Chapter 971: Extraordinary Aptitude

Even though the eight spider legs were extremely fast, the white figure was even faster, and in the blink of an eye, he was able to grab onto all eight spider legs with his hands before snapping them with ease.

The white figure then hurled the eight snapped spider legs back at Zhuo Fa, sending them piercing into his chest.

As a result, Zhuo Fa was sent flying back through the air, and he twisted around in mid-air before a long, white chain shot out of his sleeve, then pierced into the ceiling with a loud crack.

He tugged forcefully onto the chain with one hand, launching himself into one of the holes on the ceiling, and this entire sequence of movements was performed in a very agile fashion, as if he hadn't sustained any injuries at all.

The white figure seemed to be rather taken aback by this, but instead of chasing after Zhuo Fa, then began to descend rapidly out of the sky.

The crimson shockwaves down below had only just subsided, and Hei Da immediately began fleeing toward the hole in the wall atop his silver panther puppet with a horrified look on his face.

However, right at this moment, the white figure abruptly appeared on the silver panther puppet's head in a wraith-like manner.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Fellow Daoist Hei Da?" the figure asked, and a burst of tremendous power erupted out of their body, instantly shattering the silver panther puppet's head.

Hei Da's first instinct was to flee, but it then occurred to him that there was no way he would be fast enough to escape from the white figure, so he stopped in his tracks again.

"You're a smart man, Fellow Daoist Hei Da. If you had dared to attempt an escape just now, you would've ended up just like this puppet," the white figure said as they stomped onto what little remained of the silver panther puppet's head, and its enormous body was instantly sent crashing into the ground.

Hei Da shuddered as a fearful look flashed through his eyes, and he remained completely still on the spot, not daring to make any false moves.

All of a sudden, a hole was blasted into the wall in the distance, and Wu Yun and Hei Er rushed out of the hole as quickly as they could.

The white figure had come from within the Weeping Blood Array, so he was clearly one of the two Profound City cultivators inside. With that in mind, the two of them immediately abandoned Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing to flee for their lives.

Zhu Ziqing was just about to turn and flee as well, only to be stopped by Zhu Ziyuan, and the two of them spoke briefly through voice transmission before making their way toward the white figure together.

Zhu Ziyuan's body was riddled with wounds, but he was still standing as straight as ever, and he cupped his fist in a grateful salute toward the white figure as he said, "Thank you for saving us, Fellow Daoist Li."

Zhu Ziqing also quickly followed suit.

The white light around the figure quickly faded to reveal none other than Han Li.

"Those two left on their own, so you have nothing to thank me for," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

He harbored no animosity toward the Zhu siblings. However, now that he had become sworn enemies with E Kuai, he naturally didn't consider the two of them to be his allies, either.

"In any case, you saved our lives, and for that, I owe you a favor, Fellow Daoist Li. I'll be sure to repay you in the future, but for now, we'll be taking our leave," Zhu Ziyuan said, then began making his way toward the nearest hole in the wall.

Zhu Ziqing took a glance at Han Li, and it seemed like she wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent as she followed along after Zhu Ziyuan.

The two of them quickly leaped out of the hole in the wall and vanished out of sight.

"Fellow Daoist Li, may I ask why you've instructed me to stay behind?" Hei Da asked with an uneasy expression.

"Don't be afraid, I only asked you to stay as I have a few questions for you. If your answers prove to be satisfactory, then I'll spare your life. Come with me," Han Li replied, then turned and made his way into the distance.

Hei Da was very relieved to hear this, and he immediately followed along.

The two of them quickly arrived beside the Gold-Winged Falcon, and after examining the puppet for a moment, Han Li turned to Hei Da as he asked, "If I'm not mistaken, the cultivators of your Puppet City are using spiritual sense threads to manipulate these puppets, right?"

"That's correct," Hei Da replied.

"It must require very powerful spiritual sense to accomplish this, so all of you Puppet City cultivators must be using some spiritual sense enhancement secret technique, right? What is the name of this secret technique?" Han Li asked.

"It's a secret technique bestowed upon us by City Lord Sha, and it's called the Puppet Heart Technique," Hei Da replied.

"Give me the secret technique," Han Li ordered in a cold voice.

A hesitant look appeared on Hei Da's face upon hearing this.

"Is there a problem?" Han Li asked as a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes.

"Not at all! Here's the secret technique," Hei Da hurriedly replied in a fearful manner as he pulled out a jade slip before offering it up to Han Li.

Han Li's expression eased slightly as he accepted the jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

The jade slip contained a spiritual sense enhancement secret technique that was no less profound than the Spirit Refinement Technique, and it consisted of five levels.

Aside from the secret technique itself, the jade slip also contained instructions on how to manifest one's spiritual sense into threads suitable for puppet manipulation.

Han Li was very interested in the art of puppetry to begin with, so he immediately began to study the contents of the jade slip closely.

A short while later, he stowed the jade slip away before raising his hands, and thick translucent threads shot out of his fingertips before vanishing into the Gold-Winged Falcon's body.

A burst of golden light instantly appeared over the Gold-Winged Falcon as it rose up into the air, much to Hei Da's astonishment.

The art of puppet manipulation was extremely difficult to master, and even with sufficient spiritual sense, it would normally take at least a century of diligent practice to master the art, yet Han Li had accomplished this in what seemed like the blink of an eye!

Han Li sprang onto the Gold-Winged Falcon's back, and it immediately began flying around inside the hall at his behest.

However, as a complete novice in puppet manipulation, his control over the Gold-Winged Falcon was far inferior to that of Zhuo Fa, and it was flying in a very unstable manner.

Han Li only flew around atop the Gold-Winged Falcon briefly before jumping back down onto the ground.

The art of puppet manipulation was extremely difficult to master, and he was only able to just barely get the hang of it thanks to his tremendous spiritual sense. Furthermore, he had no intention of using puppets in battle, and he was only familiarizing himself with the art of puppet manipulation in order to better prepare himself for potential future battles against Puppet City cultivators.

"I saw earlier that these puppets can be shrunk down into balls. How is that done?" Han Li asked.

Having already given Han Li the Puppet Heart Technique, Hei Da didn't have any qualms about revealing further information, and he replied, "That's accomplished using a secret technique invented by City Lord Sha that combines puppetry techniques with a spatial secret technique."

With that, Hei Da gave Han Li a detailed explanation of how the secret technique worked.

It was a rather complex secret technique, but now that Han Li had already achieved elementary mastery over puppet manipulation, he was able to quickly master this secret technique as well, and before long, the Gold-Winged Falcon had shrunk down into a ball that was sitting on the palm of his hand.

Han Li gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, and Hei Da was very relieved to see that Han Li was in a good mood.

"Do you have any other questions for me, Fellow Daoist Li? I'll be sure to tell you everything I know," Hei Da said in a sycophantic manner.

"What are Puppet City's objectives for entering the Great Ruins?" Han Li asked.

"According to City Lord Sha, we have two objectives, one of which is to kill E Kuai, while the other is to obtain the holy remains. As for whether there are any other hidden objectives, that's beyond me," Hei Da replied.

Han Li was silent for a moment, then said in a serious manner, "I have one final question for you. If you can answer it well, then I'll let you leave."

"Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist Li," Hei Da hurriedly prompted.

"That woman in the purple robe that's been accompanying City Lord Sha this entire time, her name is Xiao Zi, right? What do you know about her? When did she first come to Puppet City?" Han Li asked.

"Xiao Zi has always been by City Lord Sha's side, and she never seems to communicate with anyone outside of City Lord Sha, so I'm afraid I don't know much about her at all. All I know is that she possesses exceptional talent in the art of puppet manipulation, so City Lord Sha holds her in very high regard.

“As for when did she first come to Puppet City, I only recently came out of a period of seclusion that lasted several centuries, and by the time I came out, she was already in our Puppet City. Apparently, she first arrived in our city over a century ago," Hei Da replied.

Han Li was silent for a long while upon hearing this, following which he raised his head and said, "Alright, you can go now."

Hei Da was ecstatic to hear this, and he cupped his fist in a parting salute before rushing out of the hall.

Han Li remained standing on the spot for a moment, then heaved a faint sigh before stowing away Zhuo Fa's white wolf puppet as well.

After that, he strode over to the pentagonal pond.

Even though the Weeping Blood Array had been completely destroyed, the pond remained largely unscathed.

At this point, the door of crimson light at the bottom of the pond had already vanished, but Fu Jian was laying on the bottom of the pond in a completely still manner.

Han Li jumped down into the pond before examining Fu Jian's condition with his spiritual sense.

At this point, it would be an understatement to describe Fu Jian's condition as dire. His bones, muscles, and organs were all on the verge of failure, and even his nascent soul was close to dissipating.

What little remained of his aura was rapidly fading, and it wasn't going to take long before it vanished altogether.

Han Li naturally harbored no positive feelings toward Fu Jian, but even so, he couldn't help but feel a hint of sorrow at the terrible fate that had befallen Fu Jian.

After taking a moment to compose himself, Han Li cast his gaze toward the spot where the door of crimson light had been just a moment ago, only to find that there wasn't even the slightest trace of it left behind.