Chapter 24: The mechanism is too strong

The Cyclops’s magnetic, mechanical voice echoed through the empty depths of the Heavenly Pit.

The echoes faded.

A deathly silence descended upon the pit.

Luo Qingchen gripped the Five Elements Blade, her body hunched low, ready to bolt at any moment.

Ling Xiyue held the Green Scale Sword, forcing herself to stand straight as she pointed the tip of her blade forward.

The two of them stood on high alert.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

The 3-zhang-tall Spirit Sand Crystal Giant remained completely motionless, aside from the red light flickering within its single eye.

It stood there, upright and still.

Luo Qingchen blinked and slowly straightened her back.

She tentatively took half a step forward.

The giant did not react.

She stepped back again.

“Do you think this thing is glitched? Maybe it hasn’t been used in so long that it’s stuck?” Luo Qingchen asked, turning to look at Ling Xiyue.

Ling Xiyue’s brow furrowed, and she shook her head.

“Don’t be careless. The items left behind by the masters who created these Secret Realms are never to be trifled with.”

Luo Qingchen had an epiphany and slapped her thigh.

“I get it! Since this is an examination, it must be giving us time to recover. As long as we don’t step into its alert range, it won’t attack.”

She pointed toward the top of the Heavenly Pit and began to curse.

“Is the owner of this Secret Realm mentally ill?! Trapping people at the bottom of a pit, locking down the space — what’s the point of a forced examination? They didn’t even give an option to forfeit. Honestly, is she some kind of sadist? Or maybe just a brainless pervert!”

After shouting for a bit, Luo Qingchen still felt unsatisfied.

She craned her neck and yelled toward the top of the pit.

“Xiao Bai! You dead dog! What’s the situation up there?!”

Her voice echoed a few times before slowly dissipating.

The top of the pit was silent.

Even the usual annoying barking was gone.

Luo Qingchen’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘That dead dog might be a coward, but he wouldn’t stay silent for no reason. Something must have happened up there too.’

Before she could think further, a muffled cough sounded beside her.

Ling Xiyue’s face turned deathly pale.

Her body went limp, and she dropped to one knee.

With a sharp gasp, she spat out a large mouthful of black blood that splattered across the withered leaves.

The injuries she had sustained from forcibly enduring three bolts of blood-red lightning could no longer be suppressed.

“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t scare me! What am I supposed to do if you collapse?!”

Luo Qingchen rushed over and supported her shoulders.

Ling Xiyue was ice-cold, and her aura was so weak it was almost undetectable.

Luo Qingchen didn’t dare delay.

She pulled out the discarded Array Flags she had dismantled in the Canyon from her storage bag.

Using her spirit power, she drove them into the surrounding corners, setting up a simple Concealment Array.

Though it might not work against that massive golem, it provided some cover and a bit of psychological comfort.

Next, she pulled out a porcelain bottle filled with expired pills.

She poured out two Blood-Replenishing Pills and stuffed them directly into Ling Xiyue’s mouth.

“Swallow.”

Ling Xiyue didn’t even have the strength to swallow anymore.

Luo Qingchen grew anxious and slapped her on the back, using spirit power to guide the pills down her throat.

Luo Qingchen sat cross-legged behind her, pressing both palms against Ling Xiyue’s back.

She channeled a steady stream of her early-stage Foundation Establishment spirit power to help her refine the medicinal effects.

Time passed slowly.

The pallor on Ling Xiyue’s face gradually faded, replaced by a hint of color.

She opened her eyes, feeling the spirit power flowing through her body.

She turned her head to look at the sweat-drenched Luo Qingchen.

“Thank you… but was there a gentler way? I almost choked to death,” she said, her voice faint.

Luo Qingchen retracted her hands and plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

“Don’t give me that. Look at the situation we’re in! Do you really have the leisure to discuss optimizing the taste and texture of pills? If you kick the bucket, I’m just an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. I wouldn’t even be enough to fill that big guy’s teeth. Hurry up and recover your mana while I think of a plan.”

Ling Xiyue said nothing more.

She closed her eyes and focused on circulating her cultivation technique to heal her injuries.

Luo Qingchen stood up and walked to the edge of the Concealment Array.

Peering through the array’s shimmering curtain, she observed the Spirit Sand Crystal Giant.

‘This thing has incredibly high physical defense and infinite health regeneration. A head-on fight definitely won’t work. Any mechanic-based monster has a weakness.’

Luo Qingchen rubbed her chin, lost in thought.

‘The core of the formation is inside the giant’s body. If the core isn’t destroyed, the spatial lock on the Heavenly Pit won’t open. I have to find a way to break through its defense and get inside.’

‘But how? The Five Elements Blade couldn’t even scratch the hide of an Armored Barbarian Bull, let alone this pile of rocks.’

Luo Qingchen squatted on the ground and used a twig to draw diagrams in the dirt, analyzing the giant’s physical structure.

‘Joints. Right, the crystal connections at the joints must be the weakest. If I can cut its joints, I can cause hitstun. Then I can take the opportunity to snatch the core.’

Several hours later, Ling Xiyue opened her eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

She stood up and gripped her Green Scale Sword.

“I’ve recovered 70%. I’ll take the lead in the attack; you find an opportunity to destroy the core.”

She started to walk out.

Luo Qingchen grabbed her.

“Are you crazy? Attack with what? That thing has high physical immunity and infinite health regen. Going up there will just waste your strength, and we’ll end up in a slow suicide.”

Ling Xiyue stopped.

“Then what do you suggest?”

Luo Qingchen tapped the sketch on the ground with her toe.

“We need a tactical plan. Going in hard is a death sentence; we have to use our wits. I have good movement and speed, so I’ll draw the aggro. You’re responsible for taking out the legs.”

Ling Xiyue didn’t understand.

“Taking out the legs?”

“I mean cutting the joints!” Luo Qingchen gestured.

“The knees, ankles, and wrists. It’s huge, so its movements are bound to be sluggish. I’ll kite it, and it won’t be able to pay attention to its feet. You find the right moment to use your strongest sword strike to sever the joint connections. As long as we can stagger it, I’ll find a way to pull out the core.”

Ling Xiyue looked at Luo Qingchen. ‘

This petty thief’s tactics always seem a bit… underhanded.’

But after thinking it over, it was indeed the only viable option.

“Fine,” Ling Xiyue nodded.

Luo Qingchen rolled her wrists and gripped the Five Elements Blade with a reverse hold.

“Let’s go. Time to work.”

The two of them walked out of the Concealment Array side by side.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The moment their toes crossed an invisible line, the single eye of the Spirit Sand Crystal Giant at the center of the pit flared with a brilliant red light.

The dull, mechanical voice sounded once more.

**[The examination has officially begun.]**

*Boom!*

The giant moved.

Its massive body brought a terrifying sense of pressure as it crushed toward them.

The ground shook violently, and withered leaves flew into the air.

Luo Qingchen roared, “Scatter!”

Before the words had even finished, she transformed into a gray blur, rushing toward the giant’s left side.

Ling Xiyue pushed off the ground, her figure gracefully darting to the right as sword qi flickered from the Green Scale Sword.

The giant’s single eye swiveled, locking onto the faster Luo Qingchen.

It raised its thick right leg and stomped down hard toward her.

If that foot landed, she would be turned into a meat patty.

Luo Qingchen didn’t retreat; she pushed forward.

She pushed her *Snow-Step Movement* technique to its limit.

At the moment the giant foot was about to hit the ground, she performed a sudden power slide, slipping through the gap at the edge of the sole.

*Kaboom!*

A large crater was smashed into the ground, and rocks flew everywhere.

Using the momentum of her slide, Luo Qingchen rolled to her feet and stabbed her blade into the giant’s ankle.

*Ding!*

Sparks flew.

The impact of the Five Elements Blade sent a numbing shock through her hand, yet it didn’t even leave a white mark on the stone.

“Damn! It’s so freaking hard!” Luo Qingchen cursed.

Without lingering, she turned and ran.

The giant had missed its stomp and felt the sting of the jab.

Although it didn’t hurt, its aggression was fully focused on her.

It turned and swung a massive fist toward Luo Qingchen.

The wind from the punch whistled like a falling building.

Luo Qingchen strained every muscle to dodge to the side.

While the giant’s attention was entirely on Luo Qingchen, Ling Xiyue moved.

Her violet clothes fluttered in the wind.

In an instant, she appeared behind the giant’s right knee.

She gripped her sword with both hands.

Green Scale Technique, Third Style: Armor Breaker.

A burst of green sword light flared.

Ling Xiyue poured 70% of her spirit power into the strike without reservation.

The edge of the blade sliced precisely into the gap of the knee joint.

*Crack!*

A crisp sound echoed.

The hardened crystal connection was forcibly severed.

The giant’s massive body tilted sharply.

Its right leg lost support, and it crashed down onto one knee.

The entire Heavenly Pit shook with the impact.

“Beautiful!” Luo Qingchen shouted in joy.

The tactic was working.

But it wasn’t over.

A dull yellow light flickered at the giant’s severed knee.

The crystals began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.

In at most three breaths, it would be fully restored.

“It’s regenerating! Finish it!” Luo Qingchen yelled.

Ling Xiyue gritted her teeth and flipped her wrist, preparing to strike again.

But the giant didn’t give her the chance.

It swung its left arm in a horizontal sweep across the ground.

Ling Xiyue was forced to abandon her attack and leap back.

The giant took the opportunity to stand up.

The crack on its knee had completely vanished.

It was as good as new.

Luo Qingchen was stunned.

“This is cheating! It heals to full in three breaths? How are we supposed to fight that?!”

Ling Xiyue retreated to Luo Qingchen’s side, her face pale.

“My attacks aren’t powerful enough. I can’t completely destroy it before it recovers. We must use an overwhelming force to annihilate it before it can heal.”