Chapter 91

Today, Tang Jie once again came to the front of the Heavenly Control Hall.

Standing under the Record Wall, he looked at the names inscribed there, and at the record of Zang Qingfeng enduring thirty-five breaths against ten puppets.

Suddenly, he felt an impulse.

An impulse to unleash all his strength and challenge that record!

At this moment, he believed that if he truly used the Formless Golden Body and the Water Condensation Shield, achieving a perfect score would no longer be a problem.

But under the assault of those ten puppets, how long could he really hold out?

How far was he from those thirty-five breaths?

A voice in his mind reminded him that it wasn't the right time to reveal his true strength; doing so would only put him in danger prematurely.

But another voice echoed in his mind, reminding him that the potential brought by the Unconventional Training was almost exhausted. Relying solely on daily practice, the improvement would be limited, and to achieve rapid growth, he needed more resources.

And the tasks he planned to undertake next required him to have even greater strength to have any hope of completing them.

To achieve this, he might have to first try to be the first among his peers to score a perfect one hundred, to earn a reward.

In the end, Tang Jie decided to use the Water Condensation Shield to attempt the highest record. Regardless of whether he succeeded or not, he would not use the Formless Golden Body.

With this thought in mind, Tang Jie entered the Heavenly Control Hall again.

With the support of the Water Condensation Shield, Tang Jie's endurance time was clearly longer.

Finally, when the attacks failed to break through, the tenth puppet moved.

Unlike the previous puppets, when the tenth puppet moved, the other nine puppets simultaneously retreated, leaving only one.

The puppet slowly raised its fist and aimed it at Tang Jie, then struck directly, looking unremarkable.

However, as the punch was delivered, Tang Jie felt a tremendous pressure enveloping him, leaving him no place to escape. At that moment, he felt a deep sense of dread.

He watched the punch strike his chest, piercing through the Water Condensation Shield.

Bang!

Just one punch.

The Water Condensation Shield burst like a balloon.

It landed on his chest.

Tang Jie suddenly roared to the sky, and the jade token on his body emitted a strong light, ejecting him from the hall.

As soon as he was out of the hall, Tang Jie rolled on the ground outside. Looking at his chest, he saw a large fist mark, and even his chest was slightly sunken.

Tang Jie was shocked.

The power of that punch was terrifying.

"One breath... one punch!"

Suddenly, Tang Jie understood.

Thirty-five breaths meant thirty-five punches, and a punch like that, he couldn't withstand even one.

Indeed, he didn't truly withstand that punch; he felt something was wrong as soon as the Water Condensation Shield broke and activated the return.

Because of this, the score on the jade token was ninety-nine points.

Although the tenth puppet moved, he didn't achieve a perfect score.

Tang Jie estimated that with the power of such a punch, even if he used the Formless Golden Body, he could probably only withstand three to five punches. As for thirty-five punches, he didn't even dare to think about it. If he couldn't withstand it, one hit could turn him into a meat patty. No wonder the academy repeatedly warned students not to resist the puppets.

To reach Zang Qingfeng's level, the only way might be to use more drugs to further enhance himself.

But... where could he find more drugs?

Tang Jie couldn't think of a good solution for the moment and could only shake his head and give up on the idea.

He laughed, thinking that the seven-day hall record was the result of a thousand years of talented individuals. He was only a fifth-level Jade Gate cultivator with limited resources. To easily break it would be a joke.

Forget it, he should focus on achieving that one hundred points first.

Just to withstand the punch of the tenth puppet, he would need to practice for a considerable amount of time.

A one-point difference, a hundred-foot gap!

He never thought a single puppet could be so powerful. He wondered what materials were used and what formations were carved.

Thinking about this, a flash of inspiration struck Tang Jie.

Right!

These days, he had been focused on training but hadn't thought about studying the puppets.

These puppets, as guardians of the formation, were incredibly powerful, and the formations on them were undoubtedly very complex. If he could learn them, it would greatly benefit him. Why hadn't he thought of this before?

Indeed, different people have different focuses.

If Xu Muyang were here, seeing the power of these puppets, he would be overjoyed and would try his best to understand them.

But it wasn't too late to think about it now. Wei Tianchong's puppet still needed two months to complete. He could use this time to study the puppets thoroughly. Maybe he could surprise Wei Tianchong and gain an ally.

Thinking of this, Tang Jie laughed heartily and knew what to do next.

He left excitedly, and soon another young man arrived at the hall.

It was Qi Shaoming.

Looking at the three large characters of the Heavenly Control Hall, Qi Shaoming murmured, "This time, I've learned a new defensive technique and made thorough preparations. I'm sure I can improve!"

With a flash, he entered the hall.

When the figure reappeared in front of the hall, Qi Shaoming staggered out, just like Tang Jie, and fell to the ground outside the hall.

Looking at the score on his jade token, eighty-nine points.

Qi Shaoming took a deep breath.

Finally, he was catching up!

To improve his score in the Heavenly Control Hall, he had learned three defensive techniques, which was the maximum a cultivator could use simultaneously.

A cultivator's defensive techniques could only stack if they were of different natures. Currently, as a Spirit Spring stage cultivator, he could only use three types: body strengthening, defensive shields, and protective barriers. Later, when he could condense a spirit ring and project his mana, he could use large-scale defensive techniques similar to barriers, further enhancing his protective abilities.

His third defensive technique was not yet fully mastered, but it had already helped him achieve eighty-nine points.

From this, it seemed that the perfect one hundred points in the Heavenly Control Hall could only be achieved by mastering and integrating the three types of defensive techniques at the Spirit Spring stage.

Tang Jie had only two techniques, the Formless Golden Body and the Water Condensation Shield, yet he could still score over ninety points, which was quite rare. This must be due to the power of the Divine Lightning Sword Canon.

But regardless, the gap between him and Tang Jie had narrowed, which was a fact.

Thinking of this, he looked up and saw the names on the Record Wall.

Tang Jie, ninety-nine points.

"Ninety-nine points?" Qi Shaoming was shocked and couldn't help but shout, "How is this possible?"

Tang Jie didn't know that someone was chasing his score. Now, he was racking his brain to find benefits from the ten puppets.

Another day passed.

In the Heavenly Control Hall, Tang Jie carefully studied the formation patterns on the puppets as they attacked him.

"Eight gates complete, formations within formations, indeed. It's just a mundane formation, yet the power is greatly increased through the combination. This is simply incredible!" Tang Jie's body trembled.

The puppet that beat him senseless was actually just an unranked combat puppet!

Because it had no spirit formations, all its power came from the combination of mundane formations.

Mundane formations correspond to the Spirit Spring stage, while first-rank formations correspond to the Spirit Lake stage.

This meant that the puppets that beat them like dogs were indeed just at the Spirit Spring stage. The academy hadn't placed higher-ranked puppets to bully them.

Realizing this, and thinking about the "First-Rank Wolf Puppet" he had made, Tang Jie suddenly felt ashamed.

His first-rank combat puppet would be utterly destroyed by this unranked combat puppet!

Challenging a higher rank was exhilarating, but being challenged by a higher rank was not.

Tang Jie became more and more shocked as he studied the puppet. He finally realized the depth of formation knowledge. Compared to the craftsmanship of the formations on the puppet, his current knowledge was like a drop in the ocean. He had been hiding his skills, thinking they would shock the world, but now he realized that even if he revealed them, they probably wouldn't shock anyone, at most just some ignorant peers.

The puppet continued to punch him, and now two puppets were attacking him.

Tang Jie impatiently pushed one away, grabbed the other, and pressed it down, like a brute, staring intently at the patterns on it. The puppet resisted, and he saw the flow of spirit energy in some of the formation patterns, with one area glowing.

"Du Gate, indeed, the control method is here..."

Bang!

An iron fist hit Tang Jie's head.

Tang Jie casually blocked it, lifting the puppet's arm high. "Don't bother me!"

The puppet thrashed and suddenly kicked Tang Jie.

Tang Jie stepped back, but at that moment, he saw a flash of light. He flipped back to the puppet's armpit and examined it closely, exclaiming, "Flying Fish Line? Golden Silkworm Shed? So this is the foundation, no wonder a mundane formation can have such power. This is too unfair!"

The Flying Fish Line is a special material from the wings of a four-winged flying fish in the endless sea, known for its toughness and strong spiritual properties, making it an excellent material for formation patterns. The Golden Silkworm Shed is a specialty of the northern border, used to make formation gates.

These materials are rarely seen even in first-rank spirit puppets, let alone in mundane puppets. Combined with the intricate formation techniques and formations within formations, it's no wonder even second-rank combat puppets might not compare.

Tang Jie pressed the puppet down again and found several more high-quality materials.

At that moment, a thought struck him: What if he stripped these materials off?

Puppets are activated by the materials used to make them, but some materials are consumable and need to be replenished inside the puppet, such as spirit stones for power.

These ten puppets used excellent materials. If he could strip them off, he could make a fortune.

Thinking of this, Tang Jie wasted no time, rushing over and pressing the puppet down, starting to look for the Qian Gate.

Formations have eight gates and nine transformations, named Xiu (Kan), Sheng (Gen), Shang (Zhen), Du (Xun), Jing (Li), Si (Kun), Jing (Dui), and Kai (Qian). Each has a different name and function, and they can transform into each other.

The Qian Gate is the central gate, also known as the Open Gate, leading to the formation source. All stored materials are kept at the formation source and are automatically provided through the Qian Gate, which is usually inside the puppet.

There are countless ways to break a formation, but they generally fall into two categories: forceful breaking and methodical breaking.

Tang Jie couldn't use force, as it would destroy the puppet. So he had to use the latter method.

Under normal circumstances, he couldn't do this, given the puppets' formidable strength.

But this was the Heavenly Control Hall, where the puppets' strength was initially limited and wouldn't fully unleash until the end. The initial stage was the perfect time to act.

Of course, only someone like him, who had trained his body with the Unconventional Training, could do this. Ordinary students' defensive techniques could only block attacks, not move the puppets.

So, without even studying the formations, Tang Jie activated the Formless Golden Body, pressed the puppet down, and started searching. Finally, he found the Qian Gate on the puppet's buttocks.

"Damn, it's in this place!" Tang Jie cursed.

By now, three puppets were attacking him, striking his Formless Golden Body with a metallic sound.

Tang Jie ignored them, sending a stream of spirit energy to open the Qian Gate. With a light click, the puppet stopped moving, and a small door opened, revealing the stored materials inside.

"Great!" Tang Jie exclaimed. He didn't take too much, only a small portion, and then put the rest back, restoring the puppet.

Seeing the three puppets still attacking him, Tang Jie had an idea and ignored them, instead rushing to the other puppets that hadn't moved yet, pressing them down one by one and searching for benefits.

After going through all ten puppets, Tang Jie didn't care about his score anymore, tapped his jade token, and left the hall.

Seeing no one around, he hurriedly slipped away.

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