Chapter 401: Dust Puppet Tower Master, Honey-Mouthed and Sword-Bellied!

To be precise, the fact that the Giant Spirit Dharma Image is now stuck in a state of stagnation can be considered a side effect of Du En's reckless training and grinding, which gradually steered it off course.

After all, it is a Daoist technique; modifying it casually and deviating slightly from the correct path will cause it to start drifting away from the principles hidden beneath the surface, not to mention that his method involves using those principles to self-detonate. That he didn't simply destroy his Dharma foundation and form Dao wounds is entirely due to his solid foundation and the power of his interface.

However, this is a necessary action to further understand the operations of the interface.

Since he has already reached the Spirit Severing stage and begun to peer into the principles of heaven and earth, there is no reason to turn a blind eye to the golden finger right before his eyes; he will always want to figure out the specific logic running behind it.

"Huh? You can fight like this?"

Inside the Puppet Sect Tower, the Holy Spirit Hanging Lamp now appears somewhat bewildered.

The rapid exchange of techniques just now was exceptionally novel; she had never witnessed such a thing before, and at this moment, she finds it quite curious and even a bit thrilling.

After all, she and Du En are inside the Puppet Sect Tower, being carried through the heavens and seas, with various attacks and impacts coming one after another.

Then, what she finds somewhat moving is that this final apostle of hers is truly ruthless. Even though he is still inside the tower, he hasn't shown the slightest hesitation or stinginess with his various methods, unleashing them with all his might, completely unconcerned about his own fate.

It's a bit too crazy! Even the Tower Master of the Puppet Sect Tower cannot help but exclaim repeatedly: "Incredible, simply incredible! Is this what a heaven-gifted genius is? And so knowledgeable and experienced, responding with such ease—it truly makes one sigh. Seeing you, seeing all of you, I cannot help but loathe and regret my own decay!"

"Hee! Hee-hee-hee-hee!"

As he speaks, he cannot help but burst into wild, strange laughter.

The reason is simple.

"If it were in the past, an old bone like me, carrying a backward, ruined legacy and buried in the dirt, should only have been able to achieve this much. Before a heaven-gifted genius like you, I could only gaze at the ocean and sigh!"

To be able to trade away his life's work with just a single Daoist technique!

That Puppet Sect Tower structure was a puppet he had built by exhausting everything and gathering all his resources, yet it could only trade away one Daoist technique! And looking at how Du En's aura is only fading now, with no signs of Dao wounds, it didn't even force that technique into temporary dormancy; it can't even be called a trade-off where both perish!

What terrifying talent, what enviable and jealous power, what—what, countless "whats" make the Tower Master's heart twist, simply because he is trapped at the Spirit Severing stage, having climbed to his limit, unable to see a path at his own peak.

Even though the endless high peaks are right before his own short mountain, he has already reached the short mountain, but staring ahead, there is only thick fog, with no path for him to continue climbing...

But it doesn't matter! That is already in the past! He has been reborn; he has gained the resources to grow, continue growing, and grow infinitely!

"True Monarch, Star Monarch, God Monarch, hahaha, I don't know who it is, and there is no need to know who it is. Since a gift has been bestowed, there is no reason not to accept it, even if the path ahead is hell!!!"

The mad Tower Master releases a thick pressure that fills every direction, making one feel suffocated and compressing the light into the corners.

Then, it suddenly retracts back to the top of the tower.

He is not hiding; he is right there.

If you dare to come up, then come! The meaning is clear, and Du En does not hesitate.

Bang! He rises, piercing through the air, breaking through the obstacles, and arriving at the top of the tower.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee!"

The strange, clamorous laughter rises. Suddenly, dust-light shines in his eyes, booming and filling every direction—a deep, ominous purple that abruptly fills the field of vision, connecting the surface and the interior.

Hum! Du En vibrates his great magic power, manifesting a five-fold light wheel of the spirit body, stacked in sequence, accumulating layer by layer, completely resisting the outermost layer of Indestructible Vajra, and immediately, a peerless light directly covers the outer shell.

Boom! The ominous light concentrates on a single point, while the Indestructible Vajra guards the self.

The unlucky one is the Holy Spirit Hanging Lamp; she is not under the cover of Du En's methods. Fortunately, she is very observant and, realizing things were going poorly, she dove directly into his body.

She didn't make it in; she was bounced away.

Although somewhat surprised, she was bounced away through a gap, flickered a few times, and appeared further out, completely avoiding the Tower Master's unprincipled sneak attack.

Amidst her faint flickering, her gaze catches the true form the Tower Master has finally revealed.

A tattered cloak, or rather, just a piece of rotten cloth, stained with oil marks and all kinds of dust and filth, floats there. There seems to be a person underneath, but it cannot be clearly seen.

"This is?"

The Holy Spirit is somewhat surprised, "Dust and ash?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Like a jellyfish in the sea, the Tower Master, swimming in the air, agrees with the Holy Spirit's words, with a portion of his attention placed on this Lord of the Holy Nation.

"Hahaha, what a wonderful feeling! I was originally fearful, worried, and uneasy about the contamination of living puppets, but all those old, decaying methods are completely useless!"

"It is truly well destroyed! Well destroyed! That so-called old Puppet Sect is best left dead in the ancient times, hee-hee-hee-hee. The current me will be the founder of the new Puppet Sect, and in the future, my name will be known among the heavens and all the stars!"

"Dust Puppet Tower Master!"

He declares wantonly. Accompanying his swimming, tiny specks of dust—invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by divine sense, and easily passing through space—drift back and forth between the surface and the interior; they are tiny units, extremely special puppets.

And they are also individual disease-carrying particles!

Exhaling disease-Qi, with a hum, infinite deep light once again fills every direction around Du En, drowning him once more.

That is a move capable of easily killing an ordinary genius at the Spirit Severing perfection; it is the move the Dust Puppet Tower Master is currently most proud of, his new masterpiece after breaking through old barriers.

The pinnacle of a strong genius!

One step further, as long as he goes a little deeper, he can cross the barrier between a genius and a heaven-gifted genius, allowing himself to reach that level!

And his current cultivation, without a doubt, is exactly at the Spirit Severing perfection! At that time, he could even reach it in one step; when his talent breaks into the heaven-gifted level, he could directly break through to a higher, great realm that was previously stuck tight and completely invisible.

Void Refinement stage! Admittedly, True Monarch Buyi and Meng Changqing agreed that there would be no appearances of the Void Refinement stage during this trip to the Star Realm.

However, after the two entered, if anyone were to comprehend the mysteries of Void Refinement and achieve a breakthrough, that would not actually be considered a violation of the agreement.

After all, the agreement was aimed at the situation at the beginning. True Monarch Buyi himself did not force absolute control over the Life Source Star Realm, so one should not, and cannot, demand that no rule-breaking individuals appear midway.

If Du En and the others have the ability, they could do the same.

Therefore, this is not a situation that would invite targeted strikes. Thus, as long as the Dust Puppet Tower Master defects in time, he can indeed make a name for himself as a great general under True Monarch Buyi. Even if he could break through more obstacles—mainly the predicaments that True Monarch Buyi might set for him—until he breaks through to the Integration stage, then everything would be easy to discuss. As long as he remains a part of the Falling Feather Immortal Sect, giving him a few stars to establish a subordinate new Puppet Sect is absolutely no problem at all.

—Judging from the current situation of the various stars, there are countless organizations and nations, and although many are spontaneous local organizations that do not know the location of the Falling Feather Immortal Sect, there are even more that do know, serving as subordinates under the wings of the True Monarchs, contributing extra manpower and resources outside the main body of the Immortal Sect! Things like death squads, for instance, come from such places.

"Hahahaha! What a wonderful world, what a wonderful present!"

The Dust Puppet Tower Master laughs wildly, like a madman. The ominous deep light comes in wave after wave, just like seawater covering everything, completely drowning Du En's side, leaving him trapped there for a moment, unable to move.

"..."

The Holy Spirit's Hanging Lamp is silent, but light begins to gather. Beneath that sea of disease in the interlayer, in the true inner layer, a terrifying divine might seems to be preparing to erupt.

The Dust Puppet Tower Master notices this and slightly slows his offensive, speaking at the same time: "Lord of the Holy Nation, you and I are not necessarily enemies. Previously, I was just too busy to attend to outside matters, which is why I refused to cooperate. In fact, if you hadn't forcibly broken into my territory this time, there wouldn't have been these various attacks."

"I have already been very kind and polite; the envoy who came last time was also helped to leave the territory safely, but this is not a justification for you to continue pushing your luck!"

Hearing this news, the Holy God's movements seemed to slow, becoming somewhat hesitant.

As if unaware, his tone already treated this land of the Eastern Cape as his own territory.

The Dust Puppet Tower Master drifted, continuing to speak slowly, completely devoid of the arrogant, strange laughter from just moments ago, appearing instead to be incomparably rational: "In fact, we are currently just prisoners on a star, having yet to receive the recognition and guidance of that Heavenly Lord. You style yourself as a god, but are you truly willing to spend your whole life submerged in the deep pit of the inner layer?"

"……What exactly are you trying to say?"

The Holy God gave a reply, his attitude seemingly softening.

Everything seemed to return to the normal track of calculating interests, yet the Dust Puppet Tower Master was not surprised, for he had long known from many previous clues that the deity preferred to roam high above the heavens.

Indeed, if one could, who would be willing to huddle on the ground, keeping company with ants? "The vastness of heaven and earth is something neither you nor I can imagine. Even if I am about to become His pride, I am but a mere grain of sand when facing the infinite and immeasurable pool."

"Forgive my bluntness, but while your radiance can lead the way for others, it cannot illuminate the darkness of the universe or the principles of heaven and earth. Because so-called light, even if it is the source of all light, even if one exhausts its principles and laws, in the end, it is but a single scale of heaven and earth; it is truly too insignificant!"

The Holy God listened to his long-winded speech, feeling only impatience: "What exactly are you trying to say!"

"It's very simple. Why must we be enemies? Why can we not cooperate further? Become strategic partners; only in this way can we better strive for the future under the command of the current hegemon of heaven and earth!"

"Are you asking me to abandon my people?"

A group of ants—where would the abandonment come from?

The Dust Puppet Tower Master subconsciously had this thought, but he knew he could not say it now.

Although the scene looked as if he held the absolute advantage, with wave after wave of offensives submerging Du En, leaving him deeply trapped, Du En's strength and resilience were also beyond his expectations; even like this, he could still stubbornly hold on without dying.

In other words, the Holy God's power was unexpectedly strong! That she could still create such a powerful "puppet" at this stage where her authority was crumbling... The Dust Puppet Tower Master had long coveted this method of apostle creation, and now even more so. He only felt that if he could swallow this kind of divine authority, perhaps he could shake off the prefix of the 'weak stream' among the Heaven's Prides in the foreseeable short term!

His ambition was soaring; he was not at all satisfied with the realm of the 'weak Heaven's Pride' that he could reach just by going into seclusion for a while longer. He wanted more, much more. The Source Life Star Realm was destined to be the womb for his transformation and rebirth.

Drain all the nutrients of this womb! And as for the Holy God, she was easier to fool than that Dark God...

Pondering this, he continued to speak: "How can this be abandonment? You need to solve the Fluorspar Disease, but if the root of the disease is not removed, it will recur sooner or later!"

"Hmm?"

"Have you not realized it yet? Why that Dark God could create this kind of disease, or rather, why he could easily infect the spiritual energy of a realm, causing the heaven and earth of this star to be diseased to such a degree?"

The Dust Puppet Tower Master spoke eloquently: "Although it is but a mere lower star, with spiritual energy quality only at the fifth or sixth rank, it still has an immeasurable total volume like the sea. Therefore, this is not something that can be achieved by a mere level of god!"

"Where the source of the disease comes from, why the spread of the disease is like this, and why your people need to suffer—all of this, how can you see clearly and solve the root cause while you are hunched underground?"

Consequently, the Holy God asked in return: "Then, when I soar into the sky, will I be able to see clearly and solve it?"

Of course not!

How can the glow of a firefly compete with the great sun?

The Dust Puppet Tower Master sneered and despised him inwardly, but his mouth slowly stated directly: "Naturally, you can..."

"Is that really so?"

The Holy God's voice suddenly became distant and lofty, and an invisible gaze passed through the hanging lamp from the other side, shining onto this place.

The Dust Puppet Tower Master sensed something was wrong and was about to continue his fierce attack on Du En, using him to keep a grip on this side.

And her words also came: "Tower Master, since you have lofty aspirations, why have you been hiding here all this time? You are clearly about to break through to a new level; why are you unwilling to leave this heaven and earth, go to a place without threats, break through properly, and then come back here to show off your power?"

She had actually long been aware of the covetousness from the other side, and regarding his continued lingering this time, she could link it all together.

The reason she accompanied him in such a long-winded discussion was mainly to coordinate with Du En's side.

At this very moment, he had also gathered his strength.

Embryonic Form of Dao Might, open!

Dharma Treasure transformation, come!

Geng Metal Dharma Domain, appear!

A white square seal rose into the air with a 'whoosh', and infinite Geng Metal Qi whistled across the wilderness. Its whiteness, its sharpness, and its clanging sound were the killing sharpness of the Metal Element, piercing straight to the root, cutting straight into the minute, and dissecting the tiny dust.

Du En looked up at the seal above his head, his Vajra Body full of scorch marks, but it had not been broken. At this moment, it could only recover slowly, showing how terrifying and violent the attack he had just suffered was, to the point that even his 'Endless and Unceasing' could barely handle it.

However, the tides had turned. The Embryonic Form of Dao Might, which only those in the Heaven's Pride Transformation God stage possessed, was directly accumulated and added to the Dharma Treasure, immediately allowing it to penetrate into the depths of principles and summon forth killing power that surpassed the normal stage.

The Metal Element belongs to white, best at killing! "Ah!!!"

Dust Puppets were killed in a chaotic frenzy one by one, countless destroyed on the spot. The Tower Master, who was controlling them through the divine spirit, was also counter-killed by that Metal Element killing intent, which followed the trace of his divine sense all the way back to his true body.

The jellyfish drifting wantonly in the air stopped abruptly, as if it had become a drowning person, twitching and jumping there, extremely horrifying, with the terrifying outline of a human face protruding from the cloth from time to time.

(End of chapter)