Regret is useless, you've pissed me off

"Wait here for a moment. I'll be back soon."

As soon as Su Luo stepped outside, Lu Xiezi's puppets were still there, reacting immediately upon spotting her.

"Su Luo, I was just thinking about what to give you as compensation. Go on, name your price—anything within my power is yours."

His tone was grand, but his words were meaningless.

"No need. Today, I'm here to kill you."

Ignoring her, Lu Xiezi continued, "By the way, I’ve been wondering—why is the Demon Lord here? If you tell me, I might throw in something extra for you."

Su Luo swung her sword relentlessly, cutting down each of the annoying puppets.

"Let’s talk this out. Even the Demon Lord has intervened, so I won’t make trouble for you. Consider these puppets venting your anger. Now, let’s negotiate."

Su Luo paid no attention, continuing to dismantle his puppets.

Meanwhile, he summoned new ones from elsewhere, still attempting to engage her in conversation.

"Keep this up, and I’ll lose my temper. These puppets are my life’s work. Even someone as patient as me has limits."

"I’m genuinely angry now. So, what did the Demon Lord do to you? What’s her stance?"

"You should’ve had your fill of revenge by now, killing me so many times."

As if deaf to his words, Su Luo kept moving, effortlessly disposing of every puppet that pursued her.

"Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson." Lu Xiezi’s patience finally wore thin. Enough talk—it was time to discipline Su Luo.

Ten puppets encircled her.

But mere puppets were no match. Su Luo dispatched them with ease and pressed forward.

"Oh? Not bad."

Lu Xiezi intensified his assault, sending twenty puppets this time.

Yet Su Luo charged through, leaving none standing.

"Alright, I admit I underestimated you."

Thirty puppets.

Though their coordination was flawless and their combined techniques formidable, they posed no real threat. Su Luo took only a little longer to dismantle them.

"Impossible! How is he this strong?!" A bead of sweat trickled down Lu Xiezi’s real brow.

His pride stung, he refused to back down.

"Don’t get cocky, Su Luo. Your luck runs out now."

Before he could finish, Su Luo shattered the puppet and advanced.

Gathering puppets from distant locations took time, but fortunately, he had already mobilized most of them for his northern campaign—these were his prized tools for dominance.

Forty. Then fifty.

Useless. They barely slowed Su Luo’s pace.

Watching his puppet army dwindle, Lu Xiezi’s bravado crumbled.

"Fine, Su Luo, you win this round. Next time we meet, I won’t go easy on you."

Having lost over a hundred puppets, Lu Xiezi was heartbroken.

He resolved to bide his time. After all, Su Luo had no way of knowing his true location.

But just in case, he sent a couple of puppets to shadow Su Luo from a distance, monitoring whether she could actually track him down.

Yet every surveillance puppet was quickly detected and destroyed, each time faster than the last. Sometimes, they barely caught a glimpse of Su Luo’s silhouette before being obliterated.

Occasionally, they’d lose sight of her—only for another puppet to spot her moments later, only to meet the same fate. No matter how cautious Lu Xiezi became, his efforts were in vain.

"Why does it feel like she’s getting closer? Must be a coincidence..."

Another puppet spotted Su Luo—and was instantly annihilated.

But no, Su Luo was closing in.

"No, no, no! It’s just coincidence! There’s no way he knows about this place. Impossible!"

Panic set in. Should he flee?

Then, in the next moment, Su Luo veered off course, vanishing from sight.

"Hahaha! I told you it was coincidence! After hiding for so many years, did you really think I’d be found so easily?"

Lu Xiezi redirected his puppets, searching for Su Luo.

"Nothing... Nothing! Where did he go?"

Then, another puppet was destroyed—this time far from his hiding spot.

"Tch, another false alarm. I almost believed he actually knew. Just bluffing, scaring me for nothing."

It had been a while since any puppet last spotted Su Luo.

"Heh, maybe he gave up and went home. What a failure. I’ll go mock him in a bit."

After Su Luo destroyed so many of his puppets, Lu Xiezi had to retaliate. He couldn’t swallow this humiliation.

Then—

A familiar voice echoed right beside Lu Xiezi’s ear.

"Open up. Delivery of warmth."

With a thunderous explosion, Su Luo blasted through the mountainside, revealing Lu Xiezi’s hidden lair.

"Hello. I’m here."

"You—! How—?! How did you find this place?!" Lu Xiezi stammered, his voice trembling with shock.

"Just gave you a fake trail. Is that your final words?"

Su Luo’s sword descended, a devastating arc of energy hurtling toward Lu Xiezi.

At the last second, Lu Xiezi shed his outer shell, narrowly escaping death.

"Hundred Puppets Run Wild!"

With his life on the line, Lu Xiezi held nothing back. The mountain trembled as countless puppets erupted from the earth—his strongest, most elite creations.

Surrounded by his puppets, Lu Xiezi’s confidence surged.

A hundred against one? The odds were in his favor.

"Su Luo, you’ve got skill. But today, you’re the one who dies!"

Despite his bravado, Lu Xiezi was already edging backward, directing his puppets to attack.

"Too late to run now."

[All That Meets the Eye—Explodes.]

Boom! Boom!

Su Luo detonated the puppets one after another, advancing relentlessly.

Lu Xiezi’s fleeting confidence shattered. Death loomed closer—a sensation he hadn’t felt in years.

He could only flee.

"I know what you’re thinking. Death is near."

Su Luo was already behind him, her blade raised high.

"You fell for it! This is another decoy!" Lu Xiezi cackled.

"Doesn’t matter. I know which one is you. Just letting you savor your last hope."

Su Luo cleaved through the puppet in front of her, then flashed forward—appearing before the real Lu Xiezi.

His final hope crumbled, leaving only despair.

"Spare me! Please, spare me!"

"I’ve heard enough of that. Regret changes nothing. You brought this on yourself."

With cold indifference, Su Luo brought her sword down—ending Lu Xiezi in a single, unremarkable stroke.

No fanfare. Just silence. Time to leave.

But before departing, Su Luo reduced the entire mountain to rubble.

This place was Lu Xiezi’s workshop—where he experimented on living humans, turning them into puppets.

"Disgusting, as always."

Su Luo wouldn’t allow such atrocities to continue.