212: Chapter 212 Heavenly Dao Investigates Accounts

Deep within the Sea of Consciousness, the archaic and heavy [Heaven and Earth Furnace] emitted a vast, long chime that shook the Void Realm.

The pale white flames of Law flashed and vanished in the Void Realm. With the cross-boundary transmission settled, Gu Shen set foot once again in the Great Yu Cultivation World.

There was no trace of the previous damp cold and gloom; instead, a terrifying high temperature, sufficient to instantly incinerate a Mortal to ash, rushed toward him like a tsunami.

Gu Shen's body lit up with a layer of dark golden protective light, and the black flood dragon black gold armor blocked all the invasive fire poison three feet away. He looked around; everywhere he gazed was a heart-palpitating crimson purgatory.

The originally towering and precipitous basalt magnetic ore peak had largely collapsed and melted under the ruthless scorching of the Beast Taming Sect's Heavenly Fire Mountain-Burning Array. The surrounding hard rocks had long since turned into scalding magma, slowly flowing down the broken mountain ridge.

After the rock layer cooled, it condensed into layers of colorful, pungent sulfur-smelling glass crystals. Although the array had been withdrawn, the roaming fire-attribute Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth remained manic, dancing wantonly in the air as sparks.

Gu Shen stood upon a scorched black rock plate that had not yet completely melted, his robes flapping in the scorching rising air currents.

"The Beast Taming Sect's methods are truly overbearing."

Gu Shen swept his gaze across this devastated dead land, his tone carrying the cold hardness of one who had experienced life and death. "Unable to find Chen's trail, they expended massive array resources to refine this dozen-mile radius of mountain peaks into a barren Wasteland. This kind of extermination method is indeed consistent with the style of a major Sect cutting weeds and eliminating roots."

He naturally knew that Core Disciple Qin Wuyan must have believed he had suffered fatal secret injuries from the Mountain-Shaking Zither Sound and had been turned into ashes under this Heavenly Fire Mountain-Burning Array, which was why he had led his crowd to withdraw.

With the crisis temporarily averted, Gu Shen was not in a hurry to leave.

Returning to the Great Yu Cultivation World this time, his Storage Ring contained ten mass-produced mechanical iron guards crafted by the Wasteland arsenal's fully automated assembly line, driven by Medium Grade Spirit Stones.

This batch of mechanical iron guards, formed by the combination of Wasteland heavy industrial Materials and Cultivation World Spirit Stone array patterns, had to be tested for efficiency in the real environment of the Cultivation World before future strategic deployments could be determined.

"Let's test them here."

Gu Shen waved his large sleeve, and green light flowed from his Storage Ring.

Accompanied by a dull, heavy thud, a massive mass-produced mechanical iron guard, with all-terrain tracks fitted to its lower body, crashed onto the hot glass rock plate.

The dark black titanium-tungsten alloy armor glinted with a grim, heavy luster under the reflection of the surrounding magma.

"Command activated, defensive Formation." Gu Shen spat out the decree.

In the copper recess on the iron guard's chest, the Medium Grade Spirit Stone glowed intensely. The Spirit Gathering Array patterns operated at high speed, converting pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into surging power.

The heavy tracks crushed the glass crystals beneath its feet, the circular main sensor on the iron guard's head lit up with a cold white light, and two thick metal giant pincers clashed in front of its chest, assuming an impeccable defensive posture.

"Master, the power circuit of Unit No. 1 is running smoothly after crossing the boundary. The erosion rate of the external high-temperature environment on the titanium-tungsten armor is close to zero." Crab's monophonic electronic voice came from the iron buckle on his collar, carrying the excitement of a successful initial test.

Gu Shen nodded slightly, about to issue the next firepower test command.

Suddenly, an anomaly occurred!

The sky, which had just been filled with fire clouds, abruptly changed color the moment the mass-produced iron guard began to operate fully.

The originally manic, roaming fire-attribute Spiritual Qi instantly dissipated and fled as if it had encountered some extremely terrifying superior existence. A supreme pressure that made the Divine Soul tremble, originating from the Origin of Heaven and Earth, descended without warning from the Nine Heavens, locking firmly onto this scorched isolated peak.

The sky seemed to be forcibly torn apart by a pair of invisible giant hands. Thick, lead-black tribulation clouds gathered at an unreasonable speed, completely obscuring the sky for a hundred miles, turning day into polar night in an instant.

Deep within the tribulation clouds, streaks of purple-gold thunder, like furious swimming Dragons, rolled and intertwined crazily within the clouds.

"Crack—!"

A thunderclap that shook the Nine Heavens exploded, and all sounds between heaven and earth were erased by this thunderous sound.

Gu Shen's body shook violently, and his Cold Jade Bone let out an unprecedented warning moan beneath his skin. The [Nirvana Star Core] within his Dantian Qi Sea spun crazily, almost about to burst out of his body, desperately resisting the magnificent Heavenly might pressing down from above his head.

He looked up abruptly, his gaze piercing through the layers of tribulation clouds.

In the very center of the tribulation clouds, a giant single eye, condensed from pure destructive thunder, was coldly and ruthlessly looking down at the ground below.

The gaze of that thunderous single eye completely ignored Gu Shen, this Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and was fixed firmly on that mass-produced mechanical iron guard that had just appeared!

Killing intent!

The pure, ultimate intent of Heavenly Dao erasure that allowed for no refutation!

"Heavenly Tribulation lock?" Gu Shen's heart shook violently.

Ordinary Cultivators would only trigger Heavenly Dao thunder punishment assessments when breaking through major Realm barriers like Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, or even Nascent Soul, performing Heaven-Defying acts. How could this mere iron lump, with combat power comparable to the Qi Refining Stage, attract such a terrifying Heavenly Dao audit the moment it appeared in the world?

"Master! The electromagnetic energy level gathering in the high altitude has exceeded the detection limit! The target unit is under absolute lock by an unknown high-dimensional Law!" Crab's alarm sound had already turned into shrill noise.

Within the thunderous single eye, a purple-gold thunder pillar as thick as a water vat was rapidly forming, and the aura of destruction had already suppressed and extinguished the magma around the isolated peak.

At the critical moment, Gu Shen's thoughts turned like lightning, and he made a quick decision.

"Recall!"

He raised his right arm suddenly, and his Divine Sense gushed out like a raging wave, precisely wrapping around the mass-produced iron guard.

The Storage Ring shone with green light. In the final tenth of a second before the purple-gold thunder pillar was about to crash down, the massive mechanical iron guard was forcibly pulled into the Sumeru mustard seed space of the Storage Ring.

Target disappeared.

The thunderous single eye gathered in the sky suddenly lost its locked energy.

The purple-gold thunder pillar that was ready to strike wandered aimlessly in the clouds for a few seconds, emitting a dull rumble full of anger and confusion. Having lost the anchor point guidance of the Heavenly Dao Law, the thick tribulation clouds swirled in the sky for a full cup of tea's time before slowly dissipating like a receding tide.

The dispersed crimson fire clouds gathered again, and the isolated peak returned to its hot and dead state.

Gu Shen stood in place, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

He sank his Qi into his Dantian, exhaled a long breath of turbid air from his chest, and his eyes were as deep and gloomy as an abyss.

The life-and-death pressure of that moment was a hundred times greater than Core Disciple Qin Wuyan's Mountain-Shaking Zither Sound. That was the absolute rejection from the Laws of the Great Yu Cultivation World.

Gu Shen sat cross-legged on a slightly flat scorched rock, his fingers tapping lightly on his knees, his mind crazily replaying every detail from just now.

"Crab, analyze the energy locking logic from just now. Why have the Demon Bone Iron Guards crossed boundaries with me many times and remained safe, but this mass-produced unit attracted Heavenly Dao thunder punishment the moment it appeared?" Gu Shen asked in a deep voice.

The mechanical spider's eight articulated limbs tapped rapidly on the scorched rock, its computing core running at full speed.

"Master, based on reverse deduction and comparison of environmental data."

Crab's electronic voice returned to being rigorous. "The previous nine elite iron guards had their body cores integrated with the bones of high-level Yao Beasts native to this world. These demon bones contained biological electromagnetic fields and Law information unique to this plane. They formed an extremely perfect camouflage coating, equivalent to showing a legal pass to this world."

"As for the mass-produced unit tested just now..."

Crab's probe flashed with rational blue light. "Its body is 100% cast from high-carbon steel and titanium-tungsten alloy from Shelter No. 7. The atomic arrangement and decay cycles of these metal minerals are completely different from the basic matter of the Great Yu Cultivation World. Even though you used local Spirit Stones as a power drive, its silicon-based and carbon-based physical nature was still exposed."

Gu Shen suddenly understood.

"Illegal immigrant."

He hit the nail on the head, pointing out the mystery.

Pure Wasteland industrial creations, to the Heavenly Dao of this Cultivation World, are invasive heretical viruses. Once the energy level fluctuation leaks, it will immediately trigger the immune erasure mechanism of the Heaven and Earth Laws.

"Heavenly Dao is ruthless, but it is also methodical."

Gu Shen closed his eyes slightly, the chapters of the "Thousand Mechanisms Spirit Pivot Array Diagram" flipping rapidly in his mind, deducing a way to break the situation.

"Demon bones are hard to find. If one wants to deploy mass-produced iron guards on a large scale, one must find another path and perform the act of deceiving the heavens and hiding from the sea."

He had already outlined a clear improvement path in his mind.

First, one must re-engrave more profound, high-level arrays specialized in concealing breath on the outer layer of the mass-produced iron guard's titanium-tungsten alloy armor. Use these array patterns to seal the leaking Wasteland physical magnetic field inside the unit.

Second, the Spiritual Qi levels contained in Low-Grade Spirit Stones and Medium Grade Spirit Stones are too low, and their overflowing spiritual light is not enough to construct an internal circulation shield that completely hides the otherworldly aura. Only by using high-level Spirit Stones, or even Top-Grade Spirit Stones as ballast stones, with their extremely pure local Origin Spiritual Qi to form a perfect camouflage spiritual energy field inside the iron guard, can one completely deceive the Heavenly Dao's perception and investigation.

"High-level concealment array patterns, High Grade or even Top-Grade Spirit Stones."

Gu Shen opened his eyes, his gaze looking toward the rolling, poisonous miasma-filled Ten Thousand Mang Mountains beyond the isolated peak.

Such massive amounts of top-tier resources could not be gathered by hunting a few Yao Beasts or killing a few Sect Disciples in the Mang Mountains. Only by stepping into the true top-tier commercial hubs of the Cultivation World and engaging in huge games with those super commercial alliances that dominate one side could one exchange for the chips to allow this mechanical army to appear legally.

Gu Shen stood up, and the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade at his waist emitted a clear, crisp saber hum. The Battle Intent of the extreme Body Cultivator had not diminished in the slightest because of the Heavenly might just now, but instead was brewing even more fiercely in his chest.