Chapter 1603: You Don't Know Anything

The ground beneath Dong Rui's feet subtly trembled, and small pebbles bounced continuously. Anyone with poor balance would struggle to stand firm.

An earthquake?

No, it was just the Snail Toad burrowing underground, launching a sudden sneak attack. The Flayed Eel, unwilling to show weakness, protected its master and countered.

The two massive, burrowing beasts began clashing underground in the muddy stream bank!

While they conversed, Dong Rui's hands were constantly busy, rubbing the Heavenly King Scale, as a new idea had just struck him.

From his pipe pouch, he poured out small, dark pellets, each about the size of a Happy Pill. He then carefully inserted them into bluish-white, ping-pong ball-sized spheres—these were very sticky Snail Toad eggs, which he was merely borrowing.

This task truly shouldn't be performed during a battle, as a slight misstep could blow him to smithereens. Fortunately, Dong Rui's hands, trained by years of experimentation, were incredibly steady. Despite his tension, he managed to avoid any mishaps.

A slight breeze stirred behind him. Having learned from a previous mistake, Cao Wendao was fully alert, and at this moment, he turned and attacked without hesitation.

His weapon was a demon-subduing short club.

It resembled a combination of a hammer and a short mallet. The club's body was shaped like four intertwined large snakes, with the tips forming snake heads, creating a four-sided pyramid. It also had four golden rings that produced a clear, jingling sound when lightly shaken.

The palm-sized creature let out a high-pitched "chirp" as he smacked it like a baseball, sending it over two *zhang* away. It tumbled a few times on the ground before managing to get back up, then flapped its wings and took off before Cao Wendao could reach it.

It had four wings, two large and two small. Cao Wendao had only managed to knock off its smaller left rear wing, so it could still fly up and down, though its turning was not as agile as before.

This was Dong Rui's Bat Demon Puppet. It was incredibly fast and skilled at extracting hearts, but Cao Wendao's own cultivation and reflexes were surprisingly strong; he single-handedly blocked a heart-gouging attack from the demon bat.

But before he could counter, the Bat Demon Puppet disappeared into the dark jungle.

Dong Rui's expression also turned serious. The Bat Demon Puppet was not as fragile as it appeared; after multiple catalyses and adjustments with divine blood, even Wanqiu Liang's steel crossbow bolts couldn't penetrate its thin bat wings!

Cao Wendao, with only a demon-subduing club, had managed to knock off the Bat Demon Puppet's small wing? He was a demon puppeteer, not a martial artist like He Lingchuan!

As he pondered, the last few pellets were ready, and he quickly inserted them into the toad eggs.

At this point, Cao Wendao beckoned, and the flying snake that had previously fled reappeared from somewhere, darting around the jungle again, searching for Dong Rui.

It wouldn't be easy to hide this time.

Now, with him in the open and Wei Yishan concealed, he needed to quickly nullify Wei Yishan's advantage.

Just as the flying snake was about to approach a small slope, the Bat Demon Puppet appeared from out of nowhere, piercing through one of the flying snakes like a streaking arrow.

Out of three flying snakes, two had already been shot down.

The last flying snake, seizing an opportunity, flew towards an open area. However, just as it left the forest, the Bat Demon Puppet caught up, aiming for another piercing blow. The flying snake dodged the attack by veering to the side, but the Bat Demon Puppet then turned its head and spat acid at it, making it squeal in pain.

But as the Bat Demon Puppet slowed down, Cao Wendao produced a mirror and lightly flicked it twice, as if adjusting its angle. Then, it emitted a blinding beam of light, engulfing the Bat Demon Puppet.

The Bat Demon Puppet found the strong light dazzling and tried desperately to dodge, yet no matter how it flew up and down, it couldn't escape the light's range.

The strong light itself was an invisible barrier.

Dong Rui's voice, rising and falling, near and far, echoed through the forest in frustration; he recognized it as a magic artifact.

They had agreed to a demon puppet duel, yet Cao Wendao casually produced a powerful magic artifact!

This item somewhat resembled the strong light mirror in He Lingchuan's possession, but its destructive power was far inferior, only capable of trapping the demon bat.

Cao Wendao's resources were vast. Not only did his demon puppets include both offensive and auxiliary types, but he also produced one ingenious magic artifact after another, making Dong Rui both envious and jealous:

So wealthy and influential, truly befitting someone from the Heavenly Palace.

Cao Wendao stated that in battle, he would naturally use every means possible. He released his grip, and the mirror remained suspended in the air, autonomously locking onto the demon bat. He then questioned Dong Rui, suggesting that with only three demon puppets, he was destined to lose.

The quality of these three demon puppets was indeed excellent, especially the one that could burrow underground; its stealth speed beneath the earth was even faster than his Flayed Eel's. He didn't know how it managed that, given its bulky and slow appearance.

A demon puppeteer's methods should be ever-changing. Just three demon puppets were not enough to handle a constantly shifting battlefield, let alone a powerful peer!

Now, the Bat Demon Puppet was controlled, the Ghost Ape was entangled by the Green Python, and the Snail Toad was battling the Flayed Eel underground. If Wei Yishan couldn't produce a fourth, he would become isolated.

A demon puppeteer with no demon puppets to fight—wasn't that just useless?

This was likely the tragedy of being a wild demon puppeteer: limited financial resources and energy, unable to communicate with peers to improve skills, and exhausting themselves just creating three fine pieces.

Cao Wendao had also pretty much pinpointed his opponent's position. The flying snake had just been struck down by the demon bat near the small slope, indicating it had likely approached Wei Yishan's hiding spot.

Dong Rui, however, scoffed, dismissing Cao Wendao's understanding.

No sooner had he spoken, Cao Wendao felt the ground slightly sink near his feet—a sign that the burrowing demon beast was about to surface. With two colossal beasts battling, he had no desire to be caught in the middle, so he could only jump away.

Just a moment later, the Snail Toad emerged from the ground, its mountain-like hard shell on its back slamming into and knocking away the suspended mirror.

The mirror spun a few times and landed in the grass, and the bright light naturally vanished.

The demon bat was free; it seized the opportunity and flew into the jungle.

Although it transformed into a ghostly shadow and vanished in an instant, Cao Wendao still discerned its direction: the small slope!

Wei Yishan was indeed hiding there.

At the same time, the Flayed Eel from underground also surged up. Seizing the Snail Toad's vulnerability, it bit into its leg with all its might.

In fact, the Snail Toad had originally held the upper hand. After all, it was too massive for the Flayed Eel to swallow in one gulp. Furthermore, the Flayed Eel was far less agile in turning, and the Snail Toad's sharp tongue had even pierced several holes in the Flayed Eel's tough body.

But under Dong Rui's command, the Snail Toad abandoned its pursuit and actively surfaced to save the demon bat, which allowed the Flayed Eel to exploit an opening.

Dong Rui could feel the Snail Toad's pain.

But it also turned its head, and with a tongue thrust, it burst the Flayed Eel's upturned eye!

Fortunately, this creature was dull to pain; otherwise, it would have been writhing on the ground immediately.

A shadow flickered, and the Bat Demon Puppet reappeared, narrowly slipping into the Flayed Eel's mouth crack.

The Flayed Eel had bitten the Snail Toad's hind leg, leaving its mouth wide open—wide enough for twenty Bat Demon Puppets, let alone one. However, its mouth was jammed and couldn't close, temporarily preventing it from swallowing.

The Bat Demon Puppet stayed for only two brief breaths, then flew out of the mouth crack again to pierce the Flayed Eel's other eye.