You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

Outside the warehouse, Ding Yan sat in a chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest, humming a Jiangnan folk tune.

He looked up at the sky; half an hour had passed.

Ding Yan smiled, turned his head slightly to look at the young man beside him, and spoke in a gentle tone:

"Old Wei has held on for so long, he's probably nearing his limit. What about you? After watching for so long, have you figured out anything?"

Standing beside Ding Yan was a young man whose demeanor seemed completely out of place in the dock filled with the smells of fish and engine oil.

He was around twenty years old, dressed in a blue and white Taoist robe, clean and tidy from head to toe, without any signs of modification, with a long sword engraved with talismans and equipped with a miniature exhaust valve on his back.

At this moment, the young man was holding a bronze mirror the size of a palm.

This bronze mirror is the magic weapon that Master Yang used yesterday to spy on the prison.

At this moment, the smooth surface of the bronze mirror reflects the real-time scene deep inside the warehouse.

In the scene, Baili Jing constantly changes positions in the cargo maze, dodging Wei Zhaowu's bombardment. Whenever he is exhausted, he seizes the opportunity to elbow the wall, using the recoil to shake the monster meat off his head, and then stuffs it into his mouth and chews it up.

The young man shook his head, somewhat bored.

"Uncle, why are you being so cautious?"

He smiled and said:

"In my opinion, although this person's physique is strange, it is completely unpredictable. My nephew can break his limbs in three to seven moves and then hand him over to my cousin."

"Hehe, Xunwei, your uncle naturally knows how capable you are."

Ding Yan chuckled and reassured her:

"But this person is somewhat strange after all, possessing a completely new blood and qi constitution, so it's always better to be cautious."

The young man named Xunwei lowered his eyelids:

"Uncle, a brand new blood and qi constitution is nothing special. My senior brother, for example, was able to defeat a second-level Qi Heart Realm expert before he even entered the realm. That's what you call a true genius."

Ding Yan smiled, offering no rebuttal, but simply said with a faint smile:

"Now that you've seen through his abilities, find an opportunity to make your move yourself."

Xun Wei bowed slightly and said, "Uncle, don't worry, nothing will go wrong."

……

At this moment, deep inside the warehouse.

"Smack, smack..."

While chewing on the monster meat, Baili Jing listened vigilantly to the sounds around him, never daring to stop moving for a moment.

Step, step.

A series of light footsteps sounded from directly ahead.

Baili Jing stopped in his tracks.

At the corner of the shelf ahead, Wei Zhaowu walked out slowly with a blank expression, blocking his way.

Baili Jing swallowed the last bite of meat, groaning in agony:

"Sir, are you really a ghost? Don't appear and disappear like that, okay? It's scary, you know?!"

Wei Zhaowu revealed a faint smile, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Run... young man, keep running, this old man... can still move."

Baili Jing was too lazy to waste any more words with him, and turned and ran away again.

But just as he turned around, Wei Zhaowu moved and attacked with a roar, stomping down and bringing with him a violent gust of wind!

There's no way to avoid it!

Baili Jing was startled. In this critical moment, he could only grit his teeth, cross his arms into a cross shape, and forcefully hold them in front of him to withstand the kick.

boom! !

He was kicked so hard that he flew two or three meters away from the ground, crashing into a cabinet before coming to a stop.

however……

"what?"

Bai Lijing raised his hands with some doubt and looked at them carefully.

It doesn't seem to hurt that much?

The old man punched me before, and my arm was swollen and I felt like my bones were going to crack. This time, however, I didn't feel much, just a slight numbness.

Was it the pieces of monster meat I just ate that greatly increased my strength?

No...that's not right!

Baili Jing looked at Wei Zhaowu, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. It wasn't that he had become stronger, but rather that the old man in front of him... had become weaker!

"Cough...cough cough..."

Wei Zhaowu, holding onto the shelf beside him, began to cough violently, unable to stop himself from doing so.

After coughing, he slowly raised his old face and said hoarsely, "Why... aren't you running anymore?"

Baili Jing squinted and carefully examined the old man.

The blood-red runes on Wei Zhaowu's neck, arms, and even face were much, much thinner than when they first started fighting!

Many talismanic characters are slowly turning into black smoke and dissipating, revealing the withered, yellowed, and aged skin inside.

Baili Jing's heart lit up; the opponent's invincible cheat was finally about to run out! He was on the verge of exhaustion!

"Should we fight this old man head-on?"

The thought flashed through Baili Jing's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

Since the other party's invincible experience card has a time limit, why should I keep fighting it?

"Hey, sir, you can rest now, I'm off!"

Baili Jing grinned slyly, turned his backside, and ran away again in a flash.

Wei Zhaowu sighed, but continued to follow closely behind at a leisurely pace.

However, after running several hundred more steps, Baili Jing suddenly felt a deep sense of unease.

"Something's not right... The hunting time limit is one hour, but half an hour has passed already? Most of the time has been wasted on this old guy."

"The most crucial thing is that Ding Na, the third expert at the fifth level of the Forging Realm, hasn't shown up yet! If this continues, what if I still can't get out when the time is up? Is that feasible?"

While pondering, Baili Jing stopped and turned to look at the high platform in the distance.

According to the rules, Hua Xiangrong and Baili Jie were absolutely not allowed to interfere or shout out help before the hunt ended.

But after noticing the gaze his older brother was casting, Baili Jie still shook his head slightly without making a sound.

This little commotion wouldn't be considered cheating.

Thanks to the brothers' tacit understanding, Baili Jing also understood his younger brother's meaning.

Don't fight! Keep running! There's still time!

"Alright, I'll listen to my brother!"

Baili Jing felt much more at ease, chuckled, quickened his pace, and continued playing hide-and-seek.

But this old man was extremely familiar with the terrain.

Wei Zhaowu was like a tireless zombie, occasionally leaping down from the top of a dark shelf, unleashing a barrage of deadly attacks on Baili Jing. No matter how Baili Jing ran, Wei Zhaowu could always find him with pinpoint accuracy.

In order to break free from the entanglement, Baili Jing had no choice but to grit his teeth and exchange a few blows with the old man.

As he had observed before, the old man's condition was deteriorating, his blood-red talismans were dwindling, and his despair-inducing power and defense were beginning to plummet.

In their most recent encounter, Baili Jing delivered a side kick that sent Wei Zhaowu flying two or three steps!

If we just stall for a little longer, the old man will be completely drained to death by the talisman without the old man even having to lift a finger!

Of course, all of this comes at a price.

The most important thing is time. After all this trouble, another quarter of an hour or two has passed, and there is not much time left.

Next comes consumption.

In order to get rid of Wei Zhaowu, Baili Jing still had several exchanges with him. Although each exchange was very short, the physical exertion was equally terrifying, so he had to keep eating meat.

This leads to the third problem... the oily monster meat hanging on the ceiling is gone!

"Damn it, you fatso... what happened to unlimited supply? There's no meat left here! Or is there more elsewhere, and I just can't find it?!"

"Could it be hidden inside a cargo container? Damn it, there are hundreds, even thousands of containers here, how are we supposed to find it?!"

As Baili Jing ran, he cursed under his breath.

call! !

A sharp, tearing sound suddenly came from overhead.

Suddenly, Wei Zhaowu descended from the sky, a knife appearing in his hand at some unknown time, and slashed down at the ground!

Baili Jing had been chased for most of the day and was well prepared. He dodged and the blade grazed his nose, narrowly escaping him.

"Again?!"

He lifted his foot and stomped heavily on the blade.

With this stomp, Wei Zhaowu was unable to lift his sword.

Waste gas spewed from the old man's mechanical arm, and talismans flickered on his skin, but he could no longer lift the knife even an inch!

Bai Lijing's lips finally slowly parted into a sinister grin:

"Old man...you're out of strength, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhaowu stopped drawing his sword.

He released his grip and stood up shakily.

At this moment, almost all the blood-red talismans on his body, including his face, were gone. The few remaining ones had turned into black ash, which fell off with a rustling sound when the wind blew.

On his face, only a bitter smile of relief remained.

"That's about it...hehe...almost there..."

Wei Zhaowu looked at Baili Jing and said in a hoarse voice, "This old man has done all he could... Young man... Now... it's up to your own fate..."

Before he could finish speaking, his legs buckled and he fell straight backward.

As he fell to the ground, his flesh withered and shriveled at an extremely rapid pace, until he was reduced to a skin and bones and turned into a dried-up corpse.

Large plumes of scarlet blood mist continuously gushed out from the steam-powered machinery on his body, dissipating into the air.

Baili Jing withdrew his foot, his brows furrowing.

Although he is a rough man, he is definitely not stupid.

Seeing the old man's horribly drained state, his worst fears were finally confirmed.

This old Wei wasn't here to kill me at all. He was sent by Ding Yan to deplete my resources, force me to use all my methods and exhaust my strength, and also force me to eat all the monster meat!

All of this was in preparation for the third expert!

So... where exactly is that third guy hiding...?

As he was still pondering, he suddenly heard a whooshing sound!

Chi!

That sound was too fast!

"They're here?!"

Baili Jing's pupils shrank drastically. He couldn't see what was coming at all, so he could only rely on his instincts to grab the steel knife on the ground and block it fiercely to his side!

clang!!

With a crisp sound, Baili Jing felt his hands tremble, and the knife instantly shattered into countless tiny iron filings!

Not only that!

After shattering the steel blade, the object continued its momentum, slicing across Baili Jing's left shoulder!

Wow!

Baili Jing screamed and turned his head to look.

He saw that a large chunk of flesh had been gouged out of his left shoulder, revealing his white scapula!

Blood gushed out like a fountain, instantly staining his entire left arm a glaring scarlet.

Even someone as strong as Baili Jing was in so much pain that he felt dizzy. He clutched his bleeding shoulder, turned his head, and looked behind him.

Then, he froze.

It was a sword, a sword that floated in the air.

It was about three feet long, and the blade was covered with light blue talismans. There were also many tiny exhaust valves on the blade that were regularly emitting white steam.

Flying sword!

This is... the legendary sword-controlling technique of an immortal sect?!

"Bai Lijing!! Run!!"

Just as he was bewildered, Hua Xiangrong suddenly shouted from the high platform in the distance!

"Run!! Run!! You're no match for him!! Run!!"