Chapter 111 - Sect Leader of the Five Gods Summit

Faced with Tang Jinnian's mockery, the hall fell silent.

Noticing the silence in the hall, Tang Jinnian shrugged, took the short sword from the female puppet, and walked towards the suspension bridge.

At the edge of the suspension bridge, Tang Jinnian raised his sword.

Although it lacked the previous authority, a roar echoed from the hall, "You brat! Don't you dare!"

Swish!

Tang Jinnian swung his sword down, and the suspension bridge snapped, plunging down.

He twirled the short sword in his palm several times, looked toward the hall with a playful smile and asked, "What... were you saying?"

The hall was silent for a long time before a voice finally responded, "You will regret it."

"I will?" Tang Jinnian waved his hand, and the female puppet disappeared into the shadows with a few agile movements. He walked to the final bridge in the west. "I am certainly looking forward to... how you plan on making me."

When he could see the outline of the western suspension bridge from afar, Tang Jinnian stopped... There was a mass of shadowy figures at the bridge, clearly waiting for him.

Crackle—

Tang Jinnian lit a fire starter and quietly lit his pipe.

Tang Jinnian exhaled a puff of smoke and looked over. "Looks like they're finally crawling out of their nest..."

"What exactly did you come here for?" It was the same voice as before. As the distance closed, the figure at the head of the western bridge gradually became clearer.

As the figure approached, Tang Jinnian was taken aback... the voice belonged to the leader, but he never expected that the leader of the Five Gods Summit would be a robust middle-aged man with a lofty appearance.

The middle-aged man wore a Daoist robe and faced Tang Jinnian with an unfriendly gaze. Behind him stood a crowd of people, all dressed in Daoist robes and sporting topknots. They appeared to be disciples of the Five Gods Summit. Given that the sect was known for having few members, it seemed that just about the entire sect was present.

Tang Jinnian paused for a moment before regaining his composure. Ignoring the middle-aged man’s previous question, he instead asked, "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man frowned but still raised his chin and said, "I am the sect leader of the Five Gods Summit. You have intruded upon our territory without cause and killed my disciples. If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation today, you might not escape death!"

"I’ve only killed a few people so far." Tang Jinnian waved his hand casually and then asked, "Is the Five Gods Summit out of people? How did a young man like you become the sect leader? Are those old men behind you the elders? Aren’t they more experienced and better qualified than you?"

"Hey!" A skinny old man behind the middle-aged man became furious upon hearing this and jumped out to shout, "You brat, stop insulting our sect! You think you can sow discord with just a few sentences?!"

The middle-aged man raised a hand to stop the skinny old man, signaling him to step back. Just as he was about to speak, a young disciple stepped forward, pointed at Tang Jinnian, and reported, "Sect Leader, this thief came up the mountain with a woman. Where did that woman go?!"

The middle-aged man frowned. "

Hmm?

Is that true?"

"I wouldn’t lie!" The young disciple waved his hands. "I saw with my own eyes that Brother Li was taken away by the two of them!"

Tang Jinnian raised an eyebrow, wondering what kind of trick the Five Gods Summit was trying to pull.

While he was pondering, the sect leader of the Five Gods Peak spoke up, "Brat... there were clearly two of you when you came up the mountain. Where did that girl go?"

"Ah, I see." Tang Jinnian nodded with a smile. "I thought I had cleaned up everything on the way up the mountain. I was puzzled about how you knew when I arrived, but it turns out there was a fish that slipped through the net to inform you."

He recalled the rat-faced Daoist, an inner disciple of the Five Gods Summit, they had encountered on the mountainside. At the time, he had been careless, and coupled with the Five Gods Summit's excellent hiding techniques, he hadn’t even realized that he had missed another disciple who was in hiding.

"Are you going to talk or not?" The sect leader's brow furrowed, and his imposing aura pressed toward Tang Jinnian.

Faced with the aggressive crowd, Tang Jinnian remained calm and composed. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's just a puppet... Are the people of Five Gods Summit so ignorant?"

"What did you say?!" Feeling belittled, the young disciple was on the verge of rushing forward.

"Step back!" the sect leader shouted. His eyes were locked onto Tang Jinnian. "Did you just say... puppet?"

Tang Jinnian nodded. "That's right. Didn't you just engage with it?"

"That was a puppet? A mere puppet can be so agile? Bring it out for me to see!"

"You want to see?" Tang Jinnian sneered. "Since you want to see it... then watch closely!"

Whoosh!

The air released a sharp

crack

as a slender figure shot through the wind!

"Ha! What great timing!" The sect leader suddenly looked up.

The puppet swooped down from above towards the sect leader, catching the disciples of Five Gods Summit off guard. At this moment, the leader displayed his prowess. He quickly crouched down, pushed off the ground with force, and leapt up to meet the puppet head-on!

The two collided instantly!

It was the same female puppet that fought the animated corpse earlier. Facing the incoming sect leader, she spun and kicked at him. However, the leader did not dodge! He let her strike his left rib, and then his left arm swiftly clamped down, with his left hand coiling around the puppet's right leg like a snake!

"Come down for me!" The sect leader firmly held onto the puppet's right leg, his palm tightening around her calf, as he overpowered the puppet and slammed it down hard!

Bang!

Stones flew everywhere as the puppet was directly smashed into the ground.

Before the dust settled, the puppet flipped back up and stood again, kicking a few disciples of Five Gods Summit aside as she surged toward the sect leader just as he landed!

"What a resilient body! Let's continue!" The sect leader not only showed no fatigue, but exhibiting a greater fighting spirit with each clash. When the puppet charged again, he chose to meet it head-on, his speed even exceeding that of the puppet!

The sect leader was truly no slouch. In just a few steps, he reached the puppet, at the same time the puppet swiftly extended a claw aimed at the leader's throat!

"Too slow!" The sect leader's eyes widened in fury. With a loud roar, his left hand struck first, gripping the puppet's attacking wrist, while his right hand down with a vicious chop!

Crack!

The puppet's right hand was instantly severed.

The sect leader gripped the severed hand and yanked it hard, ripping it off completely. He then kicked the puppet far away as he examined the severed hand closely.

"It's entirely made of mechanisms... Such exquisite creations exist in this world..." The excitement in the leader's eyes grew even more intense as he looked at Tang Jinnian.

"Kid, I will give you one more chance. If you are willing to share the secrets of creating this puppet, I will spare your life. What do you say?"

On the other side, Tang Jinnian still wore a faint smile, as if his puppet's loss had no bearing on him. He said, "So you’re confident of victory already? I wasn’t wrong... when I said the Five Gods Summit is useless."

"

Hmm?

" The sect leader frowned, then suddenly heard his disciples exclaiming behind him.

"Master, be careful!"