Family Cultivation: Evergreen of the Song Family

"click click"

"Susu..."

Large pieces of green copper rust fell off the sculptures. Under the light of the seal in the air, the bronze bodies below shone with the unique luster of metal. The human-shaped sculptures holding spears and wearing armor stood up slowly and stiffly, their eyes flashing with dark light.
The chariots that were originally covered with copper rust and the war beasts pulling them also revealed their original appearance under the baptism of the light.

The driver picked up the reins again, the warriors gripped their spears tightly, and the war beasts roared to the sky. They all looked up at the seal that was shining brightly in the sky, as if they were examining it, or as if they were waiting.

"This...what's going on..."

Song Changxuan and others who were standing outside the martial arts arena were looking at the scene in shock. For a moment, they had difficulty breathing and could not speak clearly.

Who could have imagined that these lifeless sculptures would suddenly "come alive"? Could it be that the light released by the seal had the miraculous ability to turn stillness into movement?

This is of course impossible, and the legendary immortals may not have such heaven-defying means.

If this possibility is ruled out, then the answer becomes very obvious. What are before their eyes are not "sculptures" at all, but carefully crafted puppets.

And that seal, or the light released by the seal, is the signal to activate and awaken these puppets!

"This is impossible. How much time and manpower and resources will it take to create so many puppets?" Song Qinghong said in shock.

As Song Changsheng's "little fanboy", he has always regarded Song Changsheng as his goal of growth and pursuit. Therefore, he has been practicing both formation and refining from the very beginning. Although his talent is not as good as Song Changsheng, over the years, he has also reached the level of a second-grade superior refiner.

The art of puppetry, like the art of heavenly craftsmanship, is derived from the art of refining equipment. Although they each have their own characteristics and have evolved into different professions, they are essentially not much different. After all, all things in the world lead to the same destination.

Therefore, he also has a lot of knowledge about puppets.

Puppets are different from magical weapons. The process of refining them is extremely complicated. Even refining the simplest beast-shaped puppet will take several times as long as refining a magical weapon of the same grade.

Among them, the human-shaped puppet is even worse and takes more time than the animal-shaped puppet.

Moreover, the spiritual materials needed to refine a puppet are dozens of times that of a magic weapon of the same grade.

The high cost of manufacturing and labor has discouraged many people, which has resulted in puppets never becoming mainstream like magical instruments, because the cost-effectiveness is too low. Even large sects with profound heritage such as the Jinwu Sect and the Tianmai Sect have little interest in puppets. They would rather build warships or spirit ships.

How many puppets were there in front of them at this moment? There were tens of thousands of them in the orderly infantry formation in the center alone. If you count the puppets on the war beasts and chariots nearby, the number was close to 20,000.

How much resources would this take to accomplish?
Of course, having abundant resources is just a small matter. These remnants of the Immortal Dynasty must have brought a lot of resources when they fled to this world, so it is still possible to create such a puppet army.

But possibility is one thing, and putting it into action is another. Ordinary puppets are just dead objects and have no intelligence. Every move requires someone to expend their mind and energy to control them.

It is already difficult for an ordinary cultivator to control one puppet. How many people would be needed to control more than 20,000 puppets?

Moreover, puppets are puppets after all. They have no magic skills and cannot deploy battle formations. Their performance in large-scale battles is far inferior to that of human monks.

Therefore, Song Qinghong really couldn't understand why these remnants of the Immortal Dynasty would spend so much manpower and resources to refine these puppets. Was it just to guard the tomb of the Human King?
That's a bit too extravagant.

However, no matter what the mentality of those people was in creating these huge numbers of puppets, it was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous signal for the Song family and everyone in Luoxia City.

Because they are outsiders and invaders of the royal tomb.

Song Youfu couldn't help but look at Song Qingxi and said in a low voice: "Aunt, what should we do now?"

Hearing this, Song Qingxi's brain began to work rapidly.

At the moment, although these puppets have been activated, they have not moved for the time being, perhaps because they are attracted by the seal. Moreover, they are located on the outskirts of the martial arts field and are not affected by the [Forbidden Air Array]. They can fly with swords, so they have every chance to retreat calmly.

But the Luoxia City monks in the pyramid tripod were not so relaxed. Not only were they in the center of the encirclement, they were also affected by the [No-Fly Array] and could not fly. Facing the torrent of puppets, they were probably in great danger.

Therefore, the Song family can retreat, but they cannot simply abandon all the cultivators from Luoxia City here. Once they do so, not only will all the achievements of the Song family this time be wiped out, but it will also greatly affect the relationship between Luoxia City and the Song family.

After thinking for a while, Song Qingxi looked at everyone and said softly, "Be gentle and don't affect those puppets. Let's retreat slowly and be ready to meet the Taoist friends from Luoxia City at any time."

Everyone understood what he meant and immediately retreated slowly, but they did not retreat far, just kept a relatively safe distance from the puppets.

In this position, they can attack or defend, and can respond to the monks of Luoxia City at any time.
If the puppet attacks suddenly, they will have enough time to react.

It can be said that the Song family is already invincible.

Just as the Song family retreated to protect themselves, the Luoxia City monks standing in front of the bronze gate of the pyramid were also panicked. They did not expect such a thing to happen.

The excitement in my heart about finding the [Imperial Seal] had long since disappeared, replaced by endless uneasiness.

If these puppets were regarded as a storm, then they were currently at the center of the storm and could be torn apart by the storm at any time.

"Senior Sister Lian, what should we do now?" A group of Luoxia City cultivators looked at Lian Siyu anxiously.

Lian Siyu did not panic at this moment, but her heart was full of unwillingness. The legendary [Imperial Seal] was obviously within reach, was she going to give up like this?

After some struggle and ideological struggle, Lian Siyu finally decided to retreat temporarily.

If possible, she didn't want to give up halfway, but the facts forced her to do so.

The power of the [Imperial Seal] was extraordinary. Even if it flew past their noses, they had no way to deal with it. Instead, they lost several magical instruments, not to mention that there were more than 20,000 puppets that might attack at any time.

This was beyond their capabilities. It was completely meaningless to continue fighting. She couldn't let the brothers around her sacrifice in vain. After hearing her decision, everyone was obviously relieved. They were afraid that Lian Siyu would get carried away and lead them into the fire even though she knew it was impossible. That would be a tragedy.

They are not afraid of death, but they don't want their sacrifice to be in vain. Fortunately, Lian Siyu's brain remains clear.

This made them feel fortunate.

Everyone surrounded Lian Siyu and quickly retreated to the top of the pyramid while the huge puppet army below was still motionless. They planned to slowly evacuate from the back of the pyramid, where there were no puppets blocking the way, so it should be smoother.

At this moment, the cultivators from the Tianjian Sect and the Tianmai Sect, who had lagged behind them because of chasing the "sun and moon in the sky", were attracted by the loud dragon roar.

Looking at the white jade seal shining brightly in the air, the eyes of all the cultivators brightened up, and even the depression caused by not being able to chase after the "Sun and Moon" dissipated a lot.

Although they didn't know what kind of treasure this was, they could see that it was extraordinary, and they couldn't help but get ready to get their hands on it.

However, at least they did not lose their minds. When they saw the puppet army in front of them wearing armor and holding spears, they did not act rashly.

But some people disagreed. A cultivator from the Heavenly Sword Sect said disdainfully: "They are just a group of low-level puppets. No matter how many there are, they will not pose a threat. Isn't it ridiculous to be tied down because of them?

"Big Brother, this opportunity is rare and will never come back again!"

Jian Chen deeply agreed with his words.

The Tianjian Sect's luck was really bad this time. Since entering this small world, they have not gained much. Even the Royal City was the last one to enter, and they only picked up some leftovers from their predecessors.

This is even more so after entering this underground world. Originally, he saw that the two magical instruments in the air used to simulate the sun and the moon were extraordinary and wanted to obtain them, but their speed was too fast. After chasing them for a long time, he ended up with nothing but dust. Now that a treasure appeared in front of him, there was naturally no reason to hesitate.

Thinking of this, Jian Chen no longer bothered to investigate why the others did not take action. He directly sacrificed a large golden bell, wanting to put the seal in the air directly into his pocket.

He acted too quickly, and by the time Song Qingxi and the others realized it, it was too late to stop him. They saw the big bell expanding rapidly in the air and directly covering the seal.

Before Jian Chen could feel the joy of success, he heard a heart-pounding "crack" and saw spider-web-like cracks appearing on the surface of the bell. Then, this second-grade top-grade spiritual weapon actually exploded.

Jian Chen's face suddenly turned pale, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

This was a serious incident, like stirring up a hornet's nest. The previously calm puppets suddenly became restless, and their scarlet eyes were intimidating.

"Roar--"

Along with the roar of the war beast, the chariot formation immediately rushed towards the direction of the Tianjian Sect. Hundreds of chariots roared over, bringing with them a breathtaking murderous aura. This was the first time that everyone present had seen such a scene.

In addition to the chariots serving as the vanguard, tens of thousands of infantry puppets also moved slowly under the command of a puppet in golden armor. They were divided into four parts and rushed towards the cultivators of Luoxia City who were preparing to evacuate at the top of the pyramid, as well as the Song family, Tianmai Sect, and Tianjian Sect that caused all this.

Although they are dead objects and there is no one to control them, they are like a well-disciplined army. They form tight battle formations and attack in unison.

For a moment, the only sounds in this world were the roar of the chariots and the heavy footsteps of the puppets.

The chariot was moving very fast, arriving almost instantly. The Tianjian Sect monks did not lose their composure, but quickly flew up on their swords. In their opinion, no matter how powerful the chariot was, it could not fly into the sky.

But they were wrong. These war beasts had special floating formations in their bodies, forming a dense chariot formation, and rushed directly towards the Tianjian Sect monks like a steel torrent. At the same time, the archers on the chariots also bent their bows and drew their arrows. Bronze arrows covered with rust turned into streams of light and rushed straight towards them.

The distance was too close. Two Tianjian Sect cultivators were unable to dodge and were pierced through the bodies by arrows. Their blood splattered into the sky. The protective spiritual energy of the foundation-building cultivators was as weak as paper and could not withstand a single blow.

After a round of volleys, the chariot formation brutally charged into their team, spears waving, and the Tianjian Sect fell into a tough battle.

In addition to being entangled with them, the monks from Tianmai Sect and Luoxia City were also targeted by the infantrymen who were separated from them. Led by the puppets wearing strange armor, they advanced steadily and swiftly, with long spears like forests and arrows like rain.

Among them, the situation of Luoxia City is more difficult. They need to face more than 4,000 infantrymen. Due to the existence of the [Forbidden Air Array], they can't even fly swords and can only deal with them underground.

The phalanx formed by these puppets is like an iron wall. Even if some of them are defeated by magic or magical weapons, new ones will soon come up and continue to advance by waving their spears.

"What the hell are these things?" Song Youfu turned around, shot down a puppet with an arrow, and let out an angry shout.

Because the Song family was relatively far away, after Jian Chen made his move, they quickly evacuated at Song Qingxi's reminder, and luckily they were not entangled.

However, there was still a phalanx of 3,000 infantrymen chasing them relentlessly.

Although they were marching in formation, their speed was not slow at all, and the archers in the team would occasionally fire a volley to slow down their pace, making it impossible for them to escape.

This doesn't feel like they are facing a group of puppets, this is clearly a well-disciplined army!

Everyone's eyes were focused on Song Qinghong. No one present knew more about puppets than him.

Song Qinghong said with a sullen face: "If my guess is correct, these are not ordinary puppets, but living puppets!"

"Living puppet?" This term made everyone frown, somewhat confused. However, Song Qingxi and Song Qingxing looked thoughtful.

Song Qinghong nodded heavily and said through gritted teeth: "Living puppets are puppets made directly from living people or people who have just died. It is an extremely evil and cruel refining method. Their souls will be imprisoned forever and they will not be able to reincarnate!"

……

(End of this chapter)