It took Curo six and a half days to finish branding all of the Puppets. He managed to refine the Saint Realm Puppets in a day, however, when he was branding the Earthly Saint Realm Puppets, he failed several times before he could successfully brand them.

He spent nearly two days on branding these Puppets. The Heavenly Saint Puppets were an ordeal in itself. Curo only managed to create the right Brand after two days of complementing on the needed changes. The amount of Soul Force each brand required had risen by several fold. If it hadn’t been for Curo having his Soul Force improving thanks to the constant creation of the Brands, he would have needed a month to properly Brand all of these Puppets. Just when Curo had finished, he let out a deep breath of relief. After inspecting the rows upon rows of Puppets in front of him, he smiled.

With nearly two thousand Saint Realm Puppets that never tired, never hungered, never rebelled or held ulterior motives at his beck and call, he truly felt the feeling to be intoxicating. He shook his head as he murmured, “Maybe that is why people turn to the Puppetry Arts. Puppets never question you, never betray you or act with ulterior motives….”

As the hough passed in his head, he let out another deep sigh. He then glanced towards the central podium again and sure enough, the slender man was standing there, leaning on one of the pillars. With vigilance, Curo walked towards the man. The slender man seemed to be in no hurry as he calmly waited for Curo to arrive. Not to mention hurrying him along, he didn’t even glance at him. This only made Curo grow even more vigilant towards the person.

Although, he seemed like someone that was in charge of these Trials, for some reason, Curo still felt dread when looking at the person. When Curo arrived at the podium again, the slender man opened his eyes and after giving a glance at the Puppets that still stood in neat rows, he gave a nod. He then said in an indifferent tone, “Congratulations for passing the Second Trial.

As for your reward, you can consider these two legions as the prize.” Curo wasn’t really surprised as he had figured as much. If they had erased his Brand’s on the Puppets, he would have been a bit sour. The slender man then said, “As for the Third Trial, it is all about your ability to command these Puppets.” The man took a breath before he continued explaining, “The First Trial tested your knowledge and comprehensions towards the Formations. The Second Trial however tested your Soul Force and your ability to make adjustments to fit the need. The Third Trial will test your ability to lead.”

The man then slowly walked towards the other end of the cave, where there was a door, identical to the one Curo had come in from, however, it wasn’t covered in Formations like that first one had. When the man arrived in front of the door, he turned around and threw Curo a jade slip.

When Curo caught the jade slip, the man said, “Your objective in the Third Trial will be to use those two legions behind you and defeat me. Once you defeat me, the Third Trial will be considered as completed and you will earn the qualifications to pass onto the next room. Inside the room, you will learn of my Master’s Legacy and you will obtain everything he has left behind.” He then took a breath and continued, “Inside the jade slip are the Formations those Puppets are able to use and also several different methods of attacking with these Puppets. You have three days to comprehend and study the jade slip before the final Third Trial begins.”

After saying so, the slender man sat down cross legged and closed his eyes. Curo glanced at the man with a confused gaze before he lowered his head towards the jade slip in his hand. He felt that something was off but he couldn’t really say what was off. With a shrug, all he could do was send some Qi into the jade slip and sit down cross legged.

Just as he had sat down, a Transmission Talisman appeared in front of him. Curo’s eyes opened wide as a cold glint appeared in them. When the Transmission Talisman took form, he realized that the person contacting him was Xie Li. Without waiting for Curo to say anything, Xie Li hurriedly said, “Do not return to the Ji Clan. The entire City is under siege by over 200 Nine Clans Saints. In addition there are over a dozen Sovereign Puppets and countless low levelled cultivators. The City is done for, your Father and Mo Zheng have reached an agreement to fight to the bitter end. However, you will be the last of the Ji Bloodline then and they will not allow you to come back and die for them.”

With that being said, the Transmission Talisman burnt up, indicating that the other side had cut the line. Curo’s eyes turned grim as he glanced at the two thousand Puppets behind him. However, before h could do anything, the slender man’s voice echoed out in the cave, “If you leave now, you will forfeit your qualifications to take part in the Third Trial.”

Hearing this, Curo paused for only a moment before he turned towards the man and smiled, “I don’t care, family is more important than any Legacy. It just seems like I don’t have the karma for this Legacy.” Hearing this, the slender man raised a brow in surprise but didn’t say anything about it. Just as Curo was about to leave with these two thousand Puppets, did the man ask, “By undergoing the Third Trial you will be able to obtain the Legacy of the strongest person this Realm has ever seen. Not to mention those Nine Clans, even the Primordial Clans from the vast Realmverse out there will have to treat you carefully.”

Hearing this, Curo paused for a moment. But it was only a moment before he continued his steps and left behind one sentence, “If I can’t obtain a Legacy, I will create one; however, I can’t create a new Father or Uncle.” With this sentence left behind, he disappeared behind the Gates, the two thousand Puppets all following behind him. When only the slender man was left in the vast cave, the slender man smiled. Eight figures appeared next to him and looked at him with an odd look.

The red haired man with a bulky body then asked cautiously, “Why are you smiling Sweeper?” The slender man then said through his grin, “Because he just passed the Third Trial.” The eight looked at each other in confusion and the man then explained, “These Trials were all left behind by Master himself. The last Trial was the Trial of Heart. If he had been selfish or greedy, non caring of the Puppets and only sent them to their doom, he would have failed. However, if he tried to save as many as possible, then he would be considered as passed.”

The eight were still confused and seeing this, the slender man called Sweeper sighed, “The Third Trial was purely to see how he treats the Puppets. Master didn’t want to pass down his Legacy and all of us to someone that would treat us as nothing more than a piece of wood.” Hearing this, the eight could only sigh. Their Master had always been good to them and even after his death, he was still looking out for them.

However, a woman with quite ample curves then frowned and said, “However, he should be from the City a few hundred kilo meters north from here. I do indeed sense there are thirty Puppets there but they are simply Shell Puppets. That fellow only needs one Legion to wipe them all out as the Puppets Master crafted are two or even three times stronger and sturdier than those Shell Puppets.” Sweeper nodded his head and said, “Yes. Now, all we have to do is observe the boy. He was willing to give up Master’s Legacy to go to his Clan’s aide. This shows that he treasures intimate relationships very much. Also, from this battle, we will be able to see how he treats the Puppets.”

The eight nodded their heads and reappeared before the giant screen, observing everything that was happening.

***

When Curo arrived at the fringes of the battlefield, his face turned grim. It had taken him half an hour to arrive here and on the way, he had meticulously studied the jade slip the slender man had given him. He could understand the basic Battle Formations these Puppets could take and how to utilize them the best. However, on the way, he had no way of testing them out. Now, staring at the bloody battlefield in front of him, he took a deep breath and divided the army into two.

They were originally two Legions so, it wasn’t exactly hard. One Legion flew towards the City to reinforce and assist the Ji Clan men and Alliance forces stationed in the City. The other Legion however, was to look for the Sovereign Puppet Controllers. Although the jade slip boasted of the Puppet’s strength, he didn’t dare have them fight the Sovereign Puppets head on. These were all Top Grade Puppets that Chen Cang had crafted with intense care.

To have them go self destruct so shortly after obtaining them was nothing more than a huge waste and disrespect towards the creator of the Puppets. As the Legions charged towards their respective locations to do their duties, Curo stored the GuanDao Halberd inside the Qi Sphere in his Qi Palace. He then took a deep breath and his eyes turned into reptilian ones as his body started expanding and slowly turning black. After several moments had passed, he let out a mighty roar as a black streak charged towards the Sovereign Puppets fighting in the sky. The two Legions speed was higher than Curo’s so when the two Legions received their orders, they immediately used full speed to dash ahead and accomplish their mission.

Their arrival at the battlefield caused quite a stir. They all wore the same black battle armour and when the fighting sides saw that there were two thousand Saint Realm cultivators heading their way, they all paled. Only when they reached closer did the Nine Clans and the Alliance recognize that they were Puppets. However, this also horrified them as the Puppets wore an Insignia none of them recognized. As both sides cautiously observed them, the Alliance side let out a breath of deep relief when they saw that all of these Puppets only attacked the Nine Clan’s forces. They did not touch a single hair on the Alliance forces.

With new found hope, the killing intent of the Alliance rose to the skies. It was just then that they heard the loud roar that echoed across the horizon. When they looked over, they saw a pitch black dragon, bathed in black flames rush towards them in an imposing manner. In only a few moments, he was already high up in the sky and fighting against the Sovereign Puppets of the Nine Clans. Seeing this, Ji Long and Mo Zheng, who were both facing two opponents, exchanged a complicated gaze. They were well aware of everything that took place on the battlefield.

When they saw the strange Puppets arrive, they thought that they were truly done for and had resigned themselves to death. However, when they saw that they were only slaughtering the Nine Clans forces, they felt relieved. Even though they pondered on who was behind these Puppets, the current situation didn’t allow them much time to think about it. However, when they saw the black dragon rushing across the skies, they knew it was Curo. They had no idea where he got all these Puppets or who were controlling them but the fact was that Curo had brought them here in their hour of need. They knew that the Dragon Form Curo was currently using was on par with a Sovereigns body in terms of durability, strength and toughness.

The only thing he lacked was the Sovereign Energy and the vast Qi Reserve of a Sovereign Realm cultivator. In addition to that, the Nether Flames would give him an edge over these Puppets as they were controlled by Saint Realm cultivators. They also didn’t have access to the Sovereign Energy and they also lacked the Sovereign Realm Qi Reserve.

They could do nothing but hold out and see how this ended. They noticed that half of these Puppets were rampaging around in the back line of the Nine Clans army, seemingly searching for the Sovereign Puppet Controllers.

***

In front of the giant screen, on the starry island, the red haired man frowned as he spoke out loud, “Why did he charge towards those so called Sovereign Puppets by himself while the Black Dragon Army was sent to sweep the battlefield?”

He then huffed as he continued, “Each of Heavenly Saint Puppets Master refined could fight three of those so called Sovereign Puppets and obliterate them if given enough time.” A wave of nodding heads seemed to be on the same opinion as him. However, Sweeper said with and amused gaze, “We know that but he doesn’t. He doesn’t know the full strength of those Puppets, he is cautious as he doesn’t want to break them. If push comes to shove, I can just override the boy’s Brand and send two hundred Heavenly Saint Puppets to swiftly annihilate those “Sovereign Puppets”.” Hearing this, the eight exchanged a glance as they didn’t dwell on this matter.

However, a few moments passed before the Sovereign Puppets started falling from the skies lifelessly. Sweeper cracked a smile as he said, “I see…. So he wishes to obtain those Puppets, so he instructed one Legion to kill the Controllers so he could obtain those Puppets for himself.” The eight let out a laugh as well. However, the red haired man then turned serious as he said, “Seems like those Nine Clans seem to be the infamous Branches of the Primordial Clans.” Sweeper nodded seriously as he said, “Seems like their hands have finally reached here.

In the past, Master eradicated every attempt they made to settle down their Branches here. However, it seems like in the end it was futile as they seem to have grown quite powerful here.” The red haired man nodded seriously to the statement. The red haired man then turned to one sickly looking youth and asked, “Tactician, what is your view on this?”

The sickly youth thought for a moment and then sighed, “Berserker, I can’t say for sure but it seems like both sides are about even. Unless there is some heaven shaking change, this war won’t end soon and will be dragged out until one side makes a fatal mistake.”