Chapter 421 – Powerless, Devour

“A little game before dinner.”

Anders, easily deflecting a powerful strike from Yuwen Tong, remarked with a gentle smile in perfect Xia Language.

Lu Yuan was slightly taken aback when he heard Anders speak. The sense that Anders seemed to have transformed grew even stronger in his mind.

This was because Anders had never used their language before.

At that moment, having failed her first strike, Yuwen Tong moved again.

The massive and slender Spirit Sovereign switched from single-handedly wielding the weapon to holding the longblade with both hands, the enormous crescent ring behind it spinning rapidly. The entire Mech was bathed in lunar-hued energy, crossing the chaotic void like a ghost, abruptly appearing in front of Anders.

The longblade swung downward, leaving a silver streak that extended beneath it, with a torrent of energy cascading like a river of stars.

“Boom!”

Yuwen Tong’s second strike was even stronger and fiercer than the first, with the residual energy from the slash nearly splitting the vast water region below in two.

Waves of black aura parted to the sides as the water’s surface pressed downward, creating a blood-red gorge stretching for tens of kilometers.

Yet, despite this ferocious strike, Anders, who was struck by Yuwen Tong’s attack, remained motionless, frozen in place.

Then, silently, his entire form split into two along the silver streak that crossed his brow.

“Is it over?”

The sight momentarily eased Lu Yuan’s mind, but then he realized something was off.

Given this guy’s entrance and earlier actions, it didn’t seem likely that he would be taken down so easily.

Even though Yuwen Tong’s second strike was indeed sharp and fierce.

Sure enough.

The two halves of Anders’ body, sliced in two, fell and transformed into silver fluid, gathering at a spot further back and reforming into a complete humanoid figure.

His face still bore a smile, even though his size was vastly different from Yuwen Tong’s Spirit Sovereign Mech.

Yet there was a bizarre sense that he was truly the one orchestrating everything, a calm and composed demeanor as if everything was under his control.

It was as if… for Anders, this really was just a little game to warm up and get the energy flowing.

The Spirit Sovereign’s frame blocked the view, preventing Lu Yuan from seeing Yuwen Tong’s expression inside the Mech’s core.

He could only see that the moment Anders reappeared, Yuwen Tong’s third strike followed swiftly.

Once again, a blade light, compressed to the extreme, cut forth as a streak of white.

However, as this streak neared Anders, the previously straight line inexplicably began to warp.

It veered sharply around Anders, with all its strength dissipating into the area behind him, tearing through nearly a hundred kilometers of water region.

With three terrifying attacks landing in succession, the battlefield of water had been thoroughly stirred into chaos.

As Yuwen Tong had mentioned, the ancestral land secret realm was an ancient battlefield, steeped in lingering ancient strength and aura.

These successive blasts were akin to hurling a massive rock onto an already troubled water surface.

The sediment settled at the bottom was churned up, rendering the entire water region murky and turbulent.

A large amount of black aura rose from beneath the water, even beginning to morph into strange, ancient totem patterns. The whole water region looked a mess, like a pot of boiling porridge being steamed.

“It feels like something is slowly awakening…”

Lu Yuan attempted to sense the commotion beneath the water, arriving at a conclusion with a look of uncertain suspicion.

In such a situation, leaving immediately would be the best choice. Yet, this was precisely a crucial moment when leaving was not an option.

With Yuwen Tong and Anders still locked in combat, Lu Yuan decided to ignore the surface commotion and focused on observing the battle, hoping to find an opportunity to intervene.

However, Lu Yuan soon realized the battle seemed to be escalating beyond his ability to interfere.

As Yuwen Tong’s relentless attacks continued, the calm Anders began to undergo a transformation.

“Mourn. Strength Mech Form!”

Anders spoke softly, extending his hands, with his ten fingers forming a complex, twisted gesture in front of his chest.

Suddenly, pure black Marks appeared in the void, expanding dramatically before vanishing.

Then, a powerful silver light erupted from his entire being.

This light was unprecedentedly dazzling, shining with such intensity it was as if a sun of pure silver hue had risen on the black and blood-red water surface.

The twisted vine pattern stretched across the sky, its unparalleled grandiosity forcing Yuwen Tong’s Spirit Sovereign to retreat.

When the silver light subsided and disappeared, what appeared before Lu Yuan and Yuwen Tong was a colossal Mecha, nearly equal in size to the Spirit Sovereign.

This Mecha was far more intricate than the Spirit Sovereign, as if crafted from numerous robust silver vines, exuding an aura of magnificence and authority.

Intense and blazing silver light radiated freely across its frame, resembling an ancient guardian spirit just emerged from the heart of a Starry Sky demon vine.

The silver vine Mech stared silently at the Spirit Sovereign, a dark crack forming beneath its smooth cheek, slowly extending to the sides and reaching behind the Mech’s skull.

It was as if forming an expression of sinister laughter.

At that moment, an inexplicable chill enveloped the entire battlefield, rendering this entire water region completely under Anders’ control.

“Which part shall I savor first?”

The silver vine Mech maintained its eerie smile as it slowly drew two slender, sharp short guns from behind.

Tilting its head, it sized up Yuwen Tong, resembling a gourmand poised to indulge in a feast, knife and fork in hand.

“Damn it!”

Lu Yuan slammed his fist into the ground beneath him, causing the skull pinnacle, almost two-thirds submerged in the tide of black aura, to resonate and teeter perilously.

Had such power been shown earlier, he and Yuwen Tong would have already fled in defeat.

How could someone undergo such a remarkable transformation in skill level in such a short time?

Compared to this Anders, the one he had previously beaten to near death, reduced to a mere shell, seemed clumsy like an untrained apprentice.

“Could it be that he isn’t the same person at all?!”

A sudden suspicion arose in Lu Yuan’s mind.

But regardless of the truth, the most crucial task now was to defeat the opponent in front of them.

This battle, taking place at a Mech level closely approaching the Star Lord Realm, left Lu Yuan feeling helpless, as if all he could do was cheer for Yuwen Tong.

“No, my ultimate skill can pierce through a Mech’s shell. If he shows any vulnerability, I might still be able to help Yuwen Tong…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered with determination as he recalled the time he had pierced the Ice God Mecha and forcibly neutralized the pilot inside. He took a deep breath, striving to keep himself calm.

By now, the battle between the Spirit Sovereign and the silver vine Mech had erupted.

The two gigantic Mechas, each over two hundred meters tall, collided fiercely above the churning water region filled with black aura.

The shockwaves from their collision radiated outward in rings, raising towering waves of black and red nearly a thousand meters high.

As the long blade clashed with the short guns, the Spirit Sovereign Mech and the silver vine Mech resembled two enlarged top-tier martial artists.

A confrontation of Starry Sky weapons, a duel of cold weapons.

Lu Yuan watched their exchange intently; it was his first time seeing Yuwen Tong unleash her full power without reservation.

Coming from a pure martial arts background, after advancing to grandmaster level with his [Grandmaster Instinct] at lv2, he had never met anyone who surpassed him in combat skills.

Now, suddenly, he was witnessing two.

Lu Yuan simulated the process of fighting both of them in his mind and came to a conclusion.

“If it were a match of cold weapons, I wouldn’t last more than three moves against Yuwen Tong… Against the silver vine man…”

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth lightly.

“One move.”

He would lose in just one move.

Cold weapons were Lu Yuan’s weakness, and the power of a strong Mech also needed cold weapons to manifest.

Yuwen Tong holding the top position on the planet for so long-it’s not surprising she surpassed him in cold weapon mastery.

What truly shocked Lu Yuan was Anders.

This guy’s skills were even stronger than Yuwen Tong’s?!

After releasing the silver vine Mech, his terrifying prowess seemed fully unveiled.

“Clang, clang, clang-“

The ornate short guns tapped the long blade three times.

The terrifying force of the impact, exceeding a hundred times the speed of sound, transmitted through the weapon, causing the Spirit Sovereign’s actions to falter and stagger backward.

The alloy long blade in its hand started to shatter inch by inch from the tip.

Seizing this opportunity, the silver vine Mech lunged forward with a fierce thrust.

The two massive, resplendent figures passed by each other.

“Boom!”

The Spirit Sovereign was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the Black Tide water region, creating a massive crater on the surface.

As she staggered and emerged from the water again, her former grace was gone. The moon-white light was dim, and the arm that once held her blade was missing, with torn wounds at the severed end, leaving her looking incomplete and battered.

The silver vine Mech was holding the Spirit Sovereign’s arm impaled on one of its short guns.

The crack on its face widened, expanding…

Then it tilted its head back and astonishingly swallowed the arm whole.

After swallowing, it made a gesture of wiping its mouth and sighed, “Terrible taste… but as expected. It just makes me look forward to your flesh and blood even more…”

“He actually ate it…”

Lu Yuan watched in disbelief as Anders swallowed the Spirit Sovereign’s arm, his face darkening.

“The higher the civilization, the more twisted it seems?”

His gaze turned steely as he watched the one-armed Spirit Sovereign slowly retrieve the floating Moon Wheel from behind, gripping it firmly, and charging at the silver vine Mech once more.

Closing his eyes, Lu Yuan took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, his pupils were shrouded in thick gray mist.

[Chaos Divination].

Now, he could only hope that the [Chaos Divination] would provide a way to break the deadlock.

“Spirit Severance: Radiant Moon!”

The indifferent consciousness belonging to Yuwen Tong resonated, the Moon Wheel’s hum echoing through the void.

Terrifying energy erupted, creating giant waves and fierce winds, whipping Lu Yuan’s hair into a frenzy.

Lu Yuan repeated the divination over and over.

Each attempt ended in failure.

After countless divinations, an answer finally emerged quietly in Lu Yuan’s mind.

Upon seeing the answer, Lu Yuan’s expression froze for a moment.

He fell into silence, furrowing his brows, seemingly pondering the feasibility of this method.

As the battle continued and Lu Yuan was deep in thought…

Suddenly, Lu Yuan’s expression shifted as he looked forward into the distance.

On the far horizon, two figures appeared, rapidly flying toward the battle group.

Lu Yuan rose, squinting to see the figures.

Recognizing their appearances, he paused in surprise, then frowned and quickly moved to intercept them.

The two figures were also heading straight for Lu Yuan.

One on the left, one on the right, both with black hair and black eyes.

The one on the left held a gun and had a stern demeanor that Lu Yuan found extremely familiar.

It was none other than Chen Wu Hao, the strongest fighter in the Xia State besides him and Yuwen Tong, and another eighth-stage supernova.

“How did you two find this place? Has the exit opened?”

As he was about to approach and inquire, an inexplicable feeling of unease surged within him.

He stopped abruptly.

Looking again at Chen Wu Hao and his companion, he saw that neither seemed surprised by the colossal Mechs battling nearby. Instead, they charged directly at him, their speed increasing.

“Something’s not right!”

Lu Yuan’s face changed drastically, and a dark gleam flashed in his eyes.

“Fakes!”

With a fierce flash in his eyes, he clasped his hands, and a fierce surge of Platinum Fire burst from within him, transforming in an instant into the form of a Dharma Body resembling a four-headed, eight-armed elephant deity – the Eight-Armed Asura.

The eight arms of the Asura trembled, conjuring eight platinum great suns that roared and whistled as they pressed toward the two “Chen Wu Hao” figures.

Instead of dodging, the false figures opened their arms and sped toward him with eerie smiles.

The platinum great suns struck the two figures without any resistance, and with a “boom,” their bodies exploded into a viscous, eerie black liquid, surging toward Lu Yuan like a massive black wave.

“What is this?!”

Lu Yuan was startled, quickly realizing that the viscous black liquid the fake “Chen Wu Hao” figures had transformed into could penetrate his Dharma Body.

The intense fire sizzled against the black liquid, which let out a sharp wail but still managed to seep through the body, quickly closing in on him from the inside.

In the void, the majestic four-headed, eight-armed platinum body was suddenly engulfed by the clinging black liquid.

The Eight-Armed Asura struggled fiercely to tear away the sticky, rubber-like black liquid clinging to its exterior, but it was impossible to remove.

“Boom!”

The platinum Dharma Body exploded open, and the mass of black liquid went utterly berserk as if it had scented blood, fervently wrapping inward.

Before long, Lu Yuan was completely enveloped by the heavy black liquid.

The viscous black substance formed a massive, irregular sphere, its surface constantly bulging as though something inside was desperately struggling.

During the battle, the Spirit Sovereign Mech glimpsed this scene, causing a slight shudder in the hand that controlled the Moon Wheel.

In the next second, the Spirit Sovereign suddenly leaped into the air, the swirling, flying Moon Wheel suspended above her head, instantly bursting forth with dazzling, brilliant moon-white light.

Threads of energy that could sever and slice through anything surged chaotically.

Yet the silver vine Mech, locked firmly in place by this move, seemed completely unconcerned.

It squinted, glancing at the writhing black sphere not far away, then looked up at the Moon Wheel above, which was continuously amassing strength and emitting an indescribably terrifying aura…

A smile appeared on its face as it murmured softly, “Don’t rush…your turn is coming soon.”

With that, the silver vine Mech lifted its head, taking a deep intake of breath.

In an instant, its whole face began to melt.

Eerie blackness appeared on its smooth silver-white cheeks, forming a vortex shape.

This black vortex expanded rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, it completely encompassed the entire space where the Spirit Sovereign stood…