Yao Cheng's face was filled with shock.
"Xiangtu, you… what are you doing?"
She stared fixedly at Sima Xiangtu, unwilling even now to believe it was real.
She refused to believe that Sima Xiangtu would actually harm her.
Yet seeing Yao Cheng's tear-filled eyes, Sima Xiangtu actually smiled.
"Yao Cheng, oh Yao Cheng — with your appearance, any random member of the Demon Spirit Clan is a hundred times better than you. What do you think I saw in you? What I valued was your stupidity and your bloodline."
"Though you're far from pleasant to look at, your bloodline is the strongest within the Demon Spirit Clan — even your clan head doesn't compare."
"This puppet army of mine was crafted using the Heavenly Master's Soldiers Talisman, but it couldn't have been completed without the power of the Demon Spirit Clan's bloodline."
"These thirty-two puppets each possess the strength of a sixth-tier Half God. But because I set the cultivation requirement too high, they remain incomplete."
"However, if I refine them with your entire bloodline, they will be perfected."
Sima Xiangtu said.
"So you… you… you were deceiving me from the very beginning? You never cared for me at all?"
Yao Cheng was enduring immense pain, yet the tears streaming from her eyes were not born of physical suffering.
"I did acknowledge your talent, but I could never love someone as ugly as you."
"Rest easy. If there is a next life, I hope you'll be a little smarter."
As he spoke, a faint smile lingered at the corners of Sima Xiangtu's lips, though a flash of ruthlessness surged in his eyes.
Before long, Yao Cheng's life force was completely extinguished. She collapsed to the ground like a desiccated corpse.
Meanwhile, the formation on Sima Xiangtu's palm blazed with brilliant light.
He merged the formation in his palm with the one enveloping the thirty-two puppets.
At last, an aura began to emanate from all thirty-two of them.
Just as Sima Xiangtu had claimed, every single one of the thirty-two puppets radiated the presence of a sixth-tier Half God.
"Finally complete."
Gazing upon the thirty-two puppets, Sima Xiangtu grew wildly excited.
He knew perfectly well that with these thirty-two puppets, not only were those from the Dao Alchemy Immortal Sect no longer a threat, but Chu Feng was no longer a threat either.
His grand plan could continue.
"Is that you?"
But just then, an aged voice suddenly rang out from behind Sima Xiangtu.
It was not merely old — the tone was thick with disappointment.
He turned to look, and a figure had appeared behind him, having arrived without the slightest hint of detection.
When Sima Xiangtu saw this person, he froze.
Because he recognized him.
This man looked exactly like the stone statue enshrined within the Demon Spirit Clan.
That statue depicted the noble who had descended upon the Demon Spirit Clan tens of thousands of years ago — the very master of the talisman that created the puppet army.
But that noble had died tens of thousands of years ago. How could he appear here?
Therefore, Sima Xiangtu's first reaction was that this person was extremely strange — and extremely dangerous.
Sensing that the newcomer meant ill, Sima Xiangtu said nothing. With a flick of his wrist, the Soldiers Talisman that controlled the puppet army appeared in his hand.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
In the next instant, all thirty-two puppets charged simultaneously at the figure.
Their killing intent was fully unleashed — they intended to take his life directly.
Crack crack crack—
But the moment the puppets moved, a sound of shattering filled the air.
Sima Xiangtu stood there dumbstruck, his eyes filled with terror.
The puppets — each possessing the strength of a sixth-tier Half God — had all been reduced to piles of splintered wood scattered on the ground.
And yet, Sima Xiangtu hadn't even seen the figure lift a finger.
But in the instant those thirty-two puppets shattered, he had felt a terrifying aura unlike anything he had ever experienced.
An aura that even a peak Half God could never possess — one that far surpassed the realm of Half Gods entirely.
And that aura radiated from the figure standing before him.
"My lord, may I ask… who are you?" Sima Xiangtu asked, his voice tight with reverence.
Even his tone had become entirely submissive.
He had already realized that the person before him was very likely a terrifying existence who had surpassed the Half God realm!!!
"Who am I?"
"Where do you think that Soldiers Talisman of yours came from — don't you know?" the figure said, glancing at the talisman in Sima Xiangtu's hand.
"My lord… could it be that you… you truly are that same noble from tens of thousands of years ago?"
Sima Xiangtu asked.
It wasn't that the thought hadn't crossed his mind — he had simply considered it impossible. So much time had passed.
Yet looking at the bearing of the person before him, it truly seemed as though he was the master of the Heavenly Master's Soldiers Talisman.
The very noble who had descended upon the Demon Spirit Clan tens of thousands of years ago.
"Not stupid, after all — no wonder you managed to toy with those fools of the Demon Spirit Clan so thoroughly."
"But the person I'm looking for shouldn't be you."
"Why is the Soldiers Talisman still in your possession?"
The noble asked.
"My lord, the Soldiers Talisman has been in my possession all along."