In the second after Ye Tianyuan ran out, many palm-sized purple scorpions suddenly rushed out of the forest. They were also a type of Gu worm, likely sent by the Gu master to pursue Ye Tianyuan.
Seeing this, Yan Shouyi pulled Ye Tianyuan behind him and unleashed several palm thunderbolts from his hand.
The Gu worms were instantly charred black on the outside and tender within, the air filled with the aroma of roasted meat.
Ye Tianyuan let out a long breath, feeling as if he had brushed past death.
However, before he could fully relax, Long Feicheng had already swung his Caiwei Sword towards him. Yan Shouyi quickly pulled Ye Tianyuan back, shouting, "Spread your legs!"
Ye Tianyuan spread his legs with a whoosh, and Long Feicheng's sword sliced between them. The faint sword qi sent a chill down Ye Tianyuan's groin.
"Get up!"
Yan Shouyi lifted Ye Tianyuan from the ground, retreating as he asked, "Can you break their control?"
"Yes, but it will take time."
"How much time? Before the love-thread Gu descends?"
"They were controlled suddenly, so it should be quick to undo. I..."
"Stop wasting time, hurry up!"
Yan Shouyi, not listening to Ye Tianyuan's rambling, threw him towards Zhuge Ji.
The reason for choosing Zhuge Ji was that he was the weakest and easiest to deal with among the three.
But when Ye Tianyuan landed before Zhuge Ji and saw him suddenly pull out a dagger, Ye Tianyuan was still startled.
Zhuge Ji stabbed down emotionlessly. Fortunately, Ye Tianyuan had some combat ability of his own. After dodging the dagger, he stooped and charged at Zhuge Ji.
Unexpectedly, after being controlled by the shadow puppetry successor, Zhuge Ji's close-combat ability soared. He not only dodged Ye Tianyuan but also plunged his knife into Ye Tianyuan's injured leg.
This made things worse. Ye Tianyuan, who was already having trouble moving, found it even more difficult to move his body.
Just as Zhuge Ji was about to stab Ye Tianyuan a few more times, Yan Shouyi finally reached him.
He tapped Zhuge Ji's back several times with his fingers, and Zhuge Ji instantly became paralyzed, unable to move.
"Unlike the puppet show successors who control the body joints directly with strings, you shadow puppetry successors control the flesh through shadows. I've sealed Zhuge Ji's meridians with acupoint pressure. No matter how the shadow manipulates, his body won't react. Hurry up and help him break free!"
After speaking, Yan Shouyi turned to intercept Tian Jue'er.
Ye Tianyuan endured the pain and reached into Zhuge Ji's shadow, quickly finding the shadow puppet and tearing it apart!
Zhuge Ji also immediately regained consciousness and said painfully, "Tian Yuan, I was controlled just now. How is your leg?"
"I'm fine!"
Ye Tianyuan struggled to stand up. "I dragged Daoist Jin Bi to hide just now. He's in the grass not far away. Go and bring him over first!"
"Alright!" To atone for his guilt, Zhuge Ji immediately sprang into action and burrowed into the grass to find Daoist Jin Bi.
At the same time, Yan Shouyi approached Tian Jue'er and, using the same trick, tapped her twice.
To his surprise, Tian Jue'er's body only stiffened for less than a second before she regained mobility!
"I forgot this little girl has the Yuan Sheng Gu in her body..." Yan Shouyi exclaimed in fear. "Acupoint pressure is useless against her. The Yuan Sheng Gu will instantly free her from any paralysis!"
Dodging Tian Jue'er's punch, which could kill an elephant, Yan Shouyi suddenly raised his hand and shot a flying tiger claw from his sleeve.
The flying tiger claw landed on the tree trunk behind Tian Jue'er. Yan Shouyi leaped forward and kicked Tian Jue'er, forcing her back. He then quickly circled the large tree several times, tightly binding Tian Jue'er to the trunk!
The rope of the flying tiger claw was made of extraordinary material, and even with Tian Jue'er's immense strength, she couldn't break free immediately.
Seizing the opportunity, Ye Tianyuan lunged forward, grabbed the shadow puppet from Tian Jue'er's shadow, and also broke Tian Jue'er's control.
Tian Jue'er looked around blankly, then exclaimed, "Was I just controlled?"
"Correct, but there's no prize."
Yan Shouyi rushed towards Long Feicheng and assigned Tian Jue'er another task: "Go and check that small temple. Report any findings to me!"
"Okay..."
Tian Jue'er hurried to the small temple. Being rather simple-minded, she inspected it several times and found it to be a completely ordinary small temple.
So ordinary that she didn't know how to describe it to Yan Shouyi.
"What's different about the small temple?!" Yan Shouyi asked Tian Jue'er while fighting Long Feicheng.
Tian Jue'er mumbled and hummed for a long time. Finally, even Wen Yuxian couldn't stand it and walked around the small temple a few times.
She actually found a clue!
"The bottom of the small temple is carved with cloud patterns, which is not in accordance with the design rules of temples!" Wen Yuxian shouted.
Hearing this, Yan Shouyi had a rough idea. At the same time, he came up behind Long Feicheng, grabbed him, and performed a classic hold.
Ye Tianyuan followed suit, breaking Long Feicheng's control.
"Damn it!"
The moment Long Feicheng regained his senses, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Brother Yan, let go of me quickly! This pose is too embarrassing, I don't want to be misunderstood!"
"Scram!"
Yan Shouyi let go and used a clever maneuver to kick Long Feicheng towards the side of the small temple, cursing, "I haven't even complained about your creepiness yet!"
"President!"
Tian Jue'er raised her hand and pointed at the sky, shouting, "The love-thread Gu is about to land!"
Everyone immediately looked up and saw that the pink love-thread Gu in the sky had already drifted to within twenty meters of their heads.
At a height of twenty meters, no matter how slowly they drifted, they would land within a minute!
Wen Yuxian hurriedly asked, "Do you know how to find the Flying Palace?"
"I know!"
Yan Shouyi confidently walked to the side of the small temple, grabbed the crack in the temple's floor, and gripped the cloud pattern on the ground.
Then, he pulled upwards with all his might, as if trying to overturn the small temple!
Boom—
The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains trembled!
"What's going on?"
Everyone was frightened and huddled together, looking around in panic.
Suddenly, the small temple was uprooted by Yan Shouyi and thrown down the cliff!
"This isn't a small temple, but a cloud supporting the Flying Palace! This Senior Lu Ban is truly a divine being!!"
Under Yan Shouyi's loud exclamation, the small temple plunged down the cliff.
And a few seconds later, a colossal object slowly rose from the bottom of the mountain...
Ye Tianyuan lay on the edge of the cliff, looking down, and was utterly stunned.
"It really is a grand palace... The palace is flying up from below the cliff!!!"