Although these cultivators only displayed the cultivation level of the foundation-building stage, the essence of wood spiritual energy contained in their bodies was far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Moreover, Chen Yun recognized at a glance that the armor they wore and the long spears they held were all top-level wood-attributed spiritual weapons, which was quite unusual.

As if noticing Chen Yun's surprise, the old man took the initiative to explain:
"These are the Wood Spirit Guards that my master personally trained. They use the power of the Tiansang sacred tree to practice a special technique. Although their cultivation is not high, they are good at combined attack tactics. If you have the chance, you may give them some guidance."

"Yes, it is indeed different." Chen Yun nodded in agreement.

Seeing that Chen Yun did not comment, the old man did not say anything more.

The wooden hall has a simple layout. Apart from the main hall, there is only one side hall.

Therefore, when Chen Yun and others stepped into the hall, they immediately noticed a tall figure in a green robe and with white hair standing with his back to them.

When the old man saw this figure, his face changed immediately. After bowing deeply, he stood aside silently with his hands behind his back.

"Are you the old man Kuzhu?"

Chen Yun stared at the man's back without blinking.

"Yes, I am Kuzhu."

The man in green robe laughed loudly and turned around.

Chen Yun narrowed his eyes and saw the white-haired man with red lips, white teeth, delicate eyebrows and handsome eyes, just like a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old, but his face was covered with a faint green.

Seeing the other party's appearance, Chen Yun was naturally surprised.

He was surprised to find that the old man from Kuzhu had the same secret of keeping his youthful appearance as he did. He had expected to see an old man with a face full of wrinkles.

Although old man Kuzhu had a smile on his face, a strange look flashed in his eyes when he saw Chen Yun's face clearly.

"We are indeed not overseas cultivators. My surname is Chen, and this is my senior brother, whose surname is Li. Please don't be offended by my intrusive visit."

Chen Yun responded politely.

On the mysterious island, old man Kuzhu slowly swept his eyes over Chen Yun and the humanoid puppet.

He smiled slightly and said:

"You two Daoists are definitely not ordinary people. It is an honor for this island master to have you visit this island. Daoist Fellow Li's cultivation is even more unfathomable. I am actually unable to glimpse into his realm. This really makes me amazed."

Chen Yun nodded slightly, with a humble look on his face, and said softly:

"You are too modest. We have long heard of the great name of Daoist Kuzhu. It is well-known to us."

The old man Kuzhu raised his lips, revealing a gentle smile, and extended his hand to invite them, saying, "Please take a seat first and try the mulberry tea that is unique to this island."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of crisp applause.

Then, several young female monks walked into the hall with light steps, holding tea trays in their hands.

They skillfully brewed a pot of light green spiritual tea for each of the three people, then bowed respectfully and quietly left the wooden hall.

Chen Yun lowered his head slightly, his eyes falling on the spiritual tea on the table. He could clearly sense the rich wood spirit in the tea. His expression slightly moved, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, and he asked softly:

"Could this mulberry tea be related to the sacred mulberry tree?"

Old Kuzhu said with a little complacency:

"Fellow Daoist, you really have good eyesight. This is tea brewed with the spiritual leaves of the Heavenly Mulberry Sacred Tree. It has the effect of improving eyesight and calming the mind. Outside of this fairy island, I'm afraid it's hard to find another place that has this kind of spiritual tea."

Chen Yun's eyes flashed, and he first used his spiritual sense to carefully check the spiritual tea in the cup. After confirming that there was no problem, he picked up the teacup and took a sip.

"Friend Li, is this tea not to your taste?"

Seeing this, old man Kuzhu asked in surprise.

The humanoid puppet sat upright on the chair, ignoring the teacup on the table, and said coldly: "Since I started fasting, I no longer eat or drink outside the cave."

There was a coldness in his words, without any politeness at all.

"I see. I am sorry for being so presumptuous."

A hint of displeasure flashed across old man Kuzhu's eyes, but he quickly concealed it and it disappeared.

A monk who can say such words in front of his master must have something to rely on.

Old Man Kuzhu couldn't help but wonder in his heart: Could it be that this person is really a cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage?
This thought flashed through his mind, and he became even more wary of the humanoid puppet.

The two Taoist friends came here to discuss something. I wonder what you two think of the deal proposed by Chen?
Fellow Daoist Kuzhu should know something about this.

Chen Yun only took two or three sips of tea, then slowly put down the teacup and asked.

Old Kuzhu looked embarrassed and said:
"To be honest with you two fellow Taoists, this deal is really hard for me to agree to."

"The black phoenix is ​​at a critical stage of advancement. Even if the two of you bring out more demon pills, I am not willing to exchange the black wind feather. Otherwise, it may take a long time for this spiritual bird to break through the bottleneck next time."

"So, Fellow Daoist Kuzhu has rejected this matter?" Chen Yun pursed his lips, his expression calm.

"Hehe, if I really refuse outright, I'm afraid the two Taoist friends won't return empty-handed. We cultivators believe that the capable are the most powerful. I can exchange magic skills with the two of you."

"If one of you can defeat me in a fight, I can consider this deal. If you two can't do it..."

"I can't do it. Brother Li and I will leave immediately and never mention this matter again."

Chen Yun responded decisively.

In the quiet mountains, the old man Kuzhu slowly swept his eyes over Chen Yun and the puppet, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said:
"It has been nearly a hundred years since I last competed with anyone. Which of you two Taoist friends would like to give it a try?"

Chen Yun looked calm. The puppet beside him, under the control of his distraction, spoke softly:

"If you don't mind, how about having a sparring match with me?"

When Old Man Kuzhu heard this, he was slightly startled. He saw that it was the person whose cultivation he could not see through who was going to take action.

A sense of solemnity suddenly surged in his heart. He slowly stood up from the chair, his eyes revealing a bit of expectation and vigilance, and said:
"Okay, I'm very curious about Brother Li's skills, why don't we have a competition over this mountain peak?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yun and the puppet stood up.

The old man who was standing aside with his hands behind his back could not hide his excitement. After all, the fight between Nascent Soul cultivators was a rare spectacle.

In a moment, Chen Yun was already more than a hundred feet above the mountain, floating in the air with a calm expression, like an immortal soaring in the sky.

Dozens of feet in front of him, the humanoid puppet and old man Kuzhu stood facing each other.

At this time, seven or eight Jindan cultivators who heard the news had rushed over from other places nearby.

They all had their eyes wide open, staring intently at the situation in the air, afraid of missing this rare fighting scene.

Old man Kuzhu let out a low shout, clasped his hands together, and suddenly cold light filled the air, with more than a hundred green rays shooting out from his body.

These green lights surged in the wind, and instantly turned into more than a hundred light green flying swords, showing an amazing momentum. With a flash of sword light, all the flying swords automatically arranged into a strange queue, circling above the head of the old man Kuzhu, hiding murderous intent.

Seeing this, Chen Yun's originally calm expression froze slightly.

He thought to himself:

"This old man Kuzhu has practiced so many flying swords, and he is indeed proficient in sword formations." Although he had guessed it long ago, he was still surprised when he saw it with his own eyes.

"Tsk tsk, kid Chen, this old man seems to have some skills."

The voice of Lord Dayan came with a hint of excitement. It was obvious that he was confident in the magical power of this puppet. "Let's try the puppet's defensive ability first."

"Oh, I see."

Chen Yun was also full of expectations. After all, he had spent a lot of rare materials to create this humanoid puppet.

With a thought, the humanoid puppet also began to move.

In the distance, you can see a puppet suddenly open its mouth and spit out a shield as big as a palm.

The shield flashed with light in an instant and quickly grew into a huge silver shield, blocking the puppet in front of it and providing it with protection.

Then, the puppet quickly formed seals with its hands, and runes of various colors appeared on its face.

Then a colorful protective shield emanated from these runes, tightly wrapping the entire body.

"Hey! Could this friend be from the Southern Border Poison Saint Sect? This spell seems to be quite similar to the famous Spiritual Pattern Spell of the Poison Saint Sect."

When old man Kuzhu saw the abnormality on the puppet's face, he asked in surprise.

"No, that's not the case."

Although Chen Yun was touched after hearing these words, he still controlled the expressionless puppet and gave a negative answer.

"Oh, it seems I misunderstood. However, your ability is indeed very close to the Spiritual Pattern Technique."

There was a strange light in old man Kuzhu's eyes, and his tone became calm. It was obvious that he did not completely believe what the humanoid puppet said.

Despite this, Old Man Kuzhu did not continue to ask.

When he noticed that the puppet had assumed a defensive stance, he stopped all movements and appeared to have no intention of attacking at all.

This made him feel a little unhappy and he felt as if he was being looked down upon.

Then his face became gloomy and he chanted a spell in a low voice.

In the sky, numerous flying swords made a buzzing resonant sound in unison.

Then, these flying swords began to vibrate at the same time, and hundreds of sword qi several feet long spurted out from the sword formation.

These sword energies quickly intertwined into an impenetrable sword shadow and shot towards the opposite side.

During the flight, they merged into one, forming a dazzling, chilling sword light.

Facing the incoming sword light, the humanoid puppet simply pointed a finger at the silver shield in front of him. The silver shield suddenly flashed with light, and turned into a thick light shield that was several times thicker than its original body.

The light shield was white and misty, and it rushed out to meet the sword light.

Under Chen Yun's gaze, the sword light hit the light shield mercilessly, and a loud bang was heard instantly.

The white light and the cold light flickered and intertwined, but the light shield remained motionless like a rock, easily blocking all the sword lights, which was more than enough.

Seeing this, the old man Kuzhu's face suddenly changed, and Chen Yun also showed a hint of surprise. Dayan God sent a voice message:

"The power of this Yuan Gang Shield seems to be beyond our expectations. Although it is a newly refined magic weapon and has not been fully refined, it seems to have no problem resisting attacks from ordinary magic weapons."

"However, only this puppet can exert its defensive capabilities to such an extreme."

"If you were to operate this shield, I'm afraid its power wouldn't be even half as powerful as it is now."

In the world of cultivating immortals, the extent to which a magic weapon's power is displayed mainly depends on three factors: the power of the magic weapon itself, the amount of magic power injected into it, and the control of divine thoughts.

The amount of spiritual energy that a practitioner can store and release is the core manifestation of his or her level of cultivation. As one's realm improves, these abilities will also improve accordingly.

Chen Yun was well aware of this. He realized that there was a clear gap in mana storage between himself and a puppet made of rare materials.

The magical power that this puppet can contain is more than three times his own, and this gap makes him unable to match it.

After a period of study and practice, under the guidance of Lord Dayan, Chen Yun's mastery of puppetry has reached a fairly high level.

Although he may still not be as good as Lord Dayan, he can already stand on par with several other masters in the field of puppet refining in the human world.

Lord Dayan further explained that even a magic weapon like the Yuan Gang Shield was refined by Chen Yun himself and then given to the puppet for use.

But during the refining process, it was tailored according to the characteristics of the humanoid puppet, so its function is different from the magic weapon in the traditional sense.

Even if Chen Yun injected mana into the shield in the same way, he would not be able to fully unleash the potential of this magic weapon.

Hearing this, Chen Yun just nodded and said nothing more.

In a distant place, old man Kuzhu was urging his sword to flash.

However, facing the solid light shield, he had difficulty breaking through its defense. After some attempts, the old man Kuzhu decided to use another magical power to attack.

He just raised his hand and pointed at the flying swords in the air, and suddenly the swords rang out.

These flying swords seemed to be summoned by some mysterious force and shot towards somewhere in the sky in unison.

With a flash of light, a huge sword wheel with a diameter of about ten feet appeared in the air.

Then, old man Kuzhu cast several spells in succession, causing the sword wheel to begin to rotate, and the speed became faster and faster.

In a flash, a dazzling light and a green beam of light burst out from the center of the sword wheel, and this beam of light hit the huge light shield directly.

After a dull sound, a huge green ball of light formed and exploded on the surface of the light shield.

This huge ball of light instantly pressed the center part of the light shield down and deformed it severely, making the entire light shield look shaky.

At this moment, the humanoid puppet pointed at the silver shield, and the light shield instantly disintegrated into countless white dots.

The light ball that was originally blocked took the opportunity to rush downward and directly hit the main body of the giant silver shield.

The silver shield was not shattered by the light ball. Instead, it released a mercury-like stream of light at this moment, and its surface became as smooth as a mirror.

Under the illumination of the silver light, the light ball vibrated violently, and countless green lights were reflected and scattered. In an instant, the volume of the light ball was reduced by more than half.

Then, the silver shield tilted slightly, releasing a dazzling silver light, bouncing the remaining light ball high into the sky, and after a flash, it exploded and disappeared.

Old Kuzhu took a deep breath, and the shock in his eyes could no longer be concealed. He stared at the puppet opposite him, his face full of solemnity. (End of this chapter)