Chapter 53: Trash Puppet?

"Master?!"

Alissa turned her head, noticing that the solemn expression on Lu Li's face had vanished.

"You blocked it well. Leave the rest to me."

Lu Li gently pushed Alissa aside while simultaneously activating his [Balance] talent!

[Balance:
Overdraft - When the talent is activated, the upper limit for absorbing source crystals is removed, but level progression is halted, granting only free attribute points corresponding to the level. (After the talent ends, the bonus attribute points disappear and will be automatically allocated once the level is genuinely increased.)
Fairness - With 'Overdraft' active, the target touched by the right hand will be unable to absorb source crystals, and both parties' four-dimensional attribute values will be forcibly equalized (Duration: 5 minutes).]

Seeing Lu Li suddenly press his hand onto Zhao Jin's shoulder, Matsunaga Wakainu couldn't help but mock derisively:

"Lu Li, what are you doing? Helping us dust off? Your strength is way too pathetic..."

Before she could finish her sentence, however, Zhao Jin's expression rapidly turned ugly:

"No wait, why is my strength attribute only 15.8 now? This brat has a problem!"

His original strength attribute of a full 40 points had been more than halved the moment Lu Li's right hand touched him!

Not only that.

The other three attribute values had also changed.

The 30-point speed attribute became 15.9;
The 50-point constitution attribute became 15.6;
The 10-point spirit attribute had increased slightly, becoming 15.2.

What the hell is going on here?!

Matsunaga Wakainu rolled her deformed head, equally startled and suspicious.

Both of them simultaneously recalled what Blade Brother had said earlier—
'I originally wanted to use Huang Bin's [Balance] talent to temporarily lock Lu Li's attributes and subdue him.'

"'Lock attributes', is that [Balance]?!ꡄ"

Zhao Jin's upper body leaned back as he retreated repeatedly.

How could Lu Li possess Huang Bin's talent?

Could it be that, much like how he claimed Chen Hao, he had turned the deceased Huang Bin into a summoned entity?

Yet no summoned entity had appeared just now.
The only one who touched him was Lu Li.

Could it be that Lu Li's talent wasn't merely about turning the dead into summoned entities, but a far more thorough plunder of their abilities?!

With just a brief thought, cold sweat broke out all over Zhao Jin's back!

He truly lived up to being from the 'Heaven-tier' aristocratic Lu family.
Even an abandoned orphan possessed such terrifying strength!

"No good, we can't fight this. He's too strong!"

Zhao Jin communicated with Matsunaga Wakainu in his mind, wanting to flee.

Compared to his panic, Matsunaga Wakainu appeared far more composed:

"I never expected Zhao Jin-san's enemy to be so interesting..."
"But don't worry, he still isn't our match!"

"Are you out of your mind?" Zhao Jin couldn't wrap his head around it for a moment:
"Right now, our attributes are identical to Lu Li's, but his talent abilities are far more numerous than ours!"

"If we actually fight, how can we win?"

Matsunaga Wakainu loosened her neck, a bizarre smile plastered across her skinless face:

"Zhao Jin-san, we are already subjects of the Holy Lord now."
"As long as we last two or three rounds against Lu Li without being killed, he will soon be summoned by the Holy Lord's aura and become our companion!"
"When that happens, is there any need to fight?"

"Ha! You're right!" Zhao Jin suddenly understood:
"As long as the effect of 'Demonic Qi Erosion' transforms into 'Deep Erosion', Lu Li will turn into a demonic cocoon."
"Once he breaks out of the cocoon and is reborn, he'll be our companion!"

"Therefore..." Matsunaga Wakainu's mouth split into an exaggerated arc, "let us accelerate the progress of 'Erosion'!"

Having reached a consensus, Zhao Jin cast his gaze toward Lu Li.

However, the anticipated battle did not occur.

Far from seizing the time to launch an attack, Lu Li leisurely fished something out of his spatial ring.

It was a thumb-sized jade figurine.

"Hmph? Planning to use an item?" Zhao Jin instantly became vigilant.

Although Zhao Jin was confident he could subject Lu Li to 'Deep Erosion', that didn't mean he could render items useless.

In the event that the jade figurine was a Perfect-grade or higher-quality item, Zhao Jin didn't believe he could handle it easily.

With a exertion of force from Lu Li's fingertips, the jade figurine shattered upon impact, transforming into a slender puppet.

The puppet had no facial features, with only a single character monotonously painted on its face—
Ferocity.

"Hah, is that it?"

Seeing the puppet manifest its form, the heart hanging in Zhao Jin's chest finally dropped back into place.

Though the exact quality of the puppet could not be discerned, Zhao Jin had once heard his clan elder Zhao Quan mention something.

Puppet-type items were generally such that the more exquisite and lifelike they appeared, the better their quality.

And right now,
Lu Li's puppet, let alone being exquisite, didn't even have facial features!
It had pompously written the character 'Ferocity' across its face, making it look like a piece of junk puppet item if ever there was one!

At this thought, Zhao Jin couldn't help but mock derisively:

"Lu Li, is this the only puppet item you have?"

Hearing this, Lu Li—who had been preparing to back off and watch the show—paused.

Hiss...
How did Zhao Jin know he had more than one blade slave?

He had originally wanted to lay low and not reveal all his trump cards.
Since the other party had already seen through it, there was no longer any need to conceal things.

Without a word, Lu Li silently crushed the remaining three jade figurines.

Looking at the three faceless puppets appearing one after another, Zhao Jin smiled so wide his mouth almost reached his ears.

Four faceless puppets.

With their slender frames, Zhao Jin felt he could shatter them with a flick of his fingers.

It seemed Lu Li had truly exhausted all his methods and was completely out of options.

"Don't say I'm bullying you!" Zhao Jin's eyes were filled with utter disdain as he hollered:
"Based solely on these four puppets of yours, I'll stand right here and let them attack me for a full minute!"

Hearing this, the surviving members all felt their hearts sink.

Zhao Jin's words clearly showed he didn't take Lu Li's four puppets seriously at all.

They had originally thought Lu Li's appearance would turn the tide.
But now it seemed things weren't quite turning out that way.

With all his trump cards spent, Lu Li still appeared to be no match for Zhao Jin.

"Allow my puppets to attack you for a minute? You're quite the kind soul..."

Lu Li muttered inwardly, immediately issuing the attack command to the blade slave puppets.

The four blade slaves drew their weapons and closed in on Zhao Jin.

Watching the puppets whose movements were so slow they could practically be described as sluggish, Zhao Jin grew even more arrogant and conceited.

He was already contemplating what kind of humiliating tortures to inflict upon Lu Li after defeating him.

Should he ravage his classmates and trample his dignity right in front of him?
Or should he slowly slice him to pieces alive, making him suffer through endless agony?

Heh,
Only children make choices.
He would subject Lu Li to every single one of them!

Just as Zhao Jin was immersed in his own fantasies, Matsunaga Wakainu's piercing scream suddenly erupted, giving him a vicious fright.

"You damn..."

Zhao Jin was just about to burst into curses when the corner of his eye suddenly noticed something amiss in the surroundings.

Wait a second!
Where are those four sluggish, faceless puppets?

The very instant Zhao Jin reacted, four fierce assaults struck simultaneously from all four directions!

There was nowhere to dodge!

Zhao Jin awkwardly parried, attempting to withstand the blow head-on.

Yet those four puppets, which had looked frail and flimsy just moments before, erupted with incomparable might at this exact moment!

Four blade strikes.
Precisely hitting Zhao Jin's four limbs, shearing away the majority of his flesh!

Zhao Jin, who had been well-built just a second ago, instantly transformed into a 'stick figure' with twig-like limbs.

Just as the blade edges were about to cleave toward his vital points, Matsunaga Wakainu hurriedly shrieked in warning:

"Zhao Jin, use your talent quickly!"