the "Unsettled True Water"! It was formless and shapeless, like a flowing patch of the Void. One moment it refracted a hazy, seven-colored halo; the next, it transformed into a deep, frigid darkness. Its state shifted in an instant between liquid, gas, and even solid, never holding a fixed form. It was a dazzling and bewildering sight.
Zheng Feng held the Jade Bottle in one hand and the Spirit Stone Bag in the other as he walked toward the Corpse Puppet. The distance between them rapidly closed.
Fifty yards... forty yards... thirty yards! The air on the Luming Mountain Peak seemed to freeze.
Just as the Corpse Puppet’s enormous Dark Gold hand was about to touch the Spirit Stone Bag and the Jade Bottle, the unexpected happened!
"ROAR!!!"
A crimson light suddenly erupted from within the Corpse Puppet! A ferocious, heavy set of blood-red battle armor, covered in sharp barbs, instantly enveloped its entire body. Its savage aura surged, becoming almost tangible! Its already monstrously ferocious presence skyrocketed like a volcanic eruption. An incredibly dense Blood Evil Qi shot toward the heavens. Its giant fist, letting out a sharp shriek that tore through the air, smashed down viciously at the nearby Zheng Feng!
Almost at the same instant the Corpse Puppet’s Blood Armor erupted and it threw its punch!
The humility and pleading on Zheng Feng’s face were instantly replaced by bone-chilling killing intent and resolve! With a sharp flick of his sleeve, he instantly activated the three Talismans he had already been clutching in his palm!
"VMM! BOOM! ROAR!"
A scorching, violent Fire Element Spiritual Power, hot enough to melt gold and stone, erupted. Two Tier Two Lower Grade "Celestial Fire Talismans" transformed into two ten-foot-wide, crimson pillars of fire that incinerated everything in their path. Like two roaring Flame Dragons, they kicked up a monstrous heatwave and shot straight toward the Corpse Puppet!
Following close behind was a "Fire Dragon Talisman," also Tier Two Lower Grade but more concentrated. The Talisman’s light surged, transforming into an even more solid, gigantic Fire Dragon with distinct scales, claws, and bared fangs. It coiled upwards, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, completely sealing off any space for the Corpse Puppet to dodge!
In an instant, the unyieldingly pure and fiery flames collided fiercely with the supremely dark and malevolent Corpse Puppet! A blinding light, impossible to look at directly, erupted at the point of impact, as if a scorching sun had fallen to the earth!
BOOM! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
A deafening explosion that seemed to tear the heavens asunder rocked the Luming Mountain Peak! The violent, fiery shockwave smashed against the Corpse Puppet’s incomparably tough Dark Gold skin and the demonic Blood Evil Battle Armor that had suddenly appeared!
Scorching waves of fire mixed with shattered rock and instantly vaporized stone dust spread out in all directions as a destructive shockwave, viciously plowing across the peak!
However, the savage grin on Zheng Feng’s face lasted only a moment before freezing completely, his eyes filling with incredulous horror!
He could only watch as the three Fire Element Talismans, each containing the might of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s strike, slammed into the Corpse Puppet. Although the violent explosion made the Blood Armor covering its body sizzle, the attack failed to break through it completely!
The Corpse Puppet only staggered back a step in the explosion. Though the fiery blast had knocked its descending fist off its original course, the punch’s momentum was still incomparably ferocious. It grazed the edge of Zheng Feng’s Protective Spiritual Light and slammed into the ground beside him!
"BANG!"
With a muffled thud, the mountain rock shattered like tofu. A terrifying crater several feet deep, its edges webbed with cracks, instantly appeared on the scorched ground!
"What?!" Zheng Feng’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, and a monstrous wave of horror crashed through his heart. He had grossly underestimated the Defense Power of this Tier Two Corpse Puppet, which Lu Zhao had so meticulously refined. He especially hadn’t expected that bizarre Blood Evil Battle Armor. A chill quietly rose from the bottom of his heart.
But the fiery assault, rather than damaging the Corpse Puppet, had thoroughly awakened its innate ferocity! It threw its head back and roared, its blood-red eyes locked firmly onto Zheng Feng’s figure. Its huge, heavy body kicked up a whistling gale as it lunged toward Zheng Feng again, this time even faster!
Zheng Feng’s expression turned ugly, a chill running down his back. He didn’t dare entertain any thought of facing it head-on. A golden light flashed at his feet, and like a phantom, his figure instantly blurred and turned ethereal. The next moment, as if he had teleported, he reappeared hundreds of yards away, panting slightly as his form solidified—it was a High-Tier Escape Technique that only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could perform!
At the same time, he formed a hand seal for a Technique and pointed from afar. The Tier Two Flying Shuttle hovering in the air let out a clear, metallic ring and transformed into an incomparably sharp golden streak of lightning, stabbing viciously at the Corpse Puppet’s vitals at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow!
"CLANG!!!!"
A great Clashing of Gold and Iron, even sharper and more ear-piercing than before, erupted once more! The Flying Shuttle struck the very center of the Corpse Puppet’s Blood Evil Battle Armor with pinpoint accuracy! The Corpse Puppet’s massive body seemed to lurch forward from the force of the blow concentrated on that single point. But its counterattack was faster. It threw a backhand punch, wreathed in Corpse Qi and Blood Evil Qi, which whistled as it smashed toward the Flying Shuttle in the air! The Flying Shuttle nimbly executed a sharp turn, transforming into a thin golden thread as it narrowly avoided the punch.
From then on, Zheng Feng relied on the versatile flexibility of his Flying Shuttle and his own exquisite Escape Technique. His figure moved like a phantom within the limited area of the peak, weaving and dodging, time and again perilously avoiding the Corpse Puppet’s frenzied lunges. Meanwhile, his mind raced as he manipulated the Flying Shuttle, constantly harassing the puppet with sharp golden glints from cunning angles, trying to find a weakness in the seemingly indestructible Blood Armor.
However, the Corpse Puppet’s Defense Power far exceeded his estimations. Neither the Flying Shuttle’s piercing attacks, which could penetrate Refined Gold, nor the few Sharp Gold Spells he managed to fire off at the puppet’s leg guards had any significant effect on its Blood Evil Battle Armor or its body, leaving only faint marks.
On the mountain peak, golden light and a blood-red shadow clashed and intertwined fiercely. The mingled sounds of rumbling, explosions, and tearing air echoed ceaselessly.
This life-and-death battle at the Foundation Establishment level lasted for more than a quarter of an hour. The already barren mountaintop was ravaged beyond recognition, covered in scorched craters and intersecting gouges.
And from beginning to end, Lu Zhao merely stood quietly, holding the unconscious Zheng Fan. Like a cold statue, he watched the bloody struggle with detached indifference, as if he were a complete Outsider.
His gaze was calm and tranquil, but his Divine Sense was highly focused. He seemed completely unconcerned for the Corpse Puppet’s safety, yet it also felt as if its every minute movement was part of his precise calculations.
However, a subtle, almost imperceptible change was taking place on the chaotic battlefield. As Zheng Feng constantly weaved and dodged the Corpse Puppet’s attacks, his trajectory, which seemed forced and desperate, was in fact quietly and unknowingly drawing him closer to where Lu Zhao stood!
When the Corpse Puppet’s gigantic fist, thrown with immense force, once again smashed into the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust and debris because of Zheng Feng’s last-second dodge, a cold light suddenly flashed in Zheng Feng’s eyes!
’Now’s the time!’
His body came to a sudden halt. The already dazzling golden light at his feet instantly flared to its absolute peak. The next moment, as if truly teleporting, he vanished into the swirling dust!
When he reappeared, he was shockingly less than a hundred feet from Lu Zhao. His gaunt figure suddenly closed the distance, carrying the full pressure of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
"Junior! Get over here!" Zheng Feng’s hair and beard stood on end as his sharp roar thundered in Lu Zhao’s ears! At the same time, his withered hand shot out viciously!
His five fingers spread, and an irresistible, invisible, and immense suction force erupted, precisely enveloping Lu Zhao’s entire body! Simultaneously, a pale gold chain of Spiritual Power, so condensed it seemed solid and radiating a restraining aura, shot out from his palm. This was not a fatal attack; its clear purpose was to entangle and restrain Lu Zhao!
After all, he was holding back for fear of hitting the hostage. Fearing he might injure Zheng Fan, who was right next to his target, he didn’t dare use a powerful offensive Magic.
Faced with this deadly, point-blank attack, not only was there no trace of panic on Lu Zhao’s face, but he actually revealed an extremely bizarre, cold smile.
Just as the golden chain was about to touch his robes, Lu Zhao suddenly swung his arm as if he had anticipated it all along!
"Catch!"
The unconscious Zheng Fan was thrown like a torn sack, sent flying straight at the onrushing Zheng Feng with a peculiar technique!