The shell of the Artificial Saintess was punctured by Erin's Beam. From a fist-sized circular hole on her flank, wisps of blue smoke were rising, and some kind of liquid metal, seemingly possessing biological activity, was writhing rapidly in the breach, as if trying to repair the punctured part.

This killing machine crafted by the Venerate Saints Monastery boasts extremely powerful defensive capabilities. Its external armor can certainly resist conventional "high temperatures," but obviously, the strange beam Erin had unleashed was not merely "high temperature" — a force with characteristics akin to "decomposition" or "erosion" directly evaporated the metal near the impact point, leaving behind this terrifying scar on the steel puppet's body.

However, Erin seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the effect of this strike.

"Ah, I thought I could punch right through," the little puppet sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulder complained, steam rising from her wrist to her shoulder, "but all I've done is penetrate the first layer."

Click.

The sound of metal heels striking the ground came from nearby, interrupting Erin's complaint. The Artificial Saintess adjusted her posture and once again took up a combat stance.

The seemingly menacing wound appeared to have no impact on her. She showed no signs of pain or inconvenience in her movements.

This scene immediately caused Yu Sheng, who had relaxed a bit because of Erin's successful strike, to tense up again, and almost simultaneously, he felt the "gaze" of that Iron Puppet fall upon him.

Even though the pale metal mask showed no emotion, Yu Sheng could still sense surprise and confusion through the subtle changes in the Iron Puppet's movements and the faint connection from his blood.

She was staring over here, puzzled as to why this familiar enemy was still alive — she still remembered the injury Yu Sheng received during their last encounter, and that wound alone would be fatal for any human.

Even if not fatal, an ordinary person could never bounce back so quickly and be here alive and kicking.

Yu Sheng weighed the Tetanus Wand in his hand, adjusted his stance to be ready to fend off any attack, and gave a provocative look to that tall and slender figure: "Surprised, aren't you? It's me — you are forever marked with my blood~!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a flash of light and shadows in his vision, and the figure of the Artificial Saintess suddenly transformed into a blurry shadow. This shadow traced a graceful arc in the air and pounced toward him without hesitation!

Almost simultaneously, the remaining "Brass Knights" around also coordinated their attack, raising their swords and war hammers to strike from all directions!

"Damn, these things are indeed working together!"

Yu Sheng cursed in his heart as he met a sword slash from a Brass Knight head-on. He raised his hand to deflect but saw with the corner of his eye the sharp blade of the Artificial Saintess already lunging swiftly towards him — this steel puppet had previously severed an arm but now seemed fully restored, evidently repaired somewhere, and Yu Sheng found her attack this time even fiercer and more dangerous than before. It was as if... this creature had reviewed the previous encounter and was now directly targeting his habitual movements from last time!

The ear-piercing sound of metal clashing assaulted his eardrums, bright sparks danced in the air. Yu Sheng, utilizing his reflexes far surpassing ordinary people, evaded the first attack of the Artificial Saintess, then parried her subsequent two thrusts and one kick. He then retreated continuously, dodging interception from two Brass Knights, and the next moment a flash at the corner of his eye overwhelmed him with webs of black silk.

Erin's webs once again covered the space surrounding Yu Sheng and swiftly wove and restructured like a living organism, capturing and suspending nearby Brass Knights one after another into the air while continually compressing the movement range of the Artificial Saintess — the latter, however, relying on astonishing agility and ghostly "dance steps," stubbornly kept finding attack routes within the intricate weave of black silk, making repeated advances towards Yu Sheng.

Though her body was made of steel, her movements seemed like a gust of wind that couldn't be trapped by the web.

"Argh, this is annoying! How can a C-shaped lock be so nimble!" The little puppet complained irritably, and barely managed to slightly restrict the puppet's "dance steps" once more. Not aiming carefully, she controlled another body to fire a series of bright beams on impulse.

The "Erin's Beam," infused with Fox Fire's power and eerie characteristics, sliced through the air with a hiss, piercing through an elaborate path within the webs to strike the enemy directly, but this time, the Artificial Saintess had clearly anticipated the danger of these beams and was ready to dodge even as Erin raised her hand, slipping into a blind spot amid the webs from an unexpected angle.

Yu Sheng's vision had adapted to the speed of this Iron Puppet, and he finally realized that every joint of this creature seemed ready to snap and reshape at any moment, even the whole arms and legs could suddenly break or soften and twist.

Accompanied by several faint hissing sounds, Erin's concentrated beam shots only grazed the Artificial Saintess's thigh and back, leaving ghastly wounds on the black alloy shell.

Despite sustaining such damage, the Iron Puppet managed to escape the black web with a nimble backflip, landing several meters away.

But before she could steady herself, a white shadow lunged fiercely toward her.

It was Hu Li, who was already looking for a chance to strike—last time, watching Yu Sheng get stabbed to death with eight holes by the enemy while standing by had left her bitterly resentful. This time, from the moment the Iron Puppet appeared, she had been waiting for an opportunity. With previous experience, she didn't use the limited-effect Fox Fire but directly accelerated with Nine-tails, charging in with a rocket headbutt.

The Iron Puppet, just landed and already suffering multiple injuries, could no longer easily perform elegant dodges as before. She only managed to barely twist her body, and the leg injured by a beam emitted a screeching noise, immediately followed by the demon fox girl hitting her solidly with a "Fox Radish Headbutt."

It was a thunderous boom like a great bell; Yu Sheng even saw a visible shockwave burst out from the point of impact between Hu Li's head and the Artificial Saintess's chest. The latter was struck as if by a cannonball, her body twisting into an awkward angle, flying horizontally away.

Hu Li shook her head in place, then let out a low growl, charged again, and began a brutal assault on the steel puppet struggling to get up from the ground.

Erin was dumbstruck nearby. It was the first time seeing Hu Li fight in this manner, stunned on the spot, "…The silly fox's skull is tougher than starship armor?!"

Yu Sheng was also dumbfounded, but before he could speak, he saw the Artificial Saintess's arm suddenly twist into an awkward angle, forcibly lifting against Hu Li's strong restraint, with several sharp blades targeting the demon fox girl's back.

"Hu Li, watch out!"

Hu Li already reacted by this time, letting go of her opponent before Yu Sheng's reminder, and leaping forward on all fours.

The murderous blades only cut a few strands of silver-white fur from the Fox Tail.

Xuan Che marched forward in large strides at this moment.

The Artificial Saintess wobbled as she stood up. This elegant and efficient killing machine, after a series of blows, finally slowed in response and movement speed. She noticed Xuan Che, who had already arrived in front, but could no longer rely on a few light steps to gain distance, only barely adjusting her posture and facing the enemy with sharp blades in hand.

That pale steel mask still bore a beautiful yet hollow smile, making it impossible to tell whether she was nervous, or if there was any fear and hatred at that moment.

Xuan Che merely waved the frost sword in his hand, then placed it behind him again, taking half a step forward, lowering his body and raising his hand, delivering another simple and unadorned... ah, just a straight punch.

It seemed to lack technique, yet he avoided all the blades, landing a straight punch on the Artificial Saintess's arm.

A brief hum resonated.

Yu Sheng saw layers of intricate, obscure patterns suddenly emerge on the Iron Puppet's arm, with dense runes and bizarre lines seeping from the surface of the black alloy shell, much like strong light piercing through a thin film, a powerful force countering this punch—presumably the "Secret Technique of Dharma-breaking" Xuan Che had mentioned, set by the Venerate Saints Monastery within the Artificial Saintess's armored liner.

Apparently, Xuan Che's cultivation level was far superior to what he referred to as "ordinary cultivators"—though his fighting style differed slightly from what Yu Sheng imagined, the force contained within this Great Way to Simplicity punch broke through the steel puppet's internal defenses after a moment of stalemate.

Those densely layered runes began to collapse on a large scale, and from the Artificial Saintess's body came eerie sounds of explosions and tearing. Her arm began to disintegrate from the fingertips, accompanied by continuous small-scale explosions, breaking apart and falling away.

And before the Iron Puppet's shell completely collapsed, the surrounding Brass Knights had already fallen due to the residual impact of this punch.

Yet just as Yu Sheng thought that terrifying and troublesome Artificial Saintess could finally be completely resolved this time, he suddenly saw a strange shimmering ripple appear on the Iron Puppet's surface.

Immediately after, before he and Xuan Che could react, the Iron Puppet's figure "flickered" rapidly in the air a few times and then vanished without a trace.

Xuan Che's punch lost its target, and the accumulated residual power exploded forward—turning everything within a hundred meters ahead into dust soundlessly.

He turned his head, looking bewildered as he exchanged glances with Yu Sheng.

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