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Chapter 372: Chapter 369: Loss
"We won! We won!"
"Incredible, it’s truly incredible!"
Lu Zhanxian, Leng Ningshuang, Monarch You Quan, and others listened to the information transmitted by Zhou Yi and Zhang Lihuo through the communication technology on the fighting machines, and they couldn’t help but be filled with emotion.
"This scene, it reminds me of the battle outside Dragon Roar City between Master Gu and Dragon Sparrow Manor. The situation back then was also extremely perilous, but as soon as Master Gu made a move, he reversed the heavens and earth, annihilating the high ranks of Dragon Sparrow Manor with a single strike. Just like now, obliterating three Demon Demon Emperors and more than a dozen Demon Demon Kings with one blow..."
Lu Zhanxian said, "Hadn’t the Palace Master previously devised a tactic to force the three great Demon Demon Emperors to reveal themselves... It seems he had long intended to use this method to capture all three Demon Demon Emperors in one swoop, but I didn’t expect that the Demon Demon Emperors would be so cooperative. The two sides barely made contact before skipping the probing phase and entering the final battle."
The other Monarchs nodded in agreement.
"The Palace Master seemed to have been injured before, I wonder..."
Red Leaf, a Deva, wore a look of concern on his face.
"There shouldn’t be a problem... Master Gu didn’t have the Cheng Ying Mecha, a divine artifact like this, during the battle at Dragon Sparrow Manor and he still emerged unscathed after releasing a strike comparable to a Peak Heavenly Being’s Divine Power..."
As Lu Zhanxian spoke, he added, "Lord Zhou and Heavenly Lord Zhang hurriedly piloted the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine into the fray, not only to confirm the retreat of the demons but probably also to search for and rendezvous with the Palace Master, to be completely safe."
Everyone nodded.
Gu Jinlai had risen in this time, proving his strength to the world with battle after battle.
As a result, everyone had a kind of blind trust in him.
"Speaking of the battle at Dragon Sparrow Manor... was the attack released by Master Gu just now very similar to what we saw then? Only the power levels were different?"
Monarch You Quan pondered.
Lu Zhanxian, Leng Ningshuang, and the others had also noticed this.
"That trump card from Aries Star Palace? Could it be that the trump card is something akin to a Dao Artifact, where the higher the cultivator’s cultivation, the stronger the power of the trump card?"
Leng Ningshuang suggested.
"What kind of Dao Artifact could possess such power? That was a terrifying energy akin to a strike from an Earthly True Immortal."
Lu Zhanxian shook his head.
Monarch You Quan, Leng Ningshuang, and the others also had no answers.
For a moment, they were all somewhat confused about whether what Gu Jinlai used in the battle at Dragon Roar City was truly a trump card from Aries Star Palace or his own power.
...
The humans, upon confirming that the Demon Demon Kings were gradually retreating into the distance, let out a long sigh of relief.
Not far from the nuclear explosion’s center.
Gu Jinlai’s figure slowly changed from an energy form back to flesh and blood.
Instantly, he felt intense heat assail him.
If it weren’t for his exceptionally strong physique, an ordinary person would surely have been melted alive by the horrifying heat here.
At this time, he had already stored the Cheng Ying Mecha in the Qiankun Ring, switching off his Great Sun True Demon Body, and was cautiously surveying his surroundings.
The Cheng Ying Mecha was severely damaged.
The Eternal Furnace had just been triggered, using the "Eternal Immortal" trait, entering an unstable state, making this his weakest moment.
Fortunately, the demons had been frightened by his earlier strike and hadn’t charged towards this area again.
He glanced around and noticed some spiritual fluctuations above him.
"Palace Master?"
The spiritual transmission was full of emotions like excitement, surprise, and admiration.
"Palace Master, are you alright?"
It was Zhang Lihuo piloting the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine that had arrived.
"I’m fine."
Gu Jinlai responded to the spiritual fluctuations and, using them as a bridge, sent out part of his True Spirit, quickly projecting it onto the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine that he was piloting.
Feeling Gu Jinlai’s True Spirit, Zhang Lihuo thought of something, withdrew his spirit, and released control of the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine.
The machine paused for a moment before starting up again.
Fortunately, the Demon Birds that had been entangled with the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine had long been alarmed by the intense and dazzling nuclear blast, fleeing early towards the Three Thousand Marshes, sparing the momentarily uncontrolled Mystic Bird Fighting Machine from being destroyed.
As Gu Jinlai took control of the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine, it turned and plunged into the blazing sea of fire spread by the nuclear explosion.
As the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine dove down, Gu Jinlai leaped onto the machine, capable of carrying a person, and took his seat at the controls.
After boarding, Gu Jinlai let out a slight sigh of relief.
With the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine, even if there were a second Demon Demon Emperor hidden among the demons, he could retreat with ease.
"Palace Master, the demons have retreated. We’ve won."
Zhou Yi piloted the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine and soon arrived beside Gu Jinlai.
"Hmm."
Gu Jinlai responded.
He looked into the distance.
Even though the Cheng Ying Mecha was severely damaged and powerless, the demons didn’t know it.
And...
they must not find out.
Otherwise, if the remaining Demon Demon Kings led millions of demons to turn back and counterattack, and he, without the Cheng Ying Mecha and only relying on the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine, could only restrain a few Demon Demon Kings, then...
"Pursue them!"
Gu Jinlai commanded sternly, "Pass along the order. All the Primordial Spirit True Monarchs and the Demon God Guards to pursue with full force, trying to capture as many demons as possible."
Since the communication system of the Cheng Ying Mecha had been damaged, he naturally had to rely on word of mouth to issue orders.
"Okay."
Zhou Yi responded and quickly went to do as instructed.
Meanwhile, Gu Jinlai piloted the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine and swiftly returned to the command center located behind Dragon Fall Ridge.
At this moment, because the orders had already been transmitted, a large number of Demon God Guards and the artillery units equipped with Heavenly Masters deployed, charging down Dragon Fall Ridge to join in the pursuit.
Despite the fact that the distance meant they would probably arrive too late to make a difference, they could still collect some of the Devil’s corpses and take advantage of the momentum to completely reclaim Southern Mu State.
...
"Buzz, buzz!"
Amidst a roaring sound, the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine landed on its designated landing pad.
As Gu Jinlai leaped down from the fighting machine, Zhang Lihuo, Zhang Yukan, Si Tianyan, and others who had been waiting there approached him immediately.
"Palace Master, you..."
Zhang Lihuo glanced over Gu Jinlai’s body, and when he saw that aside from some fluctuating energy, there were no injuries, he let out a sigh of relief, "It’s good to see you’re okay."
"I’m fine."
Gu Jinlai said, looking at those gathered around him: "It looks like you’ve guessed correctly."
"We also joined the forging process for the Cheng Ying Mecha. That terrifying surge of energy is not something the Cheng Ying Mecha can withstand," Zhang Lihuo said.
He then gave Gu Jinlai a look of some amazement, "It seems that Venerable Daoist, you have grown so rapidly that even the development of the Cheng Ying Mecha can’t keep up with you."
Gu Jinlai did not deny this.
When he had forged the Cheng Ying Mecha, his Eternal Furnace had not yet reached Perfection.
Back then, he had channeled the energy from the Eternal Furnace into his Spirit Sword using the transmission characteristic to deliver a powerful strike that, while able to break through a Saint Body, was miles away from annihilating three Demon Demon Emperors effortlessly as he had done recently...
...including one whose defensive power was even stronger than that of an Immortal Golden Body.
That would have been impossible.
If the opponent had been slightly more alert and avoided the most annihilating area due to the size of the charge, with a critical lethality range of about one hundred meters, they could have withstood the subsequent fiery and high-temperature impacts.
Of course, in the end, it was still a matter of control.
His control over the power of the Eternal Furnace was too weak.
If he could precisely control the release of energy in the Eternal Furnace, he wouldn’t be the slightest bit fearful of not just three Demon Demon Emperors, but even of three Demon Kings.
However, achieving this level of control was very difficult.
It’s like the difference between nuclear fusion and controlled nuclear fusion.
The former had been developed in the 1960s of the last century.
As for the latter, it wasn’t announced to be mastered by the Star Shining Federation until two years before Gu Jinlai’s crossing, that is, in 2026.
As for the Central Earth Kingdom...
They should have mastered it too.
Perhaps even earlier.
But influenced by their shared cultural heritage, countries like the Central Earth Kingdom and the Yellow Dragon Republic, who claim to be the descendants of the dragon, preferred to keep things close to their chest and did not announce their great achievement to the world.
The technological content of the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine, Cheng Ying Mecha, and Qingluan Mother Ship was evident of their capabilities.
It’s just unclear whether they had conducted in-depth research on the precise control aspect of the controlled nuclear fusion technology.
If he could use their research data as a reference, it would undoubtedly be a solid step towards achieving precise control over the Eternal Furnace.
"I had asked for the laser cannon technology and the repulsion shield technology from Blue Star on my way here... I wonder how prepared they are... After the battle of Mu State is over, I need to have a serious talk with them to understand just how much laboratory technology they’re still hiding..."
Gu Jinlai contemplated for a moment: "Perhaps I can use the ’Void Projection Technique’ to go and take a look myself."
Although he needed Qingguang’s assistance, after the first projection to "Xie Yusheng," the "connection" between them became closer, which meant the consumption for the next projection would be significantly reduced.
At least not as much as the first time, when the mere projection consumed ten strands of Qingguang.
Gu Jinlai and Zhang Lihuo, among others, soon arrived at the command room, a workshop originally used for the modification and repair of the Mystic Bird Fighting Machines.
After Gu Qingmei was instructed to guard the door, he quickly took out the Cheng Ying Mecha.
"This..."
Upon seeing the Cheng Ying Mecha that was almost completely melted at the front, even though Zhang Lihuo, Zhang Yukan, Si Tianyan, and the others were prepared, they still couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
"The Cheng Ying Mecha, forged from Immortal Essence Gold, has been destroyed to such an extent, it is really..."
Their eyes were filled with uncontrollable shock.
But after the shock, they quickly realized the severity of the problem.
"With damage to this degree, to repair it... we’ll probably need a lot of Immortal Essence Gold!"
Si Tianyan quickly furrowed his brow.
And Zhang Yukan, after analyzing the Cheng Ying Mecha for a moment, soon came up with an exact figure: "Nearly one-third of the front melted away, plus other areas of wear and tear, we’ll need between two hundred to two hundred and ten strands of Immortal Essence Gold."
"Two hundred to two hundred and one..."
Zhang Lihuo felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
That number, even if they turned over the entire land of Tiannan, it’s doubtful they could collect enough.
"Although the gold mines in Mu State are highly productive, the various equipments are newly installed. To accumulate two hundred strands of Immortal Essence Gold would take at least a year," said Si Tianyan.
A year!
In other words...
For the next year, Lingxiao Palace would be in a period without the combat power of a Saint!
