Chapter 1610: The Deepest Secret

As soon as it was activated, it slipped onto its master's shoulder, coiling up to guard.

A shadow flashed in the woods again, and something shot toward Cao Wendao with a "swoosh," so fast that not even a residual image was left.

The green python on his shoulder also lunged out, its body size suddenly expanding, and then it collided with this object in mid-air.

With a muffled "splat," the green python was knocked back a yard, but the opponent's sneak attack was also blocked, and it had to retract its weapon reluctantly.

On a rainy and snowy night, the light in the woods was dim. With Cao Wendao's eyesight, he could only see the opponent's demon puppet shoot out a long, silk-like dark red weapon. But he only caught a glimpse of what the demon puppet looked like, because it also plunged into the ground with a dive.

That thing was also very large, like a small wooden house.

Did it have a shell? He saw a bit of waxy reflection, which usually meant a hard shell.

As for the long silk-like weapon, was it a tongue or a tentacle? What kind of creature's tongue or tentacle could be so thin, long, and tough?

But the biggest trouble was that he had just hidden in the jungle, and he was discovered by Wei Yishan in the first instance, and Wei Yishan had hidden again!

At this time, he heard a tiny buzzing sound around him.

That was the sound of insects flapping their wings.

Cao Wendao exerted his eyesight and looked around, only to find several tiny beetles stopping on the surrounding branches, with different colors—black, green, green with gold, and two with unique round spots on their bodies.

Wait, weren't these the insect puppets of his disciple Yang Chi? This thing had average attack power, but it was a good hand at tailing and tracking.

Yang Chi had only been captured for half a night, and the opponent had already subverted and controlled his insect swarm?

This wasn't difficult for Cao Wendao, after all, as long as he controlled the ancestor worm. But it took Yang Chi more than half a month to tame the ancestor worm back then, yet the guy surnamed Wei only needed half a night? Cao Wendao was a bit curious, retreating back to the forest land while approaching his Skin-Turning Blenny. Wei Yishan's hidden demon puppet clearly could also escape underground, and usually, only big guys could deal with such big guys.

The landed green python also revealed its true form.

After Cao Wendao's transformation, it was naturally not just a python. Its upper body vaguely presented a human outline, but its facial features were blurred and its neck was thick and short. Its body was thicker than the largest wine barrel, and there were two rows of sharp blade-feet on its sides! Dong Rui, hidden in the dark, knew at a glance that the monster embedded in this thing must include a centipede. A centipede monster could fold its abdominal feet to both sides of its body, forming a whole row of sharp blades. When they twisted crazily, they were like guillotines; whoever saw them would run, and whoever ran slowly would be cut into several sections with a "clack-clack."

In addition, the structure of the green python's two pairs of forelimbs was like human hands, with upper arms and forearms, flexible elbow joints, one pair of palms with sharp claws like a tiger or leopard, and the other pair simply having no palms, replaced by bone-like long scythes.

Just now, the Snail Toad shot its long tongue at Cao Wendao, but it was blocked by this pair of long scythes. Dong Rui had used the Snail Toad's long tongue to capture so many enemies, but only this green python had hit the attack back exactly as it was.

Moreover, the Snail Toad's tongue was injured, its stickiness greatly reduced, and it would need to rest for some days to recover.

Just now, the Skin-Turning Blenny sneaked up on Dong Rui from underground, and even the Ghost Ape couldn't dodge it. It was the Snail Toad that flicked its long tongue and saved them at the critical moment, allowing this master and servant to escape a disaster.

The Snail Toad had been hiding underground, motionless, sensing the abnormality when the Skin-Turning Blenny was sneaking, and reported it directly to Dong Rui. Otherwise, if it had been half a breath late, Dong Rui would have been taken down by Cao Wendao.

The green python had just landed, and the Ghost Ape had already rushed up to wrestle with it.

This green python's abdominal blade-feet were formidable. It wrapped around a tree that two people could hug and twisted hard, and the tree trunk was cut into several sections, more useful than a saw. However, the Ghost Ape had fought the Centipede Corpse Puppet of the Profound Lu Ghost King in the Dead Village, and the latter's attack method was very similar to the green python's, so the Ghost Ape had been cautious, not letting the opponent wrap around it.

The green python's scythe attack was like a storm, slashing at least twenty or thirty times within three breaths, with cold blade shadows filling the sky. But the Ghost Ape's Purple Gold Copper Rod could be long or short. To fight this green python, it naturally had to exert the advantage of "one inch long, one inch strong," hitting the green python away several times, preventing it from getting close.

These two behemoths fought until the earth shook and the mountains swayed, and no one knew how many trees were broken, but Dong Rui and Cao Wendao's attention wasn't entirely on them.

Once entering the Snail Toad's mud palace, it was detached from the human world. Dong Rui's mental bond with other demon puppets would be cut off by the barrier of space, and he wouldn't be able to control other demon puppets besides the Snail Toad for fine combat.

So even if the ground was dangerous, he had to barely stay.

Cao Wendao lured him to appear, wanting to control the initiative, and even used up a precious injury-masking opportunity, but he still underestimated the opponent's cunning and... luck.

"Wei Yishan, we finally meet." He looked around the dim jungle, "Why not come out and chat?"

Dong Rui's voice was ethereal and uncertain, not knowing where it came from:

"Cicada shedding its shell?"

Cao Wendao still had three holes on his body, and there were even bloodstains on his torn clothes, showing he had indeed been hit by the bat demon puppet, but his movements were very free, unlike someone whose vital points had been pierced.

There were too many spells in this world to confuse people, and this guy was good at using insect puppets. The first thing Dong Rui thought of was "Cicada shedding its shell."

There were several supernatural abilities called by this name, with similar effects. The user could leave a vivid corpse in place, like a shell shed by a cicada, to confuse the enemy.

Of course, this kind of fake shell had a time limit, usually not existing for more than thirty or fifty breaths.

He Lingchuan's mastered "Li Dai Tao Jiang" (Plum replacing the peach) also had a similar effect, but the fake body wouldn't disappear immediately after death, and it could fight autonomously while alive, which was different from "Cicada shedding its shell."

"There is also the Bone-Melting Butterfly." Cao Wendao looked down at the hole in his chest, "The larvae store enough energy, and once seriously injured, they can immediately form a cocoon and turn into a butterfly, and the injury will be gone."

He combined the two supernatural abilities, leaving a fake shell when hit and knocked down by the bat demon puppet, while his true body was picked up by the Skin-Turning Blenny from underground and used the Bone-Melting Butterfly worm to offset the damage.

Dong Rui's eyes blinked, suddenly enlightened: "You turned the larvae into a defensive magic weapon, good idea!"

Rather than saying Cao Wendao turned the Bone-Melting Butterfly larvae into demon puppets, it was better to say he turned them into active defensive magic weapons. Once an external enemy hit him, the defensive magic weapon activated on its own, bearing most of the damage. At the same time, the characteristics of the Bone-Melting Butterfly activated, and it began to form a cocoon.

Usually, when talking about magic weapons, they were dead objects made of gold, silver, wood, or stone, at most refining an artifact spirit; Cao Wendao actually refined living insect puppets again as magic weapons. This train of thought was very inspiring to Dong Rui.

He really needed to communicate more with his peers.

Cao Wendao looked at the Ghost Ape fighting fiercely: "Your technique for making demon puppets is simple, but very spiritual. Are you self-taught?"

Without waiting for Dong Rui to answer, he continued to persuade: "Why not abandon darkness for light? How powerful is the Tiangong? It has resources, materials, and numerous colleagues to discuss with. In addition, the data we have accumulated is enough for you to study for a lifetime."

Several of his research projects were stuck at critical junctures, and his subordinates were lacking in talent, so he had the intention to recruit Dong Rui.

Although the disciples of Red Hut were hardworking, their brains weren't flexible enough, and their research wasn't deep enough. Instead, this Wei Yishan, although walking a wild path, had a special train of thought and lively means, which was not a talent that couldn't be used.

But Dong Rui didn't like his condescending attitude.

"Follow you?" He sneered, "You aren't favored by the Tiangong and were exiled to the Glittering Gold Plain. People go to higher places; if I want to defect, I should go to the Thousand-Degree Workshop. What good fruit can I get following a failure like you?"

Green energy flashed on Cao Wendao's face, and he endured his anger: "Xiao An has survived for more than seven and a half months, breaking the record of the Thousand-Degree Workshop. If you hand Xiao An over to me, it's a great achievement from the start. Within a year, I will return to Lingxu City to take office, and you can follow me to rise."

Dong Rui couldn't help laughing.

This guy's ability to draw big cakes was far worse than the one he drew for He Lingchuan.

"Why study humanoid puppets?" And it wasn't just Cao Wendao; many other groups of Demon Puppeteers in the Tiangong were also studying it.

"If you defect and enter the door, you will naturally know." Cao Wendao frowned, "These few demon puppets of yours are good, but they are not my opponents. I cherish talent, so I'll give you one last chance."

The jungle was silent for a few breaths, then Dong Rui's gloomy voice said: "Related to the Divine Descent?"

What he saw and heard when he first entered the Ghost King's underground palace made both him and He Lingchuan feel uneasy. Near the end of the Great War of Immortals and Gods, True Person Minghui risked his cultivation, life, and primordial spirit to destroy his life's work, just because he was afraid that the research results would fall into the hands of the Heavenly Demons, afraid that they would "quietly return to the human world in the future"! The Tiangong sent so many Demon Puppeteers to do research—was it related to this? Caught off guard, he asked this, and with Cao Wendao's city, he couldn't help but change his face: "You..."

The deepest secret of the Tiangong, a secret that few people in the entire Lingxu City knew—how did this guy deduce it! He had misjudged him; this guy wasn't just a wild Demon Puppeteer! Wei Yishan asking this—did it mean He Xiao or the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities had this deduction?

But in any case, Cao Wendao's momentary loss of composure had already given the answer, and Dong Rui had a count in his heart.

"You are still young and can't hold your breath." Cao Wendao didn't hide it, sighing, "If it were me, I would never ask such a question."

"That's why you can't advance bravely." Dong Rui said lightly, "Your main demon puppet? Brewing for so long, take it out and let me see?"

From his surprise attack until now, Cao Wendao hadn't used many demon puppets and had even chatted with him for a few sentences.

This naturally wasn't because Cao Wendao had demeanor; Dong Rui guessed he was brewing a big move. But he couldn't beat Dong Rui to death at once, otherwise, Xiao An's whereabouts would be impossible to find.

Since that was the case, what was there for Dong Rui to be polite about?

The giant fin beside Cao Wendao suddenly moved, the Skin-Turning Blenny dived, and its giant tail almost flicked onto its master. ===== CHAPTER 1611 =====