Chapter 293: Mystery Solved
A burst of dull rumbling rang out as a giant puppet that was close to 10,000 feet tall stepped over a mountain situated in front of the plaza, then staggered through the masses of azure-armored Dao Warriors en route to the plaza.
It was clear that the journey had been quite rough, as evidenced by the fact that many parts of its enormous body had already been severely ravaged, and a huge hole had appeared on its chest, while a large chunk of the giant silver blade that it was wielding was also missing.
Before it had even set foot onto the plaza, it was swarmed by over 100 azure-armored Dao Warriors that attacked it from all directions.
These attacks wouldn't have been able to inflict much damage, but having already endured so much on the way to the main island, the giant puppet was already a spent force, and it didn't take long before one of its massive legs was snapped down the middle with an almighty crack.
As a result, the giant puppet fell heavily onto the ground, and its massive head rolled toward the plaza like a huge boulder.
All of the cultivators in its path hurriedly took evasive measures, but some weren't quick enough to get away in time, and they were dealt severe injuries as they were sent flying back through the air.
The puppet's head continued to roll forward without displaying any signs of stopping, and Han Li finally decided to step in, rising up into the sky before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a burst of white light, which flew in a circle around the puppet's head.
A resounding boom rang out as the seemingly unstoppable head was drawn to an abrupt halt, having sunk deep into the ground.
The round pagoda on the head was also already in ruins, revealing a series of long-dead bodies that belonged to the Holy Puppet Sect cultivators that had been controlling the giant puppet.
Han Li swept his gaze over the wreckage, then suddenly raised an eyebrow as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, which removed a chunk of the pagoda's wall before dragging Qi Heng out from under the rubble.
Qi Heng's face was deathly pale, and blood was flowing out of all of his orifices, but he was still alive.
It appeared that he had been reduced to such a sorry state as he had severely overexerted his magic power while controlling the giant puppet.
Han Li descended out of the sky, then fed Qi Heng a yellow pill before pressing a glowing azure hand against Qi Heng's chest to help him digest and absorb the pill.
After that, he laid Qi Heng flat against the ground, and several elders and disciples immediately converged around him with concerned expressions.
Han Li turned to exchange a glance with Qilin 9, following which both of them took a glance up at the sky in unison, and they certainly weren't encouraged by what they saw.
There really wasn't much suspense left when it came to the battle taking place on the main island. With the assistance of the Dao Warriors, the cultivators of the Ubiquitous Pavilion had already seized the absolute upper hand, and the eight giant puppets of the Holy Puppet Sect had all been taken out.
Furthermore, over half of their True Immortal cultivators were either dead or wounded, while several of the Transient Guild cultivators were also missing, so they either fled the battle or met their demise as well.
In other words, if the Holy Puppet Sect didn't have any more tricks up its sleeve, the battle would draw to a conclusion before the outcome of the battle between the Golden Immortals in the sky was decided.
Right at this moment, a burst of yellow light exploded violently in the sky, sending bursts of terrifying shockwaves and gusts of ferocious wind sweeping several hundred kilometers in all directions.
A white figure then plummeted out of the sky before falling toward the plaza.
Close behind the white figure was a blue figure that hurriedly descended out of the heavens, then caught the white figure with a pained look on her face right before it smashed into the ground.
The white figure was none other than the daoist priest puppet that had been fighting alongside Bai Fengyi earlier, and it had been knocked out of the sky after shielding her from a particularly vicious attack from Xue Han.
Han Li took a glance at the puppet to find that the light in its eyes had completely faded, and its body wasn't giving off any spiritual fluctuations. Furthermore, a large hole had been blown straight through the center of its chest, clearly indicating that its core had been completely destroyed.
A grim look flashed through Bai Fengyi's eyes as she stowed the puppet away, then quickly made her way toward Bai Suyuan.
Bai Suyuan hesitated momentarily before approaching Bai Fengyi, and Han Li was rather befuddled upon seeing this.
Is there some type of connection between them as well?
"Are you alright?" Bai Fengyi asked.
Bai Suyuan nodded in response as she gestured to Han Li and Qilin 9 as she replied, "I'm fine. These two fellow daoists from our Transient Guild saved me in the nick of time."
Bai Fengyi cast her gaze toward Han Li and Qilin 9 upon hearing this, then gave the two of them a slight nod.
Han Li became even more convinced that Bai Suyuan had to have been related to this deputy sect master of the Holy Puppet Sect in some way upon seeing this.
"Li Feiyu..."
Right at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out in Han Li's mind, and he was rather alarmed, but remained composed as he subtly inspected the area around him. As it turned out, Qi Heng had woken up and was staring directly at him.
"Don't be alarmed, Fellow Daoist Li. I'm the one who's speaking to you right now."
With that, it was confirmed that Qi Heng was the voice communicating with Han Li through voice transmission.
"How did you recognize me?" Han Li asked.
"I don't recognize you, but I recognize that black wheel treasure of yours. I had the misfortune of facing that treasure in the Profound Ice Mountain Range, and in the end, you destroyed my physical body, with only my nascent soul managing to escape," Qi Heng explained.
Han Li was enlightened upon hearing this, then replied, "Ah, so you were the one back in the Profound Ice Mountain Range. No wonder I felt a sense of familiarity when I first saw you. Are you seeking vengeance for what happened back then?"
"That was originally my intention, but not only have you come to assist our Holy Puppet Sect in its hour of need, you also saved my life just now, so I can't bring myself to resent you any longer. Besides, with your powers, even if I were at my peak, I would still be no match for you," Qi Heng replied as a wry smile appeared on his face.
"I'm only assisting your Holy Puppet Sect for the sake of the mission reward, and all I did just now was dig you out from under some rubble, so if you want to seek vengeance, then you're free to do so. However, prior to that, I really want to know why you tried to abduct that disciple of our Blaze Dragon Dao," Han Li said.
"To be honest, that was all just a misunderstanding. That female disciple is an ancestor of Deputy Sect Master Bai, and I was acting under orders to bring her to the Holy Puppet Sect," Qi Heng explained with a resigned expression.
"In that case, why did you ambush her in the Profound Ice Mountain Range instead of visiting our sect and openly declaring your intentions?" Han Li asked.
"Deputy Sect Master Bai instructed me to carry out this task in secret, but I was never told why," Qi Heng explained.
Han Li was left feeling rather speechless upon hearing this. Such a minor misunderstanding had almost led to the demise of a True Immortal, and it felt a little absurd.
A thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he hurriedly asked, "What is your deputy sect master's name?"
"Bai Fengyi," Qi Heng replied.
Han Li turned to take a surprised glance at the woman in the blue palace dress upon hearing this.
Right at his moment, another resounding boom rang out in the sky, and a streak of light came plummeting down toward the plaza from the heavens.
As the streak of light landed on the ground, Yun Ni was revealed with a section of one of her sleeves torn away to reveal a part of her arm, but she didn't appear to have sustained any injuries.
Bai Fengyi and Bai Suyuan hurriedly rushed over to her, and the latter asked with a concerned expression, "Are you alright, Mistress?"
"I'm fine. The other Golden Immortal came after me with a sneak attack, but I was able to escape just in time," Yun Ni replied.
"It's all my fault for not being able to keep him at bay," Bai Fengyi said with a dejected expression.
"Now's not the time to be pointing fingers and assigning blame. At this point, the outcome of the battle is already largely decided, and there's not much point in continuing this battle," Yun N sighed.
"The main island of the Holy Puppet Sect is a mechanical array in itself, and if worse comes to worst, I'll activate the array and detonate the entire main island to send it sinking to the seabed. I won't let these bastards get anything!" Bai Fengyi declared in a cold voice.
"If that coward had agreed to come with me, there's no way we would be in this situation right now. What a foolish bastard he is! He's lived for so long, yet he's still dumber than a dog! Even after so long, he's still hung up over a bunch of insignificant things," Yun Ni grumbled as a hint of displeasure flashed through her eyes.
A faint smile appeared on Bai Fenyi's face upon hearing this.
"It's quite a rare occurrence to hear you cuss, Mistress. I thought that after my departure, that would pave the way for you two to come together, but alas... "
Her smile gradually faded as she spoke, and in the end, she couldn't help but heave a forlorn sigh.
"You are the only one who did nothing wrong in all of this, yet you had to bear all the consequences, and that's extremely unfair on you. Regardless of what happens here today, I'll make sure that the two of you can escape safely," Yun Ni said in a decisive voice.
Bai Fengyi shook her head in response. "I owe a great debt to the Holy Puppet Sect and its sect master, so I definitely can't leave at a time like this. Just take Suyuan with you when you go. Now that I've met her, I leave this world with no regrets."
An urgent look appeared on Bai Suyuan's face upon hearing this, and she was just about to raise objections when Lu Ji and Xue Han descended from above, hovering high up in the sky as they looked down at everyone with cold expressions.
With the most powerful combatants from both sides appearing on the scene, the battle that was taking place on the main island gradually drew to a halt.
All of the remaining Holy Puppet Sect cultivators formed a circle around Bai Fengyi, while the Ubiquitous Pavilion cultivators didn't dare to get too close to Bai Fengyi and Qilin 3, so they surrounded the entire plaza alongside the azure-armored Dao Warriors.
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