Chapter 742: How Can the Stars Compete with the Bright Moon?
The moment Qin Yuan's thought took form, he activated the secret technique.
Instantly, the green-robed Corpse Puppet, which had been sent crashing to the ground by Wu Shenyun, began to float back into the air. With an audible crackle of bone and sinew, its deeply sunken chest visibly inflated, mending itself before their very eyes. Its aura swelled, growing stronger than before, as terrifying arcs of thunder brewed around its body, causing the very colors of the world to dim.
"This…" Witnessing this grotesque scene, the experts of the Shaman God Cult were all struck dumb. What manner of creature was this?
Its chest had been caved in completely. Its internal organs must have been pulverized, yet it hadn't died?
"This does not seem to be a living person," Wu Shenyun murmured, her phoenix eyes narrowing in deep contemplation.
She sensed that the green-robed Land Immortal before her possessed an almost negligible amount of vitality; it was a lifeless shell. Only the potent, oppressive aura it contained was real. She had initially assumed it was some esoteric secret technique, but now, that explanation felt wrong.
As a Land Immortal herself, Wu Shenyun knew that even with their incredibly resilient life force, no cultivator could suffer such grievous injuries—the utter destruction of their internal organs—and remain completely unharmed.
'A Corpse Puppet has no fatal weaknesses,'Qin Yuan thought, a smug and arrogant smirk playing on his lips.'Even if you cut off its head, it can still fight!'
"Wu Shenyun, I will give you one last chance," the green-robed Corpse Puppet declared, its voice a cold, dead monotone. "Submit, or die."
"Hmph." Wu Shenyun's phoenix eyes were as sharp as honed blades. Her gaze, serene as a deep pool, held the promise of a rising tsunami. "If this Venerable One can kill you once," she stated indifferently, "she can kill you a thousand times."
The two sides stood on the precipice of conflict, the atmosphere growing heavier and more charged with every passing second.
Meanwhile, Shen Anyu remained cloaked in the shadows, his patience absolute. He was waiting for Qin Yuan to play his true trump card.
A hunter must be patient.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just then, a series of astonishing auras erupted from all sides. Dark figures launched themselves from the shadows, their forms saturated with malevolent energy as they moved to surround Wu Shenyun.
They were all Corpse Puppets, carefully cultivated by Qin Yuan, each possessing the strength of a Grandmaster at the very least.
Dozens of Grandmaster-level Corpse Puppets, five at the Celestial level, and the single Land Immortal Corpse Puppet formed a suffocating ring around Wu Shenyun, their dead eyes fixed on her with predatory intent.
The might of so many experts unleashing their auras at once was staggering. The air itself was stirred into a frenzy, whipping about like a hurricane. At the eye of this storm, Wu Shenyun stood alone, seemingly fraught with danger.
"Venerable One, we're here to help you!" Seeing this, the expressions of Wu He and the other Shaman God Cult experts changed. Far from fleeing, they surged forward, ready to lend their aid.
On one hand, Wu Shenyun had annihilated the Blood Gu Sect, granting them the deep gratitude of vengeance. On the other, it was her sheer strength and decisive methods that had won their absolute loyalty, making them prostrate themselves at the feet of their Goddess.
"Your help is not needed. Retreat."
Wu Shenyun waved a dismissive hand, calmly ordering the Shaman God Cult experts to fall back. Her phoenix eyes swept disdainfully over the green-robed puppet and its cohort as she spoke, her voice laced with ice.
"Ants are just ants. A swarm of them is still just a swarm of ants."
Facing the encirclement of so many powerful Corpse Puppets, Wu Shenyun showed not a flicker of fear. Instead, she took a single step forward on her jade-like feet.
A dazzling, iridescent light erupted from her form, as brilliant and absolute as the full moon hanging high in the sky. Before this singular, overwhelming radiance, the combined momentum of the puppets was utterly suppressed. Their oppressive auras seemed to dim and shrink, and they were even forced back step by step.
How could a scattering of faint stars ever hope to contend with the bright moon?
'What a formidable woman!'The thought echoed in Qin Yuan's mind, a sentiment shared by the puppets he controlled. He marveled at Wu Shenyun's strength and indomitable spirit. She truly lived up to her name as the Southern Border Goddess.'It would be truly excellent to refine Wu Shenyun into a Corpse Puppet,'Qin Yuan's heart began to pound with a dark, obsessive excitement. Her peerless grace had completely captivated him.'To have her accompany me forever…'Such strength, such beauty—to refine her into an exquisite corpse puppet would be to create the ultimate collectible. She would be the crown jewel of his collection, a masterpiece of undeath that could accompany him for eternity.'Attack together! Kill her!' Qin Yuan issued the command, and the Corpse Puppets exploded with power, charging toward Wu Shenyun as one.
A flicker of disdain crossed Wu Shenyun's features. She merely clasped her slender, jade-like hands into a fist.
Countless rays of rainbow light converged from all over the Goddess's body. Power surged from her limbs and bones, gathering in her fist and condensing into a sharp, piercing beam of light.
Within the heart of the beam, the spectral image of a crimson phoenix unfurled its wings, unleashing a torrent of searing flames that painted streaks of annihilation across the void, sweeping past the charging Corpse Puppets in an instant.
An astonishing scene unfolded.
The Corpse Puppets, whose bodies were as tough as steel and impervious to blades, were instantly blasted into a shower of shattered bone and withered flesh the moment the crimson light beam touched them.
And that wasn't all. The crimson flames descended upon the fragments, consuming them utterly and erasing every last trace from existence.
Wu Shenyun's combat instincts were terrifyingly sharp. Since these things were not living beings and had no fatal weaknesses, she would simply make them vanish into thin air—reduce them to nothing but ash.
With a single punch, one Celestial Corpse Puppet and seven Grandmaster Corpse Puppets were annihilated.
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Qin Yuan's heart is bleeding. Plundered +9999 destiny value!]
…
A muscle in Qin Yuan's cheek twitched violently. Did she have any idea how much effort it took? The painstaking nights spent digging up graves, the careful process of stealing and refining each corpse…
But his frustration was quickly replaced by cold calculation. If he failed to suppress Wu Shenyun this time, his losses would be enormous.
However, as long as he captured her—a living Land Immortal—all his losses would be worth it.
A ruthless determination flashed in Qin Yuan's eyes. In an instant, he activated the Celestial Corpse Refining Divine Method, pushing the remaining Corpse Puppets to unleash an even more terrifying power, willing to damage their very foundations to take down Wu Shenyun.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under Qin Yuan's desperate control, each Corpse Puppet erupted with several times its normal power, attacking Wu Shenyun with violent, suicidal ferocity.
But Wu Shenyun stood like a goddess suspended in the air, a bastion of tranquility amidst the storm. She blocked every single attack, her form as unmoving as a mountain.
"Perish!"
Wu Shenyun's phoenix eyes were glacial. Her black hair fluttered as her red dress danced in the void, a stunning sight under the moonlight. But her beauty was a deadly one. As she extended her jade hand, each attack she unleashed was devastating.
Neither the Grandmaster Corpse Puppets nor the Celestial Corpse Puppets could withstand even half a move from her.
Even the green-robed Land Immortal Corpse Puppet was sent reeling, its form riddled with cracks and on the verge of disintegration.
The entire main hall of the Shaman God Cult's headquarters had long since been razed to the ground, obliterated by the aftershocks of their clash.
Far in the distance, the numerous experts of the Shaman God Cult knelt as one, prostrating themselves in worship, their expressions incredibly fervent.
The Venerable One was so powerful, like the bright moon in the night sky—invincible!
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Qin Yuan's heart is bleeding. Plundered +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Qin Yuan's heart is bleeding. Plundered +9999 destiny value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny Qin Yuan is exasperated and his mind is shaken. Plundered +66666 destiny value!]
…
'Damn it, damn it, damn it…'
Qin Yuan was seething, his expression a mask of extreme annoyance.
Across two lifetimes, he had always considered Shen Anyu his greatest enemy. Since his rebirth, he had painstakingly schemed and plotted, all to deal with Shen Anyu. But now, he couldn't even handle this Southern Border Goddess, Wu Shenyun?
Wouldn't that make him a complete joke?
'Wu Shenyun, if you insist… then let me show you my true trump card!'
Qin Yuan sneered, his gaze fixed with chilling intensity on the peerless Goddess who stood so proudly in the air not far away.
In the next moment, an aura of incomparable terror descended upon the battlefield. The sheer weight of this presence dwarfed that of the Land Immortal puppet. It eclipsed even Wu Shenyun's own formidable power, belonging to a realm far beyond that of any Land Immortal.
A flicker of triumph lit Shen Anyu's eyes from his hiding place. 'Finally,' he thought, the corner of his mouth curling into a faint, predatory smile. He had been waiting for a long time.
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