Chapter 326

Chapter 326: Great Earth General

As Fang Lie’s voice fell, the gigantic stone statue, towering at fifteen feet high, suddenly cracked with a loud sound, and a graceful white figure soared into the sky from the broken statue.

It flew up to a height of one hundred feet and then paused, revealing its true form.

This was a completely transparent giant puppet, sculpted like crystal, standing twelve feet tall, with a massive build that radiated endless authority, resembling a legendary warrior who had survived many battles!

Before the onlookers could fully observe its appearance, it swooshed down and crashed in front of Fang Lie with a thunderous boom.

Kneeling on one leg with one hand behind its back and the other fist raised at its chest, it calmly declared, "Great Earth General A1, greetings to the master!"

At that moment, the crowd was shocked to discover that within its seemingly transparent form was a mysterious radiance, with countless three-dimensional divine patterns entangled together, filling it with terrifying power!

The referee, Immortal Fire Cloud, changed color instantly and exclaimed, "Oh my, this is at least an eighth-rank middle-grade puppet soldier!"

"Ah~" At these words, the surrounding cultivators gasped in awe!

It is known that mechanical puppets are far more popular than treasures of the same rank. Treasures have attributes, and if those attributes counter each other, the master cannot unleash their full strength, leading to a decline in combat power.

Moreover, unless elevated to ninth-rank to develop an item spirit, treasures must be controlled by the master and cannot stray far from them.

However, these drawbacks are almost nonexistent for mechanical puppets.

Mechanical puppets are completely independent entities, unrelated to the master’s cultivation or attributes. Even a cultivator focusing on fire attributes can easily control a water attribute mechanical puppet and unleash its full potential.

Additionally, the intelligence of mechanical puppet soldiers surpasses that of treasures. Puppet soldiers of seventh rank and higher are essentially on par with ordinary human wisdom; upon command from their master, they can leave their side and execute orders even thousands of miles away.

In terms of combat strength, mechanical puppets slightly outshine treasures of the same level. After all, puppets are larger and can inscribe more divine patterns.

Thus, from any perspective, large mechanical puppets are more favored than treasures of the same rank.

This also keeps their prices high; under normal circumstances, an eighth-rank middle-grade mechanical puppet is valued similarly to an eighth-rank top-grade treasure!

Such items are considered precious for suppressing fate in any sect!

Therefore, the emergence of this item demolished Young Taoist Ming Yue’s Azure Dragon Disturbs the Sea Flag; the difference in value is immensely vast!

Witnessing this strange scene, Ming Yue was so shocked that his eyes nearly popped out, and in a fit of anger, he shouted, "This is impossible! You must have cheated by secretly placing this treasure inside when buying it. Otherwise, how could such a powerful puppet be hidden inside such a mere stone statue without anyone knowing?"

His statement sparked whispers among the crowd.

"I find it strange too! That statue was clearly just an ordinary Earth Puppet Soldier. No one mentioned hiding an eighth-rank puppet inside!"

"I also find it odd. Each treasure here was examined by high-ranking disciples of the Penglai Sword Sect. If such a powerful puppet was hidden there, they would have discovered it!"

"But the question is, how could Fang Lie be deceitful in front of so many witnesses? There are not only numerous Immortal Fire Cloud-level protectors here but also a veteran Thunder Tribulation Immortal on guard. Given Fang Lie’s limited cultivation, how could he pull off such a trick in their presence? It’s impossible!"

"Indeed, this matter is too suspicious. We should ask Fang Lie and see what he has to say!"

At this moment, Immortal Fire Cloud also curiously asked, "Young Master Fang, why is there such a powerful mechanical puppet hidden inside? Can you explain this to us?"

"Yeah, yeah! Speak up! Otherwise, we’ll all think you’re cheating!" others shouted in unison.

"Hehe~" Fang Lie smiled slightly, "Alright, I will explain so that some sore losers won’t deny it!"

Saying this, Fang Lie glanced pointedly at Ming Yue.

Ming Yue, infuriated to the point of almost vomiting blood, gritted his teeth and fixed his gaze on Fang Lie, waiting for his explanation.

Fang Lie wasted no words and directly said, "Many people can see that the mechanical puppet soldier I purchased has an impressive history of one hundred thousand years, but you clearly cannot identify its specific type, can you?"

Faced with Fang Lie’s question, the crowd fell silent, and Ming Yue, feeling unconvinced, retorted, "Isn’t it just an ordinary Earth Element Puppet Soldier?"

"Wrong!" Fang Lie sneered. "It is not an ordinary Earth Element Puppet Soldier; it is a rare variant from the Earth Element Warrior series, the Earth Element Magnetic Warrior. Now, combine this clue with its excavation location, Wanxing Sea, and the time of its decay—one hundred thousand years! What do you come up with?"

The others were still confused, only a few knowledgeable individuals like Ming Yue seemed to get the hint.

At this point, Fang Lie simply provided the answer: "The Great Qian Dynasty, the Great Earth Treasure Ship, Earth Element Magnetic Puppet Legion!"

"Ah~" One cultivator suddenly realized, "I remember now! A hundred thousand years ago, there was a powerful cultivation dynasty called the Great Qian Dynasty. They had a famously powerful eighth-rank top-grade flying treasure known as the Great Earth Treasure Ship, which supposedly housed ten entire Earth Element Magnetic Puppet Legions, each with a hundred thousand puppet soldiers, all ranked above six, incredibly strong!"

"Oh! I also remember! The origins of this treasure ship are quite legendary. The Great Qian Dynasty discovered a huge Earth Element Magnetic Mineral Vein in some secret realm. They offered half of it as payment and used the other half as material to commission the Mo Sect to build an incredibly powerful flying treasure ship. The Mo Sect exhausted all its resources and took a thousand years to complete it. This is the legendary Great Earth Treasure Ship, capable of competing with ninth-rank treasures!"

"I also recall! The strength of the Great Earth Treasure Ship lies in its ten Earth Element Magnetic Puppet Legions. Since they were built from Earth Elements tainted with magnetic force, they possessed the formidable ability to control magnetic forces. Taken individually, they aren’t much, but their true fear lies in their ability to fight as a team. A hundred million magnetic puppets form a formation; as long as they stand on the ground and harness the earth’s power, they can unleash the full force of magnetic power and even contend with the might of ninth-rank treasures!"

"Yes! The Great Earth Treasure Ship roamed unmatched for a thousand years, conquering countless territories for the Great Qian Dynasty. It’s a pity that the last emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty was a fool who took this flying treasure ship, which could only unleash its full strength by drawing power from the earth, to the Wanxing Sea. As a result, it was ambushed by enemies, and several ninth-rank treasures attacked, utterly destroying it!"

As the crowd chattered, the power of the Great Earth Treasure Ship was described in vivid detail.

Yet, Ming Yue still shouted defiantly, "No matter how powerful the Great Earth Treasure Ship was, it has nothing to do with the current wager!"

"Hehe, it has everything to do with it!" Fang Lie sneered. "The Earth Element Magnetic Puppet I meticulously refined has a particularly strong characteristic: immortality. Even if the puppet is shattered into pieces, the special true spirit within it is not destroyed; instead, it will fly into the earth, absorb its power, and be reborn!"

"Of course, if the damage is too severe and the true spirit is harmed, it will automatically merge with other mechanical puppets. While this puppet may be completely dead, it can enhance its companions, potentially even upgrading their rank." Fang Lie then explained, "Thus, after enduring brutal battles, there might be many puppet losses, but it could also result in many higher-ranking puppets emerging!"

"Hmm?" The onlookers weren’t foolish. Hearing this, they quickly realized the implications, and Immortal Fire Cloud exclaimed, "Could this puppet be the one that leveled up?"

"Exactly!" Fang Lie nodded. "During that battle, the Great Earth Treasure Ship shattered and sank, and numerous puppets were killed. Due to the overwhelming damage, the true spirits of many puppets were severely wounded, and they ultimately gathered around a relatively intact companion, giving rise to the current Great Earth General, the Earth Magnetic Puppet Legion leader, A1! This title signifies that it is the strongest general of the Alpha Legion!"

"However, you only speak for yourself, and others might not believe you!" Ming Yue protested, "The high-ranking members of the Penglai Sword Sect already inspected this puppet. If an eighth-rank puppet were hidden inside, wouldn’t they have noticed? How could they sell it to you for just a hundred small spirit pearls?"

"Hehe~" Fang Lie smiled slightly. "You only know one side of the story. This puppet was originally just a small soldier. It absorbed the true spirits of countless companions, which allowed it to finally advance to General A1! However, after its promotion, it was left without a commander or anyone to guide it, so it did not know how to transform into a general or what to do. As a result, it fell into a standby and dormant state. In this state, it barely registers as alive; it does not emit any magical fluctuations and cannot be detected by divine sense unless it is broken open to reveal its true form!"

"Yet, that doesn’t add up!" Ming Yue insisted, "Even if it can’t be detected, after one hundred thousand years, its true spirit should have faded away, right? My eighth-rank Azure Dragon Disturbs the Sea Flag has degraded to seventh-rank top-grade; how can it still be at eighth-rank middle-grade?"

"Hehe~" Fang Lie smiled mildly. "There are two reasons: one is that it sank to the ocean floor, and when Earth Element Puppets lie within the earth, they automatically undergo nourishment, which slows the disappearance of their true spirits—this is common knowledge."

"As for the second reason, it’s because it’s simply too powerful. Remember, the Great Earth Treasure Ship had ten full puppet legions annihilated, each containing a hundred thousand puppets. Nearly all of these puppets’ true spirits were absorbed by this only intact puppet, elevating its true spirit to a terrifying level that surely surpasses ninth-rank. Therefore, after one hundred thousand years, it only degraded to eighth-rank middle-grade!" Fang Lie said with a smile, "Now, do you understand?"