The Dao Sovereign of Shennong

"You…" Zong Shichang was about to summon lightning to strike, but in an instant, he lost his target.

It wasn't that Zhao Xing ran too fast, but rather that many straw puppets suddenly stood up on the ground around him.

The yellow straw puppets blended in with the color of the earth, and Zhao Xing had covered them with sand and dirt, making them nearly invisible!

This guy actually buried the straw puppets underground as ambushes!

"What's the use of weaving so many straw puppets? Hmph, the straw puppet technique is just a trivial skill!"

"I can easily destroy them!"

Zong Shichang summoned lightning for an attack.

"Boom!"

A lightning bolt descended from the clouds, accurately striking a straw puppet.

But the result left Zong Shichang greatly surprised!

He found that the golden-colored straw puppet only had a charred spot on its chest and did not catch fire as he had imagined.

"What's going on? Can a straw puppet withstand heavenly lightning?"

Zong Shichang found it a bit absurd.

He was not skilled in the straw puppet technique and had always looked down on such spells, believing that weaving them was troublesome and complicated, and that Zong Shichang, being a young master, couldn't engage in such meticulous work.

Who would have thought that the straw puppets Zhao Xing made were completely different from any he had seen before!

"Boom! Boom!"

Several more lightning bolts struck down, and Zong Shichang had to exert great effort to deal with one of them.

"How many heavenly lightning strikes can you summon?" Zhao Xing, hidden behind the straw puppets, looked at Zong Shichang with a faint smile.

These were merely the warning straw puppets placed at the edge of his territory, crudely made and not even up to the strength of the first rank.

The 20 Mighty Vajra puppets emerging from the bamboo forest were the real protectors.

"Increase the intensity for Young Master Zong."

The twenty Mighty Vajra puppets rushed forward.

"What? There are so many?!"

Zong Shichang was instantly shocked.

The 20 newly appeared straw puppets were clearly different from the previous ones.

Each was golden rather than withered yellow and had a strong and vigorous appearance.

Zong Shichang looked at them; the Mighty Vajra puppets could jump three to four meters in a single bound. Is this the kind of mobility a straw puppet should have?!

"Wind, come!"

Zong Shichang no longer cared about attacking; he had to first block these Mighty Vajra puppets.

Although he had reached the fourth stage of Essence Gathering and had powerful blood and energy, he did not dare to let these straw puppets surround him.

The Shennong Officer's melee combat ability was relatively weak, and who would use spells in close combat like a warrior?

"Woohoo~"

A strong west wind blew towards the Mighty Vajra puppets.

Zong Shichang's wind summoning technique was decent; it picked up the sand and gravel on the ground but did not waste the wind power by blowing it too much downward.

"Clang clang clang clang!"

The sand and gravel hitting the straw puppets' bodies made a sound of metal clashing.

It did block them for a moment, but the effect was far from what Zong Shichang had expected.

Instead, the dust obscured his vision, causing him to miss the fact that two straw puppets had quietly sneaked up behind him.

"Sssss…"

A different sound emerged from the wind.

"What the heck?!" Zong Shichang turned his head and saw two vines wriggling on the ground, resembling spirit snakes!

Straw puppets all around, binding straw puppets!

The binding straw puppets made from green vines could extend the vine strips to trap enemies.

"Smack!" A vine lashed at Zong Shichang's right arm. Although he dodged it, a red mark appeared on his right hand.

"What kind of straw puppet is this?!" Zong Shichang jumped away but didn't have time to think before a second and third vine lashed at him.

He managed to dodge once or twice but eventually couldn't avoid more vines.

Zong Shichang's hands were bound, one to the left and one to the right, pulled tightly.

He couldn't cast spells, so the wind and lightning dissipated.

He tried to break free but found it useless; the green vine strips had amazing toughness with three layers of reinforcement! Binding straw puppets were hard to escape from.

In the next moment, his legs were also bound, pulled apart to the left and right.

"Ahh…"

Zong Shichang was forcibly split in mid-air, performing a split, and then heavily slammed onto the ground.

"Hiss~"

Men's pain is understood by those who have experienced it; Zong Shichang was in so much pain he could barely speak.

At this time, the Mighty Vajra puppets charged over.

Without saying a word, they gave Zong Shichang a punch.

"I admit…"

Before he could even say "I admit defeat," he was directly knocked down.

"I admit defeat!"

Zong Shichang quickly shouted, fearing Zhao Xing might not hear him. He knew that the straw puppets followed the caster's commands and wouldn't stop until the goal was completed.

Fortunately, once he fell, the Mighty Vajra puppets stopped moving.

As the dust settled, the straw puppets parted, revealing Zhao Xing's leisurely figure.

"Brother Zong, how do you find it?"

"You don't follow martial ethics and actually ambushed me." Zong Shichang said with an air of nonchalance, "I still have many secret techniques to use. I just accidentally fell for your trick. Besides, what skill is the straw puppet technique? The Shennong Officer doesn't engage in close combat."

Even lying on the ground, Zong Shichang still refused to admit defeat, looking down with a grimace and reaching to check himself.

"Phew, luckily it only broke the skin, not affecting anything…"

The fight between Zong Shichang and Zhao Xing came quickly and ended just as fast.

Moreover, with sand and stones flying around, very few people could see clearly.

"His straw puppets are so fierce?" Wen Nanxing observed the battle, "Zong Shichang didn't last even two rounds, only using lightning and strong wind before losing. It seems I need to reevaluate the straw puppet technique."

Wen Nanxing also had overlooked the straw puppet technique. Over the years, the court had passed down fewer and fewer straw puppet methods. Initially, there were dozens of them, but later only a few remained.

However, seeing Zhao Xing use straw puppets, Wen Nanxing's opinion about them changed greatly.

"Interesting, he actually makes good use of straw puppets." Xiao Ze's eyes showed a hint of surprise and curiosity about Zhao Xing. "The Mighty Vajra puppet was mentioned in the Liu's Compiled Eighty-One Techniques; I didn't expect he would use it… Should I ask him for some advice?"

Xiao Ze was itching to ask; he also liked using straw puppet techniques, but his teacher knew only a few, and Xiao Ze had learned only three after a long time. Now, seeing Zhao Xing's methods, he couldn't help but want to learn from him.

"Forget it, I'll wait until the assessment is over." Xiao Ze held back. Not everyone was as impulsive as Zong Shichang. The most important thing now was to achieve a good ranking in the Autumn Assessment.

On the examination platform, Gao Linong looked at Zong Shichang limping and was in a terrible mood. Just a second ago, he was gloating, thinking Wen Nanxing and Xiao Ze were drained of their energy by Zhao Xing. Unexpectedly, his own disciple ended up getting beaten.

And it happened in front of everyone; his prized student couldn't even handle a straw puppet, which was really embarrassing. Tang Wanchun and Pang Yuan, those old fellows, must be very pleased!

Gao Linong stole a glance and indeed saw the corners of his colleagues' mouths were hard to hide.