Dao of Money

As Chen Ren ran, there was only one thought in his mind, where were Yalan and Princess Yanyue?

If they had been here, fighting the puppet might have actually been possible. Even that monstrous thing wouldn’t be impossible with three of them working together. But despite the signal he had sent earlier, there was no sign of either of them.

That thought didn’t last long. More qi missiles came tearing through the air behind him.

One slammed into the wall beside him, exploding on impact and sending shards of stone and metal raining down. Chen Ren raised his arm instinctively as debris struck his body, silently thanking whatever luck he had left that the puppet didn’t seem to have a perfect targeting system.

Even so, the sheer number of missiles was becoming a problem.

He could dodge them—for now. But not forever.

Especially not once he entered the tunnel. It might be wide, but it was nowhere near as open as the workshop. There would be far less room to maneuver, and if this continued, one mistake would be enough to end everything.

As he ran, an idea suddenly formed in his mind.

Without slowing down, he grabbed Wang Jun from his side and turned the head around.

Wang Jun immediately snapped, “What the hell are you doing?!”

Chen Ren didn’t even glance at him.

“Tell me where the missiles are coming from,” he said quickly. “And if the puppet gets close.”

Wang Jun grunted in annoyance, but he didn’t argue. “Move left.”

Chen Ren reacted instantly, shifting his direction mid-run and stepping over a cluster of broken puppets lying across a table. A qi missile shot past the exact spot he had just been in, missing him by inches.

It struck the wall instead. The explosion blasted through it, tearing open a new path that led directly into the tunnel.

Chen Ren didn’t hesitate.

Lightning surged through his legs as he pushed off the ground and leapt straight through the opening. He landed hard but steady, finally crossing into the tunnel beyond the workshop.

Behind him, the puppet let out a low, grinding roar as it forced its way after him.

Chen Ren didn’t turn back. He couldn’t afford to waste even a single second and only focused on running, pushing his body forward as fast as he could, passing by the broken puppets he had destroyed earlier. Every step was meant to put more distance between him and the thing chasing him.

But barely two minutes into the tunnel, Wang Jun suddenly shouted, “Kid, duck!”

Chen Ren didn’t ask why.

He dropped instantly, throwing himself low and sacrificing all his speed.

The very next second, a massive chunk of metal tore through the air right above his head. It rolled forward before stopping and his eyes widened as he recognized it.

It was one of the puppets he had destroyed.

For a brief moment, he turned back. And what he saw made his expression tighten even further.

The puppet was coming straight at him. Far faster than before.

Its arms had extended unnaturally, digging deep into the walls of the tunnel as it pulled itself forward with terrifying speed. At the same time, it was grabbing pieces of the broken puppets scattered along the path and hurling them toward him like projectiles.

Chen Ren immediately pushed himself forward again, his voice rising, “Why didn’t you say it was this close?!”

Wang Jun snapped back, “Just run! I didn’t want you panicking more than you already were!”

“I’m panicking even more now!” Chen Ren shot back.

Even as he spoke, he turned briefly and released a bolt of lightning toward the ceiling. The attack struck, cracking the stone above and sending chunks of rock crashing down.

For a moment, it looked like it might slow the puppet, but it didn’t.

The creature smashed straight through the falling debris, barely losing any momentum.

Chen Ren clenched his jaw and pushed more qi into his legs, forcing his body to move faster despite the strain. The tunnel stretched endlessly ahead, but it no longer felt like an escape—it felt like a trap.

Behind him, the puppet kept closing the distance.

“Left!” Wang Jun suddenly shouted.

Chen Ren shifted immediately, narrowly avoiding another chunk of metal that slammed into the ground where he had just been.

“Right!”

He moved again.

But it was getting harder because the space was tighter and the attacks were way faster. With each passing second, he was running out of room.

Every puppet thrown at him, every qi missile that struck the walls, created more and more debris that Chen Ren had to push through. The tunnel was quickly turning into a collapsing mess, and he could feel it slowing him down with every step.

He also knew how long it stretched, and that knowledge only made things worse.

Unlike the puppet, which was powered by qi cores and showed no signs of slowing down, Chen Ren’s own reserves were limited. He hadn’t rested properly since entering this floor, and every burst of speed, every dodge, every counterattack was draining him further.

Sooner or later, he was going to get caught. He couldn’t see any other outcome if this continued.

If he wanted to get out of this alive, he needed something more than just running. He needed a way to stop the puppet, even if only for a moment.

His thoughts raced as panic crept up his spine. Behind him, the grinding of gears was getting louder, closer, and heavier with each passing second.

And in the end, only one option stood out. Chen Ren’s expression hardened as he made his decision.

“Wang Jun, don’t fall.”

Wang Jun immediately shouted. “Why are you saying that? What are you—”

Chen Ren didn’t let him finish.

He turned sharply mid-run, already reaching into his spatial ring and pulling out several thundercrack orbs. Without hesitation, he threw them straight toward the ceiling above the pursuing puppet.

Then he turned back around and kept throwing more.

Each orb shot upward as he ran, his movements quick and precise despite the chaos behind him.

Wang Jun shouted something at his side, but his voice was drowned out almost instantly as the orbs detonated.

Explosions ripped through the tunnel, their force shaking the entire underground passage. The ceiling cracked, then fractured, and in the next moment, it began to collapse.

Massive chunks of stone came crashing down around him.

Lightning surged across his body as he struck out, breaking apart stones before they could crush him.

Even then, it was barely enough. Dust filled the air and the sound of collapsing stone echoed endlessly.

And in the middle of it all, Chen Ren kept moving forward, forcing his body through the chaos, hoping the destruction behind him would be enough to slow the thing chasing him.

But he knew he couldn’t keep this up for long.

The falling debris was getting worse, and even with lightning reinforcing his body, he was reaching his limit. If he stayed on the ground, he would eventually be crushed or slowed down enough for the puppet to catch him.

So he changed his approach.

Chen Ren immediately pulled out a handful of talismans from his spatial ring and threw them ahead of him. As soon as they left his hand, he sent a bolt of lightning after them, igniting their activation.

At once, the talismans flared to life, forming wind shields in midair.

They had been meant as defensive tools—something he had picked up back on the fifth floor—but now he used them differently. He stepped onto the first one.

Then the next.

Using them like footholds, he pushed himself upward, climbing through the air toward the collapsing ceiling. Each step was quick, the wind shields barely lasted long enough before dissipating behind him.

When he finally reached close to the ceiling, he gathered all the lightning within his body and condensed it into his fists before smashing it upward.

The first strike only cracked the stone. He punched again, and again while igniting more talismans around him for footing.

Each blow carried more force than the last, sending fractures spreading through the ceiling as dust and debris fell around him. Behind him, the tunnel continued collapsing, the sound of breaking stone growing louder with every second.

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Then he heard the grinding sound again.

Chen Ren turned his head and saw the puppet still coming. Even after everything, it had forced its way through the collapse.

Parts of its body were damaged now, sections broken or dented from the falling stone, but it still stood firm, its red eyes locked onto him.

For a brief moment, they stared at each other before the puppet raised its arm and launched another qi missile straight at him.

Chen Ren’s eyes widened. There was no space to dodge and no time to escape, so he reacted on instinct, forcing out his starlight armour as he turned back and drove his fist into the ceiling one more time.

The cracks spread further and finally broke through. Chen Ren caught a glimpse of the surface above just as the missile hit. The explosion erupted right behind him, the force blasting through the weakened ceiling and tearing it apart completely.

It threw him upward and out of the tunnel as stone and debris exploded around him.

He was flung through the air and slammed straight into the side of a building, smashing through it. A sickening crack echoed as his body hit the ground, pain shooting through him instantly as bones broke under the impact while Wang Jun cried out from his side.

Chen Ren tasted dirt and blood, his vision blurring slightly, but even through the pain, he smiled a little since he was finally out of the tunnel.

He groaned the next second, immediately taking out several pills and swallowing them without hesitation. They began working almost instantly, dulling the pain, mending his broken bones, and slowing the blood loss that threatened to weaken him further.

Even with that, standing wasn’t easy.

Chen Ren forced himself up slowly, his body protesting with every movement as he looked around for Wang Jun. For a moment, he didn’t see him anywhere, and a flicker of concern crossed his mind before he stepped out of the building.

That was when he saw him.

Wang Jun was lying on the road, rolling slightly across the ground.

Aside from being covered in dirt, the head looked mostly fine. The moment he spotted Chen Ren, he snapped, “Get me up and clean me. I hate feeling like this. My tongue feels all weird.”

“I’m more surprised you can even taste the dirt.”

Still, he walked over calmly, picked him up, dusted him off as best as he could, and secured him back at his hip.

Then, he glanced back once at the hole in the ground where he had burst out.

His qi reserves were nearly depleted, but he still had enough to move. If he could create some distance—

The thought didn’t even finish forming.

The ground in front of him cracked open.

Stone split apart as the puppet forced its way out, rising from below with a heavy grinding sound. One of its arms hung loosely at its side, clearly damaged, but the rest of its body remained intact as ever.

Its red eyes locked onto him again. The ground beneath his feet trembled again as the puppet raised its remaining arm and pointed straight at him.

Wang Jun cursed immediately.

Chen Ren moved at once, jumping to the side just as flames burst out toward him. The heat washed over his body, and the sudden strain caused his barely healed bones to shift again, sending sharp pain through his chest and back.

He gritted his teeth but didn’t stop. Pulling himself upright, Chen Ren turned to face the puppet fully.

There was no point in running anymore.

If the puppet had already caught up to him here, it wouldn’t take long for it to chase him down again.

His mind raced as he tried to think of everything he had that could help him here. The puppet wasn’t completely intact anymore—parts of it had been damaged when the ceiling collapsed—and that gave him something to work with.

No matter what happened, Chen Ren had no intention of dying here. He still had the return ticket to leave the pagoda if things truly went wrong, but he wasn’t willing to use it unless there was absolutely no other choice.

As the puppet opened its hands again, preparing another attack, Chen Ren reacted immediately. He pulled out dozens of talismans, threw them into the air, and burned through what little qi he had left to activate them.

At once, multiple elemental attacks rained down.

Flames, wind blades, and shards of ice struck the puppet from different angles, while thin threads of qi shot forward and wrapped tightly around its arms, binding them in place. The puppet let out a low grinding sound and staggered back a step, its movements slowing for a moment as it tried to tear free.

It didn’t take long.

Within seconds, the bindings snapped. The puppet raised its arm again and launched another qi missile.

Chen Ren jumped aside, letting the attack slam into the building behind him. The explosion shattered the structure, and debris crashed into his back, forcing a groan out of him as pain flared through his body again.

Wang Jun snapped from his side, “Don’t you have anything better, kid? I don’t want to die to some rogue puppet.”

Chen Ren shot back, “Why don’t you do something? I know you’ve got things in that head of yours that could help.”

Wang Jun grumbled, “Those are for souls. Puppets don’t have souls. What am I supposed to do?”

Before Chen Ren could reply, more attacks came flying at him.

He moved immediately, darting between the broken buildings and trying to use them as cover. But the structures were old and fragile; each time he passed one, it would collapse moments later under the impact of the puppet’s attacks.

Behind him, the grinding sound never stopped. With every step he took, he could hear it getting closer.

The puppet was still right on his heels.

And when he finally turned his head, he saw it right there, looming over him.

The puppet stood tall, its red eyes fixed on him as if it already knew he had nowhere left to run. The distance between them had vanished, and Chen Ren could feel the pressure of it bearing down on him.

His mind raced, trying to find a way out.

There were still things in his spatial ring that could help him turn the situation around, but he had been holding back from using them. If he did, there was a good chance he would end up even more severely injured than he already was.

But at this point, it wasn’t as if he had any real choice left. As the puppet opened its hands again, preparing another attack, Chen Ren made his decision.

But before he could act, a familiar grunt cut through the chaos.

It came from above.

Chen Ren’s head snapped upward just in time to see Yalan leaping down from the rooftop. Her claws already extended, flames gathering around them as she descended.

She slammed straight into the puppet’s chest.

The impact forced it back several steps, its attack interrupted completely. It tried to stabilize itself, but Yalan didn’t give it the chance. She growled, her body shifting as her size increased, flames spreading across her form.

A qi missile shot toward her, but she didn’t dodge. The attack hit her head-on and exploded against her body, yet it did nothing to slow her down.

In the next instant, she drove forward again, crashing into the puppet with overwhelming force and pushing it onto its back.

Her weight pinned it down as she immediately began tearing into it with her claws. Metal screeched under the assault.

She ripped through its frame without hesitation, tearing off already damaged sections as if they were nothing. One of its arms was stripped away completely, and her tail lashed out like a whip, smashing repeatedly into its body.

The puppet that had forced Chen Ren into a desperate retreat was reduced to twisted metal within moments, its body crushed and torn apart under Yalan’s relentless attacks.

Chen Ren stood there, watching.

For a brief moment, a different thought crossed his mind. Had he underestimated just how strong Yalan was, even with her cultivation suppressed? But that thought faded quickly as another realization settled in far more strongly.

He was still alive.

***

A/N - You can read 30 chapters (15 Magus Reborn and 15 Dao of money) on my patreon. Annual subscription is now on too. Also this is Volume 2 last chapter.

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