At this moment, Lin Xiao waved his hand, and two skeletons along with a corpse puppet appeared in the void, standing alone in front of him. They moved their bones and limbs, adopting a stance ready for battle.
The crowd was stunned. Those two skeletons and the corpse puppet could still move?
Many had heard of corpse puppets; ancient techniques for refining them existed, and it wasn’t impossible to find one. But skeletons that could move and even fight? That was unheard of among those present.
The Jin family members were equally dumbfounded.
“The first one is a lifeless object with Martial King strength. Does your Jin family have any lifeless objects to challenge?” Lin Xiao commanded the skeleton with Martial King strength to advance a distance, shouting towards the Jin family.
“We have no lifeless objects, but we must verify whether what you’ve presented meets your own conditions,” Jin Wuhuan said, glancing at a young man beside him, seemingly transmitting some instruction. The young man nodded and flew towards the skeleton.
This youth, around twenty years old, exuded an aura of only the sixth level of Martial King. Lin Xiao silently allowed him to test whether the skeleton truly possessed Martial King strength.
This combat skeleton was crafted when Lin Xiao was at the mid-tier Martial King level, its combat power reaching that of a mid-tier Martial King. With this youth’s strength, even if he had some scheme, he wouldn’t be able to overpower it.
“Let me test for everyone whether this skeleton meets your conditions!” As he approached, the youth called out loudly, drawing a large blade, raising it skyward, as a terrifying force gathered.
“Go!” Lin Xiao commanded, and the combat skeleton charged forward.
“Swish!” But at that moment, the youth’s aura suddenly surged, soaring from the sixth level of Martial King to the ninth, nearly breaking into the Martial Venerable realm, though it stopped at the peak of Martial King.
With a thunderous shout, the youth’s blade clashed with the skeleton’s palm.
“Bang!”
A loud crash echoed, and the entire skeleton was shattered by the youth’s blade, breaking into countless fragments that fell to the ground.
“Jin Wuhuan, you cheated!” Zi Jinchen roared in anger.
Initially, the youth appeared to be only at the sixth level of Martial King, and since Lin Xiao didn’t intervene, they knew the skeleton could withstand a mid-tier Martial King. But who could’ve expected the youth to hide his true strength, suddenly surging to the peak of Martial King, even capable of contending with a first-level Martial Venerable?
As a result, the skeleton, able to handle a mid-tier Martial King, couldn’t withstand the opponent’s full force and was shattered in one blow. They didn’t even have time to stop it.
With the skeleton destroyed, the Jin family could claim there was no proof.
Lin Xiao frowned, not expecting a Jin family elder to resort to such tactics to destroy his combat skeleton.
“Zi Jinchen, it seems your Zi family didn’t set the round according to the conditions. Three lifeless objects: one with Martial King strength, one with Martial Venerable strength, and one with Martial Lord strength. That destroyed object clearly didn’t have Martial King strength,” Jin Wuhuan’s meaningful voice rang out.
“Jin Wuhuan, you’re shameless!” Zi Jinchen was furious, and the Zi family members were equally enraged. The Jin family was blatantly cheating.
“What, am I wrong? If that skeleton had Martial King strength, how could it be so weak?” Jin Wuhuan said dismissively.
“Martial King strength varies. How could a first-level Martial King withstand a peak Martial King? You deliberately hid your cultivation and surged it suddenly, clearly intending to destroy the skeleton. To think someone of your age would resort to such despicable methods!” Zi Jinchen couldn’t hold back his怒骂.
They were about to win this round, yet the Jin family used such tactics to cheat.
“Zi Jinchen, as the third elder of the Zi family, watch your words!” Jin Wuhuan’s face darkened deliberately, “You didn’t specify it had to be first-level Martial King strength. What’s wrong with sending a Martial King to verify? Besides, you didn’t stop us on the way, which means you agreed. Now, your lifeless object was too weak to have Martial King strength. Who’s to blame?”
He continued, “Fine, let’s say, as you claim, that object had first-level Martial King strength. Our ninth-level Martial King acted, and the strength gap was too large, so we can’t prove it didn’t have Martial King strength.”
“But you can’t prove it did either!” Jin Wuhuan stared meaningfully at Zi Jinchen, slowing his voice, “Zi Jinchen, this is your Zi family’s round. You must provide evidence that you have three lifeless objects of the required strength. Otherwise, if you can’t meet your own conditions, the opponent wins. Slandering us with words isn’t what a great family does.”
“Exactly, you couldn’t produce three lifeless objects yet set these restrictions on our Jin family. You’ve lost this round,” another Jin family elder chimed in loudly.
“You!” Zi Jinchen was livid. The Jin family destroyed the object, yet now demanded the Zi family prove its strength.
With the skeleton shattered, how could they prove it?
Just as the Jin family was gloating, Lin Xiao’s faint laughter rang out, “No need to rush, everyone. Just a Martial King-level lifeless object? I’ve got plenty more.”
“I…” At these words, Jin Wuhuan and the others were stunned, even feeling an urge to spit blood.
He had gone to such lengths, using underhanded methods to shatter the skeleton, thinking he’d cornered the Zi family with no proof.
But now, Lin Xiao was saying he had plenty more Martial King-level lifeless objects?
Zi Jinchen and the Zi family were equally shocked. They had thought Lin Xiao only had three such rare objects.
Yet now, Lin Xiao claimed to have even more, rendering Jin Wuhuan’s trickery useless and leaving him humiliated.
“Swish!”
Lin Xiao reached out, and another skeleton appeared in the void. As soon as it appeared, it moved its bones, striking a fighting pose, then extended a bony finger towards the city walls in a provocative gesture.
“Elder Jin, you can test this skeleton again to see if it has initial Martial King strength. Oh, and to be clear, it’s initial Martial King,” Lin Xiao said, looking at Jin Wuhuan with disdain.
Jin Wuhuan’s face darkened, and he waved to a third-level Martial King youth beside him. This time, they clearly couldn’t repeat the earlier tactic to force the Zi family’s loss.
Even if they destroyed another object, Lin Xiao had more. This time, they could only go through the motions.
“Swish!” The third-level Martial King youth flew out, raising a large blade and slashing heavily at the skeleton. The mid-tier Martial King combat skeleton charged forward fearlessly, one bony palm grabbing at the blade while the other clenched into a fist, smashing towards the youth’s chest.
