72: battlefield sacrifice

Boom—!

A dull, colossal sound rumbled from the earth.

The ten-zhang-tall war puppet actively took its mountain-like steps, moving to meet the army of Cultivators that blotted out the sky.

It didn't run; it merely walked.

Each step it took caused the mountains of Qingyun Sect to tremble.

An ancient giant god had awakened and was walking towards its battlefield.

The greed and bloodlust on the faces of the Alliance army's front-line Cultivators froze.

They looked up, their pupils reflecting the massive, approaching figure of the steel demon, and a sense of insignificance, originating from the depths of their Souls, choked their breath.

"Playing tricks! Form ranks! Use the 'Earth-Covering Net' to trap it!"

Within the Alliance army formation, a Golden Core Early Stage Elder shouted sharply, attempting to stabilize morale.

He conjured his Lifebound Treasure, a resplendent pagoda, which swelled against the wind to dozens of zhang high, crashing down with immense force towards the war puppet's head.

This was his signature technique, with which he had once suppressed and killed others of the same cultivation level.

Beneath the pagoda, space itself emitted a groaning hum, unable to bear the weight.

The war puppet didn't even look up.

It simply raised its right arm, spread its five fingers, and then clenched its fist.

Simple.

Direct.

It threw a punch.

There were no spiritual light flashes, no Daoist runes.

The purest physical strength tore through the air, emitting a piercing sonic boom.

The fist and the pagoda collided in mid-air.

The seemingly indestructible pagoda began to crack from its spire, spiderweb-like fissures spreading wildly.

The next instant, it shattered inch by inch, turning into a sky full of shimmering dust.

The momentum of the punch did not diminish.

The giant steel fist passed through the remnants of the Magic Treasure and struck the Golden Core Elder.

There was no scream.

The Elder, along with the Protective Aura around him, exploded into a dense mist of blood.

His Divine Soul was annihilated.

The entire scene was dead silent.

Only the wind whimpered.

This bloody and shocking sight extinguished the flames of greed in everyone.

Fear began to spread silently through the army formation.

"Kill."

Lu Yuan's cold voice, amplified by the Puppet's sound-amplification array, echoed across the battlefield.

The war puppet's other arm, a massive blade dozens of zhang long, was slowly raised.

Then, it swept out horizontally.

The enormous blade carved a deadly arc.

Wherever it passed, whether it was the shields of Foundation Establishment Cultivators or the Magical Artifacts they proudly wore.

Cultivators were cut in half in swathes.

Their upper bodies still held expressions of terror, while their lower bodies had already turned into bloody pulp.

The carefully arranged battle formation of the Alliance became a ridiculous joke in the face of this absolute power.

The formation was in chaos.

"Attack! Everyone attack! Wear it down!"

The surviving Golden Core Cultivators screamed in terror, frantically unleashing Spells.

Immediately, hundreds and thousands of colorful Sword Qi, fireballs, ice cones, and lightning bolts poured down onto the war puppet's body.

Clang, clang, clang—

A continuous barrage of impacts created countless sparks on the Puppet's dark golden armor.

When the light dissipated.

The war puppet still stood in place, not even a white mark left on its body.

On the faces of the Alliance Cultivators, utter despair finally appeared.

Their proudly wielded Spells and Flying Swords were not even enough to tickle this giant steel behemoth.

The fierce battle lasted for half an hour.

The battlefield had become a meat grinder.

Every time the war puppet swung its blade, every time it stomped, it took dozens, even hundreds of lives.

However, just as the remaining Alliance Cultivators were on the verge of complete collapse, the war puppet's movements visibly slowed down.

The energy core in its chest, which had been shining brightly, began to dim and flash with a dangerous red light.

"Its spiritual Qi is about to run out!"

The Alliance Leader, the old man at Golden Core Great Perfection, erupted with the ecstasy of surviving a disaster.

He had been circling the edge of the battlefield, waiting for this very opportunity.

"Evil creature! Die!"

The old man seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and conjured his Lifebound Treasure.

A massive, golden-glowing pair of shears.

The shears cut through the air, leaving a golden afterimage, heading straight for the war puppet's relatively fragile neck joint.

This strike concentrated his lifelong cultivation and was incredibly fast.

In this critical moment.

Lu Yuan's expression remained calm.

On the Exchange interface in his mind, karma points were burning wildly.

[-100 karma points]

[-100 karma points]

...He gambled all his remaining karma points, pouring them in.

[Detecting special command... Permissions confirmed...]

[Hidden protocol activated—Battlefield Sacrifice.]

An unexpected change occurred.

Across the entire battlefield, from the bodies of all the dead Alliance Cultivators, visible streams of black Qi, filled with resentment and unwillingness, rose up.

These were their unscattered Souls and grievances.

Thousands of black Qi streams transformed into black rivulets, surging madly towards the huge furnace in the war puppet's chest.

The furnace was like a greedy black hole, devouring all negative energy.

The previously flashing red warning light turned into a deep, eerie green.

The dim energy core once again erupted with even more vigorous light than before.

Energy replenished.

Strength, far from decreasing, increased.

Just as the golden shears were about to touch its neck, the war puppet's previously sluggish arm suddenly shot out with unimaginable speed.

It grabbed the incoming Magic Treasure.

"Crack—"

A crisp, teeth-grinding sound of shattering.

The Golden Core Great Perfection Cultivator's Lifebound Treasure was crushed into countless fragments by the war puppet's bare hands.

The Alliance Leader's body shook violently, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.

In his eyes, only the sky-obscuring, giant steel hand reaching for him remained.

"No—"

Amidst the Alliance Leader's terrified screams, the war puppet seized him.

Then, without mercy, it stuffed him into the eerie green furnace in its chest, which was burning fiercely.

The agonizing scream only lasted for half a sound before abruptly stopping.

A Golden Core Great Perfection powerhouse, along with his Divine Soul, was completely refined into the Puppet's purest energy.

[Ding—]

[High-concentration Soul energy detected, core Legacy information further unlocked...]

A cold new piece of information appeared in Lu Yuan's mind.

[...Repair 'Demon Suppressing Prison' Sector Three, key fragment located where the 'nine revolutions soul returning grass' grows as a companion plant...]