The road is vague

Chapter 430 The Statue of Heaven
Li Mo transformed into a streak of light and rushed back to Jimu Mountain at full speed.

The Spiritual Immortal Puppet Tournament here remains a hot event, and has now entered the final stage of skill exchange.

He breathed heavily, glancing around repeatedly, but found nothing unusual.

After noticing Li Mo's return, the Thousand-Faced King and Princess Dai came over. Seeing that Li Mo was restless, the Thousand-Faced King frowned slightly.

"Did something happen?"

“A second-in-command of a secret organization has infiltrated this place. He is at least at the late Nascent Soul stage. I don’t know what his intentions are. I’m worried that this grand event will be disrupted.”

He had already sent a warning message to Zhong Laogui via flying sword, and he didn't know what measures the Road Guiding Division would take, but this grand event was related to Lü Cuicui's life and death, and he would certainly not sit idly by.

"If anything changes, please act promptly."

"kindness."

At this time.

An ancient, sublime, and incomparably majestic aura suddenly appeared.

All of a sudden.

The clouds in the sky froze instantly, and the world in Li Mo's eyes lost its color, leaving only monotonous black and white. Even the sunlight became intermittent, like countless visible rays.

Some onlookers who were too close to the great formation were instantly pushed away by an invisible force. The entire square was shrouded in a terrifying spiritual pressure, and rays of spiritual light emerged from the great formation, eventually converging on a wheelchair.

In Li Mo's eyes, he seemed to see hundreds of roots of order spreading outwards and converging on Lü Cuicui's body.

These orders were briefly brought to life.

The mortals and low-level cultivators watching from afar were instantly stunned, completely overwhelmed by this power of order, their minds blank.

The cultivators with cultivation levels above Foundation Establishment gradually regained consciousness.

Amidst the gasps and exclamations of hundreds of low-level puppeteers, and after discussions among dozens of puppet masters, the prudent plan they devised finally began.

Li Mo approached with a solemn expression, activating his True Spirit Eye to examine the formation, but did not detect anything unusual.

He was immediately shocked by the amount of materials used to set up the formation.

The base of this formation is not a common magic weapon or spirit wood, but a total of eighty-one kinds of magic treasure-level materials with soul-nourishing properties. Moreover, as the formation is activated, these materials are constantly being consumed. In other words, this great formation is a one-time use!

"Cui Cui."

The spiritual light of the great array converged on Lü Cuicui's body, and the wheelchair beneath her was quickly disintegrated and annihilated, leaving her frail and withered body floating in the air.

The puppet masters who were watching all spoke up excitedly.

"It's done, it's done!"

"The legendary divine light of destiny has finally reappeared in the world."

"The legendary power of ancient demons stealing the power of heaven and earth to reproduce their offspring with their own blood and essence—it really works..."

The ancient, sublime, and magnificent aura not only made everyone present tremble, but also made Li Mo feel inexplicable pressure.

His dualistic chaotic thunder path was completely suppressed in the face of this power of order.

This was the second time he had encountered a similar situation since the God of Year split into two.

"This ancient, sublime, and magnificent aura is truly the result of the combined efforts of dozens of puppet masters, who exhausted all of Lü Cuicui's life's resources. Perhaps only those who have comprehended the Three Elements Chaos Thunder Dao, or even the Four Elements Chaos Thunder Dao, can contend with it."

Li Mo murmured in shock. This power was definitely beyond what a Nascent Soul cultivator should possess, and it was not a power that an individual could control in the Dharma-ending Age.

As the divine light continued to converge on Lü Cuicui, she seemed to be enduring intense pain, her fingers, toes, and extremities gradually breaking off and disappearing. However, she clenched her teeth and did not make a sound, as if her inner pain was even greater than the physical pain.

At this time.

Star crystals appeared.

It emitted a soft light, like a star in the sky, falling on Lü Cuicui, gradually absorbing her spiritual essence and easing her pain.

The pain on Lü Cuicui's face eased, and she turned around with difficulty, searching for something in the crowd. Finally, she saw Li Mo, who looked pained and sad. It seemed that they had returned to the time when they first met in their sect.

"Hmph, the legendary Star Crystal really does have the power to defy fate."

After the ground twisted, an old man, three feet tall with a broad forehead, appeared, stroking his beard as he looked at the star crystal and let out a cold laugh.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, he stretched out his right hand and made a grasping motion in the air, attempting to seize the Star Crystal.

"you dare!!"

Li Mo, the Thousand-Faced King, and Princess Dai made their moves almost simultaneously.

However, the three's attacks were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot when facing this giant hand of spiritual light. Apart from the Thousand-Faced King's slight intervention, Li Mo's Golden Fire Sword and Princess Dai's attacks were instantly swallowed up as if they were sinking into a quagmire.

The dwarf old man chuckled softly, seemingly unimpressed.

The giant hand of light continued its steady advance.

But then he seemed to realize something, and stared at Li Mo with wide eyes. He saw Li Mo extend his right index and middle fingers and lightly touch his forehead, which actually attracted a wisp of the power of the universe, pointing directly at him.

"This is!!?"

For a moment, he almost suspected that his junior brother, whom Qian Yuan Shengjun had killed, had been resurrected.

The binary chaotic lightning flashed and disappeared in an instant.

On one side was the power of order enhanced by supreme magical cultivation, and on the other side was the power of order enhanced by leveraging a trace of the power of the universe. After a brief collision and fusion, although the giant hand of spiritual light won by sheer numbers, it was powerless to take in the star crystals and was dispelled by the spiritual light of the great array.

Li Mo, the Thousand-Faced King, and Princess Dai were all sent flying backward, suffering injuries of varying degrees.

Li Mo coughed lightly, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

As the oil paint patterns on his body shimmered, his injuries healed rapidly, and he looked at the dwarf old man with resentment and solemnity.

"If I could advance to the Nascent Soul stage, even if I couldn't defeat them, it would never be like this."

Just as the dwarf old man was about to make another move, countless spiritual threads suddenly descended from the sky and entered his body, bringing his movements to an abrupt halt.

It was actually Lianyi who made the move.

The puppet body she displayed immediately shocked all the puppeteers, who had no idea that the host of the conference was actually a puppet!
"Puppet life?"

However, the dwarf elder immediately recognized that this was a living puppet and let out a loud shout.

"I wonder if it is Fellow Daoist Master of Puppetry here?"

Lianyi didn't speak, but kept shooting out spiritual threads from her body, seemingly trying to gradually transform the dwarf old man into a puppet under her control. Her order was quite bizarre.

Seeing that no one responded, the dwarf old man sneered.

"The Great Qian Kingdom is truly a land of hidden talents; it seems I have been underestimated."

He glanced at the ripples with a cold smile, and then, from the ground beside the dwarf old man, tens of thousands of puppet parts silently floated out. These parts were actually made of various precious minerals and were assembled into two crystal puppets on the spot under everyone's watchful eyes.

"Celestial Crystal Magic Stone Puppet Technique! You are Stone Demon Master, the puppet grandmaster of the Heavenly Plains!"

"What? He's the Stone Demon Master who created the Celestial Crystal Magic Stone Puppet Technique?"

"Among the puppet masters of this era, he is definitely among the top three. How come he is still alive?"

"No! He seized the Star Crystal, most likely for his own reincarnation!" The puppeteers who recognized the Stone Demon Master all showed expressions of horror.

This person is practically a legendary figure in the world of puppetry.

The legends about him can be traced back to the time when various countries competed in the Tianyuan Highlands hundreds of years ago. At that time, he was already one of the puppet masters in the Central Plains, and one of the peak late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators who had survived from the hands of Nascent Soul cultivators. He can be said to have stood at the pinnacle of Nascent Soul cultivators in this world.

He had not yet passed away; he had reappeared in the world.

After these two Heavenly Crystal Demon Stone puppets appeared, they each displayed the terrifying spiritual pressure of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

Some mortals who were nearby were instantly blown into clumps of blood, which spread across the ground like shadows.

The puppet masters who gathered here naturally wouldn't stand idly by and watch their work be destroyed, so they all took action and unleashed all sorts of puppet techniques.

Not only are there all sorts of puppets, such as beast puppets, humanoid puppets, mechanical puppets, stone puppets, and bone puppets, but even matrix puppets have appeared.

The war is about to start.

The mortals and low-level cultivators were thrown into chaos and scattered in all directions to escape.

As the spiritual threads were broken one by one, Lianyi could no longer trap the Stone Demon Master. She immediately activated the protective array to protect the place as much as possible.

Because puppeteers need to spend a lot of time studying their skills, advancement is extremely difficult. Therefore, puppeteers who can reach the Nascent Soul stage are almost all geniuses, and not many are willing to participate in this conference.

Even if they come, it's just to disguise themselves and join in the fun.

But this is, after all, Jingzhou.

These few people, even if they didn't want to, had no choice but to take action.

"Stone Demon Old Monster, this is the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty! You've gone too far! Aren't you afraid of being executed here?"

An old man wearing a cloak, with the character "evil" tattooed on his left forehead, had his shadow constantly changing into various terrifying and evil monsters. He shouted in a chilling voice.

Upon hearing this, the dwarf elder looked at the man and sneered disdainfully.

"Using evil spirits to refine shadow puppets, so it's you, you brat from the Divine Mechanism Sect. Hmph, if your sect leader, True Person Divine Mechanism, had said this, I might have reconsidered. You brat, you should cultivate for another two hundred years. Get out of my sight!"

This person was none other than Xie Ying Laoguai, one of the Nascent Soul cultivators from the Shenji Sect who had originally planned to attack Qingming Mountain.

What Li Mo saw as the Evil Shadow Old Monster was, in the eyes of the Stone Demon Master, merely a little devil.

The puppets of both sides clashed. Although the evil shadow puppets of the Evil Shadow Old Monster were incredibly cunning and bizarre, they seemed to be flashy and easily defeated in front of the Stone Demon Master.

"Hmph! You are far too disrespectful to the cultivators of our Great Qian Kingdom!"

The old demon of the puppet gate, who came to present the star crystal, summoned four beast soldier puppets.

These four beast-soldier puppets were all made in imitation of ancient demons, and their strength far surpassed that of the seven-headed black dragon matrix puppets made by Li Mo. They all bit and attacked.

Immediately afterwards, a humanoid puppet that bore a striking resemblance to Lü Cuicui suddenly appeared. It turned out that in her desperation, Lianyi had driven over the puppet body that many puppet masters had jointly crafted for Lü Cuicui, and brought it into the battle.

Li Mo, the Thousand-Faced King, and Princess Dai also rejoined the battlefield.

Even when surrounded by the crowd, the Stone Demon Master did not lose any ground and instead got closer to the Star Crystal once again.

at this time!

Just as Li Mo was about to unleash the dualistic chaotic lightning again, he saw the Stone Demon Master suddenly freeze in place and turn around in disbelief.

Just as everyone looked puzzled, a blood-stained, transparent dagger was suddenly pulled out from his body.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Li Mo seemed to realize something and felt a chill run down his spine.

"The King of Seven-Day Killers!!"

However, at this moment, the Stone Demon's body suddenly dimmed and turned into a lotus root, which then rapidly decayed and rotted.

He then appeared in a flash several dozen feet away, his deathly aura no longer concealed, revealing him as a decaying figure on the verge of death.

"A substitute magic weapon to avert calamity!"

"The Shadow Monster was greatly surprised," said the old monster.

The moment the Stone Demon appeared, he breathed spiritual light towards the area where the old assassin was. Wherever the light passed, everything turned to stone, but the assassin was nowhere to be seen.

He kept looking around, trying to find traces of that strange person, but to no avail.

This sense of impending danger made him uneasy. Such a skilled assassin was the nightmare of all puppeteers.

"Old Stone Demon, your death is near. You've come here to steal the Star Crystal to prolong your life, haven't you? You also want to transform into a puppet?"

"It can't be delayed any longer."

This is, after all, the capital of the Great Qian Kingdom.

Seeing the horde of Nascent Soul cultivators fiercely guarding the Star Crystal, the Stone Demon Master suppressed his weakness and let out a sinister laugh.

"Hmph, you've hit the jackpot today. You're fortunate enough to witness the Heavenly Demon Statue that I spent my entire life crafting, and to witness the emergence of the world's greatest puppeteer."

As the Stone Demon Master spoke, he spat out a small white jade bottle, which was covered with densely packed sealing talismans.

As the sealing talismans silently fell off, the jade bottle suddenly shattered.

A three-headed, six-armed golem suddenly appeared.

The moment the golem appeared, the surrounding天地元气 (heaven and earth energy) suddenly became chaotic, forming an incomparably vast vortex of spiritual clouds centered on the Jigsaw Mountain.

Pure spiritual light from heaven and earth fell from the vortex and shone on the demonic statue.

Immediately, the demonic statue rapidly expanded, gradually growing to a size of thirty or forty feet, and slowly opened its six eyes, looking down upon the mortal world.

"Take the Star Crystal and leave through the teleportation array. Those two old guys shouldn't have time to react."

The almost tangible spiritual pressure rippled outwards in concentric circles.

The spiritual pressure blowing on Li Mo's face, hundreds of feet away, caused the Demonic Shadow Mask to continuously display oil paint, resisting some unknown damage.

Some of the low-level puppets summoned by the puppeteers shattered into dust amidst the spiritual light.

The tall trees in the distant forest were withering away at a visible speed, turning into rotten wood, all under the influence of invisible rays.

The mountain of building blocks trembled continuously, as if in an earthquake.

Even the great formation here is gradually collapsing.

The towering, terrifying three-headed, six-armed golem left everyone present speechless with astonishment, stunned into silence. Some people completely lost their will to resist, and fled with bizarre screams, their minds in disarray.

"The power to reach the heavens, this is a heaven-reaching spiritual treasure."

The Evil Shadow Old Monster muttered blankly.

"A Nascent Soul level puppet..."

The moment Li Mo saw the golem, he completely understood what the Hidden Dragon Organization members were trying to achieve by constantly extracting spiritual veins from various places and refining countless scrap parts.

This Grand Elder of the Hidden Dragon Organization was actually preparing to advance to the Nascent Soul stage in this way!
He also wanted to be reincarnated like Lü Cuicui, but he was not satisfied with just retaining his spiritual essence and emotions. He wanted to carry his memories and achieve a true reincarnation, attaching himself to this towering demon statue.

(End of this chapter)