Thus, time flowed on.
In the blink of an eye, six years passed.
The Immortal Judgment Bell tolled, and the conscription decree arrived.
The three senior brothers of the Embodiment Transformation Dao Sect argued over who should answer the summons.
It was then that Li Fan, along with his puppet, suddenly appeared before them.
"Senior Brother Si Xing, Senior Brother Ling Xiao, Senior Brother Lian Chang.
"I think... I should be the one to go."
Ling Xiao and the other two stared at the utterly serious Li Fan, utterly dumbfounded.
"Little Junior Brother, what are you saying? This isn't a game..." Ling Xiao's words trailed off as he suddenly froze.
Because those words had just been spoken from the mouth of the puppet standing behind Li Fan.
Thud! Thud!
The puppet took heavy steps forward, coming before the three men.
"This campaign is a journey where nine out of ten will die. If someone must go, it should naturally be the strongest among us!"
"Senior Brothers, what do you think?"
Li Fan looked at Si Xing and the other two, asking softly.
"Tian Yang! You? This is madness!" Guang Yangzi was the first to see the changes that had occurred in Li Fan.
His face turned deathly pale, and he wanted to step forward but seemed to think better of it, halting his steps. Only his slightly trembling hands betrayed the extreme turmoil in his heart.
"Did you... foresee this day would come?" Guang Yangzi stammered out the question.
Li Fan smiled without answering. He looked at his senior brothers. "I ask for your guidance, Senior Brothers!"
The three senior brothers gradually snapped out of their daze. Looking at their Little Junior Brother's body, now transformed into a puppet, their eyes filled with regret and sorrow. For a moment, they stood frozen, at a loss for words.
It was Big Senior Brother who moved first. He summoned his own sword, thin as a cicada's wing and a vibrant, dripping emerald green, and pointed it at Li Fan from a distance.
"Junior Brother, this sort of thing should be left to me. What kind of senior brother would send his junior brother to his death?!"
Li Fan's figure flickered. Swinging a fist, he appeared beside the Big Senior Brother. "Senior Brother, don't underestimate me!"
Feeling the immense force bearing down on him, Si Xing's expression changed. His long sword danced, trying to intercept Li Fan. But the blade, which had once cleaved through anything, could not leave a single mark on Li Fan's body.
This puppet’s body was not only extraordinarily tough, but its speed also exceeded that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator. Every swing of its limbs was wide and forceful, and with each movement, bizarre mechanisms were activated in different parts of its body, sending more attacks forth. For a time, Si Xing could do nothing but dodge in a flurry, hard-pressed to find any chance to retaliate.
"Junior Brother Tian Yang, it seems you've truly poured great effort into this. But precisely because of that, I cannot let you go in my stead! Look out!"
Si Xing's brow lifted. His form transformed into a streak of flowing light, merging with the green sword.
Shrrring!
The long sword trembled slightly, emitting a crisp ring. Then, the blade itself began to extend like flowing water.
"Sword's Heart in the Water and Sky!"
Big Senior Brother’s shout rang out from within the sword. Sword light, fluid as flowing water, arrived in an instant. When it struck Li Fan’s puppet body, it was neither blocked nor dispersed as before—instead, it rebounded like a beam of light.
It skimmed through the air, then abruptly altered its trajectory, attacking Li Fan again from another angle, only to be repelled once more by the puppet’s hardened body. Tracing a graceful arc, it returned in a flash.
The flowing sword light accelerated again and again, until it resembled a vast net of rippling water, gradually closing in around the cumbersome puppet at its center.
Currently in his puppet form, Li Fan could not employ most of his divine abilities. Under Si Xing's relentless assault, Li Fan gradually fell to a disadvantage.
The ancient cultivators are indeed not to be underestimated. Li Fan thought, his expression turning grave.
The puppet let out a heaven-shaking roar, and its body emitted a dark red glow.
With a violent tremor, it transformed. In an instant, the humanoid figure vanished, replaced by a colossal palm. It deftly slipped past the blockade of sword light formed by Sword’s Heart in the Water and Sky, arriving above the water net. Then it expanded yet again.
Its vast shadow swallowed every strand of water sword, and it pressed down from on high.
This was the divine ability, Heaven-Overturning Palm. Unleashed through the puppet’s massive body, it carried a faint yet unmistakable aura of absolute suppression, as if all things beneath it were destined to bow.
"A fine divine ability!" Big Senior Brother Si Xing exclaimed with excitement. "I too have a technique. I ask for your guidance, Junior Brother!
"Heaven's intent is like water, formless and sublime!
"Sword name: Heavenly Form!"
The flowing water swords beneath the Heaven-Overturning Palm vanished in an instant. Li Fan, however, felt a strange, inexplicable sensation of danger.
Swish!
An invisible sword light flashed. Before the giant palm could descend, a thin scar appeared on its back.
Li Fan stared intently at the space around him, but could not find Si Xing's traces.
Another sword scar materialized. Li Fan mobilized his spiritual power, attempting to heal his injuries, only to discover that the scars seemed infused with formless sword energy, suppressing the wounds' recovery.
The sword scars appeared at a faster and faster rate. In the blink of an eye, Li Fan's body was riddled with wounds.
"Little Junior Brother, surrender!" Si Xing's voice echoed from all directions, yet he himself remained unseen.
"Senior Brother also possesses a fine divine ability!" Li Fan praised sincerely. "However..."