A faint black light shone from the three puppets, noticeably, they had been refined multiple times over by Mingshan Laogui. They surrounded Qin Mo, their faces expressionless, their attacks relentless, all the while Mingshan Laogui himself stood at a distance.
Long sword in hand, Qin Mo once again released a clear wave attack. Perhaps since the gap between their cultivation levels was not that big, the clear wave attack failed to have much of an effect on their decay, but it still blocked a series of attacks.
At the beginning, Qin Mo's actions were still a bit chaotic, however, once he started moving more, his flow became much smoother. He also had the time to carefully observe the three puppets before him.
Although their movements were fierce, they had a single fatal weakness, their motions were far too rigid, and their speed couldn't compare to that of an ordinary cultivator at the Foundation Building phase. Also, maybe because they were dead, they only had a limited selection of attacks.
Noticing this, Qin Mo's gaze intensified. As he studied the puppets, his feet slid lightly, and in the darkness he became a white shadow, gliding at his enemies like lightning. Long sword in his palm, its tip shone while it ruthlessly sliced through a joint.
All that was heard was a "peng," and the puppet's arm flew off.
The long sword changed directions and went after the rest of its joints in much the same manner. In the span of a moment, the three puppets were left with only their torsos, unable to move at all. Qin Mo's eyes couldn't help but wander over to Mingshan Laogui, who he noticed was left immobilized while controlling the puppets, only capable of watching in vain.
Mingshan Laogui also noticed his gaze, he hadn't expected Qin Mo, being at the first level of the Foundation Building phase, would have this kind of extreme strength. He should have finished this directly and efficiently, going straight for the main target, this method was just not going to work! Thinking of this, Mingshan Laogui's eyes faintly flashed, a malicious smile at the corner of his mouth, his lips parted slightly, as though he was reciting something.
The motionless puppets suddenly spun sharply. Caught off guard, Qin Mo once again struck at them. But this time, before the long sword could hit its target, Qin Mo's strike was blocked, and in an instant, the puppets returned to their original states, attacking Qin Mo at an even faster pace.
The force of the attacks was obviously much stronger than before. Under such heavy onslaught, Qin Mo lost his focus for a second, and one of the puppets beat its palm on his chest. In pain, Qin Mo spit out a mouthful of blood, his body flew back uncontrollably, and he crashed into a giant tree behind him.
"Ds.h.i.+xiong!" Behind him came an anxious cry, watching Qin Mo fall to such a state, everyone present couldn't help but worry, but they had no way to retaliate for now. Lin Zizheng's eyes tensed, and he approached Qin Mo.
"Don't come over!" Qin Mo's called back to him, Lin Zizheng's feet suddenly came to a halt.
Qin Mo's originally white robes had been dyed with multiple black marks, among them, there was an unsightly fresh bloodstain. He braced against Biyou Jian and stood up slowly, his eyes lacked their usual coldness, as a burning light shone in them. Qin Mo was, at his core, a very stubborn and individual person. He could never accept conceding. Watching him, those present quieted down.
His long sword, once again in hand, Qin Mo quickened his pace and in a short while he was once more at the front of the puppets. With a twist of his wrist, he again carried out Yueqing Sect's sword style.
The puppets also attacked relentlessly.
Watching his puppets battle Qin Mo, Mingshan Laogui snorted, quite dissatisfied that even after this long Qin Mo was still standing. He had originally intended to capture him alive and transform him into a powerful living corpse, but not anymore! That in mind, his mouth began reciting again.
One of the puppets' dark eyes turned strangely, and its movements became stiff. It quickly jumped up, both hands turning into claws aimed straight at Qin Mo's throat. The other two puppets also increased their attacks.
Qin Mo's heart tensed, the long sword only had enough time to block the deadly attack right before him, and he bore the brunt of the attacks from the two puppets on his sides.
Swallowing back fresh blood, Qin Mo fixed his eyes on the puppet in front of him, at the moment it had jumped, he clearly saw an invisible thread connected to the back of its head.
His narrow phoenix eyes squinted slightly, and an idea flashed through his mind. He started working the spirit power in his Dantian, and a purple fire appeared in his hand. The flame was only the size of his palm, dancing continuously, vibrant in appearance.
Qin Mo did not hesitate, casting the fire behind all three puppets' heads. Their movements suddenly ceased, and the outstretched hand froze mid-air. The purple flames had burnt the invisible threads linking back to Mingshan Laogui.
Mingshan Laogui's brow furrowed, rage flashed across his face and he spoke sinisterly, "How detestable, you actually found them." Those threads were what he used to control the puppets' spirit power, by severing them, the puppets stopped following his orders.
That in mind, he gestured with his hands and the three puppets disappeared on the spot. Careless to the flames headed his way, he only waved a long sleeve in an attempt to extinguish them. After all, the fire powers of a cultivator at the Foundation Building phase were quite weak, and should not cause him any harm.
To his surprise, with the motion, the flame seemed to incredibly grow in size. The three cl.u.s.ters of smaller flames also merged into a single large one approaching him at a rapid pace.
"Humph!" Mingshan Laogui coldly snuffed. Suddenly a burst of black mist wrapped itself tightly around him. As the ma.s.s of purple flames arrived at his side, in the blink of an eye they were suddenly swallowed by the mist.
"d.a.m.ned, it's lightning fire!" Mingshan Laogui roared violently, his voice ringing in the dead of night. Instantly the black mist around him dissipated and his figure was once again revealed.
The black robe worn by Mingshan Laogui had been burnt to rags, exposing his body. Perhaps because he had used poisons over all these years, his skin was black and wrinkled like dried, old bark. He attempted to smother the purple fire which burned across his body. Wherever the flames touched, a cloud of blueish green smoke rose, obviously to his extreme agony.
Watching the scene unfold, in his heart, Qin Mo couldn't help but be amazed, he hadn't expected the lightning fire in his body to be so powerful. Thinking for a second, his eyes glinted momentarily, and he used his spirit power again. A wall fire appeared before him and edged towards Mingshan Laogui.
Having done all of this, Qin Mo began gasping and panting slightly. Using his lightning fire had consumed a large amount of spirit energy, now there was very little of it left in his body.
"Ah!" The miserable Mingshan Laogui released a blood-curdling screech as he writhed on the ground engulfed in the fire.
After a while, the flames slowly extinguished. Mingshan Laogui breathlessly braced himself against the ground, not an ounce of energy left in him.
What Qin Mo did not know was that lightning fire was the closest thing the world had to a pure Yang fire, one of the nemeses of all evil beings. Originally, at his strength, he should not be able to defeat Mingshan Laogui who was at the fifth level of Foundation Building, but with the lightning fire in his body, he was given the advantage.
Qin Mo tightly gripped Biyou Jian and walked over to Mingshan Laogui's side, pointing the tip of the sword at his throat, his fingers moved slightly, but it did not stab.
"Hahaha, truly ridiculous! This old man has cultivated for over five hundred years but today faces defeat at the hands of this small child, the will of heaven truly makes fools of men!" Disregarding the long sword in Qin Mo's hand, Mingshan Laogui for some unknown reason burst into laughter.
As he spoke, malicious intent flickered in his eyes, he licked his dry lips, "But, just you wait, as long as the possibility exists, I will make you my puppet…"
Before he could finish speaking, his face jerked stiffly, and his bulging eyes fell to the long sword wedged deep in his chest. Bright red blood trickled along the blade. In the moment before his consciousness faded, a single thought lingered in Mingshan Laogui's mind; why was it red and not black?
Gripping the hilt, Qin Mo's hand gently shook. A slight warmth transferred from the hand holding his, Qin Mo slowly turned his head and saw Lin Zizheng. He didn't know when he'd gotten behind him, but now he tightly held on to his right hand, pus.h.i.+ng down on the sword.
Feeling Qin Mo's eyes fall on him, Lin Zizheng wore the hint of a gentle smile and seeing his thin lips open slightly, interjected, "Ds.h.i.+xiong, if you don't kill him, you'll end up suffering endlessly. After all, he wants to make you into one of his puppets!"
Finis.h.i.+ng what he was saying, Lin Zizheng fiercely kicked Mingshan Laogui's corpse, with a "peng," Mingshan Laogui fell to the ground. Lin Zizheng's stare fixed on Qin Mo, starry-eyed it carried a sense of enchantment.
Qin Mo looked at Lin Zizheng for a long time, eventually lowering his gaze slightly to focus on the sword that still dripped with blood. This was the first person he had killed, but he already understood what reality was like in this world. He gave a light "En."
After a while, Qin Mo's gaze s.h.i.+fted elsewhere.
On the other side, Kong Xiao's body was soaked with blood, it was obvious how intense his and Ming Xue's fight was, but with the entirety of Zhengyang Sect behind him, even then he did not give up.
Looking at the situation, Qin Mo clenched his long sword. Just as he was about to go over and help, Lin Zizheng pulled back on him and pointed to the side, saying: "Someone's coming!"
Only then did Qin Mo see that Zhengyang Sect's Core Formation elders had already subdued the three demonic cultivators, and were quickly coming to Kong Xiao's aid. With that, his heart was eased.
One of the Core Formation elders waved his sleeve in Ming Xue's direction causing him to immediately spit out a mouthful of blood while Kong Xiao took the opportunity to strike him down.
A fire lit in everyone's eyes. So this was the power of Core Formation.
Kong Fan went forward carrying the three restrained Core Formation Demonic cultivators and was just about to walk into the main hall, paying no heed to the demonic cultivators still attacking outside the gate. After all, their strength was far too low, as long as there were enough Zhengyang spirit stones, no matter how much they attacked, they could never break though Zhengyang Sect's defense.
"Humph! Such tras.h.!.+ Incapable of even so small task!" Just then, a sudden shout bellowed through the air, like thunder, it echoed in everyone's ears. Some of the younger disciples with low strengths couldn't stop their bodies from s.h.i.+vering.
Following the voice, the crowd's gaze fell upon the speaker, and they couldn't help but freeze in place.
There, standing mid-air, they saw a man in purple robes with piercing bright eyes.
Everyone knew only Nascent Soul cultivators could levitate, the newcomer was actually a Nascent Soul elder.