Chapter 947: A Second Key?

Chapter 947: A Second Key?

"If everyone's ready, then let's go in," Chen Yang said.

"I can deal with those puppets just fine, but if we encounter more of those talisman spirits, then I'll have to count on you, Fellow Daoist Li," Sun Tu said with a smile.

"Rest assured, City Lord Sun, I'll be sure to do my part," Han Li replied.

Sun Tu nodded in response, then turned to give Fang Chan a look, and the latter immediately pushed the stone gate open before stepping inside, followed by everyone else.

By the time everyone had gone through, Sun Tu swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of tremendous force to close the gate again.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he took a glance at the gate, then swept his gaze across the hall that he had just stepped into.

All of a sudden, all of the giant braziers hanging from the walls and the ceiling of the hall were set alight in unison, illuminating the entire hall with their bright flames.

There was a small basin at the center of the hall, and a strange-looking copper tree was situated there. There were close to twenty branches extending from the trunk of the tree, all of which were riddled with star runes.

What was even more peculiar was that there was a statue clad in a full suit of copper armor hanging from the end of each branch, looking much like a series of bodies that had died by hanging.

Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed as his gaze roamed up the copper tree, and he discovered a bright pillar of white light at the top of the tree, within which was another crimson key.

Shi Chuankong immediately turned to Han Li with a surprised expression upon seeing this, and Han Li shook his head ever so slightly in response, indicating for him not to say anything.

However, right at this moment, the crimson key on the copper tree suddenly began to glow brightly, and Han Li felt a scorching sensation in front of his chest.

The burning heat caught him completely off guard, and he couldn't help but give a muffled groan.

"What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Li?" Chen Yang asked with a puzzled expression, and everyone else immediately turned to him as well.

"I suffered some internal injuries on the way here, and my chest suddenly began throbbing a little, but I'm fine," Han Li explained.

Thankfully, the scorching sensation only lasted for an instant before fading away, and the key that was hidden in his robe didn't release any light, so it didn't attract any extra attention.

"We seem to be relatively safe for now, so why don't you sit down and take a rest, Fellow Daoist Li?" Chen Yang suggested. "If you don't attend to your injuries, they could come back to bite you later."

"That's a good idea," Han Li replied with a nod, then strode over to a corner of the hall before sitting down with his legs crossed.

Shi Chuankong hesitated momentarily upon seeing this, then strode over to his side before sitting down as well.

Meanwhile, Chen Yang turned his gaze to the crimson key on top of the copper tree with a solemn look in his eyes.

A sharp screeching sound rang out as a large flurry of bright sparks erupted from the puppet's body, and even though Han Li's scimitar strike was able to leave a pronounced white mark on the puppet's armor, it hadn't actually been damaged in the slightest.

Han Li was quite surprised by how resilient the suit of armor was, and he stomped a foot down onto the ground while channeling his Titan Vajra Arts.

All of the profound acupoints on his arms lit up, and he grabbed tightly onto the hilt of his scimitar before unleashing another almighty blow.

A thin layer of starlight appeared over the scimitar, and in response, the puppet raised its saber above its head to block Han Li's attack.

A loud crack rang out as the puppet's saber was snapped into two, following which the white scimitar crashed down onto its shoulder.

Unfortunately, much of the scimitar's power had already been expended in the process of shattering the puppet's saber, so it was ultimately only able to slice around an inch into its armor, inflicting no substantial damage.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he attempted to withdraw his scimitar, only to discover that a burst of immense suction force had surged out of the puppet's armor, locking the scimitar firmly into place.

At the same time, the other puppet was already rushing at Han Li while swinging its saber at Han Li's lower abdomen, so he was forced to abandon his scimitar and dart back in retreat.

Meanwhile, Chen Yang and Fang Chan were still stuck firmly to the copper tree, so they could only battle their puppet assailants with their feet completely rooted to the spot. Initially, they were doing just fine, but as two more puppets entered the fray, they began to struggle.

In particular, Fang Chan had already been struck close to twenty times by his two puppet assailants, and his entire body was drenched in blood.

However, there was no pain in his expression at all, and his battle intent only seemed to be growing more and more fierce with each passing wound that he sustained.

Right as one of the puppet's plunged its saber directly at his heart, he abruptly opened his mouth to let loose an animalistic shriek, releasing bursts of semi-transparent soundwaves that were visible even to the naked eye.

As soon as the puppet's saber pierced into the oncoming soundwaves, it was instantly slowed down to a crawl, as if it had been plunged into a wall of wet sand.

At the same time, the entire tree began trembling violently from the soundwaves, and he and Chen Yang were finally able to free themselves.

Fang Chan stepped forward and plunged his hand straight through the soundwaves unleashed by his own roar, then grabbed onto the puppet's neck before tightening his grip with all his might.

A dull thump rang out as the puppet's neck exploded in his crushing grip, and its head fell onto the ground.

At the same time, a thin and intricate white bone spike shot out of Chen Yang's sleeve, then pierced into one of the puppet's through a gap in its armor.

Immediately thereafter, the puppet exploded from the inside with a resounding boom.

Things progressed relatively smoothly from there onward, and it didn't take long before all of the puppets were vanquished.

Fang Chan had sustained around a dozen light external injuries, while Xuanyuan Xing had been stabbed through the stomach by one of the puppets, but aside from that, everyone else remained virtually completely unscathed.

Sun Tu took some time to treat Fang Chan's injuries, then turned to Chen Yang as he asked, "Who's going to take the key?"