Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

"Sixth Princess, you are the most knowledgeable of us here. Do you know what is going on?"

Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, Xing Yuan asked.

"I-I..."

At this point, Yu Fei-er was on the verge of tears.

As a princess, she had access to many secret manuals exclusive to the royal family, and she was also exposed to many unique techniques in the world. But even so, she couldn't imagine a single technique in the world that could allow a person to stand up after being reduced to a lump of meat.

"What about you?"

Xing Yuan turned to Wu Zhen and asked.

Given how the latter specialized in mechanisms, he might be able to see the secret behind this peculiarity.

"I..."

Wu Zhen's lips quivered as his face twitched violently.

He specialized in mechanisms, not cryptozoology! How could he possibly know what was going on?

While the few of them were rendered completely insane by the turn of events, the two puppets were also frenzied by the scene before them.

To still be able to stand up after all of that, are you still a human?

Huhuhu!

The bent-head puppet seemed to be frightened by the sight before it. He immediately patted the shoulder of the second puppet by the barrier of light and pointed to that monstrous fellow, gesturing it to head over there to support the first puppet.

The puppet hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. Following which, it immediately dashed for Zhang Xuan.

The overpowering killing intent of the two puppets overlapped with one another, thus exerting a formidable pressure on those before their presence.

However, as soon as the second puppet came heading for him, Zhang Xuan immediately turned around to flee.

Hu!

With a swift leap, he disappeared into the darkness.

Roar! Roar!

Not expecting the other party to still be able to flee so quickly despite being reduced to such a state, the two puppets were astonished. They immediately rushed forward to pursue him, and before long, they disappeared into the depths of the darkness as well.

On the other hand, staring at the escaping Zhang Xuan, Yu Fei-er and the others were dumbstruck.

Since you are able to flee, what the hell were you doing just now?

To leave only after you are reduced to such a state, what is going through your mind?

"Hurry up! Lift the barrier of light and leave!"

Just as the few of them were bewildered by the situation, Zhang Xuan voice sounded.

Stunned, they immediately looked in the direction where the voice came from. To their shock, it actually came from the bent-head puppet.

"Zhang shi?"

The group stared at the puppet before them with perfectly widened eyes.

"Yes, it's me. I managed to lure the both of them away with a special art. Hurry up and leave with me. Otherwise, it'll be too late once the other puppets return!"

The bent-head puppet urged anxiously.

"Are you... really Zhang shi?"

Even though the voice was definitely Zhang shi's, the savage expression on the puppet made it hard to put the both of them together.

Not to mention, they had just seen him getting smashed into a lump of meat... how did he become a puppet in the blink of an eye?

Even the most proficient disguiser wouldn't be that exaggerated!

"I really am him. You lost a bet to me, and you are currently still serving as my maid..."

There was no time for them to waste. Knowing that it was normal for the other party to suspect him given his current appearance, Zhang Xuan immediately tried to validate his credibility. He turned Xing Yuan and said, "Back at the Cleansing Lake, you came to look for me, asking me to admit my defeat..."

"Fine, I believe you..."

"You are Zhang Xuan!"

Yu Fei-er's face reddened whereas black lines streaked Xing Yuan's face.

There weren't many people who knew of Yu Fei-er becoming a maid, and the matter regarding Xing Yuan asking Zhang Xuan to admit defeat on the bet was known only by the two of them. Thus, these served as sufficient evidence to prove that the puppet was indeed Zhang shi.

Hu!

After affirming the other party's identity, Yu Fei-er raised her hand and grabbed onto something, and the barrier of light vanished.

"Let's go!"

Knowing that there was a limit to how long his clone could distract the two puppets, Zhang Xuan immediately led the way while holding onto his head.

But after taking two steps, he realized that no one was following him, Thus, he turned around, only to see the four of them still seated on the ground with pale faces.

"What's wrong?"

He asked with a frown.

"Our wounds are more severe than we thought... We aren't able to move at all..."

Xing Yuan said awkwardly.

The other party had spent so much effort planning this operation to save them, and yet they were unable to run away due to their severe injuries. The entire group felt that they had let Zhang Xuan down.

"I don't think we'll be able to get away, so please bring Grandmaster Wu Yangzi's body back with you. Tell the academy that we have accomplished our mission, and that we didn't let the academy down..."

Xing Yuan said with clenched jaws.

It was at least seven to eight kilometers to the passageway. Given their severe injuries, they would surely be caught before they could reach it.

Since it was impossible for them to get away, they would rather Zhang Xuan bring back the corpse. At least, this would bring some value to their deaths.

"What is the use bringing a corpse back?"

Not expecting that fellow to utter such words at such a timing, Zhang Xuan shook his head. Of course, this action caused his head to fall down yet again.

Hurriedly picking it up and implanting it on his neck, he turned to look at Wu Zhen and asked, "Do you have any wine?"

"Wine?"

Wu Zhen was taken aback for a moment before nodding. Flicking his wrist, he took out a gourd.

He enjoyed wine, so he often carried such wine gourds along with him.

Zhang Xuan caught the wine and kept it in his storage ring. Following which, he established a connection with his main body he was currently storing inside the storage ring.

His Heaven's Path zhenqi was contained only within his main body, so he couldn't infuse it in through just his soul.

If it was before, he would have to bring his main body out and have his soul enter it first before he would be able to infuse Heaven's Path zhenqi into the wine. However, having achieved Mind of Void, his physical body was able to move even without a soul in it.

Gugugugu!

After infusing seven to eight surges of zhenqi into the wine gourd, Zhang Xuan took it out from the storage ring and passed it to Yu Fei-er.

"Drink a few sips."

"Un!"

Even though she didn't know what he was up to, she knew that this wasn't the time for questions. Thus, she immediately uncorked the gourd and drank it without any hesitation.

As the rich wine went down her throat, she felt a warm flow surging through her body. In less than two breaths, the excruciating pain she was suffering from turned into a mere numbing sensation, and the gaping wounds from before had healed completely.

"This..."

Looking at her recovered body, Yu Fei-er was stunned.

Could this be the... Saint recovery medicine that Wu Zhen talked about?

It was actually so formidable?

She quickly passed the wine gourd for the other three to drink, and soon, they were all fully-recovered.

"Xing Yuan, keep Grandmaster Wu Yangzi's corpse. Let's go!"

Seeing that everyone had recovered, Yu Fei-er quickly instructed before the group hurriedly followed behind Zhang Xuan.

Having recovered their strength, they moved at a swift pace. The only problem they met was that Zhang Xuan would have to support his head carefully so that it wouldn't accidentally fall off his neck.

"We need to speed up..."

Left with no choice, Zhang Xuan decided to just grab his head in front of his chest and charge forward.

Even though his soul wasn't perfectly compatible with the puppet, he was still able to bring out a significant degree of the puppet's Saint realm strength. With just a single leap, he would be able to cover a long distance.

Yu Fei-er and the others had to push themselves to the limit just to be able to catch up.

In a short moment, the four of them had already covered three kilometers. The passageway was slowly getting closer and closer to them.

"Everyone, hurry up! We'll be safe once we escape from the passageway..." Zhang Xuan urged.

The narrow entrance of the passageway would be perfect for Zhang Xuan to set up his 6-star formation and block the Otherworldly Demon puppets, thus allowing everyone to escape safely.

Roar!

Just as they were fleeing with all their might, they suddenly heard a furious roar in the air. It seemed like the puppets had finally noticed that they were missing.

Along with that roar, shadows suddenly flashed across their surroundings, and the puppets who were recharging at the stream earlier appeared before them, blocking their path of advance.

"Damn it..."

Zhang Xuan's face darkened.

He had been rushing all along in fear that these fellows would return after they were done replenishing their energy. Who knew that despite his efforts, he would still be dozens of breaths late.

"What do we do now?"

Not expecting that they would be surrounded by so many puppets after escaping this far, Yu Fei-er and the others turned ghastly pale.

They were only able to escape previously due to their numerous defensive artifacts hindering the attacks of the puppets. Now that they were all consumed, how could they escape from this encirclement?

Roar!

Zhang Xuan stepped forward to explain, but a puppet rushed forward to kick him instead.

Peng!

His head and body immediately separated, both crashing heavily onto the ground.

"These puppets... are actually able to discern friend from foe even among themselves?"

Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.

Zhang Xuan was currently in the body of an Otherworldly Demon puppet. Even though his head could fall off anytime, his outer appearance was no different from the others.

Under normal circumstances, the other puppets shouldn't be able to recognize Zhang Xuan, and he would be able to blend in as their peer. Who knew that he would be struck without any hesitation... Without a doubt, the puppets were able to determine their enemy!

Weren't puppets a type of mechanism which didn't possess self-intelligence?

How could it differentiate between an enemy and an ally?

"Damn it!"

Pushing itself up from the ground, the headless puppet charged toward the one which attacked it.

A strong gust of wind whooshed, and immense might poured forth from his fist.

Peng!

The opposing puppet met the fist of the headless puppet with a fist of his own, and the headless puppet was immediately knocked flying once more.

Even though the puppet was strong, Zhang Xuan's current soul cultivation realm was only at Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle, thus preventing him from drawing upon the full strength of a Saint realm. Naturally, he wasn't a match for the other party.

Geji geji!

While Zhang Xuan was clashing with one of the Otherworldly Demon puppets, the others were slowly closing in on Yu Fei-er and the others.

It seemed as if they would charge forward to kill the latter at any moment now.

"If this continues, they will surely die..."

With his current form as a soul, it was still possible for Zhang Xuan to escape. However, if he were to do so, Yu Fei-er and the others would be killed the next moment.

What should he do?

Was he supposed to give up after going through all that effort?

"Forget it, I'll gamble everything on this then!"

Just as Zhang Xuan was at a complete loss, he suddenly recalled that large beating heart he saw previously, as well as the respect the puppets showed it. An idea suddenly popped into his head.

"Since you all want to kill us, let's go down together then! I'll crush the heart right now..."

Bellowing furiously, the puppet which Zhang Xuan was controlling immediately leaped up and dashed straight for the stream.

Roar?

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Hearing Zhang Xuan's bellow and his direction of movement, the puppets were stunned for a brief instant before a streak of insanity infected every last one of them. Their attention were immediately torn away from Yu Fei-er and the others, and they hurriedly pursued Zhang Xuan.

"You all should leave right now, there's no need to worry about me..."

Seeing those fellows pursue him, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He turned to Yu Fei-er and the others and howled.

"Zhang shi..."

"Zhang Xuan..."

Not expecting Zhang shi to draw away all of the puppets singlehandedly just so that they could get away, Yu Fei-er, Xing Yuan, and the others felt their hearts tightened, and their eyes reddened in agitation.

If they were harboring some grudges or even envy toward him previously, all that was left now was gratitude!

In order to save them, the other party willingly put himself in a position of grave danger...

It was no wonder why Zhang shi was so deeply respected by his students and deeply trusted by the group from Hongfeng Empire...

His character was indeed worthy of respect.

Zhang shi, thank you!

"We mustn't waste this opportunity Zhang shi created by putting his life on the line. Let's go!"

Gritting his teeth, Xing Yuan and the others quickly fled to the passageway.