The contraption beast sensed the turn of events and attempted to burrow underground to escape, but it was already too late! It roared in fury, coiling into a ball, its five massive claws whirling and dancing, intending to meet the myriad streaks of sword light head-on!
A flash of white light descended, striking its bone-composed body, producing a series of dinging sounds. Even the previously hard white bone began to show fine cracks.
“Roar!” From these fissures in the bone, drops of golden ichor seeped out, apparently the monster’s blood. Shrieking in agony, it thrashed its long tail wildly, smashing the jagged nearby mountain stones into chaos.
“Haste!” Seeing that it had not yet sustained mortal injury, Feng Zikang clapped his hands together, and the sword light surged. The myriad streaks of light suddenly unified, becoming as thick as a child’s arm, shooting down from the clouds and striking the contraption beast squarely in its midsection!
This technique, Pojun (Army Breaker), gathered ten thousand strands of sword qi and delivered them as one! In a million-strong army, taking the head of the commanding general would be as easy as picking something out of a pocket!
A tremendous boom echoed, kicking up sand and dust. Through the swirling haze, the contraption beast thrashed and twisted madly, spraying plumes of golden blood mist everywhere!
Feng Zikang sheathed his sword and stood, slightly breathless. Unleashing this strike required the Demonic Seed to spin at top speed, frantically supplying demonic qi for completion.
If he hadn't been in the state of the Heart Barrier of Demonic Entry, he would never have launched such a reckless, all-or-nothing strike of ten thousand swords merging into one. But this strike seemed remarkably effective.
The contraption beast had been writhing for a long time, but it was now gradually stiffening. Its once agile massive claws and long tail moved sluggishly and awkwardly, indicating a severe injury.
Showing no mercy, Feng Zikang raised his iron sword high and brought it down again. Sword qi ripped through the air, striking the beast’s contorted upper body.
It possessed no head, but the force of the blow sent it reeling, causing it to collapse onto the ground, its body convulsing ceaselessly, seemingly trying to struggle back up but utterly unable to move. “Strike!
Strike!” Feng Zikang did not pause, swinging his iron sword repeatedly, unleashing dozens of streams of sword qi until the contraption beast lay completely still before he stopped. As the stirred-up dust settled, the beast was seen coiled on the ground, stretching nearly ten zhang long.
Its massive claws were slack, and its body was sprawled out, the ground soaked entirely with golden ichor, as if a person lay drowned in a pool of blood. “A Mechanical Beast of the Mohists… is nothing more than this!” Feng Zikang sneered coldly, a flicker of arrogance crossing his crimson eyes as he returned his sword to its sheath and approached the petrified machine.
“The material is actually…” “Bang!” Just as Feng Zikang was appraising the Mohist mechanical beast’s material, the cunning thing suddenly arched its back, sprang up, and lashed out with its long tail to entangle him. Caught completely off guard, Feng Zikang was firmly wrapped!
“Roar!” The beast let out another furious bellow. Its massive claws hung down weakly, yet from somewhere, it summoned the strength to drag Feng Zikang hurtling toward the sky, leaving scattered spots of golden blood in its wake.
It was utterly humiliated. A top-tier Mohist Mechanical Behemoth, forced to self-detonate its core to break the sealing array that imprisoned it, was now reduced to fighting with the most primitive means—claws and body—since it couldn't utilize any of its divine abilities.
What an immense insult this was to its pride, both in life and death! Moreover, it had been driven into such a sorry state by a mere human at the Yinqi stage!
Under that deluge of sword rain, if its divine powers were intact, it could have summoned clouds with a single breath and blocked all ten thousand streaks of sword light, never sustaining damage to its core structure. Even against the earth-shattering strike of the ten thousand swords merged as one, it might have been able to resist by condensing the Holy Light!
Why had it been reduced to this, needing to sacrifice its five claws and feign death to counterattack, just to gain this one chance to kill its enemy? Burning with resentment, it continued to rocket toward the deepest reaches of the clouds, climbing higher and higher!
If this person hadn't been so cunning, relentlessly launching dozens of sword qi streams, not only would its five massive claws have been severed, but even the pivot point of its tail would have been obstructed. Would it really have needed to resort to this near-mutual destruction tactic?
In an instant, it had ascended over a thousand zhang! Mountains and rivers below were mere ripples and pebbles in its sight.
Due to the extreme ascent speed, its white skeletal frame was already showing a scorching red hue, emitting a sizzling sound. Not high enough!
Feng Zikang remained calm, his expression unchanged, though his eyes burned even redder. He held his sword steady with his left hand, searching for the contraption beast’s flaw.
This high, and this person isn't afraid! The contraption beast grit its teeth and continued to surge upward.
Two thousand zhang! Three thousand zhang!
Five thousand zhang! It had broken through the cloud layer, and its speed was still increasing!
Ethereal winds began to howl, and the air thinned. This was already the absolute maximum altitude for ordinary Yinqi disciples using object manipulation flight!
To ascend further meant confronting the fierce Heavenly Astral Winds, where without a Dao Foundation, one would be torn apart by the violent gusts and reduced to dust! Yet, the contraption beast showed no sign of stopping.
Six thousand zhang! The wind immediately intensified.
Feng Zikang activated the Vajra Undying divine ability, yet he still felt the astral winds like knives, as if every gust intended to strip a layer of flesh from his body. The golden light of his Buddhist divine power was blown about erratically, like a candle flame flickering in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any moment!
Feng Zikang struggled to breathe; his entire body felt as though ten thousand knives were cutting and stabbing him. His bones, flesh, and meridians creaked audibly, seemingly on the verge of tearing apart!
He forcefully opened his mouth, sucked in air, and flicked a Huasheng Dan from his storage pouch, swallowing it without chewing. He immediately channeled his power to dissolve the pill; the medicinal efficacy rushed to repair the damaged meridians and bones, barely preventing his body from shattering!
The contraption beast was faring no better at this altitude. Already covered in cracks from Feng Zikang’s Pojun strike, it wobbled perilously in this layer of astral wind, seemingly on the verge of disintegration!
But it still did not stop! Seven thousand zhang!
This was a domain that even cultivators who had established their Dao Foundation dared not tread lightly. Feng Zikang felt a chilling cold wash over him, as if he had been submerged in an ice cave.
Blue frost instantly formed on his ichor-soaked cheeks and hair within moments! This extreme altitude, colder than the North and South Poles combined, was far worse!
Only masters who had formed their Core could move freely here, protected by the True Fire of the Golden Core within their bodies; otherwise, they would freeze into ice sculptures within moments! Feng Zikang clearly felt his blood beginning to congeal.
He could only desperately circulate the Gentle Breeze Turns Rain, Silent and Subtle divine ability, nourishing his minute meridians like a spring breeze passing through, offering momentary warmth in the chilling cold, just barely keeping his limbs from becoming numb and frozen. But he knew this absolute state could not last long.
However, the contraption beast couldn't last long either. Its white bones were also covered in blue frost, and its previously golden blood was frozen solid.
With cracking sounds emerging, it likely wouldn't last much longer. But it continued upward!
Feng Zikang was finally shaken to his core! Above eight thousand zhang lay the Lihuo layer, permeated by the True Fire of the Sun.
Mortals reaching this height would instantly turn to ash, without exception!