Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master - Chapter 1538

Chapter 1538: Chapter 634: Chun Yangzi vs. Shi Heng True Monarch (Part 2)

This gave Shi Heng time, as he thrust the big axe into the ground.

“Rise!” He gritted his teeth and growled lowly.

The ground roared and churned.

A hill-like mound of earth rose sharply, blocking Pure Yangzi from him. Immediately, more mounds, stone walls, and sand giant hands emerged in succession, layer upon layer, surrounding Pure Yangzi, as if the whole martial arts arena had been turned upside down to bury him alive!

Pure Yangzi’s gaze remained unchanged.

He glanced around quickly, retracted the short sword to his sleeve, and clasped his hands before his chest.

Golden light converged in his palms.

“Three Yang Opening!”

Three wheels of golden sun rose behind him.

The first wheel shone on him, dispelling all earth aura around Pure Yangzi.

The second wheel shone on the ground, causing the yellow earth to crack and revealing the hidden Earth Element Power, exposing and calculating it all.

The third wheel shone ahead, making the surging mounds, stone walls, and sand giant hands emit piercing sounds simultaneously.

Crack, crack, crack!

Cracks spread across the surface of the mounds, light emitted from within the stone walls, and the sand giant hands turned directly into dry powder.

Under the shine of the three wheels of golden sun, dust soared in the Thick Earth Martial Arts Arena, countless rocks collapsed, unable to approach within three yards of Pure Yangzi.

Pure Yangzi’s might was completely revealed at this moment!

Shi Heng True Monarch gritted his teeth, deeply aware of the gap between them.

“Even more powerful than the intel suggested! On my own, there is no hope of victory.” He reached into his bosom with his left hand and took out a talisman.

The talisman was thin as a cicada’s wing, but not paper, resembling a piece of yellow jade ground from the earth. The surface contained no vermillion runes, only dense black lines criss-crossing, like mountains, earth veins, or hidden underground rivers. The talisman’s edge was embedded with three grains of Black Gold Sand, each extraordinarily heavy, seemingly bending the air.

Shi Heng True Monarch affixed the talisman to his chest.

Once applied, his whole body sank suddenly, descending into the earth.

Qiu Lei couldn’t help but sigh: “In the end, he still used that talisman!”

This was the foundation of the Territorial Expansion Alliance, a unique talisman.

It’s simple yet terrifying in function — it allows the user to temporarily borrow the earth veins of the martial arts arena.

Not just borrowing power, but life itself. As long as the earth veins remain uncut, a portion of the user’s injuries will be transferred to the thick earth beneath their feet.

Of course, the cost is heavy. Post-use, one’s meridians are sedimented with earth attributes, and the divine soul is pressured by earth energy, needing rest for years at the least, or stagnation in cultivation level at worst.

Numerous mounds rose, earth walls encircled, boulders rolled, attacking Pure Yangzi from all directions.

Pure Yangzi stood unmoving, emanating endless golden light to resist Shi Heng’s terrifying offensive.

Rumble, rumble… Rumble, rumble…

Mountains crumbled, earth trembled, dust surged skyward, yet unable to obscure the golden brilliance!

This clash lasted for half the time of a stick of incense before slowly subsiding.

When the dust settled, the Thick Earth Martial Arts Arena had been utterly transformed, almost becoming a valley.

The place where Pure Yangzi stood was the deepest, lowest part of the valley.

His sleeve was split by a fine line. Blood was seeping from the tigrious area of his right hand.

Behind him, the three wheels of golden sun glowed brightly, within the highest sun disc could faintly be seen a Nascent Soul sitting in repose. The Nascent Soul’s majestic form resembled Pure Yangzi, its entire body shining with golden light, hands sealed in Dharma gestures, its aura as pure as if untainted.

Where was Shi Heng True Monarch?

As everyone floated in curiosity, a beam of golden light suddenly shot from beneath the earth, bringing forth a cultivator.

Shi Heng True Monarch had a golden light embedded in his chest and had fallen unconscious.

Everyone saw more clearly: Shi Heng was covered in blood, the talisman on his chest was charred black, the big axe in his hand was missing a corner, and the yellow flag behind him was burned with holes of various sizes, looking utterly defeated.

In the Territorial Expansion Alliance Seat, Qiu Lei’s face turned extremely grim.

In the White Cloud Village Seat, You Yunshou sighed: “Shi Heng has done his best.”

No one in the Nanming Village Seat mocked.

Putting oneself in the place, facing Shi Heng one-on-one would be difficult. Shi Heng is strong, but Pure Yangzi’s combat strength utterly surpasses him!

The Jade Chime sounded again.

The verdict echoed through the Thick Earth Martial Arts Arena: “Second match, Pure Yangzi from Nanming Village wins.”

In the Nanming Village Seat, the suppressed atmosphere finally relaxed a bit.

Some people exhaled heavily; some showed joyful expressions. The shadow of the defeat in the first match was partially dispelled by Pure Yangzi’s victory at this moment.

Pure Yangzi sheathed the golden short sword.

Though death in martial arts is unrestricted, he merely glanced at the unconscious Shi Heng and did not strike a killing blow.

He turned and flew back to the Nanming Village Seat.

The first match, Nanming Village lost.

The second match, Nanming Village won.

One to one.

The real victory or defeat was yet to come.

Post-battle, in the Three Lights Heavenly Dao Cave Mansion.

Ning Zhuo closed his eyes, Luoshu slowly unfolded within the divine sea.

The terrain of the Thick Earth Martial Arts Arena, Shi Heng True Monarch’s footwork, the contraction rhythm of the yellow light rings, the earth energy flow of the Borrowing Vein Talisman, all replayed in Ning Zhuo’s mind.

“Earth Element is not just about heaviness.”

“It can carry, suppress, transfer, and accumulate strength.”

“Shi Heng True Monarch’s greatest advantage isn’t in slaughter, but in connecting himself with the arena. When one gets hurt, the earth shares it. When one’s strength wanes, the earth veins replenish. Truly gaining the — advantage of the land!”

Leveraging the power of the venue, accumulating the strength of thick earth, defending to exhaust the attack, pressing heavily on the light.

Ning Zhuo’s mind cleared further.

The first Earth Element Minor Technique formed in his mind.

Its name: Borrowing Ground to Share Damage.

This technique is not an exact copy of Shi Heng True Monarch’s talisman. That talisman is high-level, capable of temporarily borrowing earth veins, even transferring injuries into thick earth. Ning Zhuo’s insight at the moment only extracted its superficial principles.

Borrowing Ground to Share Damage technique allows a cultivator to etch Dharma Seals on the ground using Earth Element Power. When struck, it’s not empty transference of injuries, but utilizing the Dharma Seal to let the earth share them.

The strength of this technique lies in reducing blunt, shock, and heavy pressure-type attacks. Its weakness is the inability to share poison, five elements, curse, and other unusual damage.

The second Earth Element Minor Technique, derived from those stone columns and yellow light rings.

Its name: Ring Soil Binding Body Technique.

Shi Heng True Monarch formed forests of stone columns, which sprayed yellow rings, layered towards Pure Yangzi’s shoulders, wrists, and waist. This method lacked finesse but was perfect for restricting enemy movement techniques.

Ning Zhuo mimicked and simplified, improved it.

Once a cultivator casts the spell, low soil piles can immediately form. Yellow ring air emits between these piles, not forcibly binding but increasing the heaviness felt by enemies. If enemies move with nimble techniques, the rings follow their footsteps, slowing their evasion rhythm.

This technique’s advantage lies in low consumption and quick deployment, especially effective against opponents relying on agility, dodging, short-range maneuvering. Its flaw is the low defense of soil piles, easily broken.

Ning Zhuo doesn’t deeply feel the Pure Yang Technique.

Pure Yangzi’s pathway is direct, pure, and singular. Ning Zhuo carries mechanisms, Alchemy Dao, five elements, Fire Seed Blood Ash, and Luoshu deductions, alongside newly acquired White Cloud Nature.

Ning Zhuo primarily practices Mechanical Techniques, his cultivation path destined to be diverse and changeable, not suitable for following Pure Yangzi’s similar singular magic technique.

But Ning Zhuo can discern strength.

Pure Yangzi’s power clearly exceeded Shi Heng True Monarch’s. In their duel, he dominated with full force, neither dodging nor evading, crushed Shi Heng head-on, asserting Nanming Village’s prestige and dispelling the negative impact of Nine Fire Dragon Lord’s defeat, securing the position of Great Village Chief.

“He clearly restrained himself, withholding his methods. Rather suffer slight injuries than use them.”

“Undoubtedly, he is strong among Nascent Souls, at least at a first-class level.”

“Whether he’s top-tier, needs verification.”

“One win, one loss, a draw. Next martial arts contest is crucial.”

Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo directly wrote a Flying Message to Pure Yangzi, candidly expressing his opinion — the third match should dispatch Tan Zhu!

Pure Yangzi received the message, immediately replied.

Ning Zhuo soon got the reply, only a few words: “Indeed, that’s the plan.”

The young man smiled slightly, relieved, concentrating on his daily cultivation lessons.

Practiced the Three Superior Sect Techniques once, still focusing on pondering the Demon-infused Bloodline Technique. Then practiced some cultivation techniques, and went on to use the Fire Refining Technique to deal with the Blood Ash Tinder.

The tinder was divided into three layers; Ning Zhuo gradually refined the outer layer of blood flames, feeling continual heart sensations, all related to the Blood Dao.

He was joyful: “Great! Refining this tinder helps improve my understanding of Blood Dao, accelerating my cultivation in the Demon-infused Bloodline Technique!”