Yang Kai shook his head. "Telling me this is useless. Please, Elder Tan, tell Hua Qingsi directly. Since this formation serves you, you should be able to reach her, right?"
Tan Junhao furrowed his brow upon hearing this, looking somewhat impatient. "Young Friend Yang, I'm afraid I cannot agree to your request."
"Why?" Yang Kai frowned.
Tan Junhao said, "Box One has been isolated from my formation and is beyond my control. My voice cannot reach that side."
If this had been moments ago, he could have done it. But with Gong Tai's actions and the deployment of his own formations, Box One had completely broken free of his control.
The ability of a master formation artist was plain to see.
"Really?" Yang Kai was surprised.
But inwardly he was delighted. If that was the case, then he had no need to worry about Hua Qingsi and the others' safety. He had been thinking that since Hua Qingsi and her group were afflicted with the Heart-Gnawing Gu, their lives remained in Tan Junhao's hands at all times, putting him at a disadvantage everywhere. Hearing Tan Junhao say this now naturally filled him with joy.
Since Box One was beyond his control and even sound couldn't reach it, then trying to use the Heart-Gnawing Gu to take lives was likely nothing more than a pipe dream.
It seemed that saving the Gong family head on a whim had earned him some good karma after all.
"Very well. I've fulfilled all of your requests, Young Friend. Now it's your turn to fulfill this old man's wish," Tan Junhao said, looking at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai sighed heavily and said helplessly, "I hope I haven't misplaced my trust in Elder Tan."
As he spoke, he seemed to resign himself to his fate, flicking his finger and sending the Mysterious Boundary Bead flying toward Tan Junhao.
Tan Junhao's eyes lit up as he hurriedly reached out to grab the bead. He didn't see Yang Kai tamper with the Mysterious Boundary Bead in any way. In other words, it seemed Yang Kai was truly willing to hand it over to redeem his mother-in-law.
However, for reasons he couldn't explain, just as he was about to seize the bead, Tan Junhao suddenly felt a wave of unease.
At his level of strength, he relied heavily on his instincts. The moment he sensed something amiss, he hastily channeled his Emperor Yuan to shield his entire body, his eyes locked unblinkingly on the Mysterious Boundary Bead in case of any tricks.
It was at this moment that a black vortex abruptly appeared in front of the Mysterious Boundary Bead, like a spatial tunnel connecting two realms.
Immediately after, an enormous fist emerged from the black vortex at a leisurely pace. Bone-spur-like protrusions jutted from it in every direction, savage and terrifying, resembling sharp lances that hurtled toward him along with the fist's devastating momentum.
Tan Junhao's expression changed in an instant, his eyes going wide as saucers. He hastily raised both palms to meet the blow.
"Hahahaha!" A thunderous laugh rang out as Yang Kai followed close behind the Mysterious Boundary Bead, surging forward. "Cunning as a ghost as you are, you'll still have to drink my foot-washing water! Old dog Tan, die!"
In that moment of mortal peril, a flash of insight struck Tan Junhao's mind and he immediately recognized what this enormous fist truly was. He cried out in alarm, "Stone Puppet!"
From the secrets Hua Qingsi had revealed, Tan Junhao knew that Yang Kai's Mysterious Boundary Bead permanently housed a Stone Puppet within it. It was said to be incomparably massive, like a small mountain.
However, Hua Qingsi had also mentioned that while the Stone Puppet possessed boundless strength, its true power was comparable only to a first-stage Sovereign Emperor. As long as one used speed and agility to circle around it, it wouldn't be difficult to handle.
So Tan Junhao had never taken this so-called Stone Puppet too seriously. He was a third-stage Sovereign Emperor, after all. Even if the Stone Puppet's strength was tremendous, it was useless if it couldn't land a hit.
When he had first glimpsed that enormous, barb-covered fist moments ago, it had completely slipped his mind.
Now that he remembered, it was already too late.
What terrified him even more was that the power behind this punch far exceeded what a first-stage Sovereign Emperor could produce. The violent force surging through it was something even he, a third-stage cultivator, dared not face head-on. Moreover, the Stone Puppet's fist appeared to be infused with yet another kind of power — a power that sent shivers down his spine.
Tan Junhao had no idea that the Stone Puppet had already begun refining the Stone Fire Origin. Once the refinement was complete, it would become a Sacred Spirit Stone Fire.
Though the refinement was not yet finished, this strike already carried a trace of Sacred Spirit power — enough to crush ordinary Emperor Yuan.
The Stone Puppet itself was still slumbering as it refined the Stone Fire Origin, and the process couldn't possibly be completed for another year or two. But it was Yang Kai's Dharma Body, connected to him through their shared will. Yang Kai could use his divine sense to link with the Mysterious Boundary Bead and control the puppet to launch a sneak attack on Tan Junhao without much issue.
That fist blasting out from the Mysterious Boundary Bead was, in fact, the result of Yang Kai's control.
The price paid was not small either. Divine sense within his Sea of Consciousness flowed outward like floodwaters through a broken dam, causing Yang Kai to feel a splitting headache.
Already shaken by the fist's power, and now hearing Yang Kai's shout, Tan Junhao's composure shattered completely. With a sweep of his hands, countless five-colored light blades converged before him to meet the Dharma Body's fist, while he rapidly retreated.
Boom...