123: Chapter 123 Mechanical Beast

"Alright."

"Brother Cheng, you be careful too."

These two were from the Murong Family of Shanhe Prefecture City. The man was named Murong Cheng, and the woman was named Murong Yue. Both were branch Disciples of the Murong Family, with cultivation at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment.

The two had grown up together since childhood, and their relationship was close.

Murong Cheng walked into the main hall, his gaze immediately drawn to the pale blue bead on the stone platform. His eyes brightened suddenly, and his voice carried irrepressible excitement: "Yue'er, look!"

Murong Yue also saw the bead, her eyes lighting up for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure.

She tugged at Murong Cheng's sleeve, lowering her voice: "Brother Cheng, be careful."

Murong Cheng nodded and took out a palm-sized bronze mirror from his bosom; the surface of the mirror was engraved with dense runes.

He bit his fingertip and dripped a drop of fresh blood onto the mirror surface. The bronze mirror lit up with a faint cyan light, scanning the hall in a circle.

"No Restriction."

Murong Cheng put away the bronze mirror, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned: "It seems we are in luck."

Murong Yue's brows remained furrowed, but she said nothing more. Murong Cheng stepped forward, reaching out to grab the bead.

Just at the moment Murong Cheng's fingers were about to touch the bead, a black shadow darted out from beneath the stone platform like lightning.

It was a pitch-Black Scorpion tail, its tip glinting with a cold, eerie blue light. It was astonishingly fast, carrying a foul wind as it thrust straight toward Murong Cheng's chest.

"Brother Cheng, look out!"

Murong Yue was, after all, a Disciple of a prominent family, and her reaction was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, she pointed a finger, and a ray of spiritual light shot out, accurately striking the side of the scorpion tail.

"Bang!"

The spiritual light exploded, knocking the scorpion tail off course. It grazed Murong Cheng's shoulder, tearing away a piece of his sleeve.

Murong Cheng's expression changed drastically. He stomped his feet hard and retreated violently. At the same time, a flash of spiritual light appeared in his hand, and a silver-white long spear flew out from his sleeve, landing steadily in his palm.

The spear tip pointed forward, the shaft vibrating, emitting a clear, resonant hum.

"Boom!"

The stone platform shook violently, sending debris flying.

The Black Scorpion's form was completely revealed from beneath the stone platform.

It was massive, over a zhang long, its entire body covered in a pitch-black carapace. The carapace was covered with dense cracks, resembling parched earth.

Eight long legs supported it on the ground, with barbs growing at the joints of each leg, gleaming with a cold light.

The scorpion tail was raised high, the venomous stinger at its tip glowing with an eerie blue light in the gloom.

Its head had no eyes, only a round carapace engraved with some crooked, dim runes that seemed to have been ineffective for a long time.

The Black Scorpion's body emitted a "clack-clack" sound, like rusty gears turning or some kind of machine being assembled.

Its movements were slow and stiff, each step accompanied by the harsh sound of grinding joints, yet the sense of oppression was not weak at all, as it unreservedly released the aura of the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

In the back, Wu Li crouched in the shadows, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the Black Scorpion for a moment, his pupils slightly contracting.

No life aura.

Not alive...

"It should be a Mechanism Puppet."

There was no fluctuation of vitality within its body, and its spiritual power did not surge from a Dantian, but flowed out from the runes on its carapace.

No wonder the Blood Pupil did not discover it.

The Blood Pupil could see through concealment and sense the aura of living things, but it automatically ignored a piece of wood without vitality.

Murong Cheng felt no fear at all. He steadied himself, holding his long spear horizontally before him.

"Yue'er, support me."

"Alright."

Murong Cheng steadied his stance, his long spear held horizontally before him, his gaze locked firmly onto the Black Scorpion.

He did not retreat; instead, he took a step forward.

With a flick of the spear tip, a silver-white spear radiance shot out like a bolt of silk, aiming straight for the Black Scorpion's head carapace.

The Black Scorpion's body suddenly lowered, its eight long legs bending simultaneously. The runes on its carapace lit up with a dim light, and it actually took the spear strike head-on.

"Bang!!"

The spear tip struck the carapace, sparking a shower of fire, leaving only a shallow white mark on the carapace.

"So hard!"

Murong Cheng's pupils constricted. Without any hesitation, he turned the spear shaft, changing the thrust into a sweep, and struck hard against one of the Black Scorpion's front legs.

"Crack!"

A crack appeared at the joint of that front leg, and the Black Scorpion's body lurched to one side, but the scorpion tail had already swept over silently.

Murong Cheng dodged to the side, but the scorpion tail was too agile, flipping directly in a bizarre posture.

Murong Cheng secretly thought, "Not good."

The scorpion tail grazed his left arm, the venomous stinger at the tip tearing through his sleeve and leaving a shallow bloody scratch on his arm.

"Damn it!"

Venom entered his body.

Murong Cheng's face instantly turned ghastly pale. At the wound on his left arm, the skin turned black at a speed visible to the naked eye, and black veins, like countless small snakes, spread along his blood vessels toward his shoulder.

Regarding this.

Murong Cheng did not hesitate at all.

A flash of spiritual light appeared in his right hand, and a short sword flew out from his sleeve. With a swing of the short sword, he severed his left arm at the shoulder.

"Puchi!"

Fresh blood spurted out, and the severed arm fell to the ground, its fingers still twitching slightly.

Murong Cheng let out a muffled groan, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Hum~"

Murong Yue rushed up from the back, her hands rapidly forming seals, and rays of spiritual light shot from her fingertips, landing on Murong Cheng's severed arm.

Wherever the spiritual light passed, the bleeding stopped, and a thin layer of frost formed over the wound, sealing the flesh. Her face was pale, and her lips were trembling, but her movements were steady and fast.

"Brother Cheng, hang on!"

Murong Yue's voice was trembling, but her tone was unusually firm.

Murong Cheng gritted his teeth; his left hand was gone, but he still had his long spear in his right hand.

He gripped the long spear again, pointing the tip at the Black Scorpion, his voice hoarse and low: "I won't die."

"Hehehe~"

The Black Scorpion's eight long legs moved again, its body making a "clack-clack" sound as it lunged at Murong Cheng.

Murong Cheng did not retreat but advanced instead, his long spear like a Dragon, the spear radiance flashing repeatedly as he entangled with the Black Scorpion.

Every spear strike pierced the cracks in the Black Scorpion's carapace. The Black Scorpion's tail swept continuously, the venomous stinger carving arcs of eerie blue light in the air, but this time, it was as if Murong Cheng had eyes in the back of his head, dodging narrowly every single time.

In the shadows, Wu Li crouched in the corner, his blood-red pupils staring at Murong Cheng, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.

This prominent family Disciple was actually quite interesting.

He didn't frown after losing an arm, didn't panic after being poisoned, and his combat experience was so rich that it didn't seem like something someone of his age should have.

"That shouldn't be right. According to my previous understanding, shouldn't these prominent family Disciples all be nothing but good-for-nothings?"

Even Wu Li himself had to admit that because of his understanding from various stories in his previous life, he had been somewhat prejudiced.

Murong Cheng's spear struck out like a Dragon, every strike piercing the cracks in the Black Scorpion's carapace.

The Black Scorpion's carapace was hard, but those cracks were its weak point.

As the spear tip pierced into the cracks, the runes on the carapace would dim by a fraction, and the Black Scorpion's movements would slow by a fraction.

Blue veins bulged on Murong Cheng's forehead, the muscles of his right arm taut like iron blocks, sweat mixed with blood dripping onto the ground, but he did not stop.