Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 295: Fang's Incompetence, Su Qing Takes the Stage

Third-grade Golden Core, Netherworld Magic Appearance.

On the Dragon and Tiger Talisman Battle Stage, Shi Zhifang, whose methods had been suppressed by Huang Song since he stepped onto the stage, finally managed to rise up once again.

But this time it was still too short.

The top three grades of Golden Core cultivators can condense a Dharma Image to fight against an enemy. However, the spiritual energy consumed every moment is not insignificant. Most Golden Core cultivators regard it as a trump card, which can only last for a moment. It is difficult to fight against an enemy for a long time with a Dharma Image like a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Shi Zhifang was only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, and could only last for ten breaths at most.

Ten breaths later, its magical power was exhausted, its Dharma form dissipated, and the Netherworld Demon retreated. It neither broke the Nest House nor forced out Huang Song's Golden Core Dharma form.

At this point, having exhausted all his tricks and run out of options, he could only cover his face and leave the stage, despite his resentment, to avoid being further humiliated by Huang Song or even harmed himself.

As the most outstanding second-generation disciple of the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom.

Ultimately, he couldn't defeat the most outstanding second-generation immortal in the Western Sea cultivation world.

This duel between the second generation of the clan and the second generation of immortals ended with Huang Song's complete victory.

"Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war; one should not take them to heart!"

"This Huang Song even has a spirit house in his fighting style, hiding inside a tortoise shell. Who can defeat him? It would be an unfair victory!"

"Elder Master may have lost to Huang Song by a hair's breadth, but in our hearts, Elder Master has not lost by a hair's breadth!"

"I only regret that my strength is too shallow to help the elder vent his anger, otherwise I would definitely go on stage and tear Huang Song's hateful face to shreds!"

Amidst the comforting encouragement of the elders and disciples, Shi Zhifang, ashamed and covering his face, was too embarrassed to pass by the witch. He took a detour, silently sat down in his seat, lowered his proud head, and became so withdrawn that he even forgot to continue licking the witch, focusing only on licking his own wounds.

"Fellow Daoist Master, there's no need to take it to heart. Huang Song is the apple of the Huang family's eye, and he possesses a multitude of extraordinary abilities and magical artifacts. It is truly remarkable that you were able to force out so many of his methods!"

Liu Yun'er said truthfully, "Based on the abilities that Master Fang just displayed, there are indeed not many Golden Core cultivators in the Western Sea cultivation world who can surpass him. It just so happens that Huang Song is one of them. Although he was made to look bad by Huang Song, it does not mean that his strength is weak."

"Fellow Daoist Yun'er, do you really think so? Don't you think I've embarrassed you?"

Upon hearing the witch's words of comfort, Shi Zhifang felt a warmth spread through his body. His words immediately caused Liu Yun'er to pause, unsure of how to respond.

Su Qing also shook his head and remained silent, looking at his father, the sect leader, whose face was flushed red.

The witch has little to do with Shi Zhifang. No matter how he wins or loses, or how badly he loses, he probably won't feel ashamed.

But as the leader of the Desire Demon Sect and the father of Shi Zhifang, entrusting the sect's most precious treasure to him and then failing to achieve his goal, Shi Lijing must be feeling very ashamed at this moment.

It's only natural. Master and disciple, father and son, he planted the seeds, he nurtured the seedlings. When his master was slapped in the face, it was as if he himself was being slapped in the face.

If the sect leader is slapped in the face, then the entire Desire Demon Sect is slapped in the face!

Tolerable or unbearable!
As the elder spirit beast of the sect, the Fierce Tiger King was the first to lose his temper. He stood up abruptly, grasped Shi Zhifang's hand with one paw, and earnestly said:
"Elder Master, I feel your humiliation deeply. I will help you regain your honor. However, although I am brave, I have nothing. Please lend me this talisman seal. I swear, when I step onto the stage this time, I will make sure that Huang Song suffers!"

The Tiger King's voice was extremely loud; not only Shi Zhifang heard it, but all the cultivators in the hall also heard it.

The cultivators looked at each other, unable to understand how the humiliation of Shi Zhifang had anything to do with this demonic beast spirit pet. They also couldn't understand how a demonic beast spirit pet could possibly know so many runes and techniques and how it could possibly defeat the cunning Huang Song.

"So cute and silly!"

"It's a bit stupid, but its courage is commendable. As expected of a spirit beast trained by the senior sister, it already has a sense of sect honor after only a short time in the sect!"

"Who says it's stupid? It even knows to borrow someone's treasure before going on stage!"

"It also wants the talisman seal. If we give it to it, will it use it?"

"Let's not let it go on stage. It will only lead to more defeats. If it gets injured or dies, our senior sister will be heartbroken."

"That's a good thing!"

"You said it's a good thing that Senior Sister is sad?"

"I say it's a good thing that the thieving tiger is dead!"

"We have to get it running!"

After Shi Zhifang was defeated and stepped down from the stage, Huang Song stood proudly on the stage, and for a time no one stepped forward to compete with him.

At this moment, the Tiger King stepped forward.

Regardless of whether the disciples of the Desire Demon Sect wanted it to be good or dead, they were all urging Shi Zhifang to hand over the Fu Sheng Seal to it, so that it could go on stage and fight Huang Song like dogs.

Huang Song is despicable, and the Tiger King is even more despicable. Shi Zhifang also wanted them to fight like dogs, but the Fu Sheng Seal is, after all, a treasure of the sect. His father, the sect leader, allowed him to use it, but he might not allow others to use it, especially when that other person is a Tiger King.

He looked up at his father, the sect leader. Shi Lijing didn't even want to glance at him at this moment, and didn't give him the slightest hint. But no hint meant no hint, and he still had that much brains.

"Brother Tiger, it's not that I'm unwilling to give it, but that Huang Song is too powerful. I'm afraid that if Tiger King goes on stage, he might get hurt, which would upset Yun'er. It's better to sit in the audience and watch the show. There will be other people to fight Huang Song later!"

Shi Zhifang spoke of considering the Tiger King's well-being, clearly indicating that he had no intention of handing over the Fusheng Seal to him.

"Yun'er, he won't give it to me!" Su Qing turned to look for the witch.

“Fellow Daoist Master, since the Tiger King is willing to take the stage, it represents my Demonic Desire Sect. It is pitiful that it is a demon beast and has no spiritual possessions. I would like to ask you to lend it this seal. If you are really in a difficult position, I will go and ask the Sect Master for help!”

Although Liu Yun'er didn't know what Su Qing wanted the talisman seal for, since he had asked, she was determined to fight for it for him.

Upon hearing the witch speak, Shi Zhifang immediately forgot to even glance at his father, the sect leader, fearing the witch would think him stingy. He slapped the talisman seal into Su Qing's hand and generously said:
"This seal can only be refined after one has mastered the cultivation of the Myriad Manifestations Talisman, so it has been without an owner until now. If Brother Tiger wishes to activate the power of this seal, he only needs to pour his spiritual power into it and receive the blessing of the Myriad Manifestations Talisman. The seal will then manifest its power on its own. There is no need for Brother Tiger to use any means to control it!"

Use it with confidence. Even if the treasure is damaged, I will take full responsibility and won't let Father, the Sect Master, blame Tiger King and Yun'er!

"On behalf of the Tiger King, I thank Elder Master!" Upon seeing that he was borrowing the treasure, Liu Yun'er immediately stood up and gave him a graceful bow, making him blush with gratitude. She felt that with this bow, the treasure was considered to have been lent to her.

But after the Tiger King put away the King's Seal, he saw Liu Yun'er lean over and whisper something to him, giving him careful instructions, and he felt resentful again.

"Fellow Daoist Yun'er, you seem quite concerned about this tiger. When I went on stage just now, you didn't even give me a word of advice!" Shi Zhifang said sourly.

At this moment, Liu Yun'er's beautiful eyes were fixed on Su Qing, who was performing on stage, and she casually offered some words of comfort:
"That's different, it's possible for them to win!"

It has a chance to win!
What kind of talk is this? What kind of talk is this?

So you're saying I'm guaranteed to lose if I go on stage?

This kind of comfort is worse than no comfort at all!
Upon hearing this, Shi Zhifang was filled with resentment and turned his attention to the arena. He wanted to see what this Tiger King was capable of that made Fellow Daoist Yun'er think highly of him!
In terms of background and ability, he is a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, a third-tier spirit pattern master, a master of earth-level Dao techniques, and has runes branded on his body. How can the Tiger King compare?
The Tiger King is truly comparable.

After taking the stage, it let out a tiger's roar, its eyes flashed with strange light, and nine tails appeared behind it.

Its appearance immediately startled the cultivators of the Desire Demon Clan. They all said that it was no wonder that the senior sister valued this tiger so much. It was because it was born extraordinary and actually had the bloodline of the divine beast Lu Wu!
The second generation of divine beasts is no less powerful than this second generation of the sect!

Looking at the runes on this tiger's body, there were just as many, if not more, than his. A cursory glance revealed numerous runes, including fourth-order bionics, fourth-order intelligence, third-order divine beasts, and third-order materials.

All of them are third-grade or even second-grade runes, and they are all high-end third- or fourth-tier runes!
This tiger, like the rune spirit beast of the Liu family, is a fourth-level spirit rune master. Moreover, it is a rare and powerful spirit rune master who has comprehended the two extremely difficult-to-understand second-grade runes, bionics and intelligence, to the fourth level. It is a lucky tiger that has branded runes!

In the contest of runes, his master was actually outmatched by the Tiger King!
Needless to say, judging solely by appearances, Tiger King's talisman is far more imposing, while Shi Fang's is far uglier. Tiger King's talisman alone completely overshadows Shi Fang's. Not to mention the Myriad Manifestations Talisman on the arena; the moment Tiger King revealed his runes, it was as if they couldn't catch him, with countless beams of spiritual light rushing towards Tiger King's body, showing a favoritism towards him far exceeding that towards Shi Fang.

It doesn't matter that he is inferior in origin and ability. A demon beast is a demon beast. How can he have more treasures and magic weapons than my master?

Just as Shi Zhifang was trying to regain some confidence in this area.

As if witnessing a ghost, they saw the Tiger King slap his paw, and a third-tier leopard puppet appeared, leading a squad of iron beasts, a squad of bear king puppets, a squad of lizard puppets, hundreds of red-ringed Gale Cannons, and two equally red-ringed Flame Cannons, filling half of the arena.

Countless runes were drawn on these puppets, and the spiritual light of the Myriad Manifestations Talisman fell like rain upon them, greatly increasing their aura and power.

Heaven have mercy! Although their Demonic Desire Sect has not made much progress in cultivating various arts, Shi Zhifang, as the young master of the sect, has encountered more than one or two third-tier puppeteers. However, none of them, like this Tiger King, who could produce so many puppets at once and whose runes were all quite remarkable, could be recognized by the Myriad Manifestations Talisman Paper.

"With the bloodline of the divine beast Lu Wu, could it be that he has a unique advantage in the art of puppetry? And this Tiger King is also a diligent and studious person among the demon race, which is why he has achieved this."
But that doesn't make sense. Regarding the transmission of all cultivation arts, our human race and the various immortal kingdoms have an unspoken agreement: it's one thing for low-level inheritances to fall into the hands of the demon kingdoms, but high-level inheritances like those at the second or third rank, or even the third or fourth tier, would never be allowed to reach the demon race!

Shi Zhifang voiced his doubts, and his doubts were shared by all the cultivators present.

If the runes on the Tiger King could be the work of a spirit pattern master controlling a small number of puppets, they could also be the work of someone else.

But to be able to control so many puppets, this Tiger King can only be a puppeteer. Only with the help of the puppeteer's professional characteristics can he achieve such a feat.

How did it, as a demon beast, learn such puppetry skills?

"Please forgive me, Sect Master. In the past, Yun'er was wary of that old demon's ferocity and concealed her own abilities. To be honest, Yun'er is a third-level puppeteer. After this tiger signed a master-servant contract with Yun'er, Yun'er taught it puppetry skills."

Unexpectedly, this tiger has surpassed its master, and its skill in puppetry has now even surpassed Yun'er's!

The witch disliked others lying and didn't like lying herself, but when she did lie, people believed her three-tenths as soon as they heard her, and believed the remaining seven-tenths as soon as they saw her. She was exceptionally talented at lying, which Su Qing greatly envied.

After hearing her words, all the cultivators suddenly understood.

"I wondered why this tiger possessed such abilities. It turns out that a good teacher produces a good student, and it received guidance from our senior sister!"

"It's also this tiger's good fortune. If I could receive personal instruction and careful guidance from my senior sister, my achievements would certainly not be inferior to itss!"

"Of course! Don't underestimate me just because I'm a puppet apprentice now. Let Senior Sister take me as her disciple and see. Within a hundred years, I'll definitely reach the third-tier puppet master realm!"

"Don't believe me? I'll go find my senior sister and become her disciple right now!"

"Go away, go away, go away! With your shallow appearance, how could you possibly catch Yun'er's eye!" Shi Zhifang, who was already in a bad mood, coldly dismissed several shameless disciples who wanted to become his disciples, and then cupped his hands to Liu Yun'er, ready to perform the disciple-acceptance ceremony.

“Yun’er, Zhi Fang has been studying the art of runes for a long time, and he finds spirit rune masters to be crude and barbaric, and he doesn’t get along with me. However, his interest in the art of puppets is growing stronger every day. As long as Yun’er doesn’t mind, why can’t Zhi Fang call you Master?”

"You unfilial son! You call others 'Master,' how do you put me?! A spirit pattern master is rude and barbaric? Today I'll show you what rudeness and barbarity really mean!"

Shi Lijing, a fourth-tier spirit pattern master who used spirit patterns to subdue the surrounding immortal kingdoms and led the Desire Demon Sect to rise again, and who was proud of this, suddenly stood up and turned Shi Zhifang, who had long been displeased with him, to his front, staging a good show of disciplining his son in the court in this precious hall.

Seeing the ruthlessness with which he tortured his own son and beloved student as if they were prisoners.

The cultivators immediately realized that what Master Zhifang had just said was absolutely right.

The spirit pattern master is still too barbaric.

While the spectacle of the father beating the son below was entertaining, the master would not retaliate. The cultivators of the Desire Demon Sect were used to seeing this within the sect, so it was not as exciting as the fierce battle on the arena.

The arena is called the Dragon and Tiger Talisman Arena.

Now it truly lives up to its name.

But then the Tiger King summoned his puppet artifacts, setting up a barrage of cannon puppets that were far more powerful than the normal Gale Cannons and Flame Cannons, and they clashed with Huang Song's nest-like dwelling.

Suddenly, auspicious clouds rose above the nest house, containing strange puppets resembling wind sword falcons or flying swords, which stabbed at the nest house's formation. Cloud roc puppets also launched explosive stones, and several second-tier puppets, including roc king puppets, snake dragon puppets, and silver giant tigers, joined forces with the ground troops to bombard the nest house.

The two sides exchanged fire for a while, and their firepower was evenly matched, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Huang Song was secretly annoyed. With the layout of Juchao House, there was no way that the Tiger King could bully him with firepower.

This house was originally intended to be jointly controlled by several puppeteers, array masters, and talisman masters, who also operated the numerous puppets, arrays, and magical artifacts within.

On this arena, with only him controlling it, many of his techniques were difficult to use, which is why he was temporarily suppressed by the Tiger King's puppets that spanned heaven and earth.

But besides the Nest House, he wasn't without other means. With a cold snort, he sent out General Jinwu and Jinwu Guards from his storage bag to attack the magic cannon puppets that Tiger King was constantly firing.

The Tiger King wouldn't just stand by and watch; suddenly, six hands and three spears appeared behind him. This had nothing to do with Lu Wu's bloodline and must be some kind of unknown magical artifact or puppet.

With two wings, nine tails, six hands, and three spears, the Tiger King took the lead, protected by the Iron-Eating King Beast, followed by Leopard-Headed Runner, Earth Bear King, and many other puppets. With a roar, he charged towards the Golden Guard General and Golden Guards who were guarding the Nest House.

The moment the two sides made contact, the leopard-headed beast that seemed to resemble the divine beast Mengji did not even make contact with General Jinwu. Instead, it created auspicious clouds under its feet, exhaled a gentle breeze, and with a twist of its body, it left the battlefield.

Ascending into the air, the bone protrusions rose up, and the four cannons bombarded the nest house. The protective array flags, which had been severely damaged by Shi Zhifang before, swayed and the array light flickered, as if they were about to collapse.

Looking at the puppet battlefield, without the help of Leopard Head, Tiger King was fighting against General Jinwu alone. With six hands and three spears, tiger claws and tiger teeth, wind and thunder and nine tails, his moves were too numerous and too dense, and his attacks never stopped.

General Jinwu was like a small boat being tormented by a storm in the deep sea. The wind and waves were strong, and every ten or twenty times, his power would suddenly increase, easily piercing through the protective aura and blood shield, leaving the small boat riddled with holes and unable to fight anymore.

General Jinwu was defeated too quickly. Not only were Huang Song and the cultivators in the stands somewhat caught off guard, but even Su Qing himself was taken aback.

Although with his current abilities, it was only natural for this puppet to fight him, otherwise he wouldn't have secretly prepared the Dragon Armor Demon Lizard and would have released this strongest puppet long ago. But the victory was too quick. It was only a third-tier puppet. Even if he couldn't beat it, he should have been able to hold out for a while.

He only understood after scanning the Myriad Manifestations Talisman Paper.

It was this fourth-tier talisman that granted him unprecedented power.

Currently, the runes branded on Tiger Egg are all second or third grade, not to mention the third or fourth grade good runes. Even his own body, the Dao patterns such as Jiuli and Sheshanhai that the other cultivators did not notice, have also been blessed by the Myriad Manifestations Talisman Paper.

No wonder the Blood Killing Technique was so effective just now, sometimes even stacking up to twenty-five or twenty-six times!

Having figured out why he was so powerful, Su Qing's confidence soared, and he also understood why his opponent was so weak.

Because the runes on this General Jinwu's body are inferior to the tiger eggs on his body in terms of grade, quality, quantity, and quality, and even less superior to himself who has been refined into a puppet!
Dao patterns are the ancestors of runes. If the Myriad Manifestations Talisman Paper doesn't strengthen its own ancestor, how can it strengthen your weak and rotten talisman?

He deserved to die!

He felt that General Jinwu deserved to die, but Huang Song, on the other side, was not happy about it.

He was born into a prominent family and was showered with love and affection. His father and several mothers often gave him spirit stones, spirit crystals, and all sorts of spiritual objects.

However, such high-quality items as third-tier puppets are extremely rare.

It hurts to see one break, and it's infuriating to lose one.

Enraged, Huang Song left the house to prevent the formation from being breached by Su Qing's puppet, which would cause even greater losses.

His left eye was icy cold, while his right eye was blazing with fury, clearly indicating that he was furious with Su Qing and wanted to kill him here to avenge his puppet.

(End of this chapter)