Chapter 195: Fierce Puppet Battle

"Hiss... this broken thing is sucking my strength!" Zhang Jun punched, forcing back a puppet, only feeling a stabbing pain like needle pricks on his fist.

He clearly felt that when his Pure Yang energy struck the puppets, it was quickly corroded and dissolved by the thick dark-green miasma energy on their surfaces, causing his true qi consumption to spike several times normal.

Lin Xue nimbly dodged attacks while focusing her hearing.

Her hearing was already sharp, and she quickly noticed that the humming sound from the Bronze Cauldron was not constant but carried a very peculiar, fixed rhythm.

"Something's wrong with that cauldron's sound!" Lin Xue shouted urgently, "It seems to be controlling some formation; the puppets' power all comes from that cauldron!"

In that moment of distraction, an oily, slick puppet guard strengthened by toxic miasma slammed open Zhang Jun's blocking arm, and a heavy punch infused with yin-cold force smashed solidly into his left shoulder.

"Pfft!"

Zhang Jun felt as if struck by a great hammer, his left shoulder exploding in pain, his whole body stumbling back seven or eight steps before he could steady himself.

A surge of qi and blood roiled in his chest, a sweet‑tangy taste rose in his throat, and a trickle of blood seeped uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.

The situation instantly turned dire!

"Watch mine!"

At that critical moment, a flash of resolve crossed Lin Xue's eyes.

She flicked her wrist, launching a walnut‑sized, pitch‑black pill that emitted an indescribable burnt‑odd smell, whistling through the air like a meteor chasing the moon, striking the Bronze Cauldron on the altar with pinpoint accuracy.

"Boom!"

The moment the pill struck the Bronze Cauldron, it exploded with a roar!

An indescribably pungent stench—mixing spicy, sour‑rotten, rotten‑egg, dried‑rotten fish, and dozens of other unimaginable odd smells—burst forth like the thickest poison smoke, instantly spreading outward from the Bronze Cauldron.

"Hum——"

The Bronze Cauldron's formerly rhythmic, almost magical humming—like a singer suddenly having their throat choked—stuttered, then descended into chaotic, off‑key noise.

Almost at the exact moment the sound went awry, the puppet guards frenziedly attacking Zhang Jun and Lin Xue froze in unison.

The blood‑light in their eye sockets also dimmed noticeably, as if they'd suddenly lost the source of their wisdom and strength, and their movements instantly became sluggish and clumsy.

"That thing, I call it God‑Confounding Incense."

Lin Xue leaned against a nearby jagged rock, evening her slightly ragged breath; that strike had cost her a noticeable amount of true qi, and her cheeks had paled a bit.

"In this Ghost Valley, the toxic miasma contains everything, mutually generating and overcoming—it's a chaotic stew."

"My pill was made precisely for that—I mixed several potent, strongly scented herbs; now that broken cauldron can't so easily command the miasma as it wishes."

"We can't destroy it, but we can short‑circuit its mind for a moment, and those wooden lumps will naturally lose that eerie vigor."

She said that, but her attention never left the hunched old man on the altar—that old thing is the real mortal threat.

"Gah——"

The old man on the altar watched helplessly as his beloved puppets, each struck as if by frost, lost strength and let out a piercing shriek that could pierce eardrums.

His withered face, reduced to skin and bone, twisted horribly out of shape.

"You wretched brat! Dare ruin my plans? You're asking for death!"

The old man's withered hand slammed down hard on his snake‑head cane.

The coiled black poisonous snake atop the cane seemed to have been infused with a soul, suddenly springing to life!

The snake's head shot up, its jaws opened, and a plume of dark‑green poison turned into several whistling dart‑like arrows, reeking of a stench that could knock someone over, flying straight at Lin Xue's face.

"Xue'er!"

Zhang Jun had been guarding against the old man's sneaky move; the instant the poison sprayed, his body reacted faster than his thoughts, and he lunged sideways to place himself in front of Lin Xue.

Pure Yang energy surged forth from within him, spinning rapidly before him and condensing in the blink of an eye into a pale‑gold qi vortex shield.

"Sizzle——"

The dark‑green poison struck the golden shield, erupting in a series of piercing corrosive sounds, while wisp after wisp of nauseating white smoke billowed upward.

Though the poison was blocked, Zhang Jun felt a yin‑cold toxin seeping along the point of impact, creeping into his body like legs, and his arms immediately went numb.

"Old dog! I'm your opponent!"

Zhang Jun bellowed, planted his feet, and instead of retreating charged forward like a cannonball straight at the hunched old man.

This old thing is the mastermind behind it—take him down first, and the rest will be easy.

The hunched old man emitted a series of hoarse, weird laughs from his throat, not dodging or evading, but leaning on his snake‑head cane and gliding forward like a ghost.

Their figures crossed, and in the blink of an eye they were tangled together.

Zhang Jun threw wide, powerful punches and kicks, his style fierce and direct, each move blazing with Pure Yang force that specifically counters these yin‑evil things.

But the old man slipped like a loach, his footwork wickedly uncanny—his body light as a feather, at times turning into an intangible wisp of green smoke, at others skidding along the ground like a gecko; in the thick dark‑green miasma he moved as freely as a fish in water, repeatedly causing Zhang Jun's heavy, forceful strikes to miss.

His snake‑head cane was especially vicious, the viper on its tip spitting poison now and then, while the shaft radiated a chill that could pierce bone, each strike aimed at Zhang Jun's vital points.

For a moment, fist winds surged, cane shadows flew, golden light and dark‑green miasma clashed violently, erupting in thunder‑like booms.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jun and the old man were locked in an even fight, while Lin Xue seized the opportunity and focused her thoughts on the altar.

She made a few light leaps, dodging the sluggish puppets, and landed upon the black altar.

Up close, the Bronze Cauldron exuded an indescribable aura of antiquity and wickedness.

The cauldron's body was covered in dense, twisting runes that intertwined, emitting a chilling, creepy aura. In the jade slip Qin Yueyao gave her, some of the basic runes of the Nine Nether Soul‑devouring Grand Formation resembled these, but here the runes are more complex, more primitive, and suffused with a deeper malice.

"Fragment of the Hundred Herbs Classic..."

Lin Xue quickly scanned the altar, looking for any clue related to the hints on the beast‑skin fragment.

She tried to extend a thread of extremely fine Profound Yin energy, cautiously probing the altar's stone surface.

The moment her energy made contact, a bone‑chilling icy backlash surged up from deep within the altar!