Supreme Dragon Lord

Xu Huanhuan was momentarily baffled by the situation, but she quickly had a realization. The entrance had clearly stirred a moment ago, yet ultimately, nothing had happened. There could only be one explanation: the energy provided was insufficient! At this thought, everything became clear to her.

She turned to He Luo and Xue Wuying. "It must be that we haven’t collected enough Wind Thunder Crystals. Let’s hurry and gather more. The entrance to the Fourth Layer will probably only open when the energy from the crystals is sufficient."

"That makes sense." After hearing Xu Huanhuan, He Luo, Xue Wuying, and the others all agreed she had a point. Besides, they couldn’t think of any other possibilities at the moment, so they immediately acted on her suggestion.

After successfully entering the passage, Long Chen’s group arrived on the Fourth Layer of the tower.

"Master, you must all be extremely careful from here on out," the Bloodthirsty Bat said to Long Chen and the others. "My knowledge is limited, and I am completely unaware of the situation here. However, this place will undoubtedly be fraught with danger. You must be cautious."

Hearing the Bloodthirsty Bat’s reminder, Long Chen merely gave a slight nod without saying a word. His eyes, however, narrowed slightly as he activated his Divine Demon Eye, attempting to observe the situation on this layer thoroughly.

The entire floor was shrouded in darkness. To his surprise, however, even after activating his Divine Demon Eye, he discovered nothing out of the ordinary. Everything around them appeared normal.

The more this was the case, the more cautious Long Chen became. He knew all too well that the greatest risks often lie in what cannot be seen. "There’s something strange about this place," Long Chen warned everyone in a low voice.

Hearing his words, Long Xin and the others nodded immediately. Their gazes constantly swept their surroundings as they carefully observed the area to guard against any surprises.

As Long Chen’s group ventured deeper, a bloodcurdling roar suddenly echoed through the chamber. The sound immediately seized their attention. They stopped in their tracks, looking around to try and pinpoint the source of the noise. But the sound reverberated from all directions, making it impossible to locate.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Just then, several figures flickered in and out of sight. Long Chen and the others instantly went on high alert. They stood back-to-back, each one carefully monitoring their sector and ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a Qi Blade materialized out of thin air, carrying an immensely powerful force as it blasted toward them. Long Chen was the first to sense the danger. He reached out, his hand gripping the Blackwind Sword tightly, and immediately swung it.

THUD!

He unleashed a wave of Sword Qi that collided with the aerial Qi Blade, producing a dull sound. A ripple of energy burst from the collision, sweeping outward in all directions.

"Hehe... A bunch of little whelps. Welcome to the world of the Shadow Ghost," a sinister and eerie voice drifted down from above.

"Who?" Long Chen shouted coldly. "Who’s playing pathetic tricks?"

Solemn expressions appeared on the faces of Long Xin and Chu Lingjun. They furrowed their brows, their gazes scanning the area, trying to find the speaker hidden in the shadows.

However, before Long Chen could figure out who it was, a series of eerie sounds followed one after another from behind them, sending a shiver down their spines. Countless Qi Blades suddenly appeared out of nowhere, shooting directly at Long Chen and the others.

"Watch out!" Long Chen quickly warned Long Xin and the others before swiftly dodging.

Fortunately, Long Xin’s group was responsive enough. Despite their limited visibility, they were also able to evade, and all the incoming Qi Blades missed their mark. Following the attack, the area fell silent once more.

Warily, Long Chen and the others proceeded deeper inside. After they reached a certain point, dozens of red glows suddenly appeared ahead of them. At the sight, Long Chen’s expression turned grim. He saw clearly that not far ahead stood more than a dozen burly figures. The red glows were the light emanating from their eyes.

Using his Divine Demon Eye, Long Chen could see the dozen or so figures with perfect clarity. They weren’t human—to be precise, they were Puppets! Their eyes were lifeless and hollow, and their bodies exuded a gloomy, fierce aura.

Before Long Chen’s group could react, the Puppets’ gazes locked onto them, and they immediately launched an attack. Seeing this, the nerves of Long Chen and his companions tensed instantly. The dozen or so Puppets were powerful and had already encircled them.

"These are all Puppets! Everyone, be careful," Long Chen warned.

Tang Le frowned. "How can there be so many Puppets here?"

No one could answer that question. Before they could even begin to understand what was happening, the dozen Puppets launched a ferocious assault. Witnessing this, Long Chen remained impassive as he raised his hand. The incomparably sharp Blackwind Sword thrust directly at the Puppets!

CLANG!

To Long Chen’s surprise, his Blackwind Sword only created a shower of sparks when it struck them, inflicting no damage whatsoever. The attacks from Tang Le and the others were similarly ineffective; they had no effect on the Puppets at all.

Lei Shishi was astonished. "These Puppets have metallic bodies!"

Long Xin asked calmly, "Our attacks are useless. Is there any way to break through?"

Long Chen’s brow furrowed, a solemn expression on his face. He suddenly thought of something and said to the others, "I have a way to handle this. Just buy me some time."

"No problem!" Chu Lingjun responded immediately, launching an attack on the Puppets to keep them from approaching Long Chen. Tang Le and the others also valiantly held off the Puppets to secure time for him.

Long Chen gave the situation a cool glance. These Puppets were not only strong but also seemingly indestructible. It would be difficult for Tang Le and the others to defeat them. In fact, they risked exhausting a great deal of their battle qi in the attempt. If this continued, they would lose control of the situation.

Thinking this, Long Chen focused his mind and slowly closed his eyes. Information about Puppets surfaced in his thoughts. This was the Puppetry Technique he had acquired from the Heavenly Demon Sect’s division on Shenmo Mountain. It contained profound knowledge on controlling and countering Puppets.

I never thought it would come in handy here! To overcome this predicament, I must find the solution within the Puppetry Technique!