In this moment, Jiang Chen's heart was surging with excitement he could barely contain. The spatial labyrinth formed by that scroll was unmistakably the Nine Palaces Labyrinth Formation Diagram—the very treasure he had obtained from the third palace, the Palace of Marquis Hong, among the Six Palaces of Inheritance.
Once deployed, this Nine Palaces Labyrinth Formation Diagram could generate a nine-palace labyrinth array, sealing off a stretch of void and creating a powerful spatial maze all on its own.
Jiang Chen had always possessed an innate sensitivity toward formations, and this diagram resonated with him on a profound level.
When he unleashed it, the sheer unpredictability caught even a Heavenly realm powerhouse like Shu Wanqing completely off guard. The old man could not fathom the mysteries of the formation for the time being.
After all, the Nine Palaces Labyrinth Formation Diagram was an ancient relic—the treasure that Marquis Hong himself had been most proud of.
Had Jiang Chen not been limited by his own cultivation, the diagram in his hands, operating at its peak, would have trapped not just Shu Wanqing but anyone several times his strength. They would all have been hopelessly ensnared.
Even so, Shu Wanqing could not see through it for the moment.
Jiang Chen turned the tables—seizing the initiative from outside the formation, he now ruled the field. He drew the Sacred Dragon Bow and, in moments, shattered the enemy's formation, sending the cultivators scattering in every direction.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
If they all stayed bunched together, doing anything to them would have been enormously difficult.
But once they were driven apart, fleeing in all directions, his opportunities multiplied.
Jiang Chen's true target was the Wind Dharma King.
Of course, his goal was not to kill the Wind Dharma King—it was to capture him alive.
With a flick of his wrist, a streak of light vanished into the Nine Palaces Labyrinth Diagram. A humanoid puppet had already infiltrated the formation.
This puppet was the second treasure Jiang Chen had claimed from the third palace.
In total, he had obtained seven Mind-Luring Puppets. Each and every one was the product of Marquis Hong's lifelong dedication, imbued with the Marquis's will and power.
Any single puppet possessed at least thirty percent of Marquis Hong's strength.
The strongest among them held a full seventy percent of his power.
Honestly, the might of these Mind-Luring Puppets was so great that even Jiang Chen himself had trouble believing it. He had heard both the Sky Kun Elder and the Soaring Reverent One mention that the third palace would differ from the first two, and that the treasures obtained would be quite different as well.
But the sheer haul from the Nine Palaces Labyrinth Diagram and the Mind-Luring Puppets still exceeded even his expectations.
Of course, Jiang Chen could currently exhaust every ounce of his strength and manage to activate at most two of them—the two weakest.
Even so, the weakest two still commanded roughly thirty percent of Marquis Hong's power.
Such power was not easily quantified in direct comparison, but that thirty percent meant that a full-force strike from one puppet could match one-third of Marquis Hong's casual blow.
Naturally, in actual combat, a single Mind-Luring Puppet was still inferior to a true Heavenly realm powerhouse.
After all, no matter how much of the master's will a puppet carried, it remained a puppet.
A puppet was merely a tool under human control—it possessed no autonomous consciousness.
However, under Jiang Chen's command, the Mind-Luring Puppet's form shimmered and transformed into the image of the Purple Nether Emperor.
Jiang Chen had previously disguised himself as the Purple Nether Emperor to lure the Wind Dharma King into a trap—only to fall into the enemy's scheme instead.
This time, he was repeating the same stratagem.
But as it happened, the Wind Dharma King had already been separated from his group by the charge, and was looking around in a panic, completely at a loss.
A chill crept across his scalp. He felt as though Jiang Chen's deadly arrow could pierce through the back of his skull at any moment, and dread gnawed at him ceaselessly.
The Wind Dharma King had every reason to be afraid. After all, he had been the mastermind and primary executor of the earlier ambush. If Jiang Chen decided to take revenge on him specifically, it was entirely plausible.
"Brother Xunfeng, over here—"
Just as the Wind Dharma King was drowning in anxiety, the voice of the Purple Nether Emperor rang out. He looked up and spotted the Purple Nether Emperor waving at him from nearby.
"Brother Xunfeng, that brat's archery is fearsome, and we're both among the people he hates most. If we stay separated, he'll pick us off one by one. Why don't we stand back to back and advance together? That way, neither of us will be attacked from behind. What do you say?"
The Purple Nether Emperor made an eminently reasonable proposal.
The Wind Dharma King was in the depths of panic, so hearing this suggestion, he was only too eager to agree.
Nodding quickly, he said: "Good. If we cooperate, we can surely find a sliver of a chance to survive."
This was a life-or-death moment, and the basis for cooperation was rock-solid. Neither party had to worry about being betrayed—selling out your partner at a time like this meant selling out yourself and leaving your own back exposed.
The Wind Dharma King flew across the gap at top speed and took his stand back to back with the Purple Nether Emperor. The moment the two joined forces, a measure of calm returned to the Wind Dharma King's heart.
"Brother Jingyun, that brat Jiang Chen is truly monstrous. What kind of Divine Ability is this? Or what kind of heaven-defying treasure does he possess? How can he suppress us so thoroughly?"