Enduring humiliation for three years, seizing the elixir, the treasure, and the holy maiden.

Su Chen had naturally anticipated that these two puppets would be troublesome.

Looking at the early stage of Void Refinement...

The one who can control them is a cultivator who has achieved the Unity Realm.

Unfortunately, Su Chen was only at the early stage of the Void Refinement realm.

The difference in their levels of understanding is far more than just a tiny bit.

This is enough to show that the old devil has no intention of letting Lu Yao go.

How could an old demon who specializes in puppet making only keep two puppets?

The Heavenly Capital Elder could command at least a dozen of these creatures simultaneously.

Releasing more than ten mid-stage Void Refinement stage corpse puppets at the same time is equivalent to ten mid-stage Void Refinement stage cultivators attacking simultaneously.

For an ordinary cultivator at the Void Refinement stage, encountering such an event would be a catastrophic disaster.

However, among cultivators at the Integration Realm, this skill is not considered outstanding.

When two entities combine, the difference in their cultivation levels is undeniable. Let alone ten puppets, even if ten more are added, it's just a matter of one round of spiritual pressure crushing them.

Therefore, Su Chen was certain that the Heavenly Capital Elder had not used his true ability to compete with others of the same level.

That makes things easier.

If you defeat these two corpse puppets, the person will belong to Su.

"Su Zhenchuan, can you still hold on?"

The old man from Tiandu tucked his sleeves in, his withered face creased with wrinkles.

Su Chen raised his hand and wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead.

Point your toes.

The person had already become a blur, rushing towards the east side of the stone platform.

"They ran away?"

"He was still being stubborn just now, but his spiritual energy is probably depleted."

Some of the disciples watching sneered.

The Frost Corpse Puppet remained silent, transforming into a white rainbow as it relentlessly pursued them.

The crimson corpse puppets flanked from the other side, leaving charred footprints on the bluestone they trod.

Su Chen didn't turn around.

Shrinking the earth to an inch.

His figure flashed out of thin air and was already more than ten feet away.

The two corpse puppets missed their target, turned around, and chased after them again.

Flash again.

Another ten or so feet.

Su Chen's escape light circled halfway around the stone platform, seemingly rushing about in a panic, but each step he took was precisely timed.

Initially, the two corpse puppets stood on the left and right, looking after each other.

After several rounds, in order to catch up with that streak of light, the two puppets drew closer and closer.

In the end, they ended up chasing each other and becoming a single line.

The old man from Tiandu frowned.

wrong.

This kid is playing with a puppet.

The thought had barely formed when Su Chen abruptly stopped in mid-air.

Turn around.

The Spring and Autumn Annals's Scroll of Crossing Calamities slipped from his sleeve and landed in his palm.

The brush tip, gleaming with a faint light, swept downwards from top to bottom in the direction from which the two corpse puppets were lunging.

scoff.

The void, like a piece of ink silk, was forcibly torn open by this stroke.

The crack appeared exactly three feet in front of the two corpse puppets, so fast that even the Heavenly Elder's divine sense couldn't catch up.

The Frost Corpse Puppet couldn't stop in time, and half of its body crashed into the crack.

A surge of power erupted from the depths of the crack, engulfing the puppet along with the surrounding icy mist.

The crimson corpse puppet followed closely behind.

It does want to back out.

However, the divine thought that the Old Man of Tiandu used to drive the puppet to chase the enemy was still there. The puppet had no consciousness and only recognized the word "chase".

He plunged headlong into that darkness.

"return!"

The old man of Tiandu hastily hooks his withered fingers.

It's too late.

Su Chen flicked his wrist, and with a stroke of his pen, he added a new stroke to the edge of the crack.

The dark crack closed from both ends toward the middle, and in the blink of an eye, it was completely healed.

The sunlight shone down again.

The air above the stone platform was clear and still, without a trace of malevolent energy.

Su Chen put the pen into his sleeve and patted the hem of his clothes.

"Fellow Daoist Tiandu, you flatter me."

The old man from Tiandu remained silent.

The divine sense followed the spiritual thread that was pulling the puppet all the way, but it broke halfway through.

It was cut off cleanly and completely.

The two corpse puppets were sealed into the endless void.

Let alone a Nascent Soul cultivator, even an old monster in the Mahayana stage wouldn't be able to retrieve anything from that void.

Old Man Tiandu's cheek twitched.

Only the Old Man of Tiandu knew the origins of those two puppets.

More than a hundred years ago, the Old Man of Tiandu waited for three whole months in a desolate valley in the Northern Region before finally capturing two lone Void Refinement cultivators.

One cultivates ice-attribute techniques, and the other cultivates fire-attribute techniques.

It took decades of soul extraction, bone refining, and nurturing to create this pair of ice and fire puppets.

Now it is taken into that void.

Let's not even talk about whether it can be removed or not, even if it could...

He was too ashamed to ask Su Chen for it in front of so many fellow disciples.

It really hurts...

Moreover, as an elder, one's words are irrevocable.

Hehe, this female cultivator can't be kept around.

They really got the short end of the stick...

"Good tactic."

"As expected of Senior Li Changfeng's outstanding student."

You underestimated it.

His sweaty forehead and lack of spiritual power just now were probably an act.

This kid's true skill is at least at the late stage of the Void Refinement realm.

It's not a loss for me to address someone of the same generation as me.

"Luckily, I didn't provoke this true disciple back then."

A Nascent Soul disciple shrank back, swallowing back the mocking remark he had just made...

The old man from Tiandu flicked his sleeve.

The dark iron chain that had pierced through Lu Yao's collarbone was pulled back from her shoulder and shrunk back into her sleeve.

Lu Yao swayed and almost knelt down.

Barefoot with feet covered in dust, he rushed up behind Su Chen in a few steps.

The old man from Tiandu glanced at Lu Yao and snorted coldly...

Lin Zhiya, who was not far away, was furious.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Su Chen snatched a female cultivator back from Elder Tiandu.

This female cultivator is quite beautiful.

The Dual Cultivation Ceremony will be held in a few days.

Throughout the entire sect, who doesn't know that Su Chen is Lin Zhiya's Daoist partner?

At such a critical juncture, why bring a female cultivator back?

However, it's not appropriate to say anything now, and I don't want Su Chen to realize that I've been watching.

So they couldn't care about anything else.

He hurriedly returned to his cave dwelling...

...

A thin layer of spiritual leaves had fallen on the mountain path leading back to the cave.

It makes a rustling sound when you step on it.

Su Chen walked in front, while Lu Yao followed behind, limping.

As Su Chen passed by an old pine tree, he casually broke off a pine branch, but not knowing what to do with it, he tossed it down the cliff.

The lotus flowers in front of the cave entrance had already lost two petals.

A figure appeared at the doorway.

Lin Zhiya crossed her arms and stood in front of the cave entrance.

The hem of the plain gauze dress was lifted by a corner by the mountain wind, and then fell back down.

"Su Chen".

"I am, after all, the Holy Maiden of the Haori Sect."

"Bring back a female cultivator in front of the entire sect."

"What will others think?"

Su Chen rubbed his temples.

Again.

"This person is an old acquaintance of mine, and we both came from the lower realm."

"We can't just stand by and watch her be turned into a corpse puppet."

"An old acquaintance?"

Lin Zhiya's gaze passed over Su Chen and landed on Lu Yao's half-exposed shoulder.

"What an old acquaintance."

Su Chen was too lazy to argue.

Once a woman has made up her mind, there's no point in trying to reason with her.

Just then, Lu Yao spoke up.

"The Holy Maiden has misunderstood."

Lu Yao stepped forward and bowed gracefully to Lin Zhiya.

She bowed very low, her disheveled black hair hanging down, obscuring half of her pale face.

"Lu Yao's life was saved by Su Chen."

Lu Yao did not change a single word she said on the stone platform.

"I am willing to surrender my soul and blood, be imprisoned by divine consciousness, and become a spirit slave under Su Chen's command."

"From now on, I will leave it to the Lord to decide."

Even if it meant being humiliated and defiled, Lu Yao would accept it.

Lin Zhiya's face flushed red instantly.

What...what kind of talk is this?!

If Su Chen had a cup of tea in his hand, he probably would have spat it out by now.

...