Chapter 18: Climbing the Combat Tower (2)

"The Combat Tower Test has begun – Round 120 – Fourth Floor – Iron Puppets."

Feng Yan reached the fourth floor and saw the same ten giant doors. She thought for a moment that she might never see colors other than gold and orange, even after leaving the Battle Tower. What she wished most was to see different colors, but this was impossible. Although it seemed trivial, seeing the same colors for three months could drive some weak-minded people to insanity.

The doors opened, revealing the iron puppets that Feng Yan would fight. They were gray, entirely made of iron, living up to their name. Feng Yan knew well that these puppets were very tough, as they were made entirely of heavy iron. If an opponent was not at least at the seventh step, they wouldn't even be able to scratch them. These puppets had weaknesses: they were not agile and their stamina was low. They needed to rest after every twenty attacks to recover their strength. But all this was irrelevant if you couldn't even hit them.

Bull Serpent Technique > Serpent Bull Rush, Serpent Bull Strike!

With great speed, Feng Yan decided to use two techniques from her Bull Serpent Art. The first was a movement technique that allowed her to accelerate straight ahead at high speed, and the other was a fist technique that had the impact of a bull's charge, destroying everything in its path.

Feng Yan charged at the iron puppet in front of her. The puppets didn't remain idle; they used a strategy of three against one, a tactic Feng Yan knew was to allow them to switch places when one puppet got tired, ensuring continuous attacks. In the past, this had given Feng Yan nightmares as these puppets never stopped fighting until their opponent fell. But now, things were entirely different.

Feng Yan reached the first iron puppet and delivered a lightning-fast punch with all her strength and speed, resulting in a massive explosion due to air resistance, shattering the puppet into thousands of pieces upon contact. She didn't stop and quickly executed a powerful kick, forming a half-circle around herself, destroying the puppets on her right and left. Thus, three puppets were destroyed with just two moves.

She looked at the remaining puppets with fierce eyes and a wild aura, causing them to step back unconsciously. But moments later, they regained their composure and attempted a five-against-one attack. Feng Yan responded with a sarcastic smile:

"Stupid puppets, I don't have time to play with you, so disappear quickly!"

Bull Serpent Technique > Serpent Bull Shock: 50 Shocks!

Feng Yan shouted the name of her technique, clenched her fist, and punched the air at incredible speed. It wasn't that simple; her spiritual energy enveloped her arms, striking the air as if it were a wall. The result was missiles infused with spiritual energy and air moving at great speed, shattering the iron puppets without giving them a chance to resist. Only two puppets remained, terrified by Feng Yan's overwhelming power. Seeing their expressions, she decided to destroy them in the most gruesome way:

Bull Serpent Technique > Serpent Bull Shock: 10 Shocks in One: Flaming Projectile!

With a wicked smile, Feng Yan moved her fists, striking them together while covering them with a special fabric. As her spiritual energy wrapped around them, and the intense friction from her fists' speed, a flame ignited that would have burned her sleeves if they weren't protected by spiritual energy. Once the flaming projectile was ready, she said to the iron puppets:

"A special attack for special puppets. I hope you enjoy this; it's my favorite!"

She launched the fireball, which grew larger with time and eventually engulfed the two puppets, leaving not even their ashes behind. After the flames disappeared, Feng Yan was pleased with the result, but her joy was interrupted by First Claw:

"How many times have I told you, Feng Yan? These flashy moves are a sin in real battles. They consume a lot of energy and time. One of the most important rules in combat is to finish the fight with minimal energy and time because a single second can change the course of the battle. Don't you understand this simple rule, Feng Yan?!" (First Claw)

"And don't forget that one flashy move can make you very happy for a while. First Claw, I have power, so what's the point if I can't enjoy it? Come on, don't act like an old man!" (Feng Yan)

"I'm sure you'll die regretting it!" (First Claw)

"No, I'll die happy that I enjoyed my life to the fullest!" (Feng Yan)

Feng Yan decided to completely ignore First Claw, knowing his personality well after training under him for over three months. She decided to recover her spiritual energy manually instead of through the floor's reward. She sat on the ground, began to meditate, and First Claw didn't disturb her. After a while, Feng Yan recovered her full strength and decided to move on to the fifth floor.

...

"The Combat Tower Test has begun – Round 120 – Fifth Floor – Undying Puppets."

Feng Yan reached the fifth floor, the last of the lower floors. She was a bit excited, knowing she would soon ascend to the upper floors where the puppet kings resided. While she was thinking, the doors opened, revealing golden and orange puppets that looked ordinary at first glance. But Feng Yan knew this was entirely wrong. These puppets were known as undying for a very important reason.

The reason was that no matter how much you destroyed these puppets, they would reassemble, their parts held together by an invisible force that repaired everything until the puppet was whole again. The only way to pass this floor was to destroy all the undying puppets and prevent any from fully recovering. A frown appeared on Feng Yan's face as she realized she had to deal with these weak but very annoying puppets. She muttered to herself:

"I have to destroy every puppet and, at the same time, prevent any of them from recovering fully. How annoying!"

After a brief sigh of frustration, Feng Yan decided to take a fighting stance and quickly end the battle:

Bull Serpent Technique > Deadly Bull Serpent Dance!

Feng Yan vanished from her spot with incredible speed and agility. This movement technique was different from the Serpent Bull Rush, focusing on nimble and agile movements in all directions. However, this technique had a weakness: its acceleration was somewhat slow compared to the other technique, which prioritized high acceleration with less focus on agility.

Feng Yan appeared behind one of the undying puppets and, with one swift motion, shattered its head. Before moving to the next, she took a small piece of the shattered puppet and quickly destroyed the head of another. She focused only on the heads of the undying puppets, leaving the bodies and limbs intact. Before moving on to a third puppet, she embedded the piece she took from the first puppet into the torso of the second. She did this because she discovered a flaw in the undying puppets' regeneration ability: if a part, no matter how small, was inside another puppet, it couldn't attract it back, nor could it crawl towards it.

Feng Yan exploited this flaw to destroy the puppets and embed their parts into each other. In three minutes, Feng Yan stood in the middle of the hall surrounded by a large number of puppets with shattered heads and intact bodies, trembling as if trying to do something. But after ten seconds, they began to disintegrate into green dust, a sign of the undying puppets' defeat. Seeing this, Feng Yan smiled and said:

"Finally, I've finished with those annoying puppets. How I hate them. They're weak, relying solely on their endless regeneration ability. They're only slightly stronger than the clay puppets. But that doesn't matter now. First Claw, take me to the sixth floor. It's time to meet the mechanical puppet king!"

"As you wish."

...