Chapter 1056: Chapter 448: Successful Refinement of the Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppet; War Rekindled (Part 3)
The eyes of the ten puppets shone with a blood-red light, their auras perfectly blending to form a whole.
A powerful force field spread out from the array, causing the light screen of restrictions in the Artifact Refining Room to flicker wildly, almost to the point of shattering.
Xu Ping carefully sensed this power, confirming it against the auras of Divinity Transformation beings like the Old Demon of Pleasure and Ao Guang, the Dragon King.
"Indeed, it has reached the Divinity Transformation level!"
Xu Ping felt assured in his heart, "Although it’s roughly equivalent to the initial stage of Divinity Transformation, there’s still some gap compared to veterans like the Old Demon of Pleasure."
"However... its combined defensive power is undoubtedly more outstanding."
"At least, with the attacks of the Old Demon of Pleasure, it’s absolutely impossible to break this array’s defense in a short time!"
"Not bad, not bad!"
Xu Ping couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction, feeling much more confident inside.
This puppet array will become another powerful trump card in his hand. "Even if the Star Palace Saints attack now, if I go all out, relying on this array, I should be able to resist and hold them off for a while, instead of being powerless."
However, alongside his joy, he also clearly sensed the burden on himself.
Controlling four Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppets to form an array consumed an enormous amount of vital energy and placed a critical burden on his physical body.
"With my current Fourth-rank Top-grade physique and vital energy, controlling this level of puppet array is already quite taxing."
Xu Ping examined himself internally, assessing, "Probably, adding two more Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppets would be the limit in my current state."
"To perfectly control an entire array of ten Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppets, a Late-Stage Nascent Soul physique is definitely not enough. It would at least require... a physique reaching the threshold of Divinity Transformation."
The physique at the threshold of Divinity Transformation... this is nearly extinct among humans.
On the last trip to the Central Domain, even with so many Divinity Transformation cultivators gathered, aside from the naturally physically strong Ao Guang, the Dragon King, no one else had a physique reaching such a level.
"The only hope is the Nirvana Golden Body."
A trace of longing flickered in Xu Ping’s eyes, but it was soon replaced by helplessness.
"Nirvana Golden Body..." he sighed deeply.
The core material, the essence of the Heaven-breaking Wind, he had searched for so long, entrusted the Outer Sea Alliance and the True Dragon Hall to inquire, and even asked around in the Central Domain, yet there was still no news, which indeed left him somewhat at a loss.
"Forget it, being anxious now is useless."
Xu Ping suppressed the helplessness in his heart, "The urgent task now is to continue contacting the True Dragon Hall and Outer Sea Alliance to help me gather materials for refining the subsequent Fourth-rank Top-grade Puppets."
In these twelve years, to refine these four puppets, he had nearly exhausted all his previous reserves, especially with multiple failed attempts that wasted a large amount of precious materials.
However, just when he was about to take out a Communication Talisman to contact Yan Feng and Ao Qin—
A custom-made Communication Talisman in his arms vibrated intensely ahead of him!
Xu Ping frowned, immediately taking it out, and immersed his divine sense into it.
The next moment, his face turned incomparably solemn, even with a hint of awe!
The message from the top level of the Outer Sea Alliance was succinct yet carried overwhelming weight in every word:
"The Ancient Demon Hall has resurfaced, and the entire Star Palace army has pressed on the frontier, aiming directly at the Outer Sea boundary!"
"Is it finally... coming?"
A cold gleam burst from Xu Ping’s eyes.
It seems that the Star Palace Saints and the Old Demon of Pleasure felt they had enough confidence to launch the final confrontation.
"Confident they can handle us?"
Xu Ping’s lips curled into a cold arc, "Unfortunately, no matter how precisely you calculate, you’ll never foresee the extent of my progress over these twelve years... far beyond your imagination!"
He also planned to resolve the Old Demon of Pleasure in this attack.
In doing so, the Star Palace Saints would be in a difficult position to continue.
...
The border line between the Outer Sea and Inner Sea, stretching countless miles and stained with blood many times in the past.
At this moment, it had already turned into a human purgatory.
The sky, obscured by the densely packed stars of warships, formed by Star Palace cultivators, stood as an iron flood, their murderous aura piercing the heavens.
Various massive siege Spirit Treasures and demon-slaying giant crossbows had already been charged and ready to unleash their devastating power, their brilliance flashing in a way that gripped the heart with fear.
And at the rear of the Star Palace army, the pale, twisted Ancient Demon Hall that emitted endless evil and corrupting aura once again tore through the void to reveal its immense structure.
The hall doors were wide open, and a surge of demonic qi, like a flood of blackness from a breached dam, spewed forth as countless grotesque and roaring ancient demons emerged, merging into the attack order of the Star Palace, adding even more chaos and violence to the already intense array.
Facing such formidable enemies, the Outer Sea side was equally unyielding.
Under the banner of the True Dragon Hall, countless Demon Beasts roared to the skies, enormous Flood Dragons churned above the clouds, and ferocious Sea Beasts lurked beneath the waves... the surging demon qi fiercely contended with the Star Palace’s murderousness and the evil of the ancient demons.
Below, the sea surface transformed into towering waves due to the clash of both terrifying auras, as if the entire ocean was roaring with fury!
At the very center of the battlefield, three figures appeared as if gods and demons had descended to the world, and just by standing there, the aura of Divinity Transformation they exuded caused the space within a thousand-mile radius to solidify and warp!
They were none other than the Old Demon of Pleasure and the Star Palace Saints.
The next moment, a dragon roar that tore the sky and brimmed with infinite majesty ruthlessly shattered the confinement of those three auras.
"Roar!"
Ao Guang, the Dragon King, in his immense true form of a five-clawed golden dragon, broke through the clouds and revealed himself to the world! The might of the dragon was vast, summoning the power of thousands of miles of sea realm to enhance itself as it collided fiercely with the three Divinity Transformation auras of the opposing side.
Soon after, Xu Ping, in a green robe and with a cold countenance, alongside the ghostly, cadaverous Nine Nether Elder, also appeared by Ao Guang, the Dragon King’s side.
Three Divinity Transformation-level combat powers against three Divinity Transformation-level presences.
The atmosphere instantly tightened to the extreme!
