With unhurried grace, his form flickered slightly, effortlessly evading the puppet’s sudden attack. Yet, the young woman’s heart seemed the antithesis of her delicate appearance—dark and ruthless. Not only did she direct her puppet to press the assault, hoping to deny Lei Dong the time to summon his own, but she also produced a thick stack of talismans, flinging them one after another toward Lei Dong’s head. Ice talismans, lightning talismans, fire talismans—she had every kind, a remarkably complete arsenal. In an instant, the ring flashed with wind, fire, thunder, and lightning, dazzling like magnificent fireworks, a truly beautiful spectacle.

Gongsun Qing, watching from the sidelines, erupted in protest, shouting, “Despicable, shameless, vile woman! Fourth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, slap her dead with one hand! Do not let her bewitch you.”

Lei Dong’s composure was utterly relaxed. Dealing with an opponent of this caliber, he couldn't even be bothered to summon a puppet. While the Puppet Grand Competition centered on puppet duels, victory could technically be secured even without using one’s puppet. However, failing to demonstrate the strength of one's puppet meant forfeiting the right to be considered a core disciple. Thus, as long as Lei Dong could prove his mastery of puppetry later in the tournament, it mattered little how he defeated this woman.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Lei Dong drifted with the wind like a willow catkin, his movements elegant and seemingly innate. A very simple Willow Catkin Movement technique, when executed by him, genuinely possessed the bearing of a master, its effectiveness no less than any top-tier movement art.

Even several Nascent Soul cultivators watching from the distant grandstand murmured in surprise, shifting their focus slightly onto Lei Dong. One praised him, “This lad is quite good. His command over space and wind is strong. It looks like he has great talent in movement arts, and he trains diligently. When he performs the Willow Catkin Movement, it actually conveys a sense of the Great Dao being ultimately simple. Hmm, is his name Gongsun Dong? The Gongsun family has been in decline for a thousand years; I didn't expect another exceptional talent to emerge.”

“Hmph, what good is strong movement skill? It’s only useful for bullying Qi Refining cultivators. Let’s see how he maintains that elegance when facing a peer,” sneered another, seemingly having some prior connection to the young woman, speaking with clear displeasure.

“How can strong movement skill be useless?” The first Nascent Soul cultivator became slightly annoyed. “You’ve lived so many years, yet you utter such childish nonsense.”

The fact that the two Nascent Soul cultivators began to argue over Lei Dong was somewhat unexpected. Yet, neither of them could perceive that, based on sheer cultivation level, this Gongsun Dong was actually above them. Furthermore, Lei Dong’s comprehension of the laws of space far surpassed these ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, naturally causing some of that insight to unconsciously merge into his movement technique.

Seeing that the woman seemed intent on endlessly discarding talismans, Lei Dong decided not to let her continue this waste of heavenly resources. With a swift shift, he left behind a faint afterimage, ghosting eerily behind the woman. Before she could react, he delivered a kick squarely to her posterior. An exquisite force immediately sent her flying dozens of feet away. Her body went instantly numb; she couldn't even gather enough vital energy to ascend in haste, thus falling to the ground in an undignified posture, which provoked a wave of uproarious laughter.

Sometimes, Lei Dong could be a rather petty individual. If someone shows him an inch of respect, he returns a foot. But if someone acts rashly toward him, he is often just as quick to retaliate in kind. Moreover, since beginning his career, he had always been known for his ruthlessness, earning the moniker ‘Ghost Asura’ in Kang Prefecture during his Foundation Establishment stage, a title that made countless people hate him to the bone.

However, now that his cultivation was higher, he had gradually developed more grace. Unless it involved a deep-seated feud or something of grave importance, he was less inclined to bother with low-level cultivators. Otherwise, given Lei Dong’s previous temperament and disposition, he truly would have slapped this woman dead for daring to plot against him. After all, while the Puppet Grand Competition did not encourage killing, it was not entirely forbidden either.

“Gongsun Dong wins,” the referee announced immediately, clearly showing his distaste for the woman who resorted to sneak attacks.

The first match, largely composed of Foundation Establishment cultivators facing peak Qi Refining cultivators, saw Lei Dong’s victory being neither too fast nor overly conspicuous. It did not generate the unexpected buzz of a dark horse—in fact, dark horses were precious precisely because they were rare. After a brief rest, the next round began.

This time, Lei Dong faced a young man at the early Foundation Establishment stage. While his strength was considerable among peers his age, his misfortune lay in encountering Lei Dong. Honestly, to someone at Lei Dong’s level, the Qi Refining stage and the Foundation Establishment stage were virtually indistinguishable—merely the difference between an ant and a slightly stronger ant.

Both summoned their puppets. Lei Dong’s was naturally his meticulously refined Great Yellow Bee. Compared to two or three years ago, the Great Yellow Bee’s appearance had not changed significantly, but its internal essence had undergone an earth-shattering transformation. Firstly, its Artifact Spirit was personally refined by Lei Dong, and this spirit differed from traditional ones as it more readily accepted Lei Dong’s control methodology, which was entirely foreign to this world—specifically, programming techniques Lei Dong had learned in his university days, which he had fully integrated and embedded within it.

The concept of programming, theoretically, was not as complex as one might imagine. All scientific disciplines, all schools of artifact refining and array formations—in essence, they were all the same thing: the exploration and utilization of the fundamental laws and properties governing the universe.

Furthermore, due to the continuous evolution of his body, Lei Dong’s memory was now flawless, and his comprehension and insight were far beyond what they were before. After he developed this system, although it was nowhere near the legendary realm of Artificial Intelligence, the combat techniques were already exceptionally proficient. The Great Yellow Bee only lacked experience; it could improve continuously through combat.

The opponent’s puppet was formidable, managing to exhibit the strength of a peak mid-Foundation Establishment puppet while its master was only in the early Foundation Establishment stage. It truly qualified as a relatively strong ant. However, Lei Dong's Great Yellow Bee was also exceptionally powerful; in a one-on-one confrontation, it could generally display similar might. As they exchanged blows back and forth, the Great Yellow Bee was initially at a disadvantage due to inexperience. Gradually, however, it miraculously began to adapt to the opponent puppet’s combat rhythm, slowly closing the gap. After a brief skirmish, the Great Yellow Bee began to suppress the opposing puppet.

The Foundation Establishment disciple, whose face had initially been gleeful, slowly turned extremely grim. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he directly threw out a crimson object, about the size of an egg. But how fast was Lei Dong’s reaction? Almost instantaneously, he flicked out a wisp of finger wind, striking the crimson object with absolute precision.

Boom!

A wave of Yang Sha energy exploded like a thunderclap, the core of the blast directly engulfing an area spanning over ten feet. That poor child didn't even have time to flee; he was utterly annihilated by this Yang Sha Heavenly Thunder. It was no wonder; this item was on the same level as Yin Sha Heavenly Thunder. Even a Core Formation cultivator struck head-on would suffer severe injuries, let alone a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator?

“Yang’er!” The Golden Core senior elder observing the battle screamed in agony, transforming into a streak of lightning as he lunged toward Lei Dong: “Little beast, give me back my Yang’er’s life!”

“Insolence!” A Nascent Soul Elder watching from afar snorted angrily, hurling a gigantic fist from a distance. It slammed viciously into the Core Formation cultivator, smashing him deep into the earth. The Core Formation cultivator, buried beneath the massive crater, was left barely clinging to life, nearly dead. Then, masked Core Formation cultivators flew out from some unknown corner, immediately seizing him and dragging him off to an unknown location.

When a Nascent Soul powerhouse exerted his might, the arena fell into complete silence; not a single soul dared to breathe too deeply.

“Anyone who dares disrupt the arena again will meet this fate,” the Nascent Soul cultivator’s furious voice drifted through the air, echoing into the distance before fading. Only then did the referee, snapping back to his senses, immediately declare, “Gongsun Dong wins, advances to the next round.”

Lei Dong merely rubbed his nose, estimating the power of that punch from the Nascent Soul cultivator. He figured the cultivator was in the early Nascent Soul stage; the power wasn't overwhelming, but it was certainly sufficient to inflict lethal damage on a Core Formation cultivator. In reality, the cultivators of the Myriad Puppet Sect specialized in puppetry and were not typically renowned for their personal combat prowess.

In the subsequent battles, having been severely intimidated, no one dared to play tricks or disrupt the proceedings further. Lei Dong fought through round after round. While not every victory was easy, after several twists and turns, he still won each match. This continued until the final round, where he faced Li Chuchu, engaging in a fierce and aesthetically pleasing battle.

That fight dragged on for over half an hour before Lei Dong finally “succumbed” and conceded defeat. He ultimately secured second place, which theoretically meant he had undoubtedly become a core disciple. After the contest, solicitations from various powerful families poured in one after another. Lei Dong responded to them all superficially, but in truth, he was desperately eager to leave.

He had been at the Myriad Puppet Sect for over half a year now. During this time, Lei Dong had not only focused on cultivating puppet techniques. On the contrary, he had accomplished a great deal in these six months. Although he never acted personally, the Ghost Thorn under his command was no ordinary subordinate.

While others’ subordinates typically grew larger as they advanced, the Ghost Thorn seemed to become smaller and more delicate with each breakthrough. Currently, after successive advancements, the Ghost Thorn had entered its most significant bottleneck: the peak Ghost King level. Although breaking through this barrier would be exceedingly difficult for the Ghost Thorn, a peak Ghost King was a formidable entity in itself. Especially since the Ghost Thorn specialized in stealth, infiltration, espionage, and assassination. By working from the inside and exercising extreme caution, he had managed to map out most of the Myriad Puppet Sect's structures and facilities.

... (To be continued)