The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 92: Tempest Steps

Taking a deep breath, Julian steadied his emotions as he balanced himself on his sword. He had finally realized the reality of the situation they found themselves in.

Initially, when he found that map, he thought he had hit the jackpot. A mystic realm that no one knew about, appearing in the outer region of the Misty Mountain.

He didn’t know it, but there was a restriction that prevented anyone above the Golden Core realm from entering. With his strength, this mystic realm was practically made for him.

After suffering various losses, he finally realised the danger that a mystic realm could pose. His attitude had become more subdued, and his pride had taken a hit.

Still, he wasn’t going to back down here. The promise of rewards was far too tempting for him to give up now. Anyway, it wasn’t as if he could turn around now.

The only path was forward, and on that path was this puppet.

"We need a plan, Senior brother," one of the two men spoke, interrupting Julian’s train of thought. "We can’t brute-force our way through this thing."

"No," Julian said, voice rough. "It’s a puppet. There has to be a core. We just haven’t hit it yet."

"We’re going to attack it with full power now. Try to find anything that looks off. That’s where the core is going to be."

"But our attacks can’t even dent the puppet. Its body is too tough." The young man from before said.

Julian glanced at him before responding, "Use your martial skills. Saving anything at this point will only get us killed."

With that, he raised his sword up, infusing it with Qi, preparing to resume the assault. The two men glanced at each other, resolve mirrored in their eyes.

The three of them dashed out at the same time, ready to launch another assault. They all executed their martial skills.

The puppet sprang back to life when the three individuals got close to it. Its cold blue eyes locked onto Julian, seeing as he was the one in the lead.

With a stomp, it burst forward with amazing speed, sending a punch straight towards him. Julian, however, was prepared.

Even though the speed of the puppet far surpassed his own, he had witnessed this attack pattern already. He quickly twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the punch.

At the same time, his sword, which was gleaming with grey wind Qi, surged forward. With a low shout, he slashed downward.

"Gale Edge!"

The wind Qi surged forward, sending a massive blade of wind crashing into the puppet.

The force of the attack sent the puppet a few steps back. A small gash could be seen on the chest of the puppet.

Julian’s attack was only able to do a little damage to the puppet. Still, it was enough to give them hope that they could win.

Before the puppet could stabilize itself, the other two jumped forward simultaneously and aimed their attacks towards the weak spot that Julian had just created.

"Blazing arc slash!"

"Stone cleaver strike!"

The two executed their martial techniques at the same time, trying to cause further damage to the puppet.

However, they were only executing silver rank martial skills. The power they could muster was only so much.

Streaks of fire and earth crashed into the spot where the small crack was. The combined attack of the two was only able to make the puppet take a step back, a testament to how powerful it truly was.

Julian being able to force it back a few steps showed how powerful he truly was. If he were to cultivate diligently, with his talent, it would only take him about a decade before he could break through to the Nascent Soul realm and become an inner disciple.

It would take him even less time if he were to receive some opportunities from the sect. That would have to be put aside for now if he could escape this perilous situation.

After attacking, the two men tried to retreat, but the puppet suddenly struck. Its arm lashed out with mechanical precision, catching one of them in the ribs and hurling him into a nearby wall.

"No!" the younger man shouted, eyes wide with panic. Not out of concern for his teammate, but out of fear that he would be targeted next.

"Stay focused!" Julian snapped, stepping into the fray. He couldn’t afford to lose both teammates. Without them, he wouldn’t be able to handle the puppet on his own.

Because he was distracted, the young man didn’t notice the massive metal foot heading towards him. He only noticed at the last moment, and by then, it was too late to dodge.

He could only place his sword in front of him, using it to make sure the foot didn’t hit him directly. Still, the force of the impact was enough to send him crashing across the arena, with various injuries, both internal and external.

He executed a silver rank martial skill, also aiming for the already damaged chest. Perhaps because it was a puppet that didn’t have a sense of pain, but it didn’t bother to dodge any attacks they threw at it.

The attack distracted the puppet, diverting its attention away from the young man, making sure it didn’t pursue him.

Julian, however, was now in a tough spot. He was the only one within the range of the puppet. The puppet sent a punch towards him, attempting to crush him with sheer power and force.

Juliam didn’t falter; there was no trace of panic in his eyes. Before the punch could land, Julian’s body suddenly flashed with a speed that far surpassed anything he had shown before.

Wind coalesced around his feet as his body hurled forward, far faster than his previous moves.

"Tempest steps!" He muttered to himself. This was another Gold rank martial skill. But this one was a movement technique.

For a Golden core realm cultivator to possess three Gold rank martial techniques truly showed how wealthy and powerful his family was.

While other Golden Core realm cultivators struggled to even find one Gold rank technique, Julian had already displayed three. Who knew if that was the end?

His family would surely have more techniques, probably just not suited to the wind element. That was the depth of a large noble family.

This statement was even more true for the Richards family, which was said to be one of the Richest families aside from the twelve great families.

The true depth of their wealth and power was not something an ordinary cultivator could fathom. Thanks to the Misty Mountains, they had accumulated a vast amount of wealth over countless years. Their true depth was unknown to anyone.

With the help of his Gold rank movement technique, he was able to avoid the attack of the puppet and escape out of its attack range. He was even able to slash its chest a few times, causing even more damage.

Now, if one looked closely, they would be able to see a blue crystal peeking out of the chest of the puppet. This was the puppet’s core. It was what powered the puppet. But it was also its weak point.

When he appeared far away from the puppet, his chest could be seen heaving up and down as he gasped for breath. One could tell that using this technique caused a strain on him.

He had already used the Gold rank martial skill earlier to injure the puppet. The amount of Qi in his body had already been halved because of it.

He could only use the technique for a few seconds to avoid depleting his reserves further. He thought that they would be safe now that they were out of the range of the puppet.

He thought that they wouldn’t be attacked and that the puppet would just stand there and wait for them like before. However, what happened next shocked all of them.

The blue orbs of light in its eyes began glowing even brighter, turning a darker shade of blue. Without warning, it dashed towards the nearest person, who was the man it had initially flung backwards.

The man had barely managed to stand up when he saw the massive puppet barreling towards him. The puppet leaped into the air, clasping its hands together, forming a massive hammer.

Before he could even scream, the puppet slammed its hammer-like fists towards him, crushing him into a meat paste.

Silence.

The whole room became silent as the shock of what had just happened rippled outward. Julian and the young man were too stunned to speak. The recent interaction left them shaken to their core.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Wasn’t the puppet supposed to only attack when it entered a certain range?

The question lingered in the two’s minds as they realized the significance of what had just transpired.

Before, they could take their time to strategize, allowing them to devise ample plans to take down the puppet. But now that the puppet could attack at will, the danger level of the situation just went up by a large margin.freēwēbηovel.c૦m