My brother is so cunning

Chapter 987 Tactical Avoidance of the Edge

The Heavenly Fire Pillar is not an invincible innate treasure, nor is it even qualified to suppress the fortune of a sect. It can only be considered as the foundation for a certain immortal's enlightenment.

Although it is not quite on par with the most powerful magic weapons in the Three Realms, this magic weapon is still a formidable weapon, standing proudly at the pinnacle of countless fire-type magic weapons in the primordial world.

With his extensive combat experience, Yun Zhongzi could predict his opponent's strategy when facing the fire dragon summoned by the Divine Fire Pillar. Countering it with ice or earth magic was the best option.

In the past, when he fought with others, his opponents would summon ice dragons or use earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magical escape technique) to try to escape.

Those who use ice dragons to fight against the nine fire dragons often lose because their immortal power is insufficient to withstand the power of the nine fire dragons.

Those who can use earth-遁 (a technique to burrow underground) only need to take precautions. By sealing the earth's vein channels in advance with the spell of turning the earth into steel, the opponent will have no way to enter the earth.

Supernatural powers are unleashed through magical artifacts, consuming negligible amounts of immortal energy. This is precisely the power of top-tier magical artifacts. Even if the opponent uses a counteracting supernatural power to counter it, they will be the first to exhaust their immortal energy and be defeated in a war of attrition.

However, Yun Zhongzi had never heard of the spells cast by those dozens of metal puppets before, and even when he used his divine sense to investigate, he could not detect the slightest fluctuation of immortal power.

Not to mention any fluctuations in immortal power, there were no fluctuations in spiritual power, demonic energy, or evil energy at all. It was as if it were just a natural phenomenon that could be seen everywhere, and not a single bit of extraordinary power was used.

Even if a Golden Immortal used the divine power from the Heavenly Book to summon an Ice Dragon to fight against the fire dragon summoned by the Heavenly Fire Pillar, it would be impossible to extinguish the Samadhi True Fire burning on the fire dragon's body.

However, the eerie figure, which consumed no immortal power, emitted an extremely cold aura that caused the fire dragon excruciating pain, making it completely unable to maintain its flame form.

As the flames on its body gradually died down, the fire dragon possessed by the Shadow of the Underworld slowed down, revealing its body, which was covered in cracks like coal ash. The dragon seemed frozen, writhing slowly and stiffly in the air like a cold, crawling worm, posing no threat whatsoever to the agile metal puppets that could drift and turn at will, ignoring the laws of gravity.

Having unleashed his strongest magic weapon, Yun Zhongzi was utterly shocked when it was easily countered by a few puppets. He was unable to accept this and his mind was shaken.

However, the metal golems showed no mercy. The lead golem, having escaped the fire dragon's pursuit, immediately turned and charged towards Yun Zhongzi.

Yun Zhongzi lost his flying sword, and his magic weapon was countered. Now he was unarmed, and the puppets were coming at him fiercely. He had no time to think and could only fight with his fists and feet.

Yun Zhongzi unleashed a soft palm strike, but the puppet deflected it with an incredibly exquisite and powerful punch. Before he could react, he was struck hard in the chin, making him see stars and feel dizzy.

The body of a Golden Immortal is supposed to be indestructible, like steel and iron. No matter how hard a fist hits it, even a flying sword can't cut it in the slightest.

But the puppet's fist was incredibly heavy; this punch hurt a hundred times more than any beating Yun Zhongzi had ever taken in his life.

The fist also contained a high-frequency vibrational force, which seemed to be a martial art specifically developed for the indestructible body of a Golden Immortal. Centered on the fist, the vibrational ripples spread out, creating countless cracks inside the Vajra body.

As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. Yun Zhongzi's preferred fighting style is the sword immortal mode, which combines flying swords with magical treasures and supernatural powers. Close-quarters combat is not his forte.

He did indeed train a martial arts master disciple like Lei Zhenzi, but Lei Zhenzi's abilities were far inferior to Yang Jian's, and even to Nezha and Huang Tianhua. Otherwise, Lei Zhenzi wouldn't have ended up in the Thunder Department, serving as a subordinate to his former enemy and being at his beck and call.

The metal puppet possessed a martial arts level so high that it was something Yun Zhongzi had never seen before. Back in the Great Zhou army, Yun Zhongzi had fought alongside fierce generals like Yang Jian and Wei Tuo. Compared to this metal puppet, those so-called divine generals were nothing more than third-rate martial artists.

In hand-to-hand combat, Yun Zhongzi was no match for Yang Jian. He couldn't withstand a single blow from the martial arts grandmaster puppet's fists and feet, and was immediately pinned to the air and beaten in various ways as soon as they clashed.

From a distance, the scene looked as if a scholar had encountered soldiers, and a learned man had been brutally ravaged by thugs.

Fortunately, Yun Zhongzi had cultivated an indestructible golden body. If this beating had been delivered to a true immortal, his bones would probably have been smashed to pieces.

Yun Zhongzi was more resilient; he endured countless punches and kicks, yet his golden body only suffered minor cracks and was far from shattering.

As Yun Zhongzi was being beaten, he gradually recalled that he seemed to have seen the punching technique used to beat him somewhere before.

As the opponent practiced his set of fist techniques on him until he had mastered them, Yun Zhongzi suddenly realized that this was the same Buddhist technique used by the Western Sect reinforcements when they stormed into the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation and crushed the Jie Sect immortals.
At the time, Yun Zhongzi remarked that the foreign monks were indeed skilled at chanting scriptures, and their development of martial arts was far superior to that of the Chan and Jie sects.

In terms of supernatural powers, magical treasures, and swordsmanship, the immortals of the Chan and Jie sects are undoubtedly the authorities, but in terms of martial arts, the Western sect is still superior.

This may be because the Western Sect is located in the barren and resource-poor Xiniuhe Prefecture, which is where they have found another way to resist the invasion of the demons of the land by relying on their strong physical bodies.

After gritting his teeth and enduring for a long time, Yun Zhongzi, who was already powerless to fight back, waited in vain for the puppet to deliver the final blow.

He gradually realized that the puppet's strength and moves were very precise, constantly inflicting pain on him and gradually accumulating damage, so that the speed at which he used his immortal power to heal the cracks in his golden body was kept in a delicate balance with the speed at which the cracks were broken.

Instead of killing him, they wanted to beat him until he wished he were dead.

Recalling what the puppet had said earlier, wasn't this just a medium-intensity, non-lethal force?

These puppets truly lived up to their name; they executed their orders flawlessly and meticulously.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I'll go with you!"

This is not the time to save face and show off the spirit of the Chan Sect cultivators. No matter how hard your bones are, they can't beat a fist. These iron men have no compassion. Yun Zhongzi understands that if he doesn't make a clear statement, the puppets can keep fighting until the end of time.

The more arrogant and conceited he was before, the more pathetic he is now. Unfortunately, the situation is beyond his control. Yun Zhongzi didn't want to sulk with a bunch of iron lumps, so he decisively chose to bide his time and tactically avoid the limelight. To put it bluntly, a wise immortal doesn't suffer losses in the short term, and he admitted defeat on the spot.

Since these puppets come from the Heavenly Court, there is no danger to his life if he is captured by them. Yun Zhongzi has many old friends and acquaintances in the Heavenly Court, and even the Jade Emperor has to give him some face. He only needs to go to heaven with these puppets to clear up the misunderstanding.

(End of this chapter)