353: Chapter 353 Undercurrents Surge, Mo Yuan's Hatred Deepens

In a dim secret room, a pitch-black communication insect crawled in through a gap in the ventilation vent. Just as it landed, before its six thin legs could even steady themselves, a silver-gray mechanical finger suddenly lunged out, crushing it into powder with a snap.

The shattered shell fell rustlingly, mixing with pale green spiritual fluid and dripping onto the floor tiles with a sizzling sound.

"Nascent Soul challenge... descending within three days?"

A low voice echoed in the empty stone room, devoid of any fluctuation, yet sounding like a blade scraping against sheet metal, making one's eardrums ache.

Mo Yuan stood in the shadows of the corner, surrounded by twelve mechanical Puppets of various forms. One of them was slowly dismantling—its left arm joint was cracked and its breastplate was dented, clearly having just undergone a hidden confrontation.

He didn't look at the damaged body, merely raising his intact right hand to let his fingertips brush against the residual spiritual wave patterns in the air.

"Chen Wuwang... you certainly know how to pick your timing."

He let out a cold laugh, his voice as soft as a self-muttering, yet laced with a grit-toothed ruthlessness.

"Busy dealing with challenges on the surface? Heh... but do you know that a true blade never shines in the light?"

Before he could finish, a crimson ripple suddenly lit up on the rune array on his wrist, appearing like some sort of response.

He stared at the light, a distorted scarlet flash appearing in the depths of his eyes, as if countless tiny tentacles were writhing deep within his pupils.

"This time I will surely destroy the Chen Family and make that Chen Wuwang pay a tragic price!"

As he said this, his tone wasn't excited but terrifyingly calm, like a butcher gently blowing the dust off his blade before sharpening it.

A moment later, he walked toward the central stone platform and pressed his palm against a crystal ball covered in cracks.

The sphere hummed and vibrated, then a blurred star map emerged—Eastern Wasteland, Western Desert, Northern Plains, Southern Valley...

Light points flickered one after another, except for the location of the Chen Family, which was shrouded in a pulsing red mist.

"technological cultivation?" He chuckled lowly, his finger tracing over the Chen Family's territory. "Gears, code, mecha... you think this is innovation? This is sacrilege! It is a desecration of the Laws of the Heavenly Dao!"

He suddenly clenched his fist, and a crack snapped open on the crystal ball.

"Three hundred years ago, I sacrificed my flesh and blood to trade for the path of eternal life, stepping into the abyss just to listen to the whispers of the True Lord. And you? An ant that crawled out of another world, relying on a few lines of broken code, you dare to reconstruct the rules?"

His voice suddenly rose before abruptly dropping, as if he were afraid of disturbing something.

"You are not worthy."

He let go, allowing the crystal ball to dim.

He turned and walked toward another Puppet that had not yet been activated. This one was entirely pitch-black, its surface carved with spiral runes, and its head was translucent, with a slowly pulsating crystal core suspended inside.

"Shell swap."

As those two cold words fell, the damaged Puppet began to automatically disassemble, its parts falling like raindrops.

Simultaneously, the interfaces of the new Puppet unfolded one by one, and dozens of metal wires extended from the spine, precisely plugging into Mo Yuan's back meridians.

A tooth-aching sound of friction rang out.

His body trembled slightly, but he didn't let out a single groan of pain.

Not until the last tube was connected did he slowly open his eyes—this time, his pupils had completely turned blood-red, with runes faintly visible circulating within.

"Comfortable." He flexed his wrists, his metal knuckles making a crisp clicking sound. "This body is much stronger than the last one."

He walked to a mottled bronze mirror and stared at the inhuman face within—no nose, lips split to the ears, and something faintly writhing under the skin.

He didn't shy away, instead reaching out to stroke his cheek, the corners of his mouth pulling upward bit by bit.

"Is it ugly? But this is the price. To hear that voice, to see through this hypocritical order... what does this small price matter?"

He withdrew his hand and stopped looking at the mirror, instead taking out a black Jade Slip and quickly swiping his fingertip across its surface.

"Fellow Daoists, would you care to join me for a cup of the Chen Family's blood wine?"

The information was sent encrypted to an unknown target, the path jumping through seven layers before finally disappearing into the turbulence of the Void Realm.

He put down the Jade Slip, walked to the star map, drew a dagger from his waist, and lightly tapped the tip on the location of the Chen Family's main city.

"I don't seek total annihilation, only to decapitate the leader," he murmured. "As long as Chen Wuwang dies, the group will be like a Dragon without a head. Those mecha will be nothing more than scrap metal, and those rune turrets will be mere decorations."

The tip of the blade moved, tracing three paths.

"The northern route is too conspicuous; the people of the Chuanyun Sect won't easily grant passage. The western route has the rift valleys where the Spiritual Qi is chaotic, suitable for hiding. The southern route's Ancient Battlefield Ruins... hmm, three thousand war souls were once buried there, and the Yin Qi is at its peak, most suitable for launching a surprise attack."

He paused for a moment, the tip of the blade hovering over the southern route.

"We'll cut in from here. First, sever their energy hub, then destroy their communication nodes, and finally... take the main control hall directly."

The corners of his mouth curled up as he lowly hummed a nursery rhyme with an eerie tune and disjointed rhythm, like some remnant chapter of an ancient sacrificial rite.

"Little baby, don't sleep, ghosts will come for you at night... Parents' blood dyes the red robe, heads hang on the city gate's tip..."

Halfway through humming, he suddenly stopped and looked up at the ventilation vent at the top of the secret room.

"Coming."

It wasn't a human voice or footsteps, but a minutely thin echo of Spiritual Qi—from the secret message he had just sent, the first reply had arrived.

He walked back to the stone platform and activated the receiving array. The crystal ball lit up again, displaying a short line of information:

[Signal confirmed. Coordinates locked. Stand by.]

He stared at that line of text for a full five breaths, then laughed.

The laughter was soft at first, then grew louder and louder, finally exploding in the secret room, shaking the dust from the four walls.

"Good! Good! Good!" He said three times, the blood-light in his eyes surging. "Since you all hate him too, then let's act together! Let him know what it means to be besieged on all sides!"

He suddenly raised his hand and slammed the dagger into the center of the star map.

"Chen Wuwang, don't you like setting up boards? Then do you dare to accept this game of mine?"

Outside the secret room, the wind silently swept across the wasteland.

Inside, the twelve Puppets stood silently in a circle, like twelve tomb-guarding evil ghosts.

Mo Yuan stood before the star map, his shadow stretched long and thin by the red light, cast upon the wall like a net slowly closing in.

He didn't move or speak again, merely staring silently at that reply message, waiting for the second, the third... for more responses.

Time passed minute by minute.

The wreckage of the damaged Puppet was still emitting faint green smoke, and an unstable electric arc occasionally flashed at the interface of the new body, but he didn't care at all.

He knew that this hunt had only just begun.

And he was no longer that assassin who only knew how to hide in the dark.

He was the storm itself.

He would make the Chen Family step into the abyss he had personally woven, step by step, without them even noticing.

In the next instant, the crystal ball flickered slightly again.

Another message emerged:

[Target dynamic monitoring in progress. Defense System upgrade complete. Level 1 combat readiness status sustained.]

Mo Yuan looked at this intelligence and slowly grinned.

"Level 1 combat readiness? Heh... then are you ready?"

He muttered to himself, his fingers lightly tapping on the table, the rhythm slow yet carrying a suffocating sense of pressure.

"By the time I kill my way in, you won't even have the chance to press the red button."