The team of ten Nascent Soul Ancestors cautiously pushed forward, their speed had increased significantly because they had activated their Nascent Soul Dharma Form, which greatly sped up both their movement and their clearing of the Silver Corpses.
The Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet led the way, its whole body densely covered with thick defenses.
A golden light appeared beneath the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet, and a booming explosion erupted on it, shattering all the defenses that multiple Nascent Soul Ancestors had set up.
However, thanks to those defenses, the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet wasn’t blown away after the first strike nor did it sustain any damage.
"Attack with full power, don’t let it have time to attack us!" Elder Jin Kai said through a transmission after spotting the golden light.
Eight Nascent Soul Ancestors launched their attacks at full strength, sparing no effort in increasing their own consumption to maintain the state of their Nascent Soul Dharma Form. At this moment, each of them struck with their most powerful blow.
They dared not hold back at all, not to mention that the space here suppressed their power, forcing them to attack with all their might. If their attacks were slightly weak and the Golden Corpse was not killed on the spot, it would target them.
They weren’t Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppets; there were no Body Refining Nascent Soul Ancestors specialized here, and they couldn’t withstand the Golden Corpse’s attacks on their own.
With the Golden Corpse’s attack power, even a Body Refining Nascent Soul Ancestor’s defensive power would significantly drop after being consumed by its energy, leading to severe injuries from the Golden Corpse’s attacks.
Although the Golden Corpse was extremely fast and powerful in its attacks, its wisdom was very low; it wouldn’t shift its attack target until it had dealt with the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet, or until attacked by another Cultivator.
So when the Golden Corpse launched another attack on the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet, it was struck by the attacks of the eight Nascent Soul Ancestors.
No matter how formidable the Golden Corpse was, its defensive power couldn’t withstand the full-force strikes of so many Nascent Soul Ancestors.
The body of the Golden Corpse shattered and fell heavily to the ground, its claws still a punch away from the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet and missed hitting it.
Seeing that the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet wasn’t damaged, Ancestor Lu greatly relieved his breath.
If the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet had been destroyed, then it would have been his Golden Corpse advancing to the front; judging from his estimation, the Golden Corpse’s defensive power was not comparable to the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet, and encountering a Spatial Golden Corpse probably indicated almost certain destruction.
"Finally, we have a victory!" Elder Zuo said with a big laugh.
Not just him, all the other Nascent Soul Ancestors felt better seeing the Golden Corpse slain.
The pressure from this Golden Corpse was enormous, a rarity for them.
Now, they finally found a method to counter the Golden Corpse, making them virtually safe again.
The most terrifying aspect of the Golden Corpse was its speed; without a target to distract it, each of its attacks would likely take the life of a Nascent Soul Early Stage Practitioner.
"Quick, reinforce the puppet with defenses!" Ancestor Lu, who was keen on the safety of the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet, immediately reminded.
He was the first to cast a Defense Technique, applying several Fourth Grade Defense Spells on the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet.
The other Nascent Soul Cultivators followed suit, adding various defensive measures to restore the Fourth Grade Xuanjia Puppet to its strongest defensive state.
With a method to combat the Golden Corpse, their confidence greatly increased.
Li Shiming finally saw the third gate’s palace, a red architecture that under the observation of "Divine Sight," resembled a gigantic heart.
Faintly, he felt as if the heart-like palace appeared to be alive.
The closer he got to the palace, the more he discovered a pair of ten-meter-tall men stationed at each side of the door.
These two men initially appeared human, but there are no ten-meter-tall humans; upon nearing them, he sensed the terrifying aura of a Fourth Grade Spirit Beast.
These two men, unknown as to what Fourth Grade Spirit Beast they transformed from, appeared human except for their ten-meter height, showing no traces of a spirit beast.
Li Shiming felt a headache coming on, with two Fourth Grade Spirit Beasts guarding the door, how could he possibly enter the gate.
Although the Illusion Spirit Jiao’s invisibility ability was indeed powerful, its realm was too low. To conceal itself near a Fourth Grade Spirit Beast and move around was simply impossible to hide from the senses of two Fourth Grade Spirit Beasts.
If the two Fourth Grade Spirit Beasts discovered them, both the Illusion Spirit Jiao and Li Shiming would face certain death.
With his mind racing, Li Shiming directed the Illusion Spirit Jiao to retreat, moving back dozens of miles before he reused an old trick.
He deployed an autonomous cannon, programming it for automatic attack, with the Illusion Spirit Jiao escorting him back close to the palace.
A second-grade shell flew towards the palace gate, targeting one of the big men.
Just as the shell neared the big man, he suddenly moved and punched the second-grade shell, which didn’t even get the chance to explode and was instantly reduced to powder by the terrifying force.
To his surprise, the big man did not fly over to seek the attacker as expected, but returned to stand in his original spot.
The autonomous cannon had twenty rounds; once it attacked, it would continue relentlessly until all the shells were expended.
But no matter how the shells provoked, the two big men merely destroyed the incoming shells and never left the side of the palace.
Li Shiming realized that it was highly probable these two big men considered protecting the palace more important than anything else and that drawing them away might be extremely difficult.