152: Chapter 152 Cross-World Upgrade

Eight hundred zhang deep underwater, inside the basalt Immortal Cave.

Outside the blue light barrier supported by the Xuanming Heavy Water Array, dark currents surged, and mud and sand swirled. Inside the light barrier, however, there was a deathly silence.

Gu Shen sat cross-legged on the dry stone surface and waved his large sleeve.

"Clang."

Twelve dilapidated Cyber Iron Corpses slammed onto the ground.

After the battle at the Myriad Insect Tomb, these Puppets, which had fused Wasteland armor with the flesh and blood of low-level Loose Cultivators, were already riddled with holes. Some had chests that had collapsed extensively, their titanium-carbon alloy crushed into lumps of iron; others had their arm joints snapped, exposing the broken refined red copper coils inside.

The only intact parts were the high-energy miniature Fusion batteries sealed in their left ventricles, which still emitted a faint, deep blue glow.

Gu Shen moved his gaze away from the Iron Corpses and toward the fifteen Sea-Splitting Profound Whale skeletons he had just purchased from the Wanxiang Merchant Alliance.

The skeletons were a deep, dark cyan, with water-wave-like bone patterns naturally growing on their surface.

"Wasteland metal Materials have sufficient hardness, but lack resistance to spiritual energy. Under the bombardment of high-level Spells in the Cultivation World, metal easily develops fatigue and resonance, eventually disintegrating."

Gu Shen analyzed calmly, "The skeletons of peak second-tier Yao Beasts have been tempered by demon power for hundreds of years, making them insulating and resistant to spiritual energy, naturally repelling the erosion of Spells. Using these as weight-bearing bones, with miniature Fusion batteries as the power hub, is the only way to create true killing weapons for two worlds."

He did not rush to start, but instead dragged the corpse of the peak second-tier "Poison-Kiss Crocodile Dragon" out of his Storage Ring.

He pressed his palm against the hard crocodile armor.

"Refine."

The [Heaven and Earth Furnace] emitted a dull roar in his Sea of Consciousness, and the pale white rule-fire spread along his arm, instantly swallowing the five-zhang-long underwater overlord.

The crocodile armor, flesh, and meridians dissolved inch by inch in the furnace fire, stripping away the Impurities.

Half an hour later, the furnace fire dissipated.

Two milky white halos and a pair of jet-black fangs half a foot long floated in mid-air.

[Refining complete. Obtained: essence white dew (medium) two drops. Crocodile Dragon fangs, one pair.]

Gu Shen put away the white dew and fangs, moved his Divine Sense slightly, and awakened the mechanical spider in its silent state.

"Crab, scan these fifteen Sea-Splitting Profound Whale skeletons and build a dynamic model. Remove the damaged metal weight-bearing bones from the Iron Corpses and generate a reorganization plan using the demon bones as the frame and the nuclear batteries as the power source."

The mechanical spider crawled out from the terminal iron plate, its eight compound eyes lighting up with red and blue scanning rays, sweeping across the pile of skeletons on the ground in a fan shape.

"Master, data collection in progress. These biological bones have extremely high density and an internal porous honeycomb structure; their weight is only one-third that of special steel of the same volume, yet their compressive yield point is four times higher. They are perfect mecha endoskeletons."

Crab's electronic voice carried the rigor of data analysis, "But the problem is transmission. Demon bones do not have the ductility of metal; the kinetic energy of the miniature batteries requires special mechanical bearings and flexible neural cables for transmission."

"I will solve the transmission problem; you just provide the weight-bearing and wiring model."

Gu Shen closed his eyes, and the AI Crystal between his brows began to pulse at a high frequency.

Four independent threads were activated instantly.

The first thread received the 3D reorganization blueprints sent by Crab; the second thread mobilized the knowledge of miniature array patterns from the "Thousand Mechanisms Spirit Pivot Array Diagram"; the third thread drove the "Soul-Pulling Threads," turning his ten fingers into the most precise scalpels; the fourth thread maintained the stable output of his Qi throughout his body.

"Begin."

Gu Shen opened his eyes, dark cyan Qi wrapping around his gold-severing saber.

He walked up to the Iron Corpse and coldly cut through the remaining skin and flesh of the Iron Corpse with the blade. He did not use brute force, but followed the gaps between the metal and flesh to strip away the deformed titanium-carbon alloy bones one by one, completely intact.

His technique was like a butcher dismembering an ox.

The discarded metal parts were tossed aside, leaving only twelve beating miniature batteries and the neural bundles forcibly stitched together by the mutated wood marrow.

"Reconnect."

Gu Shen reached out with his left hand, and a Sea-Splitting Profound Whale skeleton flew in front of him. He pressed his fingers together like a blade, and with Geng Metal Sword Qi combined with his powerful Physical Body grip, he forcibly cut and polished the huge demon bone into the proportions of a human skeleton.

Subsequently, he forcibly stuffed this set of dark cyan demon bones into the skin bag of the Iron Corpse.

The most complicated step began.

Gu Shen flicked three nearly transparent Soul-Pulling Threads from his fingertips. The dark threads moved rapidly across the surface of the demon bones, cutting out grooves of uniform depth. These were channels reserved for the spiritual energy circuits.

Nearby, the Great Furnace's virtual fire burned, melting several catties of refined red copper into an extremely fine red liquid stream.

Gu Shen guided the red copper liquid stream, precisely pouring it into the grooves of the demon bones to form dark red array patterns.

"Implant the core."

He pressed the miniature battery into the left ventricular cavity modified from the demon bone. The red copper array patterns wrapped around it tightly like blood vessels, connecting the positive and negative poles.

"Lubricate the joints."

Gu Shen opened the glass bottle containing mica spirit sand, poured out some silver sand grains, and evenly applied them to the active joints of the demon bones such as knees, elbows, and wrists. The lubricating sand of the Cultivation World perfectly filled the stagnation caused by bone friction.

"Reconnect the nerves."

Gu Shen uncorked the jade bottle and poured out some high-purity mutated bone marrow refined in the Wasteland. This green, viscous liquid, carrying radiant vitality, was precisely dripped by him onto the interface between the refined red copper coils and the Wasteland batteries.

The mutated wood marrow erupted with powerful assimilation ability, biting the metal wires, demon bones, and remaining flesh and blood tightly together, turning them into an organic power network.

One.

Two.

Five.

...

There was no day or night in the Immortal Cave, only the monotonous sound of metal cutting, liquid dripping, and the click of bones closing.

With the assistance of the AI Crystal, Gu Shen's brain was like a precise machine tool without emotion. When his Divine Sense was about to run out, he would swallow a drop of soul nourishing dew; when his Qi was exhausted, he would take a drop of essence white dew.

It took a full seven days.

When the last drop of mutated wood marrow sealed the chest of the twelfth shell, Gu Shen retracted the Soul-Pulling Threads and let out a long breath of turbid air.

Amidst the blood and debris all over the floor.

Twelve brand-new guards stood quietly in the deep-sea Immortal Cave.

Their appearance was still covered by a layer of Iron Corpse skin, but their insides had been reborn.

The dark cyan demon bones replaced the heavy metal, making their figures leaner and more streamlined, yet they exuded a leopard-like explosive power. The faint blue glow of the miniature batteries in the left ventricle flickered through the skin, reflecting the dark red array patterns engraved on the bones.

"Start self-test." Gu Shen calmed his breathing and issued the command.

In the eye sockets of the twelve nuclear-powered Demon Bone Iron Guards, red and blue alternating lights instantly lit up.

They did not make a heavy mechanical clashing sound. Under the dual lubrication of mica spirit sand and mutated wood marrow, they all took a step forward in unison, their movements as light as ghosts, yet their footsteps left faint cracks on the basalt floor.

"Master, reorganization perfect."

Crab's electronic voice carried the rigor of data verification, "Body weight decreased by sixty percent, instantaneous burst speed increased by one hundred percent. The natural toughness of the Sea-Splitting Profound Whale skeleton is enough to withstand one hundred percent overload output from the miniature batteries. They are now true killing machines."

Gu Shen drew the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade from his waist. Without injecting Qi, relying solely on physical strength, he slashed at the chest of the nearest Demon Bone Iron Guard.

Clang.

A dull sound.

The gold-severing saber was deflected by a rebounding force. Only a shallow white mark was left on the Iron Guard's chest, and even the red copper array patterns inside were not damaged.

"Bones as hard as iron, insulating and resistant to spiritual energy."

Gu Shen sheathed his saber, a look of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

With these twelve Demon Bone Iron Guards, even without using spiritual energy, he could walk sideways in the outer perimeter of the Yunmeng Great Swamp.

"Material reserves are heavily depleted; mutated bone marrow and refined red copper are bottoming out. Before going into seclusion for Foundation Establishment, I must replenish a batch of Spirit Stones and high-tier Yao Beast blood and Qi."

Gu Shen looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce through the eight hundred zhang of deep water abyss.

This was the Yunmeng Great Swamp, a lawless land, and also an endless hunting ground for Yao cultivators and Essence Spirits.

"Open the array."

Gu Shen gripped the hilt of his saber, waved his sleeve, and the twelve Iron Guards turned into streams of light and were collected into his Storage Ring.

The Xuanming Heavy Water Array opened a gap, and like a black shark swimming against the current, he silently streaked toward the perilous surface of the Great Swamp.