A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 462 Defeat the Enemy
After a while, Master Ban and Master Xu walked in together, and Gao Jianli and the other three all stood up and bowed.

"Master Ban, Master Xu."

Master Ban and Master Xu returned the greeting. After taking their seats, Master Xu nodded to Master Ban, who immediately stood up and looked at Gao Jianli and the other three, saying, "Miss Rong is unable to attend, so let's begin. Enough of the small talk. The location of the Mechanized City may have already been discovered by Ying Zheng's men. We need to strengthen the defenses of the Mechanized City."

"Master Ban, the Mechanized City is hidden deep in the mountains and has never been discovered by outsiders for over a hundred years. Although the Qin Kingdom is quite powerful, it shouldn't be so easy to find the Mechanized City in the mountains. What exactly happened?"

After listening, Gao Jianli frowned and looked at Master Ban. The other three were also somewhat puzzled. Upon hearing this, Master Ban's face immediately showed embarrassment, and he said with shame, "It was my carelessness. Knowing that there were people from the Gongshu family there, I still used the White Tiger. I didn't expect to be used by them and use the Seven Soul Chasing Wolf, which exposed the location of the Mechanized City."

After Master Ban finished speaking, Gao Jianli's expression immediately became serious. It was too late to investigate the responsibility now. The most important thing was how to block Ying Zheng's people's attack. If it were ordinary soldiers and generals, they would naturally not be afraid of them by relying on the mountain and water barrier. However, the Quicksand and the Gongshu family were not simple people. The mountain and water barrier probably could not hold them off for long.

"The number of personnel deployed around the outer perimeter of the Mechanized City has been doubled. If any suspicious persons are found, they should be apprehended first. The matter is urgent. The four of us will be stationed to guard the four sides of the Mechanized City. We will leave the internal affairs to you two."

Now that the Grand Master is gone, Gao Jianli naturally holds power temporarily. Although the strategy is simple, it is the most suitable for the current situation. After all, even if someone infiltrates, the number will not be too large. The four of them guard the four directions, and if they discover anything unusual in a certain place, they can take care of each other.

"Do as Xiao Gao says. Also, the Xuanwu in the Mechanized City must be activated immediately. This water power source may fool others, but it will definitely not fool Gongshu Chou. If he attacks from this angle, the water source will become our fatal weakness. I will go to see Miss Rong later and ask her to set up defenses in several important places in the Mechanized City to prevent us from falling into Chi Lian's trap."

After a moment of contemplation, Master Ban shared his thoughts. Master Xu immediately nodded in agreement, and Gao Jianli and the other three did not object either. After all, the possibility of this happening was very high. The outer walls of the mechanical city were incredibly sturdy, but once it was breached from the inside, all the mechanisms would become useless.

"That makes sense. Everyone, act quickly. The people from Quicksand may have already infiltrated. Be careful."

After Gao Jianli gave a few more instructions, everyone dispersed.

After leaving the council hall, Master Ban arrived at Duanmu Rong's residence. At that time, Duanmu Rong was treating Gao Yue, who had a fever. After feeding her medicine, Duanmu Rong touched Gao Yue's forehead, which was no longer hot, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Miss Rong."

Master Ban called out from outside, and Duanmu Rong immediately got up upon hearing the sound. After covering Gao Yue with a blanket, she opened the door and invited Master Ban in, leading them to a separate room.

"Master Ban".

"Miss Rong, how is Yue'er?"

As the two oldest leaders of the Mohist school, Master Ban naturally knew about Gao Yue's background. Upon hearing that she had a fever, a look of worry appeared on his face.

"The fever has subsided. Drinking it again should be fine. This time it was just a fright, nothing serious. Master Ban, is there anything else you want to see me about?"

Master Ban was relieved to hear that Gao Yue was alright. When Duanmu Rong asked him a question, he shared his thoughts.

"Although the interior of the Mechanized City is full of traps, there are almost no defenses against poison techniques. The old man hopes that Miss Rong can set up some defenses in these places to prevent being ambushed."

As he spoke, Master Ban took out a scroll from his pocket, placed it on the table, unfolded it, and pointed to three places on the drawing.

One is the central hub of the Mechanical City, which is the control center for all the mechanisms in the Mechanical City. It is also known as the Ink Core Chamber. Whoever controls this place can control the entire Mechanical City. This is also the most important place in the entire Mechanical City.

Another location is the water room on the left side of the Ink Core Chamber, which is also the source of drinking water for the Mechanized City. The last location is the Shenji Bridge, the only passage leading to the Ink Core Chamber, which is also the place where Gai Nie and Master Xu met before.

"As long as we set up defenses in these three places, it will be of some use, and even if foreign enemies invade, we will not be completely defeated."

After looking at these three places, Duanmu Rong nodded immediately.

“Master Ban has chosen these three locations very appropriately. Leaving aside the Ink Core Chamber and the Water Room, just take the Divine Mechanism Bridge. Outsiders can only enter the Mechanism City from here. I think we should put a lot of effort into this place. I happen to have brought some anesthetic powder. As long as it is properly placed, it can be released at any time once an enemy invades, rendering them powerless.”

"Furthermore, the water in the water room is of utmost importance. First, sink the Cleansing Dust Pill into the pool. Once any toxins enter the pool, the pill will stain the pool red, serving as a warning. The Ink Rule Pool surrounding the Ink Core Chamber can serve as a defensive line. Although the Corpse Dissolving Water is vicious, in a life-or-death situation, we can't worry about such things. If Master Ban agrees, I will begin to make the arrangements."

"Let's do it this way, thank you for your trouble, Miss Rong." Master Ban was not a pedantic person. It was just in case. If they couldn't break through, they could retreat at any time. Otherwise, it would come in very useful. It wouldn't matter how many Qin people died, since they were all the tyrant's lackeys.

In the city of the Machine City, surrounded by mountains, there is a waterfall canyon where the water rushes and splashes like silver beads. The rumbling sound of the water can be clearly heard even from miles away. At this moment, the moon is high in the sky. Big Iron Hammer and his group of disciples are on patrol as usual. The trees here are almost all tall banyan trees with lush foliage, making it difficult to see what is behind them. Torches are held high, illuminating the path as they slowly make their way.

Big Hammer sensed something was amiss. Logically, their journey should have at least alerted some birds, but the forest was unusually quiet. Big Hammer raised his hand to stop them, and everyone halted. The crackling of burning pine branches filled the air. Just then, a bird's flight was heard. Big Hammer quickly looked in that direction and saw a figure flash by. Before he could utter a sound, he heard a sound of flesh being sliced, followed by the sound of a beast gnawing at flesh.

Big Iron Hammer turned around and saw that one of his twelve disciples was missing. The remaining eleven were staring in terror at the dark figure in front of them. Big Iron Hammer's face immediately turned grim. He first gave a signal, then released his chain hammer. The whistling wind carried the force of a thousand pounds and struck straight at the source. With a crack, the copper hammer broke a tree branch. A dark figure rushed towards them. Seeing this, Big Iron Hammer quickly pulled back his chain hammer and struck the dark figure. Before Big Iron Hammer could rejoice, the torch illuminated the scene, and they saw that the twisted and distorted figure was the missing Mo family disciple.

His face was ashen, his eyes were wide open, veins were bulging, his mouth was agape, and he looked terrified. There were two small holes on his neck, each the size of a little finger, with dried bloodstains around the edges.

"hateful!"

Big Hammer's face turned ashen. Just then, another scream came from behind. Big Hammer turned around and saw a strange, bat-like figure grabbing a disciple. Its scarlet eyes were terrifying in the darkness.

"Hidden Bat!" Big Iron Hammer recognized the man's identity, and his heart sank. He leaped into the air and slammed his hammer down towards Hidden Bat. However, this immense force was nothing more than clumsy clumsiness to Hidden Bat. In an instant, his figure flashed, and amidst the disciple's exclamation, he transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the banyan forest. Then, another shrill scream rang out. In a moment, a mangled corpse lay beside him, and the stench of blood instantly filled the air.

In just a few breaths, he lost two disciples, but he couldn't even subdue his opponent. With nowhere to vent his anger, Big Iron Hammer swung his chain hammer and used a sweeping attack on the Rongshu Forest. The sound of branches breaking was deafening, but Hidden Bat had already disappeared. When Big Iron Hammer put down his hammer, two more disciples had been killed and were clearly beyond saving.

"If you're so capable, come out and fight me one-on-one. Let's see what kind of skills you have in sneaking up on me and using underhanded tactics."

Big Iron Hammer had the remaining eight disciples form a circle, while he stood in the middle, scanning the surroundings. However, under the torchlight, the surroundings were silent. Some disciples were already terrified by Hidden Bat's cruel killing methods, and were now under high tension and exhausted. One disciple reached out to wipe his sweat, but everything went black before his eyes, and he knew nothing more.

"found it!"

Another disciple died, but this time Big Iron Hammer discovered the Hidden Bat's trail. He stomped his feet on the ground and swung his hammer, but missed. The black shadow paused for a moment, but before Big Iron Hammer could rejoice, he suddenly felt a pain in his body. Two darts were embedded in his chest. Big Iron Hammer felt a tightness in his chest and fell from mid-air. The remaining seven disciples had just caught Big Iron Hammer when a dart spun around, splashing seven flowers of blood.

"Such hot blood, such delicious blood, hehe, your blood must be even more delicious, this feast should be saved for last."

The hidden bat landed gracefully, retrieved its dart, licked away the bloodstains, and nodded in satisfaction. Its ugly face looked even more terrifying in the pale moonlight.

Watching Hidden Bat approach step by step, the utterly immobile Iron Hammer was filled with resentment. His skills had been completely wasted by this man, leaving him unable to even unleash five-tenths of his power. He could only hope that the others would arrive as soon as possible. His own life was a minor matter; if he continued to act so recklessly, everyone in the Mechanized City would be in turmoil. Internal strife and external attacks would be fatal.

Hidden Bat licked the grappling hook on its hand, and a flash of cold light slashed toward Big Iron Hammer's neck. Just then, a clang of metal clashing made Big Iron Hammer, who had been waiting for death with his eyes closed, open his eyes.

"coming!"

As Yin Fu watched the ice flowers falling from the sky, he reached out and touched them. Instantly, a clump of ice shards formed in his palm. A bone-chilling cold made his heart tremble, and he hurriedly activated his Bat Blood Technique to instantly melt away the ice shards.

"Gao Jianli!"

The commanders of the Mechanized City, whom the Quicksand had also gathered intelligence on, knew that there were two people who could wield such icy power. However, in the exchange just now, the sharp sword energy made it easy for them to identify who it was.

Looking up along the falling ice flowers, one could see a white-clad swordsman standing gracefully on the top of a banyan tree under the bright moon. His cold eyes made Yin Fu feel much more pressured. After all, this person was the second-best expert in the Mo family, and he was no match for him.

"Hehe, so it's the Water Cold Sword Master who has arrived. I've heard that your Yi Water Cold Sword is a peerless master in the martial arts world. Today I'll see if it truly lives up to its name or is just an empty boast!"

Although Yin Fu believed he was no match for Gao Jianli, his pride wouldn't allow him to escape. He immediately moved swiftly, sending a series of darts flying towards Gao Jianli.

"To deal with someone like you, there's no need to use Yi Shuihan."

With a cold snort, the treetops trembled slightly, and Gao Jianli moved swiftly, his Water-Cold Sword deflecting all the darts with flicks and sweeps. The sword light condensed and pierced straight for Yin Fu's brow. Yin Fu felt a sharp pain in his brow, and when he came to his senses, the sword light condensed, and a cold glint shot out. Yin Fu was shocked and hurriedly used his grappling hook to block, but as soon as it made contact, Yin Fu knew something was wrong. He saw that ice had condensed on the blade, freezing the grappling hook directly, and Yin Fu was unable to escape for a moment.

With a bang, Yin Fu was caught off guard and struck in the chest by Gao Jianli's palm. The powerful force made Yin Fu's limbs tremble and he felt drowsy. The two of them continued to fall. Just then, Yin Fu bit his tongue hard, and the hot blood on his tongue temporarily brought him back to his senses. He struggled with his hands, his two flying claws fell off, and his bat wings spread out, instantly avoiding Gao Jianli.

"There's another trick up your sleeve."

Gao Jianli braced himself against the tree trunk with one foot, using the momentum to charge forward. His sword swirled around the flying claws, whistling through the air as it hurtled straight at Yin Fu. Yin Fu had already suffered a great loss and dared not take the attack head-on. He hurriedly dodged, and the two flying claws struck the tree trunk with two sharp cracks, instantly covering the trunk with a thick layer of ice crystals.

"Gao Jianli, excellent swordsmanship. We still have plenty of time to exchange blows."

Hidden Bat leaped high into the sky, its wings reflecting the bright moon, making it look like a real bat. Just as it was about to leave, Gao Jianli brought two fingers together on the sword and shouted. The sword was frost-white, flashing with light, and a chilling aura filled the air. Gao Jianli pointed the sword, and a white streak shot out. Hidden Bat was horrified when he saw this move. He hurriedly unleashed the bat blood energy accumulated in his body and leaped up more than ten feet. Although he dodged most of the sword energy, a small portion still hit him.

"Gao Jianli, we'll see about this!"

Yin Fu suppressed his injuries, uttered a harsh threat, and quickly disappeared into the night. Gao Jianli did not chase after him. If he was hit by Yin Fu's icy power and no expert healed him, he would lose all his power in three days at most and become a real ice sculpture.

"Big Iron Hammer, how are you?"

Gao Jianli was heartbroken to see the corpses scattered on the ground. He rushed to the side of the dying Da Tiechui, touched the wound with his finger, sealed the wound with the power of ice, and then channeled his true energy. Only then did Da Tiechui catch his breath.

"I'm fine, I'll be alright after a few days of rest. It's just these disciples, sigh, it's all my fault."

Big Hammer was filled with remorse and self-blame. If he hadn't deliberately stayed away from this place and had instead waited for others to arrive, perhaps this tragedy wouldn't have happened.

"It's too late to blame myself now. Hidden Bat has already been hit by my attack and is not long for this world. We should hurry back and discuss with Master Ban and the others how to deal with this. There must be more than just him who was able to infiltrate the Quicksand."

Gao Jianli's expression turned solemn. The Hidden Bat's movements were so exaggerated that they might be creating opportunities for others.

(End of this chapter)