254: Passage 3

"Clang!"

Zou You stepped forward and sliced the dark shadow in half with a single strike.

Everyone looked closely, feeling a bit apprehensive.

It was clearly a giant mechanical beast, nearly four meters tall, shaped like a praying mantis with a triangular silver head, eyes that were red optical sensors, a back covered by a metal spine, and six legs that were serrated metal blades.

From its split body flowed green blood, incredibly foul-smelling.

Swish~~

Swish~~

Several dark shadows darted out in succession, lunging toward the crowd.

"Ah~~"

Someone was attacked and injured.

"Damn it! Triple Pursuit Blade!"

"Astral Palm!"

"Golden Cicada Fist!"

The hall instantly turned into a battlefield.

From within the 25 black doors, all sorts of bizarrely shaped Mechanical Lifeforms rushed out; their numbers grew, and their strength was close to the Fourth Realm.

The 200 Geniuses continuously killed the Mechanical Lifeforms, and the corpses in the hall quickly piled up into small mountains.

"This won't do; they're endless."

Kach-chak~ Kach-chak~~~

A dense, high-frequency screeching sound reached them, making their skin crawl.

They looked in the direction of the sound.

From within black Door No. 2, half-meter-tall spider-like Mechanical Lifeforms crawled out. Their eight spider legs glinted coldly, and their eyes were blood-red, firing lasers.

The spider-like Mechanical Lifeforms were densely packed, surging forward like a tide.

"Run!"

"Don't scatter! Enter the same door."

Someone tried to organize the chaotic crowd.

But at this moment, everyone was only thinking of saving their own lives; how could they possibly listen?

Xiao Weiqing unleashed a Fire Owl and ducked into Passage No. 3.

The 200-plus people quickly scattered into the 25 white doors.

A few unlucky souls who ran too slowly were submerged by the Mechanical Lifeforms, letting out miserable screams.

Entering Passage No. 3, Xiao Weiqing ran headlong; the passage seemed endless.

"Ah! Help me!"

Screams came from behind as more people were caught. Xiao Weiqing didn't know how many had entered Passage No. 3, but he had already heard two screams.

Half a minute later.

Ahead of Xiao Weiqing, a Short-haired Youth was pushing a door.

From behind, the screeching sound of metal scraping against the floor approached.

"Help me, quick!"

Xiao Weiqing did not hesitate.

He stepped forward and exerted sudden force; the door slowly opened to the left and right.

When the door was opened half a meter wide, Xiao Weiqing saw several Mechanical Lifeforms in his peripheral vision, their metal blades covered in blood.

"That's enough, let's go in together. If the entrance is too big, we won't be able to hold it later."

"Alright!"

The two turned sideways and entered one after the other.

Boom~~~

The Mechanical Lifeforms slammed into the door with a violent crash, but they couldn't get in because they were too large. Even so, the Mechanical Lifeforms didn't give up, thrusting their claws through the crack in the door to attack the two.

"Die!"

A rapier appeared in the Short-haired Youth's hand, and he sliced off all the claws that reached in.

Flames overflowed from Xiao Weiqing's palm as he threw them outside. In moments, several Mechanical Lifeforms lost their combat capability, yet they still clutched the metal door with their sharp claws.

"Damn it, why is this ruin so dangerous this time?"

The youth grumbled.

"I'm Gong Feng, from the Xuanwu Kingdom."

"I..."

"Xiao Weiqing, I know. Who in the Training Camp doesn't know you?"

"Let's close the door," Gong Feng said.

Xiao Weiqing shook his head. "It's closing on its own."

Gong Feng looked. "It seems so."

Half a minute later.

The door closed completely.

But before it closed, the two saw several Mechanical Lifeforms gathered outside through the narrow gap.

Xiao Weiqing opened his Wristband and pointed it at the screen on the door to translate the text.

"What does it say?"

Xiao Weiqing frowned and replied, "This door opens once every six hours."

"What?"

Gong Feng was shocked. "Then won't all those monsters get in?"

"F*ck!"

"How many will there be by then?"

Xiao Weiqing shook his head. "I don't know. The ones coming through this door are all the same type of Mechanical Lifeform; there should be some kind of rule."

Gong Feng was furious and punched the door. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have come this time."

Xiao Weiqing, meanwhile, was wondering: did the Elf Divine Envoy know about this situation?

If they knew about such dangerous monsters, why didn't they inform us beforehand?

If they didn't know, why did they have me come to Passage No. 3 to get the primal divine light?

Or perhaps the Elf Divine Envoy knew the structure here but didn't know that some kind of change had occurred.

"Xiao Weiqing, want to go together?" Gong Feng asked.

Xiao Weiqing shook his head. "No."

"While there's no danger for now, we can explore separately. This place looks incredibly vast. Judging by these map indicators, it seems to be a spaceship."

"A spaceship?"

"Then how big must it be?" Gong Feng found it hard to believe.

Even excluding the passage they first arrived in, the length of Passage No. 3 they just fled through was more than two kilometers.

"I don't know."

"That's why we need to explore."

"Fine, I'll go this way. I'll leave marks along the way: a checkmark for safe, a cross for danger, and a circle if there's treasure."

Xiao Weiqing nodded. "Alright, then I'll go this way."

"Be careful. I'm afraid we might have to go back through this passage later."

"Yeah."

The two parted ways.

Walking inside the structure, there was a door every few hundred meters. These doors were very large, over five meters. Occasionally, there were glass windows through which the state of the rooms inside could be seen.

It looked like a living area, with a cafeteria and entertainment facilities.

The sound of metal tearing came from the passage; there were Mechanical Lifeforms inside the spaceship as well.

At a fork in the road, he marked it with a danger sign and went elsewhere.

He walked for a while longer.

"This is..."

Xiao Weiqing walked to the door of a room and immediately used his Wristband to translate.

"Star Dome Spaceship, Trial Ground Maintenance Room."

Star Dome Spaceship?

Really inside a spaceship?

Xiao Weiqing was certain he hadn't been going in circles; he had been moving in the same direction for three or four hours, and the area he had covered was at least as large as a city center.

And now he was being told this was just one trial ground of the spaceship?

Then just how big was this spaceship?

Xiao Weiqing quickened his pace, trying his best to avoid the Mechanical Lifeforms. When he truly couldn't avoid them, he had no choice but to go on a killing spree.

He walked for another half day.

He finally reached the end.

A door with a passcode blocked his way.

"Beep... beep. beep..."

"Incorrect passcode. Entry forbidden!"

"Beep. beep. beep... beep. beep."

"Incorrect passcode. Entry forbidden!"

Xiao Weiqing casually entered 123, 12345; as expected, none were correct.

"Right, the Azure Dragon Summoning Order."

He took the Azure Dragon Summoning Order from his breast pocket.

Just as he took it out, a red light shot out from the door and scanned the token in his hand.

"Access granted!"

The passcode door opened from the center to both sides.

Xiao Weiqing manifested the thousand flame blade in his hand and entered.

"Azure Dragon Dojo?"

In a training ground over three thousand meters in diameter, four large characters floated in mid-air—Azure Dragon Dojo.

Suddenly.

A mysterious power surged, binding Xiao Weiqing.

"What's going on?"

Xiao Weiqing found he couldn't move; he couldn't even activate his Samadhi True Fire.

A white light shone down from above, enveloping Xiao Weiqing.

The white light came and went quickly.

"Requirements met!"

"Assessment beginning."

A mechanical voice rang out.

Opposite Xiao Weiqing, another pillar of light fell. The white light dissipated, revealing a Silver-Clad Man.

"Kill!"

With a low shout carrying a spiritual deterrent, the Silver-Clad Man, brimming with killing intent, drew his blade and charged at Xiao Weiqing.

Clang!~

As the two blades clashed, a powerful impact pushed Xiao Weiqing backward.

Boom~~

The Samadhi True Fire erupted suddenly.

Flames overflowed from Xiao Weiqing's entire body as he entered his Flame True Body form.

"Get lost!!!"

He slashed at the Silver-Clad Man, sparks flying, and forced him back.

"Metal?"

The Silver-Clad Man did not answer and struck with his blade again.

"Slash!"

The two clashed once more. Xiao Weiqing's strength was inferior, leaving the webbing between his thumb and forefinger numb from the shock.

"Kill!"

The Silver-Clad Man attacked again.

"Fire Owl!"

The Silver-Clad Man's figure flashed, easily dodging the flames.

"Such speed!"

Then.

A faint starlight shimmered on the Silver-Clad Man's body as he struck out with a power that Xiao Weiqing couldn't see through.

"Fire Domain!"

Pfft!!!

The Silver-Clad Man's strike sliced through the air, expanding hundreds of times in the blink of an eye and cleaving the Fire Domain apart.

Inside the Fire Domain, Xiao Weiqing was sent flying, knocked directly out of his transformed state.

Cough~~ Cough~~~

Xiao Weiqing coughed up a large amount of blood and struggled to get up; his internal organs were vibrating.

"Failure. Two chances remaining!"