Spirit Vessel

The claw was more than ten meters long. The individual finger was thick like pillars and immensely sharp.

The weapon essence only managed to shake it a bit and leave a ten-inch mark on the claw, nothing significant.

Nonetheless, Feiyun took advantage of this and got some distance, disappearing from this broken street.

“Boom! Boom!” A pig demon with scales drilled out of the ground. There was a frightening claw attached to his back. A thin string of blood was dripping down from it.

He was a paragon of the Scaled Pig Tribe.

“Incredible power.” He felt palpable pain from the claw in his back, aware that he had underestimated the enemy.

If he had gone all out, maybe he would have been able to kill both Feiyun and the saintess. He then galloped in pursuit.

It wasn’t just the demons, the paragons from the Yin World were also on the hunt. These were all top cultivators with impeccable battle prowess.

They got closer and closer to the center of Nine-abyss. The suppressive power also intensified.

The power of Feiyun’s three domains waned as a result, only able to encompass him and Xuanyuan Yiyi. His Swift Samsara became slower as well.

The scene became dark as if it was nighttime. The buildings nearby were engulfed in nether energy. Some were occupied by fiends and evil entities leftover from 80,000 years ago. Their nefarious cries could be heard.

“Boom!” Feiyun smashed onto something resembling a palace wall. The outside was covered in a layer of fog, seemingly the culmination of endless corpse energy. It pricked the skin and caused noticeable pain.

However, Feiyun was shrouded with Buddhist energy and could move through it. He entered the palace and saw cracks everywhere on the paved ground. It has been too long and moisture and mold took over.

He felt his heart beating faster – a sign of extreme danger.

“This place is strange, there’s something ominous in here…” Though Yiyi was grievously injured, her awareness still remained. Her dao heart told her to be cautious.

Feiyun noticed it earlier as well. This was the reason why he decided to enter.

The paragons have surrounded them and it was impossible to escape. Thus, he decided to take a big risk in entering here.

The palace was next to the center of the ruin. It was massive; a decorative pond here was the size of a lake. This was definitely the home of a big shot in the past.

Due to its ominous aura, others wouldn’t dare to enter. Feiyun was pushed to the edge and had no choice.

“Just focus on recovery, leave everything else to me.” He carried Yiyi through a muddy path.

It was filled with spatial formations so despite looking short, it spanned several hundred miles, connecting one building to another.

“Oh?” He suddenly stopped and turned around.

“What is it…” She asked feebly.

“It’s nothing… I thought I felt a shadow behind us just now but there’s no sign of life.” He became serious, aware of the ominous creatures in here.

“There… there’s something moving in your chest…” She said.

Feiyun knew that it was the turtle moving around.

It has been trying its best to stay still the entire time inside its shell, not wanting to be noticed by Yiyi.

She was also there when it stole the crimson ghost vessel. It wouldn’t be good to be seen by her.

‘I’ve been pressed down by the saintess for so long, others would be so jealous. This life was worth living.’ The turtle thought but suddenly became jealous of Feiyun since he got to carry her all this time.

If the geniuses from the human kingdoms were to find out about their pure saintess being embraced by a half-demon, they would want to make mincemeat out of him.

They eventually made it through the muddy path and stopped in a stone forest. There were individual statues towering at seven to eight meters. Some depicted soldiers with shields, spears. Others sat and played chess or had fighting poses.

The several thousand statues were all different but each had a type of dao law embedded within them. This made them look animated and alive.

“Hmm, who the heck made so many statues out of heaven restoration stones?” Feiyun thought that this was a maze.

The statues seemed to be moving but this wasn’t discernible with the naked eye.

He wanted to leave but once he turned around, the path was no longer there.

“So many heaven restoration stones…” Yiyi insisted to walk on her own since her injuries were getting better.

He wanted to embrace her more since all men wanted to do so.

In a different scenario, it wouldn’t be his turn since thousands would be coming to help her. Dying for the saintess was an honorable thing coveted by many.

She was tall and slender, only half-a-head shorter than him. Her eyes were clear; her aquiline nose perfectly sculpted. A glow coursed through her porcelain skin. Her breasts weren’t overly large, just the right size.

Her legs were hidden by her dress. However, as she walked, one could still see and appreciate their beauty. This tempted others to want and lift up her dress to see the charm of a fairy.

“What are you looking at?” Yiyi noticed something strange in his gaze.

His eyes were on the verge of burning due to the rampaging evil blood inside him. His muscles bulged up; his chest arched forward. However, he took a deep breath and said: “I’m just wondering if the master of this place has cultivated the Grand Puppet Art before. That’s why they created so many statues. There is a strand of soul embedded in each one, still existing after 80,000 years and controlling them.”

The Grand Puppet Art was one of the eight great immemorial arts. It had been separated into four sections – dao, Buddhist, death, and sacred. To learn any of the four was incredible, let alone the original version.

Yiyi knew more about human history than an outsider like Feiyun. She elaborated: “Nine-abyss and Firmaments used to be the two strongest powers in Vastsky, nearly as strong as the territory lord’s faction. Nine-Abyss had produced several big shots, one of them being Nie Hai who cultivate the Grand Puppet Art. He was considered the best puppet master in Sixth Central. Rumor has it that he could control both living and non-living entities.”

Puppet arts were normally considered non-orthodox and didn’t get respect from most cultivators. However, the Grand Puppet Art was a different matter.

After reaching the apex with this art, one could control others’ spirit energy and even thoughts. This allowed the user to fully use the puppets’ arsenals. In fact, they could even control the stars above.

It was absolutely comparable to Feng Feiyun’s Grand Change Art.

“If we can somehow use these statues, we’ll be able to stop the paragons for quite a bit and buy enough time for you to heal.” Feiyun stroked his chin.

“Regular puppet arts can control these top-level battle puppets.” She sat down on one of the statues and began healing. A bright radiance surrounded her as she spoke: “This is a maze so it won’t be easy for them to find us, I should have enough time to recover.”

Having said that, she closed her eyes and focused on meditating.

As for Feiyun, he leaned on a sword-wielded puppet and stared at her for a second before taking out a bamboo scroll.

He then spread it on the ground, revealing that it was none other than the Eight Arts Volume, one of the three sections of the Grave-seeking Treasure Record.