Chapter 568 Assasination

"Lu Bei! You can't monopolize this mission! The underworld puppets, I will capture them!" The old man with white eyes sneered. He called Ning Fan "Lu Bei", apparently having seen the wanted order issued by the Vine Emperor and knowing that Ning Fan was Lu Bei.

Not surprised at his identity being exposed, Ning Fan knew that as an alchemy cultivator, it was not strange for the old man to obtain a wanted order.

Ning Fan was not afraid of being wanted by the Vine Emperor. He flew all the way without concealing his appearance or deliberately avoiding anyone. If he encountered an enemy, he would kill them.

With a casual glance, Ning Fan saw that eight of the nine puppet masters had hostile looks, seemingly having recognized his identity long ago.

Only the young woman with the ability to see through illusions had a calm gaze that was now tinged with surprise.

She seemed to have not expected that the elegant young man before her, dressed in white, was the evil Lu Bei who had angered the Vine Emperor.

But just the thought of Ning Fan trying to monopolize the mission and control all the underworld puppets, the young woman couldn't help but show some hostility in her gaze.

"What will you do if I insist on monopolizing the mission?" Ning Fan asked, looking at the old man with white eyes.

The old man was taken aback by Ning Fan's strong tone, daring to ignore his threat.

"On the path of cultivation, the strong are respected. If you want to monopolize the mission, you must show us your strength!" The old man said coldly.

As he spoke, he suddenly took a step forward, and his skin rapidly dried up. Two dazzling white rays shot out from his eyes, sweeping towards Ning Fan.

As the rays hit him, Ning Fan felt his body gradually stiffening, with signs of petrification appearing on his skin. A layer of white bark floated up, as if he was going to turn into a wooden puppet.

Ning Fan had once raided Guanghan City and seen many tree clan spells, so he knew that the old man was using a very powerful pupil technique from the tree clan called "Eye of Petrification". If this spell was cultivated to its highest level, just one glance would turn a Refining Void cultivator into a wooden puppet.

This spell was extremely difficult to cultivate. The fact that the old man had cultivated it showed that he had a great opportunity.

With the old man's Tai Xu cultivation, he could use the Eye of Petrification to petrify even the Nascent Soul cultivators. However, it was not enough to petrify Ning Fan.

"Break!"

As Ning Fan's magical power surged, pieces of bark fell off his body, and his body returned to normal, breaking free from the tree transformation.

With a single step, he extended his right arm and a white glow appeared, revealing a silver armguard. He leapt forward and reached for the White-Eyed Elder's eyes with his hand!

This strike did not unleash the attack power of the White Tiger Armguard, but it was still as powerful as a strike from a fourth-stage body cultivator with a golden body!

"Divine Mysterious Spirit Equipment!" All the people in the hall were shaken by this sight.

The White-Eyed Elder was greatly surprised. He did not expect Ning Fan's physical body to be so powerful, let alone that he possessed Divine Mysterious Spirit Equipment.

He was a puppet master, proficient in puppetry, and most of his abilities were linked to his puppets. He couldn't take Ning Fan's attack with his body alone.

Without much thought, he took a step back, slapped his storage bag, and took out countless puppets.

In an instant, 216 peak god-level puppets appeared in the hall, all lined up in front of the White-Eyed Elder.

He then took out a formation plate, and once activated, a huge silver-white formation diagram appeared under the feet of the puppets. Strands of formation light connected all the puppet bodies.

At the same time, all 216 puppets threw punches, and the formation light flashed as their fists merged into one!

"Wood Transformation Puppet Formation!"

The 216 puppet fists merged with the formation light to form a dazzling punch that was as powerful as a strike from a void being.

Ning Fan's gaze slightly narrowed. He changed his claw into a fist and struck the puppet formation, unleashing the power of the White Tiger Armguard and sending out a white tiger fist energy.

Illusory Technique, White Tiger!

The two strikes collided, and the puppet formation was shattered. The entire city of Yayi shook violently, and the palace and buildings, stretching for miles, all turned into dust.

The entire city was filled with the roar of the White Tiger, and countless cultivators were shocked by the terrifying waves of this battle.

After a long time, the shaking in the city stopped, and the dust settled.

Ning Fan retracted his fist energy and stood with his hands behind his back. The White-Eyed Elder clutched his chest, his breath in disarray, a trace of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes filled with shock.

The 216 god-level puppets summoned by the elder were all shattered by Ning Fan's attack, with no possibility of repair!

He swallowed a pill to suppress his injuries and his eyes showed a fearful expression, not daring to meet Ning Fan's gaze.

He knew he was no match for Ning Fan!

He knew that without the 216 puppets blocking his way, he would have been hit by Ning Fan's White Tiger Fist, either fatally or with serious injury...

In the exchange just now, on the surface, the old man with white eyes did not seem to fall too far behind, but in reality, he had already lost.

Ning Fan had only used his spiritual weapon to strike a punch and had not expended too much magical power or physical energy. He was still at ease.

The old man with white eyes, on the other hand, had lost 216 puppets at the peak of their transformation...almost all of his puppets!

Losing so many puppets meant a reduction of his magical abilities by ninety percent. He was not good at other spells or physical techniques. If he continued to fight Ning Fan, he would undoubtedly lose.

With so many puppets lost, the old man with white eyes no longer dared to go to the Tang Valley to hunt the Tree King. Without his puppets, the risk was too great.

At this moment, he had to gather materials and refine puppets...

"Hmph! Landao has good means! I, an old man, am no match and have no face to compete for the mission here. Farewell!"

The old man with white eyes coldly snorted, turned into a beam of light, and left the Jianmang Kingdom directly...

Tang Xiong took a deep look at Ning Fan. He knew he could not take that punch from the White Tiger Fist without injury. He thought to himself that Ning Fan's magical abilities were truly astonishing.

Tang Xiong secretly speculated that this punch might not be Ning Fan's strongest magical ability.

With the departure of the old man with white eyes, the remaining eight puppets were probably no match for Ning Fan.

"Is there anyone else who wants to compete with me for the mission? Stand up and give me some guidance." Ning Fan's gaze swept over the eight remaining puppeteers.

The four puppeteers in the Qi Condensation Realm and the three puppeteers in the Foundation Establishment Realm were all anxious.

As puppeteers, they relied on their puppets for combat. Without puppets, they were worthless.

Seeing Ning Fan's magical armament so domineering, destroying 216 peak transformation puppets with one punch, how could they dare to bring out their puppets and fight Ning Fan?

Their puppet technique was not as strong as the old man with white eyes, and they didn't have as many puppets as he did. Even the old man with white eyes was no match for Ning Fan.

If they fought with Ning Fan, most likely all their puppets would be destroyed...

For a while, everyone was silent.

Four Illusory Puppet Masters shook their heads and sighed, then turned around and gave up on the mission. Although the puppets made by Master Wan Changkong were rare, it was not worth risking their entire livelihoods for just one Illusory Puppet.

Three Illusory Puppet Masters each snorted coldly, glaring at Ning Fan with resentment. Ultimately, no one dared to make another move and they all left, brushing their sleeves as they did so.

Only the young woman in green remained, struggling with herself, but ultimately she too left with a slight sigh.

On the ruins of the palace hall, only Ning Fan and Tang Xiong remained.

Tang Xiong sighed with admiration. He had sent out over ten signal swords throughout the city, reassuring his subordinates that the previous magical fluctuations were merely a contest between puppet masters, and not an attack on the city of Ya Yi.

He gestured with his fingers and his wood-based magic spread out for miles. A new palace grew from the hollowed out trunk of a giant tree.

"When did you enter Tang Gu to complete the task of killing the Tree King, my friend?" Tang Xiong asked politely.

"As night falls, I will enter Tang Gu. Farewell!" Ning Fan took the task jade slip, bowed slightly to Tang Xiong, turned into a ray of light, and flew out of the city.

He chose to enter Tang Gu at night because the tree demon clan could heal themselves during the day using photosynthesis, making them difficult to defeat. Killing the Tree King at night would be slightly easier.

Ning Fan left Ya Yi City and flew eastward for about thirty million miles before stopping outside of Tang Gu. He stood atop a tree-covered mountain, waiting quietly for nightfall.

At this moment, the sun was setting and the evening breeze was blowing. Ning Fan was calm, neither afraid of being hunted by the Vine Emperor nor of offending the nine puppet masters.

The task jade slip included a map of Tang Gu. Ning Fan carefully planned in his mind how to kill two Tree Kings with the least amount of time and resources.

Countless tree demons lurked within Tang Gu, with low intelligence and a ferocious temperament. They would attack any and all cultivators who entered the valley.

These tree demons had tough flesh and were suitable for being refined into puppets. Many puppet masters from the Ju Mang Kingdom loved to come to Tang Gu to capture these tree demons and refine them into puppets.

A few years ago, two Tree Kings had emerged in Tang Gu and had killed many puppet masters who had entered the valley. That was why the Bamboo Emperor had set this task, to kill the Tree Kings.

"Puppetry can be cruel at times..." Ning Fan opened his eyes and let out a light sigh.

When he first heard that someone had slaughtered the Myrotrix tree clan to refine puppets, he was extremely angry. However, after careful consideration, he realized that killing to refine puppets was nothing out of the ordinary in the cultivation world.

Ning Fan himself was a devil, having killed countless people and had no right to blame Wan Changkong for his cruelty in slaughtering the Myrotrix clan. Wan Changkong's slaughter of the Myrotrix clan was no different from Ning Fan's slaughter of the Yao-Gui Forest, Star Sea, and Lei-Ta.

However, Ning Fan stood in the Myrotrix clan's position, and he would ultimately resent Wan Changkong. Right and wrong were irrelevant; there was no absolute right or wrong in the world, only positions.

Ning Fan raised his palm and looked at his fair palm, knowing full well that it was stained with blood. He lowered his hand and closed his eyes once again, muttering to himself, "If there comes a day when there are no more enemies in the world, I can lay down my sword... but that day is too far away."

"Under the nine realms, there is constant strife; above the four heavens, there is constant strife. Even the ancient emperors of the immortals fought without rest. No one can avoid the strife. Wherever there are people, there is strife..."

"Once you enter the cultivation world, you can never turn back..."

As Ning Fan sighed, the evening gradually fell silent. When the stars rose in the night sky, Ning Fan took a step forward and knew that he had to go to Tang Valley.

It was at this moment that a faint killing intent suddenly rose from behind Ning Fan. A sharp, blue crystal short sword was pressed against his back, and a small figure had somehow snuck up on Ning Fan and launched a surprise attack on him.

"You finally show yourself. I am very curious why someone with only the ability to peer into the void would be so obsessed with Myrotrix puppets." Ning Fan's face showed no surprise, as if he had known someone was lurking behind him.

"Stop talking nonsense! Myrotrix puppets must never fall into the hands of a devil like you!" A resentful voice of a young girl came from behind Ning Fan.