Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s voice was as cold as a ten-thousand-year-old ice, filled with monstrous hatred and madness. Yes, madness, the kind of madness that made the hair of those who heard it stand on end. Without a doubt, she was forced into a tight corner now.
She had thought that the Earth Nether Puppet would be enough to deal with them. To her surprise, however, it was smashed by Bu Fang, and even her Human Nether Puppet, which she used to hide her identity, was cut in half by him.
At this moment, she recalled many things, including a terrifying existence who cast a shadow into her heart. Bu Fang was too much like that man in all his ways. They were equally heaven-defying and fearful. At the thought of that existence, Nether Puppeteer Patriarch could hardly restrain the crazy notion in her head—her impulse to kill Bu Fang at all cost. That man had made her as twisted as a resentful woman, but she could not deny his heaven-defying abilities. And that only further fueled her impulse to kill him at all costs.
A clattering sound rang out as the metal jacket fell off her. It was as if she was taking off her clothes to reveal her perfect body to the world. However, the truth was not always so beautiful. What was revealed as soon as the jacket was removed was a golden light so bright that it made all eyes narrow. When the onlookers finally adjusted their eyes to the dazzling light, they saw a huge hole in Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s body.
The whole middle part of her body was hollowed out, and glowing threads could be seen stretching from the wall of that hole to a source stone in the center, which appeared to be her biggest secret. The sight was terrifying to look at. The people who thought they would see a sexy body after the metal jacket was removed gasped in horror.
Even though she had changed into a woman, she was still the Nether Puppeteer Patriarch everyone knew.
Tian Cang frowned as he watched. When he saw the flashing source stone in her body, a grave look came into his eyes.
Holding a puppet heart in the distance, Whitey’s mechanical eyes began to flash with an eager look as it stared at the source stone in Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s chest.
Bu Fang could see it clearly from the ground as well, and there was a look of doubt in his eyes. ‘This Nether Puppeteer Patriarch is so cruel… She even crafted her body into a half-puppet…’
The source stone, which emitted golden light, was incomparably strange. It seemed to have the power to bewitch those who looked at it. With its appearance, Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s aura began to climb rapidly. Her eyes turned scarlet, and amid a clanging noise, the twelve metal wings behind her twisted into twelve spears, which then bent and stuck their sharp tips into the ground, pushing her body up like spider’s legs.
When the transformation was done, Nether Puppeteer Patriarch raised her head. Monstrous killing intent exploded out of her, and her eyes were full of venom.
“DIE!”
At this moment, her mind seemed to be completely drowned by her desire to kill. With a boom, the twelve spears that looked like spider legs jerked and moved, bringing her across the field as fast as lightning. In a flash, she was in front of Tian Cang. One of her spider legs lifted, thrusting at him.
The previous Nether King focused his eyes, raised a hand, and grabbed the spider leg. Bright sparks flew as the leg brushed his palm. The materials that made the leg were actually the same as those that made Tian Cang’s body. They were equally tough and could not be crushed.
“Die! Die! Die! Die!” Nether Puppeteer Patriarch roared like a madwoman as she thrust the other legs at him. He blocked them with the other hand. However, those legs were too fast. A rumbling sound rang out as they stabbed him and sent sparks flying in all directions, pushing him back with a great force.
The energy supplied by the source stone in Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s chest had significantly boosted the spider legs’ power. Tian Cang was struggling to block them.
The next moment, golden threads could be seen spreading out across Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s body, wriggling like tiny snakes under her skin.
“What is this trick?” Tian Cang sucked in a cold breath. He could sense through his divine will the terrible energy in the source stone, and it seemed to repress him, making it difficult for him to breathe. It was as if he was innately suppressed by it. This should not happen. Although the current Nether Puppeteer Patriarch was strong, she had not gone beyond the level of a Perfected Great Saint. There was no way that he could not beat her. However, the innate suppression annoyed him.
‘Is it because of this body?’ thought Tian Cang. He seemed to figure out something. ‘Is it because my body is a puppet? Every puppet has a puppet heart… Could it be that the source stone in her chest is the source that provides energy to all puppets?’
The Nether Puppeteers were best at crafting puppets, and their puppets were all crafted with the secret techniques of their clan. Outsiders knew nothing about the techniques, but everyone was sure about one thing: every powerful puppet had a top-grade puppet heart.
‘Could the golden source stone in her chest be the template and source of all the puppet hearts? Perhaps that is the reason why I feel suppressed…’ Tian Cang frowned. He felt his body grow heavy, and the puppet heart in him seemed to beat slower.
Another spider leg came at him, and the void rumbled as it pierced through the air. Tian Cang raised both arms to block it. The next moment, the sharp tip stabbed them, producing countless sparks. He was forced to take a step back while a hole was left behind on his arm.
After that, the remaining eleven spider legs came at him as well, one after another, and soon, he was thrown flying back from where he had stood.
In Nether Prison, a look of excitement came over the face of every Great Saint watching the battle. When they saw Nether Puppeteer Patriarch press Tian Cang on the ground and beat him hard, they could not help cheering.
“Although Tian Cang has been resurrected, his flesh is crafted by Nether Puppeteer Patriarch after all… She must have ways to suppress him…”
“I have a feeling that this is our chance!”
“While Tian Cang is being suppressed, let’s attack Earth Prison again and kill all the Great Saints there…”
The mighty experts of Nether Prison, including Fire Demon Patriarch and Shadow Demon Patriarch, were all having the same opinion, which was surprisingly agreed by many people.
What stopped them was mainly the top experts of Earth Prison. As long as they killed these experts, they would be able to conquer Earth Prison.
…
Bam!
Tian Cang was knocked flying away once again. It felt somewhat difficult for him to move in front of Nether Puppeteer Patriarch, who had turned into a spider. The feeling of being suppressed annoyed him greatly. This was the first fight he had after he came back to life, and yet he was overwhelmed.
‘What exactly is that source stone?!’ Tian Cang roared in his mind.
Suddenly, Nether Puppeteer Patriarch opened her mouth. Golden light could be seen gathering inside. Then, with a rumble, it burst out of her mouth and hit Tian Cang, throwing him to the ground. The light spread, turned into a huge spider web, and trapped him there.
The web flickered brightly, and no matter how hard he struggled, he could not break it. The metal plate on his arm lifted, and a scarlet energy beam shot out from under it. However, the web was unscathed.
Rumble!
Nether Puppeteer Patriarch, in her spider form, moved again. A clanging noise rang out as her twelve long legs strode across the land, bringing her toward Bu Fang as fast as a gust of wind. As she approached, she lifted one leg and thrust its sharp tip at him. The spear pierced through the air with a shrill whistle. Its power was extremely terrible, and it was going to pierce Bu Fang.
After Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s transformation, the only thought in her head was to kill Bu Fang, so killing him became her only goal right now.
A strong wind was howling, and a great sense of oppression came washing over. Er Ha and the others could hardly breathe under the pressure.
Bu Fang furrowed his brows, and the look on his face was somewhat grave. ‘Is this Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s trump card?’ he thought, ‘It is indeed fearsome. Even Tian Cang is no match for her…’ He could feel the sharp energy coming at him, and the pores all over his body seemed to close at the sharpness. He breathed a long sigh.
The spider leg approached at great speed. Just when everyone thought that Bu Fang could not escape this time and was about to be pierced by the sharp tip, a strange scene happened. The leg halted just one meter away from him and no longer moved forward.
“What’s going on?” That took everyone aback. When they looked carefully, they saw that one of Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s legs was grabbed by a metallic lump, which was actually a chubby puppet.
Clutching the spider leg, Whitey mustered all its strength and pulled Nether Puppeteer Patriarch away from Bu Fang.
“DIE!”
Boom!
A few spider legs fell from the sky and struck Whitey like lightning, knocking it far away like a ball as cracks emerged across its body.
After getting rid of Whitey, Nether Puppeteer Patriarch turned her bloodshot eyes, filled with venom and madness, to Bu Fang again.
“DIE NOW!”
Rumble!
She moved again. The recoil force exploded out as her twelve spider legs frantically dug into the ground and gave her the speed of lightning.
Creak…
A sound of metal brushing against metal rang out. Whitey grabbed Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s leg again. This time, it climbed straight up the leg.
The ‘ant’ had infuriated the Patriarch. She kept stomping all twelve legs, leaving numerous deep holes in the ground, but Whitey still climbed up steadily and determinedly.
The scene shocked everyone. Even Bu Fang opened his mouth slightly, as if puzzled. Whitey was no doubt a weakling when compared to Nether Puppeteer Patriarch. Although its strength had reached the level of a Great Saint after Bu Fang became a Nine-revolution Little Saint, and it had devoured many puppet hearts, it was still like an ant in the face of the Patriarch, who was a Perfected Great Saint.
It was nearly knocked away several times. The spider legs twisted, pointed their sharp tips upward, and stabbed at it over and over again. Sparks flew as they hit its hard skin, trying to pierce and destroy it.
In the distance, Tian Cang, who was trapped by the spider web, struggled violently to rip the fetter. However, it would obviously take some time for him to tear it up and get out.
There were holes on its back, left behind by the spider legs, but Whitey paid them no mind. With its mechanical eyes flashing, it continued climbing with determination. No matter how hard Nether Puppeteer Patriarch shook the leg or attacked it, it kept on climbing.
Finally, Whitey climbed to a position near the Patriarch’s body, which was only about one meter away from the source stone tangled in golden threads. Its big arms closed around the spider leg and held tight.
Everyone was stunned by the sudden change. At this point, Bu Fang realized that Whitey’s target was the source stone in Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s chest. At the thought of that, the look on his face turned somewhat strange. ‘Whitey has collected the puppet hearts of countless Nether Puppets, as well as the hearts of the Earth Nether Puppet and the Human Nether Puppet, and yet it’s still not satisfied? I can’t believe it’s going to seize that source stone… When did Whitey become so fierce?’
Clang!
The spider legs as sharp as steel knifes hacked Whitey again. Its body was already in tatters, like scrap metal, but it still held the leg tightly.
Suddenly, in everyone’s shocked eyes, Whitey jumped, making Er Ha and Nethery cry out in surprise. Its mechanical eyes flashed as it kicked the spider leg and pushed itself forward like a spring, then reached out a huge hand to grab the golden source stone.
Rumble!
An invisible energy ripple spread as Whitey’s palm grabbed the source stone, and then a ripping sound could be heard as it pulled it out together with some of the threads around it.
After that, it fell from the air and smashed hard to the ground, holding the source stone. The golden threads that tangled the gem was still connected to Nether Puppeteer Patriarch’s body.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The twelve spider legs stabbed madly across the ground as they went toward Whitey.
Holding the source stone in its big hand, Whitey’s mechanical eyes flickered as if it was laughing triumphantly. Then, the black hole in its belly emerged, and it shoved the source stone tangled in golden threads into the hole.