Chapter 112: Three Strikes!
Inside the world ring, there were a total of 200 mechanical puppets crafted from F8-grade Zibing Iron Mother.
Their appearances had all been modified by Oriana to better match the emblem's carvings, conforming to the aesthetics of the Ancient God Tribe.
With a sweep of his ethereal divine power, the gaunt old man made the two hundred puppets appear out of thin air in the cavernous chamber.
At the same time, he sent his divine power into the mechanical puppets, attempting to imprint his life mark and take control.
"What's going on? Why can't I claim ownership?"
The old man was growing anxious—so much so that he became enraged, turning to glare at "Scott." His eyes once again flared up like burning stars.
Jiang Zhe hurriedly said, "My lord, please don't be angry. To bind these puppets, you must cultivate puppet techniques. Our lineage has special soul-seeding secret methods that can bring these iron lumps to life and make them serve us."
Being a native raised under the Virtual Universe Company's control, the local technology was extremely backward. Where had he ever seen the Mechanical Race's war techniques?
Even if he felt something was off and it didn't quite match the Ancient God puppets in his mind, these were still F-grade puppets. It was a huge bargain!
Besides, this little Saint-level native was already under his charm technique. What tricks could he possibly pull?
The old man pressed, "Then tell me quickly—how do I cultivate these puppet techniques?"
"My lord, allow me to present the treasure that holds the inheritance of the puppet master lineage. Once you recognize it, everything will become clear."
As he spoke, Jiang Zhe took the treasure umbrella from his back, pulled away the black cloth strap, and revealed a canopy studded with gemstones, radiating a special kind of aura.
The old man's divine power immediately snatched the Primal Umbrella from Jiang Zhe's hands.
"Haha! You rascal—you didn't deceive me."
His skeletal hand trembled as he stroked the umbrella's surface, his eyes reflecting the brilliance of the gems—filled with joy and greed.
"Haha, it's imbued with the essence of the Laws of Space, and seems to have some traces of Time too. Even if I can't bind it, simply holding it and comprehending it will still grant me a small increase in strength…"
As his immortal divine power poured into the umbrella, it was like sinking a stone into the sea, yet the umbrella's glow intensified, emitting even stronger spatial and temporal essence, as if responding to his attempt at binding.
What a treasure!
The old man silently praised it and continued pouring his divine power into the Primal Umbrella.
Jiang Zhe stepped closer, adding fuel to the fire. "My lord, actually, there's one more important treasure in the puppet master lineage's inheritance—it's this puppet I've bound."
With a wave of his hand, a life-sized brass lady puppet appeared between them.
"I'll remove my ownership now and present it to you, hoping to earn your favor and become your disciple."
The old man cast a glance, then couldn't look away.
Even without probing it with his divine power, he could feel how exquisitely made this puppet was.
"This… isn't it a bit much?"
Though he spoke modestly, his expression was perfectly honest. His eyes were locked onto the puppet's ruby scimitar—it was clearly an extraordinary weapon.
"Master, what's wrong with it? As a disciple, it is only right that I—"
"Hm?"
"—die serving you!"
With that heavy emphasis, the Primal Umbrella's light suddenly surged to its peak.
A spherical area with a 10-meter radius around it filled with mist-like light, producing a "Tyndall effect"—it looked dreamily beautiful.
But standing within it, the old man was stricken with terror.
Because the surrounding time and space abruptly froze. His mind could still think, but his body couldn't move at all—like a fish trapped in plaster.
The Candlelight Clone's innate secret skill, [Abyss]!
—Through the scattered radiance, it could influence and control the surrounding time and space.
Of course, under normal circumstances, how could a peak Universe-level being possibly suppress the time-space of an Immortal?
It would be like a Universe-level Deimos beast trying to freeze the time flow of a Domain Lord.
But the Candlelight Clone could push this secret skill so far due to several factors:
First, the Candlelight Clone had genes 10,000 times the baseline, so the strength of its time-space control was so high that even a World Tree of the same level couldn't compare—let alone a mere Deimos beast.
Second, the Primal Umbrella also carried spatial-temporal properties. Through the gems on its canopy, it radiated enlightening light, subtly boosting this effect.
Although Jiang Zhe hadn't been strong enough to fully activate the umbrella since binding it, it was far from just a decorative stick. It also had functions like soul protection, interior space, and special gem effects.
In short, a Universe-level pushing across three tiers to control an Immortal's time-space was still quite forced.
Thus, [Abyss] only lasted an extremely brief moment.
Like a thin layer of ice on a lake in early winter, it cracked almost instantly. The old man broke free of the frozen time-space in less than a thousandth of a second.
But for a Domain Lord, that tiny window was enough to react.
Oriana poured origin force into the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, activating its first restriction.
At the same time, she triggered her innate secret skill [Executor]—
everything Jiang Zhe had comprehended about the laws and his combat skills could be perfectly synchronized to her.
Anything that matched her body could be flawlessly executed.
Oriana used the explosive techniques from the "Nine Refinements Fist", channeling all her insights into the Laws of Time and Space into her footwork, gaining terrifying instantaneous speed.
She moved so fast that even the Immortal's eyes widened in shock—he had never seen such a monster with law insights at this level.
Oriana closed in and swung her blade.
"How dare you! Die!"
By now, the old man had broken free of [Abyss].
But the strike was already unavoidable. Not that he feared a mere Domain Lord could harm him.
His top priority was killing the main body.
His ethereal divine power lunged at Jiang Zhe, straight for his soul.
Pop!
Scott's head burst like a smashed watermelon.
But Jiang Zhe's consciousness had long since retreated, and the Candlelight Clone merely lost a disposable "mortal vessel."
Scott's final act—was to take out all 800 F6-grade mechanical puppets from the world ring, the entire remaining stock of Jiang Zhe's F-grade mechanical army!
The blood-colored scimitar slashed across the old man's body, tearing a savage wound from left shoulder to right ribcage and injecting blood poison into his immortal body.
She activated the secret technique [Annihilate]!
One strike—piercing armor, wounding the body!
"Argh! The pain!"
The cavern echoed with a hysterical scream.
The blood poison rapidly spread through his body, bringing extreme agony that nearly robbed the old man of coherent thought. He wanted to roll on the ground.
An Immortal!
What toxin or pain could possibly affect an Immortal?
More terrifying, that one strike directly obliterated 10% of his divine body.
"Argh! The pain—!"
Then he burst into laughter. "Hahaha, is that all—just pain? I can endure it. It can't kill me. I don't believe the toxin will keep working. I'll definitely survive this!"
"I'll be the final victor! It's me—it's me!"
"The umbrella! The blade! The puppets! They're all mine, hahahaha!"
His hoarse laughter abruptly cut off. The old man saw the brass puppet—supposedly uncontrollable—once again swing its blade at him.
"You—what? How are you—?"
"He's dead! How are you still moving?"
Panicked, he hurriedly unleashed his law domain. Roaring flames of law surged forward, trying to engulf Oriana.
Suddenly, the cavern scenery shifted into a vast mountain range—a powerful world projection pressed down, instantly extinguishing the roaring flames and completely collapsing his law domain.
"A world projection? That's right, you're a Domain Lord!"
The old man finally remembered—but how could there be such a terrifying Domain Lord who could crush his domain? How large must her inner world be?
It was beyond the knowledge of this native Immortal.
He did not want to suffer another strike. Planning to flee, he launched his strongest soul attack.
But raised in the sheltered Ancient God World, he had never met someone like Oriana—immune to soul attacks.
The world projection bore down, restraining the old man and dragging at his movements, ruining his evasive steps.
Oriana landed another slash.
[Annihilate] again!
Another 10% of his divine body was obliterated.
This second strike also harmed his soul.
"ARGH! THE PAIN! THE PAIN—!"
The double agony overwhelmed his feeble will, rendering him nearly useless, writhing on the ground and smashing the stone vats that held Ancient God blood.
Oriana didn't relax. With terrifying burst speed, she closed in to deliver a third strike—hoping to trigger the "execution" effect and finish him.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Streams of red light shot out from around the old man—they were fiery short spears manipulated by his ethereal power.
Guessing Oriana was immune to soul attacks, the old man used his controller-level techniques and sent a distress signal via his communicator to every inspector across the continent.
Nine short spears fused into a blazing red lance, surging forward with scorching heat and terrifying force to skewer Oriana.
Enduring agony, the old man smashed into the cavern wall, trying to open a tunnel to escape.
As long as he reached open skies, how could a mere Domain Lord catch up to him? He was confident.
Facing the blazing lance, Oriana adjusted her angle, raised her arm, and slashed it down—like a commander ordering an assault.
Behind her, nearly a thousand F-grade mechanical puppets' eyes all lit up with purple light, responding to their queen's call.
Crackle!
Almost two thousand lightning beams converged into a single dark purple energy column as thick as a barrel, shooting where Oriana pointed.
Infused with the laws of lightning and time, it was a devastating strike. Without the mechanical weapon [Purple Star Realm] to quickly recharge, these thousand puppets could only fire such a blast once.
The fierce red lance was instantly shattered.
The dark purple energy beam didn't slow—like a thunder dragon, it bored into the wall and smashed into the fleeing old man, pushing him through the mountain and carving a scorched tunnel thousands of kilometers long.
Oriana burst into speed again, caught up, and found the old man still clinging to life—his strength reduced to less than a hundredth, wracked by pain to the point of losing awareness, oblivious to her approach.
She brought down the third strike.
And granted him release.
His genes collapsed, turning to ash.
(End of the Chapter)
---
[A/N: Want to read more chapters in advance?
Check out my P@treon at "DigitalToons" for early access and exclusive content!
You can read 100+ chapters there in advance.
```And free members can read 2 chapters ahead of WN.
``` ]