Chapter 2909: Puppet

The massive dragon body silently collided with the vast city, causing Thousandstream City to shake violently and even shift slightly. Many cultivators inside the city lost their footing, swaying unsteadily.

Closely following the Dragon Venerable was the Phoenix Lord's fierce strike. As her graceful form swept past Thousandstream City, her dual claws, seemingly capable of piercing the sun and seizing the moon, slammed hard onto the protective light barrier. As she moved, they dragged across the barrier, leaving two visible white streaks.

Although these white streaks were quickly repaired, such an offensive undoubtedly consumed a significant amount of the grand formation's energy.

The siege continued!

Since the Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord had already acted, Lu Ye naturally didn't hesitate. As before, his long blade struck down, the power of the Myriad Venom Pearl clinging to the blade, eroding the grand formation's light barrier.

Xue Jiu and Si Shengya also moved simultaneously, each employing their own methods.

For a time, outside Thousandstream City, five Half-Saint level experts launched a frenzied joint assault, creating a bustling scene.

Inside the central great hall, Gu Mingyue, who was responsible for supporting the grand formation, immediately sensed trouble. Before the Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord arrived, she could still manage the situation by controlling the formation. But now, she clearly felt the protective grand formation's power was severely weakened. In this situation, the city's grand formation wouldn't last much longer and was likely to break.

A wave of despair washed over her heart, and she felt the world was unfair.

Hailing from the Water Spirit clan, her cultivation had been arduous, with numerous hardships throughout her journey of growth. She had finally ascended to the esteemed position of one of the Ten City Lords, believing she could thereafter look down upon the universe, no longer needing to defer to anyone.

Yet even as one of the Ten City Lords, she was ultimately not the strongest.

Previously, when the Half-Saints from the Source World arrived, in order to survive, she had no choice but to surrender control of the Path-Fusion Orb.

Now, as if things weren't bad enough, a full five Half-Saints were attacking the city. Looking across the Star Abyss, past and present, which Path-Fusion City had ever had such "honor"? Counting Mo Duo and Ming Feng inside the city, that made seven Half-Saints fighting here.

If the grand formation were to be breached this time, then in the vast Star Abyss, where could she find refuge?

In the past, if she truly had nowhere to go, she could hide in the Harmony Realm. But now, with a harbinger of death like Lu Ye around, if she truly entered the Harmony Realm, she would just be waiting for death.

The cautionary tales of Zong Shenliang and Hong Tu were stark and bloody reminders.

In an instant, Gu Mingyue's heart was filled with utter panic, and she didn't know what to do or where to go.

And just then, Mo Duo sent a message asking, "Can it hold?"

As if it could hold!

Gu Mingyue grumbled inwardly, but dared not offend, only cautiously replying, "It can probably hold for a day or two."

Mo Duo fell silent.

A day or two... For experts like them, it was merely the blink of an eye. They needed to make plans soon!

He turned to glance at Ming Feng, who was not far away, and saw that she was also looking at him. As their eyes met, they understood each other perfectly.

They couldn't go to the Harmony Realm. Lu Ye was unrestrained there, but they weren't. So, if they wanted to survive, they had to escape this place before the city fell.

As an insectoid, Ming Feng was incredibly fast. As long as she wasn't trapped or sealed, escaping shouldn't be a problem.

The key was Mo Duo himself. Although demons had escape techniques, their escape speed couldn't compare to Ming Feng's.

In the current situation, whoever ran slower would likely be left behind and attacked. If surrounded by five Half-Saints, how could they survive? He needed to find a way to run faster than Ming Feng, or at the very least, ensure Ming Feng got entangled with the enemies.

As he pondered, Mo Duo was suddenly alarmed.

This time, five Half-Saints came out of the Source World. Now, only he and Ming Feng remained. With powerful enemies at their side, it should have been a situation where they worked together to overcome the difficulties. But in reality, both of them were harboring their own subtle intentions.

Especially since he had survived earlier thanks to Ming Feng's help.

This was truly improper.

Mo Duo secretly blamed himself, yet also rationalized his thoughts. With life and death at stake, who could remain calm? "One's true nature is revealed in times of crisis"—it was nothing more than that.

Moreover, his strength was greater than Ming Feng's. If he survived, it would be more beneficial for the future situation. Preserving his useful self this time would allow him to achieve something later.

Lu Ye probably didn't realize that, with the arrival of the Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord, who powerfully joined the siege, the two Half-Saints from the Source World inside the city were now deeply divided, despite appearing united.

The original plan to use the Sky-Weaving Needle was temporarily shelved. With the Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord present, there was no need for the Sky-Weaving Needle. Later, when Mo Duo and Ming Feng tried to escape, whoever ran faster would get a hit, and they would see if he died or not!

Time flew by. The entire Thousandstream City, under the Dragon Venerable's continuous collisions, had already drifted from its original position. It was now floating in the void at a not-so-fast speed. But even so, it continued to endure the Dragon Venerable's fierce impacts one after another. Each collision caused the city to shake incessantly, and many buildings inside the city had already collapsed.

The light from the protective grand formation's barrier was no longer as bright as before. This was clearly a sign that the grand formation's power was not being effectively replenished.

If this progress continued, it would likely not take even half a day for the grand formation to be breached.

Inside the city, Gu Mingyue was close to despair.

Mo Duo and Ming Feng also began to conserve their strength, clearly preparing to escape at any moment.

In such a tense situation, no one paid attention to the fact that, tens of thousands of miles from Thousandstream City, a shadowy figure was rapidly approaching.

It wasn't until the figure was within ten thousand miles that the attackers suddenly became aware of it.

Lu Ye suddenly turned his head to look, and a strong sense of trepidation surged in his heart.

He had experienced this feeling several times before, and each time it came, he had ended up in a bad situation.

"A Half-Saint?" Xue Jiu, standing nearby, was even more astonished, as he sensed a Half-Saint's aura from the newcomer.

But at such a critical juncture, all the known Half-Saints in the entire Star Abyss should have been here already. How could a new Half-Saint suddenly appear?

Moreover, the aura of this new Half-Saint felt completely unfamiliar to him; he didn't recognize them at all.

"From the Source World?" He couldn't help but feel a little doubt.

Although he had spent some time in the Source World, there were many Half-Saints there, so it was impossible for him to have met them all. He was merely a little perplexed: if the other party truly came from the Source World, why was there only one?

"No!" Si Shengya shook his head while striking with his blade.

Xue Jiu didn't know all the Half-Saints from the Source World, but Si Shengya did. Therefore, he determined that the newcomer was not a Source World Half-Saint.

Xue Jiu was confused. If it wasn't a Source World Half-Saint, then where did this person come from?

As they spoke, the Half-Saint had already crossed ten thousand miles, approaching them closely.

Everyone looked up to examine him, seeing a middle-aged man who appeared to be around forty, his face extremely unfamiliar. His attire was unremarkable. He held a silver spear, and the aura of a supreme treasure was undeniably evident on it.

Although the man exuded the aura of a Half-Saint, his face was expressionless, his eyes hollow, and even his pupils were completely black. His appearance gave off an extremely ominous feeling.

Lu Ye was utterly horrified, crying out, "That's a puppet! Everyone, be careful!"

A puppet? What kind of puppet?

Xue Jiu, still nearby, hadn't quite understood when he suddenly widened his eyes, because next to the man, a ripple suddenly appeared, followed immediately by a figure emerging.

The figure appeared with extreme stealth. Before it emerged, no one had detected it, as if it had simply risen from beneath the water.

And when this figure appeared, everyone present, whether the Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord, or Xue Jiu and Si Shengya, were all utterly terrified.

There was no other reason, except that this person was wearing a straw raincoat, a bamboo hat, had a fish basket at their waist, and held a fishing rod, looking like an old man about to fish from a lonely boat.

However, his face was adorned with a mask: white with red characters.

On that mask, a blood-red character 'Lu' struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.

A True Saint!

There was no need to mention Xue Jiu and Si Shengya. Both had witnessed the glory of the True Saints in the Source World, and naturally recognized him at a glance.

Although the Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord had never seen him, they had heard Lu Ye speak of him. So, when this person suddenly appeared, they immediately understood that this was Saint Lu, one of the Nine Saints!

The two almost immediately upon recognizing Saint Lu looked towards Lu Ye, because they had heard Lu Ye say that he had been ambushed by True Saints multiple times, and each time, he had been severely wounded.

And those past scenarios were just like today: the True Saints appeared without warning, and then brazenly attacked.

Sure enough, almost at the same moment the Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord realized, Saint Lu made his move. He casually waved the fishing rod in his hand, as if casting a hook into water.

But the direction he cast was towards Lu Ye.

Lu Ye was already fleeing!

The moment he saw the suddenly appearing puppet, he knew things were not good.

A mere puppet Half-Saint, whose will had been corroded by the Star Abyss's aura, wasn't enough to make him too nervous, because he had already realized the Half-Saint's origin. Such a Half-Saint's strength was not only inferior to his own, but probably even less than that of the newly promoted Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord.

What he cared about was the danger that would follow immediately.

Judging from his repeated experiences of being ambushed by True Saints, whenever the Abyss's scouts could detect him, the True Saints would invariably briefly leave the Source World and descend upon the Star Abyss.

That puppet was the Abyss's scout.

If the puppet saw him, it meant the Abyss saw him.

This was why he had been nervous just now.

Facts proved that his previous conjectures were entirely correct. A True Saint had indeed descended, and it was Saint Lu.

At a time like this, how could he still care about Thousandstream City? Escaping with his life was the most important thing.

Although his movements were swift, they were utterly useless.

As Saint Lu waved the fishing rod in his hand, Lu Ye suddenly felt as if struck by lightning, his entire body freezing in place.

At the same time, in his Sea of Souls, a golden thread appeared out of nowhere. At the end of the thread, was a perfectly straight fishhook.

The straight hook plunged into his Sea of Souls. When it was lifted, Lu Ye's soul body was dragged out along with it, just like a hooked fish.

His soul body was filled with agony. Though he struggled fiercely, it was to no avail. Lu Ye could clearly feel an irresistible dragging force emanating from the straight hook, threatening to pull his soul body out.

This was bad!

If he were dragged out, there would absolutely be no good outcome. Yet, facing the power of a True Saint, he was utterly unable to resist.

"Jin Yao!" Lu Ye roared in a low voice.

The next instant, accompanied by the jingling sound of bells, Jin Yao appeared in his Sea of Souls, holding the Soul-Suppressing Bell.