Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Chapter 1515: Chapter 623: Discordant Notes

On the stands, the spectators were all whispering among themselves; many people only enjoyed the spectacle more when things got messier.

"This is the third bout already."

"How many forces on Flowing Cloud Peak are standing behind Flowing Gold Guest? If he still loses this fight, the face he loses won’t be his alone."

"Is it just about losing face? With so many Treasure, Elixir Pills, Magic Artifact, Summon God... all piled on him, if he still can’t suppress a Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage, how are the major forces on Flowing Cloud Peak supposed to speak in the Main Mountain Gate later?"

"Ning Zhuo." Flowing Gold Guest spoke, his voice heavy.

"Today, I’ll let you understand: a Golden Core is ultimately a Golden Core, and Foundation Establishment is ultimately just Foundation Establishment! Those Mechanical Bird, Mystic Armor, Fire Technique, Piano Sound of yours... none of them can stop me from seizing victory in this battle."

As he spoke, he raised his right hand, and a Sound Fork flew out from his Storage Waist Belt into his palm, spinning rapidly.

The tines of the Chaotic String Split Sound Fork scraped the air, sending out strands of ear-piercing shattering noise.

The sound was thin and sharp, like someone up high snapping a taut string, making quite a few Cultivators outside the arena frown and hastily circulate their Mana to protect their ears.

"This time, the one who loses his head will be you!" Flowing Gold Guest growled, his aura climbing steadily.

Ning Zhuo did not grow angry; instead, he raised his hand and made a Li toward Flowing Gold Guest.

The white-clothed youth stood in the Martial Arts Arena, wind and clouds billowing around him. The sound patterns on the Great Thousand Mechanism Sound Robe shimmered with a faint clear light, setting off his features to look even more calm and composed.

"Senior Brother has suffered many setbacks yet is still willing to come again; Ning Zhuo is impressed."

He said this gently; it sounded like sincere praise, and Flowing Gold Guest immediately furrowed his brows.

Ning Zhuo continued, "I also know that Senior Brother and I were originally strangers. In the first two bouts, there was no life-and-death enmity between us; it was only that Senior Brother, entrusted by others, was pushed to the front of the stage. The fact that I stayed my hand twice was not because I looked down on Senior Brother, but because I did not wish for this conflict to further escalate."

The sound on the stands suddenly dropped, obviously because many people had pricked up their ears to listen.

Ning Zhuo did not raise his voice; the Formation automatically carried his words far away.

The Loose Cultivators on the Cloud Bridge leaned forward; the Cultivators at the windows of Heavenly Treasure Building put down their wine cups, and even several Battle Observation Ship suspended in the distance withdrew their chatter at this moment.

"The forces upon Flowing Cloud Peak have been operating for many years and naturally have their own foundations. My Nanming Village has just been founded; storming the peak to establish a village is also only seeking a foothold within the rules of the Myriad Images Sect. If because of me, Ning Zhuo alone, the flames of war are drawn ever wider, leaving everyone on edge and the peak mired in endless internal strife, then the one suffering loss will not only be Nanming Village, nor only one place on Flowing Cloud Peak. It will be the Vital Energy of my entire Myriad Images Sect."

Ning Zhuo’s gaze swept over the seats of Thunder Cloud Association, Green Tea Society, Bird and Beast Manor, Floating Life Association.

As this sentence fell, the expressions of many people in the Flowing Cloud Peak seating area changed on the spot.

The Purple Thunder Iron Gall in Lei Wangyue’s hand gave a crisp crack under his grip.

Ye Qingming’s tea lid halted in mid-air; the pale green tea in the cup reflected her eyes, mirroring the coldness in her gaze.

Jin Mantang’s mouth twitched; he almost cursed out loud.

What a Ning Zhuo!

These words were spoken too beautifully, and also too ruthlessly.

Clearly, Ning Zhuo was an outsider newcomer, using the Nanming Fire Furnace as a small test, forcibly raising Nanming Village to crash into the old order of Flowing Cloud Peak, prying at their territories, Spirit Vein, businesses, and the work of many years.

Yet after he put it like this, it sounded instead as if the various forces of Flowing Cloud Peak, disregarding the overall situation of the sect, were joining hands to pressure a newcomer, addicted to internal strife, harming public interests to fatten their own.

What was worse, there just happened to be many people willing to hear this line.

From top to bottom in the sect, what there was never any shortage of was people who liked to watch a spectacle.

The more high-sounding Ning Zhuo’s speech, the more they found it entertaining. If Ning Zhuo lost, the masses would say: a Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage being defeated by a Golden Core Cultivator backed by many forces was only natural.

If Ning Zhuo won, then it would not only be Flowing Gold Guest losing; it would be all the forces of Flowing Cloud Peak suffering a crushing defeat at Ning Zhuo’s hands.

The Golden Hairpin Old Woman’s withered fingers tightened around her cane, a cold snort rumbling from her throat: "This boy is rotten to the core."

Wen Suzhen did not refute her. He watched Ning Zhuo in the arena, the bottle of medicine in his sleeve clicking softly under his fingertips.

The Golden Eagle behind Zhao Ni ruffled its feathers, seemingly stirred by the Qi Mechanism in the arena. Zhao Ni cursed under his breath, "Big head, full of bad water."

The gazes of the many Cultivators of Flowing Cloud Peak all fell on Flowing Gold Guest in unison.

Refute him, quickly!

Refute him with reason and evidence!

But Flowing Gold Guest was born a Loose Cultivator; half his life had been spent dueling, seizing materials, cultivating, and running for his life. How could he possess this kind of ability to steer the momentum of words before ten thousand people?

He only felt that every sentence Ning Zhuo spoke left his chest stifled, as if he had once again been placed upon a chessboard, with someone pointing at his nose and saying, "You are nothing but a knife."

He was being belittled, and under Ning Zhuo’s rhetoric, he felt himself becoming insignificant!

Thus, the anger in his heart drowned out everything else.

"Enough nonsense!" Flowing Gold Guest roared, leaping up from the ground and charging at Ning Zhuo; the cloudstone beneath his feet cracked into a web of fissures.

The Cultivators of Flowing Cloud Peak, seeing this scene, all felt their vision go dark.

Lei Wangyue closed his eyes, then opened them again, his face ashen.

Ye Qingming set her teacup back on the table without speaking. Wen Suzhen only sighed inwardly: Flowing Gold Guest had already fallen into Ning Zhuo’s calculations.

But the battle would not halt just because of their regret.

Flowing Gold Guest turned into a streak of golden light, ferociously pouncing toward Ning Zhuo.

This time, Ning Zhuo did not choose a Wood Element Magic to delay him.

The second bout had already proven that ordinary Vine and Forest Wood Skill meant little to the current Flowing Gold Guest. This Golden Core Cultivator closed in too quickly, and his Golden Blood could break through restraints. If Ning Zhuo wasted the opening on Wood Element containment, he would instead let Flowing Gold Guest directly clamp down on the tempo.