The awkward laughing challenge ended after which the puppet started rambling on mysteriously.
Zhao Luo on the other hand could understand what the puppet was talking about.
"My sword? That guy?"
Zhao Luo wondered and his thoughts pointed him towards none other than Bellum.
"I am the Puppet Lord. Bellum's only rival."
The puppet Lord said to him as Zhao Luo was already catching on.
"But senior never mentioned about you. I don't remember him talking about puppets."
Zhao Luo let out about his meeting with Bellum in the space inside the drum.
The expression on Zhao Luo's face was one of disbelief that he didn't believe what this puppet was saying.
"Tsk, youngster these days. I wouldn't have told you about Bellum too but the sword you are holding made me nostalgic. It was what Bellum always held close to him. It was like a part of his. He never went to war without his sword to his Drums of the War Sovereign."
The puppet began by telling Zhao Luo about how he remembered Bellum.
"Indeed. The only war sovereign I know of is Senior Bellum. Ifrit was what he gave me as one of the rewards."
Zhao Luo tightened his grip over Ifrit as he looked at the puppet.
The puppet moved closer to Zhao Luo.
"One of the rewards? That miser gave you his sword and also other rewards? Can you tell me what else he gave you?"
The puppet asked Zhao Luo with its eyes fully opened in shock.
This was not how the puppet lord remembered Bellum.
'Nod.'
Zhao Luo nodded.
"Senior did give me other rewards but I can't tell you about those."
Zhao Luo didn't want to show all his cards.
'Especially Drion. And what if he attacks me after I tell him what I got from Senior?'
Zhao Luo was alarmed.
The rewards he had gotten from Bellum were not some common treasures that you could acquire from a shop or sect market.
They were the possessions of 'War Soveriegn' so they were basically invaluable.
It's okay. I was having a hard time believing that Bellum would be so generous."
The puppet said as it tilted its head to look above.
It was like he was remembering some important period from his past.
"Is this what happens to one's personality after dying?"
The puppet muttered.
After which the puppet shook its head and focused on Zhao Luo.
"It was interesting to watch you."
The puppet said while bringing its metallic hands together.
Clap!
The puppet started clapping and the sound was amazingly very familiar to Zhao Luo.
"You...its..."
Zhao Luo mumbled as the sound of the clapping was the same that he would have to hear after clearing a stage.
"Hahaha."
The puppet laughed heartily.
"It was an enjoyable time. I haven't had a challenger like you in a long time."
The puppet started complimenting Zhao Luo.
"I feel like that too."
Zhao Luo added without being modest at all.
He was vouching for his strength.
"Hahaha. Good, I can see why Bellum was so generous to you."
The puppet said but it didn't end there.
"There have been others who have come far in this challenge but you have completed it. Not only that, those who came before you already had a weapon style that accompanied their main weapon but you... Are you even human?"
The puppet questioned Zhao Luo.
"How could you just learn the sword techniques of my puppets and not only that you also displayed your mastery over them by blending them in different forms."
The puppet closed in on Zhao Luo's face as if trying to peek through him.
The puppet looked at Zhao Luo as hard as he could but he couldn't find any secrets except an overload of handsomeness.
"It was just what I felt."
Zhao Luo answers the puppet lord's question.
For Zhao Luo, he was just enjoying fighting against the puppets, and the techniques these puppets used were quite fascinating to him so he picked them up.
"Good. I don't even want to imagine what will happen if you truly tried instead of just feeling it."
The puppet lord said without any hint of offense in his voice.
He was purely admiring Zhao Luo's talent.
"You have completed the moonstone chall-"
"Aren't there supposed to be more than 72 stages?"
Zhao Luo interrupted the puppet lord and asked him.
Zhao Luo still remembered the knowledge that Wu Yang had informed him about.
"There can be 72 stages or 100 stages. It's up to me. The 'Second Sword Warrior' puppet that you faced in stage 50, would normally appear on stage 80. While its nature 'trickery' only activates when it reappears on stage 100. But there was no need to drag it till stage 100 when I can make any stage the last stage."
The puppet lord told Zhao Luo.
"I see so that level 50++ puppet was the what I would have to naturally face in stage 100?"
Zhao Luo questioned as things still didn't add up.
From the start with every increasing stage, the level would increase accordingly but that last boss that Zhao Luo had to face was too strong.
"Hah, that was a little test." The puppet evaded the question as he looked around.
Zhao Luo looked at the Puppet Lord with squinted eyes.
"Hahaha."
The puppet started laughing awkwardly.
"I am not doing this with you again."
Zhao Luo interrupted the Puppet Lord.
He already had enough of the laughing challenge.
"Ah okay okay. Youngster these days are so suspicious of everything. I was appreciating how you fought against my puppets so I gave a you little more challenging puppet to face."
The Pullet Lord finally came out telling the truth to Zhao Luo.
"Don't worry I will reward you while considering the true level of my puppet."
The Puppet Lord assured Zhao Luo.
"Hmm, Okay."
Only after hearing the puppet's words did Zhao Luo drop his act.
'Just what I was aiming for.'
Zhao Luo thought as everything was going
according to his plan.
Zhao Luo schemed to get more valuable rewards by cornering the Puppet Lord which turned out better than he had expected.
"You have completed the moonstone challenge terrifically."
The puppet praised Zhao Luo then waved his hand.
The puppet lord's gesture caused the two black swords that Zhao Luo had used while fighting the puppets to float. It was the broken swords and their shards that had scattered around the silver space.
"Blackey."
"Blackey 2.0"
Zhao Luo said with a sentimental face.
The puppet lord then took out a black metal that had a blinking shine. It was like there were stars trapped inside the black metal.
The scattered shards of the two swords and their broken bodies were brought together towards that black metal.
"This is your first reward."
The Puppet Lord said while looking at the broken Blackey and Blackey 2.0 that were next to the metal.
"Huh, is this what you meant when you said that I will be properly rewarded?"
Zhao Luo looked angry. He couldn't believe that he was getting broken swords as a reward but before he could stay angry any longer the Puppet Lord smiled and brought the materials in front of it together towards its body with its hands.
Clap!
With a single clap the broken swords, their shards, and the black metal started joining together.
After a little while, a sword was floating in front of the Puppet Lord.
"This is the Black Sword."
The Puppet Lord waved its metallic hand at Zhao Luo causing the black sword to float towards Zhao Luo.
In the end, the sword landed on Zhao Luo's left hand.
"Can I call it Blackey?"
Zhao Luo asked the Puppet Lord before he could proceed to name his sword.
"It's yours. Name it as you wish."
The puppet Lord said with a smile.
"Blackey it is then."
Zhao Luo confirmed.
'Welcome back.'
Zhao Luo said in his mind while looking at Blackey.
The blackey now was in no way any less than Ifrit.
The black sword had enveloping darkness that would consume you if you kept on staring at the blade. While the shape of the sword was similar to the Crimson Ifrit.
The middle of Blackey's blade had a vertical line that started from the hilt's end to the blade's tip of the sword.
There would be light twinkling from time to time when one stared at the blade. It was like looking out at the space during the night.
"Ifrit. Blackey."
Zhao Luo looked at his swords with a smile on his face.
"Now you have swords of both Bellum and me. You should be an unstoppable force among your peers."
The puppet lord said while looking at Zhao Luo.
An already handsome man with two mesmerizing swords in his hand. One highlighted the hot nature while the other was the solidification of dark cold nature.
"My goal was never to stand ahead of my peers. I have to reach the summit of this World."
Zhao Luo stated with a serious tone.
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