**A Sword Pointed at the Myriad Immortal Alliance**
Sun Erlang did not respond to Qiaogong, for his limits were far from being reached.
One hundred, two hundred, five hundred...
It wasn't until the number of black puppets emerging in the testing ground exceeded one thousand that Sun Erlang ceased his summons, all under Qiaogong Jushi's astonished gaze.
Over a thousand black puppets fought against each other, their distinct combat styles making it impossible to discern that a single person was controlling them all.
Having achieved such a feat, Sun Erlang still had the leisure to chat with Qiaogong.
"Senior, you jest," Sun Erlang began. "I am the Sacred Emperor's foremost disciple. In the future, I will lead the conquest of the Myriad Immortal Alliance as a commander, not merely a general. Furthermore, while these puppets are indeed powerful..."
"...I am not weak either."
Sun Erlang's tone radiated confidence: "The control of these puppets can be left to my subordinates. I refuse to believe that the Sacred Army puppets you've crafted, Senior, could possibly outnumber our Sacred Dynasty soldiers?"
Qiaogong waved his hand, saying with a look of dismissal, "No, no, no, you've misunderstood, young man. I wasn't talking about these ordinary Sacred Army puppets. I meant this type..."
As he spoke, with flashes of black light, the thousand-plus puppets summoned by Sun Erlang successively vanished from the testing ground.
A spatial rift appeared in their place, and a colossal puppet, radiating brilliant golden light like those from the Sacred Dynasty's Hall of Heroic Spirits in the sky, descended upon the area.
A mysterious and majestic aura swept through the entire testing ground.
The surrounding seals creaked and groaned under the immense impact, as if they could shatter at any moment.
The golden puppet's eyes gazed at Sun Erlang, cold and devoid of emotion, like a deity observing the mortal world.
Locked onto by the opponent, Sun Erlang surprisingly felt the illusion of facing his master.
"This is..."
Sun Erlang looked at Qiaogong Jushi with some surprise.
Qiaogong said with a hint of pride, "This is the truly powerful puppet that represents my highest craftsmanship. Those black Sacred Army puppets just now were merely common goods, expendables in war."
"Just think, how could I possibly let you test truly high-end items without any preparation?"
Sun Erlang felt a little awkward hearing this, but his attention quickly returned to the golden puppet standing silently before him.
"Senior, what is the power of this puppet like?"
Qiaogong said proudly, "I'm not trying to discourage you, young Sun, but although you are the Sacred Emperor's senior disciple, if it came to a real fight, you might not necessarily be a match for this puppet."
Sun Erlang's eyes narrowed instantly, but he did not retort verbally.
Qiaogong continued, "This puppet is different from the mass-produced ones. Each one is personally crafted by me, and by the Sacred Emperor..."
Qiaogong paused. "Heh heh, anyway, you just need to know that this golden puppet is extremely precious. Even if the entire Sacred Dynasty's power were expended, no more than ten of these could be built."
"Similarly, its manipulation requirements are greatly increased. I was previously a bit troubled about where to find suitable operators. I didn't expect you, young man, to still have a trick up your sleeve..."
"If you can simultaneously control over a thousand mass-produced puppets, then controlling five golden puppets should not be a problem."
"Such a huge difference?" Sun Erlang frowned.
"Heh heh, you'll know once you try it." Qiaogong inserted a golden sphere into Sun Erlang's Sea of Consciousness.
The scene before him shattered abruptly, as if he had been instantly transported from the testing ground to an endless dark star sea.
In front of him, two colossal crimson-gold spheres radiated intense heat and light.
Sun Erlang was unconsciously drawn to them. As he drew closer, he suddenly realized they were the golden puppet's two eyes!
His consciousness was instantly absorbed. When Sun Erlang regained his senses, he looked blankly at his own hands.
His original body could no longer be sensed.
His current body had surprisingly become the golden puppet.
And...
Sun Erlang could clearly feel the surging, unknown power flowing and circulating within him.
"This is..."
As he was momentarily stunned, Qiaogong's voice came from beside his ear: "I will teleport you to a special hunting ground in the void outside the Grand Qi Minor World. You can test this puppet body to your heart's content there."
The surrounding space twisted, and Sun Erlang instantly arrived in a dark void.
He could vaguely see the distant Sacred Dynasty surrounded by numerous minor worlds.
"Roar!"
A silver-scaled giant python ten thousand zhang long suddenly appeared from nowhere, opening its gaping maw.
In the next moment, it was about to directly swallow the golden puppet controlled by Sun Erlang.
However, Sun Erlang did not make any defensive moves, but merely allowed a faint glow to emanate from the puppet's surface.
The silver-scaled python, as if ignited by flames, turned to ash in agony, dying in pain.
The death of the giant python, like a stone thrown into a pond, stirred up ripples.
Hundreds of unknown fierce beasts emerged from the darkness, appearing completely devoid of reason, and attacked Sun Erlang.
Sun Erlang could clearly feel that each of these specially cultivated fierce beasts from the Sacred Dynasty possessed strength no less than that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
But facing their encirclement...
Sun Erlang extended his left hand and gently brushed it as if plucking a zither string.
A ripple spread through space.
The fierce beasts, originally overflowing with malevolent aura, still retained their expressions from before death. Only their bodies had, in an instant, been dismembered into countless fragments, falling like rain.
"The power of laws."
"Spatial laws."
Sun Erlang quietly looked at his left hand, as a wave of realization washed over him.
As this epiphany occurred, he seemed to see a figure hidden within his body.
"Soul of Heaven and Earth?"
Even after unleashing a killing move, Sun Erlang, controlling the golden puppet, felt no fatigue whatsoever.
The energy contained within the puppet seemed endless.
"A puppet stronger than a Dao Integration realm cultivator?"
Sun Erlang was certain that the seemingly effortless move just now was enough to severely wound a Dao Integration realm cultivator from the Xuanhuang Realm.
And this was far from the limit of the golden puppet's capabilities.
"No wonder Senior Qiaogong said I was no match for it."
While his heart was filled with inexpressible shock, Sun Erlang also felt a sense of loss.
As the Sacred Emperor's foremost disciple, he enjoyed countless resources. Moreover, he had benefited from the fortuitous encounter of the Taiyan Sect...
Yet in the end, he was inferior to a casually crafted puppet?
What then was the meaning of his cultivation?
As he was lost in thought, the golden puppet's form flickered, and it returned to the testing ground.
Sun Erlang also detached from the puppet's body, returning to his original self.
Frail.
A profound sense of contrast instantly emerged within Sun Erlang's heart.
"Heh heh, you've been hit hard, haven't you, young man? Actually, there's no need for that."
"The resources we spend on these golden puppets, by sheer accumulation, could also raise ordinary cultivators to the Dao Integration realm."
Qiaogong patted Sun Erlang's shoulder: "I trust you've felt it too; within each puppet, there is a contained power of the Soul of Heaven and Earth. With such a Soul of Heaven and Earth as their core, these puppets, when fighting in the Xuanhuang Realm environment, are like fish in water, gaining nearly a third of their combat strength as an enhancement."
"Furthermore, if the same person controls multiple puppets..."
Qiaogong's tone suddenly became excited: "The puppets can even borrow the power of each other's Souls of Heaven and Earth and their inherent laws!"
"In a short burst, their combat strength can multiply many times over!"
Sun Erlang looked at the golden, majestic puppet, standing like a deity back in the testing space, silent and speechless.
"In the future, there will certainly be a war between the Sacred Dynasty and the Myriad Immortal Alliance. What truly determines the course of war is high-end combat power. How many Dao Integration realm cultivators does the Myriad Immortal Alliance have? At least close to a thousand. And how many disciples does the Sacred Emperor have?"
"Furthermore, you are all still too young, after all. Compared to those veteran Dao Integration realm cultivators of the Myriad Immortal Alliance, you might not gain any advantage. The Sacred Emperor can't possibly personally intervene to deal with these Dao Integration cultivators, can he?" Qiaogong Jushi said meaningfully.
"At the highest realm, whoever shows up first exposes a weakness. Young man, you need to be psychologically prepared. In the future war, the Sacred Emperor might not easily make a move."
Sun Erlang nodded: "I naturally understand this principle."
"With these golden puppets, we can significantly reverse the power gap between us. Young Sun, would you like to give it a try?" Qiaogong asked.
"As long as you can control three of them simultaneously, besieging and killing a Myriad Immortal Alliance Dao Integration realm cultivator will be effortless," Qiaogong guaranteed.
Sun Erlang slowly nodded.
In the Sacred Emperor's seat.
The conversation between his senior disciple and Qiaogong naturally did not escape the Sacred Emperor's notice.
The golden puppets, with pure source energy essence combined with the Soul of Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth as their core, transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary. Using sheer resources, they forcefully created puppets capable of overwhelming Dao Integration realm combat power.
Their inspiration naturally came from Tianyang.
In fact, Tianyang itself, transformed by golden source energy and Qiaogong, had already surpassed the Dao Integration realm and reached the Immortalization realm. And furthermore...
It was not far from reaching the mortal limit.
But regrettably, there seemed to be some unseen constraint. Tianyang's unique progress experience was not applicable to other puppets.
Even with identical crafting methods, subsequent puppets were always an entire major realm weaker than Tianyang.
Besides Tianyang's transformation into a puppet and its own unique factors, Li Ping speculated that there was a deeper principle hidden within.
"The first to step completes their path. Just like testifying to an unnamed True Immortal, the path does not allow others to meddle. It is the same for these puppets."
"It's just that the restrictions seem even more stringent."
However, with the assistance of Tianyang and these current golden puppets, Li Ping was already very satisfied.
War, frankly speaking, is simply a comparison of who has more trump cards.
While the Myriad Immortal Alliance is indeed unfathomable, the resources he can mobilize will be no less.
Moreover, Qiaogong had one thing wrong.
"True powerhouses are not without weaknesses."
"Rather, they are not afraid of others targeting their weaknesses."
In this war against the Myriad Immortal Alliance, he wouldn't constantly hide behind the scenes.
Otherwise, how could he live up to the name of Sacred Emperor?
"Chuanfa."
Li Ping sat calmly, but his gaze penetrated the firmament, reaching beyond the Xuanhuang Realm.
In his hand, he was toying with a dazzling rainbow-colored crystal.
Kongming Flowing Crystal.
Through the sensory records of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, Li Ping had already initially grasped the Myriad Immortal Alliance's Rainbow Light Escape Technique.
He decided that before the war began, he would use a puppet body to journey deep into the star sea.
Not to start a war with Chuanfa prematurely, but to comprehend the Dao within the star sea.
"In this war, I shall surely triumph."
The Sacred Emperor's conviction had never wavered.
Myriad Immortal Alliance.
Within the Yanfa Jue space.
Feeling the faint conviction transmitted from his clone, Li Fan couldn't help but nod slightly.
Although as the Sacred Emperor's strength became increasingly profound, his own perception of him also grew weaker.
But the Sacred Emperor's direction of action was still steadily moving toward the predetermined path.
Coupled with some backup plans he had left, Li Fan was not afraid of things going awry.
Furthermore, as long as the goal of forcing Chuanfa out was achieved, that would be enough.
As for the rest...
One thought returns to truth; all else is illusion.
Having meditated in the Yanfa Jue space for such a long time, continually gaining insights from the Sacred Emperor and the Sacred Embryo, Li Fan himself had greatly benefited.
Especially at the other end of the star sea, having touched upon higher laws that transcended the Xuanhuang Realm's limits, Li Fan had even more thoughts about the path ahead.
"Although under the new law's constraints, a new path can still be forged."
"The Chuanfa system relies on the Xuanhuang Realm itself. If one were to start anew in the starry sky, they would not be restricted by it."
"However, doing so would mean not receiving aid from Xuanhuang. There are pros and cons. Moreover, resources are scarce in the starry sky, and to truly achieve something, one might have to rely on the Xuanxian Ark."
"And there's that invisible high wall."
"It seems to be a power entirely different from the Dark Star Sea system. However, being able to constrain True Immortal power, its might is imaginable. If I could gain some insight from it, in future battles with Chuanfa, it might serve as a surprising move."
"My only concern is..."
Li Fan frowned slightly: "Chuanfa and Tianyi left the Xuanhuang Realm far earlier than I did. Their talent also surpasses mine."
"All these insights I've currently discovered, they must have discovered them long ago."
"So what is called an advantage... isn't actually an advantage."
"It seems only after a true fight will I know their true extent."
It must be said that, as the number of reincarnation cycles increased, the mysterious veil over Chuanfa and Tianyi was gradually lifted. Li Fan, who initially avoided them, now increasingly wanted to probe them.
And as for truly defeating them, perhaps that day is not far off.
Li Fan then thought of the 'cat treasure' found by the Sacred Emperor's clone.
If there was anything he particularly cared about in this life, it was the treasure from beyond the high wall that he hadn't 'fished out' before.
"The one who fishes is also fished..."
A strange light flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
The entire Du'e Sect's special reaction to the 'cat treasure' made Li Fan think of many things.
However, for now, it was just speculation.
The Sacred Emperor's clone had also noticed this anomaly.
Going to the One Origin Sect and collecting the Wasting Wind Disaster and the Grand Master's remains was precisely due to this consideration.
As Li Fan was pondering, the long-peaceful Yanfa Jue space was suddenly disrupted.
It turned out someone had come to visit.
It was none other than Sun Luyuan of the Sun Family.
"Lu'er, happy news, happy news!"
After Sun Luyuan greeted the other two Dao Integration realm guardians, he spoke to Li Fan.
"I know."
Li Fan's reaction, however, made Sun Luyuan slightly pause.
"Through bloodline sensing, how could I not know?"
"How is Ningjiu?" Li Fan asked, seemingly suppressing a smile.
Sun Luyuan sighed faintly: "Ningjiu has unfortunately passed away. However, thankfully the fetus is unharmed. This is also why I came to find you so late, fearing you might not be able to accept it."
Sun Luyuan changed the subject: "Do you know how extraordinary that little child is? Born into the Dao Integration realm..."
[58 seconds from now] Chapter 1172: I Have Come to Marry You
[5 minutes ago] Chapter 1292
[6 minutes ago] Chapter 1171: Auspicious End
[8 minutes ago] Chapter 724: Departure
[13 minutes ago] Chapter 1291: Xuanhuang Wind Disaster Calamity
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