Chapter 181: Who Is The Villain?
Xuan Chong had the base dispatch a mechanical messenger outside to notify his subordinates to stay calm, then followed the stairs into the underground military warehouse.
In the center of the warehouse was a mirror platform with a radius of fifteen meters. Xuan Chong stepped onto it; the ancient-style armor on his body clashed completely with this place. Three high-heat threads arrived beside Xuan Chong. At first, he thought they were lasers, but after they hovered beside him, he confirmed they were not light, but a heating substance similar to the filament in an incandescent light bulb. These threads cut open the armor on his body, like a hot knife through butter or a wire cutting tofu.
After completing the armor removal, the light threads were retracted by the force field and returned to the mechanical apertures above. The light on the platform immediately dimmed.
Immediately after, highly precise nano-grain liquid metal protruded from the mirror surface underfoot. This group of materials adhered to his entire body, just like putting on a form-fitting bodysuit.
Immediately after, Xuan Chong suddenly felt something was off. A few seconds later, the wrapped sensation on his skin perception was gone, turning into direct “transparency” outward, as if he had suddenly become naked. But Xuan Chong could clearly feel that the layer of mass hanging on his body had not disappeared.
Narration: This is neural interface. The liquid nano coating precisely found every sensory neuron under the skin and then interfaced with them. To the point that it felt like an extra layer of skin on the body. This super perception can be compared to the full VRization inside tank cockpits in the 2030s of the 21st century—after putting on VR, everything outside could be seen. Visually, it was as if he was not sitting inside steel armor, but in an open-top car. After the VR vision activated, the sense of security from being wrapped in the narrow cockpit was gone, replaced by being “exposed” across the entire battlefield.
Xuan Chong curiously watched all of this. Whether it was the light threads or this wrapping layer that perfectly matched external skin perception—Xuan Chong was certain it could not be achieved with any known materials from his previous life on Earth.
The energy density of those light threads was extremely high; even the most heat-resistant tungsten filament would vaporize instantly under such energy. And this liquid metal was even lighter and carried enormous information density. From its ability to interface with every sensory point in his nerves, the operational information density must require “hundreds of nano-scale chips” distributed throughout the body as computational hardware, while this liquid metal also maintained its deformable form.
Xuan Chong couldn’t help but think of the mechanical puppet in his “steampunk” laboratory at Yongji Pass, and the train energy system composed of silk and jade.
Xuan Chong suddenly understood. Although the intelligent deputy officer inside this warship spoke Mandarin and described this warship’s production and manufacturing system as “technology,” the warship’s main body materials were genuinely “spiritual materials.” Even the materials for this nano suit on his body were the same types from the cultivation world.
Immediately after, the platform raised a screen prompting Xuan Chong to input his name. After entering “Xuan Chong,” the screen said: “Hello Xuan Chong, please follow the on-screen prompts to perform Body Fixing Technique movement training.”
Xuan Chong looked over this process; it was similar to checking eyesight in the 21st century, with the screen selecting groups of movements to test the specific status of this task.
As Xuan Chong completed the movements and the Body Fixing Technique’s perception and fluid completed interfacing; rows of spatial nodes appeared around his body and then surged out mechanical structures.
Xuan Chong saw one node the size of a mobile phone unfold into a mechanical structure as big as a small car, so he asked: “Is this a space ring?”
The warship assistant prompted: “This is not a spatial node, but material compression technology.”
Immediately after, that small car-sized mechanical structure fitted onto Xuan Chong’s body, while the other compressed nodes unfolded mechanical structures that also embedded, and tech-sense armor covered Xuan Chong’s entire body. This process was just like the armor transformation in some animated series he watched as a child.
Finally, the compression node loaded at the backpack position on Xuan Chong’s back, then unfolded into the energy bay.
Xuan Chong looked at the five-meter-tall combat mech displayed in the mirror.
The ship assistant said: “Commander, your personal armament has finished loading.”
Xuan Chong thought of the word “magic treasure” regarding storing “mech equipment” in his carry-on space.
Xuan Chong: “In this world, no one has seen a True Immortal; it’s only legend that True Immortals can burn mountains and boil seas. So, is the ultimate truth of the Immortal Path this level of fantastical high technology? Or rather, the transmigrator predecessors—no, seniors—in this immortal demon world have carved out a distinctive ‘immortal science’ path?”
…Three Good Student sighs: The predecessors really know how to play.…
An hour after Xuan Chong entered the mountain, the military formation outside the mountain was struggling to hold on; twenty of the fifty shield-bearing armored soldiers in the front row had fainted, while the cultivators circled a fifty-li radius around the center of the military formation, constructing spiritual energy arrays on the periphery. Under the arrays’ effect, the scorching sun blazed down on the military formation at the foot of Chi You Mountain.
Cultivators cannot directly clash spiritual energy against killing intent, but they can retreat far away; by infusing water, fire, wind, and earth arrays into feng shui, they gather large-scale heaven and earth energy. Ultimately influencing the military strategists within the mountains and rivers.
At this moment, the Wu Family Army bitterly holding on heard a low-frequency sound wave from the surrounding killing array echoing continuously off the nearby mountains, making their hearts race as if gripped tight. And the dazzling lights from the sky raised the temperature of the blood throughout their bodies.
Just as these cultivators, several kilometers away, smugly thought their “spiritual attack” on the army was working.
Chi You Mountain cracked open—not the peak splitting and collapsing, but the mountain top revealing a mechanical sense as it opened a cross-shaped hatch.
Like a helicopter flying out from under a dome cover, Xuan Chong emerged. At this time, the combat wings on Xuan Chong’s mech were fully deployed, with the rear nozzles spewing blue Mach rings.
Upon first handling it, the surging power of the mech greatly surprised Xuan Chong, because if it were fossil fuel, he should be carrying a large fuel bay.
The fuel he carried was merely a thermos cup-sized structure, though the energy bay component itself was larger.
In the display interface, two rows of numbers were marked: upper row 298, lower row 114. During takeoff, the numbers jumped slowly, but 114 did not consume even 0.01.
According to the digital perception prompt, Xuan Chong analyzed the surroundings. A terrain model immediately built up inside the mech cockpit.
Immediately, eight thousand anomalous energy nodes in the surrounding airspace were marked. The combat intelligent assistant in the mech: “These energy nodes are all cores of the current arrays. All hostile, recommend destruction!”
“What exactly is the basis of arrays?” When the illiterate Xuan Chong began asking, the loaded intelligent Q&A system in the mech replied: “In this current interstellar physical zone, living energy particles (spiritual energy, killing intent) can more easily be imbued with informational states by intelligent life (cultivators, demons, devils). Intelligent life directly controls energy attached to tools to reinforce them, and nodes are the convergence and distribution points of these energy circuits.”
Hearing this assistant system’s explanation, Xuan Chong immediately teased his “do-nothing” carry-on dimensional system: “Look at that, how spot-on their answer is!”
However, even with such provocation, Xuan Chong’s “history teacher” remained completely unresponsive.
…Chi You Soldiers have appeared in the world…
The shocking, cool entrance—well, entrance—filled Xuan Chong with confidence.
Xuan Chong activated the mech comms and issued the final warning to the surrounding cultivators: “Warning from now: within fifty breaths, if you do not lay down weapons and surrender, I will take all necessary actions.”
The sound wave filled with spiritual pressure and killing might spread in all directions.
“50, 49, 48…”
While Xuan Chong was counting down, a flying sword attacked. But upon approaching Xuan Chong, a light shield flashed, and the entire flying sword melted instantly.
The sneak attack failed, and Xuan Chong’s countdown stopped. In the silence, from the mountain top came Xuan Chong’s chilling response, his armor’s electronic voice flickering: “Warning ended, commencing punishment.”
Since these cultivators not only refused to surrender but dared to counterattack him, Xuan Chong couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.
“Pretentious crap!” Boom, the mech raised its hand and fired a blue trajectory, blasting a spirit boat apart.
“Beastly scum!” Beep beep beep, small close-in weapon system cannon swept, crippling a soaring serpent.
“Useless snack!” Boom, radiating a red explosive energy, breaking the sword array.
“Sima clown!” Drew the vibration sword, slashing through the descending banner.
The cultivators scattered like rats whose homes were bulldozed by a bulldozer. A certain cultivator who had read ancient texts shouted: “Everyone retreat quickly, this is an ancient heterodox path creation!”
On this day, the immortal sect remembered the sect’s ancient legend: besides the orthodox ascension through proper methods, there was another path of forging an ark via external roads to cross to the other shore.
…The ark is right under our feet…
Facing the fleeing state of the group of immortals with “Fellow Daoist, come back us up,” Xuan Chong found the “area kill” option on the screen.
Clusters of hexagonal nano mirrors unfolded around the mecha, with electric arcs flickering on each mirror surface, followed by the nano mirrors emitting golden light from all directions like the centipede spirit from Journey to the West shedding its clothes and countless eyes popping out.
This sweep was large-scale but not without precision.
Eight thousand array points had already been observed, and under the beam sweep, destroying these array nodes would cause the arrays to collapse like pulling out the load-bearing walls of collapsing buildings.
Thus, within a ten-kilometer radius, it was nearly nuclear-explosion-like devastation, with all arrays collapsing in an instant.
The cultivators flying chaotically in the sky like mosquitoes once again crashed to the ground.
Jia Mude murmured: “This is the divine might of the Chi You Soldiers! The true trump card left by the ancient Xi Huang for the Human Realm to resist external demonic evils.”
Beside him, Ang Ri saw this powerful combat armament flying in the air and narrated: “In the Haotian Realm, the Dragon Emperor disassembled the divine weapon and built the Long Yuan, ensuring thousands of years of peace; it seemed like a one-time solution, but it lost the opportunity to display such divine might.”
The many officers and soldiers on Jia Mude’s side were currently looking up like worshiping deities, shouting “victory forever.” But the many cultivators sent by the Immortal Sect to intercept were now in dire straits.
With the arrays instantly destroyed, not only did their magic power suffer severe backlash, but their entire bodies bled as they fell to the ground; the spiritual sense embedded in the arrays had no time to withdraw and was directly annihilated.
The leading late Foundation Establishment cultivator from Wangheng Sect thought of something and pulled out the waist token of the Da Yao Demon Suppressing Division from his waist, but facing the killing intent rushing toward the sky, he smiled bitterly and put away this gold token obtained from Da Yao.
In times of peace, the Imperial Court gold token could suppress the killing aura of military strategist generals. This gold token contained “command” information bestowed by the Da Yao Dynasty.
But they forgot that to sneak attack Xuan Chong, they had deliberately come to this place outside the Da Yao Dynasty’s domain.
He could use the array to ambush Xuan Chong’s army, but now facing Xuan Chong’s counter-kill, the Demon Suppressing Division’s command was ineffective.
However, in the end, after “sensing” that token, Xuan Chong still “spared” these cultivators; the side hatch of the mecha opened, sending out swarms of thin golden bees (like drones) that quietly followed these cultivators.
…Wu Xiao Que: This matter is not over…
Xuan Chong landed, with the entire armor system on his body retracting into the compression nodes, leaving only a set of nano regular clothes.
Xuan Chong pointed the direction to Jia Mude, then the cavalry team charged out, capturing the cultivators who had fallen on the cliff sides.
As for why Xuan Chong himself did not go to capture them! It was because he was unsure if this martial equipment system had other potential failures.
Xuan Chong thought to himself: “What if the other side has a chosen son of heaven who suddenly draws his sword and stabs, blowing up our mecha?” At this moment, Xuan Chong had the awareness of being a villain.
Having watched too many Hollywood movies in his previous life, when the villain was most smug and acting flamboyantly, the protagonist would find the nemesis and defeat them in one move. As a child, it felt exciting, but after growing up, perhaps due to his own growth and accumulated efforts, he no longer believed in “getting lucky to defeat the strong with the weak.”
Facing the same Hollywood plot, seeing the villain fail would only evoke pity like “a hero in life, a ghost hero in death.”
As an Easterner, unlike Indo-European culture’s aggressiveness, after gaining an advantage, the East becomes reserved; in unnecessary confrontations, the trump card is hidden to maintain surprise and achieve twice the effect with half the effort.
Soon, six injured unlucky immortal guests were brought back. After Xuan Chong interrogated them, one old cultivator looked at Xuan Chong: “General is originally a talent for saving the world, do not use this ferocious weapon in the Human Realm to trigger the Great Tribulation!”
Xuan Chong looked at this cultivator and said: “Then I ask you, can you carry a message for me?” Xuan Chong: “If Wangheng Sect announces to Under Heaven that they will not be our enemy, we can end our grievances here.”
A nearby soldier hurriedly said: “General must not—”
However, glared at by Xuan Chong, under the pressure of killing intent, he fell silent.
Xuan Chong had no intention of reconciling at all; the so-called reconciliation was deliberately setting conditions that touched the opponent’s bottom line. The most fatal part of Xuan Chong’s condition was: Wangheng Sect announces to Under Heaven.
This situation of calling for the extermination of evil cults was orchestrated by Wangheng Sect single-handedly. Now making Wangheng Sect themselves call for reconciliation would be like using their own reputation as toilet paper.
There are records in previous life’s international struggles: when a leading big brother upfront said “no truce until death” absolutely, solemnly guaranteeing all little brothers, then later this big brother eagerly went to reconcile, their reputation collapsed even faster.
And holding up “fight but not break” is not contradictory to the factual “vicious moves.”
The old cultivator stammered: “Sir relies on the Heterodox Path, bringing disaster to Under Heaven. Our sect cannot associate with such filth.”
Xuan Chong glanced at the indignant expressions of the many officers and soldiers around, then laughed heartily. Turning to the elder, he said: “When the people are in dire straits, you refuse to save them! We come to save, and you point fingers. Now you want to arrange us with ‘the overall situation of Under Heaven,’ and after arranging, treat us as enemies. Heh, you’re making it hard for me.”
The old cultivator clearly felt that as he confronted Xuan Chong face-to-face, the killing intent of the surrounding soldiers grew increasingly thick.
And he did not need much Yao Calculation to deduce that once today’s words spread to Chong Land, the Human Realm in these several states on the west side of Da Yao would inevitably “see people develop killing intent, heaven and earth overturn”!
As for whether the “Chi You Soldiers” were truly “ferocious weapons”? That was no longer important at this moment.
Because Wangheng Sect, which defined the Chi You Soldiers as ferocious weapons, had a problem!
Xuan Chong: “In the propaganda war, when the hostile faction has issues intolerable to our side, whatever the hostile faction says is useless.”
At this moment, in the eyes of his own soldiers: the so-called Immortal Sect was sanctimonious.
So was Xuan Chong’s earlier “seeking peace” admitting defeat? No, this was retreating to advance. By exposing the enemy’s ugly face, he resolved his own group’s doubts about the “Chi You Soldiers.”
Xuan Chong was confident that if he silently took the Chi You Soldiers back, those Immortal Sect folks would inevitably link the imbalance of the Way of Heaven and some local bloodshed to his use of the Chi You Soldiers.
In his previous life, Xuan Chong had seen these shameless associations. Not governing the desert, sandstorms harm Under Heaven; governing the desert, atmospheric transparency increases, exacerbating global warming. Not a single propaganda war was won back then.
One must know that a bunch of small countries accepting Western humanism all firmly believed in those media’s “prestigious sects.” If not for White Eagle ultimately collapsing their own credibility on the squid issue, touching the “intolerable” points of most regions, plus White Eagle preparing to deal with the easy first and hard later, swinging the knife at the spectators. Those bystanders still leaned toward enjoying the drama of “big boss suppressing number two.”
After releasing the old cultivator and the captured cultivators, Xuan Chong said to the soldiers: “Return trip, we tear apart this hypocritical heavenly net.”
After a twenty-day round trip, Xuan Chong returned below Lelang City.
At this time, everything in the city remained stable. Yao San Niang’s Lotus Lamp was still bright, with blazing Vermilion Bird Fire qi piercing down from the heavenly constellations, stabilizing this area.
All demons and monsters formed by the Evil Moon’s projections were incinerated as soon as they emerged.
Of course, in the Immortal Sect’s eyes, solving the problem of being targeted by the Evil Moon still required ascending enough “material” to the Evil Moon. —The Immortal Sect had not shifted targets; they saw Zhenzhou as the problem, so they became Zhenzhou’s problem.
Xuan Chong arrived riding the peacock, with the city’s commoners looking forward in anticipation.
The peacock glanced at Lelang City, circled for a while, then, as if a young lady disdaining a filthy ground, carefully lifted its skirt and flew straight to the lotus platform formed by the ignited Lotus Lamp.
