Chapter 1 Ink Sect Mechanical City!

At the foot of the mountain, in a dense forest opening, Zhang Yuanqing held a golden shield, his legs in a horse stance, knees bent low, blocking the arrows flying towards him!

The Third Lady of the Mountain, standing sideways, pulled her bow, her slender fingers emitting strands of golden light that coalesced into arrows!

Each arrow she fired stirred a gust of wind that lifted her gorgeous skirt and caressed her flowing hair, both beautiful and heroic!

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The arrows struck the shield, producing a dull, piercing sound, scattering golden light fragments!

Suddenly, the Third Lady of the Mountain withdrew her bow and instantly darted to Zhang Yuanqing's side. Golden light pulsed from her palm, transforming into a three-foot-long sword that stabbed towards her disciple's kidney.

Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly moved his shield to block, while his other hand condensed a long blade, treasonously stabbing towards the Third Lady of the Mountain's chest!

The old hag didn't even try to evade, as if her chest could withstand the blade, and thrust her sword straight at Zhang Yuanqing's neck!

Helpless, Zhang Yuanqing retracted his blade and executed an iron bridge to avoid the sword's edge. Just as he was about to kick his opponent, the old hag retracted her sword and said coldly, "Yinyao, forty lashes!"

Yinyao, the princess, who had been sitting nearby, watching the battle, grabbed the black whip coiled with Yin energy and excitedly jumped up, rushing towards her nominal junior brother, but actual master!

"Wait!" Zhang Yuanqing protested. "What did I do wrong?"

Although the old hag looked like a celestial being and had a perfect figure, she was also a strict teacher. Zhang Yuanqing had been whipped half to death these past few days!

Every time he was whipped by Princess Yinyao, he had to lie down for half an hour to recover!

The old hag had bestowed upon Yinyao a high-quality Saint-level item specifically for whipping spirits.

"Your weapon switching is too slow, and your utilization of the Sun God Force is not pure enough!" the old hag stated.

"We agreed to switch weapons every fifteen minutes, but you brought it forward by five minutes. I wasn't prepared at all!" Zhang Yuanqing argued.

They had agreed on sword against saber, spear against staff, shield against bow and arrow, as a way to improve his proficiency with the Sun God Force!

"If you truly master it, wielding weapons will be spontaneous, requiring no preparation time!" the old hag said calmly.

"Then that's still twenty lashes. How can you arbitrarily add more?" Zhang Yuanqing insisted.

"What do you mean, 'add more'?" the old hag frowned and scolded. "Don't use modern slang with me! Also, the other twenty lashes are for your retreating action. I've told you many times, if you want to cultivate the Sun God Force to its peak, your temperament must be firm and domineering. Domineering means aggression, unyielding and indomitable! If you don't even have the courage to risk mutual destruction, what Sun God Force are you cultivating?"

She knew that Yuan Shi Tianzun was not lacking in fierceness, but he was too slippery in everyday life, and unwilling to suffer losses or engage in head-on confrontations during battle, thus lacking in dominance!

Before Zhang Yuanqing could explain, the old hag continued to scold, "Yinyao told me that your nickname in the martial world is 'Treasure Celestial,' covered head-to-toe in flashy magical artifacts. Coupled with the combat style of a Star Official, you like to rely on tools, strategizing from behind the scenes!"

"Many exceptionally talented Night Wanderers encounter bottlenecks when advancing to Golden Crow because they cannot shake off their previous combat habits and temperament, making it difficult to fuse the Sun God Force and achieve the Golden Crow body!"

"Lingjing Xingzhe have role cards that allow them to bypass the need to break through realms, but if you cannot change your habits and align with the Sun God Force, even if you become a Ruler, you will not stand out."

Zhang Yuanqing was convinced. "Master is right!"

He glanced at the Yin-energy-entwined long whip and swallowed. "Can those forty lashes be put on my tab? Give your disciple a few more days. If I still can't..."

Princess Yinyao "barked," "Any attempt to bargain is evidence of a lack of dominance! I suggest Master add ten more lashes!"

Zhang Yuanqing declared loudly, "This disciple willingly accepts the punishment."

Yinyao, you old sly fox.

Princess Yinyao happily snapped the whip!

The Third Lady of the Mountain watched coldly and said, "There are seven days left until the Slaughter Instance. I expect you to become a Golden Crow God, capable of defeating most of your peers, or you will not be worthy of being my disciple!"

Having a son late in life, her expectations for Yuan Shi Tianzun were far higher than for Yinyao. Yinyao was considered a lost cause; her future depended on Yuan Shi Tianzun's accomplishments.

The Church of the Military!

In the northwest Gobi Desert, the yellow mud houses stood in disarray, lining a rustic village path – a seemingly backward village!

The only remaining of the Eight Great Divine Generals – the Arrogance Divine General, the Wrath Divine General, and the Six-Fingered Divine General – walked together through the narrow village path to the scenic overlook on the mountainside!

The Fear Heavenly King and the Demon Eye Heavenly King sat by a round table, drinking wine. On the table were a plate of braised edamame, a plate of braised peanuts, and a platter of pork, pig tongue, and pig ear meat!

The Six-Fingered Divine General was the first to ask, "Heavenly King, what are your orders for summoning us?"

"If there are no orders, I'll go back to rolling dice." The Six-Fingered Divine General was addicted to gambling and had just been gambling with the church members when the Fear Heavenly King summoned him, causing him extreme impatience and annoyance.

The Fear Heavenly King, wearing a suit and a silver ear stud, peeled an edamame bean and asked, "Yinyue said that the three of you plan to participate in the Slaughter Instance? The Six-Fingered Divine General has been around for years. Yuan Shi Tianzun is already dead. Fu Qingyang advanced to Ruler in the mid-year Slaughter Instance, so the end of the year is a gap period. The only enemies we have in the Order Camp are Jiang Ju and Huang Taiji!"

"I bet with them that the Church of the Military will definitely add another Heavenly King in this Slaughter Instance!"

The Six-Fingered Divine General nodded.

The Demon Eye Heavenly King sneered, "Do you think you can defeat the Fear Heavenly King, or me, or any of the Church Lords in Extinction and Ghost Blade?"

No matter how many Rulers there were, there would only ever be four Heavenly Kings. The three Divine Generals looked unconvinced, but didn't dare to argue back!

The Fear Heavenly King flicked the peeled edamame bean into his mouth and said, "The Church of the Military is not participating in the year-end Slaughter Instance!"

"Why?" The three Divine Generals were stunned!

The Fear Heavenly King scolded, "It's so that you can live a few more years. Of course, if you insist on participating, I won't stop you – that's your freedom. But I hope you listen to my advice!"

He waved his hand, too lazy to explain, and dismissed the Demon Eye Heavenly General!

作者：卖报小郎君
Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun