Chapter 976: Seizing the Heart

Shi Zhanfeng seemed to have already anticipated this, and he remained still on the spot as he flipped a hand over to produce a golden ball before tossing it upward.

Bursts of mechanical clicking rang out from within the golden ball, immediately following which it released a burst of radiant golden light.

The burst of golden light vanished in a flash, and the golden ball had transformed into a golden cage that was several dozen feet in size around Shi Zhanfeng.

The winged puppet swooped down onto the cage, then flapped its four wings vigorously, releasing a flurry of feather-like blades of white light that rained down upon Shi Zhanfeng, slicing tiny rifts into the space in their path.

At the same time, the feline puppet sped over from the other side, and its womanly head opened its mouth to release a bolt of silver lightning.

The entire golden cage was instantly inundated by silver lightning, while the blades of light came crashing down upon it incessantly, but after the dust settled, the golden cage remained firmly intact.

Shi Zhanfeng was completely unharmed inside the cage, and he was holding the crystal ball ine one hand while dripping his own blood onto it from the gash on the palm of his other hand, seemingly trying to undo the seal.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he was wondering if he should take the crystal ball from Shi Zhanfeng.

He could sense that the aura of the heart sealed inside the crystal ball was extremely formidable, indicating to him that i twas a treasure on par with the Weeping Blood Array, and on top of that, it definitely had some type of important connection to the body of the Devilish Lord.

Han Li didn't really care if Sha Xin successfully resurrected the Devilish Lord, but he suspected that this Devilish Lord perhaps had something to do with Daoist Xie, and it would be quite a pity for a treasure of this caliber to be taken by Shi Zhanfeng.

However, if he were to swoop in now, he would definitely be regarded as an opportunist, and it was very likely that he would incur the wrath of both E Kuai and Sha Xin, thereby putting him in grave peril.

Right at this moment, he noticed that Shi Chuankong's shoulder had suddenly twitched in an almost imperceptible manner.

He raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, then asked through voice transmission, "Are you alright, Brother Shi?"

Shi Chuankong's shoulder twitched once again, this time more clearly than before, and even Mistress Liu Hua's attention was drawn to him, but he didn't do or say anything and simply looked away again.

After waiting for a moment, Shi Chuankong's voice rang out in Han Li's mind.

"I'm fine, Brother Shi. Would you be able to do me a favor?"

"Hold on just a little longer. I'm going to wait for their battle to become a little more intense before I come in to save you," Han Li replied through voice transmission.

"No, there's no need to save me for now. Your top priority must be to take that heart from Shi Zhanfeng. You cannot allow him to devour it no matter what. Otherwise, the consequences will be catastrophic," Shi Zhanfeng communicated in an urgent manner.

"What exactly does that heart do, Brother Shi? Why is it that Shi Zhanfeng has gone so far to secure it?" Han Li asked.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I don't know exactly what it does, all I know is that it's extremely important to Shi Zhanfeng. In fact, it could even be vital to helping him break through his Great Encompassment Stage bottleneck. If we allow him to devour it, then you and I may as well never return to the Holy Realm again," Shi Chuankong replied.

Han Li was just about to say something else when a burst of incredibly formidable bloodline power and life energy erupted out of the golden cage.

Shi Zhanfeng had already undone the crystal ball seal, and he was holding the beating heart in his hands with a fervent look in his eyes.

Sha Xin was furious to see this, and she wanted to seize the heart back from Shi Zhanfeng, but she was also worried about E Kuai taking the holy remains, so she was caught in two minds.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, E Kuai abruptly sped his way around the Arhat puppet, then launched both fists at the puppet's back with tremendous power.

The puppet's head immediately swiveled around at Sha Xin's behest, and it attempted to defend itself with its eight arms, but it was just a fraction of a second too slow to react.

The puppet was already riddled with wounds, and as soon as E Kuai's fist struck it on the waist, its body instantly exploded into two pieces.

Meanwhile, the two puppets under Xiao Zi's command were still attacking the golden cage with all their might, and the cage was about to give out soon, but ultimately, they weren't going to make it in time.

"I'll crush all of you after I've completed my rebirth," Shi Zhanfeng chortled with glee as he raised the heart to his own lips.

Right at this moment, a blurry figure shot forth like lightning from the other side of the lake of blood, raising up massive waves of blood behind them.

Before Shi Zhanfeng had a chance to react, the golden cage around him exploded into pieces, and even the two puppets under Xiao Zi's control were sent flying from the force of the cage's explosion.

Han Li shot out of a vast expanse of silver lightning before throwing a vicious punch that connected cleanly with Shi Zhanfeng's chest.

A burst of starpower instantly erupted out his fist to blow a massive hole straight through Shi Zhanfeng's chest, and he was sent flying directly upward before smashing against the ceiling above.

The ceiling of the underground space instantly exploded upon impact, following which Shi Zhanfeng's body came plummeting down alongside small avalanche of loose rocks.

A loud splash rang out on the lake of blood, and as Shi Zhanfeng slowly rose to his feet, he paid no heed to the hole in his own chest.

Instead, he stared at his own empty hands for a moment before letting loose a heart-wrenching roar of fury and indignation.

Meanwhile, Han Li was standing on the opposite shore of the blood lake, holding the beating heart in his hands with a contemplative look on his face.

Everyone was completely taken aback by this sudden turn of events, including Sha Xin.

However, E Kuai paid no heed to Han Li and Shi Zhanfeng at all, and he took advantage of Sha Xin's lapse in concentration to rush past her with extraordinary speed.

An alarmed look appeared on Sha Xin's face as she tried to stop him, but it was already too late, and E Kuai appeared beside the holy remains in a flash before grabbing down at it with a frenetic look in his eyes.

Right at this moment, a bone spear shot forth through the air, producing a sharp screeching sound as it struck E Kuai on the wrist. Once again, Kun Yu had temporarily foiled E Kuai's plans.

E Kuai was furious at Kun Yu's repeated interventions, and he gave the spear a vicious backhand swat.

The tip of the spear was instantly snapped, and it flew back at Kun Yu at an incredible speed, piercing through his chest and sending him flying before he had a chance to react.

After knocking Kun Yu away, E Kuai reached out for the holy remains once again.

Right at this moment, a radiant pillar of golden light descended out of the heavens, hurtling directly toward his head.

E Kuai harrumphed coldly as he threw a punch at the oncoming pillar of golden light while continuing to reach down with his other hand.

The pillar of golden light struck E Kuai's fist with a resounding boom, and ripples of golden light erupted in all directions.

E Kuai's entire body stiffened as his feet sank half a foot into the ground, and a surprised look appeared on his face.

Before he had a chance to steady himself, a golden tail that was around forty to fifty feet in length and as thick as a millstone swept out of the golden light before striking him on the body to send him flying.

The golden light in the air then faded away to reveal a golden dragon puppet that was roughly two hundred to three hundred feet in length.

The dragon's entire body looked as if it were crafted from gold, and it had a pair of coral-like horns on its head. The layer of golden scales over its body, its long and powerful tail, and its thick and menacing claws were all clear indications of its immense power.

At the same time, three more puppets appeared beside the holy remains, namely a golden tiger, a golden turtle, and a golden bird.

These auras of these three puppets weren't inferior to that of the golden dragon puppet in the slightest, and Sha Xin descended onto the back of the golden bird puppet, following which a series of translucent threads shot out of his fingertips before vanishing into the bodies of all four puppets.

Even though the hole in her chest had been sealed, she was still looking extremely pale, and blood was trickling down from the corner of her lips.

As for E Kuai, he had been caught off guard and sent flying over a thousand feet, but he was quickly able to stabilize himself, and he appeared to be completely unharmed.

The four puppets immediately positioned themselves between E Kuai and the holy remains at Sha Xin's behest.

"The Astral Four Symbol Puppets really are quite formidable. If you weren't injured, perhaps they would truly pose a threat to me, but given your current state, how much of their power will you actually be able to wield?" E Kuai sneered, then swooped down at the holy remains once again.