Chapter 182: The Impatient Holy Son of Tai Chu
“Not bad.”
Bai Feng nodded with satisfaction, gazing at the cracks on the ground.
Though it was a metal puppet, its speed was no slouch. Besides the ‘Sun Reflection’ move, he had also incorporated other techniques of the Holy Son of Tai Chu, making it more than sufficient for the final boss of his level.
Next, he just needed the Holy Son of Tai Chu to help ‘test’ it out, and if everything went well, it would be time to ‘go live.’
“Now, all that’s left is to set up the arena.”
As Bai Feng pondered, he waved his hand, signaling the puppet to retreat. Behind the metal puppet stood seven or eight wooden puppets, but these wooden ones were dressed in nothing but the bare essentials—just holding decent long swords.
He already had a plan in mind for the arena.
While he couldn’t whip up a complex setup in a short time, he didn’t need one for simulating unexpected situations.
He intended to move some trees over and use the terrain array’s environmental section to create a mist that would restrict divine consciousness exploration.
“It’s a shame the semi-transparent puppets require too expensive materials. Otherwise, they’d craft a much cooler effect.”
Bai Feng sighed in regret, then stuffed the puppets into a prepared storage bag and set off to lay out the arena.
……
“This is the spot.” Lin Yan, who was helping to guide them, stopped.
He looked at the forest ahead. If he remembered correctly, wasn’t this just an open field a moment ago?
“I’m so excited!”
The Holy Son of Tai Chu, Pei An, also gazed at the forest ahead, sensing waves of spirit power emanating from it.
“Did Bai Shidi plant all these trees?” Jiang Ling asked curiously. “What’s he planting all these trees for?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Pei An smirked slightly and stepped forward into the forest, already sensing the fun beginning.
Meanwhile, inside the forest.
Bai Feng arranged the puppets, each clad in shabby gray-white robes, amidst the mist, making it difficult to spot them hiding behind the trees.
“This is almost perfect; just in time for the guests to arrive.”
He sensed that Lin Yan, Pei An, and others had entered the forest and walked to greet them.
“This mist seems to block divine consciousness detection.”
Lin Yan looked around. Outside, he hadn’t felt anything significant, but once inside the forest, visibility plummeted to just two or three meters.
“It must be an array at work. No wonder Bai Shidi is impressive; this environment suits my tastes perfectly,” Pei An nodded with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ling muttered quietly, “I can’t see anything! How am I supposed to watch the battle?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve added a couple of image retainers to the array for live broadcasting.”
Just then, Bai Feng’s voice came from ahead as he stepped out of the mist to appear before Lin Yan and Jiang Ling.
“When do we start?” Pei An stepped forward, impatiently asking.
“Anytime you’re ready,” Bai Feng replied with a grin. “Just keep moving forward to trigger the ‘enemies’ hidden in the forest. If you make too much noise, they’ll come after you, and you’ll have to deal with multiple opponents.”
“Sweet! That’s exactly what I want!” Pei An’s excitement grew, “I’m off!”
Saying that, he dashed forward and vanished before the others’ eyes.
“Let’s step back for now.” Bai Feng turned his gaze to Lin Yan and Jiang Ling, finally fixing his eyes on Jiang Ling. “By the way, Jiang Shijie, why are you here? Aren’t you usually not interested in battles?”
“But I am very interested in spectacles,” Jiang Ling smiled. “Besides, it’s the work of the genius of array who can hold his own against the Spirit Sealing Sect. I have to come see it!”
“Just don’t be too surprised.”
Bai Feng teased with a chuckle.
Soon enough, the three of them retreated from the forest, while intense waves of spirit power surged from within, indicating Pei An had encountered the puppets hiding inside.
Bai Feng raised a hand to summon a light screen, showing Pei An cautiously walking through the misty woods.
When there were many people around, it felt fine, but alone, one could sense how suffocating the misty environment was—as if enemies were lurking everywhere, ready to pounce at any moment.
However, this was nothing for Pei An. He examined his surroundings with relaxed grace, as if strolling through his backyard.
Suddenly, he stopped and dodged back as a wooden puppet dropped from the tree, swinging its sword toward where he had just stood.
“Finally made your move, huh?”
He glanced at the wooden puppet gripping the sword, a hint of interest sparking on his face.
Then, the wooden puppet charged at him again, its swordplay showcasing skill comparable to a true sword cultivator.
“Seems like there’s a bit of Zhao Shidi’s flair in this!”
Pei An observed closely, weaving through the wooden puppet’s attacks with ease, not even bothering to draw his own weapon.
Inside his mind, he couldn’t help but admire — Bai Shidi truly had some talent; it felt like he was battling Zhao Shidi for real!
But if this was all there was, it wouldn’t light the fire of his fighting spirit!
At that moment, a whooshing sound came from behind him. He quickly dodged as two wooden puppets zipped past him, disappearing into the mist.
“Now they’re trying sneak attacks too?”
Pei An couldn’t help but smirk, placing one hand on his sword hilt.
He had to take back what he said earlier—this was getting entertaining!
Outside, Bai Feng was watching Pei An, who seemed to be deep in a tough fight, but he felt no worry at all.
He knew exactly what level his wooden puppets were at. If ordinary disciples faced them, it might be a bit dangerous, but against the Holy Son of Tai Chu, these puppets were hardly a match.
Jiang Ling’s expression, on the other hand, turned serious, “Bai Shidi, this array of yours is rather interesting!”
Although the shabby robes obscured them, she could tell they were wooden puppets. No, maybe not puppets—after all, these were too agile to be mere puppets.
She had seen puppets before, but they were usually stiff and awkward, relying on bizarre mechanisms for surprise attacks that were nothing like the ‘puppets’ in Bai Shidi’s array.
There were indeed agile puppets, and even those with weapon spirits that behaved like ordinary people, but the issue was that such high-end puppets were too expensive to waste on casual use.
She truly wondered how Bai Shidi crafted such lively ‘puppets.’ Was it connected to the array?
Just then, a noise crackled through the trees, prompting her to glance at the light screen instinctively. Her expression briefly faltered—two red lights flickered in the mist.
As the red lights drew closer, a blurred black figure emerged.
It was a towering humanoid puppet draped in a gray robe, exuding an oppressive aura. Its eyes glowed with sinister red light, resting a hand on the hilt of its sword, each heavy footfall resonating like a drumbeat, sending waves of tension through the air.
