Chapter 987: Chapter 425: Spirit Worm Breakthrough; Vitality Breakthrough_3

Seeing Ma Jin hesitating and struggling, Xuanmo True Monarch lost his patience and sneered, "Ma Jin, to tell you the truth, I am already a member of the Star Palace!"

"The Star Palace firmly dominates the Inner Sea and the continent, with aspirations for the world. Conquering this Outer Lands and obliterating those ungrateful Demon Races is a predetermined strategy and an inevitable trend."

"If you surrender now, it’s still timely, and you can earn some merit as a dragon follower. When the Star Palace sweeps through the outer seas, this vast ocean will naturally have a place for your Hundred Cloud Hall."

"If you continue to be stubborn... hmph, today will be the beginning of your Hundred Cloud Hall’s destruction!"

The threat of death and the pressure of the sect’s survival weighed down on his heart like two great mountains. Ma Jin’s expression changed, caught in an internal struggle.

Dignity and survival, the continuation of the sect and personal humiliation, all these thoughts clashed intensely.

Seeing this, Xuanmo True Monarch’s eyes flashed with killing intent, and he prepared to activate the claw-shaped Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure in his hand, saying coldly:

"My patience is limited. I’ll give you three breaths to decide: life or death, make your choice!"

Feeling the lethal threat targeting his Divine Soul, as well as the cold stares of the two Star Palace Cultivators beside him, Ma Jin ultimately felt as if all his strength had been drained away.

With a long, despondent sigh, he closed his eyes and said bitterly, "I... agree."

Faced with the absolute disparity in power and the choice between life and death, this Late-Stage Nascent Soul elder who had dominated the Outer Sea for years finally bowed his head.

...

Two months later.

Deep within the underground cave of Blood Bone Island.

Unlike the turbulent undercurrents of Hundred Cloud Hall, this place was exceptionally tranquil.

Xu Ping stood with his hands behind his back, in front of the Dragon Blood Fruit tree.

After years of nurturing, at the top of the tree, two fist-sized crimson fruits were emitting a vast and heart-pounding energy.

The Dragon Blood Fruits had matured.

"They’ve finally matured again."

Xu Ping looked at these two Dragon Blood Fruits, a genuine smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

The bottleneck of his own energy was only half a step away from the threshold of the Fourth Rank Upper Grade.

These two Dragon Blood Fruits were key to his breakthrough.

Xu Ping picked the two Dragon Blood Fruits, infused them with the Secret Technique to sustain the life of the Dragon Blood Fruit tree, ensuring it could continue to grow.

After completing all this, he eagerly returned to the secret chamber.

Sitting cross-legged on the cold stone bed, Xu Ping adjusted his breathing, elevating his state to its peak.

Without hesitation, Xu Ping simultaneously swallowed the two Dragon Blood Fruits.

The fruits melted upon entering his mouth, instantly transforming into two lava-like torrential streams, surging through his entire body.

An unimaginable, vast energy erupted within him, violently washing through his meridians, flesh, and bones.

Xu Ping’s face flushed red instantly, veins bulging on his skin’s surface.

Yet his gaze remained icy calm, tightly focusing his mind, fully guiding this turbulent energy through specific meridian routes, gradually refining, absorbing, and integrating it into his own energy source.

Time slowly passed in silent cultivation.

Xu Ping’s body was like a massive furnace, continuously devouring and refining the Dragon Blood Fruit’s energy.

The fluctuation of energy in him rose visibly, with red light seeming to surge beneath his skin, emitting an aura akin to a primordial beast.

An entire two months passed.

On this day.

It felt as if a silent explosion occurred within Xu Ping, with his energy finally breaking through an invisible barrier, reaching a new level.

"Boom!"

Energy pressure many times stronger than before involuntarily burst out from him, causing the restriction light on the chamber walls to ripple violently.

He opened his eyes, a flash of blood-red flickered in his pupils, then quickly dissipated.

Soon, the surging energy retracted back into his body, becoming concealed and deep.

However, Xu Ping’s mouth curled into a hearty smile, "I finally broke through!"

He carefully felt the surging power within him. The strength of his energy was far beyond before, and even solely with his physical strength, he feared he could confront the Spirit Treasures of ordinary Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators.

But that was just a secondary gain.

The most important thing was that with the breakthrough of his energy, he could now perfectly master the army formation composed of ten Tier Four Middle-grade Puppets!

"Let’s give it a try!"

Excitement flickered in Xu Ping’s eyes.

With a sweep of his sleeve, ten puppets with powerful Tier Four Middle-grade auras appeared neatly in the chamber.

A thought from Xu Ping, and his energy surged, not attacking forcefully, but transforming into countless meticulous blood threads, instantly connecting with the control runes at the core of the ten puppets.

In an instant, the eyes of the ten puppets simultaneously lit up with crimson light, an invisible force field linking them into a perfect whole—the Puppet Array, formed!

"Buzz!"

A formidable killing aura instantly enveloped the entire chamber, causing the air to seemingly solidify, the restrictions on the walls emitted "cracking" sounds as if they could shatter at any moment.

"So effortless!"

Xu Ping carefully felt the control of the army formation. With his current state, his divine thought and energy combined perfectly, commanding the ten puppets as if they were part of his body, moving with precision and ease.

Moreover, maintaining the army formation’s operation was entirely sustainable, allowing him to employ other powerful techniques in battle simultaneously.

Xu Ping then began testing the specific combat power of the puppet array.

His thoughts shifted, the army formation gathered or dispersed, attacking and defending as one, at times turning into a deadly storm, at others forming an impregnable iron wall.

Attacking was swift as lightning, defense was solid as a mountain.

After testing for a moment, Xu Ping had a good sense in his heart:

"The power of this puppet array is fully comparable to that of a true Nascent Soul Perfect Cultivator."

"Perhaps it falls slightly short in extreme variations and agility, but its defensive power might surpass that of an ordinary Nascent Soul Perfect Great Cultivator by a bit!"