Jiang Wang abandoned the thought of observing his opponent. As soon as the competitive arena took shape, he transformed into a flaming meteor and hurtled forward.
In Niu Hanxun's vision, a meteor instantly swept across the vast Sword Discussion Platform before taking human form—a young man with an exceptionally resolute gaze.
The instant he fully activated his weapon qi to attack, the five energies within his body suddenly collapsed and went into chaos. The threads of the five energies bound him from within.
This lasted only a short time. With his current strength, he could easily suppress such a degree of chaos in his body's five energies.
But when his body regained freedom, he simultaneously heard bird calls.
Chirp chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp!
No, not just bird calls.
Clang clang!
Whoo whoo!
Thump thump!
Zheng zheng!
...
Chime bells, flutes, great drums, pipas, qins, se, yu, sheng...
Some sounds were unfamiliar to him, some quite familiar, but all were pleasant to hear. A pleasantness he had never experienced before.
Eight sounds played in unison, eight tones resonated together.
He felt himself being torn into countless fragments, decomposed into different parts with each sound—and as this Dao technique poured out without reservation, this feeling indeed became reality.
Dense Flame Sparrows pounced close, then exploded with him at their center.
Only one last thought spun in his mind.
"So... so powerful!"
...
Mo Zhu was a disciple of the Mo Sect from Ju City.
The surname Mo actually didn't represent anything special; many Mo Sect disciples simply changed their surname to Mo to show their lifelong dedication to the sect.
Mo Zhu's parents were like this, so he naturally took the surname Mo as well.
Many people were in a similar situation, like Mo Jingyu, for instance. However, that person was already a genius known throughout the various states, while Mo Zhu remained obscure.
Many who didn't understand the Mo Sect often had this misconception: that the Mo Sect was dominated by the Mo surname family.
In fact, this was a misunderstanding.
Even within the Mo Sect, few actually had the surname Mo; many had changed it. The practice was more similar to the Dao names or dharma names taken by Daoist priests or Buddhist monks upon entering their orders, but relatively more relaxed—it wasn't mandatory, nor did it grant any special treatment within the Mo Sect. There was no discrimination for not having the surname Mo either—in short, it was purely a symbolic gesture.
Mo Zhu's Moon Key was obtained in a dream; he woke up one morning and had it. He didn't know how others obtained theirs, nor had he discussed it with anyone.
After years of cultivation, his strength was actually quite impressive. He ranked seventy-third in the Soaring Dragon Realm of the Grand Void Illusion. When traveling through neighboring states, he rarely encountered opponents of the same realm who could defeat him. But this probably also had to do with his low profile—he seldom displayed his true combat strength in the real world.
In the current Mo Sect, there were two main trends in the field of mechanism puppets: complication and gigantism.
Mo Zhu had his own inclinations and choices. What represented his achievements in mechanism arts was just a single mechanism axe.
A Mechanized Battle Axe with a sharp, imposing design.
Compared to the thousands upon thousands of Puppet Crows, or those mechanism giants dozens of zhang tall that could flatten mountains and rivers, a mere Mechanized Battle Axe seemed rather unimpressive.
But only Mo Zhu himself knew how much effort he had poured into it.
To project this Mechanized Battle Axe into the Grand Void Illusion, he had spent a full five hundred merit points.
Fortunately, he was now among the top one hundred in the Soaring Dragon Realm. As long as he maintained this ranking without falling, he received a fixed amount of merit points daily as a reward. In the Wandering Pulse Realm, it was ten points; in the Soaring Dragon Realm, it was eighty points. This was equivalent to locking in the reward of one victory.—This was also a mechanism to encourage active matching for battles in the Grand Void Illusion.
Holding this Mechanized Battle Axe, Mo Zhu ascended the Sword Discussion Platform.
Before him stood a handsome young man, holding a very ordinary sword that likely wasn't a projection of a real-world weapon.
His stance was firm, his gaze resolute, his aura confident.
This was a rare and formidable opponent.
Mo Zhu silently analyzed in his mind.
He wasn't a man who habitually expressed himself, but he was very clear-headed.
经过无数次微调的握柄，十分贴合他的手掌，每一根手指都在舒服的位置。
He pressed lightly, and the axe blade extended in a subtle arc.
The most remarkable aspect of this Mechanized Battle Axe was that he had engraved three thousand six hundred and fifty-one axe techniques within it using purely mechanism arts. It could handle all kinds of extreme situations.
The Confucians had a famous saying that actually suited the Mo Sect's way of fighting quite well—
"The gentleman is not different from others; he is merely good at making use of tools."
The gentleman was no different from ordinary people; he was simply good at using tools.
Under heaven, no other school was better at utilizing tools than the Mo Sect.
Those of the Mo Sect believed that the reaction of a mechanism puppet must be superior to the reaction of a living being itself. If it wasn't strong enough, it was because the mechanism puppet hadn't been perfected yet.
Because mechanism puppets were constant, precise, and never made errors.
For Mo Zhu, he had already analyzed Jiang Wang the instant they met, and made the most suitable range selection.
His combat form was him controlling the broad direction while the Mechanized Battle Axe handled the specific, minute reactions. This ensured that in any situation, he could make the optimal response based on his own conditions.
Though it was just a mechanism axe, he was essentially piloting a mechanism puppet in battle.
He might find it difficult to have sudden bursts of power, but he also rarely made mistakes. His seventy-third rank was extraordinarily stable, genuine and deserved.
And now, he was prepared.
This had nothing to do with confidence or not—losing stability meant the puppet was meaningless.
Then Mo Zhu saw the youth move. The long sword left its sheath, and the person was already upon him.
Those eyes, which had been gentle yet resolute, instantly shifted in emotion, transforming like the sea.
Weathered, but intense. Sorrowful, but uplifting.
Those were an old man's eyes, but far from ordinary.
Those were a hero's eyes, but already in twilight.
That sword thrust straight forward, simple and unadorned yet having exhausted all variations.
The old general had witnessed how many births and deaths.
He actually didn't know how to respond at all, losing his train of thought, unable to even gather a suitable range. He discovered that the three thousand six hundred and fifty-one axe techniques he had painstakingly collected through his travels and dedicated efforts were useless—none could counter this!
Despite this, the Mechanized Battle Axe in his hand still struck back with undiminished, peak killing force.
A mechanism puppet wouldn't falter because it had no thoughts to begin with.
This was the superiority of mechanism arts.
It gave him a thread of confidence even in his daze.
But that sword still pierced through his heart, as if it had never met any obstruction.
His battle axe had clearly swung out, yet it seemed as though nothing had happened.
But he had already lost.
"What sword technique is this?" Mo Zhu wasn't a man who liked to talk much, but he asked. He was truly curious, truly wanted to know the answer.
Then he heard a clear, bright voice say—"The Old General in Twilight."
Truly... a fitting name.
Before leaving the Sword Discussion Platform, he thought.
...
Jiang Wang, holding nothing back and fighting at full strength, advanced triumphantly.
Niu Hanxun, Mo Zhu—both were merely among his defeated opponents.
The Eight-Tone Flame Sparrow and the Sword of Humanity allowed him to face almost no resistance before reaching the top fifty.
After the top fifty, battles became slightly more difficult.
By the top twenty, he had to give his all in every match.
And the time required to search for opponents on the Sword Discussion Platform grew longer and longer.
Chong Xuan Sheng knew he was pushing his ranking in the Grand Void Illusion, using various masters to temper the newly formed Sword of Humanity and perfect his combat system. So whenever something came up, he tried not to bother him.
This was a rare period without any disturbances, where he could devote himself wholeheartedly to battles in the Grand Void Illusion.
It also allowed him to discover secrets he hadn't noticed before.