Neither of them dared to fight the stone sword head-on. The moment the stone sculpture swung down, Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng both dodged it.
With a loud rumble, the flagstones on the ground caved in and shattered.
Both Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng's expressions changed.
They knew a Nascent Soul cultivator's Immortal's Cave must've been reinforced with materials, but the sword the stone sculpture swung down didn't seem to use much strength, yet it easily pierced through the flagstones!
They asked themselves if they could do it.
Without much time to think, the stone sculpture swung its sword again.
The power of this sword strike was also very fierce.
However, just as they guessed, this stone sculpture's strength was great and its body was cumbersome, but its speed was also very slow.
And speed was precisely what she was good at.
Stepping on the White Silk Handkerchief, Mo Tiange dashed away without being touched by the stone sculpture in the slightest.
Daoist Fangzheng also judged the situation in a flash. After he dodged the stone sculpture's second attack, he swung the horsetail whisk in his hand. The whisk turned into thousands of long threads that pierced the stone sculpture.
In Mo Tiange's opinion, Daoist Fangzheng's horsetail whisk wasn't a high grade magic tool, but she didn't know how Daoist Fangzheng refined it, but it was extremely powerful.
This technique of transforming whisks into threads was similar to the flying needles she often used to launch sneak attacks. Moreover, while the flying needles were tangible, the whisks were intangible, and the only thing that increased was the spiritual aura.
The thousands of whisks suddenly flew at an extremely fast speed. The stone sculpture couldn't dodge them, or rather, it didn't dodge them at all. Its entire body was enveloped by the whisks.
The spiritual aura surged and countless dust rose. Both Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng were stunned. Soon after, they both retreated, held their breaths, and waved their sleeves. This Immortal's Cave had been closed for countless years, so the stone sculpture was already covered in dust. Daoist Fangzheng's attack sent all the dust flying!
The two of them didn't know whether to laugh or cry. They made such a blunder as soon as they attacked.
However, the stone sculpture wasn't damaged at all!
The two of them couldn't help but look serious.
"Fellow Daoist Ye!" Daoist Fangzheng's expression darkened. "This thing's defense is amazing; it can't be damaged."
Mo Tiange didn't know, but he clearly knew that he had painstakingly practiced this Shapeshifting Technique for more than a hundred years. If he used it on a late stage Foundation Building cultivator, his defensive barrier would be broken, but this stone sculpture wasn't affected at all!
Once Daoist Fangzheng spoke, the stone sculpture paused for a moment as if it was listening to him. In the next second, it adjusted its direction then suddenly swung its sword at Daoist Fangzheng.
The power of this sword strike was indeed terrifying. Daoist Fangzheng managed to dodge it in time, but he was still injured by the sword aura, causing him to let out a muffled groan.
Mo Tiange acted just in time. The Shuttle of Flying Apsara transformed into several golden rays that flew towards the stone statue.
After several "puchi puchi" sounds, Mo Tiange's expression darkened.
The Flying Apsara Shuttle's golden light didn't even leave a mark on the stone statue.
Ever since she obtained the Shuttle of Flying Apsara, Mo Tiange had always relied on this magic tool. Later on, she heard from Lord Daoist Jinghe that its main material was thousand-year-old gold essence which was mixed with Heavenly Transformation Stone, making it comparable to a magic weapon. It was a magic tool he specially made for Qin Shoujing when he built his foundation.
Thousand-year-old gold essence was usually used on flying swords to increase their sharpness, so although the Shuttle of Flying Apsara didn't have any sharp edges, it was still very sharp. Up until now, she hadn't encountered anything that could be cut by the golden rays.
Nevertheless, the Shuttle of Flying Apsara was completely useless against this stone statue!
Mo Tiange's expression darkened. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. However, she suddenly heard Daoist Fangzheng, who was struggling under the stone statue's attack, shouting, "Use spells! Use spells to attack!"
Mo Tiange was startled, but she immediately reacted. She withdrew the Shuttle of Flying Apsara then made a hand seal to cast the Cold Wind Spell.
Stone came from earth, wood suppressed earth, wind came from wood, water came from wood.
This Cold Wind Spell was a compound spell of the five elements, which included water and wood elements.
The stone statue's speed was originally slow, so the Cold Wind Spell just happened to hit its weak point.
Once the Cold Wind Spell was cast, the stone statue slowed down and its speed became even slower. Although its strength and sword aura were astonishing, its speed was extremely slow; it simply couldn't hit Daoist Fangzheng's body. Daoist Fangzheng was finally able to extricate himself.
"Fellow Daoist Ye." Daoist Fangzheng's breathing was heavy. Obviously, his injuries weren't light. "Earth suppresses water; it'd be better to directly use a wood entanglement spell to bind it!
I tested it just now. Its sword aura is in a straight line, so we just need to avoid it. "
Mo Tiange didn't say anything and just nodded. Instead of using the Cold Wind Spell, she clasped her hands together, condensed spiritual aura, and started to cast the high-level wood element spell, Rustling Fallen Wood.
Countless withered leaves rose, the wind whistled, and countless vines grew from the ground, binding the stone statue. Wood spiritual aura shot towards the stone statue.
Under the green light that filled the sky, the stone statue was bound by the vines and couldn't budge. It wanted to brandish its sword, but the vines once again wrapped around its sword-wielding hand.
Neither the horsetail whisk nor the Shuttle of Flying Apsara could break the stone statue. Under the entanglement of wood spiritual aura, it was finally firmly restrained.
But this wasn't the end.
Although this stone statue was restrained by wood spiritual aura, Mo Tiange's cultivation level wasn't high enough, so she couldn't directly knock it down and could only bind it.
Moreover, this stone statue's strength was astonishing, so it would take a lot of effort to bind it.
"Fellow Daoist Fangzheng!"
Mo Tiange couldn't help but furrow her brows when she sensed the spiritual aura in her body was draining like crazy. "I'm consuming too much spiritual aura; I can't hold on for too long!"
Daoist Fangzheng also clasped his hands together and started to cast a wood element spell.
With Daoist Fangzheng's support, Mo Tiange finally heaved a sigh of relief.
She had never encountered an opponent who directly relied on formidable strength like this. Even though it was a stone statue without any intelligence, it was still very difficult to deal with.
She recalled the time she encountered a fifth rank Double-Headed Eagle during the demonic beast riot. Her cultivation level was a bit lower than it was now, but she didn't feel this helpless.
She couldn't blame the ancients for saying "one strong man can defeat ten skilled men" — the hardest technique to crack was having no technique at all.
Amidst the sky-filling green light, the stone statue once again turned around to listen, seemingly looking for the source of the spiritual aura.
Mo Tiange's heart stirred. She raised her hand and threw the Shuttle of Flying Apsara again. This time, it turned into a long golden thread and shot towards the stone statue's ears!
This time, the golden thread drilled into the stone statue's ears without any obstruction. With a soft "rip," the stone statue's body became heavy and it stopped moving.
Mo Tiange stopped casting the spell and focused on controlling the Shuttle of Flying Apsara.
"Clanging" sounds rang out incessantly. A moment later, the momentum from the stone statue's body dissipated and it finally stopped moving. However, in an instant, it released a strange spiritual aura.
Daoist Fangzheng finally caught his breath. He asked, "Fellow Daoist Ye, how did you know its weakness was its ears?"
Mo Tiange wiped the sweat on her face and answered, "Fellow Daoist, did you notice? Before it makes a move, it always listens first."
"… I see."
Daoist Fangzheng sighed in admiration. He thought in his heart that women were indeed more meticulous. Although he noticed something was wrong, he didn't expect this to be its weakness.
Mo Tiange put away the Shuttle of Flying Apsara and the White Silk Handkerchief then looked at Daoist Fangzheng. "Fellow Daoist, how's your injury?"
Daoist Fangzheng hastily swallowed a medicinal pill then shook his head. "It's nothing. It's just a small injury."
Mo Tiange didn't ask anymore. She walked forward then crouched down to examine the stone statue.
When she was controlling the Shuttle of Flying Apsara, she sensed that the inside of the stone statue wasn't made of stone like the outside. However … no matter how she looked at it, it was a whole piece of stone without any cracks.
After Daoist Fangzheng took the medicinal pill, he also walked towards her and said, "That's strange. This stone is so hard; how can we open it?"
Mo Tiange tilted her head and pondered for a moment then she started to feel the stone statue's head.
There weren't any connecting gaps, but there were traces of casting.
In other words, this stone statue could actually be melted?
She wondered what kind of Real Fire would be needed to melt such a hard stone.
"Could this be the Art of Engineering?" she muttered to herself.
The Art of Engineering had been lost in the cultivation world for a long time. She only heard that some people could make Aura Refining puppets to guard mansions and serve tea, but their fighting abilities were weak.
This stone statue obviously didn't have any external spiritual aura supporting it, but its cultivation level was in the peak stage of the Foundation Building realm. If it was the Art of Engineering, wouldn't it have been lost a long time ago?
"Fellow Daoist Ye also knows about the Art of Engineering?" Daoist Fangzheng asked curiously.
Mo Tiange raised her head. "I read about it in a book.
Could it be that Daoist Fangzheng knows about this technique? "
Daoist Fangzheng smiled bitterly. "Of course not. The Art of Engineering has long been lost. I'm just an individual cultivator; how could I possibly learn it?
It's just that I'm an old man who's lived for a long time, so I've heard a lot. I've also heard a bit about the Art of Engineering. "
"Oh?
Then what does Fellow Daoist think about this stone statue? Is it the Art of Engineering? "
"It's very similar."
Daoist Fangzheng nodded. "Cultivators can also use spiritual aura to control puppets. That's not the Art of Engineering, but this thing can move freely without an owner, so it should be the Art of Engineering."
Mo Tiange also thought the same.
In that case, didn't the master of this place know the real Art of Engineering?
After staring at the stone sculpture for a long time, Mo Tiange finally said, "Fellow Daoist Fangzheng, I want this thing. If there's anything else later, you can choose first. What do you think?"
"This …" Daoist Fangzheng hesitated. He naturally also wanted this stone sculpture. If he brought it out, he could sell it to cultivation clans or cultivation groups. For people who wanted to study the Art of Engineering, a peak stage Foundation Building puppet should be worth at least several thousand spirit stones, right?
However, when he saw how determined Mo Tiange was, he nodded without hesitation. Firstly, he didn't want to offend her. Secondly, she promised him some benefits, so he'd only lose some spirit stones. "Alright, this thing isn't very useful to me. If Fellow Daoist Ye wants it, I'll give it to you."
Mo Tiange smiled then put the stone sculpture into her Qiankun Bag. "Thank you. I'll definitely keep my promise. If there are treasures later, Fellow Daoist can take more."
Daoist Fangzheng smiled. Just as he was about to say something polite, his expression suddenly changed. He looked behind Mo Tiange and said, "Fellow Daoist Ye, look!"
Upon hearing Daoist Fangzheng's cry of alarm, Mo Tiange turned around and her expression also changed!
All of a sudden, the other stone sculptures started to move!
One, two, three, four, five!
Five stone sculptures!
The two of them were deathly pale.
Even though they already knew the weaknesses of the stone sculptures, there were still too many of them!
Mo Tiange didn't have much time to think. She flew up and stopped in midair. The Shuttle of Flying Apsara turned into a golden ray and went straight for the ears of one of the stone sculptures.
That stone sculpture paused then raised its sword. Its sword aura soared to the sky and blocked the golden ray.
Mo Tiange clenched her teeth.
Just now, she used the Shuttle of Flying Apsara while she was trapped by a wood element spell, so the stone sculptures couldn't react at all.
But it was different now. No matter how slow these stone sculptures' reactions were, their sword aura was so powerful that they could block it with just a raise of their hands.
What should I do?
Her mind raced, but she couldn't think of a solution.