Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Lava Immortal Palace.

The first door was swiftly pushed open by Yuan Dasheng.

Zhou Zhenshen, Zhou Zhu, and the others immediately turned around to look back.

In this way, both parties saw each other.

"People from the Zhou family!" Ning Zhuo's pupils slightly contracted as he saw the scene through Yuan Dasheng.

When he noticed that inside Room No. 2, besides the two Zhou family geniuses, there were three other Zhou family cultivators, he immediately understood.

"They must have used the method I had previously conceived, combining wooden bodies to withstand the lethal strike when the door was opened."

"In the Zhou family, aside from Zhou Zhenshen, who is already at the Third Layer Peak, there are actually three others with the same cultivation."

Ning Zhuo couldn't help but recall the joint test among the three families.

The test results from the Zhou family's remodeling team showed that, besides Zhou Zhu, there wasn't a second person at the Third Layer Peak, not even one in the late stage of the Third Layer!

"The testing formation back then was provided by the Zhou family!"

"It seems that even at that time, the Zhou family had already planned to intentionally hide the true cultivation levels of many of their cultivators!"

"The Zheng family and the Ning family were both deceived. At least, I didn't expect that the Zhou family already had several cultivators at the late stage of the Third Layer."

Ning Zhuo immediately deduced the truth.

Judging by the speed of the stars, for an ordinary cultivator to advance from the mid-stage of the Third Layer all the way to the Third Layer Peak, this amount of time was insufficient.

The most likely scenario was that the Zhou family had long been concealing their cultivation levels.

"No wonder the Zhou family excels in formations. They are not only skilled in setting up arrays but also in planning strategies."

"In the joint test among the three families, they were the leaders, and they had already begun laying out their plans."

"And now, I've accidentally uncovered it."

When the Zhou family cultivators heard the movement from the door behind them, their hearts tightened, and they all turned around, ready to defend themselves.

Zhou Zhenshen bitterly smiled inwardly. No matter if the person entering was from the Ning family, the Zheng family, or the City Lord's Mansion, their Zhou family's painstakingly laid-out plan would be exposed on its first attempt.

However, the ‘person' who pushed the door open was something the Zhou family cultivators could never have expected.

It was a mechanical ape.

The ape was tall and mighty, its frame sturdy and muscular, with golden bones exposed like a layer of hollowed-out armor.

Its body was entirely red, its fur uniform, and there were colored marks scattered all over its body. These long, black marks, some long and some short, made it look extremely menacing.

Zhou Zhenshen was just about to greet it, already formulating words in his mind.

But when he saw Yuan Dasheng, such a creature, he couldn't help but blurt out.

"What is this?" The Zhou family cultivators exclaimed in shock.

The next moment, without needing Ning Zhuo's command, as soon as it sensed the presence of others, the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, launched an attack.

It lifted its foot abruptly and took a step forward, the distance so vast that it instantly appeared before a Zhou family cultivator.

The Zhou family cultivator felt a gust of strong wind hit his face.

The next moment, the tall and sturdy body of the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, descended like a mountain from the sky, crushing down heavily.

The Zhou family cultivator raised his arms to block.

Bang!

With a punch, the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, struck with a fierce wind, as heavy as a giant hammer, smashing the Zhou family cultivator from head to toe into a pulp.

Such ferocity scared the Zhou family cultivators into a collective outcry.

Zhou Zhenshen's voice turned sharp, "We can't match its strength, spread out and delay it!"

He was indeed the strategist whom Zhou Zhu usually obeyed. In the brief moment of being attacked, he had already thought of the correct tactic.

However, while the tactic was sound, the battlefield environment was quite unfavorable.

Because Room No. 2 was far less spacious than Room No. 1.

It was long and narrow, with limited space on both sides.

For the Zhou family cultivators to distance themselves from Yuan Dasheng, they had to move towards the second door.

As they moved, the floor tiles shifted backward, pulling them back to their original position.

Yuan Dasheng let out a low roar, spread his arms, and attacked with full force.

Bang.

Another loud explosion sounded, and a second Zhou family cultivator's puppet was smashed to pieces by Yuan Dasheng, with no chance to resist.

Only after passing the sixth barrier would cultivators have access to the Lingyun Mechanisms. These mechanisms were powerful and often stronger than the puppets of the trial disciples themselves.

And the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, surpassed the highest limits, an extraordinary mechanical creation that Ning Zhuo had acquired by sacrificing a celestial body's resources—this was completely beyond the norm.

"What on earth is this thing!" Zhou Zhenshen shouted.

"I don't know either!" Zhou Zhu was equally puzzled. How was this exploration of the Lava Immortal Palace so different from any previous one?

Where did this extremely powerful mechanical ape come from?

"You lure it into the trap, attract it, and let it charge into the dark trap too." Zhou Zhenshen quickly thought of another tactic.

This dark trap was specifically set up by Ning Zhuo.

Previously, when Ning Xiaohui, Zhou Zhu, Zheng Jian, and Ning Zhuo explored the Immortal Palace, these dark traps played a significant role, trapping and killing the other three, leaving them with a harrowing experience of imprisonment.

Zhou Zhenshen's mind was agile, and within a few breaths, he came up with a solution.

By utilizing the terrain, they might only need to sacrifice one Zhou family cultivator to temporarily deal with this mechanical ape.

As long as the trap caught the mechanical ape, they just needed to find a way to break through Room No. 2 and push the door open to escape.

But there was no ‘if.' After the Zhou family cultivator jumped into the trap, the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, abruptly halted its charge, standing right at the edge of the mechanism trap, without moving even an inch further.

It was a joke—Ning Zhuo had personally set up these traps, and he was fully aware of the traps' positions.

Zhou Zhenshen saw Yuan Dasheng turn back and give him a cold stare, instantly sending a chill down his spine.

"Damn it!"

"Zhou Zhu, you intercept him. I'll try to break through with all my strength!"

Zhou Zhenshen shouted.

"Alright!" Zhou Zhu stepped forward, rushing toward Yuan Dasheng.

Although his body was tall and large, compared to Yuan Dasheng, he clearly paled in comparison.

Yuan Dasheng moved gracefully, agilely dodging Zhou Zhu's attacks, and then seized an opening, advancing with the momentum.

*Bang bang.*

After two soft thuds, Zhou Zhu also fell to his knees.

When Zhou Zhenshen turned around and saw that Zhou Zhu hadn’t even lasted a single breath, a deep chill surged in his heart.

He rushed madly toward the front.

However, the floor tiles kept moving backward faster and faster, continuously sending Zhou Zhenshen closer to Yuan Dasheng.

"This damn mechanism is also making things difficult for me!"

Zhou Zhenshen struggled with all his might but only managed to buy himself three breaths of time.

In the end, his head was snatched off by Yuan Dasheng, who then opened his palm, tilted it at an angle, and directly tossed Zhou Zhenshen's head onto the ground.

The Zhou family cultivators were completely annihilated.

For Yuan Dasheng, dealing with them was very easy, even though there were five of them.

Firstly, they lacked celestial resources and couldn't match Meng Chong's level of impact.

Secondly, the spells they knew were pitifully few.

Under Yuan Dasheng's rampage, most of them used Qi-based spells to speed up or change direction.

But these minor maneuvers were insignificant in the eyes of a martial arts master like Yuan Dasheng.

In the end, Yuan Dasheng, under Ning Zhuo's control, willingly jumped into the dark trap and crushed the remaining struggling Zhou family cultivators.

Yuan Dasheng, carrying the remains of the puppets of his enemies, leaped out of the trap.

These mechanism traps were originally designed by Ning Zhuo himself, so he was fully aware of every detail.

These traps posed no obstacle at all.

Main Hall!

Seeing the Golden-Blooded Battle Ape, Dasheng, display great power and easily eliminate the Zhou family cultivator team, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit clenched its dragon claws in anger, continuously slamming its fists on the throne.

Ning Zhuo was too arrogant. This time, he only dispatched a single mechanical creation to challenge the Lava Immortal Palace.

He showed no respect for the Lava Immortal Palace at all.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit didn't have enough authority and could only watch helplessly as Yuan Dasheng cleaned up the battlefield.

Ning Zhuo controlled the mechanical ape, dissecting each Zhou family cultivator to retrieve the unused spirit stones.

"Not bad at all!"

"If I had challenged this alone, there’s no way I would have collected this many spirit stones in Room No. 2."

"Oh, and there are also the next suspension rings!"

Thanks to the contribution of the Zhou family cultivators, Yuan Dasheng's strength had already accumulated impressively in the early stages.

Ning Zhuo manipulated it, resolutely moving deeper into the palace.

Meanwhile.

Zheng Family!

"Catch the assassin!"

"Hurry! He ran that way!"

"Quick, chase him!"

The Zheng family was in chaos, with cultivators swarming together, launching a frenzied pursuit.

"Young Zheng Jian, are you alright?"

A Zheng family alchemist rushed over to treat him.

Zheng Jian nodded slightly, "At the critical moment, my Piercing Heart Insight was triggered, alerting me just in time, so I didn't walk into the assassin's ambush."

"How did this assassin manage to sneak in? This is the inner circle of the family grounds, it's absolutely absurd." Zheng Jian clenched his fists, gritting his teeth in anger.

Suddenly, the alchemist let out a strange smile. The once deep voice of the middle-aged man suddenly turned into a sinister female voice, "What do you think?"

Zheng Jian's pupils shrank sharply, and he instantly retreated.

But it was already too late.

The next moment, the alchemist suddenly swelled, his body exploding into countless foul, poisonous gases that clung to Zheng Jian.

Most of Zheng Jian's body was afflicted, his skin turning red, blistering, and festering at a terrifying speed.

Zheng Jian quickly took out an emergency pill and swallowed an entire bottle, barely halting the spread of the poison in his body.

"I still got hit…"

"They deliberately triggered my Piercing Heart Insight once to make me fully vigilant."

"Without a calm mind, the chances of Piercing Heart Insight being triggered are greatly reduced."

"They came prepared."

At this moment, his expression was extremely grim.

City Lord's Mansion, Meng Chong was surrounded by lightning shadows, beating the assassin black and blue.

His expression was disdainful, "And you think you can assassinate me?"

Zhou Family.

Zhou Zhenshen and Zhou Zhu simultaneously opened their eyes!

The next moment, intense pain surged through their entire bodies.

Zhou Zhenshen looked down and saw that his body was crawling with ants.

Countless ants, densely packed and layered upon each other, had already gnawed away at his lower body, leaving only bones. His abdomen had also been half-devoured, with his intestines scattered around, many of which were half-eaten by the ant swarm.

Zhou Zhenshen's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of needle points, filled with extreme terror.

In the next instant, his Five Elements Mana burst out wildly, unleashing a violent wind that swept away countless ants.

On the other side, Zhou Zhu was also frantically sweeping away the ants. His situation was slightly better, but below his crotch, nothing remained except bones.

"Someone is plotting against us; there’s a traitor in the family!"

"Someone, help!"

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