A magical journey of a sharp-tongued woman and a goofy man

The strange sound grew closer, like the harsh sound of metal rubbing together.

Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye turned around abruptly, only to see a group of mechanical puppets appear behind them and surround them.

These puppets were made entirely of bronze, gleaming with a cold luster, and each one exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Holy crap! What's going on? Where did this thing come from?" Jiang Ye exclaimed, instinctively shielding Ye Shuli behind him.

Ye Shuli frowned, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

These puppets were clearly not ordinary mechanical figures; the spiritual energy emanating from them was at least at the late-stage Spirit Realm level.

Just then, Master Zhao appeared not far away.

With a sinister grin, he pointed at Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye and said to the mechanical puppet, "Go! Kill them!"

"Master Zhao, you old bastard!" Jiang Ye roared, "You actually dared to plot against us!"

Master Zhao remained unmoved, and instead said even more smugly, "Hmph, the victor is king, the loser is villain. Who told you to block my way?"

"You think you can stop us with this piece of junk? You underestimate us!" Ye Shuli sneered.

"Scrap metal? Hmph, you'll see how powerful they are in a moment!" Master Zhao said sinisterly.

The mechanical puppets began to move, emitting a teeth-grinding grinding sound. The weapons in their hands gleamed coldly as they approached Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye step by step.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze, filled with an aura of danger.

Ye Shuli took a deep breath, her eyes sharpening. "Jiang Ye, prepare for battle!"

Jiang Ye nodded, gripped his weapon tightly, and stared intently at the approaching mechanical puppet.

He knew that a fierce battle was inevitable.

"Sister Li, these guys look tough to deal with," Jiang Ye said in a low voice.

"What's there to be afraid of? We'll deal with whatever comes our way." Ye Shuli's lips curled up slightly, revealing a confident smile.

"With Sister Li's words, I feel relieved." Jiang Ye grinned, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.

The mechanical puppets were already close enough, raising their weapons and slashing down fiercely at Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye...

"Heh, interesting." Ye Shuli chuckled, and a longsword crackling with lightning suddenly appeared in her hand...

The Lightning Sword in Ye Shuli's hand shone brightly, and the blade emitted a series of buzzing sounds, like a ferocious beast about to awaken.

"Let me show you what electrotherapy is all about!" She smirked, her figure transforming into a bolt of lightning as she charged into the horde of mechanical puppets.

"Sister Li is awesome!" Jiang Ye cheered from the side, while wielding his long sword to block some of the puppets' attacks.

He moved nimbly, like a clever monkey, weaving between the puppets. Although he was at a disadvantage, he managed to hold on for the time being.

However, there were simply too many puppets, and Jiang Ye's spiritual power gradually depleted, causing his movements to become sluggish.

Large beads of sweat slid down his forehead, and his breathing became rapid.

"Sister Li, I can't hold on much longer!"

Ye Shuli wanted to go and help, but found herself bound by a mysterious force and unable to move.

She watched helplessly as Jiang Ye struggled in the battle, her heart filled with anxiety.

"What's going on? This damn thing!" She struggled with all her might, but to no avail. The mysterious power around her flickered with a faint blue light, as if an invisible giant net was trapping her firmly.

"Hahaha, Ye Shuli, you've finally met your match!" Master Zhao laughed triumphantly from the side. "Just obediently prepare to die!"

Ye Shuli glared at him fiercely, forcing herself to calm down.

She looked around, carefully observing her surroundings, trying to find the source of this mysterious power.

Modern knowledge came in handy at this moment; she recalled the energy field theory she had seen in science fiction movies...

Wait, an energy field?

Could it be...

Ye Shuli suddenly thought of something, and her eyes lit up.

She focused her mind and channeled her spiritual power along a specific trajectory, attempting to disrupt the surrounding energy field.

Sure enough, the force binding her began to weaken, and the blue light began to flicker.

"It's done!" Ye Shuli was overjoyed and increased her spiritual energy output.

With a crisp sound, the force binding her finally disappeared completely.

She flashed to Jiang Ye's side, wielding her lightning sword once more to repel the puppets that were attacking him.

"Jiang Ye, attack their joints!" Ye Shuli shouted as she fought.

Although Jiang Ye didn't understand why, he did as he was told without hesitation.

His long sword struck the puppet's joints with precision, and the once indestructible puppet began to crack, its movements becoming stiff.

"Sister Li, you're amazing!" Jiang Ye exclaimed excitedly, his eyes filled with admiration.

"Stop talking nonsense and deal with them quickly!" Ye Shuli said irritably, but a hint of a smile flashed in her eyes.

As the last puppet fell, the surrounding pressure decreased sharply.

Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye both breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could even catch their breath...

"Jiang Ye, watch out!" Ye Shuli suddenly shouted.

When Master Zhao saw the mechanical puppet being defeated, his expression changed drastically.

He gave Jiang Ye a sinister look, and taking advantage of his unpreparedness, a poisoned dagger suddenly appeared in his hand, which he thrust straight at Jiang Ye's back.

"Boy, go to hell!"

Jiang Ye seemed to sense something and barely dodged the fatal blow with a lazy roll.

"Damn it, Sixth Brother, you're playing dirty tricks, aren't you!" He flipped to his feet, brandishing his long sword straight at Master Zhao's face.

"Sister Li said that to deal with a cunning old fox like you, you have to be even more cunning than you!"

Zhao, the clerk, dodged in a disheveled manner, cursing under his breath.

"Damn brat!" The fallen mechanical puppets around them suddenly "came back to life" and started up again, brandishing their broken weapons and attacking once more.

This sudden turn of events made the battle even more chaotic, with the sounds of metal clashing and swords slicing through the air intertwined, creating a tense atmosphere that could erupt at any moment.

Ye Shuli, however, did not immediately join the battle.

She looked around, her gaze settling on some peculiar runes on the walls of the ruins.

"Little brat, you're still too green to play with me!" A sly smile curled at the corner of her lips as she rapidly formed hand seals and chanted incantations.

"Heaven and earth are dark and yellow, the universe is vast and boundless, so be it! Rise!" With her delicate shout, the runes on the ruins wall suddenly lit up with a dazzling light, the ground began to tremble, the originally flat ground cracked open, and countless metal chains shot out from the ground, coiling around the slow-moving mechanical puppets like serpents.

"What?!" Seeing the puppet trapped, Master Zhao was furious. He rushed to the wall, trying to destroy the runes.

"Stop!" He frantically attacked the wall, but unexpectedly triggered the ruins' defense mechanism. A powerful beam of energy shot out from the rune, blasting him away.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, I accidentally hurt you." Ye Shuli covered her mouth in feigned surprise, but her eyes were full of mockery.

She glanced at the trapped mechanical puppet and Zhao Shiye, who was lying on the ground groaning, and smiled gently.

"Now, it's time to settle the score."

Jiang Ye walked to her side, looked at the chaotic scene before him, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Sister Li, your move was amazing! It was textbook-level crowd control!"

Ye Shuli raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when suddenly, a deep humming sound came from the depths of the ruins, the ground trembled even more violently, and a powerful pressure spread out from the depths, as if something terrifying was about to awaken...

"Oh no!" Ye Shuli's expression changed. "Jiang Ye,..."

"Jiang Ye, let's go!" Ye Shuli grabbed Jiang Ye's hand and ran towards the depths of the ruins.

The buzzing grew louder and louder, and the ground shook more and more violently, as if the entire ruins were about to collapse.

"Sister Li, what's wrong?" Jiang Ye asked loudly as he ran after her.

"There's no time to explain, let's get to the seal of the divine artifact first!" Ye Shuli didn't have time to say more and quickened her pace.

The two ran all the way and finally arrived at the deepest part of the ruins.

Here stands a massive altar, and in the center of it sits a gem that shimmers with an eerie light—the very key to their objective: the sealing of the divine artifact.

"Sister Li, is this it?" Jiang Ye asked, pointing to the gemstone.

“That’s right!” Ye Shuli nodded firmly. She took a deep breath, walked to the center of the altar, and placed her hand on the gemstone.

A powerful surge of energy instantly entered her body, causing her to shudder.

At the same time, the runes around the altar began to flicker, emitting a dazzling light.

"It's done!" A glint of excitement flashed in Ye Shuli's eyes.

Just then, the chains binding the mechanical puppets suddenly broke, and the puppets started up again, rushing towards Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye.

"Damn it, they're like ghosts that won't go away!" Jiang Ye complained, swinging his long sword again and knocking away the puppets that were charging at the front.

"Ignore them, focus on unsealing the artifact!" Ye Shuli shouted.

Jiang Ye nodded and focused on dealing with the mechanical puppets to buy time for Ye Shuli.

As Ye Shuli continuously poured in spiritual power, the gemstone's light grew increasingly dazzling, and the runes around the altar flickered faster and faster.

Finally, with a loud bang, the gem shattered, and a powerful burst of energy enveloped the entire ruins in a dazzling light.

"Ah..." Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye were both thrown out by the powerful energy and crashed heavily to the ground.

After an unknown amount of time, the light gradually faded, and Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye slowly opened their eyes.

They found themselves still deep within the ruins, but everything around them had changed.

The altar had vanished, replaced by a massive energy vortex that emanated a chilling aura.

"Sister Li, we did it!" Jiang Ye shouted excitedly.

Ye Shuli nodded, a smile appearing on her face.

They finally broke the seal on the artifact and completed the most important task of this adventure.

However, before they could even rejoice, a powerful pressure suddenly descended, locking them firmly in place.

"Oh no, someone's coming!" Ye Shuli's expression changed, and an ominous premonition rose in her heart.

The light soared into the sky, and the news of the artifact's unsealing would surely spread like wildfire throughout the entire continent, drawing in forces from all sides and inevitably leading to a bloody battle.

They knew full well that the challenges ahead would be even greater, and a fierce battle awaited them...