Chapter 308 - 305: Shared-Fate Wooden Sculpture

Chapter 308: Chapter 305: Shared-Fate Wooden Sculpture

’What is this?’

He was in a rhomboid space, ten meters square, constructed from white jade.

The moment the Third Turn, Purple Robe, landed, the Teleportation Array behind him vanished as if it were evaporating mercury.

He instinctively took half a step back, his back hitting the cold wall. He swallowed hard, and his gaze suddenly froze.

His eyes had landed on a life-sized wooden doll piled in the southeast corner.

Cold sweat soaked his palms as Purple Robe scanned his surroundings vigilantly.

He made a grim discovery: there was no spatial membrane anywhere that would allow him to leave. In other words, he was completely trapped.

"A Sacrificial Artifact..."

Gazing at the wooden doll in the distance, the Third Turn chose not to act rashly. Instead, he watched it from afar.

Wooden dolls were not unheard of among Sacrificial Artifacts.

But they were usually linked to abilities like curses or instant-death hexes.

It would be utterly absurd to slash at it indiscriminately and end up in mutual destruction.

Amid the standoff, crimson lines of light split open on the wooden doll’s face, like a demonic eye suddenly snapping open.

Then, its wooden joints emitted a cringe-inducing grinding sound as it stretched its limbs and stood up, just like a living person.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—

The next instant, before the shocked eyes of the Third Turn Purple Robe, the doll’s bark-like skin rippled. Its facial features began to distort and remold themselves.

In just a moment, the height of its cheekbones, the curve of its jaw, and even the old scar at the corner of its left eye were imprinted into the wood grain with perfect accuracy.

Its appearance was now identical to his own!

Even its hair, limbs, and clothes had transformed to be exactly like his, only they were all made of solid wood.

It was a perfect one-to-one replica.

Already on high alert, Purple Robe immediately adopted a defensive stance. ’If it can copy my appearance and clothes, what about my Heart Image and my techniques...?’

BOOM!

Almost instantly, the wooden doll kicked off the jade tiles with its left leg. Amid a sonic boom loud enough to rupture eardrums, its two fingers shot out, aiming to gouge out Purple Robe’s eyes.

The Third Turn could even see the starry glow of True Qi wrapping around its fingertips—it was the Star-Seeking Finger, a technique he had used for over a hundred years.

Purple Robe was horrified. He rooted his left foot to the ground with True Qi and threw his upper body backward.

His waist bent at nearly a right angle as the two finger-strikes grazed the tip of his nose. He had barely dodged the attack with a clumsy-looking Iron Bridge maneuver.

’Now’s my chance!’

While the wooden doll was still retracting its fingers, he unleashed his right leg, which was charged with True Qi, like a suddenly released bowstring.

A Heaven-Pointing Leg struck the wooden doll squarely in the abdomen.

As wood splinters flew, the body was sent flying back into the wall. An indentation perfectly matching the sole of his boot was branded into its torso.

At the same time, a triumphant smile spread across Purple Robe’s face.

Using a technique he had practiced for over a century against him? It was like trying to teach a master his own craft.

If he hadn’t been trying to be absolutely certain of victory, he could have beheaded the doll the moment he saw it.

"PFFT—"

His attack had landed, but it was Purple Robe who violently spat out a mouthful of blood. He staggered, clutching his abdomen, which was now turning black and blue.

In an instant, he understood the wooden doll’s ability. "Damage for damage..."

’Dammit, how am I supposed to fight this?’

Looking at the wooden doll with a footprint-shaped dent in its abdomen, Purple Robe’s brows furrowed deeply. The thought of retreating entered his mind.

Fighting a wooden doll that feared neither injury nor death and traded blow for blow, he was at a disadvantage no matter what he did.

The only thing that gave him a small sense of relief was that the doll hadn’t just self-destructed from the start. If it had, he would have had no chance of survival.

Before he could think further, the wooden doll in front of him had already assumed a familiar opening stance and was charging at him with the Celestial Spirit Step.

As its left foot landed, the air shrieked as the sound barrier was torn apart, and its afterimages sealed off all escape routes.

...

"Why isn’t there any movement yet?"

Back in the initial white jade room, after ten-odd seconds, the stubble-faced man spoke, his knuckles making a dull THUD as he rapped them against the jade wall.

"It’s likely the same kind of restriction as the previous teleportation gate—entry is permitted, but exit is not," the black-robed old man sighed. Without asking any of the other Third Turns to scout ahead, he walked in alone.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The black-robed old man had just stepped inside when the shockwaves from the explosions nearly blew his hood off.

The old man squinted and saw the Purple Robe Martial Artist locked in combat with a wooden doll that shared his exact appearance and attire.

The wooden doll had a clear boot print dented into its torso, but otherwise, it was unharmed.

The Purple Robe Martial Artist, on the other hand, had blood streaming from his nose and mouth and was desperately dodging the attacks.

"How strange..."

The black-robed old man was puzzled. With his experienced eye, he could tell that Purple Robe had found openings in the doll’s defense multiple times and instinctively wanted to counterattack, but he always forced himself to hold back.

Converting his Heart Image into demonic energy that surged through his body, the old man said in a relaxed tone:

"Imprisonment Skill!"

As his voice fell, space-time seemed to freeze solid. Both the wooden doll and the Third Turn Purple Robe were instantly immobilized in mid-air.

Only then did the old man slowly ask, "What’s the deal with this wooden doll?"

"Sir, be careful! This wooden doll can copy a person’s appearance, power, techniques, legacy, and Heart Image! And any damage it takes is reflected back onto its opponent!"

The Third Turn Purple Robe conveyed this through his Heart Image, but his expression immediately turned grim as he heard a familiar sound.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—

The two men struggled to turn their heads, only to see the doll’s facial features reshaping like melting wax into the old man’s deeply wrinkled visage. It then stepped free from the Imprisonment Skill.

’It... it can even copy a Fourth Turn,’ a terrible premonition rose in both of their minds simultaneously.

At that same moment, the youthful-looking Fourth Turn also appeared.

His gaze fell on the wooden doll with the old man’s face. "What’s happening?"

"Don’t hurt it!" the black-robed old man’s urgent warning came through his Heart Image. "Be careful! This damn thing can copy abilities and reflect all damage it takes."

The black-robed old man repeated what Purple Robe had just told him, then added, "It’s already copied my abilities. Be careful not to kill it."

Hearing the old man’s words, the youth paused his movements, then nodded. "I understand. Leave it to me."

As they spoke, a fist-sized, incandescently white Fireball began to form in the wooden doll’s palm. The temperature in the room skyrocketed, causing the very air to distort into liquid ripples.

’The Five Demons Sect’s fourth-circle Magic, the Great Flame Bomb?’

The youth’s body shielded the other two as he watched the wooden doll, his expression unmoving.

The next moment, the searing white Fireball pressed directly against the youth’s face.

The stream of white flame, hot enough to melt all creation, exploded into a thousand sparks against his face. The residual heat raised the temperature in the room by tens of thousands of degrees, yet it couldn’t harm the youth’s cheek in the slightest.

After that, the other Third and Fourth Turns, unaware of the situation, began pouring into the space one after another, like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

After the old man’s explanation, their faces grew grim as they watched the youth use his own body to keep the wooden doll occupied.

Even the mere aftershocks from the Fourth Turn’s power were too much for the nearby Third Turns to bear. Four of them were instantly vaporized by stray sparks.

The black-robed old man had no choice but to cast a protective shield over the remaining Third Turns.

Once the deep blue shield blocked the splashing aftershocks, there were no more casualties among the Third Turns.

The situation devolved into a stalemate. Everyone who entered the room was unable to leave, trapped as if in an invisible prison.

Amid the stalemate, several dozen breaths passed. Then, the faint glow of Teleportation Arrays began to appear silently on the six jade walls behind them.

"So, we just had to hold out for a hundred breaths for the teleporters to reactivate," Purple Robe analyzed.

But looking at the portals on all sides, they faced a new dilemma: which one should they take?

"Go back the way we came!" the black-robed old man shouted. "Let’s return to the first room and regroup there."

As if granted a pardon, the group rushed toward the wall they had come from. The youth thrust out both palms, forcing the wooden doll back.

As he turned, the cuffs of his brocade sleeves crumbled into fine ash, and his figure vanished from the space.

The space shifted, and the group once again found themselves back in the initial room, a look of lingering fear in everyone’s eyes.

"Looks like you all did pretty well for yourselves. You only lost four people."

A leisurely voice drifted over from the side. Fang Can was leaning against the jade wall, sizing them up, before he chuckled softly.

"Everyone, interested in a brief partnership?"