41: Break the situation with your own body, break the puppet formation

Just then.

A furious, yet incredibly clear shout, echoed throughout the venue.

"Stop fighting, everyone! I have a way to break the formation!"

It was Lin Gou.

He was "covered in blood," his clothes ragged, looking utterly disheveled, yet his eyes shone with astonishing brightness.

Everyone's gaze was instantly drawn to him.

Heishan saw this "fly" that just wouldn't die, a flash of Killing Intent in his eyes, but he was forced back by a Golden Core Puppet's axe, with no time to Clone himself.

Zhao Linger saw Lin Gou "alive again," her heart trembled, first relieved, then filled with endless worry.

She knew that every time Lin Gou "revived," he had to pay an unimaginable price.

"Lin Gou! What's your plan?"

The Leading Elder dodged the giant axe clumsily, while shouting loudly.

Lin Gou didn't keep them in suspense; he pointed at the towering Golden Core Puppet and yelled with all his might.

"The formation's core!"

"The formation's core is in that big guy's chest!"

"That red crystal is the energy core of the entire battle formation!"

"As long as it's shattered, all the Puppets will stop!"

He took a deep breath, his voice carrying an undeniable madness.

"I need you all to buy me three breaths of time!"

"Three breaths! That's all I need!"

"Everyone! Attack that big guy's head with all your might! Attract its attention!"

All the Qingyun Sect Disciples were stunned.

This plan was too crazy.

To attack the chest of a Golden Core-level Puppet?

Wasn't that suicide?!

However, when they saw Lin Gou's eyes, which seemed to be burning, and recalled his repeated "sacrifices" and "miracles" before.

A strange sense of trust surged from the bottom of their hearts.

"Alright!"

The Leading Elder was the first to respond, a resolute bloody glint flashing in his eyes.

"All Qingyun Sect Disciples, heed my command!"

"Do as Lin Gou says!"

"Go all out! Attack the Puppet's head!"

"Ling'er!"

Zhao Linger understood; without the slightest hesitation, she twirled her long sword into a dazzling Sword Flower, and a sharp, unparalleled Sword Qi shot straight towards the Golden Core Puppet's face.

With the Elder and Zhao Linger leading the way, the remaining surviving Qingyun Sect Disciples also gritted their teeth, transforming all their remaining spiritual power into their strongest attacks.

For a moment, dozens of Spells and Sword Qi, like a brilliant fireworks display sacrificing lives, all blasted towards the Golden Core Puppet's head.

Roar!

The Golden Core Puppet was completely enraged.

It abandoned its entanglement with the Elder, raised its huge head, and its crimson eyes locked onto the ants attacking it.

It raised its giant axe high, preparing to launch a devastating sweep.

Now!

The moment the Golden Core Puppet's attention was completely drawn, Lin Gou moved.

Under his feet, the wind howled.

The Swift Wind Steps was pushed to its limit.

His figure, on the chaotic battlefield, pulled out afterimages, like a blue lightning bolt.

In his hand, at some point, there was already a thick stack of Talismans.

Those were the most powerful "Blazing Blast Talismans" among his previous mission rewards.

His target was incredibly clear.

The Puppet's chest.

That energy crystal, emitting an evil red light.

"Seeking death!"

Heishan saw through Lin Gou's intention, his eyes splitting with rage.

He wanted to stop him, but he was desperately entangled by the Elder, unable to break free.

Blocking Lin Gou's path were countless small Puppets.

They wielded swords and blades, forming a wall of steel, coldness, and death.

Lin Gou's eyes showed no fear, only a nearly frenzied excitement.

【Come on!】

【S-rank evaluation, here I come!】

Pfft!

A flash of a blade, and Lin Gou's left arm was severed at the shoulder.

He didn't stop.

Rip!

Three sharp blades simultaneously pierced his back.

He was still charging.

His body, on the path of his charge, was cut into pieces by countless swords and blades.

Blood stained his path forward.

Yet his speed did not slow down in the slightest.

In the last breath of his life.

At the moment his body was about to completely collapse.

He finally rushed to the front of the Golden Core Puppet's chest.

He saw the energy crystal, so close, beating like a heart.

He smiled.

He used his last strength to press the stack of Talismans, stained with his own blood, firmly onto the crystal.

Then, he detonated them.

"System!"

"Give me a big explosion!"

Boom—!!!

The world lost its sound.

A blinding white light, to the extreme, exploded from the Golden Core Puppet's chest.

The light was ten thousand times brighter than the sun in the sky.

Everyone instinctively closed their eyes, tears streaming down their faces.

Immediately following was a destructive shockwave.

Like an invisible giant wave, it swept madly in all directions.

Several small Puppets that were close by were instantly vaporized, leaving no iron filings behind.

The entire hall trembled violently in this terrifying explosion.

Countless shattered stones fell from the dome.

When the light dissipated.

When the smoke and dust settled slightly.

All the survivors looked at the scene before them in shock.

The towering, arrogant Golden Core Puppet had a huge and hideous hole blown open in its chest.

The edges of the hole were crimson, molten iron, still slowly dripping.

The energy crystal was long gone.

And Lin Gou, the young man who used himself as bait and his life to break the situation, also disappeared.

He was at the very center of the explosion.

His body and bones were gone.

Crack... crack crack... As the energy core shattered, the red light in the eyes of the dozens of originally murderous Puppets quickly dimmed.

Their synchronized movements became stiff, then completely stopped.

"Clang."

A long saber in a Puppet's hand fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

The entire Puppet battle formation instantly turned into a pile of useless scrap metal.

Dead silence.

Inside the main hall, there was dead silence.

All the surviving Qingyun Sect Disciples stared blankly at the destroyed Puppet, then looked at the place where Lin Gou had last disappeared, their faces filled with shock, sadness, and an indescribable reverence.

"Hahahaha... Hahahahaha!"

A burst of wild laughter broke the silence.

It was Heishan.

He stumbled to his feet from the aftermath of the explosion.

One of his arms was blown off, and he was covered in blood, looking utterly miserable, yet his eyes gleamed with the ecstasy of surviving a disaster and an incredibly greedy light.

The Puppet battle formation was broken.

That most troublesome Qingyun Sect kid was also dead.

The remaining crippled soldiers of the Qingyun Sect, exhausted of spiritual power and severely injured, weren't they just waiting to be slaughtered by him?

"Heaven helps me!"

Heishan sneered, dragging his ghost-head broadsword, and walked step by step towards the Qingyun Sect members.

The surviving Blackwood Sect Disciples also gathered around, their faces bearing bloodthirsty smiles.

The hearts of the Qingyun Sect members sank to the bottom.

The Leading Elder struggled to stand up, shielding Zhao Linger and the others behind him, his face filled with determination.

Today, they would probably all perish here.

Zhao Linger gripped her long sword tightly, but her gaze was not on the approaching Heishan.

She stared blankly in one direction.

That direction was the entrance to the ruins.

In her beautiful eyes, there was first confusion, then disbelief, and finally, it was replaced by an indescribable, immense shock.

Heishan noticed her abnormality.

He followed Zhao Linger's gaze and looked over disdainfully.

"What are you looking at? Your saviors? He's already..."

Heishan's voice abruptly stopped.

The sinister smile on his face instantly froze.

His few surviving subordinates also stood rooted to the spot, as if under a petrification Spell.

Everyone's eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets.

In that direction.

At the entrance to the ruins, in front of the tightly shut stone door.

Barely perceptible specks of light were slowly seeping out from the Void Realm.

The specks of light became more and more numerous, more and more dense.

They began to converge, rotate, and intertwine.

Gradually, they outlined a... humanoid silhouette.

First the feet, then the legs, the torso, the arms... finally, that face that everyone was so familiar with, which had just "Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering" in the center of the explosion.

Lin Gou's figure, in the eyes of Heishan and the others, who looked as if they had seen a ghost, was slowly, bit by bit, coalescing into form in the Void Realm.

This time's resurrection.

Was also seen by the Blackwood Sect people.