"Xun Feng, have you lost your mind?!" Xiahou Jing bellowed in fury.
The Mesmer Puppet could manage a few simple sentences, after all. Under Jiang Chen's control, it could recite a handful of mechanical, wooden words without issue.
But delivering a lengthy speech would drain far too much of Jiang Chen's energy. He couldn't be bothered with such nonsense. He drove the Mesmer Puppet forward, and it threw a punch straight at Shu Wanqing.
Shu Wanqing had already suffered repeated devastating blows, yet he still had enough reflexes left to react. As his body tilted, he executed a fluid, fish-like movement and slid clean out of the way.
The commotion behind them threw their previously orderly formation into complete disarray in the blink of an eye.
Xiahou Jing knew that Shu Wanqing was their only hope of breaking free, and he immediately roared, "Protect Fellow Daoist Shu!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiahou Jing charged forward to meet the Mesmer Puppet head-on, trading blows directly.
The Mesmer Puppet's combat style was brutally simple. Its fists and feet moved in straight lines, with not a single flourish or embellishment.
As punches and kicks flew back and forth, Xiahou Jing found himself gasping inwardly. The so-called "Dharma King Xun Feng" before him had grown shockingly powerful — strong enough to trade blows with him, Xiahou Jing, without being noticeably outmatched.
What terrified him most was that the opponent seemed utterly impervious to injury, fighting like a man possessed with no regard for his own safety.
Facing such a savage fighting style, Xiahou Jing — already mentally shaken — found himself retreating even as he fought, panic churning in his heart.
His thoughts were a complete mess. Every plan, every detail seemed to have gone utterly sideways. Everything had fallen apart.
When had this Dharma King Xun Feng defected to Jiang Chen's side? When had he turned his weapons around to attack them?
And more importantly — how had his cultivation suddenly surged so dramatically? And why had his fighting style changed so completely, as though he were an entirely different person?
"An entirely different person?" The moment that thought crossed his mind, a horrifying suspicion flashed through Xiahou Jing's brain. "Could it really be someone else? This guy isn't Xun Feng at all?"
A chill ran down Xiahou Jing's spine. If this wasn't Xun Feng, then the imitation was terrifyingly accurate.
Could it be Jiang Chen?
No — that couldn't be right. Jiang Chen's actual cultivation hadn't even reached the Emperor realm. How could he possibly trade blows with him, a second-level Heavenly realm powerhouse?
If not Jiang Chen, then who? Just how many powerful fighters did Jiang Chen have under his command? It seemed like these Heavenly realm experts just kept coming without end.
While Xiahou Jing was locked in combat with this first Mesmer Puppet, Jiang Chen decided to go all in and activated a second one.
This time, he had the puppet take the form of yet another Wind Cloud Sect powerhouse.
The battlefield was in chaos, and the second puppet slipped into the crowd unnoticed. Moments later, it had worked its way into the inner ring.
The group of Wind Cloud Sect elders, following Xiahou Jing's orders, had formed a tight circle around Shu Wanqing, terrified that he might be attacked again.
Shu Wanqing sat cross-legged in the center. Two consecutive devastating strikes had inflicted severe damage, and without timely treatment, his very life could be in danger.
The second Mesmer Puppet, however, had no intention of giving him the chance to heal.
"You… what are you doing here?" One of the elders recognized the puppet's assumed form — a Wind Cloud Sect officer.
"Weren't you killed by that arrow just now?"
"He's an imposter!"
But by the time they realized the truth, it was already too late. The Mesmer Puppet charged straight through, smashing a gap in the circle and diving inward.
It delivered a devastating blow, slamming into Shu Wanqing.
Shu Wanqing was furious beyond belief. He felt as though his luck today was cursed — struck again and again, wounded again and again.
And now yet another formidable opponent had appeared.
Rage burned in his heart, but he had no choice but to muster every shred of his remaining strength. With one crippled leg and a grievous injury to his back, his combat power had dropped to barely fifty or sixty percent of its peak. This made every exchange agonizingly difficult.
"Stop gawking and do something!" he barked. "Hold him back!"
Shu Wanqing was beside himself. He genuinely regretted ever joining forces with this bunch of Wind Cloud Sect trash.
The experience of this single day was the greatest humiliation of his entire life.
Chaos reigned across the battlefield. At Shu Wanqing's command, a wave of Wind Cloud Sect elders surged forward, desperate to help.
But against Heavenly realm combat, one or two fighters charging in made absolutely no difference. They were effortlessly blasted away by the overwhelming qi pressure alone.
Shu Wanqing was on the verge of losing his mind.
He knew that if this continued, he would not escape with his life today.
Throwing his head back, he let out a roar toward the heavens: "Jiang Chen! Killing is one thing — you've made your point! That's enough!"
He was consumed by both fury and terror. He could clearly see that Jiang Chen had come with the absolute conviction to kill — this was a death sentence, plain and simple.