Heartfire Puppet

Chapter 190 Heartfire Puppet

Fang Shi strode forward, twirling his axe, his eyes fixed on Zhu Lie's right arm, at the spot where he had just struck with the axe.

Zhu Lie was astonished: "You dare!"

"I dare."

The moment Fang Shi finished speaking, the spinning axe stopped, and his hand gripped the handle.

"Xiao Fang!"

Zhu Huan'e thought he was really going to hit her, so she quickly told him, "That's enough, that's enough."

"Hahaha." Zhu Lie laughed in fear, "My good niece, you still have a conscience, knowing to side with your family, unlike these bastards outside—"

Unexpectedly, when Zhu Huan'e heard Zhu Lie insult Fang Shi, she turned her cold eyes and raised her hand to strike.

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap landed, and Zhu Lie stood there, his face contorted, eyes wide, unable to believe that it was Zhu Huan'e who had struck him.

Even Zhu Huan'e herself couldn't believe her own actions. After regaining her senses, she stared blankly at her palm.

Fang Shizhi said, "Well done, Master! Why should we be afraid of this paper tiger?"

"Little Fang, I—"

"Master, don't hesitate any longer. The path of cultivation ahead is long. Do you really want to continue adhering to these outdated sect rules? You can't build without destroying. Now that you've destroyed it, you should rebuild it, standing tall and upright!"

Fang Shi tried his best to persuade him, knowing that even if he cut off several of Zhu Lie's arms and legs, it wouldn't be as meaningful as his master personally slapping him. The root of the problem had always been the constraints that the Xuan Dan Sect, this outdated sect, placed on his master, and the past environment...

Experiences and interpersonal relationships are like shackles, binding the master.

Perhaps even her master herself didn't know that her wings had grown strong enough, and the shackles on her body had been corroded by time, becoming fragile and unbearable. Until finally—today—Fang Shi made her see all of this clearly.

When young people have grown strong wings, they should fly to the sky. If you try to forcibly restrain them, it goes against their nature and will only result in resistance and betrayal.

"How dare you—you, how dare you—"

Zhu Lie turned his face very slowly, indicating that he was gradually accepting this unbelievable fact.

He finally turned his eyes back, his gaze shifting from unfocused to focused, and he saw the two people in front of him clearly.

Suddenly! His face contorted into a ferocious grimace, and he screamed like a madman: "Civil Fist, Martial Palm! What are you pretending to be dead for?!"

White flames brushed against Zhu Lie's crimson robe, and pale smoke burst forth, stretching out like a living thing and darting into the broken hole in the compartment.

With a whoosh, Wenquan and Wuzhang, who had been unconscious for a long time, suddenly lifted the slab covering them and rushed out.

"Master, be careful!" Upon seeing this, Fang Shi immediately pushed Zhu Huan'e back. Ignoring the fact that his palm seemed to have sunk into something soft, he used his axe to protect himself, locked his gaze on the approaching Wen Quan, and without regard for the force, swung his axe down. In the flash of the blade, an arm flew into the air.

However, Wen Quan seemed to feel no pain. His punching posture remained unchanged, and another fist followed immediately. Fang Shi knew from the sound of the wind in his ears that this force was not like that of an ordinary person. There was no accumulation of power, nor any restraint. He was reckless and acted like a puppet.

However, the severed arm was covered in blood, and Wen Quan was definitely a living person. Could it be that this was a living puppet? This is truly an evil technique.

Realizing that Zhu Lie was suspicious, Fang Shi stopped fighting Wen Quan and suddenly increased his speed several times over. His arms moved faster than a puppet, spinning rapidly and turning his fist into a palm. He dodged the opponent's fist and closed in on Wen Quan, striking with both elbow and palm, sending him flying far away. While dodging, he raised his right leg high and bent it to the side, using the length of his leg to compensate for the shortness of his arms, kicking Wu Zhang several meters away and embedding him in the wall.

"To catch the thief, first catch the king!" Zhu Lie thought of this as soon as he saw the second protector being defeated again. He quickly circulated his white flames to cover his vital points. Seeing that Fang Shi wanted to capture him empty-handed, he sneered triumphantly.

Hmph, let this ignorant brat know how powerful my alchemical fire is!

Zhu Huan'e was immediately alarmed: "Xiao Fang, don't be impulsive! That white flame is Second Uncle's Heart Elixir Fire, which has the effect of dissolving all things!"

Unfortunately, she spoke too slowly. In the blink of an eye, Fang Shi had already grabbed Zhu Lie by the throat with his bare hands.

Bang!

The moment the white flames came into contact with Fang Shi, they exploded, raising waves of flames and white smoke that engulfed him.

"Haha! How could you know that my Heart Elixir has the power to suppress the fire within others! Since you're acting recklessly now, I'll surely exhaust your heart fire!"

What delighted Zhu Lie even more was that Bai Yan attached himself to Fang Shizhou and instantly invaded his body, allowing him to sense an extremely vigorous and scorching heart fire through Bai Yan.

"Such a blazing inner fire!"

Just like Zhu Huan'e that day, Zhu Lie's richer experience made him realize instantly that this wild boy in front of him was a special talent, possessing all five elements in perfect harmony, and was actually a living elixir! If he could refine this person and use the ancestral alchemy to create a top-grade heart elixir, then the alchemy sect would prosper and its revival could be achieved!

As long as this exists, as long as this exists—so what if that rebellious Zhu girl is kicked out of the house! So what if his daughter runs away! They should all get out!

"Hahahaha! Heaven bless my Xuandan Sect! Heaven bless my Zhu Lie!"

"Xiao Fang!"

When her second uncle's laughter reached Zhu Huan'e's ears, she immediately knew that Fang Shi's talent had been exposed and that her second uncle would definitely not let this opportunity pass. So she quickly activated the Heart Flame to protect Fang Shi.

No one knew what Fang Shi was feeling this time. He only knew that he still had strength and had not exhausted it, so he exerted his strength.

"Ugh!"

Zhu Lie's laughter stopped abruptly, as if his neck was about to break, he suffocated instantly, and his inner fire was extinguished as well.

Hiss~ Fire arises from the heart and rises with the breath. Breath is the root of fire. When external breath is exhausted, external fire goes out. When internal breath is exhausted, internal fire burns. If it is not extinguished, one will inevitably go astray and become possessed by demons, burning oneself.

"what!"

The suffocating discomfort instantly turned into an internal burning pain, like throwing a tattered sack. Fang Shi threw Zhu Lie on the ground, letting him roll around, convulsing and trembling, before he lost consciousness after more than ten seconds.

Zhu Huan'e rushed forward, not out of concern for her second uncle, but to touch the scribe and extinguish the white flames.

"Master, I'm alright—"

Although it looked tattered and broken, the white flames didn't hurt Fang Shi too much. Instead, they quickly sank into his body and flowed into his heart, making him feel warm and full of energy, as if he had inexhaustible strength.

Zhu Huan'e looked you up and down. "Your constitution is indeed strange. I'll take a good look at you later."

Fang Shi pointed at Zhu Lie on the ground and asked, "Speaking of which, he should be Zhu Zhu's father, right? Master, what are you going to do with this man?"

Zhu Huan'e sighed, "I never expected that my second uncle would actually cultivate the forbidden technique of Heart-Seizing Fire, and even use the Heart-Controlling Technique to make living people into puppets. Could it be that the Xuan Dan Sect has truly fallen to such a state?"

"The rise and fall of sects is the natural order of things. If a sect has been passed down for generations but has become complacent and has no ambition to improve, its decline is inevitable."

Zhu Huan'e nodded, making up her mind: "In that case, I will show my parents and the people in the sect that there is a way out even with compromise—Xiao Fang, carry the person to the front alchemy shop, we'll clean up the mess and reopen as soon as possible."

"Okay, Master."

From today onwards, there will be no more young ladies of the Xuan Dan Sect, only the proprietress of the Dan Shop in Emerald City.