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**
For this kind of silver-colored dried corpse puppet, Xiao Yan was probably the person most familiar with it among everyone present.
After all, he had once personally refined one himself, and by now, it had already evolved to the level of a Sky Demon Puppet. As for these ten puppets, their entire bodies shone with brilliant silver light, clearly still at the level of Earth Demon Puppets.
Which meant that their strength was at the peak of Dou Zong level. Speaking of which, ten puppets at the peak of Dou Zong strength were already considered quite formidable.
However, right now, to rely on them alone to stop these powerful experts who had entered the ruins was clearly far from enough.
"Looks like beyond that stone gate lies the true ruins." Qing Lin tiptoed and gazed at the thick stone gate, speaking softly.
"Mm, but the stone gate is tightly shut. There's a faint spatial ripple on its surface—it's clearly sealed, and brute force won't open it." Wei Yang nodded slightly. "The method to open it is most likely hidden within those ten puppets."
Their gazes swept around and found that most of the people present were standing calmly in place, their eyes all fixed upon the ten puppets. Clearly, they had also realized the same thing.
"Seems like we can just watch from the sidelines. Someone else will take care of this kind of thing." Ah Da laughed.
Wei Yang and the others nodded as well. So, they simply stood there casually, adopting the stance of spectators.
The old man currently fighting against the ten puppets was dressed in gray. Judging by the aura radiating from his body, he was clearly a Dou Zun expert—but only at the one-star level.
This gray-robed elder looked rather unfamiliar, seemingly someone without a famous reputation. However, the Dou Qi Continent was vast and boundless, with countless hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
Some low-key experts or secluded factions often possessed strength no weaker than those so-called major powers on the surface.
At this moment, that gray-robed elder fought barehanded amidst the encirclement of ten puppets. Boundless Dou Qi surged violently; every punch he threw forced a puppet to retreat several steps.
"Haha, just a few broken puppets, and you think you can stop me?"
Seeing the old man holding his ground while fighting ten at once, the surrounding people weren't surprised.
After all, the gap between Dou Zong and Dou Zun was vast. Even ten fearless, pain-immune puppets fighting together could only do so much. The difference in realm wasn't something easily bridged by mere numbers.
Judging from the current situation, these ten puppets clearly wouldn't be able to hold on for long.
Clang!
Silver light danced in the arena.
The gray-robed old man struck out with his palm, consecutively forcing back three puppets. The palm, infused with deep yellow Dou Qi, left palm marks nearly half a finger deep on their metallic bodies.
Roar~
After being pushed back repeatedly, the ten Earth Demon Puppets suddenly halted, silver light flickering in their eyes. From their throats came low, unified growls. Then, they moved in unison, immediately forming a strange formation.
As silver light flashed, streams of energy like silver lightning burst from within their bodies, linking them all together to form a circular flow.
Roar~
At the very instant that circular connection was completed, the leading Earth Demon Puppet let out another roar from its throat. Then, under the crowd's stunned gazes, the silver light on its body began to dim, while faint traces of golden radiance slowly emerged on its surface.
Moments later, the golden glow had completely replaced the silver sheen on its body.
"This… it actually evolved!"
Seeing this scene, Xiao Yan's eyes widened, his pupils contracting slightly as shock filled his face.
He knew better than anyone how difficult it was for an Earth Demon Puppet to evolve into a Sky Demon Puppet. His own Sky Demon Puppet had absorbed numerous Pill Lightning before finally completing that evolution.
But now, this leading Earth Demon Puppet had accomplished the same step in just a brief moment through such a bizarre method.
"Energy transfer? A formation, perhaps?" Wei Yang rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting."
"It must be the effect of that strange formation. As expected of something left behind by a Dou Sheng—mysterious and unpredictable!
With these ten Earth Demon Puppets combined with that formation, they can already rival a Two-Star Dou Zun. That gray-robed old man is in trouble." Xiao Yan quickly calmed himself down and said in a low voice.
Boom!
In the field, the now fully golden Sky Demon Puppet stomped its foot, the ground cracking beneath as its figure flashed like teleportation, appearing before the gray-robed old man whose face had drastically changed. Its golden fist blasted forward fiercely.
Bang!
Facing that overwhelmingly powerful punch, the gray-robed old man hurriedly exerted his full strength to block. However, in that instant, his advantage was completely gone—the evolved Sky Demon Puppet's strength had already far surpassed his own.
As a deep, muffled sound rang out, a grunt escaped from his throat, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth as his feet staggered backward—step, step, step—retreating violently.
After the old man retreated about ten zhang away, the Sky Demon Puppet did not pursue him; instead, it withdrew its fist.
Its figure flickered, and in the next moment, it appeared outside the stone gate. The golden glow on its body faded away, returning once more to its silver-colored Earth Demon Puppet form, standing guard before the stone gate once again.
As the gray-robed elder was forced back, silence descended over the square. For a while, everyone simply stared at one another, none willing to make the first move—no one wanted to take the risk only for someone else to reap the benefits.
Only Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed intently upon those ten puppets, a glimmer of desire flashing deep within his eyes. If these puppets were merely at the peak Dou Zong level, he would have had little interest.
But if, through that strange formation, they could reach combat strength equivalent to a two-star Dou Zun, then they were worthy of his attention. Moreover, he was quite intrigued by that peculiar formation itself.
If he could incorporate his own Sky Demon Puppet into such a formation, its power would undoubtedly skyrocket.
His Sky Demon Puppet was already capable of contending with a three-star Dou Zun. If combined with these ten puppets through that mysterious formation, they might even be able to stand against a five-star Dou Zun.
With that thought, Xiao Yan could no longer suppress his impatience and decided to act.
Under the watchful gazes of the crowd, Xiao Yan, with ease and without much effort, swiftly subdued the ten Earth Demon Puppets. Then, with a simple wave of his hand, the ten puppets were, to everyone's surprise, collected into his storage ring.
The expressions of the surrounding crowd instantly became rather strange. Such powerful puppets—ones that, when united, could contend against a Two-Star Dou Zun—had fallen into Xiao Yan's hands so effortlessly.
For a moment, many people's faces became colorful, their eyes brimming with barely hidden envy and jealousy. Puppets of this strength were enough to make anyone green with desire no matter where they were.
However, no one dared to step forward or utter a word.
If it were just Xiao Yan alone, perhaps someone might have considered it. But when their gazes fell upon Wei Yang—who stood nearby with his hands clasped behind his back, his posture calm and unrestrained—they quickly averted their eyes in silence.
At that moment—
Creak~
As the ten puppets disappeared, the tightly shut stone gate suddenly emitted a series of grinding mechanical sounds. That massive, heavy stone door slowly began to part, revealing a thin crack.
As it opened wider, an ancient and desolate aura wafted out from within—an aura as though it had come from a bygone era. Many people's expressions grew solemn. To them, relics from ancient times carried an air of sacredness and awe.
Seeing the gate open, Xiao Yan's figure flickered lightly as he retreated, returning to Wei Yang's side. Clearly, he had no intention of being the first to enter the mysterious ruins.
When the massive door finally finished opening, the creaking noise gradually subsided. The crowd exchanged glances, yet no one dared to take the first step inside.
"Let's go!"
Wei Yang strode forward, his figure transforming into a streak of black light as he became the first to enter through the stone gate.
Behind him, Xiao Yan and the others were momentarily stunned before quickly following after him. As the figures of Wei Yang and his group disappeared beyond the gate, the remaining people were left momentarily dazed.
Yet, no one acted rashly.
Only after waiting quietly for a moment—when no abnormal sounds or disturbances came from within—did they finally breathe a collective sigh of relief. Then, driven by urgency and greed, they surged forward like a flood, rushing madly toward the ruins beyond the stone gate.
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