113: The power of the universe, the source of power for mechanical ascension

On the upper floors of the frozen building, Zhang Wei led his team, exploring downwards while searching for survivors along the way.

"Captain, isn't the enemy a Sixth-Order mechanical monster? Is it okay for us to be so slow and let Miss Runan go alone?" a female teammate asked Zhang Wei.

A blue-haired youth with an ordinary appearance nodded, saying urgently, "I think so too. We need to hurry and help."

"What's the rush?"

Zhang Wei spoke eloquently, biting on a cigarette as he said:

"She's much stronger than you guys. Don't look at her current Rank of only Fourth-Order; she's intentionally suppressing her Rank. If she wanted to, she'd be Fifth-Order long ago, maybe even Sixth-Order."

"Suppressing, suppressing her Rank?" The others were surprised. "Why?"

"You all know about the Martial Artists Tower, right?" Zhang Wei said.

One person suddenly understood, "Could it be that she's staying at Fourth-Order to achieve a higher ranking?!"

"Something like that. It seems her Teacher suggested it. I don't know many specifics."

Zhang Wei exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "So her Rank can't simply be seen as Fourth-Order. Coupled with her very dangerous ability, if we get too close, even we would be in danger."

...

Second Floor Underground.

Jiang Yuan stared blankly at Yan Runan. After taking off her blindfold, her head full of blue hair moved without wind, and her whole body exuded a pure Aura unrelated to good or evil.

That Aura spread out from her like a tidal wave.

Cold, chilling, majestic, indifferent, and heart-stopping.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle..."

The energy in the mechanical monster's cannon muzzle gathered to its extreme, turning from red to black.

"You dare to bully my junior based on your high Rank? I won't let you off."

Yan Runan said, slowly raising a fair, slender finger. Her Divine Luo Eyes quietly stared at the mechanical monster.

"Boom!"

The mechanical monster's muzzle fired a terrifying spiral laser cannon, its power astonishing, as if it could annihilate everything in its path!

Facing this attack.

Yan Runan simply uttered two words softly.

"Sen Luo."

In an Instant.

Jiang Yuan felt a mysterious power descend. The space they were in suddenly shattered like a mirror.

When he came back to his senses, they were already back to one second before the mechanical monster launched its attack.

"Wan Xiang."

Yan Runan spoke again, her right eye flashing with purple light.

The space in front of the mechanical monster rippled like water, reflecting its shadow, but that shadow was itself from the previous second!

The spiral laser cannon fired by the mechanical monster in the previous second, under Yan Runan's strange ability, underwent time reversal and reflection, hitting the mechanical monster itself in a bizarre way!

"Boom Bang--!"

The terrifying power directly blasted through the mechanical monster's body, piercing straight through several hundred meters on the Second Floor Underground, hitting the wall, and exploding with a bang. The entire Second Floor Underground instantly shook violently!

Amidst the flames of the explosion.

The mechanical monster was not dead yet. It struggled to get up, its core faintly visible in the huge wound, but the surrounding machinery was slowly repairing.

A trickle of blood flowed down from the corner of Yan Runan's eye.

She didn't care at all. Her eyes flashed, and she released her pupil technique again.

Pupil Master exclusive skill—Pupil Technique: Coffin of Gravity!

Massive gravity transformed into a pitch-black torrent, enveloping the mechanical monster like a coffin, completely suppressing its movements!

"Rumble rumble!"

The engine on the mechanical monster's back roared violently, erupting with vast amounts of steam. Majestic electromagnetic force poured out, countering the torrent of gravity!

"Sizzle sizzle!"

"Clank clank!"

The surrounding space slightly twisted under the collision of the two massive forces. The ground was even caving in and cracking, and the holes above and below were rapidly expanding!

"Now's your chance."

Yan Runan, whose eyes were bleeding, said to Jiang Yuan, "Destroy its core."

"Okay."

Jiang Yuan came back to his senses, nodded, and rushed towards the mechanical monster.

The mechanical monster still wanted to resist, controlling the mechanical tentacles on its back to fiercely stab at him.

But in the next second, they were cut off and pulverized by unseen pupil power.

Rainbow light flickered in Yan Runan's pupils.

"Bang!"

Jiang Yuan gathered power for a punch and directly smashed the mechanical monster's newly repaired chest armor. He reached in, grabbed the spherical core composed of flesh, blood, and crystals, and crushed it with a squeeze.

"Crack!"

"Ah ah ah..."

The Moment it was crushed, Jiang Yuan clearly heard the mournful screams of many people, as if from the netherworld.

At the same time.

With a creak.

The mechanical monster instantly lost all its power. The steam engine on its back lost momentum, turning it into a pile of scrap metal.

...

"Hmm? Mechanical Eight was taken down?" In a certain dark place at the same time, someone in front of a screen made a surprised sound.

"It's just a Sixth-Order creation, there's nothing surprising about it being taken down. Anyway, the experimental data on extracting human Souls through slaughter has been received."

"That's true."

"Someone from the Church of Suffering is here."

"What did they say?"

"They said if we're willing to help, they can provide a million experimental subjects."

"A, a million? Gulp... What are the conditions?"

"When that day arrives, bring out your strongest mechanical creation to resist Qin Nantian of the Martial Artist Association."

............

............

Second Floor Underground.

Jiang Yuan glanced at Yan Runan's eyes and instantly felt a surge of magic power, as if it wanted to suck his spirit into the depths of those strange pupils.

Fortunately, his strong mental power allowed him to immediately realize this and break free.

"Your eyes can manipulate time?" Jiang Yuan asked curiously.

"It's not manipulation, just a brief one-second rewind, and the consumption is quite large," Yan Runan replied, wiping the blood from her face.

"These eyes are the Divine Luo Eyes. The left eye's ability is Sen Luo, as you saw, it's rewinding and storing one second of time. The right eye's ability is Wan Xiang, which can do many things, including the reflected attack just now."

"These special eyes, coupled with the fact that I'm a Pupil Master, cause my pupil power to be released uncontrollably. Anyone who meets my gaze will be affected. Some will see illusions, some will see charm techniques, and some will even be controlled by me."

"Of course, this is for those with weak mental power and will. It's useless against people who have comprehended Martial Dao Pressure and have strong mental power."

Saying this, Yan Runan re-tied her black blindfold and smiled sweetly at Jiang Yuan, "Right, Junior Jiang?"

Jiang Yuan neither confirmed nor denied, looking at her and saying, "With your strength, where would you Rank in Divine Martial?"

"Me? My Rank is still too low. If I could reach Sixth-Order, I think I could probably Rank in the top ten."

As Yan Runan spoke, she took out a pitch-black crystal from inside the mechanical monster, her face full of disgust.

"These lunatics from the Mechanical Church actually used the Souls of so many people to create power."

"Human Souls?"

Noticing Jiang Yuan's puzzled gaze.

She explained, "This is a Soul Crystal that can store Souls, and it's high-grade, capable of storing the Souls of thousands of people. The people from the Mechanical Church use this kind of thing as their driving energy to achieve mechanical Ascension. And by constantly slaughtering and extracting human Souls, this mechanical monster can remain active."

Jiang Yuan's expression changed slightly.

He somewhat understood why every time the Mechanical Church appeared, it would bring great disaster to the local City.

So they were hunting human Souls!

These lunatics!

Just like the Abyss Believers who love to sacrifice human flesh and blood, they are sickening and revolting!

"Leave the rest to me. You can go now," Yan Runan said.

Jiang Yuan nodded.

But at this Moment, neither of them noticed.

A faint black mist drifted out from the mechanical monster's ruins, carrying cursed pathogens like nuclear radiation, blowing out of the building with the wind and spreading throughout the entire City.

...

After leaving the building.

Jiang Yuan replied to Guan Xiaoxiao and Luo Xi's messages. The two girls felt relieved after seeing the messages.

Seven twenty in the evening.

Jiang Yuan returned home. As soon as he got back, Mo Xixi pulled him into her room.

From her, he learned the news that Xia Qinghou had visited today with Xia Lin.

"And then? What did he say?"

"Just some words of apology. I was afraid Mom and Dad would hear, so I didn't let him in. Oh right, he also gave me a gold-grade accessory as compensation. I originally didn't intend to accept it, but he insisted on giving it to me..." Mo Xixi handed the item to Jiang Yuan, "Look, it's this."

It was a gold-grade Sun Brooch. It felt warm to the touch, exuded a strong Yang attribute, and had purifying and protective effects.

After looking at it for a couple of seconds, Jiang Yuan injected a wisp of Immortal Phoenix Flame into it, then returned it to Mo Xixi, "Since he gave it, just accept it."

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah, they were in the wrong first anyway."

Only then did Mo Xixi accept it with peace of mind, a smile appearing on her face.

This was compensation that Brother Yuan helped her get by standing up for her. It should also be considered as given by Brother Yuan, right?

"Are you done? If so, I'll head back to my room."

"Wait a Moment."

"Is there anything else?"

"Recently, there are some parts of my body tempering that I don't understand..."

Jiang Yuan could only spend more time guiding her.

After dealing with Mo Xixi.

Jiang Yuan returned to his room.

Sitting on the bed, he recalled the day's experiences.

The feeling of having his fate manipulated still lingered in his heart, refusing to dissipate.

The battle with the Sixth-Order mechanical monster and the astonishing ability displayed by Yan Runan.

Also made him increasingly feel the inadequacy of his own strength.

Although he might indeed be able to kill that Sixth-Order mechanical monster by going all out and using his relic and innate combat skills, what if a Seventh-Order one appeared next time?

Even if he unleashed his full power, he probably wouldn't win.

With his mental power sealed, his combat strength was still too severely reduced.

In the final analysis.

His current strength is still not strong enough!

"I must get faster... and become stronger!"

Jiang Yuan thought to himself.

Recent events implicitly made him instinctively feel that something bad was about to happen.

And it was something extremely huge!

The current peace was just a brief interlude before the storm.

A massive dark storm would soon sweep across the entire South River City...

This feeling was very strong!

Especially the cause of the mass outbreak of epidemic in Beijiang City, which is only separated from South River City by a river, has not been found yet.

Making Jiang Yuan extremely uneasy.

But all he could do now was try his best to become stronger.

After thinking for a Moment.

Jiang Yuan first sent a message to the Provincial Education Director, Bai Huang.

Then he took out the black teleportation stone given by Chu Xiong, preparing to challenge the Martial Artists Tower.

"With my current strength, to face historical-level existences in the Martial Artists Tower ranking trial, surpass them, and reach the peak, I must do everything I can to the extreme."

"For this reason..."

After considering for a while, Jiang Yuan logged onto the Star Territory Network and spent 150 million cash and 5,000 merit points, a total of 200 million in heavy funds, to purchase an Eighth-Order spiritual material, the Extreme Yang Dragon Marrow Fruit, which can temper the Physique, and two bottles of Seventh-Order Netherworld Spirit Shattering Liquid.

The energy contained in these three spiritual Materials is astonishingly strong and highly destructive, so ordinary people would not consume them directly, but rather make them into potions before taking them.

"My Immortal Body Tempering Method has now reached the seventeenth form. If my calculations are correct, the medicinal power of the Extreme Yang Dragon Marrow Fruit supplemented by the Netherworld Spirit Shattering Liquid, combined with the Nirvana Rebirth property of the Immortal Phoenix Flame, has a high probability of allowing my Physique to regenerate amidst destruction, thus bringing about a Breakthrough and reaching the twentieth form," Jiang Yuan thought to himself, his eyes flashing with rainbow light.

A Second-Order person daring to use an Eighth-Order high-grade spiritual material, and even consuming it directly.

Even some mad researchers called lunatics would sincerely praise him upon hearing his idea.

This is truly courting death.

But if the Immortal Phoenix Flame was added, it gave the matter a possibility of success.

Under Jiang Yuan's supreme deduction calculation, the success rate reached 87%!

The third, or even the fourth Immortal Cell, could potentially be born in that Instant!

At that time, his strength would also usher in an explosive increase!

After calculating it again.

After confirming there were no errors.

Jiang Yuan prepared himself and turned off all communication devices.

Then he tore open a Mid-Grade Spell scroll, summoned a barrier to envelop the room, ensuring that the commotion inside wouldn't spread outside.

He took a deep breath.

"Let's begin..."