Earthling in Uncharted Dimensions

Chapter 117: Yin Qi Wood Puppets

'View.'

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Name: Yin Qi Wood Puppet

Quality: Excellent

Threshold: Nascent Soul realm

Description: A puppet powered by immense Yin Qi and compatible with Yin Qi cultivators. Muscle tendons made out of Metal Grass fibre, coupled with Iron Wood fists provide explosive power. The strength varies according to the soul imprint of the cultivator.

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9 female cultivators and 2 male cultivators walked past Lee, who was one with the darkness of the alleyway. 17 Yin Qi Wood Puppets guarded the cultivators as they walked obediently next to them. The bald and hollow heads lacking facial features were annoyingly surprising. Lee deduced the material used for producing these things as some kind of wood, because except for the fists and feet, the puppets had a wooden texture.

Their naked wooden bodies concealed the internal mechanism as well as the most vital part, the Yin Qi battery. From the information panel, Lee derived that the owner of the puppet he used the skill 'View' on, is a Nascent Soul cultivator. But he was unsure whether there are more powerful cultivators among them. In fact, the most important problem for Lee was not the puppets' strength or the cultivators, it was the Qi lantern burning inside glass chambers, which replaced the position of the puppet heads!

Lee stepped back into the alleyway silently. The Dark element remained on, but Lee was almost exposed by the bright light. Due to his stillness and position, they were unable to notice him. Even his breath was regulated. He silently waited for the group to go past the alleyway. His plan changed from snatching to luring!

The group went over 9 metres, when Lee took out his bow and aimed at the torso of the last puppet. He shot out an arrow as he stood at the edge of the alleyway, poking his head and hands.

*thuck*

The puppet received the arrow on its back, and was thrown away by the explosive force delivered by the otherworldly combination of Vanadium-Titanium alloy. It collided with three more puppets and literally threw them off the feet, while flying away with a lodged arrow. With loud noise, it got pinned to the wall in its trajectory. The cultivators became alert and took out their weapons. Lee felt ecstatic, as he felt the aura of a Monarch Immortal sweeping past him.

The Monarch Immortal cultivator scanned his surroundings, but found nothing hostile. Lee comprehended that the Dark element has an intrinsic property to evade detection, and switched the Mana off. At once, the cultivator peered at the alleyway where Lee stood and found our MC's presence!

Lee poked his head out of the alleyway for a second, and an arrow came rushing at him. Lee was only alive because of his superior agility. The archeress who shot the arrow frowned as she had never missed her aim. The Monarch Immortal cultivator gestured at three women and one man to advance towards the pest in the alleyway. Seven puppets under their control also joined them. Together, they tiptoed to the alleyway. The archeress took a few steps forward with caution.

Lee stuck out his torso again and shot another arrow. This time, the arrow shattered two Qi lantern chambers and flew past the Monarch Immortal cultivator. Their alertness went over the roof as they raged in annoyance and sprinted to the alleyway entrance.

Empty! The Dark element covered Lee and hid him in the shadows. The lack of light made his concealment perfect. But the puppets marched into the alley and illuminated the area. The elimination of shadows caused trouble to him, as the puppets began to peek and check every nook and corner of the space. Lee was now a trapped mouse, with no escape!

"That person must be caught!"

The Monarch Immortal cultivator commanded as he swept his aura again. The culprit was not found by his senses. So the fellow cultivators beside him acted accordingly. They searched the alleyway with almost nothing in it. There was a wooden plank placed against one of the walls, in its shadow where Lee hid. Since the plank was only a foot wide and two and a half foot long, and visibly not enough to conceal a person's body, the cultivators overlooked the probability. They were proud of their detection and sensing, so were more obsessed in finding Lee with their inflated ego.

The Dark element guzzled Mana like a greedy wild beast devouring its prey. When the reserve hit 23000, D sounded a warning. Lee realised that it was time for the second part of his plan. Staying concealed inside the shadow of the plank, he extended his arm out a bit, not enough for the cultivators to notice. He retracted the Dark element from his hand, and it became visible to light. The next moment, ferocious strands of lightning empowered by Mana rampaged the whole alleyway!

*bzzt*

The alleyway lit up like a christmas eve for a second. The delicate combination of lightning with over 300 Mana was worth the try. The puppets were unhurt, but were frozen like a statue, because the lightning affected the cultivators and numbed them to the core. Seven women and three men fell on their knees, trying to resist the numbness, in vain. The effect was so intense, that their train of thoughts had derailed for a dozen seconds. As Lee saw their inflated arrogance and self-esteem kneeling on ground, he came out of the shadows.

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10 P.M.

25170 Essence harvested.

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With a little over 21000 Mana, Lee deactivated the disguise. As the Monarch Immortal cultivator witnessed, something rose up from the shadow of the plank that was placed against the wall. The human figure unravelled and it showed its back on them. Lee took out his mask and wore it instantly. To have them underestimate him, Lee gave out a few faint pants, enough for the cultivators' recognition. With the numbness on their minds fading away, the cultivators focused on catching Lee, instead of using the puppets as a helping hand.

The puppets advanced at Lee in a specific formation that brought forth attacks at an unexpected angle and moment. But, Lee was the worst match-up for them. Coupled with the Foresight, the new visual assistance interface unfolded a special feature - 'Guide'. It was as the title conveyed, a guide to move and commence attack with guidance. The Foresight displayed the trajectories of the actions and objects, but the Guide gave visual instructions that can be followed to use minimum energy to maximise the efficiency!

The cultivators noticed a sudden change of pattern in Lee's movement. It was as if his moves became much more fluent, ordered and less energy-consuming, that they more effectively evaded the strikes of puppets. The upgraded 'Foresight' alerted Lee of the incoming arrows. As he glanced, 12 arrows flew at his vital points with precision.

*swish*

Hands moved like wind and grabbed onto the raging arrows. Within an instant, Lee caught the arrows barehanded. His foot sunk into the ground where they stood, and his hands sliced the air. His speed simply flabbergasted the cultivator's as all they saw was a single wave, and the arrows were in his hands!

The 8 cultivators with bows took a step back and glanced at each other. Without any choice, they peered at the Monarch Immortal cultivator among them. The man understood the intent of gazes and stepped forth.

"Who are you? Do you even know who we are?"

A faint laughter originated from the mask as Lee broke the arrows into two by his bare grip. He raised his hands to his chest's height and opened his palm upwards. The broken arrows lost the support and fell down to the ground. Freefalling broken arrows sprouted the seeds of fear in their minds.

"Heh...Do you know what 'Do not desire others possessions' mean?"

A rough voice of mockery arose from the man wearing a collarless off-white tee shirt. The eye slits of the mask gave off a repulsive feeling, to which the cultivators responded by taking a step back. The Monarch Immortal cultivator glanced at the woman next to him through the corner of his eyes. She nodded slightly in response, and fled towards the sect. Now all they need to do is to stall the man, till the reinforcements arrive.

"Silent Sealing Formation!"

The head of the group shouted and the cultivators gathered together in a specific formation. The puppets moved towards Lee and positioned itself in an organised manner. Within a second, The Yin Qi from the puppets shot out to the sky and took the form of a harpoon. The puppets' torsos opened and the massive Yin Qi reserves were exposed. 

[Lee, be careful of this formation. It is hazardous to you both physically and mentally. The harpoon might be lethal, but the puppets are more dangerous.]

Lee glanced at the puppets as he stared at the sky. The Yin Qi permeated through the wooden structure and condensed in the fists and foot of the puppets. For a second, the puppet at the front was blurred. Lee was astonished to see the insanely overpowered dash targeted at him.

'Shit!'

Lee did not jump away as he was aware that the next puppet would make its mark on his torso. He was also interested to test the wooden non-sentient walker's strength. So Lee firmly placed his footing and punched at the incoming right fist.

*BAM*

The Iron Wood was worth the trouble. Lee felt an intense pain in his right hand's knuckles, as his fist shattered the puppet's arm. Unexpectedly, its left knee rose up and kicked Lee in his stomach.

*thack*

Lee rose up into the air by almost two foot, as his left palm defended his stomach to a great extent, by placing itself before the oncoming knee, in a split-second. But, the knee sandwiched the palm against his torso.

'F**K, IT HURTS!'

[No wonder. That kick was packed with an immense amount of pure Yin Qi which gave enormous boost for a brief moment. Though the puppet may have drained a part of its reserve, it was worth the shot. The strength easily surpassed 300 for a moment.]

When Lee was momentarily distracted by D's explanation, the puppet twirled on its right leg and gave a swinging kick, which touched down on his left shoulder. It was so fast that Lee couldn't raise his guard on time, and so powerful that he heard his left arm's humerus bone cracking. Even his ribcage felt the pressure. With the supportless suspension in mid-air, Lee could only reluctantly fly and get lodged onto the wall on his right. Pain slowly numbed his being and reminded him of the long forgotten sensation.

[Okay, that was definitely above 320!]

'Shut up. You are not helping, but distracting!'

Lee barely freed himself from the wall, but he failed to sense the incoming persecution!