Lu Zhiying had imagined that with the activation of the array, all one hundred puppets would immediately start charging at Zhao Yunxiao, but things did not quite turn out that way.
In fact, it was almost the complete opposite.
While all of the puppets indeed began to move at the same moment the array was activated, none of them were actually headed towards Zhao Yunxiao.
Instead, the puppets started moving around within the boundaries of the fence in a seemingly random manner, as though Zhao Yunxiao's existence in their midst did not matter one bit.
Yet even though the puppets did not behave exactly like what she had imagined, Lu Zhiying was still amazed by the scene unfolding before her eyes.
The world of cultivators was really full of surprises!
These were obviously mere puppets.
But just by setting up an array, they could be made to move as though they were living and breathing creatures.
This was something absolutely inconceivable in the mortal world, yet seemed all so natural now that she was among cultivators.
Additionally, it was not as if the puppets were just gliding along the ground in a mechanical manner either.
Their movements originated from their limbs and body, making the way they moved extremely realistic, with practically no difference from their living counterparts.
If the puppets were to just don a layer of skin, it would become almost impossible to tell them apart from the real versions!
But as she was observing the puppets' movements with great fascination, Lu Zhiying started to realise something...
The puppets were fast.
Not just the ordinary kind of fast, but extremely fast!
To put it into perspective, they were moving at least twice as fast as the sprinting speed of an average adult man.
And as if to prove a point to Lu Zhiying, six of the puppets suddenly sped up even more.
Moreover, with that sudden increase in speed, these six puppets charged straight towards the stationary Zhao Yunxiao!
This abrupt change in pattern might have startled Lu Zhiying, but Zhao Yunxiao was more than ready for it.
Out of the six puppets, only two of them were charging at him from the front, while the other four were approaching fast from outside of his line of vision.
However, no good cultivator would rely solely on their sense of sight.
Zhao Yunxiao kept his hands clasped behind his back while sidestepping, easily moving out of the way of a wolf puppet that was charging at him from behind.
Not only did he do so, Zhao Yunxiao moved only at the very last moment, just before the wolf puppet was about to crash into him.
And even before the wolf puppet had fully passed him, Zhao Yunxiao had already begun his next move, combining a series of sidesteps and skips to skirt around the two puppets approaching from the front.
Once again, he moved just before colliding with each of the two puppets, as if he had been aiming for those exact moments to begin with.
At this point, the other three puppets that had been moving towards him suddenly changed directions, and were now moving away from him instead.
As if to make up for that, however, other puppets sped up and began moving in his direction from various angles.
Before this new wave of puppets had even arrived, more started to follow suit.
It quickly became a mess of a scene, with puppets moving in all directions, from all directions.
Both the movement direction and speed of the puppets kept changing again and again in a completely random manner, making it almost impossible to predict where the puppets would be in the next moment.
But that was exactly the point of the Hundred Puppets Array.
Some people prided themselves on their ability to observe and calculate their opponents' moves dozens of steps ahead, but that kind of ability was worthless here.
While in the Hundred Puppets Array, one had to be fully aware of their surroundings, sense every little change that was happening, and be able to react and adapt accordingly.
Simply having the mental capacity to detect incoming danger was not enough if one did not have the physical ability to avoid the danger.
At the same time, being physically capable of escaping was useless if one could not even sense the incoming danger.
It was only through attainments in both aspects would one be able to survive in a sea of danger, especially when facing unfamiliar enemies.
This unpredictability of the Hundred Puppets Array was also what forced Zhao Yunxiao to only move to dodge the puppets at the very last moment possible. If he were to make his move too early, the puppets could still change their movements and render his evasive actions meaningless.
In that sense, Zhao Yunxiao was actually doing extremely well right now.
Looking on from outside of the fences, Lu Zhiying could not help but feel amazed.
The puppets' movements were erratic and quick, but Zhao Yunxiao was quicker.
Just like that, he manoeuvred through waves and waves of puppets, dodging them cleanly with his hands still casually clasped behind his back.
He was like a fish to water, completely untouchable.
Gu Qiansi had always teased Zhao Yunxiao for having mediocre talent, but to Lu Zhiying, that did not seem to be the case at all right now.
On the contrary, the ease with which he toyed around with the shifting puppets was nothing short of inspiring!
That was when Zhao Yunxiao suddenly called out to Tian Luoyang, "Enough with the warm up. Increase to Level 2!"
"Level 2 incoming!" the response came instantly.
"Level 2?" Lu Zhiying turned towards Gu Qiansi in confusion.
"Oh, I guess we forgot to tell you. The difficulty of the Hundred Puppets Array can be adjusted at will, ranging from Level 1 to Level 10," Gu Qiansi explained. "Typically, those at the Foundation Building realm can only handle up to Level 2, while those at the Essence Gathering realm can go up to Level 4."
"So that's the case..." Lu Zhiying nodded in understanding.
No wonder Zhao Yunxiao was able to handle the array with such ease. He was overqualified at the current difficulty level.
The emblem of light on the ground gave off a brighter glow, and with that, the puppets sped up all of a sudden.
With this change, Zhao Yunxiao no longer had the luxury of keeping his hands clasped behind his back.
[Xuanwu Movement Art – Snapping Burst]
[Xuanwu Movement Art – Shifting Sands]
Zhao Yunxiao was now forced to utilise moves from the Xuanwu Movement Art in order to avoid contact with the wooden puppets, testament to the increase in difficulty just by going from Level 1 to Level 2.
Burst of speed as well as change in direction.
These were the two most commonly used moves of the Xuanwu Movement Art, and for good reason.
They were simply the moves that came in handy in almost every situation.
Just by relying on these two moves, Zhao Yunxiao kept himself safely out of reach of the wooden puppets, quickly regaining his poise from before.
Of course, it also helped that the movement of the puppets emulated their live counterparts.
This helped Zhao Yunxiao understand the exact range of movements for each individual puppet, allowing him to adjust his movements and react accordingly when dealing with them.
Still, there were a few close calls that seemed as though he was about to be struck by a puppet, only for him to get out of the way at the very last moment.
"Level 3!" Zhao Yunxiao called out after having gotten used to the current level.
Gu Qiansi took a deep breath.
Lu Zhiying noticed her change in expression and asked, "Is something wrong?"
"This is where he failed last time. Hopefully he can last longer this time," Gu Qiansi muttered softly.
Lu Zhiying looked at Gu Qiansi's worried expression for another few moments before turning back to Zhao Yunxiao.
As she thought, her Senior Martial Brother Zhao and Senior Martial Sister Gu might always be bickering, but they were really close.
Lu Zhiying's thought did not linger on that matter.
Instead, she made sure to peel her eyes wide open, not wanting to miss a moment of what was happening within the Hundred Puppets Array right now.
"Level 3 incoming!"
The emblem of light on the ground glowed brighter.
Now, the speed of the wooden puppets was beginning to reach an unreasonable level.
At their peak speed, some of the wooden puppets were almost just a blur to the dazzled Lu Zhiying, her eyes completely unable to keep up with the specifics of their movements.
Zhao Yunxiao, too, could no longer afford to just stand there and dodge incoming puppets.
Instead, he was forced to move around within the array, constantly trying to position himself at safer spots where he would be exposed to less puppets at once.
[Xuanwu Movement Art – Snapping Burst]
Zhao Yunxiao shot forward towards a bear puppet that were approaching him from the front. That way, he completely left the range of three other puppets that were closing in on him from behind.
[Xuanwu Movement Art – Shifting Sands]
Zhao Yunxiao quickly dodged to the right just as he was nearing the puppet ahead.
But just as he changed directions, the puppet did the exact same thing, as if it was consciously chasing after Zhao Yunxiao.
Not just that, but it even sped up further in the process!
With that, there was no longer any way left for Zhao Yunxiao to avoid the bear puppet.
"Damn this thing," Zhao Yunxiao cursed as he raised his fists for the first time since entering the array.
[Xuanwu Fist Art – Immovable Shell]
Bang-!
Zhao Yunxiao's heavy punch connected with the bear puppet in a thunderous collision.
While that alone was not enough to stop the puppet's movements completely, it was at least able to slow the puppet down a little, giving Zhao Yunxiao the small window of time that he needed to get away.
Now that he was at Level 3 of the Hundred Puppets Array, movement techniques were no longer sufficient.
Zhao Yunxiao continued to use a combination of movement and combat techniques to dodge and parry the numerous puppets, and even then appeared as though he was barely hanging on.
There were far too many close calls where Zhao Yunxiao was grazed by the puppets, only barely getting out of the way at the very last minute.
Unfortunately, his luck finally ran out at one point.
"Urgh!" Zhao Yunxiao groaned in pain as an ape puppet smashed into his back, sending him tumbling forward.
He quickly regained his footing and continued evading the next few puppets that arrived.
Unfortunately, his momentum had already been disrupted.
Zhao Yunxiao only managed to avoid a few other puppets before getting swept off his feet by a snake puppet.
Even before his body hit the ground, Zhao Yunxiao could already see five other puppets charging over.
They were not about to give him any chance to recover.
"Stop!" Zhao Yunxiao called out just as he fell onto on the ground.
With a low rumbling sound, the emblem of light on the ground dissipated, and the spirit stones resting along the fence dimmed.
The lively puppets returned to their previous state of motionlessness, with five of them stopping in a position where they were towering over the fallen Zhao Yunxiao in a menacing manner.
Huu-!
Zhao Yunxiao let out a deep sigh as he lay on the ground, feeling both relieved and disappointed at the same time.
He was disappointed that he could not last any longer in the array, but also could not help but feel relieved that the next wave of puppets stopped before hitting him at least.
After all, he was no enjoyer of pain.
"You truly did not betray my expectations, failing at the same point as last time," Gu Qiansi remarked from outside the fence.
"What do you mean at the same point? I might not have cleared Level 3, but I lasted for twelve minutes sixteen seconds this time. That's two and a half minutes more than last time," Zhao Yunxiao picked himself up and dusted his clothes.
At the same time, he slowly regulated his breathing to regain his breath.
"So proud of that little improvement, eh?" Gu Qiansi laughed.
"We'll see how well you do in comparison," Zhao Yunxiao remained calm despite hearing that.
In fact, he was rather proud of what Gu Qiansi termed as a little improvement.
Zhao Yunxiao was a firm believer of cumulative effort and aiming for small milestones when it came to walking the path of cultivation.
Not to mention two and a half minutes, he would have been satisfied even if he improved only by a minute as compared to before.
After all, every bit of improvement was worth celebrating!
"Just hurry up and get out so that I can show you how it's done," Gu Qiansi answered confidently.
"Can't you see that's what I am doing? Patience!" Zhao Yunxiao replied while walking out of the fenced area.
Gu Qiansi merely smiled in response before stepping into the array after Zhao Yunxiao.
"Junior Martial Brother Tian, please activate the array."
With that, the emblem of light appeared on the ground once more as the Hundred Puppets Array buzzed into action.