144: Chapter 144 Cleverly Defeating the Stone Golem and Discovering the Hidden Door

Four battle Puppets, each standing over a zhang tall, approached from the four corners of the altar, surrounding Ye Tian and Mu Sisi.

Their halberds pointed at the two.

Mu Sisi's pretty face turned pale; she gripped her longsword tightly, her delicate body trembling slightly.

She had only a Ningyuan Fifth Stage Middle Stage cultivation, and facing even one Puppet with the combat power of a Ningyuan Sixth Stage was extremely difficult, let alone four of them joining forces.

The heavy pressure made it nearly impossible for her to catch her breath.

"Junior Brother Ye..."

She subconsciously looked at Ye Tian in front of her, her voice tinged with a hint of panic.

Along the way, she had witnessed Ye Tian's courage and composure; this youth in green, who was only at the "Ningyuan Fifth Stage Peak," had now become her only reliance.

Ye Tian swept his gaze quickly over the four Puppets.

Though surprised, he remained calm, his mind rapidly analyzing the situation.

A head-on clash was by no means the best strategy; these Puppets knew no pain, possessed immense strength, had extremely high defense, and worked together in perfect harmony.

If the battle dragged on, even if he could protect himself, Mu Sisi would certainly be in danger.

He had to find their weakness!

"Senior Sister Mu, stay close behind me. Focus on mobile combat and do not try to resist them head-on!"

Ye Tian gave a low shout and was the first to move!

Instead of charging at the Puppets, he used the Taixu Star-Shift Steps to actively meet a Puppet on the left, intending to test them!

The Puppet's reaction was not slow in the slightest; the moment its scarlet gaze locked onto Ye Tian, the halberd in its hand swept across!

It was heavy and powerful, enough to cleave gold and break jade!

Ye Tian did not dodge; he wanted to test just how strong this Puppet's power was.

Stellar True Essence condensed on his right fist, and he blasted out an Overlapping Wave Fist!

Fist and halberd collided; Ye Tian's figure swayed slightly as he used the force to drift backward, while the Puppet was shaken by the fist energy and stumbled back one step.

However, its body remained unscathed; only the red light in its eye sockets flickered once before it pressed forward again.

"What a hard shell!" Ye Tian was secretly shocked.

Although he hadn't used his full strength, the power of that punch was enough to seriously injure a Ningyuan Sixth Stage Cultivator, yet it only left a shallow imprint on the Puppet, showing how sturdy its material was.

On the other side, the other three Puppets launched their attacks simultaneously; their halberds, either thrusting or slashing, sealed off Ye Tian and Mu Sisi's retreat.

Mu Sisi let out a delicate cry and executed her exquisite Profound Ice Sword Technique, sending streams of cold sword Qi to meet the incoming halberds.

Her sword technique was agile, but her strength was far inferior to the Puppets; every collision left her Qi and blood roiling, forcing her to rely on her movement technique to barely maneuver, constantly in precarious situations.

"Junior Brother Ye! This won't work! They simply cannot be killed!"

Mu Sisi shouted anxiously; her True Essence was being consumed extremely quickly, and beads of sweat had already appeared on her forehead.

Ye Tian dodged the siege of two Puppets while calmly observing.

He discovered that although the Puppets' attack patterns were fierce, they were slightly rigid, seemingly following fixed routines.

Moreover, each time they were attacked, the red light in their eye sockets would flicker extremely briefly, and at the same time, a faint trace of energy fluctuation would flash and vanish at the very center of their chest armor!

"An energy core?" Ye Tian's heart stirred!

Every Puppet needed energy to be driven, and this core must be the key!

However, the core was usually protected extremely tightly, making it difficult for a direct assault to be effective.

While engaging in mobile combat, he carefully sensed the energy fluctuations with his Divine Sense.

He noticed that the fluctuations were not continuous; they only surged for a moment when the Puppet performed an attack or was attacked, seemingly gathering energy.

And in the instant the fluctuation surged, the defense at the core location would show a slight slack!

"The Opportunity lies in that instant!" A sharp light flashed in Ye Tian's eyes; he already had a plan.

"Senior Sister Mu!"

He fiercely parried a Puppet's halberd and transmitted his voice to Mu Sisi: "Listen to my instructions. I will create an Opportunity in a moment. You must attack the Puppet in front of you with all your might to attract its attention!"

Although Mu Sisi did not understand why, she had already built trust in Ye Tian and immediately responded: "Okay!"

Ye Tian took a deep breath, and his figure suddenly accelerated!

He no longer held back, pushing the Taixu Star-Shift Steps to the limit, leaving trails of afterimages in the arena while simultaneously attracting the fire of two Puppets!

He deliberately exposed a flaw, drawing the halberd of a Puppet on the right to thrust straight at him!

Just as the halberd was about to strike his body, Ye Tian slid sideways, dodging the tip while his left hand unleashed the Starfall Finger.

A blast of finger wind struck the joint of the arm holding the halberd!

"Swish!" The finger wind hit its mark!

The seemingly sturdy joint was actually pierced through with a small hole!

The Puppet's arm movement suddenly stiffened, and the halberd's attack stalled!

Now is the time! "Senior Sister! Attack!" Ye Tian shouted sharply!

Mu Sisi, who had long been prepared, did not hesitate to pour all her True Essence into her longsword.

With a delicate cry, a brilliant icy blue sword Qi thrust straight at the chest of the Puppet in front of her!

This strike was the maximum damage she could unleash!

The Puppet was indeed attracted by this sudden, fierce attack.

Its gaze locked onto Mu Sisi, and the energy fluctuation at its chest armor surged instantly, clearly concentrating all its defensive power to the front, preparing to withstand this sword strike head-on!

However, it ignored the fatal threat coming from the side!

In the very instant its energy core defense was concentrated on the front, Ye Tian's right hand, which had long been poised, formed a sword finger.

But this time, what condensed at his fingertip was not the fierce and overbearing Stellar finger power, but a strand of Yin-soft, lingering hidden energy.

Heart-Piercing Finger!

Taking advantage of the gap while the Puppet's attention was drawn by Mu Sisi, he struck the very center of the Puppet's chest armor with one finger!

A sound like a needle piercing leather echoed!

This Yin-soft hidden energy easily penetrated the core defense and struck directly onto a hard object inside!

"Click!" A soft sound came from inside the Puppet!

The Puppet, which was about to swing its halberd to block Mu Sisi's sword Qi, suddenly froze!

The scarlet light in its eyes flickered rapidly a few times, then dimmed and extinguished!

The dark energy flowing around its body also dissipated instantly!

The halberd it held high fell to the ground with a "clatter," and it finally collapsed, completely losing all movement!

Success!

The other three Puppets seemed to be affected, and their movements also slowed for a moment.

Mu Sisi looked at the fallen Puppet in front of her in a daze, then looked at Ye Tian, who stood with his finger retracted, her heart surging with turbulent waves!

The Puppet, which she couldn't even break the defense of with her full-strength strike, was actually "killed" by Junior Brother Ye with what seemed like a casual finger strike?

What kind of finger technique was this? It was so strange and terrifying!

"The weakness is in the chest core, but it must be attacked when its energy is being mobilized and its defense is concentrated elsewhere!" Ye Tian summarized quickly. "We shall do the same!"

With the successful experience, the remaining three Puppets no longer posed a threat.

Ye Tian was responsible for diversion and creating flaws, while Mu Sisi used her full strength to feint and attract fire, and Ye Tian seized the Opportunity to attack the core with the Heart-Piercing Finger.

Although the process was still perilous, in just the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the remaining three Puppets were also struck in their cores one after another and collapsed with a crash.

The cave returned to silence, leaving only the sound of Ye Tian and Mu Sisi's heavy breathing.

"Finally... resolved."

Mu Sisi supported her knees, her face pale, her True Essence greatly consumed, but her beautiful eyes were filled with excitement. "Junior Brother Ye, this finger technique of yours... is too amazing!"

Ye Tian adjusted his breath slightly and waved his hand: "I was just lucky to find the weakness. Are you okay, Senior Sister?"

"It's fine, just a bit exhausted."

Mu Sisi took out a Qi-recovery pill and swallowed it, her gaze fixed on the altar in the center of the cave. "I wonder if that Senior left any Legacy or treasures on this altar?"

The two walked to the edge of the altar.

The altar was built from a type of unknown black stone, its surface smooth and engraved with some runes, with a groove in the middle, seemingly for placing something.

They searched carefully, but apart from dust and gravel, they found nothing special.

"It seems the treasure is not here." Mu Sisi was a bit disappointed.

Ye Tian, however, did not give up; his Divine Sense carefully swept over every inch of the altar.

Suddenly, his gaze tightened, landing on a stone brick at the base of the altar that looked no different from the other stones.

He squatted down and tapped it gently.

"Thump, thump..." The sound was slightly hollow!

"It's hollow underneath!" A light shone in Ye Tian's eyes.

He tried to push and rotate the stone brick, but it remained motionless.

"Perhaps it needs a key, or... activate it with True Essence?" Mu Sisi speculated.

Ye Tian thought for a moment and tried to inject a trace of Stellar True Essence into the stone brick.

However, there was no reaction.

"That's not it." Ye Tian frowned, recalling the situation when he broke the Restriction on the stone door. "Yin and Yang harmony..."

His heart moved, and he said to Mu Sisi: "Senior Sister, let's try injecting our True Essence at the same time, still one Yin and one Yang."

Mu Sisi nodded, and the two joined forces again, injecting their Yin-cold and Yang-warm True Essence into the stone brick simultaneously.

Sure enough!

The stone brick lit up with a faint glow, trembled slightly, and then slid inward silently, revealing a pitch-black opening extending downward!

A cool breeze carrying the scent of medicine gushed out from the hole!

"There really is a hidden door!" Mu Sisi said pleasantly surprised.

Ye Tian looked at the deep, dark opening, his eyes solemn.

This ruin was layered one upon another; it was clearly not that simple.

The real test and Opportunity might just be beneath this hidden door.

"Shall we go down and take a look?" Mu Sisi looked at Ye Tian, asking for his opinion.

Ye Tian nodded: "Since we have come this far, how can we return empty-handed? However, we must be even more careful."

The two adjusted their breath a little, and one after the other, they stepped into that unknown hidden door passage.