Zhao Boqin swung his spear, a pillar of water erupting from the tip, smashing into the puppet, but the puppet smashed through it like a carp swimming upriver.
The spray of water everywhere left behind a bright rainbow in the sky, and throw the sprinkles of water, the puppet appeared, punching down on Zhao Boqin.
A sphere of water had already appeared around Zhao Boqin to protect him, and even then he was looking to run away or protect himself some other way.
The puppet smashed through the water shield and still flew toward Zhao Boqin. At the same time, Alex was already attacking him from behind.
The man turned around swiftly, his spear already duplicating in his arms as other golden illusory spears formed that smashed into Alex's attack. He felt the shockwave of the blast push through him. Thankfully, he wasn't pushed back into the incoming puppet.
The battle was harder than the one he had fought with Hongxi, and if there was one advantage he could see about it, it was that the puppet was incapable of using any techniques. If it could, he would've been hurt a long time ago.
Maybe there was another advantage here too. Alex was way weaker than the puppet, so if he got the opportunity, he could take him out. Thinking as much, he got back into the fight.
He weaved under the puppet's punch and struck it dead in the chest with his spear, sending it flying backward in an explosion of golden energy. Even then, the puppet stood unharmed, looking only to come back to attack him.
But that was enough time for him to turn around and attack Alex.
When he did that, however, his eyes went wide with the sight of dozens of swords flying in the air in a weirdly numbered array. They spun around, barely any of the metal in the group gleaming in the bright sun.
He could not tell what the black metal that made the sword was, but seeing it not shine surprised him a bit. That surprise only lasted for as long as it took for fear to settle into hi of just how strong that attack was.
'Bloody bastard was holding back?' he thought in anger, bringing out something from his storage bag at the same time. God knew he did not wish to use it, but seeing what was happening, the only choice he had was to use this or to give up.
And he did not want to give up.
A wheel appeared in his hand, like one taken from a cart. If the wooden wheel was taken from a cart, it would have been a heavenly cart, used to carry gods and kings.
The wheel was golden in color, despite being made up of wood, with 8 symmetrical spokes coming out from a thick circular center painted in brilliant red. The rim of the wheel was golden but had streaks of white in it as if something was written or carved into it.
Zhao Boqin felt wrong about using this artifact. It was something ancient that was close to its end and would be destroyed any day. He did not know how many more uses he had of this.
Still, he had no choice right now.
Qi poured into the wheel and it glowed. The gold got bright, the red more brilliant. And the white scribbles that could have been text glowed bright blue now.
The wheel started spinning all of a sudden, before slowly moving in front of Zhao Boqin to spin on its own, growing larger and larger until it was twice as large as the man who used it.
At the same time, Zhao Boqin looked away from the wheel to look toward the puppet. At the very least, he had to survive that thing. The wheel would protect him from Alex for now.
Alex looked at the wheel and felt a desire to check just how strong he was here. The 75 sword that spun over him spun even faster under his command and a low buzzing sound echoed throughout the sky and ground like a thousand bees buzzing at once.
Thick Sword Qi filled the swords and then Sword Aura, filling them all to the brink. Then, he thought of adding more.
Embrace your technique, was what Godslayer had told him, so he tried to do it. He embraced the thinness of his attack, the apparent nonexistence of it. The compression he had to put on his technique to make it work, all the different Dao that worked together.
He embraced them all and he added to the swords. A low groan escaped his mouth before he could even stop it. Not that he could have with the sudden pain that jolted in his head. Whatever he was doing, it was having some effect for sure.
Whether it was a good effect or not, he had yet to know.
Flickers of light surrounded him, something even he failed to notice. Nobody else did either. They were too small, too compressed. Too… nothing.
Having done all he could short of giving himself a migraine, Alex sent down the attack.
The 75 swords roared with fury, with Midnight leading the rest, as they made their way toward the wheel that floated in front of them.
The crash of the swords on the wheel was the greatest exchange of attacks that had happened in the secret realm, aside from the Immortal attacks themselves.
The explosive force of the swords crashing onto the solid defense of the wheel sent a force drifting through the sky that caused gusts of winds that threatened to clear the skies and uproot the trees underneath.
People were buffeted by the winds and had to shield themselves quickly before looking back.
While Zhao Boqin was busy fending himself off of the puppet, Alex was drilling into the shield with his sword and was genuinely surprised at how difficult it was.
He could tell it was an impressive treasure, but this was beyond impressive. No matter how much he pushed, the wheel didn't budge one bit. It was perhaps the greatest defensive treasure he had seen on someone. It was perhaps even better than the shield the Dragon Emperor had used in this battle, but he would have to wait to find out.
He kept at it for a while and felt something shift on the wheel.
Zhao Boqin noticed it too and couldn't help but frown. The wheel was old and was steps away from breaking, and it already showed signs now.
He focused on maintaining the wheel, but the puppet was still attacking him. He couldn't understand how Alex was keeping track of everything, including the puppet's attacks. He knew it couldn't have been easy, but he still did it.
His forehead was now drenched with sweat from all the stress. Thankfully, relief filled him when he sensed Alex take back his attack. The feeling of pressure lessened and he could focus back on the puppet.
He fought with the puppet, doing his best to hold back against it for a while when he realized that Alex was doing nothing. He fearfully looked back to see where he was.
Alex was still beyond the wheel with his eyes unfocused on the outside world. And in his hand was his sword which he readied for a single strike.
