Chapter 5062: Final Means

“Elder Yao Cheng, you…”

Wang Yuxian could hardly believe what was happening. She couldn’t accept such a turn in events. 

“Stay close to me.”

Chu Feng was shocked as well, but he immediately sent a voice transmission to Wang Yuxian, the Lady of Dao Sea, and the others. It was already a fact that Yao Cheng had betrayed them, so what was more important was to think of ways to deal with this situation.

The puppet army was still a terrifying force, but it was no longer under their control. It would be hard to wrestle control over it from Sima Xiangtu as he had a firm grasp over them. 

They could try other means too, but at this point, the chances of victory were practically null. It looked like their only option here was to escape. 

Of course, it was no easy feat to escape from the encirclement of the powerful puppet army, so their only hope here was to seek the help of the Divine Deer. 

Unfortunately, Chu Feng wasn’t able to receive a response from the Divine Deer. 

In order to stall for time, he turned to Yao Cheng and Sima Xiangtu.

“Right from the start, it was all a scheme. You were aware that I infiltrated the Nine Souls Sacred Clan and met the Nine Souls Sacred Clan’s Clan Chief. You knocked the Nine Souls Sacred Clan’s Clan Chief unconscious and attacked me with the formation. It was all part of your plan.

“Yao Cheng saved me that day and revealed Jiang Kongping’s location to me so that she could win my trust. Her real goal was to lead me to the Monstrous Spirit Clan and bring this puppet army over for your use,” Chu Feng said. 

“You’re right on most parts, but how could I possibly know where young master Kongping is, let alone divulge his whereabouts to you? Chu Feng, are you still thinking that you can rely on those little tricks to sow discord between me and the Pill Dao Immortal Sect? Why don’t you ask them whether they believe in your words or not?”

Sima Xiangtu denied divulging Jiang Kongping’s location to Chu Feng, which was expected since it would inevitably hurt the ties between him and the Pill Dao Immortal Sect. 

“You’re really the one who created this puppet army?” Wang Yuxian asked. 

She was unwilling to believe this. She had imagined the guest who had visited the Monstrous Spirit Clan eight hundred years ago to be an extremely powerful expert, or else how could he have created such a powerful puppet army?

While Sima Xiangtu was a scheming man, he clearly didn’t have the power to create such a powerful puppet army.

“Miss Wang, hasn’t Yao Cheng already made things clear for you?”

There was a smile on Sima Xiangtu’s lips when he said those words. He seemed to be gleeful about his achievement regarding the puppet army, such that he was unwilling to hear anyone deny them. 

“No, you’re lying. There’s no need for you to go about this in such a roundabout manner if you were the one who created the puppet army. You could have just summoned them instead of having us take them out for you,” Wang Yuxian voiced her doubt. 

She thought that there were gaps in Sima Xiangtu’s story. 

“That’s because he can’t take them out.”

Chu Feng had cut right in before Sima Xiangtu could answer.

Upon hearing those words, Wang Yuxian turned to look at Chu Feng in bewilderment. Despite the crisis they were facing, she still wanted to know the truth behind this matter. 

“It’s probably true that he used the energy of the Monstrous Spirit Clan’s benefactor to create the puppet army, but it was sealed off by the benefactor’s energy right after they were created. The only way to remove the seal is to clear the formation, but the formation could only be challenged by juniors. Due to that, Sima Xiangtu was unable to release the seal on the puppet army. 

“He didn’t want to incur the Monstrous Spirit Clan’s suspicions, so he claimed that he was the one who created the puppet army formation. However, the truth was that it was not from him. It was a formation derived from the benefactor from tens of thousands of years ago. 

“The act of creating the puppet army probably triggered the lockdown on the Monstrous Spirit Clan as well. Sima Xiangtu was unaware that he wouldn’t be able to re-enter the Monstrous Spirit Clan once he left the place, resulting in him being deprived of any chances of coming into contact with his puppet army afterward. However, Sima Xiangtu was lucky to have someone in the Monstrous Spirit Clan who was willing to serve him, and that person is none other than Yao Cheng. 

“More importantly than that, the energy from the benefactor has already been taken away by Sima Xiangtu. My guess is that it’s currently sealed inside the military seal in Sima Xiangtu’s hand. It’s just a pity that Sima Xiangtu was unable to mobilize the puppet army nor return to the Monstrous Spirit Clan even with the military seal in hand. He needed a junior to enter the Monstrous Spirit Clan and clear the puppet army formation for him. 

“Sima Xiangtu probably liaised with Yao Cheng and tried many things over the years. They must have found quite a few outstanding juniors and tried to get them to enter the Monstrous Spirit Clan so as to release the seal, but none of these juniors had been able to pass through the entrance spirit formation gate, let alone come into contact with the puppet army formation. 

“Left with no choice, Sima Xiangtu decided to pin his hopes on us. We were foolish to have fallen for his ploy. We ended up releasing the seal on the puppet army and delivering it into his hands,” Chu Feng voiced out his deduction with a look of self-reproach on his face. 

“Amazing. You have gotten much smarter after getting duped. You actually managed to get it all right. Chu Feng, I really have to thank you here. You have done me a huge favor. If not for you, I wouldn’t have been able to channel this Immortal Cauldron and turn your master and these trash of the Nine Souls Galaxy into my energy.”

Sima Xiangtu applauded loudly as he looked at Chu Feng with eyes filled with ridicule. 

On the other hand, Chu Feng glared at Sima Xiangtu with eyes filled with anger. He could have never imagined that Sima Xiangtu was planning to use the puppet army in order to channel the Immortal Cauldron. 

In other words, if not for the puppet army, Sima Xiangtu wouldn’t have been able to channel the Immortal Cauldron at all. The cultivators of the Nine Souls Galaxy wouldn’t have met with danger either. 

Chu Feng had inadvertently become Sima Xiangtu’s accomplice!

“How is it, Lord Taibai? Do you think that I’ll be able to channel the Immortal Cauldron with the power I have here?” Sima Xiangtu asked gleefully.

“Sima Xiangtu, it looks like I’ve underestimated you.”

Jiang Taibai felt a chill run down his spine. He could feel the strength of the puppet army, which was why he knew that Sima Xiangtu was no longer someone he could look down on.

“Milord, don’t say that. I…”

Xima Xiangtu was just about to say something when his face suddenly paled. Jiang Taibai’s eyes also widened in astonishment too. 

One of the rank three Half-God level puppets suddenly rushed forward and brandished its weapon at Sima Xiangtu. Before Sima Xiangtu could react, the puppet was already right in front of him. 

If his reaction had been a split second slower, he would have died in the hand of that puppet. 

He was able to order another puppet in time to stop the attack, but it made his entire body tense up. He realized that he didn’t have full control over the puppet army yet, for there was someone who could fight with him for control. 

“Chu Feng!!!”

Sima Xiangtu quickly used the military seal to take back full control over the puppets while directing a cold stare at Chu Feng. He could tell that the person behind the attack was Chu Feng. 

Meanwhile, Chu Feng’s face was completely red, and his muscles were tensed up. Veins were popping from his temples. He was using his full strength in hopes of controlling that puppet, and the only reason why he could do that was thanks to the means he had grasped from the mysterious formation. 

It was just a pity that he didn’t have much time to decipher it. With enough time, he was confident that he would be able to retain full control of the puppet army even against Sima Xiangtu’s military seal. However, it was meaningless to talk about ‘what ifs’ here. 

This was Chu Feng’s last resort. 

With the Divine Deer unwilling to respond to his summons, he could only entrust his hopes to the puppet army. Their fate depended on this. If he failed here, all of them would die here today.