Chapter 641: Bloodthorn Puppet

He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and prepared to perish together with these puppets.

Then he saw a light.

A golden light.

The stone burst forth from the blood mist, its golden sun emblem on its chest shining like a small sun.

Without wasting words, he flipped his right palm, and the overwhelming force of his palm pressed down, a full-force strike from a level 39 Qingyang Grandmaster.

The level 13 Bloodthorn Golems didn't even have time to react. The three in front of them were instantly smashed into pieces by the palm force, and dark red vines and bone spikes exploded all over the ground.

He then spun around and unleashed a sweeping Azure Sun Earth-Splitting Leg, combining three layers of leg power. Each kick brought out a golden arc of light, and the two puppets on the left were kicked away, falling apart in mid-air.

There were three more on the right. Stone stepped forward, his figure suddenly disappeared, and when he reappeared, he was behind the three puppets.

He struck out with both palms at the same time, piercing two puppets from behind, and then smashing the third into the ground with a backhand elbow.

From the moment they rushed out to the moment the area was cleared, it only took a few seconds.

Zhang Ergou lay paralyzed on the spot, watching Shi Tou charge in and out of the puppet horde like a humanoid beast.

He took a few deep breaths and twitched his lips: "Grandmaster...that's fucking outrageous."

Stone turned to look at him, his face expressionless, and quickly walked over, grabbing his arm.

"Uncle Zhang, let's go."

Zhang Ergou was being half-carried by Shi Tou as they ran towards the formation, muttering, "Shi Tou...you little brat..."

He couldn't continue, partly because of excessive blood loss, and partly because he felt choked up and didn't know what to say.

Stone didn't reply, but quickened his pace and led him to the treatment area at the back of the formation.

Several healers under Su Yurou's command immediately surrounded Zhang Ergou, and golden healing light shone on him.

Zhang Ergou leaned against the stretcher in the treatment area, watching Shi Tou turn and rush out of the formation. His golden figure was particularly dazzling in the dark red blood mist.

He shouted, "Stone! Watch out!"

Stone didn't turn his head, he just waved his hand.

He rushed out of the outer perimeter of the formation and disappeared once again into the surging blood mist.

...

Deep within the Bloodthorn Forest, a full-scale battle erupted.

On the outermost layer of the circular formation, hundreds of Qingyang Acquired martial artists were locked in a fierce battle with the Bloodthorn Puppet.

The two-meter-tall puppets, covered in dark red vines, surged in from all directions, their crimson flames in their eye sockets merging into one in the thin mist.

"Bright and clear heavens!"

A Qingyang martial artist unleashed a series of palm strikes, unleashing a net of azure righteous energy that enveloped and crushed the two puppets in front of him.

Before the net could be closed, four more pounced from the side, their vine whips sweeping across and sending him flying backward.

Before he could even get up, two bone spurs pierced his chest from behind.

The health bar was instantly emptied.

The Qingyang warriors around him watched him fall, their eyes reddening, but they had no time to grieve.

Because more and more puppets were pouring out of the fog, densely packed and stretching as far as the eye could see.

But what truly sent chills down everyone's spines was what happened half a minute later.

The Qingyang warrior who had just fallen stood up again.

His red-patterned white outfit turned dark red, and the golden sun emblem embroidered on his chest was covered by a layer of blood-red vines.

He opened his eyes, his eye sockets burning with scarlet flames.

His movements froze for a moment, then he regained his agility, raising his hands and gathering a dark red light in his palms.

This time, however, the dark red net of righteousness descended upon his former comrades.

"He's been transformed!" a martial artist nearby exclaimed, scrambling to avoid the palm strike.

The net of righteous energy slammed onto the ground, creating a deep, charred palm print.

"Save every single one of the converted brothers! Kill them all!" a centurion roared hoarsely.

However, these Bloodthorn golems retained all their skills and instincts from their previous lives.

A newly transformed Qingyang martial artist burst out of the mist, flipping his palms over.

His comrade-in-arms was all too familiar with this move, but the puppet's angle of attack was so tricky that he had no way to avoid it.

Two nets of righteousness collided in mid-air, exploding with golden light.

The puppet was stronger; the aftershock of its palm strike sent him staggering back several steps, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Without pausing, the Qingyang Earth-Splitting Leg slashed down, the first kick striking the crossed and parried Crimson Sun Guards.

The golden patterns on the gauntlets flashed violently, and his arm went numb from the shock. The second leg struck the same spot on his forearm, causing the armor to shatter and the sound of bones cracking to ring out.

The third kick landed squarely on his chest, sending him flying and rolling on the ground more than a dozen times.

Immediately following Qingyang's Light-Chasing Step, the puppet caught up with the body before it landed and smashed the head with a palm strike.

The whole process took less than three seconds.

Just then, a figure in cyan emerged from behind the inner side of the circular formation.

Qingyang is a Xiantian martial artist.

He moved like a streak of blue light close to the ground, cutting from the inside of the formation into the outer perimeter, and struck out with a palm.

"A withered tree comes back to life!"

He slapped a heavily injured Qingyang Houtian martial artist next to him, and the azure light surged into his body, instantly restoring his health points by one hundred.

The next second, he struck out with both palms in quick succession.

"Azure Sun Transformation Palm!"

The net of palm force was several times thicker than that of a martial artist who had acquired his skills. It condensed into a net of righteous energy several meters in diameter in front of him, simultaneously covering the puppets that were charging at the front.

As the net closed, the puppets' vines and bone spikes crumbled inch by inch in the blue light.

Without stopping, he activated the Qingyang Chasing Light Step, taking a single step and his figure was already ten meters away.

With a backhand strike of the Azure Sun Piercing Finger, a beam of azure energy shot out, piercing through the sky like the rising sun, and pinning a puppet that was lunging at the injured martial artist from head to toe to the ground.

"The Innate Martial Artists have arrived to provide support! Hold the line!" The centurion's voice was hoarse.

At the same time, outside the circular formation, various third-stage awakened individuals began to make their moves.

A fire-elemental awakener dressed in a crimson robe formed hand seals, and flames rose around him, resembling a small sun.

"Radiant Sunburst!"

A fireball five meters in diameter flew from his palm, leaving a crimson trail in the blood mist, and struck a group of Bloodthorn Puppet Warriors.

"boom!"

The fireball exploded, and crimson flames swept across a radius of twenty meters, turning more than a dozen Bloodthorn Puppet Warriors to ashes in the flames, their Bloodthorn vines instantly carbonizing.

Another ice-type awakened being, clad in ice-blue armor, pressed his hands to the ground, and chilling energy surged from his palms, spreading across the ground.

"Frost Nova!"

Centered on him, the ground within a 30-meter radius instantly froze, and the Bloodthorn Puppet Warriors that rushed forward were frozen in the ice, their movements suddenly slowed down.

"Lightning Awakener, Lightning Spear!"

A thick lightning spear cleaved down from the sky, striking precisely a Bloodthorn Tree that was releasing its vines.

Lightning exploded, splitting the trunk of the Bloodthorn Tree in two, and dark red sap gushed out like a fountain.

"Wind Awakener, Wind Blade Storm!"

Countless cyan wind blades spun in the blood mist, like a green tornado, slicing the Bloodthorn Puppet Warriors that rushed at them into pieces.

Various spells intertwined in the blood mist: crimson flames, icy blue chills, purple lightning, and cyan wind blades... like a dazzling fireworks display, blooming in the blood mist.

The battle lasted for nearly an hour.

Under the overwhelming superior combat power of the Beacon Fire Territory, the level 10+ Bloodthorn Golems and Bloodthorn Trees were wiped out in large numbers.

The sounds of puppets shattering, the muffled thud of bloodthorn tree trunks being pierced, the explosions of Qingyang righteous energy, the slingshots of bowstrings, the chanting of mages, and the crackling of thunder and fire blended together, plowing outwards from the circular formation layer by layer.

The blood mist was torn open by the firepower, creating a huge gap. The dark red mist retreated to both sides, revealing a battlefield in complete disarray.

Broken vines, broken bone spurs, charred tree trunks, and congealed blood covered the land for miles around.

The sweet, fishy smell in the air was masked by the burnt and rusty smells, and even the blood mist itself became much lighter.