The arrival of a third party subtly shifted the previously oppressive atmosphere.
Song Changsheng looked up. The newcomer held a sword in his left hand, his entire body enveloped in sword aura. His long hair was tied back with a simple black cloth, and his snow-white robes fluttered dramatically in the wind.
As both sides eyed each other with suspicion
The man slowly turned, a faint smile on his face as he looked at Song Changsheng.
"Fellow Daoist Song, it's been a while. How have you been?"
"Fellow Daoist Xu!" Song Changsheng was stunned at first, but then a surge of delight washed over him it was none other than Xu Yunhe, an old acquaintance he hadn't seen in years.
"I imagined many scenarios for our reunion but never expected this one. Seems like you're in a bit of trouble."
Completely ignoring the glaring puppets and the furious face of Wu Luochuan, Xu Yunhe conversed casually with Song Changsheng.
"Just a clown trying to stir up trouble," Song Changsheng replied with a smirk. Even wounded as he was, Wu Luochuan was beneath his concern.
"I was drawn here by that sword aura soaring into the sky. I thought it might be a sword cultivator of note, but to my surprise, it was you, Fellow Daoist Song.
This chaos seems unusually sudden. The City Lord's Office has already started to intervene. I imagine they'll arrive soon. You'd best finish this quickly I'll lend you a hand."
Xu Yunhe glanced at the two puppets nearby as he spoke.
Seeing the two men talking as if he didn't exist, Wu Luochuan was livid. As a proud and talented puppeteer, he had never been ignored so blatantly.
"Enough! Since you want to meddle then die with him!" he snarled, unleashing his two puppets at Song Changsheng.
A glint of coldness flashed in Song Changsheng's eyes. He cupped his hands toward Xu Yunhe.
"Then I'll trouble you to keep those two occupied for a moment."
"Gladly." Xu Yunhe smiled faintly. Without even seeing him move, he was suddenly in front of the beast-shaped puppet. His sword flicked gently and the puppet was sent flying.
He turned and struck again, releasing a dazzling burst of sword light that toppled the humanoid puppet. Even while outnumbered, Xu Yunhe showed no signs of strain.
Relieved, Song Changsheng twirled his spear and charged directly at Wu Luochuan.
"You're seriously attacking while still injured? Do you think I'm made of mud?" Wu Luochuan roared in anger and pulled out a black Qiankun pouch, releasing a werewolf puppet.
It stood over three meters tall, its metallic body gleaming in the sunlight. Its razor-sharp claws shimmered ominously clearly laced with poison.
"A mid-grade Tier 2 puppet… To control three Tier 2 puppets at once you're not as useless as I thought.
But still, it's not enough."
Despite the immense pressure exuded by the werewolf puppet, Song Changsheng remained unshaken. He surged forward, spear in hand, the roar of blood and qi within his body echoing like the cries of tigers and leopards.
"Awooo!"
The werewolf puppet's crimson eyes glowed as it let out a roar and leaped soaring as high as a three-story building. Its claws crossed as it dove toward Song Changsheng.
"Get lost!"
Veins bulged on Song Changsheng's arm as he swung his spear in a wide arc, smashing into the puppet's claws and sending it skidding several meters back, gouging twin lines into the floor.
For a flesh-and-blood body, such an attack would shatter bones. But for the puppet's metallic form, it was little more than a scratch.
Its eyes gleamed again as it charged once more fast as a black whirlwind.
"Light Step Phantom!"
Song Changsheng's footwork shifted, allowing him to dance between blows with lightning speed. The two clashed in a blur, moving so fast that none but Foundation Establishment cultivators could even follow their movements. Sparks flew wherever they touched.
BOOM!
Suddenly, one figure was sent flying and crashed hard into the ground, leaving a crater.
Wu Luochuan's face twisted in shock his prized werewolf puppet lay sprawled in the pit, its once-pristine body battered and scarred. Its claws were bent, and a massive gash ran across its chest.
Meanwhile, Song Changsheng stood tall, still brimming with battle aura. Though blood now poured more freely from his wounds and stained his clothes like crimson plum blossoms, he remained unfazed.
Without hesitation, he flung his spear like a lightning bolt. It pierced the werewolf puppet just as it was trying to rise pinning it to the ground.
"A dead puppet can't protect your greedy little heart," Song Changsheng said coldly.
As he strode closer, Wu Luochuan finally felt a stab of genuine fear.
He hadn't expected his injured opponent to still fight with such ferocity.
Now two puppets were tied down, and one was destroyed what did he have left to stop this raging juggernaut?
"Unless…"
Wu Luochuan's face twisted with malice as he pulled out another Spatial pouch. Inside it was his most powerful puppet a puppet he hadn't even fully refined yet.
He had just acquired it at an auction a top-tier Tier 2 puppet but hadn't had time to complete its binding process. Releasing it was easy; reclaiming it afterward would be extremely difficult.
But compared to his survival, none of that mattered.
"I want you dead!" Wu Luochuan shouted maniacally. As he opened the pouch, a humanoid puppet emerged.
Song Changsheng narrowed his eyes. He recognized it immediately this was a rare living puppet.
The creation process for a living puppet was utterly cruel. It involved placing a living creature into a furnace along with various alchemical materials. The subject had to remain alive and conscious throughout the ordeal.
Once the refinement was complete, its soul would be trapped forever in the puppet's body never able to reincarnate.
Because of the sheer cruelty of this practice, righteous cultivators openly despised it.
However, since living puppets retained fragments of their memories and combat instincts, they were far stronger than ordinary puppets and could even act on their own, without needing commands.
Thus, many so-called "righteous" cultivators secretly spent vast sums at auctions to acquire them. Wu Luochuan had spent 120,000 spirit stones on this one.
Song Changsheng's expression grew grave. A top-tier Tier 2 living puppet its power rivaled even a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was even more dangerous than Cheng Yufei had been.
Wu Luochuan activated the puppet and sneered at Song Changsheng: "Kill him!"
The puppet, whose eyes had been shut, suddenly opened them. Unlike the werewolf puppet earlier, these eyes shimmered with a frightening clarity. If not for the faint metallic gleam of its skin, one might have mistaken it for a real human.
But instead of attacking immediately, the puppet stood there in a daze.
Wu Luochuan frowned, irritated.
"What are you waiting for? Kill them!"
After repeated urging, the puppet finally moved slowly raising its hands.
Wu Luochuan turned smugly toward Song Changsheng, the look on his face clearly saying: "You're finished."
But before his smirk could fully form, a sharp pain lanced through his chest. His grin froze in place as he looked down at the puppet's hand, now plunged into his chest, clutching his still-beating heart.
His eyes filled with disbelief.
As if questioning, or perhaps begging, he rasped:
"How… how could this be…"
But the puppet was so close he could feel its breath curling its lips into a sinister smile.
That smile was deeply human, and that alone made Wu Luochuan's blood run cold. No ordinary puppet could make such an expression.
"Squelch"
In the next instant, before Wu Luochuan's despairing eyes, the puppet crushed his heart.
A puppeteer of extraordinary talent and potential dead at the hands of the puppet he had purchased himself.
As he collapsed to the ground in disbelief, Song Changsheng inhaled sharply.
Puppet backlash?
Even though the puppet had not yet been fully refined, Wu Luochuan still held its previous owner's control talisman, which should have allowed for the basic command and, at the very least, prevented betrayal.
That talisman was still clutched in Wu Luochuan's hand but it had done nothing at all.
By then, Xu Yunhe had finished off the other two puppets and approached Song Changsheng, his expression serious and wary as he eyed the bloodstained living puppet.
"There's a legend," he said quietly, "that some puppets, through certain demonic rituals, can develop sentience and break free from their masters.
One such ritual is called 'Soul Seizure' where a person implants their soul into the puppet, replacing the original. Who exactly are you?"
Song Changsheng had one hand hidden behind his back, clutching the God-Slaying Flying Dagger, his voice cold and alert.
The puppet cast a glance at Song Changsheng, as if surprised, but didn't reply.
Instead, it grabbed Wu Luochuan's corpse and, under the astonished gaze of everyone present, leaped onto a rooftop and vanished into the distance.
"Should we give chase?" Xu Yunhe asked quietly.
"Even if we caught up to it, what could we do?" Song Changsheng shook his head with a bitter smile. "Everything today has been absolute chaos."
A mysterious cultivator had brazenly kidnapped an auctioneer in broad daylight. A blood demon had tried to steal the bloodbat queen's descendant. And now a puppet had turned on and killed its own master.
Any one of these events alone would've shaken the entire city. But now, they were all happening at once. Something was very wrong.
Before Song Changsheng could finish piecing things together, his expression suddenly changed. He grabbed Xu Yunhe and fled.
The next moment, two streaks of brilliant light shot in from the distance. The cultivators landed, gazing coldly at the wreckage before them and the lingering fighters.
Their faces darkened in fury as one of them bellowed:
"Private fighting is forbidden within city limits. Those who disobey shall be executed!"
Some, upon seeing that the City Lord's Mansion had intervened, immediately ceased fighting and backed down. But others, eyes bloodshot and lost in battle frenzy, ignored the warnings and continued to fight fiercely.
The two elders exchanged a glance and acted without hesitation. In an instant, they heavily injured the offenders and sealed their meridians, rendering them immobile.
"Two late Foundation Establishment cultivators!"
"That's Elder Qianri and Elder Qianyue they're said to be of the same generation as the three City Lords!"
Recognizing the two figures, the onlookers were instantly shaken. Fear gripped their hearts, and all remaining arrogance was swiftly extinguished. Heads bowed, and no one dared to act out again.
Elders Qianri and Qianyue did not show mercy. Without exception, everyone who had just taken part in the fighting was restrained and detained. No matter the reason, those who broke the rules within the city would be punished.
Several miles away, Song Changsheng finally stopped alongside Xu Yunhe. He glanced back, somewhat shaken, and chuckled.
"Good thing we ran fast otherwise, we'd be in chains right now like the rest."
Xu Yunhe didn't respond, his expression somber as he looked at the chaos still rippling through the city.
"What in the world happened here? How did things spiral out of control so fast?"
With a sigh, Song Changsheng recounted everything he had witnessed. Even though he'd lived through it, it all still felt like a dream.
"Even if it was a series of coincidences," Xu Yunhe said, frowning deeply, "there's no way it would throw the entire city into turmoil like this. Someone's pulling strings from the shadows."
Song Changsheng realized it too. This wasn't just bad luck someone had to be stoking the flames behind the scenes.
"The whole city's gone mad. The City Lord's Mansion alone won't be able to control this," Xu Yunhe muttered anxiously. He had come to Luoxia City to escape trouble, but now it seemed he'd stepped right into a greater storm.
Just then, a clear, melodious sound rang out the notes of a guqin.
The music was ethereal as if descending from the heavens far beyond the touch of mortals. No matter where one was in Luoxia City, they could hear it.
It was more than just music it held a mysterious power. Anyone who heard it felt their desires dissolve, their emotions calm. All killing intent, greed, and rage… were pacified.
Even Xu Yunhe became entranced, his mind drifting into stillness.
Song Changsheng too wavered but suddenly shivered, snapping out of the trance. Though the music continued to echo in his ears, it could no longer affect him.
He nudged Xu Yunhe awake.
The two of them looked around in stunned silence.
Under the influence of the guqin's music, all the chaos in Luoxia City came to a halt. Only the gentle, flowing melody remained.
"To suppress the entire city with just music… this is terrifying," Xu Yunhe exclaimed. Anyone could see whoever this was, if they so wished, they could take all their lives with ease.
"It's the Grand City Lord. He's made his move," Song Changsheng whispered. He had heard this music before he knew exactly who was playing it.
Sure enough, high above the center of the city, a figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
It was a handsome, refined middle-aged man, dressed in splendid robes and wearing a white jade crown. He stood in the sky as though it were solid ground, a guqin floating before him. His robes billowed in the wind he looked every bit like a celestial being descended from the heavens.
In that instant, one phrase flashed through Song Changsheng's mind:
"Peerless grace."
He played the guqin silently, unmoved by the world below. It was as though he had become one with heaven and earth no separation, no boundaries.
He seemed like a legendary prodigy walking out of myth itself. Just one glance at him would leave an impression burned into the soul, impossible to erase.
"He is like a man of the heavens," Xu Yunhe murmured in awe.
Song Changsheng too remained silent, deeply moved.
Half a quarter-hour later, the song ended. The man put away his guqin and spoke in a calm, steady voice:
"I am Mu Guibai Grand City Lord of Luoxia City."
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