Chapter 150: The Mechanical Knight and His Horse

The piercing shrieks grew increasingly sharp, and the source energy in the air vibrated violently, signaling that a powerful surge of source energy was rapidly closing in on their direction.

Sound traveled exceptionally fast within the mystic realm, so the sharp whistle arrived ahead of the source. However, Gao Wu and Song Mingyue were unable to spot the source of the noise with their naked eyes.

A few minutes later, it was Gao Wu who first locked onto the two incoming figures through his Yin Spirit.

At the front was a knight clad in black armor, riding a black steed, styled entirely like a knight—only he was galloping swiftly through the air on horseback.

The knight wore battle armor somewhat resembling medieval plate armor, though with harder, sharper lines, and wielded a pitch-black spear measuring a full four meters in length.

Deep cracks scarred the knight’s helmet and breastplate, and the eerie glow within his emerald eyes flickered unsteadily, indicating that his condition was highly unstable.

The warhorse was entirely encased in black iron armor. To say it was encased was not quite accurate; more precisely, this was a mechanical iron steed. Although it retained the silhouette of a horse, it was entirely of mechanical construction, down to its tail woven from sharp iron wires.

The mechanical steed possessed a towering physique, its black body exuding a heavy metallic texture. Its lines retained the majestic grace of a fine steed while simultaneously incorporating the rigid sharpness of machinery, exuding a dark, exotic, and alluring aesthetic.

Gao Wu was slightly dazed. It was his first time witnessing such a bizarre entity, and to his surprise, he found the mechanical warhorse rather handsome... The knight, by contrast, radiated an aura of death; he appeared to be a puppet composed of machinery—stiff, rigid, and reeking of slaughter, yet entirely devoid of any allure.

The pursuer trailing behind wore fully enclosed deep blue battle armor, the exterior lines of which were both streamlined and imbued with a technological aesthetic.

One look at the armor’s silhouette made it unmistakable that this was an elite of the Alliance. Through his Yin Spirit, Gao Wu could perceive the familiar radiance of source energy pulsing within the armor: it was Martial Grandmaster Lu Yuan!

Through his Yin Spirit, he could also observe the vital aura and source energy aura within the mechanical knight, both of which were dim, signaling that the entity was in dire straits.

Conversely, the mechanical warhorse possessed a robust vital aura, putting it in better condition than the mechanical knight. Of course, both the life tier and source energy tier of the mechanical warhorse were a grade lower than those of the knight.

Using Lu Yuan as a benchmark, the mechanical knight possessed a source energy tier on par with Lu Yuan's, while the mechanical warhorse was merely at the Martial Master level—though this applied strictly to their source energy tiers.

Both the mechanical knight and its steed were clearly mechanical lifeforms forged from the fusion of alien spirits and special metals. Calling them mechanical lifeforms did not seem entirely precise, however, because both the knight and the horse were fundamentally driven by alien spirits, with their core structures remaining non-mechanical.

Gao Wu grew even more excited. This was clearly Lu Yuan hunting down a demon god’s mechanical knight. As for why they were charging directly toward them, it was likely sheer coincidence.

After all, their current position faced the otherworldly entrance; it was entirely reasonable for the mechanical knight to pass this way while attempting to flee back to the alien realm.

No matter how one looked at it, the mechanical knight could not possibly be targeting him and Song Mingyue.

The two parties were flying at incredible speeds, though still far shy of the speed of sound within the mystic realm. Gao Wu estimated their speed to be around three hundred meters per second—a terrifying velocity.

Gao Wu reckoned it roughly matched the speed of his Yin Spirit executing sword-flight at full capacity. Mind you, this was already with the Yin Spirit receiving source energy reinforcement within the mystic realm, resulting in a massive boost in speed.

Given his level of mastery in divine incantations, his Yin Spirit could only sustain combat at that speed for a single minute.

Yet the two figures engaged in the pursuit had been flying continuously, their source energy tiers far surpassing that of his Yin Spirit by an immeasurable margin.

"It's Master Lu pursuing the enemy. Stay put; I'll go help Master Lu intercept them," Gao Wu said as he fished a circular iron box out of his backpack—it somewhat resembled an oversized biscuit tin.

In reality, it was a high-explosive bomb packed with thousands of steel pellets and two kilograms of gelled high-energy explosive, boasting an immense blast radius.

Once the safety pin was pulled, it would detonate in five seconds, though it could also be rigged for impact detonation.

Gao Wu pulled the safety pin and hurled it forward with all his might. Possessing astonishing strength, he sent the iron box flying in an arc over three hundred meters ahead, landing precisely some thirty meters in front of the mechanical knight.

The mechanical knight spotted the object suddenly hurtling toward him and abruptly accelerated, thrusting his spear straight at it.

Gao Wu had originally designed it as a delayed-action explosion, not expecting it to genuinely injure the mechanical knight; mere obstruction would suffice.

Yet the mechanical knight proved exceptionally alert. With a sudden burst of speed, the tip of his long spear landed with pinpoint accuracy on the iron box. Driven by combat instinct, his intention was to flick the object away with his spear.

However, the mechanical knight possessed no understanding of modern weaponry, nor did any such concept exist within his mind.

The formidable force of the spear triggered the high-energy explosive, instantly erupting into a blinding flash of flames and scattering thousands of steel pellets in all directions.

Upon seeing the dazzling flash of fire, the mechanical knight realized something was amiss. He immediately incited his source energy field to shield both himself and his mount.

The high-energy explosive detonated in open space, meaning the vast majority of its energy dissipated ineffectively, leaving only a fraction to impact the mechanical knight—insufficient to shake his source energy field.

Seeing the mechanical knight stand utterly unshaken amidst the raging torrent of flames, Gao Wu clicked his tongue in amazement; this thing was genuinely tough.

Fortunately, the shockwave generated by the high-energy explosive was formidable enough to force the mechanical knight to a dead stop.

In those mere two seconds, Lu Yuan had already closed the distance. Electrical arcs danced across the deep blue armor he wore, and the three-meter-long spear in his hand thrust straight forward like a charging dragon.

Sensing the danger, the mechanical knight wheeled his steed around sharply, leveling his spear to meet Lu Yuan’s incoming thrust head-on.

The mechanical knight neither dodged nor evaded, opting for a spear-for-spear exchange simply because he harbored no fear of death—or rather, he lacked the instinctive dread of mortality possessed by ordinary living beings.

As a dignified Martial Grandmaster, Lu Yuan naturally had no intention of fighting an alien spirit to the death. Fortified by his god-tier battle armor, his source energy tier was amplified by three to fivefold.

His formidable martial arts mastery and spiritual strength allowed him to calmly command such a vast reservoir of source energy. The mechanical knight possessed a source energy tier matching his own, yet lacked true sentience, let alone martial arts cultivation, relying entirely on instinct to manipulate source energy.

Faced with the mechanical knight's direct, unyielding spear thrust, Lu Yuan brought his own weapon across to press against it, his spear coiling around the enemy's shaft like a slithering serpent.

Following this, Lu Yuan vibrated his spear, transforming layers of winding force into a fierce, concussive jolt. The knight's spear was instantly knocked violently off course.

Seizing the opportunity, Lu Yuan drove his spear straight ahead, jabbing fiercely at the knight's chest. The source energy halo around the knight flared brilliantly, yet ultimately failed to withstand the fierce and piercing penetration of Lu Yuan's spear, which pierced through the protective source energy field and plunged directly into his chest.

The knight's breastplate was exceptionally thick; powerful though Lu Yuan's spear was, it could only penetrate a few inches before losing its momentum to push further.

Lu Yuan flicked both wrists, once again mobilizing a shift in his source energy, and violently hoisted the spear upward, directly flinging the mechanical knight into the air.

Immediately after, he whipped his backhand downward like a lash, striking the warhorse's long neck squarely.

Before the mechanical steed could react, its protective source energy field was shattered by the blow. Its metallic body suffered a deep indentation under the impact, and it let out a shriek resembling a dying wail as it plummeted uncontrollably toward the ground.

Losing control over its source energy, the mechanical warhorse smashed violently through a large tree and crashed onto a mountainside, sending branches, leaves, and dust flying in all directions.

Lu Yuan had no spare attention for the mechanical warhorse; his strikes against the beast were primarily because it moved at such blinding speeds, though his main target remained the mechanical knight.

Without its mount, let's see how this thing manages to leap around.

The mechanical knight's reflexes were swift, however. He leveled his spear and harnessed his source energy to streak rapidly toward the otherworldly entrance.

As long as he could cross into the alien realm, he could re-establish a thread of connection with the Divine Lord; even if he gained only the slightest trace of divine power infusion, he would survive.

Deprived of the mechanical steed, the mechanical knight's flight mechanics appeared stiff and rigid, yet his speed was by no means slow.

Lu Yuan glanced briefly at Gao Wu and Song Mingyue in the distance. Gao Wu was waving excitedly, calling out with a beaming smile: "We're fine, Master Lu, go after him..."

Lu Yuan then cast another look at the downed mechanical warhorse; the creature's brain seemed somewhat lacking.

He tossed out a parting instruction: "Don't do anything reckless, wait for me to return!"

Before his voice faded, Lu Yuan had already hurried off in hot pursuit of the mechanical knight.

Song Mingyue grabbed Gao Wu's hand. "That horse should be a tier-five alien spirit. Don't go meddling in this."

Although the mechanical warhorse must have suffered heavy trauma, a tier-five alien spirit remained terrifying, its strength far surpassing that of her and Gao Wu. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.

"Yeah, yeah!" Gao Wu nodded vigorously, while his Yin Spirit had already silently slipped away toward the mechanical warhorse.

The creature had taken a miserable fall, yet its physical structure remained intact, save for a deep indentation on its neck. More critically, the spear intent unleashed by Lu Yuan had pierced straight into the alien spirit's core, inflicting a severe shock upon its system.

The warhorse's dark red eyes flickered erratically, indicating its condition was deeply perilous.

Observing through his Yin Spirit, he could see the horse's vital aura fluctuating unstably, seemingly on the verge of extinguishing at any moment.

"Can this thing be subdued using the Spirit-Taming Seal?"

Gao Wu remained deeply intrigued by the mechanical warhorse. The beast could fly! Completely defying gravity, it could shift freely upward, downward, left, and right.

If it could truly be tamed, riding it would not only be immensely majestic and dashing, but it would also hold critical practical value.

Both the mystic realm and the alien realm featured complex terrain, and electronic devices were rendered useless, forcing travelers to rely on their own legs for most journeys. With this mechanical warhorse, traveling anywhere would become effortless.

It would also prove extraordinarily useful in combat. At a blistering speed of three hundred meters per second, one could simply ride it straight into targets, directly crushing Martial Masters to death...

At this thought, Gao Wu hesitated no longer. His Yin Spirit guided the Qilin Divine Image to activate the Spirit-Taming Seal, and the golden seal transformed from divine incantations silently sank straight into the mechanical warhorse's head...