103: Chapter 103 The Road of White Bones Ends, Puppet Plains

Crossing the threshold, the sound of firecrackers behind him and that eerie festive atmosphere were cut off as if by a single blade.

Without any transition, the world plunged directly from the fiery, bustling noise into a deathly gray darkness.

The sensation underfoot changed.

It was no longer the soft, warm snow, nor the cold, chilling bones.

It was black soil, hard enough to hurt his feet, mixed with unknown metal debris that made an ear-piercing "creak" when stepped on.

Tang Xun stopped and looked up.

This was a black plain that stretched out endlessly.

There was no grass, no trees, and even the wind carried a scent of rust.

Countless massive wrecks lay scattered across the ground.

Some looked like iron birds with broken wings, others like giant beetles cut in half, and some were twisted masses of metal whose original forms were unrecognizable.

They lay silently on the black soil, covered in rust, like a junkyard left behind after some ancient divine war, exuding a suffocating desolation.

"Is this the next level?"

Tang Xun kicked a gear half-buried in the soil nearby.

The gear was as large as a millstone, and upon impact, it emitted a dull hum that made the soles of his feet go numb.

"Pretty good. Compared to those pretentious things that play with people's hearts, this kind of straightforward, hard-hitting place suits my taste better."

He stretched his neck.

As he moved, the Savage God Dragon Transformation Art within his body, which had just reached the third level, responded in kind.

That sense of power, so full it felt like it was about to overflow, gave him a great sense of security now.

He even felt like finding something to punch a few times.

"I wonder how those unlucky bastards are doing."

Tang Xun touched the center of his brow.

There was a vertical line there, usually invisible, which was now slightly warm, as if reminding him of something.

With a thought.

The vertical line didn't split open; instead, like an invisible eye, it projected his vision into another dimension.

The world before him instantly doubled.

It was like forcing two photographic negatives to overlap.

Through that dull "Inner World" filter, he saw the vibrant "Outer World."

There, it was a wide, smooth bronze road.

On both sides of the road stood ten-zhang-tall bronze warrior statues, holding long spears. They were majestic and, although inanimate, exuded a killing Aura.

A group of people was walking cautiously upon it.

One of them was Liu Ruyan.

She held a crimson Talisman in her hand, her expression tense, each step taken with extreme caution.

Behind her followed several pale-faced Cultivators, clearly still recovering from the nightmare of the "time erosion" they had just experienced.

"Tsk, the difference in treatment is really something."

Tang Xun curled his lip.

Others were walking on a solemn and majestic "Main Road," welcomed by rows of grand statues.

He was walking in a "recycling center" filled with scrap metal.

"However..."

Tang Xun narrowed his eyes, switching his gaze back and forth between the two worlds.

Although the scenery was different, the paths overlapped surprisingly well.

The positions of those bronze statues in the Outer World perfectly corresponded to these massive metal wrecks in the Inner World.

Just then, something happened in the Outer World.

An Early-Stage Core Formation Cultivator from Heavenly Demon Valley, seemingly eyeing a gemstone embedded in the hand of a statue on the side of the road, felt greed rise within him and reached out to pry it off.

"Don't Move!" someone nearby had just called out a warning.

It was too late.

The previously lifeless bronze statue suddenly rolled its eyes.

There was no fluctuation of spiritual power; it was purely the ejection of a mechanical device.

The long spear swept across with a speed impossible for the naked eye to track.

Bang!

The protective spiritual shield on the Heavenly Demon Valley Cultivator shattered like paper. He was sent flying dozens of zhang, the bones on half of his body shattered, and he lay on the ground vomiting blood like a dead dog.

At the same time.

In the "Inner World" where Tang Xun was.

At the exact moment the Heavenly Demon Valley Cultivator was swatted away, a pile of "scrap metal" less than ten steps from Tang Xun suddenly moved.

It was a Puppet with only its upper body remaining.

Its head was a half-dented bronze sphere, its single eye glowing with a dark red light, and one rusted iron arm dragged its broken torso, creating a harsh, grating sound against the ground.

Szzzz—

The Puppet locked onto Tang Xun.

It lacked the majesty of the bronze statues, possessing only the madness of a rabid dog.

The next instant, the pile of scrap metal used the reaction force from the ground to launch itself like a cannonball straight at Tang Xun's face.

Its iron arm swung, bringing with it a gust of foul wind.

The force of this strike was definitely not inferior to the sweep of the bronze statue's long spear.

"Well come."

Tang Xun did not retreat; instead, he advanced.

He didn't dodge, not even bothering to take a defensive stance.

"Perfect, I'll use you to test the quality of this third level of the Savage God Dragon Transformation Art."

He clenched his fist, his arm muscles tensing in an instant, and beneath his originally fair skin, a golden Dragon pattern flashed and vanished.

There was no flashy Move.

Just a straight punch, blasted directly at the head of the lunging Puppet.

Hard against hard!

When flesh and blood collided with a steel creation.

Boom—!

A dull explosion erupted across the plains.

A wave of air rolled out, blowing away the surrounding rubble.

The scene froze.

Tang Xun remained motionless, the black soil beneath his feet having sunk only half an inch.

And that aggressive war Puppet, the moment it touched his fist, was like a soda can crushed by a hydraulic press.

Its bronze head directly caved in and shattered, followed by its torso and arms.

Massive kinetic energy tore through its entire structure.

Clatter.

In just one breath.

This Puppet, with a hardness comparable to a Core Formation Stage Magic Treasure, turned into a flurry of flying parts and iron filings, scattering all over the ground.

"Is that it?"

Tang Xun withdrew his fist and blew off a bit of rust that had stained his knuckles.

Not only was he uninjured, but the pain was also very slight.

This release of pure violence gave him an indescribable sense of gratification.

Just as he prepared to turn and leave, a point of dark red light in the center of the scrap pile caught his attention.

It was an irregular crystal the size of a thumb.

It was not as pure as the previous Divine Soul fragments; instead, it was filled with an Aura of brutality, slaughter, and chaos.

Tang Xun picked up the crystal.

The moment his fingertips touched it, the vertical line at the center of his brow twitched, transmitting a signal of "want to eat."

Although not as delicious as a Nascent Soul Divine Soul, this thing had the advantage of being abundant and filling, and... very nourishing.

"War Crystal Core..."

This term inexplicably popped into Tang Xun's mind.

He looked around.

Across this vast black plain, there were countless similar metal wrecks.

If every wreck had such a crystal core...

Tang Xun's eyes lit up.

The originally desolate and dead ruins instantly transformed into a glittering buffet in his eyes.

"Looks like this meal will last a long time."

He clenched his fist, causing a series of cracking sounds from his bones.

The corners of his mouth curled into a dangerous arc.

"You pieces of scrap metal, are you ready?"

"The old appliance collector is here."