CHAPTER 430: CHAPTER 281: THE BLACK TECHNOLOGY OF THOUSAND MECHANISM PAVILION_3

...

In the arena.

Zhuge from Dragon Tiger Mountain yawned. As a reluctant participant forced by his master, what he mostly wanted to do was quickly go home.

So he was desperately hoping that his opponent would be a rare genius, allowing him to get defeated openly and then go lay down in his room until the Qinghe Association ended.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

Zhuge’s opponent was a cultivator from the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, and during the draw for the arena, the terrain was also advantageous to Zhuge.

However, he hadn’t given up on struggling, thinking of how to lose as naturally as possible.

Zhuge saluted to Li Guanqi, whom he barely met on the commentary platform.

If it were in the past, Li would have raised his hand slightly and then encouraged a few words, but now on the commentary platform, he felt awkward no matter what, so he could only nod in response.

Just as Zhuge was about to fall asleep and the eager audiences in the stands were clamoring for refunds, the people from the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion finally arrived.

It was a little girl with braids.

Xiaomei was originally a cultivator from the Dharma Ring Sect. After joining the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, she was noticed and meticulously guided by a Taoist from Dragon Tiger Mountain. She had just formed her core last month.

If argued, Xiaomei could technically be considered Zhuge’s junior sister.

However, regardless of her background, Xiaomei’s strength was no match for Zhuge’s. Even ten Xiaomeis together wouldn’t stand a chance.

Zhuge scratched his head, finding it a bit troublesome since it was obvious he couldn’t lose even if he tried.

If he acted too fake, he’d get beaten at home.

He could only reluctantly win.

"Junior Sister Mei, please." Zhuge courteously offered.

"Senior Brother Zhuge, I apologize in advance."

Xiaomei took a deep breath and glanced at the two Sword Sect elders by the commentary platform before starting to pull things from her storage ring.

Zhuge, displaying grace, did not interrupt the girl’s transformation, but as he watched, he dropped his casual expression and turned to Li to give him an incredulous look.

Li pretended not to see it, as he was busy pretending to look at the sky.

"I’m ready." Xiaomei looked solemnly at Zhuge.

By this time, Xiaomei had quite a number of ’people’ around her.

Three golden core stage Sword Spirits and two fortified Thousand Mechanism Puppets.

Also, two Five Elements Cats summoned with Cat Talismans, aiming two Thousand Machine Cannons at Zhuge.

Xiaomei even wore two strange gauntlets on her hands.

Not only was Zhuge dazed, but the audience was too.

After all, the original intention of the Qinghe Association was to discover promising talents and make angel investments, so almost nobody would heavily rely on magical artifacts, instead showcasing their sect’s dharma methods and their own strength.

If everyone’s pockets were full of magical artifacts, it would become a competition of the sects’ resources, losing the original intent and meaning.

But when it came to the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, it seemed reasonable for them to have loads of Thousand Mechanism Magical Artifacts after all.

Just like how the Sword Sect and Beast Taming Sect couldn’t be without swords or beasts.

"Alright then, Junior Sister Mei, please proceed."

Zhuge raised an array under his feet, signaling for Xiaomei to start her attack.

Xiaomei began to move.

One Sword Spirit stayed close to Xiaomei, while the other two charged towards Zhuge.

As the sword light intersected, Zhuge didn’t move his feet, instead slightly turning his body to dodge the crisscross sword beams. He then took a step forward and his figure disappeared, reappearing behind one of the Sword Spirits.

Zhuge lightly slapped the Sword Spirit’s back.

This slap didn’t carry force, yet dimmed the Sword Spirit’s color a few shades.

Throughout all this, the array at Zhuge’s feet continued to move with his steps.

The Sword Spirit being so easily dealt with was evidently due to the array’s effect.

Seeing this, Xiaomei didn’t advance, opting instead to command the cats to fire talismans toward Zhuge.

Yet they weren’t aimed at Zhuge, but at the surrounding arena.

Since Xiaomei understood a little of Dragon Tiger Mountain’s dharma methods, to break this array, the simplest approach was to disrupt the Five Elements force in the area. Once disrupted, maintaining the Qimen Array underfoot would rely on the cultivator’s mana, a substantial drain.

In the stands, Song Chang furrowed his brows slightly, feeling the Thousand Machines Technique was not particularly amazing. If only relying on quantity to win, it was inferior.

"This little girl is going to lose."

Zhuge could see this too, so he directly dismissed the Qimen Array and shot a Thunder Talisman, charging towards Xiaomei as a bolt of lightning.

The power broke ten thousand laws; pure strength triumphs over gaudy tricks.

Just before Zhuge was about to end the fight with a mind-dazzling but harmless Spirit Shocking Technique, he suddenly heard Xiaomei advise him.

"Watch out, Senior Brother."

Almost instinctively, he exited the Five Elements Escape Technique and retreated.

In the spot he just occupied, two Spirit Capturing spells were released from the two Thousand Mechanism Puppets beside Xiaomei, while that formidable Thunder Technique disappeared.

It wasn’t dispelled by a countering spell but was directly devoured by something.

In that instant, as Xiaomei swung her fist, the thunder light was cut off in the middle, and an eerie void appeared amidst the thunder, which then swallowed the Thunder Technique entirely.

It looked like a Spatial Taoist Technique, but wasn’t completely; the punch didn’t emit any aura.

Nevertheless, whatever it was, getting hit by this punch would at least leave one severely injured.

This punch capable of swallowing a Thunder Technique could naturally also devour Protective Golden Light.

No matter how talented Zhuge was or how stable his Tao Heart, he couldn’t withstand true damage.

The arena fell silent, and Song Chang leaned forward from the stands, staring at Xiaomei’s bizarre gauntlets, utterly perplexed.

What kind of magical artifact was this?

After delivering that punch, the gauntlets on Xiaomei’s hands trembled, ejecting a burned-out Thousand Mechanism Rune Array.

But judging by Xiaomei’s expression, she showed no fatigue from unleashing a powerful move, as though only mildly distressed over the monetary loss?

"What was that just now?" Zhuge asked.

"Top secret. Please continue attacking, Senior Brother." Xiaomei remained still, making a gesture of invitation.

At her words, Zhuge’s expression became solemn, preparing to unleash something real, his curiosity thoroughly piqued.

He thought the world outside Dragon Tiger Mountain, as Senior Uncle Tang had put it, seemed quite interesting.

...

On the commentary platform.

Wang Buyu stroked his many-layered chin, turning to Li Guanqi, "What is this?"

Li Guanqi, "How would I know? Go ask that little rascal Zhang Ze."

While they talked, they forgot to turn off the microphone, and their voices carried far.