Chapter 5049: The Only Solution “Elder, are the remaining puppets all at rank one Half-God level?” Chu Feng continued asking. It wouldn’t be enough to deal with the Pill Dao Immortal Sect if all of them were only at rank one Half-God level. “500 are at rank one Half-God level, 200 are at rank two Half-God level, and 100 are at rank three Half-God level. I’m not too sure how powerful are the remaining 32, but I do know that they are at Half-God level at the very minimum,” Yao Cheng replied. “The puppets are that powerful?” Chu Feng was overjoyed to hear that. He finally understood why Yao Cheng said that the puppet army could save the Nine Souls Galaxy. With such fighting prowess, they would surely be able to deal with Sima Xiangtu and the Pill Dao Immortal Sect. However, that brought up other questions in Chu Feng’s mind. “Elder, is your Monstrous Spirit Clan unable to control the puppet army?” Based on what Yao Cheng had told him thus far, the Monstrous Spirit Clan ought to harbor deep hatred toward the Nine Souls Sacred Clan. It didn’t make sense for them not to exact vengeance on the Nine Souls Sacred Clan when they had such a powerful puppet army in their possession. He could only think of two possibilities for this. One, the Monstrous Spirit Clan had given up on exacting vengeance. Two, the Monstrous Spirit Clan wasn’t able to control the puppet army at all. “The man who created the puppet army left a formation behind when he departed. He said that anyone who is able to clear the formation will be granted control over the puppet army, but the formation can only be challenged by juniors. “Many of our juniors have challenged the formation in the past eight hundred years, but no one had been able to clear it thus far. Due to that, we aren’t able to tap into the power of the puppet army,” Yao Cheng replied. It was the same as what Chu Feng had guessed. “Elder, will the Monstrous Spirit Clan agree to grant us control over the puppet army if we clear the formation? Or are you doing this behind the back of the Monstrous Spirit Clan?” Chu Feng asked. It was understandable why he had such concerns. Putting aside the grudge between the Monstrous Spirit Clan and the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, the Monstrous Spirit Clan could have easily replaced the Nine Souls Sacred Clan as the rulers of the Nine Souls Galaxy with such a powerful puppet army under their command. Who would possibly be willing to lend out such a force to an outsider? Even bringing outsiders in to clear the formation was a huge risk. The Zhuge Clan was one example. They were willing to go to the extent of resorting to underhanded means and offending many people at once just to prevent Chu Feng from attempting the formation. “Your concerns are understandable. The man who created the puppet army eight hundred years ago said that any junior who cleared the formation will be able to gain control over the puppet army, even if they aren’t from the Monstrous Spirit Clan. “This is an opportunity for our Monstrous Spirit Clan to overcome our limits. The only problem is that the members of our Monstrous Spirit Clan are generally hostile toward outsiders. There’s a chance that they might take your life if they were to find you,” Yao Cheng said. “What should we do then?” Wang Yuxian asked. “While our Monstrous Spirit Clan is hostile toward outsiders, we respect the strong. Your cultivation levels are high compared to the juniors of our Monstrous Spirit Clan, but that isn’t enough. You have to prove that your talent is far above that of our juniors. “Our Monstrous Spirit Clan has a talent assessment formation left behind by the lord who brought that energy to us tens of thousands of years ago. The talent assessment formation appears once in a while and can only be used by juniors. “Luckily, the talent assessment formation has shown signs of activating recently. Our Monstrous Spirit Clan will be bringing a group of juniors there to have their talent assessed when it fully activates. You can use that opportunity to prove your talent too. As long as you’re able to achieve good results there, the members of our Monstrous Spirit Clan will acknowledge you. “However, I ought to remind you that the consequences of failure will be dire. You’d be lucky to be evicted out of the clan, but in the worst-case scenario, the elders might even sentence you to death. I’ll try my best to protect you since I was the one who brought you in, but I can’t guarantee your safety. “The Monstrous Spirit Clan’s Clan Chief is currently at the same cultivation level as me, rank nine Martial Exalted level, but the Monstrous Spirit Clan has a defensive formation to deal with invaders. I won’t be a match for her if she activates that formation. “If you wish to back down right now, it’s still not too late to leave. The two of you should have noticed while you were passing through the spirit formation gate that you won’t face any obstructions when leaving this place,” Yao Cheng said. “Is that the only way? Is there any chance for us to challenge the puppet army formation straight away?” Wang Yuxian asked. She would prefer not to take this risk if possible, especially since Yao Cheng had made it clear that the members of Monstrous Spirit Clan weren’t welcoming of strangers. She was worried that even if they achieved good results in the talent assessment formation, the members of the Monstrous Spirit Clan might still be unwilling to let them off. That could very well cost them their life. In response to Wang Yuxian’s question, Yao Cheng shook her head and replied, “The puppet army formation is sealed off by a barrier, and the key to the barrier is in the hands of our clan chief. You won’t be able to enter it without her permission, so it’s necessary for you to win her acknowledgment through the talent assessment formation. “What I’m thinking is for the two of you to enter the talent assessment formation after our juniors leave. If you’re able to receive a good result, I’ll call my clan members over to take a look. Otherwise, the two of you should quickly escape from this place before anyone notices you. “There’s just one problem. The talent assessment formation doesn’t remain activated for very long. It’ll automatically deactivate if there’s no one standing on it for an extended period of time. You might be able to attempt it secretly if my clan members clear the area right after using the formation, or else you might have to take a risk,” Yao Cheng said. “Elder, I’m willing to give it a try,” Chu Feng said. “I’m willing to give it a try too,” Wang Yuxian expressed her stance. “Good. It’ll likely take some time for the talent assessment formation to fully activate, so let’s first find a place for the two of you to rest,” Yao Cheng said. With that, she settled them into a cabin inside the forest.