Chapter 717: Why Seek Your Own Death?

"This is bad!"

Lord Huang Quan felt a premonition of disaster; it was as if the puppet had raised not a hoe, but a sharp celestial blade!

"Yellow Spring Secret Art!"

As the hoe slammed down, Lord Huang Quan quickly activated a life-saving secret art, transforming his entire body into the waters of the Yellow Spring.

The hoe split the Yellow Spring water into two separate masses. These two masses rapidly retreated, then merged back together, reforming into Lord Huang Quan's figure.

He took a deep, shaky breath. Lord Huang Quan looked at the puppet with lingering fear. Just one strike of the hoe had pushed him to the brink of a life-or-death crisis, forcing him into a desperate situation.

How could the Dao-Seeking Sect possess a puppet of this caliber?

As far as he knew, even the Yan Shi Sect, one of the top-tier sects in Great Xia and currently the most skilled in crafting puppets, couldn't create the puppet before him.

Who on earth crafted it?!

A hint of fear flashed in Lord Huang Quan's eyes. The Dao-Seeking Sect's true heritage was terrifying; even with foreign invaders, they still had the capacity to guard their treasury with a Tribulation-level puppet.

Soon, however, the fear in his eyes vanished, replaced by a deep sneer. He wasn't someone who could be intimidated by a mere puppet. Although this puppet was made of special, hard material and and would be incredibly difficult to dismantle through brute force,

"The gap between a puppet and a cultivator cannot be bridged by mere Yan Shi arts!"

"I hereby establish a rule: within Tianmen Peak, no spiritual energy may be used to activate magical artifacts."

A Tribulation Stage cultivator possessed the ability to establish rules. No matter how advanced the Yan Shi art, it would always be hindered by the power of rules.

Puppets were a type of magical artifact, and there were two ways to make them move: either secretly controlled by a Yan Shi master, or by the puppet itself moving autonomously.

A Tribulation-level puppet required at least a Body Integration Stage Yan Shi master to control it. If the puppet before him was being controlled by a Yan Shi master, then that master certainly wasn't a Tribulation Stage cultivator.

If the Yan Shi master were a Tribulation Stage cultivator, they would be fighting alongside the puppet, yet this wasn't happening.

If there was no Yan Shi master controlling it, then a puppet that moved on its own was merely an inanimate object, no match for him!

The puppet was made of wood, crafted in the likeness of a female figure, but its creator had not carved any facial features.

The puppet tilted its head slightly. Although its expression couldn't be seen, one could imagine the puppet's perplexed look at that moment.

The puppet suddenly punched Lord Huang Quan directly in the face. The unexpected blow landed squarely in the center of his face, knocking out two of his front teeth.

"How is this possible?!"

In his panic, Lord Huang Quan paid no mind to his missing teeth. He was certain that the rule he had imposed was effective, and because its range was so small, it was highly restrictive, preventing even him from using magical artifacts.

Yet, this puppet moved freely!

The puppet clearly had no intention of explaining and kicked Lord Huang Quan to the ground.

Lord Huang Quan's gaze grew fiercer. Originally, he had wanted to end the battle quickly; after all, he had sneaked in, and if discovered by the Dao-Seeking Sect, it was highly probable that those in the bamboo forest would also find out, potentially shifting the battlefield here.

But now, he couldn't afford to worry about that.

"Netherworld Ghost Realm, Yellow Spring Passage, Three Lamentations of Naihe!"

The Yellow Spring manifested, corroding the earth. Hundreds of ghosts roamed, emitting sorrowful sighs. Their resentment surged into the sky, almost solidifying, transforming Tianmen Peak into a living hell, a place of unbearable agony.

Lord Huang Quan held nothing back. This was his ultimate, trump card technique, the very method that had allowed him to dominate an entire era. Cultivators of that time, upon hearing the words "Yellow Spring," would fall into panic and despair.

The power of this move was too ostentatious. Both the disciples hiding in the core area and the elders fighting in the bamboo forest sensed the disturbance at Tianmen Peak.

Initially, they tensed, realizing an external enemy had invaded. But upon seeing that the disturbance was at Tianmen Peak, they acted as if nothing had happened and continued to engage their current foes.

The puppet advanced with large strides, holding its hoe, as if it hadn't even noticed Lord Huang Quan's technique. It stepped into the corrosive Yellow Spring waters, its feet completely unharmed.

Vicious ghosts living in the Yellow Spring shrieked and lunged at it. The puppet swung its hoe, dispersing all the malevolent spirits and demons.

"How is this possible?!"

Lord Huang Quan was dumbfounded. This was his strongest technique; the puppet shouldn't have been unharmed!

The puppet swung its hoe with simple, unadorned movements that were impossible to evade. Each strike felt as terrifying as the collapse of heaven and earth, leaving Lord Huang Quan bruised and battered in a short amount of time.

Seeing the death-infused hoe raised again, he didn't hesitate. Disregarding any potential repercussions, he once more activated the Yellow Spring Secret Art and swiftly dashed towards the summit of Tianmen Peak!

He couldn't afford to waste any more time. Only by finding Emperor Yu's immortal treasure could he break free from this predicament!

The puppet watched in the direction Lord Huang Quan fled, but did not pursue.

"This is it!"

Lord Huang Quan sensed the strong aura of treasure, growing ever closer!

He burst through a grove of trees, following the treasure's aura to a mountain cave. He punched open the cave entrance, and an exquisite fragrance, unlike any he had ever smelled, immediately wafted out.

Emperor Yu's treasure was right here!

The Dao-Seeking Sect's treasury was vast and comprehensive; the deeper he went, the more precious the items became.

Lord Huang Quan ignored the ultimate treasures of the Body Integration and Tribulation stages.

He reached the deepest part of the treasury and saw immortal artifacts casually laid out on the ground, his eyes filled with greed.

"Immortal Dao Formation Diagrams, the *Immortal Slaying Sword Array*, the Nine Dragons Heavenly Net Hood..."

Suddenly, as if sensing something, he looked up at a fruit placed on a desk, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

As a trusted confidant of Daoist Monarch Wan Fa, he had once seen Daoist Monarch Wan Fa display the embryonic form of his Dao Fruit – a translucent fruit containing the Dao of Eternal Laws and the power of time, full of infinite mysteries.

However, the fruit on the desk was perfectly complete, without the slightest translucency, truly flawless.

Daoist Monarch Wan Fa's long sigh at that time remained etched in his memory to this day.

'Only a solidified fruit is a true Dao Fruit. When will my fruit achieve perfection?'

Now, a solidified, perfect fruit lay before his eyes, yet it filled him with immense dread.

Was this the legendary Dao Fruit?

How could it be here?

All the immortal artifacts around were left by Emperor Yu, but what about this Dao Fruit?

Did Emperor Yu truly go to the outer world?

A multitude of questions flooded his mind, accompanied by an inexpressible sense of horror.

A long sigh drifted over.

"Why seek your own demise?"

Lord Huang Quan abruptly turned his head and saw a female cultivator at the cave entrance, holding a teacup. A faint aroma of tea lingered, as if permeated with Daoist charm.

This was freshly picked Enlightenment Tea from this year, and also the finest quality Enlightenment Tea in the world.

The female cultivator slowly savored her tea, blowing away the Daoist charm carried by the tea's aroma, as if she hadn't been the one speaking just now.

Just as Lord Huang Quan was about to speak, he found his body stiff, unable to move, like a clay statue. He watched helplessly as the female cultivator walked closer, step by step.

The female cultivator extended a finger and lightly touched Lord Huang Quan's forehead. His body gradually disintegrated, fading into nothingness.