Just as Li Fan was feeling puzzled, he suddenly sensed something and his expression changed as he looked around.
In the deep sea, tiny specks of blue light were converging from all directions.
Heading towards the Tian Yang cave.
Li Fan reached out and intercepted one of the blue light points, examining it in his hand.
“Pure water elemental spiritual energy…”
In an instant, Li Fan realized what was happening.
He made the most accurate decision.
He activated the “Stalking Shadow Technique” technique in an instant. His figure became like a phantom, rushing into the volcano.
The others were still astonished by the increasing number of blue light points.
“A Water Spirit Body! Zhang Haobo is actually a Water Spirit Body!”
Someone finally reacted and exclaimed.
“I understand now. A Water Spirit Body is naturally attuned to elemental spiritual energy. As long as he’s within this vast sea, he doesn’t need to worry about running out of spiritual energy. Even if he consumes it quickly, the abundant water elemental spiritual energy in the surroundings can replenish it rapidly!”
“Does that mean…”
“Darn, someone beat us to it!”
“Friends, hurry!”
The knowledgeable Qi Condensation cultivators, like Li Fan, rushed into the volcano to seek opportunities.
But Li Fan, who had moved ahead of them, had already crossed the magma inside the volcano and reached the Tian Yang cave.
Passing through the battling puppets and Zhang Haobo, Li Fan scanned the area with his divine sense, trying to find any traces of He Zhenghao’s remains.
However…
This place had witnessed several intense battles and was now in ruins.
The full power of the seventeen Nascent Soul puppets was truly terrifying.
The solid floor of the cave had been eroded as if it had been cut by a strange force. There were no complete bodies to be found, not to mention any storage rings.
Only some fragments of the ground remained.
Li Fan’s heart skipped a beat as he saw the approaching cultivators. He couldn’t afford to be too picky, so he decided to collect all these fragments in a hurry.
Then he charged deeper into the cave, attempting to find anything valuable.
Just at that moment, he suddenly heard a voice in the cave, a voice that sounded ancient and mechanical.
“Tian…”
Li Fan’s figure hesitated as a sense of unease washed over him.
He looked towards the source of the voice and saw one of the puppets. These dark-red mechanical puppets, which had been suppressed by Zhang Haobo’s “Dragon’s Roar” all this time, seemed to be undergoing some kind of transformation.
Anger had built up within them.
Like a dormant volcano erupting all of a sudden.
Cracks began to appear on the puppets’ bodies, revealing a slightly eerie blackness within.
“Yang…”
Seeing this, Zhang Haobo intensified the attack of his Divine Sea Swords.
From the looks of it, he still had reserves of strength even after the intense battle from before.
The puppets were still at a disadvantage, but Li Fan’s unease grew stronger.
So, he decided to turn back against the flow of people.
“Soul…”
More and more cracks formed on the puppets, like shattered porcelain, breaking into countless tiny fragments.
The multitude of water swords in the air suddenly halted.
Zhang Haobo gazed in astonishment at the scene unfolding before him, completely dumbfounded.
“How is this possible?”
Not only Zhang Haobo, but all the cultivators present were shocked by this sight.
Their eyes darted back and forth between Zhang Haobo and the scattered fragments, filled with disbelief.
Was this puppet’s toughness merely for show?
Or had Zhang Haobo hidden his true cultivation level, appearing to be a Qi Condensation cultivator on the surface but actually being a powerful expert who concealed his true strength?
Li Fan was equally stunned by this unexpected turn of events, coming to a halt in his tracks.
He stared at the scattered puppets, his thoughts racing.
Then, in the midst of the silence, all the fragments started to vibrate.
“Not…”
The mechanical sound resounded once more.
This time, it came from all the fragments combined.
Thousands of voices echoed simultaneously, resonating throughout the Tian Yang cave.
“Weaker…”
In a spine-chilling sound, these black and red fragments trembled as if they were living creatures, slowly moving and converging in one place.
In the midst of the faint, creaking sounds, these fragments slowly merged together.
“Than…”
Li Fan’s sense of crisis peaked.
Suddenly, he accelerated and flew towards the exit of the cave.
As he passed by the dazed Zhang Haobo, he slightly altered his course and grabbed him.
“Fellow Daoist Zhang, run!”
To prevent any struggle, he immediately used the Insect Binding Technique to immobilize Zhang Haobo.
Still in a daze from watching the unusual behavior of the puppet fragments, Zhang Haobo felt a sudden loss of control in his body when he heard the voice. Startled, he heard the words spoken and felt somewhat relieved.
Looking towards the person, he noticed that they concealed their appearance, making it impossible to see their form.
However, with a single gesture, they could immobilize him completely, leaving no room for resistance.
Their strength…
Seemed unfathomable.
Zhang Haobo’s heart shuddered as he allowed this mysterious individual to lead him through the magma, out of the volcano, and back to the seabed.
“Man…”
As the puppet fragments completed their reformation, a black giant hand, full of cracks, appeared in front of everyone.
A dazzling dark red light flowed through the cracks in the giant hand.
A mechanical and angry roar emanated from the giant hand.
“Tian, Yang’s, Soul…”
“Not, Weaker, Than, Man…”
In the midst of a roar reminiscent of an ancient ferocious beast, the giant hand’s five fingers clenched into a fist and struck forward.
Seeing this, Li Fan, who was escaping at high speed with Zhang Haobo, changed his expression and increased his speed.
A thunderous explosion resounded from the volcano.
Amidst the intense blast, thick smoke billowed into the sky.
In an instant, it erupted from the sea floor to the sea surface.
And then, into the sky.
After a moment of silence, an even more violent rumbling echoed from the seabed.
Rolling black clouds appeared from the depths of the sea, exploding and spreading in all directions.
Like a rampaging herd, they surged forward.
With each explosion, the range of the black clouds doubled.
From the smoke columns that pierced the heavens and earth, crimson streaks shot in all directions.
Li Fan ran all the way and finally brought Zhang Haobo to a safe area.
Looking back at the raging inferno, he couldn’t help but shudder.
However, it seemed that all of this was just the beginning.
The heavens and earth trembled, and the entire Cong Yun Sea seemed to shake.
Like beacons being lit one after another, one underwater volcano after another erupted, starting from the Tian Yang cave!
In this world-annihilating scene, the roar of the puppets could overpower the eruption of the underwater volcanoes.
“Tian, Yang’s, Soul!”
…
“Not, Weaker, Than, Man!”
…
A puppet that had been buried in the earth’s veins for thousands of years, constantly absorbing the energy of the Earth’s core, and tempering itself.
It tore apart the numerous mountains under the sea and stood up in the Cong Yun Sea.
Defying the heavens, it roared with pride!