Chapter 278: Undying Sword Intent!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Chen Mu, Shi Yilan, and Zhang Shaochong did not hesitate for a moment, immediately employing their respective exquisite lightness techniques and body arts, closely following behind Di Chunlei.

The four moved like four wisps of smoke, darting at top speed through the gaps between the giant mechanical beasts and the ferocious mechanical centipedes, pushing their speed to the absolute limit.

With the mechanical beast groups drawing fire and tying up the vast majority of the mechanical centipedes, the occasional one or two that tried to intercept them were temporarily forced back by the sharp Qi blasts Chen Mu casually flung out or Di Chunlei's fierce fist winds.

In just a few breaths' time, the four had already narrowly passed through this perilous, trap-ridden rocky region and landed steadily in the safe zone on the other side.

Almost the instant they touched down, Liu Xianbo and Liu Xiankang also controlled those core mechanical tigers, forcibly smashing through the entangled mechanical centipedes, and charged out right behind them.

The remaining surviving mechanical wolves also fought as they retreated, withdrawing from the area one after another, leaving behind only the wreckage of over a dozen mechanical wolves that had been completely torn apart and destroyed, scattered among the broken rocks as proof of how fierce the battle just now had been.

No one noticed that amid the chaos, a fist-sized micro mechanical bird, its color almost blending with the rock, silently flew out from a gap in the back of one mechanical tiger, and like a real bird, nimbly circled around the battlefield and swiftly flew toward the cave entrance they had come from, vanishing into the valley outside.

……

Having successfully passed through the obstruction, Di Chunlei, Chen Mu, and the others immediately turned their gazes ahead.

What greeted their eyes was an even more expansive area.

This place seemed to be an open-air armory graveyard; the ground was densely packed with weapons of every description—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, forks—every kind imaginable.

Most of them had long been corroded by the passage of time, covered in cracks and rust, leaving only a vague outline.

But a small portion, though equally ancient, still retained the sharp, cold gleam unique to weapons, faintly emanating an indomitable aura.

And at the far end of this armory graveyard, nine enormous forging platforms built from special fire-resistant stone were arranged in neat rows; the fires within the furnaces had long been extinguished for who knows how many years, leaving only cold ash behind.

The most eye-catching thing was between two of the forging platforms, where a long-handled greatsword of simple, archaic design with a broad blade lay quietly on its side.

The blade was dark and somber, yet a layer of faint, ethereal radiance flowed naturally across it; a powerful aura emanated from within, carrying a trace of weak, slumbering spiritual fluctuation!

"Earth-grade weapon wreckage! There really is Earth-grade weapon wreckage!"

Di Chunlei could not help but cry out in excitement in a low voice.

Zhang Shaochong, Shi Yilan, and Liu Xianbo and Liu Xiankang, who had just arrived controlling their mechanical tigers, all instantly showed wild joy on their faces.

An Earth-grade weapon, even if only wreckage, was still a rare treasure.

Without needing to say more, the group immediately employed their body arts, flying low over the ground, rushing impatiently toward that long-handled greatsword.

But just as they were still several dozen meters from the greatsword, and the gusts of wind kicked up by their movement swept over the weapons embedded in the ground—

"Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!"

As if some balance had been disturbed, the ancient weapons on either side of their path—already riddled with cracks and barely holding their shape—collapsed and shattered in great swathes, like toppling dominoes, bursting into puffs of metal debris!

Boom~ boom~ boom~

The explosions triggered shockwaves.

Caught in the sweep of this burst of energy, the long-handled greatsword lying between the forging platforms actually let out a strained "hum," and the layer of ethereal radiance on its blade flickered violently several times!

The next instant—

"Boom~!"

With a crisp explosion, under the stunned gazes of everyone, that long-handled greatsword emanating the aura of an Earth-grade weapon—including its hilt—instantly shattered apart, breaking into over a dozen metal fragments of varying sizes that flew out in all directions!

"The fragments are treasures too! Spread out, grab them!"

Di Chunlei reacted fastest, letting out a great shout as his body lunged first toward the largest fragment.

Zhang Shaochong and Shi Yilan also quickly recovered from their shock, their figures flashing as each employed their own methods to snatch them from midair.

Zhang Shaochong seized two of the smaller fragments.

Shi Yilan, nimble in her body art, seized three.

Whoosh~ whoosh!

Though the brothers Liu Xianbo and Liu Xiankang were a beat slower, relying on the massive bodies of the mechanical tigers and the agile frames of the mechanical wolves, they also successfully intercepted and seized four fragments.

Chen Mu had been the calmest from beginning to end.

The instant the greatsword shattered, his spiritual power had already locked onto the five fragments with the densest spirituality.

Then, his figure flickering ghost-like across the field several times, as his sleeves swept out a gentle suction force was generated, and those five fragments, like swallows returning to their nest, precisely fell into Chen Mu's hands—not one missing.

This outcome, though vastly different from the imagined acquisition of a complete Earth-grade weapon wreckage, still meant each of them had gained something—fragments containing Earth-grade weapon material and partial spirituality—and they were quite satisfied.

After the brothers Liu Xianbo and Liu Xiankang seized their four fragments, afraid Chen Mu would change his mind and snatch them away, they did not dare linger even a moment longer, and called out through the amplification device.

"Four friends, we brothers still have matters to attend to, we'll take our leave first, farewell!"

As the words fell, they immediately controlled the mechanical tigers, and with the surviving mechanical wolves, retreated at speed toward the way they had come without looking back, their figures quickly vanishing among the labyrinthine ruins.

Watching their panicked retreating backs, Di Chunlei could not help but laugh, "Heh, those two fellows—so this is what they look like when they're scared."

Zhang Shaochong laughed, "Isn't that all thanks to Brother Chen? If not for Brother Chen's power and intimidation, would they have been so well-behaved?"

"Right, without Brother Chen, Liu Xianbo and Liu Xiankang would have already charged at us to seize it." Shi Yilan chimed in.

Chen Mu did not respond to this, merely carefully putting away the five Earth-grade weapon wreckage fragments he had obtained.

His gaze swept the surroundings, then suddenly pointed to an area on the left side of the armory graveyard obscured by massive ruins, and spoke.

"There's an abnormal energy fluctuation over there."

Having said that, his figure flickered, and he flew ahead first.

Di Chunlei, Zhang Shaochong, and Shi Yilan, hearing this, hurriedly suppressed their joy at obtaining the Earth-grade weapon wreckage fragments and followed closely behind.

Whoosh!

Whoosh~

The four flew at extreme speed.

Rounding that massive broken stone wall, the scene before their eyes suddenly opened up, and at the same time made all four of them sharply draw in a breath of cold air.

This was a circular pool about fifty meters in diameter, its walls built from some kind of warm, smooth jade, though most of it was already damaged.

There was no liquid in the pool; instead, at the bottom, over a hundred longswords were densely embedded!

These longswords were of an ancient, unadorned style; most of their blades were covered in cracks or mottled with rust, as if they might rot away entirely at any moment.

However, the key was not these swords themselves, but rather the fact that throughout the entire Sword Pool, there permeated a powerful Sword Intent so dense it had almost taken on physical form!

This Sword Intent was desolate, ancient, and pure, yet carried within it an unyielding, indestructible sharpness, as if it had gathered the lifelong conviction and will of countless Sword Dao masters.

Merely approaching it made one's skin sting, and one's soul felt as if it would be sliced apart and obliterated by the invisible sword Qi!