"A soul armament!!"
Hearing those words, Li Guanqi licked his lips, an unmistakable look of longing in his eyes.
He glanced down at the notched dharma artifact longsword in his hand. Not long ago, he had still been wondering how he might ever track down a soul armament master.
It seemed...
Looking at the armored puppet soldiers on either side, Li Guanqi asked softly, "Is there any difference between these puppets and the ones in the sect's Sword Tower?"
The faint phantom of the sword spirit curled its lips inside the sword casket.
"Soldier pellets are a secret technique unique to the Mohist lineage. It took a very long time before many modern artifact refiners managed to unravel the secrets behind them.
"Yet not a single one has ever achieved such exquisite craftsmanship.
"In terms of mobility and agility, soldier pellet puppets are vastly superior to those crude things in your sect's Sword Tower.
"Most important of all, the armor formed by these soldier pellets can actually be worn by the user!"
Hearing that, the longing in Li Guanqi's gaze burned even brighter.
Standing where he was, he gripped a spirit stone and restored the origin power in his body to its peak. Then, his eyes snapped open, and he stepped onto the altar!
*Boom!!*
Two invisible pressures erupted instantly, imposing a weight that even the current Li Guanqi had never felt before!
The two puppets rose abruptly, standing a full seven feet tall!
Across their silver armor, black-and-gold runes flickered with faint light. Brandishing their swords, both lunged fiercely toward Li Guanqi!
Li Guanqi's ears twitched faintly as the muscles in his thighs pulled taut.
The Dao Platform origin power within his dantian surged through his body, rushing along his meridians and thirty-six acupoints.
Activating his movement technique, he kicked off with a heavy thud, hurtling forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!
Yet the speed of the two puppets was not in the least inferior to his own!
*Swish!!*
One puppet moved after him yet arrived first, instantly barring his path.
*So fast!*
Li Guanqi was startled inwardly; he had never expected a puppet to possess such astonishing speed!
It appeared his plan to rely on sheer speed to snatch the longsword was somewhat unrealistic.
The longsword held by the puppet before him measured four full feet. Bringing with it the sharp whistle of parted air, it slashed violently toward his shoulder!
With every muscle coiled tight, Li Guanqi raised his weapon horizontally before him. The terrifying force behind the blow instantly knocked him several yards backward.
Tapping his toes lightly against the floor, he twisted in midair to dissipate most of the momentum.
*Whoosh!!*
A silent ripple suddenly surged from behind his head. Li Guanqi flipped backward, and a blade as thin as a chopstick swept past right against the tip of his nose.
The faint sound of sheared hair brushed his ear. Just as the puppet was about to shift its technique, he hurled his sword with his right hand straight at the puppet's wrist joint!
*Clang!!*
The moment he cast the sword, the puppet rotated its wrist in an instant, using the silver vambrace on the back of its hand to deflect the strike!
Li Guanqi poured origin power into his right leg and swept it out like a massive battle-ax against the puppet's chest, knocking it over thirty feet back.
The flying sword arced back into Li Guanqi's left hand.
In that single breath, his entire aura transformed completely!
Where he had once concealed his sharpness, he now stood like a drawn blade baring its lethal edge!
Leaping backward a hundred feet, he saw both puppets immediately converge on him in a pincer maneuver!
A cold sneer touched Li Guanqi's lips. Instead of retreating further, he charged straight forward.
Sword light scattered in every direction. Both puppets swung their blades with blinding speed.
Amidst the dizzying storm of sword light, Li Guanqi stood alone with his single blade, battling two puppets each rivaling a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Three silhouettes shifted continuously across the altar as flashing sword beams streaked with relentless ferocity.
Li Guanqi let out a roar. "*Ahhh!!*"
Veins bulged along his neck, and a flush of red rose to his face as his blood and vitality surged.
His already blinding sword strikes accelerated once more!!
His sword light grew sharper than ever, slicing from increasingly unpredictable angles.
For a time, sparks sprayed ceaselessly across the puppets' silver plating. In the span of just ten breaths, several dozen strikes had landed upon them.
Yet the defense of their silver armor was simply too formidable; his longsword could only leave shallow score marks across the metal.
The sheer agility of these puppets far surpassed anything in the Sword Tower.
With his divine sense spread outward, Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but think, *If these were two late Foundation Establishment cultivators, they would have died long ago.*
*Just what kind of material are these puppets forged from? Their defense is absurd!*
At last, he picked up the subtle fluctuations of spiritual power within them.
The black-and-gold patterns operated like mysterious array runes, driving every movement the puppets made.
Yet he still had not determined the core source of their power.
As the fierce exchange dragged on, Li Guanqi gradually settled his mind, relying on his divine sense to track the flow of light coursing through the runes.
While his divine sense could not pierce inside the puppets, it could readily chart the path the spiritual light traced across their exterior patterns.
Before long, his gaze sharpened. He noticed that the origin point of all those circulating streams of light seemed to sit at the back of each puppet's head!
*Thud!!*
Exerting sudden force through his feet, Li Guanqi engaged his movement technique and vaulted over a puppet's head, forcefully twisting his body in midair.
Sure enough!
An intricate, profound cluster of black-and-gold runes rested right behind the puppet's skull.
It was from that very spot that countless streams of light flowed through the rest of its frame.
Yet just as he thrust his sword forward, the other puppet—more than fifty feet away—suddenly hurled its own blade straight at him!!
A piercing screech tore through the air. With no time to think, Li Guanqi reflexively drew his longsword across his chest to shield his heart!!
*Thump! Crack!!*
A horrifying force slammed through the blade. His notched dharma artifact longsword shattered into countless fragments!!
The immense impact hurled Li Guanqi several hundred feet back!
His hair was thoroughly disheveled, yet a peculiar smile curled on his lips.
Borrowing the momentum of that blow, he glided through the air and fell back at top speed!!
In the blink of an eye, he landed directly before the dark-green longsword.
Watching the disarmed puppet sprint toward him, Li Guanqi smiled faintly. It seemed these creations truly possessed little intellect.
Clamping both hands tightly around the hilt, he circulated his origin power throughout his body. Slowly, the dark-green sword was drawn from the pedestal!!
*Clang—!*
A resonant sword chime echoed across the entire altar the moment he pulled the weapon free.
The glow instantly died within the two puppets' eyes, and they sank slowly into a cross-legged position, motionless.
Looking down at the slightly trembling blade in his hands, Li Guanqi's eyes shone.
"This sword..."
The instant his fingers closed around the hilt, he felt a remarkably intimate connection form between them.
Not only that, but the origin power circulating through him flowed effortlessly into the blade without the slightest hindrance.
The entire sword was dark green, and two ancient characters were carved beneath the hilt:
*Canglang!*
The sword spirit spoke softly. "Not bad. It has already reached the grade of a spirit tool.
"A Mohist-forged soul armament, no less. It looks like you won't need to replace your personal sword before reaching Core Formation."
At that point, the sword spirit actually manifested in full view, speaking with a playful tone.
"Care to try fusing your artifact soul into it?"
Chapter 93