Under One Person: The Puppet Immortal in the Tang Sect

Chapter 48 Puppet and Illusion

They had only exchanged blows for a few dozen breaths, and the six mechanical arms used for protection and attack were already covered in wounds.

One of the mechanical arms, which had taken a heavy punch from Zhang Zhiwei head-on, creaked at its joints, clearly unable to bear the strain.

The hard metal plates covering the surface had developed obvious cracks, and the dark blue poison on the claws had dimmed somewhat.

After a series of exchanges, Cui Ming's radiating true qi finally had some effect on Zhang Zhiwei.

Zhang Zhiwei's offensive finally slowed down.

opportunity!

Just as Zhang Zhiwei's offensive subsided, his old strength exhausted and new strength yet to emerge, a glint of light flashed in Cui Ming's eyes!

He frantically channeled his true qi within his body, and the pale blue true qi continuously poured from the wooden box into the six already somewhat damaged mechanical arms, suddenly unleashing their final potential!

Whoosh whoosh!

Six dark blue fist shadows, like flowers of death blooming in an instant, attacked Zhang Zhiwei's body continuously at a speed that was difficult for the naked eye to perceive!

It is the Tang Clan's secret technique—Instant Strike!

In an instant, countless attacks came, and the swift fist shadows, carrying a dark blue poisonous aura, continuously struck Zhang Zhiwei's Golden Light Mantra.

The first key point of Tang Sect's Instant Strike is speed. It does not require deliberately pursuing precision, but rather maintaining a uniform force at a certain speed.

In the midst of continuous attacks, they repelled the enemy while simultaneously probing for their weaknesses.

Once you find the enemy's weakest point, the next move will be the swiftest and most lethal strike, aiming for a fatal blow.

The final strike, where timing, angle, and speed are all maximized!

The six sharp claws instantly blocked all possible routes for Zhang Zhiwei to dodge, and with a shrill sound of air being torn apart, they were about to completely suppress him!

However, Zhang Zhiwei's combat intuition far exceeded ordinary people's imagination!

Just before the azure claw tip was about to touch his body, the lightning magic within his body rapidly activated!

boom!

A powerful surge of lightning force suddenly stimulated his meridians and acupoints!

Driven by this violent force, his body was forced backward in a way that defied the laws of physics.

So fast that it left only a blurry afterimage in its original position!

scoff!

The dark blue claws barely grazed the hem of his clothes, catching a few strands of cloth that couldn't be removed in time.

Zhang Zhiwei successfully escaped the attack range of the instant strike and landed steadily on the open ground ten meters away.

Having used Instant Strike, Cui Ming was now kneeling on the ground as if he had lost all his strength.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhiwei did not immediately rush forward to attack; instead, he frowned deeply.

His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept over Cui Ming, who was somewhat exhausted from forcibly activating the Instant Strike.

Cui Ming looked quite disheveled at this moment, with his tight-fitting clothes torn in many places.

A crack had appeared on his face without his knowledge.

The laceration was very strange, extending from the temple to the jaw, and the wound was very neat, just like the crack in porcelain.

Moreover, his limbs were somewhat unnaturally twisted, and his movements were noticeably sluggish.

Moreover...

"The texture is wrong..."

Zhang Zhiwei had some doubts.

Although most of the attacks just now landed on those troublesome mechanical arms.

But on the occasional breakthroughs, the feeling of actually hitting the opponent's body... felt a little off.

Although it was very close, with his rich combat experience, he could still tell that it was definitely not the feeling of hitting flesh and blood.

Considering the strange crack on Cui Ming's face and his somewhat odd posture...

Zhang Zhiwei suddenly raised his head, a hint of surprise and uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

His gaze passed over the kneeling "Cui Ming" and locked onto the giant wooden box that "Cui Ming" had been carrying on his back!

Could it be...

Just then, a soft sigh was heard.

"Cui Ming," who was kneeling on the ground, raised his head at the opportune moment, and the crack on his face seemed to become more obvious.

"Did you notice? Senior Brother Zhang?"

Cui Ming's voice remained calm.

"Could we stop for now? Repairing this puppet won't be easy."

Before he finished speaking, a soft, rapid sound of machinery turning came from the huge wooden box.

Click click click...

"Cui Ming," who was kneeling on the ground, was controlled by several hidden wires and moved aside from the wooden box.

Zhang Zhiwei then discovered that Cui Ming, who appeared to be in the public eye, was actually connected to a mechanism interface in the center of the wooden box.

Immediately afterwards, the wooden box retracted its six damaged mechanical arms and transformed into six new mechanical arms, which stood on the ground to support the wooden box.

The lid of the wooden box slowly slid open to the side, revealing the scene inside.

The real Cui Ming was sitting calmly inside the wooden box!

He was dressed in a tight-fitting black outfit, with an intricately designed black mechanical armor over it.

With a slightly apologetic smile, Cui Ming cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhang Zhiwei, who looked astonished.

"Senior Brother Zhang, I'm so sorry."

The real Cui Ming spoke, his tone full of apology.

"This time, my junior brother used a trick, using this puppet to fight instead, not to play a trick on me."

"It's just that your power is too overwhelming, senior brother, and I am not good at killing, so I had no choice but to resort to this tactic to test the waters first."

"If there is an opportunity next time, I will definitely apologize to you in person and learn from your superior skills."

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room became subtle.

Zhang Zhiwei looked at Cui Ming, who emerged from the wooden box, and then at the "Cui Ming" who had stopped moving and stood motionless like a puppet.

The surprise on his face slowly faded, replaced by an even stronger fighting spirit.

He stroked his chin and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Good heavens! Junior Brother Cui, your ability to turn off the puppet with your phone is truly miraculous!"

"You almost completely fooled me! You forced me to use all my tricks with just a puppet. Impressive! Truly impressive!"

"How...how did you do that?"

Zhang Zhiwei was very puzzled, as he had spent quite some time with Cui Ming.

No problems were found during this time. He had also observed the huge wooden box many times. How did he do that?

Upon seeing this, Cui Ming smiled slightly.

In front of Zhang Zhiwei, he used the Illusionary Body Barrier.

In an instant, Zhang Zhiwei realized that Cui Ming seemed to have vanished from the spot.

There was no trace whatsoever; not even the sound of movement, breathing, or Qi could be detected.

But Zhang Zhiwei's instincts kept telling him that Cui Ming was standing still and hadn't moved at all.

But the next instant, Cui Ming appeared directly on the side of the wooden box, carefully examining his first humanoid puppet.

This surprised Zhang Zhiwei even more. Could even instinct be deceived?

Cui Ming seemed to know what Zhang Zhiwei was surprised about, and immediately explained.

"Senior brother, don't be surprised, this is a secret technique of our sect."

"And the reason why your perception is distorted..."

With a flick of his small hand, Cui Ming caused the scattered mechanical parts and various puppets to float into the air.

These parts and puppets were covered with mysterious runes.

Unbeknownst to Cui Ming, he had used these inconspicuous objects to construct an illusion array.

Chapter 49 Closing the Deal and Aftermath

Cui Ming smiled slightly at Zhang Zhiwei and pointed around.

The suspended mechanical parts and arrows, covered in runes, spoke in a relaxed tone.

"Senior Brother Zhang, there's no need to delve too deeply into it. In the end, it's just a little trick."

"It's just using external objects and rune arrays to give you a sensory illusion."

With that, Cui Ming lightly tapped his fingertip, and a wisp of pale blue true qi flowed around, causing the runes engraved on the mechanical parts and arrows to flicker.

"The core function of this temporary magic array is not to kill or defend against enemies."

"Its sole purpose is to create a false impression, an illusion that I am here or I am not here."

"Similarly, I only need to set up an array inside the wooden box in advance to largely isolate myself from external detection and hide inside to control the puppet."

Of course, Cui Ming had something else he didn't say, and a sly glint flashed in his eyes.

He stayed inside the wooden box covered with isolation runes, and combined it with the illusion barrier of his Tang Clan to further eliminate his own presence.

In this way, no matter where he hides, it will be difficult for anyone to find him.

If this line of thinking holds up perfectly in the face of this future genius...