Those Stone Spear Soldiers could clearly have besieged the other disciples, yet several of them stubbornly guarded the statue.
It was not only the Stone Spear Soldiers. Even the Stone Hamr Warrior before him would subconsciously block the space between him and the statue. They were all protecting that thing.
Lu Fengmian narrowed his eyes.
He continued to entangle the Stone Hamr Warrior, trading blows as before, outwardly no different from earlier. Yet step by step, his movents drew him closer to the statue.
The Stone Hamr Warrior seed to sense sothing. Its assault suddenly intensified, the speed of its hamr strikes increasing, the earth shaking violently.
Lu Fengmian did not confront it head-on. He evaded while inching forward.
When he reached the statue, his wrist flicked, and the cloud-bearing fan flew from his hand!
The fan transford into a streak of light, shooting straight toward the statue’s head!
“Clang!” A crisp collision rang out.
A Stone Spear Soldier appeared from nowhere and blocked the fan. The fan struck its chest, and it shattered into rubble on the spot.
But Lu Fengmian had seen clearly: it had moved before the fan even touched it.
As though sothing had pulled it, forcing it to rush over at all costs and shield the attack with its own body.
He retrieved the fan, his gaze falling on the pile of rubble.
The fragnts trembled, beginning to reassemble. The Stone Spear Soldier was about to reform. Lu Fengmian ignored it.
He lifted his head and looked toward the gigantic statue in the center of the hall.
The array’s core was there. Only by destroying it could all this end.
“Zhou Wu.”
Hearing his voice, Zhou Wu spared a mont to glance at him.
Lu Fengmian forced the Stone Hamr Warrior back with a slash and stepped away.
“You handle this,” he said. “I’m going to attack that thing.”
Zhou Wu glanced at the statue. He asked no questions, rely nodded.
He took over the Stone Hamr Warrior, alternating fire walls and icicles to weaken it. Lu Fengmian turned and dashed toward the statue.
The mont he drew close, the surrounding Stone Spear Soldiers went mad.
They no longer cared about the other disciples, nor did they follow any formation. They charged at him desperately. One fell, another imdiately took its place; scattered, reford, and charged again.
Lu Fengmian shattered one with his sword and raised his hand to strike another.
Three, five, ten… The Stone Spear Soldiers were endless, rushing at him like moths to a fla.
The other disciples noticed the disturbance.
“Senior Brother is attacking the statue!”
“They’re protecting it!”
“Help him!”
The Wanren Peak disciples changed direction and began clearing the Stone Spear Soldiers rushing toward Lu Fengmian. The Baicao Peak disciples replenished spiritual energy, while the Tianyan Peak disciples cast binding formations, trapping the Stone Spear Soldiers in place.
The speed at which the Stone Spear Soldiers were shattered increased, and the speed at which they reford slowed.
Just as they were about to be dispersed, the ground suddenly trembled violently. No one could stand steady; they staggered left and right.
The scattered rubble on the ground seed pulled by an invisible force, moving toward the statue.
Countless fragnts piled together, surging toward the massive figure.
The statue’s eyes lit up. The rubble adhered to its body, condensing into armor and weapons, ultimately forming an even larger fra.
A colossal war puppet, dozens of zhang tall, stood in the center of the hall, looking down at the people below.
It lifted one foot and brought it down heavily.
Boom!
The ground split, forming several deep trenches. A few disciples who were already unsteady were knocked over, on the verge of falling into the cracks.
Lu Fengmian flashed forward, grabbing one with each hand and throwing them backward.
“Fall back!”
Before he finished speaking, the puppet’s fist smashed down. The fist was larger than a person, striking the ground with earth-shaking force and creating a massive crater. Stones flew everywhere.
Before they could catch their breath, a large wave of Stone Spear Soldiers surged from the shadows on both sides of the hall.
The two Stone Hamr Warriors that had been shattered reford as well. They raised their hamrs and stepped toward the crowd.
“It can summon monsters too?!”
“Why can’t we destroy them completely?!”
Panic spread once more.
Lu Fengmian swept his gaze across the battlefield.
More and more Stone Spear Soldiers appeared, and the Stone Hamr Warriors’ attacks ca in relentless waves. If this continued, everyone would be dragged down and buried here.
“Zhou Wu!”
Zhou Wu stepped forward in response.
“You take the others and hold off those small ones,” Lu Fengmian said. “Don’t let them interfere with .”
Zhou Wu glanced at the gigantic war puppet and simply nodded.
“Wanren Peak, with !”
He led the Wanren Peak disciples to et the surging Stone Spear Soldiers head-on. The Baicao Peak disciples followed, ready to replenish spiritual energy at any mont. The Tianyan Peak disciples pushed their defensive formations to the limit, stubbornly resisting the Stone Hamr Warriors’ impact.
The battlefield split into two parts.
On one side, Zhou Wu led the others in containing the smaller enemies.
On the other, Lu Fengmian alone faced the war puppet.
The war puppet towered dozens of tis taller than he did.
It lowered its head, its deep blue eyes staring at him as if at an ant.
Then it raised its hand and slamd it down.
Lu Fengmian dodged, leapt onto its arm, and sprinted upward along it. Condensing his true qi into a blade, he slashed at its neck.
“Clang!”
The sword light struck armor, leaving only a shallow white mark. The war puppet was unhard, and its other hand was already sweeping toward him. Lu Fengmian had no choice but to retreat and drop back to the ground.
He stepped back several paces, staring at the puppet’s entire body.
Troubleso.
From head to toe, it was wrapped in armor ford from condensed rubble, leaving almost no visible weakness.
But there had to be one.
As he evaded its attacks, he observed carefully. Fist after fist crashed down, growing faster and fiercer. Lu Fengmian moved through the gaps, his gaze sweeping across every part of the puppet’s body.
The seams in the armor. The joints at the connections. Was there sothing beneath the shell?
He saw a faint glow.
At the center of the war puppet’s chest, where the rubble was thickest, a trace of blue light—identical to that in its eyes—was faintly visible.
The core was there.
Lu Fengmian narrowed his eyes.
He changed direction and rushed toward that spot. The puppet seed to sense it and raised its hand to shield its chest.
The heavy armor tightened slightly, covering the faint light more firmly. It was protecting that place.
Lu Fengmian did not force a charge. Instead, he retreated a few steps and continued circling it.
One punch, two punches, three punches.
He dodged the war puppet’s attacks, each ti appearing barely able to escape, yet each ti bringing him one step closer to his target.
The puppet’s fists grew faster and more violent, trying to drive him back.
But Lu Fengmian did not retreat.
He charged again, swinging his sword at the wrist—the joint where the arm connected.
“Crack!” The sound of armor breaking.
The war puppet’s movent paused for a split second.
That split second was enough.
Lu Fengmian did not strike the weak point. Instead, he deliberately collided head-on with the puppet’s descending palm.
Bang!
He was struck by the blow and sent flying, crashing into one of the hall’s pillars.
“Senior Brother!” soone shouted.
The war puppet had already withdrawn its hand, preparing the next attack. Its full attention was now fixed on this troubleso ant.
It did not notice that when it had struck, the dim light at its chest had been exposed.
And that was precisely what Lu Fengmian had been waiting for.
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