114: Chapter 114 Giant in the Dust

The tactile feedback returned: cold, hard, and bearing extremely complex... carved patterns?

No, not carvings.

They were "engravings."

Some craftsmanship so precise it was maddening had etched dense, nearly invisible patterns onto the surface of the dark cyan rock.

Each pattern was as fine as a hair, yet consistent in depth, interlacing to form a map... so vast it was suffocating?

A Formation?

Or some ancient language that Shen Xiao could not comprehend at all?

The Silver Pattern perception continued to probe downward.

The tactile sense extended, crossing the patterned area, and "saw" more.

A massive, unimaginably large circular space.

Shen Xiao's pupils contracted sharply in the darkness.

Below the stairs was a domed hall with a diameter of at least several hundred zhang.

The towering curved walls extended upward, disappearing into darkness so thick it felt like it could be scooped up by hand.

A dome?

There was no dome to be seen at all.

Only an endless Void Realm, as if they were standing at the bottom of some forgotten giant deep well.

And in the center of the hall.

It was not empty.

Dozens of humanoid Puppets, three zhang tall and cast from some dark, dull metal, stood there in a circle.

They bowed their heads, arms hanging naturally, their postures resembling sleep, or perhaps... mourning.

Thick dust covered every inch of their metal surfaces, masking their original luster and patterns, revealing only blurred outlines.

At first glance, they looked like dozens of neglected bronze statues.

Shen Xiao's Silver Pattern perception swept over the nearest one.

His heart sank.

The "energy cores" of these Puppets had completely extinguished.

There were no spiritual power fluctuations, no aura of life, and even the "heaviness" that inanimate objects should possess was pitifully thin.

But...

The structure was intact.

Every joint, every piece of armor, and every patterned groove running through their bodies maintained astonishing integrity.

It was as if they were just... asleep.

What made the alarm bells in Shen Xiao's heart ring even louder was that the patterns on the bodies of these Puppets were faintly connected to the patterns on the hall floor and walls.

Not "connected."

They were "one."

They were like "terminal nodes" of a massive machine, embedded into the structural network of the entire hall.

As long as that "machine" was still running, and as long as someone could give it a "start signal"...

The Light Cocoon stopped at the edge of the hall, descending no further.

The ice-blue light diffused slightly, illuminating the bottom few steps and the rock floor at the end of the stairs, which glowed with a cold, dark cyan light.

It transmitted strong commands of "stillness" and "observation," while at the same time, a slender stream of intent pointed toward the opposite side of the hall, where, in the shadows of the curved wall, a semi-concealed stone door covered in spiderweb-like cracks was vaguely visible.

"Exit... or... trap entrance... the target is there."

The Light Cocoon's intent was intermittent, carrying a weary sense of urgency.

Shen Xiao did not move.

He crouched on the last step, his Silver Pattern perception acting like countless invisible tentacles, cautiously extending into the hall, attempting to "fathom" the secrets of this area as much as possible without triggering any potential alarm mechanisms.

Xia Lengbai stood behind him, her slender body slightly hunched.

Her left hand was pressed against her chest, her fingertips white from the pressure.

Just as the Light Cocoon transmitted the "stillness" command, the "void" in her chest, wrapped in the clear radiance of the Tomb Guardian Seal, sent a sharp pain, stronger than before, without any warning!

It wasn't being "scanned."

It was being "targeted."

It was as if countless eyes were "looking" at her simultaneously from every corner of the darkness, from within every sleeping Puppet, and even from the depths of every inch of rock patterns.

They were not looking at her as a person.

But at that... "memory void" within her, which had been judged "invalid" by the Heavenly Dao rules, left behind after being forcibly plundered by Shen Xiao, and resembling a System vulnerability.

In the eyes of these older, more "rigid" creations of the rules, that void probably looked like an... illegal entrance emitting an enticing aura.

"They..."

Xia Lengbai's voice was very soft, carrying a hint of imperceptible trembling,

"seem to be able to 'see' the 'void' inside my body."

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiao's Silver Pattern perception abruptly stalled.

He turned back, meeting Xia Lengbai's face, which looked exceptionally pale under the faint light of the Light Cocoon.

The girl's lips were pressed tight, but there was a touch of near-paranoid calmness in her eyes.

"How long?"

Shen Xiao asked.

"Since the moment we stepped onto the stairs."

Xia Lengbai paused,

"but just now... it suddenly became stronger."

Before she could finish speaking...

A sound, extremely slight, of metal rubbing against metal, came from within the nearest Puppet.

Shen Xiao turned his head sharply.

That Puppet's head was... lifting.

The movement was slow, carrying the sluggishness of ten thousand years of dust, and the joints at the metal neck made a faint "creaking" sound.

The dust covering its head fell away, revealing the dull, metal skull beneath, which was carved with complex patterns.

Then...

Two points of dark red light suddenly lit up on that raised head.

No pupils, no eye sockets, only two thumb-sized, lifeless, cold spots of light that stared directly at the direction where Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai were.

Immediately after...

Without any warning, the Puppet's right arm swept over with a speed that did not match its three-zhang stature at all!

The wind pressure exploded in an instant, and the dust that had accumulated for ten thousand years on the ground spread outward in a circle, as if swatted away by an invisible giant hand.

That giant arm covered in dull metal drew a blurred arc in the darkness, carrying a dull, crushing wind, straight toward the tops of Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai's heads!

"Retreat!"

Shen Xiao let out a low shout, his left hand reaching out like lightning to wrap around Xia Lengbai's slender waist, and the Silver Pattern under his feet instantly erupted, sending the two of them retreating backward like pebbles being shot out!

At the same time, he extended his right hand forward, and Silver Patterns frantically condensed in front of him.

Three layers, five layers, seven layers!

The layers of spiritual power shields unfolded before them like a blooming lotus.

The first layer shattered.

The second layer shattered.

The third layer...

Boom!!

The giant metal arm smashed into the spiritual power shield, producing a dull, heart-stopping crash.

The patterns on the surface of the spiritual power shield disintegrated instantly, turning into countless fragmented points of light that scattered.

Behind the shield, Shen Xiao felt a mountain-toppling force feedback through the Silver Patterns, and his internal organs felt as if they had been viciously gripped by an invisible giant hand!

A sweetness rose in his throat.

A mouthful of blood almost spilled out before he could hold it back.

Old injuries.

The internal injuries he had sustained after being severely wounded by the Guardian Beast in the North Sea Ice Abyss, which he had been toughing out without time to properly heal, were all churned up by this brutal blow.

The Silver Pattern area within his Dantian, already riddled with holes, sent a stabbing pain.

"Pah."

Shen Xiao spat out the blood foam in his mouth, stabilized his footing while holding Xia Lengbai, and his Silver Pattern perception locked onto the attack trajectory of that Puppet immediately.

Not driven by spiritual power.

He confirmed this almost the moment they made contact.

That giant metal arm sweeping over had not leaked even a trace of spiritual power fluctuation from start to finish.

Instead, it was a "texture" that was both familiar and strange to Shen Xiao...

The subtle sound of gears meshing when the joints turned.

The low "hissing" sound when the hydraulic rods operated.

And even some kind of... sharp "creaking" sound emitted after metal fatigue.

Mechanical.

Pure, without any supernatural power... mechanical drive.

But how was this possible?

Shen Xiao's mind raced.

The Nine Heavens Continent was a cultivation world, and the root of all power was spiritual power.

Even the lowest-grade Puppetry required Spirit Stones or a Cultivator's spiritual power to drive it.

Pure mechanics?

In this world, this thing was even more absurd than a "Divine Beast pulling a millstone."

Unless...

This place did not belong to the "rule System" of the Nine Heavens Continent.

Or rather, the "rules" here were older than the "Heavenly Dao" of the Nine Heavens Continent.

In the blink of an eye, the Puppet's second strike had arrived.

This time, it was not a sweep, but a vertical chop.

The giant metal palm joined into a blade shape, coming down from above, carrying a dull roar that crushed the air, straight toward the tops of Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai's heads!

Shen Xiao did not dodge.

He released his hold on Xia Lengbai, stamped his feet with the Silver Patterns, and instead, rushed head-on toward the descending giant metal palm!

"Shen Xiao!"

Xia Lengbai exclaimed.

Shen Xiao turned a deaf ear.

The Silver Patterns spread frantically across his body, turning into countless silver threads as fine as hair.

These threads were not for defense, but like countless probes, at the moment the giant metal palm chopped down, they all pierced into the gaps at the joints of the Puppet's arm!

Those were the gaps that had to be left between metal and metal to ensure freedom of movement.

And they were also the greatest weakness of this seemingly indestructible war machine.

The Silver Pattern threads pierced into the gaps, instantly finding the precise gears, connecting rods, and hydraulic lines inside, and then, frantically interfered!

Not destruction.

It was "garbled code."

Shen Xiao simulated the Silver Patterns into an extremely chaotic, irregular "pulse signal" and directly injected it into the Puppet's mechanical transmission System.

Creak...

The Puppet's chopping arm stalled abruptly, less than three feet from the top of Shen Xiao's head.

The movement stuttered for a fraction of a second.

And that fraction of a second was enough.

Shen Xiao's other hand had already condensed his remaining Silver Pattern power into a spike so sharp it could almost cut through space...

And viciously stabbed it into the Puppet's chest!

There, according to common sense, should have been the location of the "energy core."

It was also the largest gap in the structure of this Puppet.

Ssh...

The sound of metal piercing metal was piercingly shrill in the silent hall.

The Silver Pattern spike sank about two inches into the Puppet's chest, pressing against a layer of extremely hard inner armor.

Shen Xiao gritted his teeth, outputting Silver Patterns frantically, attempting to break through that layer of inner armor and strike directly at the "core."

The Puppet's movement stopped.

Or rather, it "jammed."

Its chopping arm hung in mid-air, and a dense "creaking" sound came from its joints, as if countless gears were grinding and squeezing against each other.

The position on the chest hit by Shen Xiao's Silver Pattern spike dented slightly, and more metal fragments and dust fell from the gaps.

It did not stop.

Those two dark red spots of light were still glowing.

Cold, lifeless, but carrying a heart-stopping "stability."

It was as if Shen Xiao's all-out blow just now had merely scratched the skin of a sleeping giant beast.

Shen Xiao's heart sank.

He was preparing to retreat and re-evaluate the situation...

Hum...

A low vibration, as if coming from deep underground, rang out in the hall without warning.

It did not come from within any one Puppet.

But from... the entire hall.

Shen Xiao looked up sharply.

He saw that in the gap where the chest of the Puppet he had stabbed with the Silver Pattern was dented, an extremely faint dark red light was slowly lighting up.

That light followed the patterns on the Puppet's body, like some kind of "signal," and began to spread to the surroundings.

One inch.

Two inches.

Three inches.

At the same time...

On the hall floor, those chisel marks connected to the Puppet's patterns, which had been silent for ten thousand years, also began to light up with the same dark red glow.

The light, like a lit fuse, started from under the feet of that Puppet, along the patterns on the ground, and spread in all directions at a speed that made one's scalp tingle!

More Puppets were swept over by this light.

Their bowed heads, one after another, slowly lifted.

Dark red spots of light lit up one after another.

Twenty.

Thirty...

Shen Xiao's hand holding the Silver Pattern spike turned white at the knuckles.

He finally realized what exactly he had stabbed just now.