Chapter 380. The Mount Hua Sect's Mechanism (1)

Since Zhou Xuchuan appeared in the

gangho

, it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to return to the Mount Hua Sect. Thus, he thought he ought to prepare for a possible attack on the off chance that he had to leave.

And he came up with a mechanism...

"Mount Hua definitely has a mechanism..."

The Dark Heavens Strategist wouldn't miss that.

Zhuge Shengji's name was also on the top of the Dark Heavens Association's Slaughter List. Since the boy was close to Zhou Xuchuan, Blessed Existence had warned the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance that the Mount Hua Sect definitely had a mechanism at their disposal.

"

Hmph!

"

The One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths snorted and strode up the hill. The disciples of the Mount Song Sect followed him.

"No matter how much recognition he got, in the end, this is just a trick that only works for a rabble!" The One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths had great pride in his sect. "This won't work against the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance, renowned for being the elite of the

murim

!"

He had betrayed the Righteous Faction Murim due to the treatment that was ill-suited to his pride. He was extremely dissatisfied with the

murim

.

"I will show you that the Shaolin Temple and the Mount Hua Sect are both inferior to the Mount Song Sect."

The Mount Song Sect's dissatisfaction wasn't limited to the Mount Hua Sect. Although it wasn't a sword sect, there was also resentment for the Shaolin Temple, which was a leader in the neighboring region.

This was one of the reasons he pathologically hated not just the Mount Hua Sect but the Nine Sects and One Gang as well.

The Mount Song Sect, which was in the lead, ignored the tremors running across the mountain and ascended to the peak.

Clunk.

"...!" A disciple of Mount Song Sect standing at the helm stopped in surprise.

The moment his foot stepped forward and touched the ground, he heard something mechanical interlocking beneath him. The sensation coming from his soles was ominous.

Clank, clank, clank!

The ominousness proved to be reality. A sword shot up from under his feet, threatening him.

"How audacious!"

The One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths noticed it and stretched out his sword like a ghost.

Shing!

The body of the sword reflected the sunlight. The sword drew a straight line, leaving behind a streak of light.

Clang!

Just as the sword was about to pierce the leg of the Mount Song Sect disciple at the front, the One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths unleashed the One Branch Sword.

The sword that shot up from under the disciple's feet fell to the ground. It was split into two before even reaching its target.

"The One Branch Sword!"

"As expected of the Sect Master!"

"How dazzlingly fast!"

The Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance wasn't an empty name. Putting his personality aside, the One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths was outstandingly skillful.

Admiration rushed toward him from all over the place. The One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths snorted at the praise from those around him and turned his head back as if to say that it was nothing.

"

Hmph,

what did I tell you? It's just a trick—"

Clank!

And as if to mock those words, another sword rose in front of the Sect Master of the Mount Song Sect. But it wasn't just one this time. It was a mountain beyond a mountain—no, a sword beyond a sword.

Clank, clank, clank, clank!

Hundreds of swords rose from the ground. They pushed away the trees and the grass, taking their place.

"

Argh!

"

"

Urgh!

"

It was the beginning of hell as chaos unfolded on Mount Hua. A miserable scream burst from the mouths of the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance.

The average cultivation bases of those from the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance were high. However, there were just too many swords for them to dodge.

If they were to dodge backwards, they would be pierced by the swords behind them. Most of the vanguard of the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance was caught off guard by the mountain of swords.

Their flesh was pierced, and a blood mist scattered into the air.

Terrible screams echoed nonstop; they were the cries of those who couldn't die.

"

Urgh...

"

"Heavens!!"

A tired voice flowed from the center and the rearguard.

"Zhuge Shengji!"

A hateful name echoed from the mouth of the Sect Master of the Mount Song Sect. The One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths was furious amidst the pain of losing his disciples.

The price he had to pay for his pride was terrifying.

While the masters somehow survived, those with mediocre skills were killed.

All of the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance suffered, but the Mount Song Sect, where most of the members were in the vanguard, suffered particularly worse damage than the others.

"Mount Hua Sect, you cowardly bastards! Aren't you ashamed?!" shouted the One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths.

"Instead of fighting fair and square, you're hiding behind your traps!" shouted one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven and a Harmony Realm Master. His voice was so loud that it echoed throughout Mount Hua.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"The Sect Master of Mount Song is right!"

The Mount Tai Sect's Sword also stepped forward as if in agreement. He, too, shouted skyward with a distorted face. "Are you scared?! Mount Hua Sect!"

Just now, over two hundred people lost their lives or suffered serious injuries that made it impossible for them to keep fighting on the Sword Mountain.

The Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance's anger pervaded the mountain, but there was no answer. It was silent except for the occasional groans.

"Did you see that?!"

Crack!

Chaoyi Shitai gnashed her teeth and spread her hands.

"This is the Mount Hua Sect!"

It was the perfect opportunity to disparage the Mount Hua Sect.

"That

great

sword of Mount Hua is afraid of getting crushed by the Three Mountain Sword Sects, so they hide within a mere mechanism and cower! They have long since abandoned their righteousness!"

The attention of the audience focused on Chaoyi Shitai.

"To trust and follow these people as the leaders of the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance is truly shameful! This fight is a reform and a revolution to rectify their wrongs!"

Waaaah!

***

Mount Hua, mid-mountain.

"Those bastards..." muttered a young man with a frown. He was a disciple of the famous Mount Hua Sect, but he didn't have a sword strapped to his waist. "I'm going to go down right this moment and—"

"Fang Zhesan. Bear with it," said Zhang Xuen with a sigh, attempting to calm Fang Zhesan down. Zhang Xuen was a Plum Blossom Swordsman.

"You want me to bear with such nonsense?" Fang Zhesan asked in a dissatisfied voice.

"Zhesan is right," Zhang Hong remarked. He was a Plum Blossom Swordsman as well, and he was pouting in dissatisfaction. Naturally, he wasn't happy with what was going on.

"Keep your voice down, or we'll get caught."

The Fourteenth Sword Hero, Qiu Feng, sighed and warned the three.

For the sake of reconnaissance, he brought disciples of the Fourth Generation, who were as skilled as Third Generation Disciples, but he made a mistake with his members. While their cultivations were impressive, they were quite hot-headed.

Although he thought about bringing someone else, the enemy, the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance, wasn't just an ordinary enemy. If they were exposed, they would definitely get caught.

Thus, in order to increase their likelihood of escape even just a bit, he brought disciples with solid skills, even though he knew they were hot-tempered.

"But..." Fang Zhesan tried to protest in dissatisfaction.

"Surely you're not trying to ignore the warnings of the Sect Master or Xuchuan?"

"

Ugh...

"

Zhang Hong and Fang Zhesan shut their mouths.

Fang Zhesan's reaction was especially worth seeing, as his face actually turned pale.

"I-I'll be quiet."

Fang Zhesan had a bad yet not bad relationship with Zhou Xuchuan.

It was during the Lotus Sword Gathering about eight years ago. At that time, like the other male disciples, he had feelings for Luo Xiaoyue, and he was jealous of Zhou Xuchuan, who was the only person close to Luo Xiaoyue. Above all, he was secretly annoyed by the brat because he stood out.

He got the opportunity to fight Zhou Xuchuan during the Lotus Sword Gathering, and he thought it was fate and went a bit—no, quite rough. However, the result was obviously his defeat. Moreover, he was defeated in a single blow.

In disbelief, Fang Zhesan devoted himself to cultivation, and his arrogant personality was corrected over time. It'd be a lie if he said he hadn't dreamed of revenge, but Zhou Xuchuan was so strong that he gave up on it a long time ago.

Since then, he had been living in fear, wondering if Zhou Xuchuan would remember what happened eight years ago and say something about it.

Now, whenever anyone mentioned Zhou Xuchuan's title or name, he would shrink his head down and act humble.

"Now then, I should prepare for what's going to happen next," Qiu Feng muttered as he looked down the mountain.

***

The Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance took a massive hit from the Mechanism Dragon's mechanism, the Sword Mountain, becoming cautious and wary of everything as a result. They dared not show any bravado.

The three Sect Masters each selected a few elites and sent them forward first. They were sent to handle the dismantling of the mechanisms that were probably installed up ahead.

They also kept their distance from the advance party, fearing that they would all get attacked at once like the vanguard.

"It's a mechanism!"

"I'm triggering it! Disperse!"

Although their climbing speed had slowed by more than half, the risk they had to take had decreased by at least half as well. Moreover, they learned how to keep going by going through the mechanisms on their way.

"How frustrating."

Since there were no changes on the battlefield, it was inevitable for anyone to feel bored.

They wanted to break through the mountain and destroy the main gate of the Mount Hua Sect right away, but they couldn't do that due to the threat of mechanisms.

The Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance was by no means stupid. They were burned the first time because of their pride, but they wouldn't repeat the same mistake twice.

"There isn't much left of the time you were given."

Finally, as the sun began to set, the Seven Stars Division soldiers from the Vast Gate Star appeared and relayed Blessed Existence's words.

They warned that the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance would have to climb to the top of Mount Hua and conquer the Mount Hua Sect before the troops dispatched by Zhongnan Sect could arrive.

"We know that much already. Leave," said the Mount Tai Sect's Sword. His pride seemed to have been hurt, and he drove away the Seven Stars Division soldiers.

The Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance had formed an alliance with the Dark Heavens Association out of necessity, but in fact, their relationship wasn't as smooth as that of the Association and the Sixteen Stockades of the Red Forest.

"Ha. Acting as if you're still a part of the Righteous Faction... what? You still don't like the Dark Heavens Association, who schemes behind the scenes?" She Teng sneered and scratched at their insides.

"Shut him up." Chaoyi Shitai waved her hand.

The Mount Heng Sect disciples came and covered She Teng's mouth.

"Let's rest around here..."

BOOM!

As soon as Chaoyi Shitai's words fell, a loud explosion erupted. It was like tens or hundreds of lightning bolts had descended at the same time.

"What's going on?!"

The Mount Tai Sect's Sword jumped up in surprise.

"Is there something going on up ahead?!" One Hundred and Eighty Nine Paths shouted at the vanguard.

"N-no! It's from behind us!"

Something unexpected had happened.

"There's no way..."

Chaoyi Shitai's face turned dark, but her worries were true.

Crack!

Something happened in the rear of the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance. A plum tree that was rooted deep to prevent it from rolling down the hillside was the reason behind the incident.

A hole had suddenly opened in the trunk of the tree that hadn't moved for at least a hundred years.

"Duck!" Chaoyi Shitai let out a shrill shout.

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

A storm of swords blew across them. It seemed as if the Tang Family's most legendary skill, the Torrential Flower Rain, was being unleashed.

From the plum tree, many different types of hidden weapons pervaded the sky, or rather, the mountain. The trees were densely packed, so there weren't just three or four of them. There were truly an endless number of them.

If they were just descending from above, one would be able to hide under the tree branches. However, they were coming from the tree trunks, so they had no idea what to do against the oncoming hidden weapons.

To make things even more terrifying, the attacks were flying in from all directions.

We've been had!

Chaoyi Shitai bit her lips and swung her sword. The flash reflecting the sunset was like blood.

Clang, clang, clang!

She slashed the swords that were flying toward them. She could block them somehow, but the problem was her disciples. They didn't have enough qi to keep defending themselves.

"

Ah!

"

"

Aaaah!

"

"

Urgh!!

"

The gates of hell were open.

I thought we had dismantled all of the mechanisms...!

Thanks to the Sword Mountain, they were too focused on the ground, neglecting their surroundings. Moreover, they hadn't cared about the places they had already passed by or were currently in, thinking that they were safe.

Their decision to do that was the problem.

In the first place, only a few people in the

murim

had deep knowledge of such things. Even in the Zhuge Family, which specialized in mechanisms within the Righteous Faction, only Zhuge Shengji was an expert in the art, so there was no need to talk about anyone else.

They could have received help from the Dark Heavens Association Blessed Existence, but the Three Mountain Sword Sects Alliance had refused to do so due to their pride. The mistakes had piled up, leading to this result.

"MECHAAANIIISM DRAGOOON!!"

The art that they had ignored, saying that it was stupid.

That study... completely overwhelmed those who overlooked it.

***

"Young Master, is something wrong?"

"Well, my ears are feeling ticklish for some reason. It seems like someone is talking behind my back," Zhuge Shengji muttered, tilting his head.