79: Third Life: How Am I the Villain? (Forty-Three)

Xu Yuan's pupils shrank. Without a second thought, his body jerked to the side in a rapid flash!

Boom!

The energy beam grazed his body and slammed into the dilapidated stone frame of the hall's entrance behind him, instantly blasting the hard boulder to pieces!

Stone fragments splattered everywhere as dust filled the air.

"What incredible power!"

Xu Yuan's heart chilled; the destructive power of that energy beam had definitely reached the level of an all-out strike from an ordinary Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator!

Before he could think further, the red light in the metal Puppet's eyes flickered. It raised its arm again, and energy began to rapidly condense!

How could Xu Yuan just sit and wait for death?

His feet moved in rapid steps, his figure like lightning. Instead of retreating, he advanced, proactively charging toward the Puppet!

At the same time, Ink Sever erupted with a sharp Black Baleful Saber Glow. With a heavy, powerful slash, he aimed directly at the joint of the Puppet's raised arm!

To catch the bandits, first catch their leader; to break a move, first sever the limb!

Clang—!

An extremely ear-piercing sound of clashing metal echoed through the hall! Sparks flew in all directions!

Xu Yuan felt a massive counter-shock force travel up from the hilt of his saber, and his body involuntarily slid back several steps.

He focused his gaze and saw that where Ink Sever had struck the Puppet's arm joint, it had only left a slash mark about half an inch deep. He hadn't managed to sever it as expected!

He hadn't even managed to fully interrupt its movement. Although the energy beam dissipated, the Puppet's arm still moved freely!

"Such hard material!"

Xu Yuan was secretly alarmed.

His Ink Sever was a Second-rank High Grade Magical Artifact, incomparably sharp. Combined with his sharp Saber-fiend Spiritual Qi, it could only cause this much damage?

The physical strength of this Puppet's body could probably rival a Body Cultivator at the Mid-Foundation Establishment Stage!

"Intruder... eliminate..."

The Puppet emitted a cold, mechanical voice. The red light in its eyes flared as it took heavy steps, closing in once more.

Its other arm swept across, bringing with it a whistling wind. Its strength was staggering!

Xu Yuan didn't dare take it head-on and dodged again.

The heavy metal arm smashed into a nearby stone pillar. Instantly, stone chips flew, and the pillar—which would have required two people to encircle—was snapped in two!

This Puppet possessed infinite strength, astonishing defense, and was tireless and fearless of pain, like a perfect killing machine.

Although Xu Yuan's saber techniques were exquisite and his movement was agile enough, most of his attacks only left shallow white marks or fine cracks on the Puppet, failing to cause substantial damage.

Inside the hall, the sounds of booming were incessant, turning the already dilapidated hall into an even greater mess.

However, as the battle continued, Xu Yuan keenly sensed something unusual.

Although the Puppet's attacks were still fierce, its movements seemed... to lack a bit of fluidity?

Between its turns and changes of moves, there was occasionally an extremely subtle sense of stagnation.

Furthermore, the red light flickering in its eyes didn't seem as stable or bright as at the beginning, occasionally flickering slightly.

"That's it!" Xu Yuan's heart stirred. "Time is ruthless! No matter how powerful a Puppet is, after experiencing such vast stretches of time, its internal Energy Core and driving array patterns must have suffered wear and tear!"

This discovery greatly boosted Xu Yuan's spirits!

He immediately changed his strategy. No longer seeking to break through with brute force, he relied on his more agile movement to begin kiting and circling the Puppet.

Xu Yuan no longer struck easily. He simply kept moving, baiting the Puppet's attacks to increase its energy consumption.

Time passed bit by bit.

The red light in the Puppet's eyes flickered more and more frequently, and the stagnation in its movements became increasingly obvious.

Finally, after another mechanical arm swing missed its mark, the Puppet's massive body suddenly jerked to a halt.

The crimson light in its eyes flickered rapidly a few times, turned extremely dim, and finally... went out completely.

The raised arm dropped powerlessly, and the massive metal body lost all power. It stood frozen in place, emitting a heavy thud, and moved no more.

Dead silence returned to the hall. Xu Yuan held his saber and watched vigilantly for a moment. Once he confirmed the Puppet had truly run out of energy and stopped moving, he finally breathed a slow sigh of relief.

"What an exquisite Puppet... If not for its great age, lack of energy, and worn-out array patterns, I'm afraid I would have had to turn and leave today."

Xu Yuan slowly approached the depowered metal Puppet. His fingers lightly brushed over its cold, hard torso. The sensation was icy, and his eyes couldn't help but show a complex look of admiration mixed with regret.

"Exquisite construction, extraordinary materials, and the energy level of the drive core is also extremely high... The creator of this Puppet must have had unfathomable attainments in the art of Puppetry."

"If it were in its pristine Peak state, with ample energy and undamaged array patterns, its strength would likely be enough to rival or even surpass an ordinary Mid-Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator."

Xu Yuan sighed softly. He even suspected that in its Peak period, the Puppet might have possessed even more powerful attack modes or defensive measures that it hadn't shown.

Shaking his head to cast aside the bit of regret in his mind, Xu Yuan held Ink Sever and cautiously continued to explore deeper into the hall.

The interior of this main hall was broader and deeper than it appeared from the outside.

Passing through the front hall where he had first encountered the Puppet, the area behind it was even more dilapidated and messy. Fallen stone pillars and shattered statues could be seen everywhere, and a thick layer of dust covered everything.

However, before he had gone far, Xu Yuan's footsteps stopped again, and his pupils contracted slightly.

He saw that in the even dimmer areas on both sides of the hall, leaning against the walls, more tall, dark shadows stood indistinctly!

Xu Yuan's heart tightened. He immediately went on full alert, holding Ink Sever across his chest as his Divine Sense carefully swept out.

But... there was only dead silence.

Those dark shadows didn't move at all.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath and carefully moved closer, finally seeing the true faces of those shadows—they were actually metal Puppets almost identical to the previous one!

The quantity was such that a rough glance revealed dozens of them!

Xu Yuan's heart rate couldn't help but speed up a bit.

He held his breath and sensed carefully, finding that there was no light in these Puppets' eyes, nor was there the slightest energy fluctuation around them. They were like dead objects.

Xu Yuan tentatively touched one of them with his scabbard.

There was no reaction.

Only dust fell rustling down.

Xu Yuan checked several others, and the situation was exactly the same.

Their Energy Cores seemed to have completely dried up over the long years, and the internal array patterns were likely completely defunct, turning them into true metal statues.

"So many Foundation Establishment Stage guard Puppets... Just what was the background of this hall's master?"

What kind of powerful Sect or staggering force would be required to use dozens of Foundation Establishment Stage Puppets just to guard the entrance of a hall?

The Puppet that was still active just now was likely only because its position was the outermost, and the energy remaining in its core was a sliver more than the others, allowing it to barely sustain itself until it was triggered and activated by him.

And such a Mid-Foundation Establishment Stage Puppet was perhaps only the most ordinary link in this ruin's defensive forces?

"The origin of this ruin is likely much more staggering than I imagined..."

Xu Yuan murmured to himself. He stopped lingering and quickened his pace, heading rapidly toward the deepest part of the hall, the direction of the core area.