Chapter 1337: I Venture into Guizi Alley

To be honest, he really didn't do it on purpose.

The puppet charged too quickly; he had only instinctively slapped it. Who could have known it was so flimsy?

Its head was slapped clean off?

Senior Sister Shui was also dumbfounded.

This puppet had pushed her to her limits; she had used all her might but couldn't defeat it. Yet, this guy, with a casual slap, made it lie on the ground, headless... Could it really be that exaggerated?

"Is his strength really this great?"

Her body trembled. Even a fool would now understand that the person before her was not just a novice, but a super expert!

With a casual touch of a finger, he made the puppet unable to resist, and with one slap, he knocked off its head... His combat power was countless times greater than hers!

"I really didn't mean to," he said. "How about this: I'll help you put its head back on, and you can continue attacking... as long as it doesn't count as me breaking the rules!"

No longer bothering to instruct the girl, Zhang Xuan quickly squatted down, picked up the puppet's head, and placed it on its neck.

He was here to clear the challenge and read books... What if he was judged to have interfered with someone else's assessment and was disqualified? Wouldn't that be troublesome?

"You..."

Just when she had thought he was an expert, seeing this action, Senior Sister Shui was instantly enraged again.

As an examinee, accidentally destroying a puppet was possible, but was there any need to apologize like this?

Besides, even if you put the puppet's head back on... it's useless!

Although puppets don't die when their heads fall off like humans, their necks are full of intricate mechanisms involving advanced craftsmanship, requiring professional repair. What good would simply putting it back on do?

Feeling frustrated, she wanted to lecture him, but then she saw the puppet opposite her charge forward again.

She helplessly shook her head, knowing she couldn't afford to overthink, and braced herself to meet it.

The person and the puppet clashed once more.

After several consecutive moves, she repelled the puppet again. She let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly looked towards the young man not far away.

She saw that he had already helped the puppet up and reattached its head to its neck.

"There, it's done..."

He clapped his hands in satisfaction, and the young man secretly nodded. "Not only did I put it back for you, but I also fixed some of its previous flaws. It should be fully recovered now!"

"Roar?"

Looking down at itself, the puppet had a bewildered expression.

"It's nothing," Zhang Xuan said. "I didn't intend to disrupt your assessment just now. Continue with your assessment; I won't interfere anymore..."

"Roar-a-roar?"

The puppet scratched its head, slowly extended a fist, touched Zhang Xuan's shoulder, then suddenly remembered that the other party had slapped its head off. It quickly withdrew its fist and simultaneously jumped back a step.

Tilting its head, it looked over, constantly making gestures as if asking, "Are you really not going to interfere?"

"No interference!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Roar!"

With an excited expression, the puppet swayed its body and hurriedly turned to charge towards the girl in the arena.

"I..."

Her scalp instantly tingled, and Senior Sister Shui nearly fainted.

Seriously, are you deliberately trying to mess with me?

In dual mode, everyone cooperates to clear the challenge. Getting the puppet's head off means half the challenge is cleared... but then you put it back...

Are you insane?

I can't even beat one, and now there's another...

Do you only enjoy yourself by tormenting me to death?

She had originally thought he was trying to attract her attention and win her favor. But now it seems... he might as well have just come to flirt with her; at most she'd lose her chastity, not her life...

Her delicate body trembled. Just as she was about to curse him out, she saw the charging puppet launch an attack.

This punch was faster and fiercer than that of the puppet she was currently fighting. Before it even reached her, she felt her body being suppressed by some sort of field, unable to move.

"What's going on?"

Her pupils constricted, and Senior Sister Shui's delicate body trembled violently.

She had just fought with this one for a long time. Even if its strength was greater than hers, it wasn't by much. When did it become so powerful?

However, there was no time to say more, so she raised her hands to meet it.

The moment her hand's power met the puppet's fist, it was immediately repelled. Then her chest tightened, as if struck by something, and she could no longer control herself, instantly sent flying backward.

As she flew through the air, blood spurted from her mouth.

Her back slammed hard against the wall, leaving an impact mark shaped like the character for "big."

"You..."

Hanging on the wall, her body twitching uncontrollably, Senior Sister Shui felt her world go dark.

This puppet, just a moment ago, was only average in strength—she could win if she used all her strength. How did it become so powerful after its head fell off and he 'modified' it?

How could she fight now...?

Forget it, she should just surrender...

This challenge felt infinitely more frustrating than the entire past month.

She took out her challenge card, about to crush it, but then she suddenly remembered this was a cooperation; if one person surrendered, both would lose. She gritted her teeth and looked at the young man not far away.

"We two are in a cooperative relationship," she said. "I can't win, and I'm going to surrender... Are you going to surrender?"

"Cooperative relationship?" Zhang Xuan was startled. "What do you mean?"

"When you and I entered the 'Bing' (C) Alley at the same time," Senior Sister Shui explained, "the formation automatically considered us to be in a cooperative relationship. If one person surrenders, the whole team surrenders..."

"Team surrender? You mean, if you surrender, I lose?"

Zhang Xuan was dumbfounded.

He thought they were each taking their own assessments. He never expected... after all this time, they were being assessed together?

This is how it works?

"Yes!" Senior Sister Shui gritted her teeth.

She had thought he knew what was going on, but it turned out he knew nothing all along. No wonder... it was driving her mad.

"Don't surrender..."

Zhang Xuan was startled.

Are you kidding?

He hadn't even read the books yet, how could he surrender?

"I will defeat this puppet..."

Knowing what was going on, Zhang Xuan dared not waste another word. He turned to look at the two puppets in the arena and declared, "I am your opponent. Come at me together!"

"Roar?"

The puppet that had just sent Senior Sister Shui flying with one punch took a step back and shook its head vigorously, its face seemingly full of confusion.

You just said you wouldn't interfere, and now you want to fight... What are you doing?

"What's wrong? If you're not coming, then I'll make the first move..."

He snorted. Zhang Xuan stepped forward, moving to the center of the room.

The other puppet, seeing his blatant provocation, could no longer hold back and charged straight at him.

However, before it had gone far, it felt its arm tighten, being held back.

Turning its head, it saw the puppet whose head had fallen off earlier holding it back and shaking its head desperately.

"Roar, roar?"

This puppet had a confused expression, its face still full of rage, as if it wanted to fight Zhang Xuan to the death.

"Roar-a-roar!"

Seeing that it couldn't be held back, the first puppet slapped it.

Not expecting an attack from it, the second puppet hadn't even reacted when its vision went dark, and with a thud, it lay on the ground, unconscious.

After doing all this, this puppet cautiously looked at Zhang Xuan and uttered, "Heh heh roar!"

After speaking, it slapped its own forehead with its palm.

*Thud!*

It also lay on the ground, unconscious.

"That's more like it!"

Seeing this modified puppet, which had more vocalizations than the previous one and was quite sensible, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction and looked at Senior Sister Shui, who was still hanging on the wall. "Does this... count as passing?"

"..." Senior Sister Shui.

It took her a while to recover. Suppressing the shock in her heart, Senior Sister Shui looked at the young man before her, more surprised than if she had seen a ghost.

Making puppets fight each other, and even knock themselves unconscious...

How on earth did he do it?

"Did we... pass?"

She took a medicinal pill, recovered for a moment, struggled to crawl out of the wall, and gasped for breath.

To be honest, she still couldn't quite believe it.

Clearing the challenge alone was already very difficult, and cooperative challenges were twice as hard. To succeed under these circumstances... made her feel as if she were dreaming.

No wonder she couldn't succeed for a month despite trying. She had already given up hope and never imagined passing so suddenly.

"The puppets are defeated, so I guess we passed!"

Zhang Xuan wasn't quite sure either. He glanced at the two puppets lying on the ground.

The first puppet seemed to sense his gaze; its body twitched, and its eyes squeezed shut even tighter.

"Mm..."

Senior Sister Shui nodded. She wanted to say something but couldn't articulate it. Just as she was at a loss for what to do, she heard the sound of gears and springs once more, and a large door slowly opened before them.

"Let's go see!"

Glancing inside, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

Inside the door was a bookshelf, on which some books were placed.

It should be the reward for passing 'Bing' (C) Alley.

"Mm!"

Senior Sister Shui's purpose in clearing the challenge was also for this. She followed closely behind.

There were only a dozen or so books, all very profound cultivation techniques, far surpassing those seen on the market.

*Lingxiao Cultivation Method*, *Jade Tree Upholding Heaven Art*, *Golden Fire Profound Art*...

Zhang Xuan scanned them with a glance, recording them all into his Library. He let out a low sigh in his mind, his heart filled with disappointment.

He had thought he might be able to put together a Heaven's Path cultivation technique for the Soul Departure realm, but the number of books was still too few.

"Alas!"

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan felt it was a bit unprofitable.

Spending a hundred high-grade spirit stones of vital essence to come for this assessment, and only seeing a dozen or so books, was indeed too little.

Even though these cultivation techniques were of a high level, combined with what he had previously collected, it would still be very difficult to synthesize them into a Heaven's Path level technique.

"I've made my choice!"

As he was sighing, the girl's voice rang out.

Turning his head, he saw that she had chosen *Waterwave Profound Pattern Art*, which was the only water-attribute cultivation art among the many secret manuals.

"This one's not bad..."

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Although this cultivation technique might not be as strong as the one the girl cultivated, when combined, they would provide mutual verification, greatly inspiring her cultivation.

"Okay, I'm starting to copy it," Senior Sister Shui said. "Have you made your choice?"

The cultivation techniques obtained from clearing the challenge could not be taken away; they could only be copied.

"Me?" Zhang Xuan said, shaking his head. "You go ahead and copy yours. I still need to continue with my assessment, so I won't stay here..."

He had already recorded all the books, so there was no need to copy them.

"Continue with your assessment?"

Senior Sister Shui was startled for a moment, then her eyes lit up, full of disbelief. "Are you... going to challenge 'Yi' (B) Alley?"

This person found challenging 'Bing' (C) Alley so simple that he naturally didn't care for these secret manuals. He intended to challenge a higher passage.

Those who could pass 'Yi' (B) Alley were rare, seen perhaps once in a decade. Could this person before her succeed?

In an instant, she was filled with anticipation.

"'Yi' (B) Alley? No!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head. "I plan to challenge 'Gui' (J) Alley!"