Chapter 158: Mechanism City Changes Hands, Lu Ren Gains Enlightenment 1

Ji Han managed to steady his body amidst the swaying.

His expression was full of uncertainty and shock.

In the prison, his Spirit Power could not extend outward, let alone his divine sense; he was currently in a state of complete blindness, having no idea what was happening in the outside world.

Ji Han frowned slightly and reached out to knock on the sturdy prison bars.

He tried to call over a jailer to get an answer about the outside world.

But... the jailer who had always complained that he was too noisy and would come over to warn him was now suddenly acting as if he were dead.

He was sitting there quietly with his back to the prison door, his body not moving at all.

Ji Han could not see his face.

His heart was filled with doubt.

... What is going on?

But no one gave Ji Han an answer.

If he could escape from the prison and walk around to see the jailer's face, Ji Han would discover that the once fierce and menacing jailer now had empty eyes and a dull expression, looking exactly as if... he were dead.

But they were Mechanism Puppets.

Mechanism Puppets cannot die.

And for such a dull state to occur, there was only one possibility.

Their power supply had been cut off.

In a place Ji Han could not see, the entire bustling Mechanism City had fallen into a deep silence.

Whether it was the dogs in the Mechanism City, the mice crawling around, the cats underground, or the birds in the sky.

Everything had come to a standstill.

Everything was motionless, either standing blankly in place or falling directly from the sky.

Those thousands of Saint Realm powerhouses, whose strength was terrifyingly profound, were the strongest combat force in this Secret Realm.

But now they were also just standing blankly, their hands hanging at their sides.

And all of this...

All stemmed from one hand.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

A trace of blood spilled from the corner of Lu Ren's mouth.

This was a rare injury for him.

But his eyes were not dim; instead, they were extremely bright and full of surprise.

In his hand was a round Crystal Ball, which looked extremely exquisite.

Inside this Crystal Ball was trapped a Mechanism City.

The entire Mechanism City was the scenery of the Crystal Ball.

The little people inside were vivid and lifelike.

Rotating the Crystal Ball allowed one to see every corner of the Mechanism City, with everything visible from top to bottom.

Even Ji Han, who was still moving in the prison, could be seen clearly.

Ji Han suddenly felt a chill; that feeling of horror made him feel as if he had been stripped naked from head to toe in that instant, exposed to someone's gaze.

What the hell?

Ji Han subconsciously began to be on guard, looking left and right, but he did not find anything unusual.

But he could not see; he was just inside the Crystal Ball, while outside the Crystal Ball, Lu Ren's hand was toying with the entire thing.

It was just like a child who had received their favorite toy.

Actually.

Lu Ren had not expected things to turn out so simply.

When he jumped out to look, everything became completely different, everything became as simple as one plus one equals two.

Although there were some twists and turns in the process, and he had clashed with the defense mechanism of the Mechanism City, sustaining some minor injuries, everything was worth it! The entire Mechanism City.

Now, it had changed owners.

The true master had long since died; in the long river of time, even an Immortal must bow. And now.

The Mechanism City had only one master.

That was Lu Ren.

Lu Ren slowly closed his eyes and connected to the core of the Mechanism City.

As he connected to the core of the Mechanism City and injected his Spirit Power into it, he suddenly felt a powerful suction force coming from within the Mechanism City.

In this one moment!

Nine-tenths of the Spirit Power reserves in Lu Ren's body were directly drained! One must know that even when he had fought across realms in the past, his Spirit Power reserves had at most been depleted by five-tenths.

But fortunately, after the Mechanism City drained nine-tenths of his Spirit Power reserves, it began to operate on its own.

The Mechanism City, which had paused for a brief moment, began to move again.

The bruised and swollen dog went back to gnawing on its bone, its little tail wagging constantly.

The birds in the sky flapped their wings and flew again, and the insects began to chirp.

The residents coming and going were once again chatting and laughing.

By the roadside, the old man holding candied haws and hawking his wares also seemed to feel nothing, continuing to sell his candied haws.

Beside him were several young children, holding copper coins in their hands, wanting to buy.

Everything...

Looked just like real, living people.

Only Lu Ren, their master, could see through their outward appearance to their exquisite inner workings.

Even though he had won this somewhat turbulent struggle and made Mechanism City his own, Lu Ren was still somewhat amazed by it.

It was truly the handiwork of an ancient Immortal; the formation arrays were simply breathtaking.

Speaking from his own heart, Lu Ren had never imagined that formation arrays could be applied to living puppets.

What was most precious was that the Mechanism City this Immortal created was not built for combat; the majority of its residents were ordinary people with no power to truss a chicken.

Using extremely exquisite materials—materials entirely capable of creating countless Saint Realm beings—he had crafted one ordinary person after another, or even stones that could not move, or Grass Dragonflies that looked somewhat childish.

Placed throughout the entire Mechanism City...

With a flash, Lu Ren appeared directly inside Mechanism City.

But unlike his previous appearance at the gate of Mechanism City, this time he appeared in the City Lord Mansion of Mechanism City.

Unlike the bustling streets outside, the City Lord Mansion was somewhat desolate, without even a single maidservant.

In the reception hall of the City Lord Mansion, one could only see a rocking chair still swaying, a few Grass Dragonflies scattered nearby, as well as small balls woven from grass, or perhaps a wobbly Wooden Horse tied tight with red rope.

It was full of childlike wonder.

When Lu Ren sat down on a chair in the City Lord Mansion, what he touched at his side was a Grass Dragonfly.

He gently picked up the Grass Dragonfly, and before his eyes, it seemed as if that ancient Immortal appeared, a leisurely smile on his lips, playing with the Grass Dragonfly while reminiscing about scenes from his childhood.

Everything seemed so natural.

Lu Ren slowly closed his eyes.

A vast and profound aura wove itself into shape upon him, shrouding the entire City Lord Mansion and spreading outwards, until it permeated the entire Mechanism City.

The Mechanism Puppets, which had already restored their Spirit Power supply and should not have had any errors, all slowed down at this moment.

It was as if they had also been infected.

Simultaneously, all the Mechanism Puppets seemed to sense something, one after another turning their heads to look in the direction of the City Lord Mansion.

Staring fixedly.

Staring numbly.

At this moment, they lost the vividness of being Mechanism Puppets, and only their eyes, pitch-black and lifelike, gazed at the City Lord Mansion.

And there...

"Someone is in Enlightenment."

The captain of the city defense guards suddenly spoke; he gently removed the helmet from his head, his expression complex and filled with emotion, but in the end, only relief appeared.

"Such a familiar Dao... it's like... the old master."

"Will the new master inherit the Dao lineage of the old master?"

(End of this chapter)