Chapter 7: Wooden Puppets

"I am Feng Yan, a cultivator at the Second Step of the Condensation Realm of the First Level,"

Feng Yan opened her eyes, a spark of enthusiasm shining from them. She had forgotten all the suffering she had faced just moments ago.

For Feng Yan, improving her cultivation level was more important than anything else, so she didn't mind swimming in a pool of lava if it meant increasing her cultivation.

Feng Yan got up and discovered that all his wounds had healed completely without leaving a trace. She remembered what he had read in the Spiritual Cultivation Technique manual, that upon any breakthrough, whether between Steps, Realms, or Levels, a cultivator would have their injuries healed automatically. However, there were limits.

For example, a breakthrough between Steps couldn't heal broken bones. While a breakthrough between Realms could do so, and while a breakthrough between Realms couldn't heal serious internal injuries, a breakthrough between Levels could.

In short, the stronger the breakthrough, the stronger the effects on the cultivator.

Feng Yan stretched his body, intending to explore her body after the breakthrough. She didn't feel a huge difference. She wasn't discouraged, knowing that a breakthrough between Steps didn't bring about any drastic improvement. Nonetheless, a smile graced his face with happiness.

She looked up, though she wasn't sure one hundred percent, but felt in her heart that Shuo was watching her from somewhere:

"Are you going to make me die of boredom, Shuo? Come on, let's move on to the Second Step!"

"Has your ego inflated because of a meaningless Step breakthrough? What a frog that doesn't know the vastness of the sky! You have what you wish."

With a muffled, sarcastic laugh. Shuo began preparing the next stage for Feng Yan. Feng Yan waited, eager for the next round. She couldn't wait to get the second reward. She was determined in her heart that if a demon appeared in front of him, she would kill it to get another reward. Greed was controlling Feng Yan's heart. And Shuo knew this well, but didn't care at all.

And after a few seconds, Feng Yan heard a cold, inhuman voice:

"Visitor is being transported to the Second Floor!"

Immediately after hearing the strange voice. There was a tremor in the ground beneath Feng Yan's feet. And Feng Yan immediately noticed that the ground wasn't shaking, but that it was rising upwards by seeing the ten open gates moving downwards. Feng Yan looked up and saw that the circular ceiling was also starting to move away from her. In a very short time, a new set of gates appeared before Feng Yan.

Stop!

"Battle Tower Trial - Round One - Second Floor - Wooden Puppets!"

And after hearing the electronic voice announce. She saw that the ten gates in front of her opened. From the announcement, Feng Yan concluded that his opponents this time would be a group of puppets made of wood instead of pottery. Feng Yan wasn't scared at all, even though she knew that wooden puppets would be stronger than pottery puppets. And they wouldn't be easy to break like them either.

But wherever there is danger, there is also wealth!

"I hope you don't disappoint me, wooden puppets!"

With a confident smile on her face, Feng Yan took a fighting stance and was ready to fight the wooden puppets. She didn't wait long. And wooden puppets appeared before her. Dark brown in color and well-sculpted bodies. The wooden puppets were walking slowly towards Feng Yan as if they were a group of experienced hunters who were out to hunt an opportunity even if it was stronger than them.

"This is interesting!"

Before Feng Yan could finish his sentence. One of the wooden puppets started running at full speed, rushing towards Feng Yan. Feng Yan focused all his attention on the single puppet that was rushing towards her. And after it had covered half the distance, the puppet behind his back also started running as well, targeting Feng Yan's back, which was without any defense!

"This is a bit scary, wooden puppets know a little about coordinating with each other, this will make things more difficult!"

Feng Yan ignored the puppet that was targeting her back and decided to deal with the puppet in front of her first. After the puppet reached the range of engagement, the puppet struck with all its might with its wooden fist, aiming at Feng Yan's face. Feng Yan ducked his head slightly, dodging the puppet's fist. With incredible speed, Feng Yan delivered a very powerful punch from below to the wooden puppet's chin.

Bang!!!

From the force of the punch, the puppet flew backward and fell to the ground. Feng Yan didn't have time to check what happened to the first puppet,

but the only thing she was sure of is that the wooden puppet wasn't broken and was still able to fight. But she had to turn his back to defend against the second puppet that was targeting her back, as it had also reached the engagement range!

Very quickly, Feng Yan lowered herself and moved her leg like a whip with a graceful and very fast movement. The puppet didn't expect such a move, which resulted in the puppet falling from losing its balance on the ground. There was no time for Feng Yan to take a breath. She noticed that the first puppet had regained its balance, and it wasn't alone - five other puppets were attacking at the same time.

"Damn it, these puppets are trying to drain my stamina with this kind of attack!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Feng Yan continued to hit all the puppets that were trying to attack her. Feng Yan maintained a safety circle around her. And with time, the puppets began to break one by one. As Feng Yan's fatigue increased, spiritual energy spread through her body to eliminate the fatigue.

Inhale! Exhale! Inhale! Exhale!...

Feng Yan was breathing heavily from exhaustion, even though spiritual energy was helping Feng Yan not to lose his strength. But spiritual energy couldn't restore Feng Yan's mental strength or heal Feng Yan's wounds. Feng Yan's fists were bleeding heavily from the repeated blows to the solid wooden puppet bodies. This only worsened Feng Yan's condition.

"Only three puppets left, who would have thought that wooden puppets would be this difficult? It seems the pottery puppets were just appetizers for what's to come! If the second floor puppets are this strong, then what will the strength of the puppets be on the higher floors?"

Feng Yan waved her fists to remove the blood from them. She was deep in thought about what surprises the Battle Tower had in store for her. Fear and dread crept into Feng Yan's heart little by little. But her thoughts were interrupted by a two-pronged attack from two puppets from the right and left at the same time. Feng Yan's eyes didn't even blink!

Bang! Bang!

With two graceful movements, Feng Yan was able to explode the puppet on the left with a kick to its chest. Before the other puppet could attack, Feng Yan lunged at it with a palm strike that hit the wooden puppet's face, shattering it into pieces. Feng Yan didn't stop at all and rushed towards the last puppet with lightning speed, with eyes like a tiger.

Bang! Bang!

The puppet tried to defend itself, but to no avail. Feng Yan was able to bypass the wooden puppet's defenses and hit it in the chest. Before it could fly backward, Feng Yan grabbed its wrist and pulled it back. The puppet had no way to fight back, which resulted in it receiving a punch to the face, shattering the puppet completely. Its parts scattered everywhere.

When Feng Yan saw the last puppet shatter, he immediately collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion:

"Finally, I defeated them after all this time. I didn't expect wooden puppets to be this strong! It's quite scary!"

Feng Yan panted heavily. All she needed at that moment was a glass of water. She was on the verge of breaking her pride in front of Shuo to ask for just one glass of water. But she was suddenly interrupted by a wave of force that invaded his body like a flood:

"Yes, this is what I wanted. This wave is enough for me to break through to the Third Step!"

Feng Yan absorbed all the power from the green cloud that was like a flood. And after only half an hour, Feng Yan's laughter echoed throughout the entire hall:

"I have broken through to the Third Step of the Condensation Realm of the First Level!"