90: Mechanical Ascension

When Zhang Ye was annihilated in that great war twenty years ago, no one expected that a wisp of his heroic Soul would perfectly Fuse with the magma core.

Dwarf King Gelong, holding the still-beating core, shed tears and swore, "I will let you Rebirth in the most glorious manner."

In the Dwarf Race's underground Furnace City, Dwarf King Gelong began an epic forging project.

He took Star Steel, nurtured for ten thousand years deep within the earth's core, and mixed it with mithril alloy tempered with Dragon blood; each armor plate was engraved with ancient Dwarf runes.

For twenty whole years, this mecha underwent hundreds of Rebirth-like upgrades—from its initial bulky steam-powered skeleton to its current streamlined psionic composite armor;

From the first-generation engine that required three hundred heat dissipation valves to the current Eternal Furnace Heart that resonates with Zhang Ye's Soul.

The most shocking aspect was the design of the cockpit.

When Grom removed all the control levers, the Elders all thought he had gone mad.

But the old Dwarf merely gently embedded the energy core into the mecha's chest: "He doesn't need those cumbersome buttons and levers, just as we don't need to teach an eagle how to fly."

Indeed, the moment the core and the mecha completed their neural link, the entire steel giant suddenly began to move on its own, and the head monitor lit up with a familiar crimson glow—that was the unique gaze Zhang Ye had during his battles in life.

Now, zhang ye (mecha) was no longer a cold war machine, but a living weapon carrying the will of a heroic spirit.

Every movement of his carried Zhang Ye's battle memories from his previous life.

When White Blade's zanpakutō (soul-slaying blade) struck, the mecha dodged with the agility of a Human Martial Artist, and its steel fist, with a sound of Piercing Silence, precisely intercepted the blade.

In the white mist erupting from the steam pipes, Zhang Ye's signature opening stance from back then was vaguely visible.

For some reason, when White Sword saw zhang ye (mecha), he felt a mix of anger and fear.

The Nether Sword Nascent Soul within him trembled violently, and memory fragments surged like a tide—Zhang Ye detonated the magma core to kill him.

"So it was you..." White Sword's mouth twisted into a ferocious smile, and the Soul-Shattering Sword sensed its master's killing intent, its blade igniting with dark netherflames.

These flames burned with the Karma of past life grievances.

I remember! I remember everything!!!

"Big Brother! Let me!"

White Sword's figure flickered and he leaped into mid-air, his sword edge drawing dozens of interwoven death trajectories: "In this life, I will make your Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering! Piercing Silence!!!"

zhang ye (mecha) also felt an inexplicable anger when he saw White Sword; in his previous life, he had also died because of Nether Sword.

zhang ye (mecha)'s energy core erupted with a dazzling red light; he had no weapon, his weapon was his fist, Military Body Boxing!!!

Facing the sky-filling Sword Qi unleashed by White Sword, this steel giant actually adopted the most basic Military Body Boxing opening stance—

"Boom!"

A simple yet powerful straight punch was thrown, and wherever the fist passed, White Sword's meticulously woven sword net shattered like thin paper.

Those Sword Qi capable of severing mountains dissipated into points of light the moment they touched the mecha's iron fist.

White Sword's pupils contracted violently, feeling the pressure that only a Cultivator possessed within this punch! This was too outrageous!

No one knew what a long period of Cultivate Zhang Ye's Soul had undergone within this steel body.

His Soul consciousness was trapped in a Void Realm where the flow of time was almost stagnant.

There was no rotation of sun and moon, no material existence, only eternal solitude.

To maintain his sanity, Zhang Ye began to repeatedly practice the most familiar Military Body Boxing—at the ten thousandth time, he touched the threshold of Qi Cultivation;

At the one hundred millionth time, a Golden Core condensed in the Void Realm;

When the number of practices exceeded ten billion, his Fist Intent could already trigger a Lightning Tribulation.

In this Void Realm without a Heavenly Tribulation, he, with the purest Martial Dao, forcefully Broke Through all the shackles of the Cultivation System.

"Bang bang bang!"

Military Body Boxing's first stance, "Bow Stance Punch," a simple and unadorned straight punch carrying immense power, instantly shattered White Sword's protective netherflames;

The second stance, "Horse Stance Horizontal Strike," the mecha's waist hydraulic device roared like a Dragon, and the iron fist drew a perfect arc, cracking the Soul-Shattering Sword made of thousand-year cold iron;

The third stance, "Turn and Side Kick," zhang ye (mecha)'s massive body displayed incredible flexibility, the steel right leg drawing a half-moon trajectory in the air, accompanied by a crisp "crack," this divine weapon, which White Ember had spent countless resources to forge, actually broke.

zhang ye (mecha)'s steel body now glowed with a jade-like luster, and every armor plate flowed with Dao charm—that was a characteristic only found in the legendary "Physical Body Becoming a Saint" of the Cultivation world.

It was just that his "Physical Body" was a steam mecha refined by the Dwarf King through a thousand hammers.

Truly a heaven-blessed genius!

Mechanical Ascension! The first person in history!

Blood seeped from the corner of White Sword's mouth; he finally understood that this mecha before him was not a simple mechanical creation, but had Cultivated a Martial Dao Soul!

When zhang ye (mecha) once again adopted the "ready stance," the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within a hundred-mile radius began to gather towards those iron fists, and even space itself produced distorted ripples, as if the entire world had transformed into his gauntlets.

Dwarf King Gelong watched this scene, laughing and crying at the same time, "This is not the mecha I wanted!!! Ah ah ah ah!!!"

How did it turn out like this?

The Dwarf King painfully clutched his meticulously braided beard, his voice choked with tears: "I embedded a vibration matrix capable of shattering mountains into your fists! Your chest is equipped with a plasma cannon capable of evaporating lakes! Your feet have warp drives that can distort space! And your eyes even integrate a pair of ancient Dragon Pearls!"

"As a result, you actually treat these priceless weapon Systems as decorations! And just fight with your most primitive fists?! That's equipment that could buy half a continent!!!"

The chief Dwarf engineer nervously handed over a calming potion: "My King, it seems Zhang Ye is quite powerful even without your weapons!"

"Get out! Get out!" The Dwarf King was not this angry even when Furnace City was destroyed twenty years ago; this was something he had poured all his heart and Soul into creating.

To explain this, perhaps others cannot understand. It's like, you raised your daughter for twenty years, taught her piano, dancing, singing, English, horse riding, gymnastics, basketball, soccer, badminton, table tennis. Then one day, your daughter tells you: "Dad, I don't like any of the things you taught me. I like to create the future with my own hands. I'm currently working at a foot massage parlor. Dad, do you want me to give you a foot massage? I'm really good at it; everyone praises me."

I ask you, aren't you angry?? Don't you want to die!!!

On the other side!

Chen Xu's mecha's outer shell was already shattered, the plasma blade on his left arm flickered erratically, and the energy core emitted an alarm.

White Blade stood on the Void Realm, surrounded by nine streams of Corruption Saber Qi, each exuding enough power to Corrupt the Soul.

"A mere lump of iron, dares to fight with this Venerable One?" White Blade waved his hand, and the nine Saber Qi instantly merged into one, transforming into a giant Corruption blade that spanned the heavens and earth, "With this strike, I will show you what true Cultivator methods are!"

Just as the Corruption Heaven-Slaying Blade descended, a crimson afterimage tore through the sound barrier!

zhang ye (mecha)'s palms caught the terrifying Saber Qi, hundreds of meters long. What was astonishing was that the Saber Qi, capable of severing mountains, was actually frozen in mid-air!

"This... how is this possible?!" White Blade was dumbfounded; he had heard of catching blades, but never of catching Saber Qi.

zhang ye (mecha)'s mechanical five fingers suddenly tightened, and the zanpakutō (soul-slaying blade)'s surface was covered in cracks.

"Bang—!"

With an earth-shattering explosion, the zanpakutō (soul-slaying blade), hailed as capable of severing heaven and earth, was actually crushed!

White Blade was struck by lightning, staggering back three steps, blood from his Lifebound Weapon being destroyed spilling from the corner of his mouth, staring intently at Zhang Ye: "You, you, you..."