Chapter 701: The Power of the Puppet Formation

Inside a secret chamber, Wang Qingqi was teaching Wang Tianpei how to refine elixirs.

Wang Tianpei had already advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage. Wang Qingqi, having overcome his bottleneck, had advanced to the seventh layer of the Foundation Establishment stage.

He had more than thirty years of lifespan remaining. Currently, Wang Qingqi was the only Tier-2 alchemist on Red Lotus Island. If he were to go into seclusion for cultivation, no one in the family would know how to refine Tier-2 elixirs.

Wang Tianpei was Wang Changhao's great-grandson. Wang Changhao had made many contributions to the family throughout his life, his greatest being covering Wang Qingshan's escape.

Initially, Wang Tianpei did not pass the alchemy assessment and thus could not become an alchemist officially trained by the family. To learn alchemy, he had to pay for it himself. As he was only at the Qi Cultivation stage, he simply couldn't afford that many spirit stones. Wang Qingshan then provided Wang Tianpei with a substantial amount of spirit stones to support his studies.

After years of study, Wang Tianpei had become a first-grade high-rank alchemist. Upon advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage, he began learning to refine Tier-2 elixirs under Wang Qingqi.

Soon after, a rich aroma wafted from the alchemy furnace.

Wang Tianpei made a hand seal, and the flickering flames instantly extinguished. He hurriedly opened the lid of the alchemy furnace and stepped forward to examine its contents.

Inside the furnace lay seven greenish pills, emitting an unusual fragrance.

Wang Tianpei cautiously asked what he thought of this batch of True Essence Pills. He knew that while Wang Qingqi was lenient on other matters, he was extremely strict when it came to elixirs.

Wang Tianpei both respected and feared Wang Qingqi. Wang Qingqi had trained many alchemists for the family and spent a significant amount of time improving elixir formulas. In fact, most of the Tier-2 elixir formulas used by the Wang family were improved by Wang Qingqi from ancient recipes. When it came to alchemy, Wang Qingqi was exceptionally strict.

Wang Qingqi walked over, picked up a greenish pill with two fingers, put it into his mouth, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Wang Tianpei looked a bit nervous, fearing that Wang Qingqi might not be satisfied.

Wang Qingqi commented that the quality wasn't very good, the timing for solidifying the pills wasn't grasped well, and the color wasn't bright enough. He suspected Wang Tianpei had added too much spirit water and advised him to pay attention to that. Despite the flaws, he deemed the batch acceptable. He then announced his intention to go into seclusion for cultivation and pass the heavy responsibility of alchemy to Wang Tianpei.

Wang Tianpei breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, confirming his understanding.

Wang Qingqi took out a greenish shell and handed it to Wang Tianpei. He explained that it contained his insights into refining Tier-2 elixirs and important points to note, urging him to keep it as it would be useful. He further stated that his seclusion this time would be quite long, so if Wang Tianpei encountered anything he didn't understand, he would have to figure it out himself.

His lifespan was dwindling. For this seclusion, he had made thorough preparations, vowing not to emerge until he had advanced to the ninth layer of the Foundation Establishment stage. If he didn't push himself now, he would never have another chance.

Hearing this, Wang Tianpei bowed respectfully to Wang Qingqi and solemnly assured him that he could cultivate in peace, as it was time for his grandson to repay the family.

Wang Qingqi gave a few more instructions, then turned and left.

***

In the Coral Sea, on an unnamed deserted island.

A large spread of blood-red monster meat was scattered across the beach. The air was thick with the strong smell of blood, and three lit sticks of sandalwood incense were stuck into the sand.

A sea breeze blew, kicking up a lot of sand that splattered onto the beast meat. Waves washed ashore, carrying away much of the blood.

With a splash, over a dozen massive stones emerged from the sea. Upon closer inspection, these stones had eyes—they were actually demonic beasts.

Initially, there were only a dozen or so, but they soon became dozens.

These demonic beasts resembled fish but possessed two claws. Their backs were pitted and uneven, and sharp fangs protruded from their mouths, making them appear extremely ugly.

These were Stonefish Beasts. They had strong defenses, excelled at fire-attribute spells, and were highly sensitive to the smell of blood.

Dozens of Stonefish Beasts slowly climbed ashore. They opened their mouths and devoured the monster meat scattered on the beach; a single Stonefish Beast quickly consumed a piece the size of a millstone.

Not long after, most of the Stonefish Beasts had come ashore.

Innumerable yellow mists suddenly surged from underground, forming a pale yellow light barrier that enveloped more than fifty Stonefish Beasts.

With a flash of spiritual light, Wang Qingqing and over a dozen other cultivators appeared under a coconut tree.

Wang Qingqing commanded for the Puppet Formation to activate.

Following Wang Qingqing's command, inside the yellow light barrier, eighteen metallic spheres successively flew out from underground. With a spin, they transformed into eighteen Tier-2 puppet beasts.

The eighteen Tier-2 puppet beasts were divided into six groups of three, jointly deploying a Six Harmonies Demon Extermination Formation.

Each group consisted of three puppet beasts: an archery puppet for long-range attacks, a flying eagle puppet for high-altitude attacks, and a close-combat puppet beast for melee attacks. Each group served as a formation eye, combining to attack the demonic beasts.

The six flying eagle puppet beasts were split into two groups of three, forming a Two-Forms Formation. Similarly, the close-combat and archery puppets also operated in groups of three. The flying eagle puppets could coordinate with either the close-combat puppets or the archery puppets. These close-combat, high-altitude, and long-range units cooperated with each other, incorporating multiple smaller sub-formations. While this sounded simple, executing it was quite challenging.

Wang Changqing and others had spent a long time refining their coordination in the Eastern Barren. Upon arriving in the South Sea, they spent another half a year training, and only then did they venture out to hunt demonic beasts.

Six flying eagle puppet beasts swooped down from high altitude. Six close-combat puppet beasts, which were ape-like puppets wielding spiked clubs, charged towards the Stonefish Beasts. Meanwhile, six archery puppet beasts drew their bows, nocking arrows and aiming for the Stonefish Beasts' eyes.

With a series of whooshing sounds, multi-colored light arrows shot forth, striking the eyes of a Stonefish Beast.

A pained shriek erupted. Before the Stonefish Beast could react, its eyes were blinded by the six light arrows, and blood flowed ceaselessly. It let out roars of fury and opened its mouth to spew out a thick stream of crimson flame.

The six archery puppet beasts specifically targeted the Stonefish Beasts' eyes. The flying eagle puppets would snatch a Stonefish Beast, carry it high into the air, and then violently drop it. While this didn't cause significant damage, the Stonefish Beasts caught high in the air were unaware of this. They all spewed thick crimson flames, some of which accidentally struck other Stonefish Beasts, engulfing their bodies in blazing fire.

Three ape-like puppets, working as a group, pounced on a Stonefish Beast. Innumerable yellow mists erupted from the ground, transforming into over a dozen thick yellow ropes that swiftly ensnared the Stonefish Beast. Two of the ape-like puppets then swung their spiked clubs, smashing them down onto the Stonefish Beast.

The six flying eagle puppets first targeted the higher-ranked Stonefish Beasts. Meanwhile, the twelve other puppet beasts split into four groups of three, focusing on quickly eliminating the lower-ranked Stonefish Beasts.

Roaring sounds echoed continuously, and flames soared into the sky.

Although the Stonefish Beasts had strong defenses, the puppet beasts specifically targeted their weaknesses. With three puppet beasts per group, their coordination was skillful, and the Stonefish Beasts were simply no match.

In less than fifteen minutes, the lower-ranked Stonefish Beasts were eliminated by the twelve puppet beasts. The remaining six Stonefish Beasts, facing the combined efforts of all eighteen Tier-2 puppet beasts, also met their demise.

Wang Qingqing's face lit up with joy as she praised their method, remarking that hunting demonic beasts was so much easier with the puppet formation complementing the magical array. Before, they relied solely on the array, but now, with the added puppet formation, they were even more formidable.