A faint smile curled at the corners of Xiao Yan's lips. These puppets were the result of his tireless efforts, crafted through countless sleepless nights. Naturally, he wouldn't let them idly sit in his storage ring—today, they would prove their worth.
As her gaze swept over the six black-armored warriors that had appeared like phantoms, Yun Yun's heart surged with overwhelming shock, as if a tempest had erupted within her.
Among these six black-armored warriors, five were at the Dou Huang level, while the one leading them was even more formidable…
Without any Dou Qi wings on its back, it stood firmly in mid-air—undeniable proof that this was a legendary Dou Zong powerhouse!
What stunned Yun Yun even more was that these warriors, any one of whom would be considered absolute elites in the Jia Ma Empire, lacked even a trace of vitality. They were nothing more than lifeless puppets.
Though she had already begun to suspect that Xiao Yan's origins were extraordinary—perhaps even surpassing those of the Yun Lan Sect—seeing the means he displayed now made it clear that his background far exceeded her expectations.
For a moment, Yun Yun's mind went blank. If he could casually deploy a Dou Zong-level puppet, just how powerful were the living members of his faction?
At that moment, the Dou Zong puppet, which had left Yun Yun utterly astounded, directly confronted the strongest magical beast present—the Amethyst Winged Lion King.
Energy surged like a raging flood within the Dou Zong puppet, boiling and churning throughout its body as all its power gathered into its right arm.
A dazzling emerald-green radiance erupted, as if coating the entire arm in a mysterious glow, before it threw a punch toward the oncoming pillar of purple flames.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion resounded as the emerald-green light instantly condensed into a blinding beam, magnificent and awe-inspiring.
This was none other than the powerful Dou Technique Xiao Yan had comprehended in his early years—the Eight Extremities Sky Cannon!
A technique comparable to those of the Earth Tier, when unleashed by the Dou Zong puppet, it seemed capable of splitting the heavens and earth apart, its might unmatched.
With a sharp sizzle, the emerald-green beam, swift as lightning, corroded the scorching purple flame pillar in the blink of an eye. Without losing any momentum, it continued its assault toward the Amethyst Winged Lion King.
The Eight Extremities Sky Cannon was a technique designed to leave enemies no time to react. The emerald-green beam remained unstoppable, an overwhelming force that defied resistance.
The Amethyst Winged Lion King, a ruler feared across the land, barely had time to register the flash of emerald-green before an overwhelming force crashed into it like a tidal wave.
The power was so immense that the lion king felt as if it were suffocating, a long-forgotten sensation surging from its body straight to its brain.
Accompanied by another thunderous explosion, the Amethyst Winged Lion King's massive body was sent flying, smashing into the rocky face of a mountain peak.
The hard stone shattered upon impact, debris flying in all directions as dust and smoke billowed into the air.
Amidst the deafening roar of collapsing rock, the lion king's enormous frame was embedded deep into the mountainside, as if it were about to pierce straight through the peak.
At this moment, the Amethyst Winged Lion King was a far cry from its earlier majestic self. Its mind was in complete disarray, utterly clueless about what had just transpired.
The Dou Zong puppet took a single step forward, its figure flickering as it reappeared right before the lion king. Reaching out, it yanked the beast free from the mountain wall.
The puppet's earlier attack had nearly fused the lion king's flesh with the stone, and this brutal extraction sent waves of agony coursing through its body once more.
The Amethyst Winged Lion King's massive frame trembled uncontrollably. As it regained awareness, the once-arrogant glow in its beastly eyes had dimmed, replaced by sheer disbelief.
As a sixth-tier magical beast, how could it have been defeated so effortlessly—so inexplicably?!
Despite the lion king's size dwarfing that of the Dou Zong puppet, the latter held it by the scruff of its neck as effortlessly as if it were a kitten, carrying it toward Xiao Yan with steady steps.
As for the other five Four-Winged Stormwolves—mere fifth-tier magical beasts—they stood no chance against the five Dou Huang-level puppets. They had long been subdued, rendered completely docile.
Seeing the far more miserable state of the Amethyst Winged Lion King, the wolves' earlier resentment faded somewhat.
Compared to their leader's plight, their own suffering seemed almost trivial.
The other magical beasts, witnessing their king being effortlessly subdued, were on the verge of panic. If not for their terror of the powerful figures in the sky, they would have scattered in chaos, fleeing for their lives as if their parents had cursed them with too few legs.
Is this the power of a Dou Zong? Yun Yun covered her lips lightly with a delicate hand, staring in awe at the hovering puppet.
Her own strength was on par with the Amethyst Winged Lion King's, but in terms of physical resilience, she was far inferior to the magical beast.
If she were to face this Dou Zong puppet, wouldn't she be defeated in a single move?
The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth. She had always held the Yun Lan Sect in high regard, but now…
Xiao Yan slowly rose to his feet, stretching lazily as he observed the Amethyst Winged Lion King being carried like a disobedient pet. The sight was almost comical, given the stark difference in their sizes.
The lion king, acutely aware of its humiliation, snarled in fury, "What are you staring at? If you're going to kill me, just get it over with!"
Even in the face of death, the Amethyst Winged Lion King showed no intention of begging for mercy.
If humans were truly determined to slay a beast for its core, pleading would be pointless—it would only add insult to injury.
Xiao Yan cleared his throat and spoke calmly, "You have two choices now."
"First, obediently become my mount and hand over all the Amethyst Spirit Crystals you've produced over the years. Second… become a pile of materials, and I'll retrieve the crystals from your den myself."
Yun Yun quickly turned her head to remind him, "Magical beasts are inherently violent creatures. To tame one as a mount, you must nurture mutual trust. Forcing it like this will only backfire."
When she first became the leader of the Yun Lan Sect, Yun Yun had also considered raising a guardian beast for the sect, similar to the royal family's protector. However, after several attempts to capture fifth-tier magical beasts, each one had self-destructed before she could even bring them back.
The fifth-tier beast cores in her storage ring were all harvested from those failed attempts.
With such firsthand experience, Yun Yun understood the stubborn nature of magical beasts all too well.
If fifth-tier beasts were this unyielding, how much more so a sixth-tier Amethyst Winged Lion King?
She had zero confidence in Xiao Yan's approach. Without some kind of mystical contract, subduing a powerful magical beast was next to impossible.
"How about a bet?" Xiao Yan turned to Yun Yun, his gaze lingering briefly on her glistening lips.
"What kind of bet?" Yun Yun moved a little closer to him. As a practitioner of wind-attribute Dou Qi, her speed was exceptional—carrying one more person wouldn't hinder her much.
Xiao Yan grinned. "If the Amethyst Winged Lion King agrees to be my mount… you have to kiss me. On your own."
(End of Chapter)
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