Chapter 276

Bu Nantian has been defeated—and defeated so swiftly!

Even if Ren Dongxing returns, he's likely doomed!

"Retreat! Quickly retreat!"

Liu Xianbo shrieked, his voice trembling.

The next moment, five massive mechanical tigers and over a hundred mechanical wolves, without any hesitation, roared with a thunderous rumble, turned as one and charged backward, their heavy steps crushing trees along the way, kicking up rolling clouds of dust as they fled the valley entrance faster than they had come, vanishing swiftly into the dense forest depths.

Watching the mechanical beasts' panicked retreat, Di Chunlei shook his head with a wry smile. "These two fellows are surprisingly sensible."

Zhang Shaochong chuckled. "It's not wise to be stubborn—if they stay, are they waiting for Brother Chen to act against them?"

Chen Mu smiled faintly, gazing toward where the mechanical beasts had vanished, a flicker of interest in his eyes. "To be honest, I'd truly like to test the mysterious prowess of Tianqi Men's mechanical beasts."

"There'll be another chance next time."

Di Chunlei laughed, then turned his gaze toward the deep valley. "All the trouble is cleared. Shall we enter?"

"Alright."

Chen Mu steadied his mind and nodded willingly.

Immediately.

Di Chunlei led the way, with Chen Mu, Zhang Shaochong, and Shi Yilan closely behind; the four of them stepped cautiously into the valley.

The ancient ruin Di Chunlei and the others had discovered was not within an alternate space, but buried deep beneath the valley floor.

The valley's environment was harsh: jagged rocks, toxic mists drifting everywhere, no ordinary birds or beasts to be seen.

The four held their breath and moved carefully for about ten minutes, arriving before a cliff face concealed by thick vines.

Di Chunlei pulled back the vines, revealing a pitch-black entrance; a cool wind, carrying the scent of damp earth and ancient decay, drifted out from within.

"This is it," Di Chunlei whispered, bending low and slipping inside first.

Zhang Shaochong and Shi Yilan followed one after the other.

Chen Mu came last.

The entrance was narrow at first, but after descending only a few meters, the passage opened abruptly.

Before them appeared a clearly carved, downward-sloping corridor.

The corridor stood over four meters high and six meters wide—wide enough for four people to walk side by side.

The stone walls on both sides were damp, covered in unknown mosses.

The deeper they went, the colder and more chilling the air became, and the light emanating from below grew increasingly distinct.

After traveling along the sloping corridor for roughly five minutes, the view ahead suddenly widened, revealing a breathtaking underground space before the four.

First to catch their eyes was the towering dome, nearly two hundred meters above the ground, as if forming its own world.

The illumination of this vast space did not come from torches or night pearls, but from strange stones embedded in the dome and rock walls that emitted a soft, self-generated glow, along with vines clinging to them whose leaves shimmered like flowing emerald light.

These light sources bathed the entire underground space in daylight brightness, revealing every detail.

"We're currently in the outer zone."

Di Chunlei pointed ahead to introduce it to Chen Mu.

Following his gesture, they saw rows of broken stone steles standing upright, covered in faint, ancient inscriptions.

Farther out stood a grand palace built entirely of massive green stones; though partially collapsed, its former imposing grandeur was still evident.

Scattered across the ground and in corners were rusted, shattered remnants of swords, spears, halberds, and other weapons, silently recounting the past.

Chen Mu nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the relics as he keenly sensed the faint currents of qi and energy flowing through the air.

Soon, he pointed toward a deeper section of the ruins, slightly to the left, and declared firmly, "The aura disturbance is strongest over there—energy is converging. That must be the core area."

Upon hearing this, Di Chunlei and Zhang Shaochong immediately showed expressions of admiration.

Zhang Shaochong praised, "Brother Chen's perception is truly sharp! That's precisely where we judged the ruin's center to be—only the Liu brothers and the mechanical beasts blocked us before, preventing us from advancing further."

With the target clear, the four wasted no time and immediately moved forward, hastening toward the core area.

Yet this ancient sect ruin clearly was not unguarded.

As they reached the midway point and entered a new region littered with jagged rocks and broken tiles, Shi Yilan, walking just behind Zhang Shaochong, accidentally kicked a half-buried, seemingly ordinary round stone pedestal.

"Click."

A faint sound of a mechanical trigger turning echoed.

"Danger!"

Di Chunlei's face darkened. "Watch out!"

"A formation has been triggered! Alert!" Zhang Shaochong shouted simultaneously.

The instant the strange noise sounded, Chen Mu sensed danger—he used his powerful spiritual awareness to clearly perceive over a dozen powerful energy sources deep beneath the ground, rapidly activating and surging upward.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

The ground shook violently, stones leaping.

Instantly, an invisible force field erupted from their center, engulfing the entire area.

Chen Mu immediately felt his body grow heavy, as if invisible shackles had clamped onto him; when he tried to lift his qi, he found levitation nearly impossible.

A powerful anti-flight formation had been laid here!

Almost at the same moment—

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Five thunderous explosions erupted nearly simultaneously.

Around Chen Mu's group, the rocky ground erupted in five massive craters, sending shards flying.

The next instant, fifteen colossal creatures burst rapidly from beneath the earth.

They were fifteen mechanical centipedes, forged entirely of dark metal.

Each stretched over ten meters long, their bodies composed of countless metallic segments, flanked by dense rows of scythe-like legs, their heads grotesque, compound eyes glowing crimson, mouths spewing corrosive black mist.

The instant they appeared, they let out teeth-grating metallic scraping sounds and launched fierce pouncing attacks on Chen Mu's group of four from different directions!

"Hiss!"

Chen Mu held his fingers together like a sword, and a condensed sword Qi shot through the air, precisely striking the head of one mechanical centipede.

But with only a crisp "Clang!", sparks flew in all directions, and the sword Qi left only a shallow white mark on the unknown-metal shell before shattering and vanishing.

On the other side, Di Chunlei roared, and the blood-colored fist-glow unique to the Giant Spirit Sect slammed into the flank of a centipede, only making its massive body sway slightly.

Zhang Shaochong's iron whip had just bound a centipede's blade-leg when it was easily snapped apart.

Shi Yilan's nimble sword strikes aimed at the joints and seams of the centipede, but were deflected, making it hard to inflict effective damage.

These mechanical centipedes not only had astonishing defenses, their speed was even faster than lightning, their massive bodies weaving freely through the scattered rocks, leaving trails of afterimages.

"What a hard shell!" Zhang Shaochong exclaimed in horror.

"Watch out for their poison mist and blade-legs!" Shi Yilan urgently warned.

Chen Mu's gaze sharpened; he stopped probing.

His figure swayed, dodging the pouncing bite of a mechanical centipede, true Qi surged, and the Nine-Layer Wave Tide Art erupted with a roar, crashing out like a tsunami!