No! Yang Kai suddenly realized something, and his expression shifted.
A true Corpse Puppet should possess some of the divine abilities and secret arts it had when alive, but ever since this Corpse Puppet had started fighting, Yang Kai had not seen it employ any powerful techniques. All of its attacks were straightforward and blunt—pure fist strikes. Even when cornered, it could only spit corpse poison.
It didn't seem to possess the formidable characteristics of a true Corpse Puppet.
This Corpse Puppet before him... was flawed! Yang Kai's mind suddenly cleared.
In other words, this Corpse Puppet was nothing more than a half-finished product—a failure that had never been refined to its peak. Thinking about it, it made sense. No matter how powerful a martial artist might be, even one at the Third-Order Emperor Realm, the torment and agony of refining oneself into a puppet would be virtually unbearable. The slightest mishap would result in failure.
Yang Kai estimated that the Thousand Leaves Sect Master of that generation had failed to achieve perfection during the refinement process, ultimately turning himself into a flawed product.
At that thought, Yang Kai felt a surge of spirit.
If this had been a true Third-Order Emperor Realm Corpse Puppet, he would have had no chance of winning. But if it was merely a failed, flawed creation, he wasn't without hope. All he needed was to find its weak point and strike there.
With that in mind, Yang Kai immediately shouted, "Keep it occupied! Buy me some time!"
The moment he finished speaking, he activated the World Cleansing Demon Eye, directing his gaze at the Corpse Puppet for a careful inspection. A golden light bloomed from his left eye, seeming to pierce through the surface of things and peer deep within, discerning the structural patterns hidden inside.
Though Liu Yan and the Dharma Manifestation had no idea what he intended, they picked up on something from his tone. Liu Yan immediately poured everything she had into driving her special flames against the Corpse Puppet, locked in a stalemate with the corpse poison it spewed forth.
Meanwhile, the Dharma Manifestation, which had been sent flying, rallied and charged back. This time, it didn't recklessly rush at the Corpse Puppet. Instead, it reached one hand downward and gripped the air. In an instant, the Law of Earth radiated outward, and the soil beneath its feet transformed into a fluid-like substance, slowly flowing and swirling as it was drawn upward.
In the blink of an eye, a pillar-like earthen spear materialized in its grasp. Though the spear was composed entirely of local soil, the power of the Law coiling around it made it no less formidable than a Dao Source-grade Artifact.
The Dharma Manifestation gripped the spear and hurled it forward with all its might.
Boom...
A visible vacuum channel was torn through the void as the spear hurtled straight into the Corpse Puppet. A muffled clang of metal rang out, and sparks erupted across the Corpse Puppet's body.
But this blow only produced a small dent in the Corpse Puppet's body—it failed to pierce clean through.
"That hard?" The Dharma Manifestation was shocked.
It knew the destructive power of that strike all too well—it was absolutely a blow that could grievously wound an Emperor Realm cultivator. Yet against the Corpse Puppet, it accomplished nothing, which spoke volumes about the sheer hardness of its body. This Corpse Puppet's physical form was simply superior to that of an Emperor-grade defensive Artifact.
If even such a blow couldn't wound it, how were they supposed to win this fight? The Dharma Manifestation couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
It seemed that the strike had ignited the Corpse Puppet's fury. The moment the earthen spear shattered against its body, the Corpse Puppet let out a furious roar and spat out an even more savage torrent of corpse poison. The stalemate it had maintained with Liu Yan instantly collapsed. The vivid green corpse poison surged toward Liu Yan's position at terrifying speed, completely overwhelming her flames.
Seeing this, the Dharma Manifestation's expression turned grim. It gritted its teeth, reached out and gripped the air once more. The next instant, a massive battle axe appeared in its palm. A thick, pitch-black aura of evil swirled around the axe, seeming to evoke the deepest darkness and negative emotions buried in one's heart—an aura that chilled one to the bone.
The Demon Weapon Battle Axe!
This was a demonic war weapon left behind by an ancient Great Demon, its aura of demonic energy so dense it was palpable. It had long since developed its own sentience. After Yang Kai had dragged it into the Small Sealed World, he had entrusted it to the Dharma Manifestation's care. At some point, the Dharma Manifestation had apparently begun refining it.
However, judging by the look of things, the refinement was far from complete. The moment the Demon Weapon Battle Axe appeared, the Dharma Manifestation's two eyes began to tremble violently, turning blood-red in an instant—filled with a cruel, savage aura, clearly influenced by the ancient demonic energy.
That pitch-black aura coiled around the Dharma Manifestation's massive arms like a living thing, continuously spreading to other parts of its body, gradually engulfing it in darkness.
With the battle axe in hand, the Dharma Manifestation's presence erupted outward. In that instant, it seemed to transform into that ancient Great Demon—standing tall, looking down upon all living things beneath heaven.
The spiritual energy of the entire secret realm hummed and quaked in response, and the Laws descended into chaos.
This turn of events left even Yang Kai stunned.
He had no idea when the Dharma Manifestation had started refining the battle axe. But judging from its current state, he knew they had to end this quickly. If the demonic energy fully corrupted the Dharma Manifestation, it would become a puppet enslaved by the battle axe.
With that thought, Yang Kai dared not let his attention waver any further and focused even more intently on observing the Corpse Puppet's weak points.
On the other side, the Dharma Manifestation had already raised the battle axe high, aiming it at the Corpse Puppet from afar.
The Corpse Puppet seemed to sense the danger as well, struggling and roaring against the mountainside, trying to wrench itself free.
Before it could act, the Dharma Manifestation brought the axe down.
That strike was like an antelope hanging its horn in the treetops—seemingly traceless and without pattern—yet it carried the weight of the ancient era, as if it had traversed the ages to arrive here, shattering time and space, altering the colors of heaven and earth, throwing the very cosmos into chaos.