Chapter 113: Mechanism

Seeing this, Bu Chengyang, who carried a long sword on his back, hesitated not a bit; his figure retreated in an instant, almost transforming into a lightning-fast sword light, appearing on the water surface dozens of zhang away from Li Musheng.

He moved away from the Azure Dragon phantom that had already turned into a primordial beast, yet his gaze remained fixed on Li Musheng's back.

At the same time, Li Musheng, facing the Azure Dragon phantom before him, remained completely unmoved; he shook his head slightly and said:

"It looks flashy and intimidating, but what use is it? It's an embroidered pillow—good to look at but useless."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and grabbed toward the front.

In an instant, the gravel falling from the constantly trembling cave ceiling and the surging water waves beneath his feet suddenly froze completely still at this very moment.

Immediately after, the entire dim underground space was suddenly pierced by golden light, erupting with the fierce brilliance of the rising sun, dazzling and blinding, illuminating everything around as if it were midday.

And at this time, amidst the sky-filling golden light, a massive claw wreathed in golden light manifested out of thin air from the space.

The golden giant claw was enormous, almost filling the entire underground space, emitting a dazzling, mesmerizing radiance that far surpassed the Azure Dragon phantom dozens of meters away.

Compared to it, the shimmering blue light flowing from the Azure Dragon phantom was like the light of a firefly facing the magnificent sun.

And in the next moment, that terrifying golden giant claw that had appeared directly grabbed down at the Azure Dragon phantom; the burning, surging flames instantly engulfed the Azure Dragon phantom, turning the entire thing into nothingness.

"Old man, did you see? This is what you call not just having the appearance, but truly living up to the name."

Li Musheng turned his head to look at the Azure Dragon Elder, who had reappeared, and spoke with an air of calm indifference.

The Azure Dragon Elder stood on empty air, yet remained motionless, no longer continuing his attack on Li Musheng.

He simply stared straight at Li Musheng with his eyes; his eyeballs, compared to before, were spinning rapidly at a speed many times faster, as if he was trying his utmost to analyze and think about this young man before him.

At this moment, clearly visible on his pale face was a palm imprint of five fingers embedded into the hollow of his facial bones.

At the same time, after Bu Chengyang, far away, witnessed the scene in the arena, the expression on his face began to fluctuate unpredictably.

The martial arts strength Li Musheng displayed far exceeded his imagination.

Previously, seeing that the opponent was so young yet possessed martial arts cultivation in the Heaven-and-Mortal Realm, he was already extremely shocked.

Even after learning that Li Musheng was a martial arts genius rare in the world, he even felt some goodwill in his heart, wanting to stop the other party from provoking the Azure Dragon Elder to avoid falling here for no reason.

However, he discovered that Li Musheng seemed not to have listened to his words at all, and even rashly attacked the Azure Dragon Elder first.

At that time, when the Azure Dragon Elder was knocked flying by the opponent, Bu Chengyang did indeed feel some surprise.

However, he originally thought it was because the Azure Dragon Elder was momentarily careless and unaware, but only now did he truly understand.

That was not the Azure Dragon Elder being unaware; rather, the young man before him was too terrifying in strength, and the other party simply hadn't reacted before the whole person was suddenly slapped flying away.

"When did such a terrifying expert with martial arts cultivation of this level appear in the Jianghu, and moreover, he is so young!"

Bu Chengyang felt shock and doubt in his heart; the Li Musheng before him was truly too shocking to the world, far exceeding his past understanding.

Counting back from now, for a full several thousand years of the Jianghu, when had such a demonic figure ever emerged?

At the same time, the Azure Dragon Elder, who had been staring at Li Musheng with rapidly spinning eyes, finally slowly opened his mouth, his voice broken and intermittent:

"I... admit defeat... I am not your... match."

The powerful martial arts aura that originally flowed from his body had long since vanished, and he just kept shaking his head.

Seeing this, Li Musheng lightly raised an eyebrow.

Although this old man before him seemed somewhat mentally slow, he was quite cautious when it came to taking action.

However, just at this moment, the Azure Dragon Elder continued to speak:

"But... the Dragon Pearl... you cannot take it... you must give it to me."

Hearing these words, Li Musheng couldn't help but let out a cold sneer.

Then, he casually tossed the stone pearl in his hand, which was still emitting a hazy gray light, and asked with leisurely composure:

"If I don't give it, what can you do to me?"

Upon hearing this, the Azure Dragon Elder's eyeballs began to spin rapidly again; at the same time, he slowly extended his hand and spread it open, speaking in a obscure voice:

"I am not... your match... but you... cannot escape."

As soon as these words were spoken, a powerful spiritual pressure seemed to be brewing within the entire cave space.

And below, the wide underground waterway stretching for a hundred zhang suddenly surged at this moment, and the entire water surface began to gradually sink.

Perhaps more accurately, something beneath the water surface was slowly rising upward.

Upon first seeing this scene, Bu Chengyang, who was already extremely far away, suddenly circulated his martial arts true qi and called out to Li Musheng in a deep voice:

"Little brother, do not act rashly; this place is far from as simple as you imagine."

Then, seemingly afraid that Li Musheng would attack recklessly again, he explained at an extremely fast pace:

"This place is named Suolong Well District in the Great Li Imperial Capital, but the term 'Suolong' has actually been circulating for at least a thousand years."

"Everyone in the world claims that the entire underground area traps the Dragon Vein of Heaven and Earth, but that is not the case; what is sealed underground is actually a mass of 'Azure Dragon True Qi', and the ones who built this sealing trap were the Lu Gong Temple, possessing the world's top mechanical arts."

"It is said that they spent over a hundred years building the mechanism here; if this massive mechanism embedded in the earth veins is easily triggered, not only will you and I both be unable to escape this underground, but the tens of thousands of common people living in the Great Li Suolong Well District will also suffer the earth dragon turning over and all perish within the mechanism."

Hearing the words spoken by Bu Chengyang, Li Musheng frowned and looked down at the shaking water surface beneath his feet.

Beneath the water, a shadow extending for several li of waterway seemed to be slowly rising to the surface amidst the sound of countless tiny gears turning.

At the same time, the surrounding rock walls were emitting a series of slight tremors; although not as violent and terrifying as the commotion caused by the Azure Dragon Elder's earlier outburst of martial arts aura.

However, the area it covered was undoubtedly extremely vast and extensive; at the very least, at this same time, the common people throughout the entire Suolong Well District in the Great Li Imperial Capital should be able to feel the slight shaking of the ground.

Li Musheng watched the changes before him, slowly shifted his gaze, and looked back at the white-haired Azure Dragon Elder before him.

The other party still extended his arm with an open palm toward him, and his eyeballs, which had been spinning rapidly, stopped.

"Bring... it... here!"

The Azure Dragon Elder opened his mouth slightly, his tone seeming to allow no refusal.

That pale face with the five-fingered palm imprint embedded in it now had its corners of the mouth curling up; he stared quietly at Li Musheng and then revealed a strange, mocking, and teasing smile.

Li Musheng's gaze grew calm and collected; he looked at the other party peacefully and slowly opened his mouth to say:

"Do you think I only have that little bit of skill from just now?"

(End of this chapter.)