CHAPTER 100: PUPPETS... CLEARING THE PAVILION GROUNDS...

They took a moment to process the information revealed by the orb. Finally, the arrangement of the pavilions made sense. Kranos pondered over the implications, faintly grasping some terrifying truths from the voice’s message. It made him realize just how dangerous this world truly was.

"In that case, let’s quickly head to the other pavilions and complete the trial to get the inheritance," Luka interrupted their thoughts with a slight smile.

Kranos glanced at him, then shook his head. Luka was always too carefree, never one to overthink things. How has he even survived all these years? Kranos wondered silently.

By the side, Kathryn nodded in agreement with Luka. "Let’s head to the next pavilion then."

Seeing this, Kranos shook his head inwardly again. He was curious about Kathryn’s intentions—something told him she had her own plans, and it wouldn’t be that simple.

With everything settled in the hall, Kranos and the others quietly left and made their way to the second pavilion on the right. Just like before, Luka stepped forward and opened the entrance. Inside, 12 puppets stood guard around the treasures and the orb in the center.

The group immediately launched into battle. Soon, the puppets were defeated, but a frown appeared on all their faces—the puppets had clearly been stronger than the ones in the previous pavilion.

"Will the puppets keep getting stronger each time?" Kranos asked Kathryn. If their strength continued increasing at this rate, would they eventually reach the Monarch Realm? At their current level, none of them could face a Monarch-level beast and survive.

Kathryn shook her head with a wry smile. "I’m not sure yet. Let’s take it one step at a time. If it gets too difficult, we can always give up halfway."

Kranos and Kevin nodded in agreement, not wanting to risk their lives either. Luka, on the other hand, simply shrugged.

They quickly rushed forward to pick their treasures. Once again, Kathryn ’accidentally’ selected the same treasures as Luka. Luka then withdrew the orb, but this time, no voice echoed in their minds.

...

After wrapping up in the second pavilion, they quietly left and continued their journey. They cleared the third pavilion, then the fourth... and so time passed.

Eventually, they arrived at the seventh pavilion, and this time, all their expressions grew solemn. Before them stood 12 puppets at the peak of the Dao Palace Realm, far more humanoid than any they had faced before.

After a moment of hesitation, they chose to engage the puppets.

"Everyone, use your trump cards! We’re so close to obtaining the inheritance of the Mysterious Sovereign Star Sect!" Luka shouted with determination.

As he spoke, spatial fluctuations rippled around him. In the next instant, his figure flickered like a mirage and split into seven identical clones.

Kranos was stunned. All seven Lukas moved with lightning speed, engaging three puppets at once. Although the puppets were terrifyingly strong, they couldn’t determine which Luka was real and quickly fell into disarray.

Kathryn’s figure blurred as well. After chanting a few words, a massive flame—four times the size of a grown adult—burst into her palm. With swift precision, she hurled it toward a group of puppets, suppressing several at once.

With only one puppet left unoccupied, Kranos activated his space-elemental movement technique and rushed in. His strength alone wasn’t enough to handle the puppet, but with Kevin supporting him from a distance, he was able to barely hold his ground.

The Azure Sky Sword slashed forward, aiming for the puppet’s head—but it twisted aside and narrowly dodged the strike. It retaliated with a powerful punch.

Kranos immediately paused time and dodged sideways. Accelerating, he began attacking the puppet’s joints in rapid succession. After a fierce exchange, he finally destroyed it with a concentrated blast.

He let out a breath of relief—only to notice another puppet charging straight at him. Turning, he saw that Kathryn was struggling to manage more than five puppets. Seeing that he had taken down one, she had redirected another toward him.

Kranos sighed deeply, his expression turning grim, and darted forward to intercept the next puppet.

Meanwhile, Luka was holding his own. With all his clones wielding the same sword technique, his sheer speed allowed him to stay on par with the three puppets—if not slightly overpower them.

Bang!

Two of his clones slammed a puppet into one of the treasure boxes. Luka didn’t waste the opportunity. He launched a flurry of attacks and destroyed the puppet. But just as he did, another puppet lunged at him. Groaning in frustration, Luka reformed his formation and continued the fight.

...

The intense battle raged for several minutes. Eventually, Kranos defeated the puppet Kathryn had sent his way. Kathryn and Luka also concluded their fights shortly after.

Kranos, however, was completely drained. He could feel that his mana had nearly run dry. Knowing he was at a disadvantage if they started selecting treasures now, he spoke up.

"Let’s rest and recover before choosing the treasures and heading to the final pavilion."

Noticing his state, the others nodded in agreement. Although their mana reserves weren’t as low as Kranos’, being of a higher realm, they decided to accommodate him.

With a sigh of relief, Kranos sat down and entered a meditative state. Wisps of energy slowly flowed into his core, swirling in his mental space as he began to recover.

After a while, his eyes opened.

"I’m done recovering," he informed the others.

As soon as Kranos informed them, they hesitated for a moment before rushing out for the boxes of treasures. Kranos’ figure also flickered as he silently appeared before some boxes. In the blink of an eye, all the boxes were cleared out. This time as well, Luka was the one to take the orb, and similar to all the other times, aside from the first time, no mysterious voice appeared in their head to talk to them.

Kranos guessed that when they reached the next pavilion, the voice would definitely speak to them, but he couldn’t be too sure. After they finished with everything, they silently left the pavilion, heading to the final pavilion in the centre.