Just as Yang Yan's expression shifted between shades of worry and helplessness—looking utterly at a loss—the source of that murderous and violent aura was drawing ever closer, less than a thousand zhang away now. Yang Kai could even hear rapid footsteps echoing in his ears.
Yang Kai sighed softly, knowing that if they didn't leave soon, it would be too late. Though the Sun True Essence was enough to keep the ordinary Corpse Soldiers at bay, who knew what methods a Corpse General who had cultivated for two thousand years might possess? Staying here any longer would bring nothing but harm.
But before Yang Kai could speak, Yang Yan's beautiful eyes suddenly lit up as if something had occurred to her. She hurriedly waved to the side and called out: "Xiao Xiao!"
The Stone Puppet, which had been devouring a mountain of rare mineral ores, heard her voice and rushed over without a moment's hesitation. By now, the dozen or so small mountains of material piled up here had been mostly consumed by the Stone Puppet, with only a fraction remaining in place.
Once the Stone Puppet arrived, Yang Yan pointed at the Sun True Essence before them and asked softly, "Can you swallow it?"
On the Stone Puppet's seemingly expressionless face, a hint of hesitation and wariness appeared. Its eyes betrayed a grave seriousness.
The Stone Puppet was born with an innate divine ability to devour all manner of mineral ores and absorb their essence. This ability was inborn and immensely powerful—it could even swallow something like an Ethereal Crystal with ease. Yet when faced with this head-sized piece of Sun True Essence, the Stone Puppet hesitated.
Clearly, even for it, this thing was extremely dangerous.
Seeing this, Yang Yan looked helpless but didn't want to force it. After all, while the Sun True Essence was incredibly precious, the Stone Puppet was equally irreplaceable. The little creature had cooperated with Yang Yan many times in refining materials, and she had long since developed a genuine affection for it—not treating it as a mere tool, but as a living being.
But what surprised Yang Yan was that after a moment of hesitation, the Stone Puppet suddenly let out a low growl, and then a brilliant light erupted from its body. The armor-like skin covering its surface began to shimmer with flowing radiance as mysterious, rune-like symbols crawled across it in ceaseless motion.
The Stone Puppet's aura underwent a dramatic transformation in an instant, giving off an impression of absolute indestructibility—as if nothing in the world could destroy it.
Both Yang Kai and Yang Yan stared in stunned silence, never having imagined the Stone Puppet possessed such an ability.
Those rune-like symbols appeared for only a brief moment before vanishing, but the Stone Puppet's already impressive armor-like skin now gleamed with dazzling light, looking truly formidable.
A series of crisp cracking sounds emanated from the Stone Puppet's joints. Then, under the dumbfounded gaze of Yang Kai and Yang Yan, the small Stone Puppet's body suddenly expanded—growing to a full three zhang in height before stopping.
It then took a heavy stride forward, its expression solemn, and approached the Sun True Essence. It extended a massive hand and grabbed for it.
A wisp of terrifying firelight flowed out from within the Sun True Essence, transforming into a fire serpent that shot straight toward the Stone Puppet's hand. The Stone Puppet seemed to bare a savage grin. Its huge hand clamped down, catching the fire serpent in its palm, and squeezed hard. Sparks scattered in all directions as the fire serpent was crushed to pieces with seemingly effortless ease.
Even so, Yang Kai noticed that the Stone Puppet's hand appeared to have partially melted, which made him wince.
With the fire serpent out of the way, the Stone Puppet seized the head-sized Sun True Essence directly and, opening its massive jaws, tossed it inside. The next instant, a muffled roar burst from the Stone Puppet's throat as if it were enduring unimaginable torment. Its body began glowing an intense crimson, and the formidable runes on its armor resurfaced one by one—each one shattering and transforming into surges of mystical power that flooded into its body, suppressing the terrifying heat.
Having completed all of this, the Stone Puppet's body shrank once more, returning to its original form in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately stowing the Stone Puppet into his Black Book space.
Earlier, having witnessed the terrifying nature of the Sun True Essence, he hadn't dared to casually put it into the Black Book space. But now that the Stone Puppet had swallowed it, there was no problem.
Naturally, everything that had transpired hadn't escaped the notice of the two Corpse Soldiers standing guard at the entrance.
Seeing that these two who had rashly invaded the Corpse Den actually had a way to take the Sun True Essence, they could no longer remain calm. They let out sharp shrieks from their mouths and charged toward them.
The female Corpse Soldier's ten fingers suddenly sprouted ten long, pitch-black nails, and with her hair disheveled like a vengeful ghost, she lunged at Yang Kai.
The male Corpse Soldier opened his mouth wide, and a dense wave of corpse qi rolled forth, hurtling straight toward the spot where Yang Kai and Yang Yan stood.
Yang Kai let out a cold snort. A golden thread shot from his hand, wrapping toward the female Corpse Soldier, while his other hand chopped through the air, sending blade-like attacks of pitch-black energy hurtling toward the male Corpse Soldier.
"Spatial Blade!" The male Corpse Soldier had already learned of some of Yang Kai's abilities from his companion, and seeing them now, he was naturally horrified. He scrambled to dodge, while the female Corpse Soldier's body was pierced straight through by the Golden Blood Thread, instantly binding her in place.
Yang Kai flicked his Golden Blood Thread once more. Golden light filled the sky as the single thread seemed to transform into a golden net, enveloping the female Corpse Soldier within.
"Impossible!" the female Corpse Soldier shrieked in disbelief, as though witnessing something inconceivable. When the golden light receded, her body had fallen apart into scattered pieces across the ground—like a crystal vase knocked over, shattered into countless fragments.