Chapter 408: Chapter 196: Sword Puppet, the First Intermediate Squad (Part 3) Only because its seemingly impossibly soft sword puppet abdomen, as soon as it was broken open, quickly became hard, and even began to contract inward. Its sharp horn was stuck. Crack... crack...... The Thunder Kui’s limbs thrashed wildly on the ground, its body desperately pulling back, attempting to extract its horn from the sword puppet’s abdomen. But no matter how much force it exerted, nor how much it thrashed, that horn stayed firmly embedded in the sword puppet’s abdomen, not budging an inch. Its head, already clamped by the sword puppet’s double blades, now had its horn immobilized, turning its body into a lamb waiting for slaughter. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶 Splurt...... Such a golden opportunity, Xia Chuan wouldn’t miss. With his right hand frantically pulling the thread, the sword puppet’s hands and feet and the other parts of its body that had blades commenced a mad round of slicing against the Thunder Kui’s body. Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...... The other people around, already shooting arrows like mad at the moment the first sword hit and injury appeared on the Thunder Kui’s neck, furiously aiming at that bloodstained wound. As they shot arrows, they watched Xia Chuan’s manipulation of the sword puppet, eyes glimmering, faces full of amazement. "It’s only the third time he’s used it, yet the master’s handling of the sword puppet is getting more adept. Why do I feel like the sword puppet’s strength seems even a bit stronger than the master’s own strength!" "Because of the weight, the sword puppet’s arms and legs each wield one of those four giant swords made of hundred forged iron, each weighing about twenty to thirty thousand pounds. That heavy weapon doesn’t even need to slash; blunt force alone could kill someone." "Hiss...... Just the four swords alone weigh over a hundred thousand pounds, but I remember the master’s basic strength is only above forty thousand pounds now. So how does he control this sword puppet?" "Take a closer look; every attack the sword puppet makes uses at most the strength of two limbs, which precisely matches the master’s limit." "I see, that white thread is truly amazing. If we could use it, controlling such a colossal thing, no Cold Beast could withstand us!" "You’re dreaming too much. That white thread was obtained from a Wood Puppet Monster. If you kill one, maybe you could also get some treasure." "This...... better forget it, I don’t have such luck." ...... Splurt! Despite the conversation, no one paused in their shooting. As Xia Chuan controlled the sword puppet, cutting the Thunder Kui’s body into countless wounds, the nearby archers finally reaped their harvest. Qiu Peng was the first to shoot an arrow into the fresh wound on the Thunder Kui’s neck, the intense pain further distorting its movements, yet at this moment not only was its body immobilized, even its greatest asset, the horn, was stuck in the sword puppet’s abdomen, unable to move. "Roar......" With more iron arrows hitting other wound sites, it made it incapable of any resistance, only able to let out a roar of resentment. And during the Thunder Kui’s brief gap in its open-mouth roar, Xia Chuan’s pupils abruptly tightened, fingers sharply lifting upwards. The sword puppet’s left leg abruptly kicked upwards. Splurt...... The Thunder Kui couldn’t close its mouth in time, pierced by the giant sword of the sword puppet’s left leg, over two meters of blade completely embedding within, tip protruding slightly from the back of its head. Head pierced, the Thunder Kui’s thrashing body abruptly stiffened, and after remaining still for over ten breaths, finally... Bang! "Hahahaha, it’s dead, finally dead!" "The fifth kind of intermediate Cold Beast, hahaha, we did it." "Success, success, hahahaha!" ...... The dozen people perched in the surrounding trees erupted in a wave of ecstatic cheers, leaping down from the trees, approaching the Thunder Kui’s corpse, eyes overflowing with irrepressible excitement. Qiu Peng was no exception, rubbing his sore arms, glancing at the blade that had become jagged, his expression, though somewhat fearful, was more so filled with excitement. Just like them, Xia Chuan was too. But he did not look at the Thunder Kui lying on the ground, instead gazing at the sword puppet that still held its stance, face invigorated, eyes sparkling. "The two Cold Beasts hunted earlier, I wasn’t entirely sure, but this Thunder Kui finally lets me confirm that this thread not only allows my power to transmit through Red Wood to other things but also, based on object weight, unleashes destructive power multiples of my basic strength!" Xia Chuan looked down at the Thunder Kui’s littered wounds, expression growing increasingly excited. Of the currently known intermediate Cold Beasts, Thunder Kui definitely counts as one of the hardest to hunt, primarily due to its thick skin membrane. Xia Hong had conducted tests before; even the weakest point of Thunder Kui’s skin membrane could withstand impacts over thirty thousand pounds, while slightly tougher spots required a Snow Mane’s power to break open. Now, the wounds densely covering the Thunder Kui say it all! "Master, from today on, our Cloud Jiao Team will be the first intermediate hunting team in the whole camp, right!" Xia Chuan raised his head, observing the people’s excited expressions, nodding lightly. He understood well the reason for their excitement. They had previously hunted Snow Mane, Frost Wolf, Blue Moon Elf, and Teng Jiao, four types of intermediate Cold Beast, so this Thunder Kui was Cloud Jiao Team’s fifth kind of intermediate Cold Beast they had hunted. Back when Yuwen Dao established the promotion rules, advancing from low-level to intermediate required two conditions: one was a total contribution value of fifty thousand, and the other the hunting of five different types of intermediate Cold Beast. The first condition, given their frenzied hunting during this period, was long satisfied; the second was merely awaiting their submission of this intermediate Thunder Kui. Great Xia’s first intermediate hunting team! Its worth, beyond doubt. No wonder they would be so excited. Taking a deep breath, Xia Chuan’s face displayed a trace of proud defiance. Others might not understand the significance of this intermediate hunting team to him. In the previous two months, with Great Xia’s population expanding widely, questioning his ability as Minister grew ever more frequent. "The Minister’s strength doesn’t compare to Yuwen Director." "Hong Guang, Hong Tian, Meng Yi, among five masters, are also superior to him." "He only became Minister because the leader is his brother." "That leader isn’t as unbiased as he claims; he favors people too." ... Though voices like these weren’t many, Xia Chuan still found them grating. Especially noting someone targeting his elder brother Xia Hong, discomfort gnawed at his heart. Thus, he needed desperately an opportunity to prove himself. "The first intermediate hunting team, at least, will quieten a portion of them!" Xia Chuan’s gaze steeled, glancing back at the sword puppet, with pride on his face. "With this sword puppet, throughout the camp, except for my elder brother..." Getting people to shut up was secondary; outmatching Yuwen Dao was Xia Chuan’s true pursuit. Besides elder brother Xia Hong, he Xia Chuan believed he wouldn’t lose to anyone else.