Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 322 Battle at the Princess's Residence

The princess chooses the location.

The tour group chooses the time.

The moment the shadow dancer appeared on the courtyard wall.

Su Qing reacted instantly.

This Phantom Troupe may have been near Phoenix City long ago and knew that Princess Fire Phoenix's actions were aimed at them.

Now that they have arrived, it remains to be seen whether Princess Fire Phoenix's preparations are complete.

"Sizzle!"

The shadow landed, surrounded by two crescent-shaped scimitars that created a storm of blades around it, moving through the courtyard with its ghostly figure.

Caught off guard, inside the city lord's mansion, a squad of second-tier martial arts guards clad in armor and dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators, with their blood qi defense, protective spiritual light, or armor and magical artifacts, were all unable to stop the two deadly curved blades that whirled like the wind.

In the blink of an eye, all the rabble were dead, leaving only six Golden Core cultivators in the courtyard who could fight against them!

"You audacious thief, how dare you run wild in my Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom!"

A white-haired, golden-core elder stepped forward, angrily rebuking the thieves while cautiously summoning a mirror-shaped magic artifact to protect himself. The other golden-core elders did the same.

Whether the thieves deserve to die or not is another matter, but they certainly don't deserve to die. Before the battle, they should defend themselves and escape quickly if things go wrong.

As guest ministers of the Immortal Kingdom, the offerings they receive from the Immortal Kingdom are only enough for them to do so much.

After the six Golden Core elders summoned their magical artifacts for protection, they saw that only this one thief had appeared in the courtyard, and they immediately had the desire to make a contribution.

The wind rose and the clouds surged, lightning gathered, and all sorts of magical techniques were unleashed upon the black-robed figure and the scimitar-wielding villain in the courtyard.

At this time, Princess Fire Phoenix, who was in the inner courtyard, still had not appeared. Instead, array lights lit up inside and outside the mansion, and on the horizon, giant soldiers led several teams of puppets to provide support.

With internal formations and external reinforcements, they are now outnumbered and outgunned.

It's no wonder that these six people have performed such a great service today; their offerings will surely skyrocket next year.

The six Golden Core elders looked at each other and saw the joy in each other's eyes.

In terms of ability, they are not very capable; they are all low-grade Golden Core cultivators, barely qualifying as superior beings. Otherwise, they would not be living under someone else's roof, serving as guest ministers of another country.

However, the six had worked together for many years and had excellent teamwork. Now, they were full of courage and gathered the four elements of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning to attack the shadow warrior. Even though he was infamous, he was sure to perish here today.

And just as those pillars of wind, rain, and thunder descended from the sky, they all fell together.

Suddenly, butterflies began to flutter around the courtyard.

The bright red butterfly, with its elusive trajectory and mysterious fragrance, startled the six Golden Core cultivators, leaving them speechless.

"Spirit-Suppressing Powder! The spiritual energy in the courtyard has been poisoned with Spirit-Suppressing Powder. But when we use Taoist magic to draw upon the spiritual energy, we are caught in a trap!"

"Butterfly Sword Light! It's Butterfly Sword Li Shuangshuang! She's here too!"

"Phantom Troupe, please don't send the whole thing!"

"Let's talk this out. It's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. Have a good talk with our princess; maybe there's something to discuss!"

The six Golden Core elders, all seasoned veterans, were completely unaware of Princess Fire Phoenix's arrangements.

Seeing the current situation, they knew it was beyond their capabilities to handle.

After being poisoned by the Spirit-Severing Powder, their previous Taoist techniques became unsustainable and no longer posed a threat to the Shadow Warriors.

The shadow warrior's clones, now illusory, unleashed a flurry of sword light, which, along with the fluttering butterfly-shaped sword light, charged towards them.

The six Golden Core elders, of course, would not sit idly by and wait for their deaths. With the help of the formation in the courtyard, they sent out puppet artifacts to deal with the two while constantly activating their Golden Cores, trying to detoxify as soon as possible.

"The weakness of the 'Dead Tree Brings Spring to Life' formation lies in the old tree in the courtyard. Cut down this old tree to break the formation's core!"

A cold shout came from around the corner of the courtyard, and Su Qing turned her head to look.

With a slender build and three pairs of pupils, he was indeed Qin Min, the master of breaking formations.

Under her command, the petite figure in the blue-green Taoist robe pointed her finger and wielded her sword. The sword light was fierce, and the sword, like a butterfly flitting through flowers, broke through layers of array barriers and went straight to the withered old tree in the courtyard.

Bang!
An old tree blossoms, its boundless branches and twigs unfolding like flower buds, revealing the panicked, aged golden core within.

"Old man, die!"

The shadow warrior spun like a top, his blade flashed like lightning, creating countless overlapping shadows. In an instant, he cleaved the old, battle-stricken, poisoned Golden Core elder, whose body was disintegrating and whose soul was collapsing. Even his Golden Core was chopped into dust by his blade shadows.

Too much!
Bullying the elderly!
I did not want to kill anyone, yet people want to kill me!
This scene was witnessed by the Golden Core elders hiding in the other formations. They all understood that today was not the usual casual gathering where people could talk about human relationships, but a life-or-death struggle where it was a fight to the death!

Anger arises from the heart, and evil is born from the gall.

The Golden Core elders, who had originally intended to relax and enjoy their retirement, now had the urge to fight to the death.

Suddenly, one of the elders was covered with a black cloth.

The black cloth seemed to possess the ability to devour lifespan and transform spiritual energy.

In the past, this old Golden Core cultivator wouldn't have had enough life left to live, so he wouldn't have been willing to shorten his lifespan to fight.

But the situation is critical right now; shortening one's lifespan is better than having one's lifespan erased.

In the instant that Butterfly Sword and Shadow Warrior, with the assistance of the Formation Breaker, broke the formation in which they were hiding.

Elder Pibu revealed his ferocious and malevolent appearance, like an old wolf forced to the edge of a cliff, showing his vicious fangs that he had not used for a long time.

Elder Pibu has transformed!

A third-tier human-demon master, imbued with the bloodline of a demon beast, can transform into a third-tier demon king. At this moment, he has transformed into a third-tier golden-toothed wolf king, letting out a long howl to the sky. His wolf claws clashed with the butterfly sword light, and his wolf tail swept away many illusory sword lights.

The body of a demon king is far superior to the frail body of a Golden Core cultivator.

Even with Shadow Warrior and Butterfly Sword on either side, both masters of swordsmanship, it would not be something that could be resolved in a short time.

Especially this Elder Pibu, every time he is on the verge of death, he loses another lifespan. The spiritual energy transformed from his lifespan always allows him to escape death and come back to life, making him even more difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, he was an old Golden Core cultivator with a short lifespan. After he could break through all obstacles, he was finally pierced through the heart and core by the Butterfly Sword's light.

But right under the noses of these two, the black cloth mysteriously ended up on another Golden Core cultivator.

By this time, the four surviving Golden Core cultivators had all been freed from the effects of the Spirit-Severing Powder.

A good horse is ridden, a kind person is bullied.

We just wanted to find a place to retire. If you want to kill the princess, go to the inner courtyard. Didn't you see we've all hidden in the formation? We didn't say we were going to stop you!
Even so, you still want to break through the formation and kill people; that's really too unethical.

Led by Pibu, a middle-aged Golden Core elder who was seven hundred years old but had not yet entered old age, the other three Golden Core elders lined up in all directions.

The four Golden Core elders exerted their full power, and the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning converged once more, faster and more powerful than before.

Amidst the rolling thunderclouds, the divine forms of the Thunder God and Lightning Goddess were even more clearly revealed.

These four Golden Core elders, though unable to condense the power of a Dharma Image individually, have worked together for many years to practice the Heavenly Will Four Symbols Formation. With this formation, they can combine their strength to condense the Dharma Image of the Thunder God and Lightning Goddess to fight against the enemy.

The Thunder God struck the gong, and the Lightning Goddess beat the drum. A burst of gong and drum sounds rang out, and suddenly streaks of lightning appeared in the courtyard, gathering the power of wind and rain, and striking towards the shadow warrior and the butterfly sword.

These two were ghostly figures, their shadows overlapping, making it difficult to distinguish their true forms. When they swung their swords, butterflies fluttered around them, and their figures disappeared into the swarm of butterflies, making it even more difficult to pinpoint their location.

The lightning flashed and the scene was terrifying, but no progress was made. Su Qing, who was inside the spirit cage, was secretly anxious, while Rao Tingshan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Kuishan was furious upon seeing this!

"This is outrageous! Bullying the weak with numbers is something I, Li Kuishan, cannot tolerate. I beg Fellow Daoist Li and Fellow Daoist Wei to open this spiritual cage. I, along with Fellow Daoist Rao and Fellow Daoist Su, will be freed from our restraints and can lend you a helping hand!"

Just as Li Kuishan shouted out loud, a bolt of lightning struck, startling Rao Tingshan so much that he immediately covered his mouth.

"We can't shout!" Rao Tingshan exclaimed anxiously. "Why can't we shout? Fellow Daoist Yuanlai Lou came to save us. How can we just stand here and watch?" Li Kuishan's righteousness soared to the heavens.

"What do you know? The troupe arrived so early and so conveniently. It's obvious that we are innocent bystanders in this disaster. Princess Fire Phoenix came for the troupe, and a fierce battle between them is inevitable."

"If we were imprisoned in the Spirit Cage, we could remain neutral. But if we are released, how can you know the risks we would face in aiding the troupe in battle? We are currently on the territory of the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom!"

Rao Tingshan sensed something was amiss early on, knowing that this was a conflict they couldn't get involved in. At this moment, he just wanted to take advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to them, hide in the spirit cage, and wait for the storm to pass.

Li Kuishan wanted to say more, but Rao Tingshan glared at him angrily. As his partner for many years, Rao Tingshan's judgment had never been wrong. Li Kuishan could only squat down on the ground in frustration and turn to look at Su Qing, who had not spoken a word.

At this moment, in his eyes, Su Qing was curled up in a ball, hiding in the corner of the cage, her body still trembling, looking even more cowardly than a turtle hiding its head!

"This Fellow Daoist Su is really too useless. A rogue cultivator is just a rogue cultivator. He's arrogant all the time, but when trouble comes, he turns out like this. He's supposed to be a third-level body cultivator, this is too disgraceful!"

Unable to fight alongside Gao Xiu of the brigade, Li Kuishan could only find a sense of superiority in Su Qing.

Although he didn't dare to join the battle, compared to Su Qing, at least he dared to watch!
This rogue cultivator is so useless, I don't even dare to look at him!
Rao Tingshan was also somewhat puzzled by Su Qing's performance.

Based on his previous observations, even if the battle outside is fierce, this Fellow Daoist Su shouldn't be behaving so poorly.

Could it be that his previous display of power, which seemed like a provocation, was actually a cover-up for the fact that he was not very capable?
It's not a case of pretending to be weak to prey on others, but rather pretending to be strong to prey on others, putting on a show of power while being outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

That must be the case. Princess Fire Phoenix must have discovered this as well, which is why she banished it to this spirit cage!
Rao Tingshan had been imagining things and wanted to comfort this fellow Daoist Su, but a deafening roar suddenly startled him.

Looking up, one could see a colossal figure descending from the sky above the city lord's mansion, like a mountain pressing down.

Instinctively, Rao Tingshan wanted to activate his protective spiritual light to resist. It would be fine to watch the battle from inside the spiritual cage, but it would be a joke if he were crushed into a pulp by this giant object while watching the battle.

Fortunately, the city lord's mansion was not something that could be easily crushed. The moment the giant object fell, a beam of Xuanhuang array light rose up, transforming into a Xuanhuang hand that lifted the giant statue up.

Once the colossus stood up, Rao Tingshan could see clearly that it was a special product of the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, a third-tier battle puppet giant weapon.

And it wasn't just this one; beside it, there was another colossal warrior.

The dark brown giant general was over a hundred feet tall, wearing black armor and wielding a spear and a sword. Opposite him was a mere human cultivator who looked like an ant!

Although the two were vastly different in size, the cultivator's aura was like rolling clouds and mist, like a surging river, unstoppable and incomparably powerful.

Without any weapons, he fought the two colossal warriors head-on, in a real battle, bare-handed.

The colossus is renowned for its sheer power. When it wields its swords and spears, the sheer force it releases causes sand and stones to fly and clouds to swirl, demonstrating just how astonishing its power is.

Li Kuishan, who had just been clamoring to fight alongside the brigade, was now silent.

As a third-tier body cultivator, he asked himself honestly if he had the ability to deal with a giant weapon, but he had to avoid its sharp edge and wouldn't compete with these two big, dumb guys in strength.

The cultivator outside, however, seemed to know nothing of retreat. He punched the oncoming spear, repelling it and causing the giant weapon to stagger back several steps.

Stepping on his spear and grabbing the incoming giant sword, he clapped his hands together, catching the blade barehanded, and with a roar, unleashed tremendous power. He twisted his arms backward, knocking the sword and the giant weapon to the ground.

The two colossal warriors broke through their attack and opened a path. Behind them, rows of fire cannons and pea fire shooters opened fire simultaneously.

Flames dyed half the sky red, and magic cannons rained down on the cultivator like a storm.

A deafening roar and billowing smoke rose from where he stood.

Following the principle of "no harm even with smoke," when the smoke cleared, apart from his tattered armor, the cultivator still stood tall and proud, displaying an arrogant and heroic demeanor.

Such incredible bravery could not be attributed to an unknown individual; it must be the immortal Iron Wall, Qu Ang without a doubt!

The Phantom Troupe has made four out of seven moves.

Qu Ang alone forcefully confronted the giant soldiers and the swarm of Peashooters outside.

The Shadow Warrior, Butterfly Sword, and Formation Breaker joined forces to fight against the Golden Core Elder of the Outer Court, a group of Foundation Establishment disciples, and several formations.

What about the rest?
Rao Tingshan was startled.

His divine sense landed in the inner courtyard.

The inner courtyard was just as lively as the outer courtyard.

Inside the inner courtyard, Princess Fire Phoenix had secretly arranged for three Fire Phoenix Elders to lie in ambush, along with the City Lord of Phoenix City, clad in armor, leading hundreds of valiant Fire Phoenix warriors to her side.

There were three people opposite him.

The first one is a young man with a handsome face and a slender figure. He always has a slight smile on his lips. At first glance, everyone would just think of him as a sunny boy and would never associate him with the Phantom Leader who has killed countless people.

To the right of Yu Yinganyu stood Nong Fuzhen, a corpse-stitching man with a sinister face, thin skin, sparse long hair that grew haphazardly on his head like weeds.

On the left is a dwarf-like cultivator riding a silver electric rat. He looks as innocent and radiant as a child, but his methods are the most cruel. He once committed the heinous crime of poisoning an entire city's cultivators.

By this time, the entire Phantom Troupe had made their appearance.

As Rao Tingshan had predicted, Princess Fire Phoenix was well-prepared and her target was indeed the Phantom Troupe.

"Fellow Daoist Feng, how have you been? After our last parting, I thought I would never see you again, but I never expected to meet you again so soon!"

Despite being surrounded, Yin Ganyu remained calm and composed, seemingly holding something in mind. He bowed to Princess Huofeng and asked with a smile.

Princess Fire Phoenix didn't know what this person was relying on, so while she was wary, she also didn't give him any friendly face.

"Shut your stinking mouth and laugh like a woman. Didn't you ever think about meeting me again? Didn't you ever expect me to meet you in this manner?"

"How could the princess be so rude? Was it my fellow Daoist Jia who was disrespectful? Fellow Daoist Jia really shouldn't have done that. He promised to treat the princess well, so why did he let her go home so early!"

Yin Ganyu made no attempt to conceal his relationship with the Joyful Old Demon, stating directly that he had an indelible connection to the abduction of Princess Fire Phoenix.

Upon hearing this, Princess Fire Phoenix had nothing more to say to him. With a wave of her hand, the three Fire Phoenix Elders, together with the princess's third uncle, pressed towards Yin Ganyu and the others.

Although the three Fire Phoenix Elders had only condensed mid-grade Golden Cores, they possessed Phoenix Blood and could utilize the power of the Blazing Fire to unleash Daoist arts. Their Blazing Fire was extremely powerful, far surpassing the capabilities of the six Golden Core Elders outside.

As soon as the three made their move, Nong Fuzhen let out two strange laughs, and with a flick of his fingers, three grotesque corpses emerged from the ground.

Spider legs, bear-elephant body, tiger-wolf head, stone monster arms, and countless human heads growing like fruits on that bizarre, corpse-like monster.

The Corpse-Stitching Monster!
Three corpse monsters exuding the spiritual pressure of a Golden Core cultivator and the aura of a third-tier body cultivator!
He alone, controlling the corpse monster, managed to block the attacks of the three Fire Phoenix Elders.

Princess Fire Phoenix was not concerned about this. Although the Corpse-Sealing Monster was strong, it could only hold off Elder Fire Phoenix for a while. In time, it would inevitably be unable to withstand the heat of the fire.

Seeing hundreds of soldiers attacking the poison master Yuan Xiu, Princess Fire Phoenix nodded slightly.

The poisons of a master poisoner are difficult to defend against, but if deliberately targeted, there are ways to counter them.

Beside her lay a third-tier Weasel Light Rat, which fed on poison and was a perfect counter to all the methods of a Poison Master. She patted the rat's head and sent it to help the soldiers surround and kill Yuan Xiu.

Princess Fire Phoenix's gaze fell on the city lord's third uncle.

Lord Fenglai City, a peak third-tier body cultivator, possesses the essence of the Fire Phoenix within him, only slightly inferior to that of the Fire Phoenix Princess. Furthermore, his awakened Dao pattern ability is that of the genuine Fire Phoenix of the Demon Kingdom, Feng Zhu Hai.

In this Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, his strength is only second to the Nascent Soul Ancestor and two or three fourth-tier professional elders.

Her third uncle, who had doted on her since childhood, was also the Fire Phoenix Princess. Her greatest asset in this operation was the only person on the field capable of confronting the Phantom Leader, Yin Ganyu, the Transformation Hand.

"Pfft!"

"Third Uncle, what are you doing!" Princess Fire Phoenix's face was filled with disbelief as her third uncle stabbed her with a knife.

"Don't blame your third uncle, you're blocking his way!" Feng Laicheng acted swiftly and proactively. The moment the three Fire Phoenix Elders left the Fire Phoenix Princess, he was preparing to make his move. When their gaze fell on him, he moved like lightning and stabbed with his knife.

He was cold-hearted but hot-blooded; he would stab his niece more readily than a stranger.

But it seems...

It seems like they stabbed the wrong person!

(End of this chapter)