Chapter 53: The Two Puppets

“Heh, you want me to test the strength of this puppet warrior? No problem!”

Chu Feng was now also a man fond of battle. Facing the puppet warrior’s charge, he lifted his Overlord’s Shadow-Swift Spear, his figure flashing as he took the initiative to meet the assault.

Clang!

The spear collided with the puppet warrior’s massive door-sized blade, sending out a shower of sparks. In the aftermath of the clash, Chu Feng was forced back by the tremendous force, sliding rapidly across the ground as if his feet were greased, unable to halt his retreat.

“What incredible strength! Stop!”

Chu Feng shouted, thrusting the Overlord’s Shadow-Swift Spear into the earth to forcibly arrest his backward momentum. He drew the spear out again, ready to face the puppet warrior once more, but found the opponent had vanished.

Stunned, Chu Feng saw a large, round object dropping from the sky, aimed straight for his head.

“Not good, dodge!”

A flickering shadow, and Chu Feng, in that perilous instant, shifted away from his original spot.

Boom!

Before the afterimage faded, that round thing crashed down exactly where Chu Feng had just stood, smashing into the ground with the force of a falling meteor and leaving a deep, gaping crater. Out of the pit, the puppet warrior stepped with ease.

Only then did Chu Feng notice that the puppet warrior could not only alter its shape but also change its size. Moments ago, it had stood at the same height as he, but now it had grown to nearly seven meters tall—more than three times his own height—a true giant.

Seeing the astonishment on Chu Feng’s face, Mu Qiaoxue smiled and said, “Chu Feng, do you understand now how formidable this puppet warrior is?”

“It’s truly formidable! But can I defeat it?” Chu Feng asked, gripping his spear tightly, still eager to cross a few more moves with the puppet.

“You cannot. This is a Divine Strength Puppet, containing a miniature power array within its body. Not to mention you—even a warrior at the tenth level of Body Refining would be unable to defeat it! However, while you cannot beat it, you can control it as you wish.”

As she spoke, Mu Qiaoxue handed Chu Feng a wooden disc about the size of a bowl’s rim. “By turning the pointer on this disc, you can control the puppet warrior, directing it to attack others or to protect you.”

“Heh, is it really that wonderful?”

Delighted, Chu Feng took the disc at once and tried adjusting the pointer. Sure enough, the puppet warrior advanced, retreated, raised its blade to attack, or stood stock still—all responding with remarkable precision.

“There’s not just this Divine Strength Puppet, but also a Divine Motion Puppet!”

Mu Qiaoxue continued, retrieving a large, square object from her storage pouch. It looked like an oversized brick, its surface etched with interlacing lines as if pieced together from countless small fragments.

With a flick of her delicate wrist, Mu Qiaoxue tossed the brick-like object out.

Crash!

With a thunderous bang, the brick burst open, sending up clouds of dust. In the blink of an eye, the brick was gone, replaced by a golden giant crab the size of a millstone, now standing before Chu Feng.

“That’s… a crab?” Chu Feng stared, wide-eyed.

“Yes, this is the Sideways Tyrant Puppet Crab! Its combat prowess doesn’t match the Divine Strength Puppet, but when it comes to navigating complex terrain, its mobility is unrivaled among the one thousand and twenty-four types of puppets! With this Divine Motion Crab at your side, even if the Storm Thunder Grotto collapses and the land is torn asunder, you need not fear!”

Mu Qiaoxue’s tone brimmed with confidence in her creations.

“Miss Mu, may I test the might of this Divine Motion Puppet?” Chu Feng’s interest was piqued.

“Of course. Stand still and watch me operate it!”

Mu Qiaoxue attached another pointer to the disc and deftly set it, her fair fingers flicking the pointer.

Chu Feng was about to ask if she was ready when he suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. The millstone-sized Divine Motion Crab shot forward at lightning speed, scooping up the earth beneath Chu Feng and carrying him onto its shell.

In the next instant, with a sharp hiss, the crab streaked across the ground like a fired arrow, hugging the earth as it raced forward. The speed was so great that a sonic boom trailed in its wake.

“Huh? This thing is moving so fast, yet I’m standing so steadily?”

Chu Feng realized the square meter of crab shell beneath his feet was perfectly stable. His feet adhered as though magnetized, making it impossible to fall off.

“Haha, marvelous! Though this Divine Motion Crab has no life, it’s truly a treasure. Just the sheer speed—why, even the fastest flying savage beasts, the Sword-Tailed Thunder Swallow among them, could scarcely keep up!”

Exhilarated by the rush, Chu Feng was nearly moved to roar to the heavens.

After the crab circled the open ground, Mu Qiaoxue manipulated the disc to bring it to a halt.

Whoosh!

With a sound like an umbrella swiftly folding, both the towering Divine Strength Puppet and the lightning-swift Divine Motion Crab reverted to their original forms—one a round, rolling sphere, the other a brick-like block.

“Miss Mu, these two puppets are astonishingly powerful. Truly ingenious!” Chu Feng exclaimed as he regarded their inert forms. “What level are they? How can they be so strong?”

“I crafted these with twelfth-level puppet-making arts. The ones you saw in the Xuanji Advanced Mechanism Hall were only sixth-level! I could have made even higher-level puppets, but with only two days and limited materials, this was the best I could do.”

Mu Qiaoxue shook her head. “Still, with these two twelfth-level puppets, your chances of survival in the Storm Thunder Grotto will be vastly increased!”

“Indeed, their value is beyond measure. Thank you, Miss Mu!” Chu Feng clasped his fists in gratitude, his appreciation evident.

Mu Qiaoxue smiled, lips curving gently. “It’s nothing. You seem to like these advanced puppets—when I’ve gathered enough materials, I’ll craft a truly intelligent spirit-powered puppet for you to admire!”

“Haha, I’ll look forward to that day!” Chu Feng laughed aloud, but inwardly pondered Mu Qiaoxue’s words—was she hinting at a wish to maintain a lasting connection with him?

Since entering the world of martial arts, Chu Feng had learned one thing: warriors in the jianghu rarely stayed in one place for life. Especially those who met by chance—even if they got along splendidly, after parting ways, he might be in the south mountains while she was by the northern sea, and they could spend a lifetime without crossing paths again.

As he mused, footsteps sounded from the edge of the green bamboo grove. From a distance, Mu Kaishan called out, “Young Master Chu, Hall Master Han from the Storm Thunder Martial Pavilion is here, riding the Cloud-Splitting Roc House, to personally escort you on your journey!”