The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 91: Nascent Soul Realm Puppet

Julian and his group, now down to only four members, continued to make their way through the maze. By now, they had spent more than a day inside the maze.

"Damn it, I’m tired of seeing walls everywhere." One of them grumbled.

"I know, right?, I just wish we could break them down and pass through instead of wasting time trying to find the correct path." Another responded.

"We tried that, remember? We couldn’t even make a crack in them. Who even makes a wall that sturdy?" The third joined in.

As they continued their idle chatter, suddenly Julain stopped in his tracks. The others immediately tensed up and stopped as well.

Without needing to be told, they all brought out their weapons, preparing for a fight. They knew Julian well enough to know that he wouldn’t stop them for no reason.

Because he cultivated techniques related to the wind element, his sensitivity to his surroundings was higher than that of others.

He had noticed a shift in the atmosphere when they entered this particular corridor. This corridor was larger than the others and was circular in nature.

Unlike the room that they left previously, this one is much larger and more spacious.

It almost resembled a mini-arena. As soon as those thoughts entered his mind, Julian realized what challenge they were going to face this time.

Boom!

The ground shook as the wall behind them closed, cutting off their escape route. As soon as the path to retreat was blocked, the group became tense.

The air in the arena grew heavy with anticipation. Julian’s eyes scanned every inch of the circular chamber, searching for movement, any sign of the challenge awaiting them.

Before any of them could speak, a deep rumble echoed through the room. Dust trickled from the ceiling, and with a grinding sound, the stone floor in the center of the arena began to crack and split apart.

From the fissure, a massive figure emerged—an imposing puppet, its surface etched with ancient runes glowing faintly blue. It had a humanoid appearance, standing on two feet.

It was about two and a half meters in height, far taller than any of them. Its eyes, two orbs of shining blue lights, fixed on the group with cold, unyielding focus.

It let out a guttural roar, unleashing all its pressure on them. The faces of Julian and his group turned ashen when they felt the aura from the puppet.

’Nascent Soul realm!’ They thought simultaneously.

That’s right, the puppet in front of them was at the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm.

They had suffered so much when facing the previous mist beast. Even then, it was only at the peak of the Golden Core realm.

Now they were facing this puppet that was at the Nascent Soul realm, a whole major realm above them. It was unknown whether they would even make it out alive.

But then, they were disciples of the War Machine sect, a sect known for being unafraid of battle. The initial shock they felt was replaced with resolve.

The four of them gripped their weapons tightly, preparing themselves for the battle. Julian glanced at the remaining three individuals, noting their condition.

It was unknown whether he regretted not saving that man who was about to die. If they had more members, their chances of winning would have been greater.

Well, it was no use regretting now. As Julian glanced at his remaining team members, he pointed at the puppet with his eyes.

All of them recognized his signal. Instead of waiting for the puppet to target them one by one, it was better if they all swore to it together.

Since Julian was the strongest among them, he had to spearhead the attack. There was no room to be sneaky here or to force others to sacrifice for him.

If he sent them ahead, they would die almost immediately, leaving him facing the Nascent Soul realm puppet alone. Something that he didn’t want to happen.

The four of them charged forward, ready to face the puppet. The puppet lifted one of its massive fists, swinging it down toward them with terrifying force.

"Scatter!" Julian barked, his voice slicing through the heavy tension like a blade.

The four cultivators separated instantly, leaping in different directions as the puppet’s fist smashed into the stone floor where they had just stood. The ground cracked and caved, a web of fractures spreading from the impact.

Dust exploded outward in a choking cloud, but Julian pushed through it, his wind element swirling around him, clearing his vision.

He struck first, his sword glowing with condensed wind qi as he slashed across the puppet’s arm. Sparks flew, but the force of his attack didn’t even make the puppet stumble, there wasn’t even a dent on its metallic skin.

Julian’s eyes narrowed. He had expected it to be tough, but this was too much. Far beyond what they had faced before.

The puppet reacted to his sword strike, swinging its arm wildly in an attempt to hit him. He managed to dodge just in time, leaping back in order to escape its range.

The young man who disabled the crossbow formation before was the first to counterattack. His broad blade gleamed as he swung in a wide arc, aiming for the puppet’s massive forearm. The clang of steel against the puppet’s runed metal echoed like thunder in the chamber.

The puppet barely recoiled. With surprising speed, it twisted and retaliated with a sweeping backhand blow targeting his head.

He ducked low, rolling forward, the metal fist missing him by inches and smashing into the stone floor, sending cracks spider-webbing outwards.

The other two struck at the same time, hoping to capitalize on the distraction. Both aimed for the head, trying to use their combined might to deal some damage.

They had coated their weapons in their Qi, thinking that it would make their strikes stronger and sharper. However, the result was the same as that of the others.

Clang! Clang!

The same clanging sound rang out a their swords struck the puppet’s head. No mark was left on it, making all of them realise just how tough the puppet was.

Julian attempted another attack as he closed the distance, his blade tracing a series of sharp, precise cuts aimed at the puppet’s knee joints, critical weak points in its massive frame.

The puppet shifted its weight heavily, and with a roar, it swung its other fist in a devastating horizontal strike. Julian twisted his body, angling his blade to deflect the blow, sparks flying where sword met metal.

The power of the punch was not something Julian could withstand. Even though he tried to deflect the blow, it punch came too fast.

He was sent flying, crashing into a wall. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as his body landed on he ground with a thud.

The puppet was about to continue attacking when the other three surrounded it. One of them circled to the puppet’s side, his own sword flashing in a blur. He lunged forward with a flurry of quick slashes aimed at the puppet’s hip.

The puppet responded with a crushing downward stomp, forcing Desmon to leap back just in time as the ground where he had stood exploded with flying stones.

However, the puppet wasn’t done with him, with a stomp, it followed him, its speed far exceeding what any of them were used to.

The puppet sent out a punch directly towards his head, trying to end him. The mad, caught off guard by the puppet’s sudden pursuit, was unable to put up any defence.

Bang!

The punch from the puppet landed on the man’s head, shattering it it pieces. The man’s body crashed to the ground, still spasming a bit.

After a few seconds, it completely stopped moving. He was as dead as could be. Seeing one of them die in such a brutal way finally seemed to wake the rest of them up from their stupor.

Before, they knew that fighting the puppet was going to be challenging. But they had underestimated just how difficult the fight was going to be.

They thought it was just going to be a little harder than fighting the mist beast. Maybe it was arrogance or the thrill of beating the mist beast that made them underestimate the puppet.

They neglected the fact that it was a whole realm above them in power. Even Julian’s eyes widened when he saw how one of his team members died.

Despite the pain in his body, he dragged himself up and quickly put more distance between himself and the puppet. The others did the same, and they all found themselves back at the beginning, where the wall had initially closed behind them.

The puppet didn’t attack them. It just stared, with cold, emotionless eyes. It seemed that it would only retaliate if it were attacked first or if they stepped within a particular range.

They weren’t sure, but were thankful for the slight reprieve they could get. All eyes turned towards Julian, waiting for him to do something.