“Back off!”

And the likes of Lian Tianlu, all the experts, dashed to the side.

“Boom!”

The gust of wind raised was much like a level twelve hurricane, tearing apart the rocky ground it passed over and uprooting the protective railing at the entrance of the mountain village, breaking and throwing it through the air.

“Hiss!”

And Duanmu Tao, who bore the brunt, did not take the hit head-on. His body moved like a thrown knife, leaving a grey afterimage, and he flew past the colossal palm before it came down. He unsheathed a dark red combat blade from his waist and as he flew past, he slashed along the side of Xie Kui, the sound of metal scraping accompanied by sparks flying, yet it was unable to inflict any damage.

“This Xie Kui’s body strength is more astonishing than Shi Bupo’s; the latter relies on his innate talent and bloodline divine skills, while Xie Kui depends on body cultivation perfected through diligent training!”

Witnessing this scene, Su Changkong inwardly admired the fact that Xie Kui indeed was extremely strong, having trained his own body to be even more formidable than someone like Shi Bupo, who relied on natural bloodline talents!

“Leave Xie Kui to the Lord to deal with; we’ll take care of the other three.”

Lian Tianlu swiftly said. Xie Kui, as the master of the Puppet Star Sect, is indeed much stronger than an average Five-Qi Grandmaster, but Duanmu Tao was by no means a weakling. What they needed to do was deal with the other three black-robed individuals.

These three black-robed figures must also be powerhouses from the Evil Sect of the Demon Gate, each with their own extraordinariness.

“Boom!”

As the words fell, Lian Tianlu’s foot stamped the ground, propelling him like a cannonball towards the black-robed figure on the nearest rooftop, a pale-faced man with a sinister aura.

“Then I’ll play along with you!”

The chilling black-robed man snorted coldly. Suddenly, he opened his mouth wide and let out a piercing scream.

“Gaah!”

The scream was so sharp and piercing that anyone who heard it felt dizzy and nauseous, and as he clenched his right fist, he gathered the pervasive sound waves. With a push of his fist, it brought out a piercing screech.

“Boom!”

Lian Tianlu’s fists collided with his, the harsh, explosive sounds echoing incessantly, and the wooden house upon which they stood shattered, sending wood chips flying everywhere while the sinister man was thrown backward through the air.

As the second in command of the Demon Suppressing Department, Lian Tianlu’s power was naturally superior even to Qi Gang. Being a Five-Qi Grandmaster, Lian Tianlu had strength beyond that of the chilling man, though the latter was strong.

But amidst the flying wood chips, a portly black-robed man charged out at an angle, slamming into Lian Tianlu like a wild elephant, his robe swelling up as though inflated.

“Out of the way!”

Lian Tianlu bellowed in anger, raising his hand to deliver a crushing punch that cut through the clouds and mists, dragging an afterimage. The weighty blow sent the portly man flying over a dozen feet like a rubber ball, but he bounced back, landing lightly, unaffected by the force of Lian Tianlu’s punch!

“Together!”

The other four experts from the Demon Suppressing Department didn’t hesitate, ready to move forward and assist.

“Be careful!” But suddenly, a man in green shouted. He had seen a disheveled man lunging from a nearby house, his face twisted in a blend of terror.

“Stay back! Stay back!”

The warriors’ Three Flowers Gathering at the Top instinct made them sense danger, causing them to retreat to the surroundings without hesitation.

“Boom!”

The next second, the man’s body inflated and contorted violently before exploding, with the rampaging spiritual energy roaring and wrecking like savage dragons, shattering the nearby houses.

“This…”

Everything within nearly a hundred meters was destroyed; a third of the village was devastated. The experts from the Demon Suppressing Department retreated quickly and were not injured, but they couldn’t help feeling chilled to the core.

It seemed that man was forced to self-destruct, with the energy released from the explosion of his body potent enough to seriously injure even a Three Flowers Gathering at the Top warrior if hit directly.

What struck fear into everyone even more was the appearance of several puppet-like figures from all directions around the village, likely more than thirty in number, with disordered spiritual energy inside them, threatening to explode at any moment.

“Was that… the triggering of Innate Qi? Someone must be controlling them with some method, making them self-destruct!”

Su Changkong frowned. Each Innate Martial Artist has Innate Qi within their bodies, which is actually a variant of Spiritual Energy. Amongst the Puppet Star Sect’s experts, someone can trigger the explosion of an Innate Martial Artist’s Innate Qi, turning them into bombs to harm their foes!

“Those black-robed people captured the Innate Martial Artists to turn them into human bombs? Could it be…”

Su Changkong realized something. He scanned the surroundings and immediately recognized several familiar figures around the village.

It was none other than Helian Yuan, Qian Rui, and other Innate Martial Artists of the Spirit Taoist Sect!

But at this moment, their eyes were dull and lifeless, and their bodies were involuntarily encroaching upon the village, subject to the whims of some unseen manipulator, ready to explode at any moment!

“Hehe, this Blood Puppet Technique… let’s give you a proper taste!”

Two to three miles away from the village, a black-robed elder moved his fingers as though controlling puppets, chuckling weirdly.

Though the weakest among the four Puppet Star Sect strongmen, the black-robed elder possessed the Blood Puppetry Technique, which allowed him to merge a drop of his blood into another person’s heart for control. Although very inflexible, it enabled him to detonate the controlled person’s Qi and Blood and True Qi with that drop of blood, creating tremendous destructive power.

Instead of killing the Innate Martial Artists from the several Warrior Sects they destroyed outright, the black-robed elder utilized them to create ’Blood Puppets’ to serve as human bombs!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Madara Web Novel