Li Yan had been stalling Teng Wuji for five or six breaths of time. Below, the "White Blaze Demon Tiger," under the explosive attack of the three puppets with Mid-grade Spirit Stones, was also being forced to dodge left and right, seemingly at the end of its rope.
During these five or six breaths, Bai Rou no longer looked at Li Yan. Instead, she focused all her efforts on casting spells. Rather than worrying, it was better to quickly deal with the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" herself and then help Li Yan.
In a moment, the sound of explosions below far surpassed the noise from the battle between Li Yan and Teng Wuji above. The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" roared repeatedly, leaving claw marks so deep that "bone" was visible on the three puppets.
Under these claw marks, some of the central hubs of the formation on the puppets' surfaces were also directly severed. White-gold spirit power continuously leaked out, like clusters of electric light flashing on their bodies. The three Mid-grade Spirit Stones Li Yan had given were of the metal attribute. The metal attribute was the most offensive of the five elements, its spiritual energy sharp and indestructible. Apart from puppets with special functions, general puppets could use spirit stones of any attribute.
The formation restrictions on the surfaces of the three giant ape puppets were slightly damaged. The result was that the puppets' movements would occasionally become sluggish during their attacks.
The ferocity of a Third-rank demonic beast was astonishing. Its cultivation was almost at the peak of an Initial-stage Golden Core cultivator. Even the three puppets supported by Mid-grade Spirit Stones were still injured.
In just a few short breaths, the two sides had exchanged dozens of attacks.
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" was even more unwilling. Every time its long-charged attack hit the opponent, a slippery feeling would arise on their bodies, and twenty to thirty percent of the attack would go astray, leaving it at a loss.
The greater the power of its attack, the more obvious this feeling became. The momentary misapplication of force at critical moments always threw the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" internal power into chaos, making it feel indescribably uncomfortable.
However, what the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" didn't know was that if Bai Rou were at the Pseudo-Core Realm right now, it would be completely suppressed by the three puppets embedded with Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
Bai Rou was still unable to perform many of the "Revolving Stars Art's" seals. She could only manage the bare basics of borrowing and redirecting force, and could only unleash a portion of the Mid-grade Spirit Stones' power.
Otherwise, the fiercer the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" attacked, the greater the rebounding force it would receive. In that case, the force of its own attacks would be enough to injure it.
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" was also covered in blood. On its hind leg was a half-foot-long gash from which blood was flowing freely.
And on its right flank, the fur was also blasted into a mess. A bloody hole was a mangled mess of flesh, with several purple lumps of flesh hanging out of its body, looking like damaged internal organs.
These organs swung back and forth like a windmill as the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" moved rapidly, causing its fur to tremble incessantly in pain.
Besides letting out roars of extreme anger, it did not ask Teng Wuji for help. It was a supreme demonic beast. If it couldn't even kill a mere human Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would be a humiliation.
Only by personally killing the human girl before it could it vent the hatred in its heart.
At this moment, the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had long forgotten Teng Wuji's instructions. The thought of not harming the girl before it had been thrown to the back of its mind. It only wanted to tear the one person and three puppets before it to shreds to completely quell the rage in its chest.
With the momentum of a swimming dragon, a fierce light suddenly flashed in the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" eyes. It had already seen that among the three puppets, the smallest Long-armed Giant Ape puppet was of the "assassin" type.
Under the cover of the two larger puppets acting as meat shields, the small giant ape puppet would often launch a fatal blow at an unguarded moment.
The fist-sized bloody hole in the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" side was the result of a sneak attack by this small puppet. With just one bite, it had broken through its protective demonic qi. As its arms pressed against its waist, its sharp teeth fiercely pulled and tore, and a large hole was formed.
A giant pain that pierced to the bone marrow caused the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" to involuntarily take a few steps forward. At the same time, the other larger Long-armed Giant Ape puppet's attack arrived.
Taking the opportunity, it diagonally slashed a deep bloody gash from top to bottom on its hind leg with its sharp middle finger claw, causing the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" fur to roll back, revealing bloody flesh and bone. The bone was just exposed when it was quickly dyed red by the blood in the next moment.
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" hated Bai Rou to the bone, but the girl had been standing at the edge of the purple formation and did not come forward. When the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had managed to sneak attack Bai Rou twice, she had always been able to lightly shift her lotus steps, and the purple light of the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" by her side would protect her within it.
Before Bai Rou released the three puppets, the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had forcefully attacked the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" several times. In the end, it helplessly discovered that besides shaking, the formation could not be broken in a short time.
Seeing that it could not harm Bai Rou, the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" focused its attacks on the small puppet. Firstly, this puppet had sneak-attacked it and inflicted a serious injury; secondly, this puppet was the weakest of the three and the easiest to cripple.
The three puppets formed a "trinity" formation, firmly surrounding the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" and continuously compressing its maneuvering space. Although the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" dodged left and right, charging back and forth, it was still forced to retreat continuously.
Although the three puppets were covered in wounds and seemed about to fall apart at any moment, the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" just couldn't manage to break their limbs.
The special materials used to refine the important defensive parts of the three Long-armed Giant Ape puppets were rare materials given by Shuang Qingqing. Their defensive power was astonishing.
Its purpose was to protect the operation of the most core formation of the "Revolving Stars Art." Even if you knocked off the heads of the three puppets, it would be of no use. Without limbs, at most they would lose their means of attack, but they could still rely on the spirit stones in their bodies to fly and attack. This was the terror of puppets.
Puppets were unlike cultivators and spirit beasts, where damage to the body would cause fatal injuries.
The two large puppets, one at the head and one at the tail, continuously intertwined and flashed. No matter how the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" dodged and weaved, its head and tail were always within the attack range of the two puppets.
And that small Long-armed Giant Ape puppet would sometimes appear in front of the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" head, and sometimes behind its tail. It used the huge figures of the two larger puppets as hidden shields, its figure erratic and concealed behind them, suddenly revealing its ferocity.
In a few breaths, the small puppet had only attacked twice. One missed, and the other opened a large hole in the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" waist.
If news of this were to spread back to Windy Cool Mountain, it would be enough to shock all the Foundation Establishment cultivators there. No matter how they imagined it, they themselves would not be able to fight a Third-rank demonic beast and achieve such a result. The most likely outcome upon encountering one would be to consider how to escape.
Of course, the three Mid-grade Spirit Stones given by Li Yan played a crucial role. But giving three Mid-grade Spirit Stones to other cultivators would not be of much use, as they might not have suitable magical treasures to use them with.
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" pupils were filled with blood. With the momentum of a mad tiger, the moment the two large puppets pounced on it, its body suddenly contracted into a ball. A dazzling white light flashed from its body, and its figure, several times faster than before, had already crashed into one of the Long-armed Giant Ape puppets at the tail.
This sudden change, where speed and time briefly overlapped, caused Bai Rou, who was controlling the puppets, to have a moment of delayed reaction.
This was also due to Bai Rou's lack of combat experience. The "White Blaze Demon Tiger," having followed Teng Wuji through thousands of large and small battles in the Demon Realm, had its attack speed and reactions at an almost instinctual level.
The Long-armed Giant Ape puppet behind the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" paused slightly, and in an instant, they collided. With a loud "bang," that Long-armed Giant Ape puppet couldn't withstand the huge impact force, and its figure was instantly forced to retreat step after step.
The white light on the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" body flared up again. It also used the rebound force of this collision to transform into a faster ball of white light and crash into the other large puppet. The speed was so fast that it created a sharp "whoosh" in the air.
Although the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had created a temporary gap in the encirclement, its abdomen was also extremely uncomfortable at this moment.
In that collision just now, the strange force-dissipating art of the Long-armed Giant Ape was even stronger, causing the breath it had gathered to almost knot in its chest. It was about to spit out a mouthful of blood but managed to hold it back in its throat.
By this time, Bai Rou had already reacted. How could she let the opponent repeat the same trick? The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" seemed to feel that it was no match and was trying to break out.
As Bai Rou's hand seals changed continuously, the other large puppet fiercely stamped its feet on the ground, shaking the entire valley.
A pair of long arms suddenly extended by several feet. A pair of large hands, in a clapping motion, clamped down on the ball of white light that was shooting towards its chest.
And at this moment, the contracted "White Blaze Demon Tiger" suddenly returned to its original form.
Looking at the giant palms closing in on both sides, a fierce light flashed in its eyes. Suddenly, the white light on its body vibrated and dispersed, and its tiger tail swung over from behind.
The tiger tail instantly broke off from its body, and in an instant, it turned into a furry, colored giant rod, which, with a gust of foul wind, swept towards the giant ape puppet's two giant palms.
As the tiger tail broke off, the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" aura also dropped sharply, its overwhelming ferocity reduced by a small half. And it also trembled in pain.
In that fierce blow just now, not only did blood spray from the broken part of the tail, but even the demonic qi that had been protecting the bloody hole in its side loosened for a moment, and a large amount of blood immediately gushed out from the hole.
Immediately after, a very dull sound was heard. The outstretched palms of the Long-armed Giant Ape, upon contact with the colored giant rod formed from the opponent's tail...
The fur on the colored giant rod suddenly exploded, making the originally colored giant rod instantly bald. And the giant ape's palms were immediately covered with dense fluff.
The moment this fluff came into contact with the giant ape's palms, it began to grow wildly on the palms, and with the speed of lightning, it spread towards the giant ape's body, like boundless seaweed sweeping over.
What was even more terrifying about this seaweed-like fur was that as it spread, it tightly wrapped around the giant ape puppet's body, like countless vines, all drooping towards the earth.
The moment it touched the ground, it was like a spiritual flood dragon entering the sea. It plunged deep into the earth. In just a breath of time, it had "nailed" this Long-armed Giant Ape puppet to the spot.
Only the two crimson eyes of the Long-armed Giant Ape puppet were exposed, flashing with red light. A pair of giant arms were also being slowly pulled down by the seaweed-like fur that was "nailed" into the ground.
All this was completed in a breath. The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" in the air did not stop at all, fast as lightning, it quickly bypassed this Long-armed Giant Ape puppet that was still struggling to break free from the entanglement.
And at this time, the other Long-armed Giant Ape puppet that had been knocked back by the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had just stabilized its retreating footsteps. It suddenly opened its giant mouth, and a dazzling white-gold light flashed within it.
A slender white-gold arrow was also instantly shot out, straight at the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" that was moving quickly in mid-air.
But obviously, this attack was half a beat too slow. The "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" figure had already appeared beside the Long-armed Giant Ape that was "nailed" to the ground. And at this moment, that small giant ape puppet had just revealed its figure.