Chapter 62: The Wrong Approach Can you even speak properly?

A colossal ghost face blocked the sunlight, resembling a heavy curtain that enveloped the entire realm. The air, which had previously been as calm as water, instantly turned violent.

An irresistible and terrifying suction, akin to an invisible hand reaching out from the netherworld, seized this illusory world and tore at it frantically. Mountains, rivers, and earth within the Puppet Realm began to fracture, cracks spreading rapidly like a spiderweb, devouring everything around them. Towering trees were uprooted like mere blades of grass, floating wildly in the gale, while countless buildings collapsed in a single instant, turning into fragments and vanishing into the endless darkness.

Lin Zhao and Ji Yaoguang stood at the center of the tempest, watching all of this with cool detachment.

Si Li turned his head slightly. Within his gaze, the youth's hem fluttered violently in the fierce wind, yet his eyes remained calm and resolute. Neither the collapse of the apocalypse nor the shrieks of misery could shake his inner composure.

He looked like the only conscious soul left in this illusory realm.

Si Li sighed softly. It was not that he was entirely unaware of the oddities and flaws plaguing the Puppet Realm, but he simply lacked the decisive resolve to deal with them.

After all, his own state of Di and his younger brother presented far more dangers and troubles than the Puppet Realm ever could. Being able to spare a sliver of attention to help suppress it was already the utmost he could do.

The heavens and earth continued to disintegrate. The ghost face absorbed an increasing number of souls; countless puppets panicked as they were reduced to mere lifeless wooden statues, their pristine white souls gradually fading away. Numerous pitch-black souls carrying corruption also began to stream into the ghost face.

In the past, Ji Yaoguang would never have absorbed so many of these corroded and polluted souls, as the taint would spread from the totem straight into his spirit.

Yet now, it did not matter. He even felt that these pollutants were far too scarce—barely enough for a couple of meals for Zhaozhao.

Consequently, instead of holding back, he increased his force.

Meanwhile, the seven small dwarves of the Puppet Realm were running about in a state of panic. Originally stationed in the various corners of the Puppet Realm to maintain the balance of this illusory world, the ghost face totem in the sky had ruthlessly shattered that equilibrium. Countless shadows spread around them, and with mounting horror, they discovered that the source of corruption in the Puppet Realm was being unleashed without mercy. The oppressive force enveloping them made it clear that matters had reached an irreversible critical point.

"Emperor Qing, I beg you to show mercy! Lord Ruler of Di, please help us, save the Puppet Realm!" Amidst the void, the seven little puppets tumbled out clumsily. Trembling, they huddled together like a group of helpless children, their desperate prayers echoing through the howling wind.

Lin Zhao remained utterly motionless. He turned his gaze to fixate on the panicked dwarves, demanding, "Bring Master Qigong out here himself."

The seven dwarves abruptly stopped weeping, exchanging glances filled with hesitation and inner conflict. They pushed and shoved one another until finally, the leading puppet spoke up. "Master Qigong... cannot come out for the time being."

"What do you mean by 'for the time being'?" Lin Zhao's voice was sharp, ruthlessly piercing through their hypocritical excuses. "The entire Puppet Realm is about to be destroyed, and you still expect him to wait?!"

"We truly have no choice!" the puppets cried out anxiously, hopping up and down. "Please stop this at once, otherwise, once the Puppet Realm awakens, it will devour the entire Qigong State."

Just at that moment, the entire Puppet Realm let out a deafening roar, the thunderous sound rolling into the distance. Strangely enough, the world that had been collapsing with cracks everywhere was now healing at a terrifying speed, as if time were being reversed. Even the fallen puppets were rising to their feet one by one—despite the fact that their souls had already been sucked away by the ghost face.

The seven little puppets froze in place, expressions etched with extreme terror.

Lin Zhao abruptly felt an icy aura rising from beneath the earth, and his eyes widened.

Within the Puppet Realm, countless shadows began to sprout. They were various structures from the external Qigong State, merging seamlessly with the illusory scenery inside the Puppet Realm. The crumbling Puppet Realm, in turn, began to greedily devour the Qi of all living things emanating from the Qigong State, preying upon the inhabitants of Qigong like a massive, starving beast tearing at the foundations of the nation.

The seven little puppets hugged each other and wailed in absolute despair, "It's over, it's truly over..."

"So, until now, Master Qigong still refuses to show himself," Lin Zhao took a deep breath, looking down at the seven figures. "Is it possible that he died long ago?"

***

The seven puppets wept softly, gazing at him with eyes full of terror. "Y-yes... The Ruler of Qigong died a thousand years ago. A thousand years ago..."

Speaking over one another in a flurry, they quickly recounted the sequence of events.

A millennium ago, the Qigong State encountered a very strange and catastrophic fiend. While its combat capability was relatively weak, it possessed a bizarre and undying resilience. By that time, the corrosion on the body of the Qigong Ruler was already severe. To defend his domain, he ultimately fused himself with the Puppet Realm, hoping to protect his country for all eternity.

During the final battle, the Qigong Ruler performed a complex secret ritual, sacrificing his own life and all his power to the Puppet Realm in a prayer to harness its endless energy to fend off the external enemy. It was his final gamble, a desperate wager upon which the fate of the Qigong State hinged.

At first, the fusion seemed successful. He could sense the heartbeat of the Puppet Realm and manipulate the spirituality within it. Using this formidable power, he trapped and sealed the undying fiend, but then the unexpected occurred.

The "source" of the Puppet Realm not only accepted the soul of the Qigong Ruler but also began to absorb the consciousness of the fiend. Following this, the "source" of the Puppet Realm underwent a mutation; it developed its own heavenly consciousness, began to frantically harvest souls, and even attempted to devour all living beings and objects within the Qigong State to make itself whole.

Amidst this drastic upheaval, the Heavenly Shaman Qigong used his own soul as a cage to seal the "source" consciousness of the Puppet Realm, plunging into slumber along with it.

Before the end, he split his spirit and soul into seven parts, transforming them into seven puppets to manage the Puppet Realm. However, the heavenly Dao belonging to the Puppet Realm also split off several conscious avatars to contend with them for administrative control.

To keep the Puppet Realm functioning and ward off the great fiend, the seven puppets had no choice but to compromise, allowing the realm to consume souls to complete this pocket world, and even arranging for the people of Qigong State to offer blood sacrifices to the Puppet Realm at regular intervals. In any case, according to the final instructions given to them by the Qigong Ruler, as long as the Puppet Realm could be maintained, everything else was negotiable.

"No wonder the Qigong State has grown increasingly chaotic over the years. Even Qigong Tianyu has not appeared since," Si Li remarked, appearing beside them and sighing softly.

Above them, Ji Yaoguang's ghost face continued to devour countless souls in the sky.

"Let's resolve the problem first." Ji Yaoguang shook his head with a helpless smile as he surveyed the chaos. An aura seemed to activate around him, causing countless blades of wild grass to sprout and aggressively climb up walls, human figures, water sources, and everything else in sight.

The entire Puppet Realm shook violently, as if attempting to expel the three anomalies that did not belong within its body.

Si Li's pupils elongated instantly. In a flash, a terrifying giant serpent reared its head right where he stood. The horrifying and bone-chilling sense of threat it exuded caused even Lin Zhao to break out in goosebumps.

Countless roots spread across the entire Puppet Realm in an instant, rapidly intertwining and wrapping around themselves to bind two massive root-spheres. The entities trapped within the spheres struggled and resisted frantically, causing the spheres to incessantly swell and contract like beating hearts.

"The only solution now is to shatter the source of the Puppet Realm," Ji Yaoguang said, his brows slightly furrowed. "Between those two sources, which one is Master Qigong?"

Lin Zhao was about to speak, his eyes capable of peering through the tree roots to discern what lay behind them—

"No matter. Just blast it," the giant serpent beside them roared. A massive beam of light condensed in its jaws. Before Lin Zhao could issue a command, the serpent unleashed a torrent. A blinding flash of white light scorched the area, its sheer intensity shattering the very space of the Puppet Realm along its path.

How could those root-spheres possibly withstand such terrifying might? Almost instantly, they shattered into countless fine, black snowflakes that drifted across the entire world. A gale swept through, coating both the crumbling Puppet Realm and the phantom image of the Qigong State being devoured in a layer of dark shadows that dissolved and corroded everything they touched.

Lin Zhao gritted his teeth. "This teammate's coordination leaves a lot to be desired."

The corrosive pollution within those black snowflakes was so dense that even Ji Yaoguang felt compelled to reach out and shield Ah Zhao from the falling black flakes.

Lin Zhao reached up, covering Ji Yaoguang's eyes. "Don't look."

Ji Yaoguang smiled slightly, nuzzling against Lin Zhao's hand before closing his eyes.

Lin Zhao pointed again. "Big snake over there, hold those seven little things in your mouth, and don't you open your eyes either."

The giant serpent responded, "Understood."

It promptly swallowed the seven terrified dwarves whole, coiled its body tightly, and tucked its head deep within its coils.

Only then did Lin Zhao take a deep breath. He fixed his gaze on the "Patrol Heaven" skill in his interface, gritted his teeth, and activated it.

The next second, the skill emitted a resounding, shrill screech as it soared into the sky.

"A—ga—!"

The terrifying sound tore through the hazy corruption, dealing a heavy blow to the souls of countless living creatures.

Yet, immediately following the screech came the warmth of the sunlight.

Golden light poured down from the heavens.

Everything was coated in a layer of golden radiance; all darkness and corruption melted away under this golden luminescence, turning bright and sacred.

The tormented souls were pacified, the source of darkness was purified, and the Puppet Realm trembled slightly, releasing the massive maw that had been feeding on the Qigong State. The puppets that had just risen to their feet collapsed back to the ground, and the souls extracted from the Qigong State were returned where they belonged.

It yielded silently, allowing all spirituality to be devoured by the ghost face in the sky. Even if the Puppet Realm were to be torn apart and destroyed, it accepted its ultimate fate.

Meanwhile, the ghost face in the sky suddenly spewed out countless souls, as if it had ingested something utterly foul—all of them being the souls it had originally extracted from the Puppet Realm.

The corruption within them had been completely absorbed by the ghost face. Having fulfilled its mission, the ghost face shrank, descended, and coiled itself around Ji Yaoguang's arm.

He still kept his eyes tightly shut. At that moment, a naked little bird glowing with a brilliant light quietly landed before him, darted into his clothes, and transformed into a human form, the boundless light fading away along with the transformation.

"Wait!" Suddenly, someone behind him called out in an urgent voice. "Little sun, could you... could you hang up there for a little longer?"

Lin Zhao's gaze turned sharp as he whirled around. In the void, he spotted a delicate young man who bore a striking resemblance to the puppets. He wore no crown, his eyes squinted slightly as if he suffered from myopia. With a slender build, blunt-cut short hair, a hint of urgency, and the cautious demeanor typical of someone with severe social anxiety, he looked over.

"Weren't you dead?" Lin Zhao narrowed his eyes dangerously, glancing back at the remaining root-sphere in the air. Ah, the sphere was still there.

"My physical body died, but a shred of my soul remained. Originally, it was swallowed by that primal source, but because you just shone your light, I regained the ability to move," the delicate youth said, instinctively pushing at a bridge of a nose where no glasses rested. Wanting to say more but unsure of how to phrase it, he forced out, "There isn't much left of me."

"Then you shouldn't have come out," Lin Zhao took a deep breath. "You have the ability to interfere with memories, right? Erase everything you just saw from my mind!"