Chapter 430: Xiao Yan's Black-Bellied Nature

Because these Demon Puppets were all made using low-grade materials, Xiao Yan needed to help them upgrade; he took some precious, rare metals from his Storage Ring, and after refining these rare metals, he directly coated them onto these Di Yao Kui.

The Yin-Yang Dual Flames are now ranked fifth on the Exotic Fire Ranking, so their power is naturally extraordinary, and the refining speed is extremely fast.

In just a moment's time, these Di Yao Kui, which were originally silver, began to show a golden color.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan increased the temperature of the Exotic Fire, and in just a moment, these Tian Yao Kui, which were originally silver, turned golden; they looked majestic, holding golden spears like generals.

Because these Di Yao Kui were already on the verge of evolution, Xiao Yan only had to give them a push to make them evolve; combined with the rare metals used, each Tian Yao Kui now possessed the strength of a two-star Dou Zun, and if the assistance of an array were added, they could be raised by another level, making them ten three-star Dou Zuns.

Ten three-star Dou Zuns—even an Eight-Star Dou Zun would find them a handful.

Xiao Yan had just finished upgrading these puppets when more people walked out of the passageway; clearly, these people had also discovered the secret of the passage.

Seeing that Xiao Yan had arrived here so early, these people immediately let out sounds of surprise, but upon discovering that Xiao Yan had not gone in and was just standing outside, they felt somewhat puzzled.

However, when they saw the ten golden, shimmering figures standing before the stone gate, they immediately understood; after probing slightly, they stood frozen on the spot, because every puppet was stronger than them.

This discovery made them afraid to force their way in, so they could only stand there, waiting for other experts to step up.

Before long, people from the Wind Lightning Pavilion, Ice River Valley, and Burning Flame Valley also arrived, but upon discovering that the stone gate was guarded by puppets, they dared not act rashly.

With ten two-star Dou Zun-level puppets, even the strongest among them, Tang Zhen, dared not force his way in and could only wait for more people to arrive.

Of course, there were many hidden experts among these people, but these individuals would not be so kind as to make a move; they were hoping for more people to die! "Now that these puppets are blocking the way, none of us can break in alone, so we must work together. How about everyone puts aside past grudges and we deal with everything after defeating these puppets?" said Bing He, the Sect Master of Ice River Valley, in a loud voice; after speaking, he glanced toward Xiao Yan's direction.

"Cough, cough, the Sect Master of Ice River Valley makes a lot of sense. Our Starfall Pavilion agrees and will take action to deal with two puppets," Xiao Yan nodded and said with a faint smile.

Seeing Xiao Yan agree so easily, Bing He felt somewhat surprised, but he assumed Xiao Yan wanted to enter the ruins to search for treasure, so he didn't think much of it and turned to look at Tang Zhen beside him, asking: "What is your opinion?"

"Hehe, I have no objections. I will also take action to intercept two puppets," Tang Zhen said with a smile.

Hearing this, Bing He nodded, then looked around at everyone and said: "Now there are six puppets left. Our Ice River Valley will deal with two, the Wind Lightning Pavilion will also deal with two, and as for the remaining two, we will leave them for everyone else to handle."

Seeing Xiao Yan being so black-bellied, Mu Qingluan's worldview was completely shattered; she felt this was not the Xiao Yan she knew, but a demon. She had seen with her own eyes Xiao Yan subdue these puppets and help them evolve, and now he was pretending not to know them—truly treacherous.

As the leader, Bing He naturally took the lead, and Lei Zunzhe, having cooperated with Ice River Valley before, naturally followed closely behind.

Xiao Yan also pretended to be putting in a lot of effort, rushing into the formation to find two Tian Yao Kui to fight; with that earnest look, except for Mu Qingluan and Zi Yan who knew beforehand, no one else could figure out even if they racked their brains that Xiao Yan was faking the fight.

When Tang Zhen entered the formation, he also chose two Tian Yao Kui, but he strangely discovered that these puppets seemed to have intelligence and knew how to dodge; this discovery left him dumbfounded. In everyone's impression, puppets were always about hard clashes and were known for not fearing pain; even if smashed, as long as they could move, they would not stop attacking.

As everyone entered the grand formation, Xiao Yan secretly controlled these puppets to move quietly; controlling ten Tian Yao Kui at once was truly difficult if one's soul level had not reached the Advanced Spirit Realm.

Xiao Yan controlled these puppets to specifically slaughter the people of Ice River Valley and the Wind Lightning Pavilion, one shot per person; it was incredibly satisfying.

When Bing He and Lei Zunzhe saw this scene, their eyes turned red, but there was nothing they could do; after all, they couldn't imagine even if they racked their brains that these puppets were being controlled by someone.

Although both wanted to go up and rescue them, they found themselves pinned down by the puppets. The puppets' attacks were so tricky that they exceeded their expectations, specifically targeting their vitals. They could only dodge; even trading injury for injury was impossible, as puppets didn't know what it meant to be hurt, and even if they were injured, they wouldn't lose a piece of flesh.

As time passed bit by bit, more and more people died at the hands of the puppets, and most were from Ice River Valley and the Wind Lightning Pavilion, yet not a single puppet had been dealt with.

Bing He finally could not bear it any longer; these puppets seemed to be deliberately targeting their Ice River Valley and the Wind Lightning Pavilion. He knew Xiao Yan's strength, so he felt Xiao Yan was not putting in his full effort and had been slacking off.

But when he shifted his gaze toward Xiao Yan, he was stunned on the spot, because he discovered that Xiao Yan was covered in blood, and he didn't know how many holes had been poked into his body by the golden spears.

Bing He suddenly felt that he had judged a gentleman with a villain's heart, and his face burned with pain.

Xiao Yan had wanted to continue playing and wipe out Ice River Valley and the Wind Lightning Pavilion, but he suddenly discovered that an expert had appeared in the vicinity, and judging by the aura, it was at least an Eight-Star Dou Zun or even a Dou Zun Peak.

Although these puppets had reached the level of three-star Dou Zuns, in the eyes of a Dou Zun Peak expert, they were not much different from toys.

To prevent the puppets from being damaged or having their flaws exposed, Xiao Yan directly struck the crown of a puppet's head with his palm, controlled the puppet to lie down, pretended to be injured, and then collected it into his Storage Ring.

After Xiao Yan dealt with his own puppets, he helped Tang Zhen deal with the two puppets he was fighting; in just a moment, all ten puppets were packed into that ring by Xiao Yan.

After subduing these puppets, Xiao Yan forcibly spat out a mouthful of blood, pretending to be injured.

"Many thanks to young friend Xiao Yan for saving our lives!" The people in the square, seeing Xiao Yan was severely injured, stepped forward one after another to express their gratitude; after all, without Xiao Yan, they would never have been able to defeat these puppets.

"It's nothing, this is what I should have done," Xiao Yan wiped the blood from his mouth and said indifferently.

With the disappearance of the ten puppets, the originally tightly shut stone gate was opened. Seeing the stone gate open, the crowd thanked Xiao Yan and then rushed in impatiently.

Although Bing He and Lei Zunzhe felt something was wrong, the stone gate had already opened; if they were late and someone else got the good stuff first, it would be a huge loss, so they could only follow them in.

(End of this chapter)