Chapter 155: Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon

Lu Yuan gave Gao Wu a deep look. Although the insect-man had suffered devastating injuries, its source power was still intact.

Blessed by the magic arts of the Evil God, the insect-man's source power field was exceptionally resilient.

The fact that Gao Wu and Song Mingyue combined could actually breach the insect-man's source power field was truly extraordinary. In particular, Gao Wu controlled his sword using spiritual power, the blade glowing with a fiery red that clearly converted source power into intense heat.

Such a transformation also vastly amplified the destructive power against the source power field.

While the Nine Dragon Forms each possessed various changes, none of them featured the ability to transform source power into fiery high temperatures—this was clearly Gao Wu's personal talent.

That sword strike which assassinated the insect-man martial grandmaster was so fluid from the sword moves down to the level of source power transformation, far surpassing any of Gao Wu's previous combats.

The sword was a top-tier level-six divine weapon, and the critical key to cracking the source power field. What was rare was that Gao Wu could wield it with such effortless mastery.

In a mere two months, Gao Wu had truly made leaps and bounds in his cultivation.

With this divine weapon and the crimson flame secret technique in hand, it wouldn't be difficult for Gao Wu to break through the Nine Limits of the Heavenly Zenith.

The hardest part of the Nine Limits of the Heavenly Zenith lay in the immense power of the giant tiger's source power field, making it difficult to rely on clever tricks.

Gao Wu should have already passed the Nine Limits of the Heavenly Zenith, yet he had not reported it.

Lu Yuan roughly guessed Gao Wu's thoughts. The young man had a bit of pride and wasn't too keen on becoming his direct disciple.

Lu Yuan didn't mind this at all; if a young man didn't even have a shred of pride, what kind of future could he possibly have?

This matter was actually very easy to verify—one just had to check the records of the Nine Limits of the Heavenly Zenith.

However, Lu Yuan had no interest in checking. Gao Wu naturally possessed his own pride, and he himself, a dignified Martial Grandmaster, had his own sense of restraint.

If the boy didn't want to become his disciple, so be it; he wasn't short of a student like Gao Wu.

Fortunately, these were all minor matters. Gao Wu had performed brilliantly, and Song Mingyue was equally outstanding. It wasn't just their exceptional abilities, but their character and sense of responsibility that truly shone—this was what brought Lu Yuan the most solace.

Talented martial artists emerged in an endless stream, but talented martial artists capable of bearing heavy responsibilities were few and far between!

Lu Yuan said to Gao Wu and Song Mingyue, "Now that these lurking Evil God believers have been eliminated, there shouldn't be any other formidable characters left. You two head back to the rear camp to rest first.

"Tomorrow at dawn, follow the rest and withdraw from the secret realm."

Hosting this trial was intended to lure out the Evil God believers. Now that the objective had been achieved, there was no need for the students to continue taking risks.

In truth, quite a few casualties had occurred tonight, with preliminary estimates reaching the triple digits.

With over ten thousand participants in the trial, a casualty rate of one or two percent might not seem like much, but in reality, every student was the most talented child in their family, the pride of their parents, and considered a genius in their class and school.

Suffering so many casualties was no trivial matter and required proper handling of the aftermath.

The spatial fusion was accelerating, and future conditions would only deteriorate further, resulting in more casualties and increasingly brutal battles.

This trial was not the end, but the beginning.

Lu Yuan sighed inwardly. Humanity's decades of peaceful and quiet life had come to an end...

Although Gao Wu could not see Lu Yuan's expression through his faceplate, he could vaguely sense that the old man was in a rather heavy mood, lacking the gratification and ease usually felt after slaying Evil God believers.

He cautiously said, "Master Lu, I still need to look after that warhorse to see if I can revive it..."

Lu Yuan felt a bit amused. This kid really was covetous—though perhaps covetous wasn't the right word; which young man could resist such a handsome and striking mechanical warhorse? Even he thought the machine was quite impressive.

The trouble lay in the fact that its core was an alien spirit, neither machinery nor exotic beast. An alien spirit entering the real world would face severe restrictions.

Much like a fish out of water, whether it could survive remained uncertain.

There was also a huge problem: the alien spirit was, after all, created by an Evil God. Who knew if this thing would suddenly go berserk?

If a multi-ton mechanical warhorse went on a rampage through a city, trampling hundreds or thousands of people to death would be effortless... It posed a massive safety hazard.

However, the mechanical warhorse also held significant research value.

The rapid progress in the Alliance's biochemical armor technology stemmed largely from studying and drawing inspiration from Evil God creations, combined with various miraculous materials obtained from alien worlds, which broke through the limitations of earthly materials.

After a moment of thought, Lu Yuan said, "Be careful."

There were still many Evil God believers left to deal with, and he couldn't stand guard here forever. Since Gao Wu wanted the mechanical warhorse, he would have to bear the risks himself.

"Don't worry, Master Lu, we can protect ourselves." Gao Wu remained quite confident in this regard.

After all, martial grandmasters were not dime-a-dozen, and even if one truly existed, it wouldn't be such a coincidence to run into him. As for Rama, that had clearly been a targeted tracking through special means, which didn't count.

Lu Yuan nodded slightly and instructed Song Mingyue, "This kid has a stubborn life. Make sure you are very careful following him."

Towards his own direct disciple, Lu Yuan's attitude was naturally different. Gao Wu's lack of fear for death was his own business, but he mustn't drag his direct disciple down with him.

***

However, he couldn't forcibly take Song Mingyue away either. After all, Gao Wu was also one of their own, and doing so would appear too ruthless; he could only leave her with a meaningful warning.

Song Mingyue deeply understood her master's painstaking care, and she bowed deeply. "Master, please take care."

Lu Yuan laughed heartily, quite pleased. This apprentice of his was taciturn yet possessed a truly genuine nature; a single word from her was more sincere than a million words from others.

Gao Wu also quickly chimed in, "Evil God believers are cunning and vicious; Master Lu, you must also mind your safety."

Ignoring Gao Wu's flattery, Lu Yuan said, "The day after tomorrow, you and Mingyue come to Heart Moon Lake. I have something to tell you."

"Oh, oh, understood." Gao Wu nodded repeatedly, though he felt a bit puzzled inwardly. What could possibly wait two days that couldn't be said right now...

Once Lu Yuan departed, Gao Wu looked guiltily at Song Mingyue. "Why does Master Lu want to see me? Is he going to try to stop us from puppy love?"

Song Mingyue glanced at Gao Wu, having no desire to engage in such boring chatter with him.

Gao Wu was only joking anyway. He first went to check on the horse. The spear had pierced clean through the horse's abdomen, and after testing it for a moment, he finally hardened his heart and pulled the spear out.

Fortunately, the mechanical warhorse didn't bleed; it only emitted faint wisps of black vapor, looking eerie like a ghost.

The warhorse's crimson eyes were also exceptionally dim, resembling a battery on the verge of running out and extinguishing.

With no other options, Gao Wu channeled the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation. This move proved quite useful, at least temporarily sustaining the mechanical warhorse's spiritual core.

Although it still couldn't stand up, it seemed barely stable...

Through his connection with the Spirit-Controlling Seal, Gao Wu sensed that the mechanical warhorse could still slowly recover a sliver of power by breathing in source power.

At this rate, by dawn it might recover the ability to walk.

Gao Wu was quite satisfied with this result. It could live solely by breathing source power without even needing fodder—this was the legendary constitution of a beast of burden!

With nothing better to do, Gao Wu went to tidy up the corpses of the three martial powerhouses.

Whether Lu Yuan was preserving his own dignity or purposely leaving the bodies behind, martial powerhouses of this caliber always carried good things on them.

If nothing else, their weapons alone were extremely valuable.

A brief search of the corpses yielded nothing on the insect-man aside from some pill-like items, which Gao Wu guessed to be some form of high-energy food from an alien world.

Humanoid life forms still required food to maintain body heat—the simplest and most effective method. Source power couldn't stave off hunger.

The other two high-ranking Evil God believers carried much more: various potions, pills, and specialized equipment such as incendiary bombs.

Most of these items were unfamiliar to Gao Wu, save for a pair of Golden Thunder Eagles strapped to their thighs, concealed beneath their biochemical armor.

Firearms were simply too convenient; even martial powerhouses carried them as long-range attack tools.

"Friend, this pair of guns is for you. From now on, we've got matching couple gear!" Gao Wu handed the pair of Golden Thunder Eagles to Song Mingyue like offering a prized treasure.

Song Mingyue hesitated slightly. "These are Master's spoils of war. Isn't this inappropriate?"

"Since Master Lu didn't object, it means he intended to leave the spoils to the two of us," Gao Wu chuckled. The guns and swords left behind by the martial powerhouses were extremely precious, and taking them directly would indeed be awkward.

Small items like the Golden Thunder Eagles could easily be taken without issue.

Song Mingyue had no real interest in such things, nor did she want to take advantage of him. However, she was touched by Gao Wu's remark about them using matching gear, so she quietly accepted them.

The long night passed uneventfully. Gao Wu and Song Mingyue amused themselves by examining the miscellaneous items they had scavenged, which actually passed the time quite well.

As for those supply items, bold as Gao Wu was, he dared not use them. Even with his constitution of twenty points, there was no need to take unnecessary risks for a cheap advantage.

When he had a moment of leisure, Gao Wu checked the Boundless Merit Book. Slaying the insect-man had yielded one million merits—a massive sum in reality, though perhaps a bit underwhelming for the status of an alien martial grandmaster.

His total merits now stood at over 6.5 million, which was very substantial and not far from the ten million mark...

By break of dawn, the mechanical warhorse had finally recovered two parts of its sentience and regained the strength to carry Gao Wu and Song Mingyue.

The mechanical warhorse leaped and bounded through the air, its tall and heavy frame as light as a feather. Even in its poor condition, its speed easily reached two hundred kilometers per hour.

More impressively, it could ignore terrain, sprinting unhindered across mountain forests and ravines. The only drawback was its excessive speed; turns were made without buffering, which was rather unkind to the riders.

Gao Wu had to strain his leg muscles to grip the horse's flanks, ensuring he wouldn't be thrown off.

Before long, Gao Wu spotted the main army. On the wide riverbank, thousands of exhausted students either lay or sat, their expressions numb.

On the outer perimeter stood a large number of live-ammunition soldiers, deploying numerous roadblocks and machine gun nests to form a long, curved defensive line.

Seeing the mechanical warhorse approach, the soldiers on guard tensed up.

Fortunately, realizing the potential trouble, Gao Wu stopped hundreds of meters away and called out loudly, finally locating an acquaintance: Shen An.

Shen An also clicked his tongue in wonder at the mechanical warhorse, showing immense interest.

Guided by Shen An, Gao Wu and Song Mingyue successfully led the mechanical warhorse into the camp, drawing the gaze of the surrounding students.

While everyone else looked like disheveled refugees, Gao Wu led a mechanical warhorse on his left with a beautiful companion trailing behind—a sight that left everyone both shocked and envious.

Gao Wu didn't dare to show off too much; Shen An had mentioned heavy casualties, so this was hardly the time to grandstand.

By noon, all the trial students had orderly evacuated from the Dragon Claw Peak Secret Realm, and Gao Wu and Song Mingyue returned to Evergreen Garden.

As for the mechanical warhorse, it was handed over to the Azure Dragon Academy laboratory for them to find a place to house it.

After a sound night's sleep, Gao Wu accompanied Song Mingyue to Heart Moon Lake the next morning to pay respects to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan still wore his traditional hair bun and loose robe, looking relaxed and at ease—completely different from the ruthless slaughterer of two nights ago.

This containment of vital energy and spirit clearly indicated a profound level of martial cultivation.

Gao Wu still held great admiration for Lu Yuan; setting aside everything else, three martial grandmasters had been powerless before his spear, and the formidable mechanical knight hadn't been able to withstand a single strike from him either.

During the battle in the Dragon Claw Peak Secret Realm, Lu Yuan had truly acted with effortless mastery, fully displaying the demeanor of a grandmaster.

Imitating Song Mingyue, Gao Wu stood there respectfully, awaiting instructions.

With a smile, Lu Yuan said, "Although there were no strict statistics kept for the trial, you taking first place is without a doubt. You saved many people, lured out several powerful Evil God believers, and rendered great service."

"If Master Lu hadn't protected us, I'd be dead. These were just things I did along the way, nothing special," Gao Wu said with a straight face.

Naturally, Lu Yuan didn't take Gao Wu's modesty at face value. Pondering for a moment, he said, "Your talent is transcendent, but the Nine Dragon Forms you learned are coarse. I happen to have the complete Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon that I can pass on to you..."

Gao Wu felt slightly surprised. Could a figure like Lu Yuan not see through his intentions? Wasn't this putting him on the spot?

However, since Lu Yuan was so formidable, becoming his disciple wouldn't be a loss, and it would make him and Xiao Song fellow disciples—it wasn't entirely unacceptable...

He consoled himself inwardly, though he still felt a bit awkward.

Noticing Gao Wu's hesitation, Lu Yuan couldn't help but smile. "We lack master-disciple fate, so there's no need to force it.

"I will pass the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon to you directly without requiring you to become my disciple."

"Ah, wouldn't that be improper..." Lu Yuan's open and forthright attitude made Gao Wu feel a bit embarrassed.

While schools taught martial arts, the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon was Lu Yuan's personal secret technique; from any perspective, there was no reason to impart it so casually.

Such was Gao Wu's nature: he didn't mind when people treated him poorly, but he hated when people treated him well. Just as he was hesitating, Lu Yuan spoke again, "Passing the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon to you comes with a condition."

Hearing that there was a condition actually relieved Gao Wu; he was afraid of accepting Lu Yuan's favor unearned without knowing how to repay it.

Respectfully, he said, "Please state the condition, Master Lu."

With his smile fading and a solemn expression, Lu Yuan said, "This wave of Evil God believers showed massive momentum, mobilizing so many experts and powerful alien spirits far beyond our expectations.

"This was merely a probe between both sides; they suffered some setbacks, and we sustained considerable losses as well. From now on, the situation in Northern Province will become increasingly severe.

"The Alliance attaches great importance to this, and this year's Azure Dragon Cup jointly hosted by the fourteen provinces will raise its standards. Sword Saint Hai Gong will personally serve as the organizing committee chairman, selecting four talented geniuses to take in as disciples..."

Gao Wu looked at Lu Yuan with excitement. "Does Master Lu mean for me to compete for the top four spots in the Azure Dragon Cup?"

"Precisely."

Lu Yuan said, "With your extraordinary talent, if you can become a disciple of Hai Gong, you are bound to achieve great things."

Pausing briefly, he continued, "As long as you are a school student, you can participate in the Azure Dragon Cup without age restrictions. The tournament will gather true genius elites from the fourteen provinces. If you wish to participate in the Azure Dragon Cup, you must first win in the preliminary qualifiers."

"I'll do my best." Confident as he was, Gao Wu saw no need to speak absolute words in front of Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan calmly replied, "Winning Hai Gong's favor is my expectation for you, not my condition."

"Ah?" Gao Wu was somewhat confused by Lu Yuan's meaning.

Lu Yuan explained, "At your current level of cultivation, attending general lectures won't be of much use. The Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon require comprehension and insight gained through combat.

"I want you to undergo trials in the Aurora Ice Field for three months. Are you willing?"

Without a single moment of hesitation, Gao Wu answered, "I am willing."

Wasn't it just fighting alien races and exotic beasts? He was just fretting over where to farm merits! Plus, he would acquire the true teachings of the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon—killing two birds with one stone...