Liu Wenlong and the others looked at each other. They had borne witness to what happened earlier. Jian Xiaotian had been sent flying after just one confrontation. While they were stronger than Jian Xiaotian, they weren't that much stronger.

“Let me try,” said Chen Feng, who stepped forward.

Seeing Chen Feng step forward, the same combat puppet attacked. With a sudden leapt, it vaulted through the air to unleash a punch at Chen Feng. This punch was a few notches stronger compared to the one it had unleashed earlier.Sigh! This punch will surely send this fellow flying. The group of cultivators gathering around the gaunt old man thought.

In the face of the attack, Chen Feng chose not to back away. Instead, he responded with a punch of his own. He wanted to take the incoming punch head on.Did this fellow lose his mind? This is a combat puppet, possessing a monumental amount of physical might and an invincible body. To think that he would even consider taking the attack head on. Everyone, even Liu Wenlong's team of three were stunned. In their opinion, no matter how powerful Chen Feng may be, his strength came from his Sacred artefact. They were not feeling optimistic about Chen Feng's attempt to pit his physical might against the combat puppet.

Boom!

A loud banging sound erupted. Next, countless web-like cracks appeared across the ground beneath Chen Feng's feet, spreading out into his surroundings.

Chen Feng took three steps backwards. Every step resulted in a thunderous sound. The thunderous reverberations shocked them, causing their hearts to shake. Three deep holes could be seen on the crack-filled ground.

“Incredible! Such might!” Everyone there cast astounded looks at Chen Feng. They were almost incapable of believing what they were seeing. Not even the half-step Human Immortals there would dare take on the combat puppets with just the might of their fleshly body. They were the ones who had crafted these combat puppets. Thus, they knew all too well just how powerful these combat puppets were.

“What a formidable level of might!” Chen Feng was stunned as well. His earlier punch contained a force of 5 million jin. And yet, the combat puppet's punch had forced him to take three steps backwards.

As for the combat puppet, it simply performed a mid-air flip before charging towards Chen Feng again. As it moved, the runes on its body began shining. Streams of spiritual energy flowed about ceaselessly, and the combat puppet seemingly grew stronger.

Chen Feng did not utilize his magic treasures. Instead, he relied only on his fleshly body to fight the combat puppet. Soon enough, Chen Feng was forced to take a few more steps backwards, again and again. The ground kept erupting and the hard soil burst upwards to reveal holes on the ground.

“What a powerful youngster!” The gaunt old man was astonished. He was aware of how powerful the combat puppet was. The same was true about the hardness of the ground. And yet, in the fight between the two, the hard ground had seemingly become as soft as tofu.

What a formidable combat puppet! My fleshly body alone is incapable of handling it. Chen Feng was surprised. He was very clear on the might of his fleshly body. It was something that he would always temper using tribulation lightning. Add the power of the opened insight acupoints to the equation, the might of Chen Feng's fleshly body was not something that the average Sky Human stage cultivator could hope to match. At that moment, however, Chen Feng was unable to gain the upper hand in a match of physical might. Additionally, the body of the combat puppet was very tough, seemingly invincible. Despite subjected to Chen Feng's attacks, each containing a force of millions of jin, the combat puppet remained unscathed. It was unknown just what materials were used to craft this combat puppet.

Boom!

The primary energy in Chen Feng's body circulated swiftly and a terrifying aura surged out from Chen Feng's body as his strength began rising. After his strength had risen by a notch, he rapidly moved forward to unleash a furious punch at the combat puppet's body. With a resounding boom, the combat puppet was sent flying before smashing into the crowd of onlooking cultivators.

The gaunt old man made an uncharacteristic face as he shouted, “Impossible!”

“Brother Chen, are you all right?” Jian Xiaotian moved to stand beside Chen Feng.

“I'm fine. The combat puppet is very strong.” Chen Feng shook his head. He regarded the 500 cultivators who were standing nearby in orderly rows. There were also the 200 combat puppets that remained immobile. Chen Feng felt extremely shocked.

To think that this force could possess this level of power. Earlier, Chen Feng had noticed a considerable number of half-step Human Immortals amongst the cultivators who were gathering up. He grew curious. Why did Heavenly Sword Faction station a force of this level here?

However, he quickly thought back to how this was likely just one of the secret sites of Heavenly Sword Faction. Additionally, this might simply be one of the less important sites. When he considered that, Chen Feng began reconsidering his evaluation of the great sects of the Central Plains.

Are the great sects of the Central Plains so powerful?

“Brother Jian, do you know about this secret site?” Chen Feng asked Jian Xiaotian.

“No. When I left the sect to roam around, I had only just overcome my 1st Lightning Tribulation. I was unqualified to know about something at this level. However, I can ask more about this after returning to the sect,” Jian Xiaotian replied with a smile.

“You are not a disciple of our sect?” the gaunt old man suddenly said.

“Of course not.” Chen Feng smiled.

“If you are not a disciple of our sect, how can you enter this place?” The gaunt old man's face turned grim.

“Fellow seniors, he is an honorary elder of our sect.” Liu Wenlong quickly stepped forward to explain Chen Feng's ident.i.ty to them.

“From the Northern Plains? Extreme Celestial Sect. Tsk, tsk. To think that Extreme Celestial Sect can produce such a young talent.” The gaunt old man revealed a look of shock.This old guy. The expression on his face changes so quickly, Chen Feng thought, smilingly to himself.

After all that, they quickly left the secret site. Prior to reaching the secret site, Liu Wenlong and the others had been hunted down and many of their fellow brothers and sisters were killed. If it were not for Chen Feng's a.s.sistance, all of them would have been killed. However, after emerging from the secret site, the force they could field had grown considerably. There was a total of 500 cultivators. Everywhere they went, their energy waves would spread into the sky to create a sky-jolting atmosphere of power.

The gaunt old man appeared very interested in Chen Feng. He immediately approached Chen Feng to inquire many things from him. When he found out that Nine Firmaments Palace was after Chen Feng, he quickly became excited. Even the bare-chested, muscular man moved closer after hearing that.

After chatting with them for a bit, Chen Feng found out that the gaunt old man's name was Liu Huai while the bare-chested, muscular man's name was w.a.n.g Bao. Both of them were half-step Human Immortals.

“How unexpected! Brother Chen can actually remain safe despite Nine Firmaments Palace's pursuit. Not to mention, you also managed to kill off so many of your pursuers. I rarely admire others, but right now, all I can say is… respect!” w.a.n.g Bao gave Chen Feng the thumbs up.

“Ha ha, senior, you overpraise me.” Chen Feng smiled.

“Brother Chen, what do you mean by saying that? Are you looking down on us?” w.a.n.g Bao suddenly glared at him.

“Little brother. The way I see it, you should just become a disciple of our Heavenly Sword Faction. There is no need for the t.i.tle of 'honorary elder'. As long as you are willing, once we reach Heavenly Sword Faction, you can become a real elder of our sect. I can make the introductions for you. Even becoming a sect legacy disciple will not be an impossibility,” Liu Huai said with a grin.

“Yes. When Nine Firmaments Palace was after you, Extreme Celestial Sect did not choose to go help you and instead let you run away on your own. The way I see it, there is no point in staying with this kind of sect. Besides, you are now in the Central Plains. Joining our Heavenly Sword Faction will be a suitable choice for you. You will have a greater chance to shine here than when you were in Extreme Celestial Sect,” w.a.n.g Bao advised as well.

In the face of their pa.s.sionate words, Chen Feng promptly revealed a wry smile. “Fellows, this is something that I must consider properly first.”

Although Chen Feng did not agree to their proposal, their conversation had still allowed him to gleam some information regarding the secret site.

As it turned out, all the cultivators inside the secret site, including the half-step Human Immortals, were all a.s.signed there after committing some mistakes. They were a.s.signed to the secret site to cultivate themselves there and craft combat puppets. Before receiving a summon from the sect, those fellows would be incapable of leaving the secret site. As Heavenly Sword Faction was presently in a war with Heartless Heaven Sect, they had chosen to summon those fellows. Thus, they were now free.To think that there could be something like this. Chen Feng was somewhat shocked. He had not expected that. However, it would appear that these cultivators were not harbouring the slightest hint of resentment towards the sect for that. Seeing that made Chen Feng even more surprised.

If he were in their shoes, even if he was the one who had committed a mistake first, after getting locked inside the secret site, losing his freedom in the process, he would at least feel dissatisfied about it.

“Ha ha! The spiritual energy inside the secret site is quite high and it is s.p.a.cious. Besides, we do have things to do. Add the fact that there are so many of our fellow members there, we cannot actually be considered as prisoners. It can be considered as a form of cultivation retreat.” Liu Huai had seemingly seen through what was on Chen Feng's mind and he laughed.

“Up ahead is one of the outposts belonging to Firemeld Cave.” They had stopped and Liu Wenlong pointed at a number of buildings rising up in between the mountains up ahead.

“Let's just charge through it.”

The cultivators who came from the secret site had been feeling vexed from having to stay in there all this time. Thus, they immediately sent forth 200 men for this. In less than two hours, they had made a clean sweep of the entire outpost.

They then moved to trample the other bandit outposts. This was retaliation for the attacks that Liu Wenlong and the others had had to face earlier. They spent the next three days sweeping up tens of bandit outposts. Thousands of bandits were dispersed and even the disciples of Heartless Heaven Sect who were hiding amongst them were mercilessly killed.

On this particular day, their army finally reached Blackwind Stronghold's biggest outpost, which also served as their headquarters.

“Be careful. Blackwind Stronghold has a Human Immortal,” Chen Feng said.

Chen Feng had not attacked at all during the past few days. Rather, there was simply no need for him to attack. Seeing them wanting to attack Blackwind Stronghold's headquarters, however, Chen Feng could not stop himself from giving them a warning. Moreover, Chen Feng suspected that Blackwind Stronghold was not the only bandit nest with a Human Immortal. The other bandit nests must also have Human Immortals of their own. Although this force from Heavenly Sword Faction had numbers and strength, they did not have a Human Immortal. Fighting against a Human Immortal will surely result in some deaths and injuries.

“It's time to send forth the combat puppets. If we can kill off a few Human Immortals here, we can claim a huge contribution after returning to the sect,” Liu Huai said, bringing out a piece of jade. Light flowed and one combat puppet after another flew out. Liu Huai sent a total of 50 combat puppets forward. After emerging, the combat puppets followed Liu Huai's instructions to charge the Blackwind Stronghold's headquarters.There are 50 combat puppets in total. Even a Human Immortal would be bludgeoned to death, no? Chen Feng thought.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The 50 combat puppets surrounded the barrier around Blackwind Stronghold's headquarters before starting their attacks. The ma.s.sive barrier around Blackwind Stronghold flickered for just one breath's worth of time before shattering apart.

1 jin = 0.5 kg

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