"Fighting high-performance or even higher-performance mechs with rudimentary mechs, isn't that exactly what I used to do?"
"From the unarmored Jude in the bounty hunts, to facing three opponents in the class battle, then twenty-one in the jungle, when did I ever win without an absolute disadvantage?"
"From regaining my memories until yesterday, I've felt like I've lost my life's purpose. Whether it was mech repair or piloting, I thought I was already very strong and didn't need to improve."
"But there's always someone stronger. Wang Shangmeng alone is better than me. If I didn't have the world's most advanced mechs and cheat skills, my real strength would be completely subpar."
Gu Ya lay on the carpet, drunkenly reflecting.
Beside him, Sister Ling, her back to Gu Ya, kept muttering in her sleep.
They had drunk all the alcohol in the office again.
Gu Ya's elite-grade [Pain Immunity] had decomposed half the alcohol within ten minutes. The decomposition rate of the remaining residual alcohol slowed down, and it was estimated to take another hour to fully decompose.
"What are you saying?" Ling whispered in her sleep, turning over, her arm hitting Gu Ya's chest.
Her slightly open collar revealed a glimpse of her proud, tender chest.
Gu Ya's eyelids loosened, and he instantly took a blanket and draped it over her.
Gu Ya sat up, murmuring, "I'm going to the place where Xianxia's strongest mech pilots gather, to improve myself there."
"There's still more than half a year until the academic assessment. I want to forge myself into a true war god during this time."
"Not relying on mech performance, nor on cheat skills, but on true personal technique."
Gu Ya's eyes shone as he stared ahead, smiling, and stood up.
The alcohol blurred his vision for a moment, but the next second, Gu Ya stood steadily.
"The place where the strongest mech pilots gather is not Caihua City, but Xianxia City."
Gu Ya pulled open the door. The dark corridor outside lit up with soft white lights, while the end of the corridor remained dark.
The door was slammed shut and locked.
The next second, the corridor was empty.
Gu Ya's excitement reached its peak. The feeling of finding a goal again was like being reborn.
He activated [Active Mind] and [Adrenaline Burst], summoned his exoskeleton armor, and plummeted from the 31st floor, landing steadily on the ground.
"I'll do what I think of, and I'll leave tonight."
"By putting myself in the most disadvantageous and desperate situations, I can improve myself quickly."
Gu Ya directly abandoned his mech motorcycle outside the Hecheng Society building, transferred all his assets to Ling, and attached a message: Spend it as you please, I won't need it anymore.
He only kept the minimum fare to Xianxia City, just enough to buy a one-way ticket on a black transport mech.
At three in the morning, Gu Ya, bundled in his coat, alone, squeezed onto the landing platform with a large group of strangers, waiting for the black transport mech.
Twenty minutes later, the black mech began to ascend.
The dim, cramped transport cabin was packed with travelers.
The fans in the ventilation ducts made a "squeaking" sound.
The cabin was filled with the smell of No. 68 anti-wear hydraulic oil, mixed with the smell of luggage, body odor, and various indescribable foul smells.
Everyone breathed the stale air, starting to doze off.
Only Gu Ya's eyes remained firm and spirited.
To improve his true skills, he had to abandon the hidden powers and cheat skills.
Not allowed to use them until the last moment of life-threatening danger, this was of utmost importance.
"Perhaps some people will laugh, giving up a comfortable life and god-like cheat skills to seek abuse, that's crazy!"
"Some will also say that you won't be thinking about improving your skills then, and you'll be worrying about what to eat for your next meal every day."
Gu Ya chuckled faintly, "Don't kid yourself, do you think I can't make money?"
"At this speed, it will take another day to reach Xianxia City. And there's no guarantee we won't encounter bandits along the way. Anyway, I'll get some sleep."
Perhaps it was because Gu Ya, this living god, was present,
The journey went very smoothly. Not only did they not encounter any bandits, but the weather was also very good.
The black mech even arrived at Xianxia City an hour earlier.
"Wow, blessed by the god of luck! It took me two days to get to Xianxia City last time!"
"As long as we've arrived, let's go out quickly and breathe some fresh air, it's so crowded and stuffy here!"
"800 Bai Xing coins for a trip to Xianxia City, what more can you expect for this price in terms of comfort!"
Everyone stumbled out of the transport cabin, chattering.
Gu Ya was the last to exit. A wave of heat immediately swept over him.
Then, an even more chaotic scene appeared before his eyes.
The entire landing field was filled with mechs soaring into the clouds and an endless sea of people.
The din of voices, laughter, crying, scolding, and shouting could be heard incessantly.
It was as if the entire world was in disarray.
Gu Ya, sweating profusely from the heat, opened his jacket to cool down.
Xianxia City was much hotter during the day than Wuhuo City!
Just then, a man bumped past Gu Ya, walked a few steps, then turned back and sneered, "Damn poor ghost, with not a single coin to your name, what are you doing in Xianxia City!"
Gu Ya looked down and realized his jacket pocket had been slit open. When he turned back, the stranger was already gone.
Following the crowd, he gradually emerged from the landing field. Outside were three levels of suspended traffic flow, upper, middle, and lower.
Suspended vehicles stopped beside the waiting platforms, negotiated prices, and then flew off with a few passengers.
The entire platform was crowded. Because of the guardrails, after negotiating the price, people had to climb over the waist-high guardrails to get into the vehicles.
Gu Ya had no money, so he walked down the platform, layer by layer, hoping to reach the ground level.
Xianxia City was truly vast.
The landing field he was in was the top of a 28-story skyscraper constructed from metal alloys.
Gu Ya cupped his hands around his eyes to block the sun. Peering through the dark, light-blocking glass, he saw the interior of the building.
The vast building was opulent and magnificent, with colorful holographic lights floating slowly in the air.
Beneath the colored lights were shops decorated luxuriously.
Sparse customers wandered, lingering in various shops.
Unlike his previous visit to Xianxia for shopping,
Last time he was inside the building, but this time he was outside.
Gu Ya felt no envy, but a faint, dismissive smile, and then he disappeared into the crowd.
...
In front of a tall and majestic black building,
A suspended vehicle stopped abruptly.
Fang Yue · Dai Lian stepped out of the suspended vehicle steadily, walked onto the long and wide snow-white sea rock steps, and reached the base of the building.
The sentry at the entrance spoke in a toneless, cold voice, "Miss Fang Yue · Dai Lian, the sixty-seventh day, punctual."
Dai Lian ignored him and walked directly into the building.
The elevator car lobby doors opened, and Dai Lian quickly stepped out of the elevator, softening her footsteps but maintaining her speed.
She quickly arrived at a four-meter-high entrance, knocked three times, and then pushed the door open.
Inside the large door was a colossal conference hall, unimaginably vast.
It was as wide as five movie theaters placed side by side,
And its length reached several hundred meters.
The seating rose from front to back at a standard viewing angle.
In the vast conference hall, nearly ten thousand seats were occupied by people, all intently watching the front and below, quietly listening to a speech.
Dai Lian stood behind a giant pillar, quietly looking forward and down.
In the far distance, on the stage, a tall man with long black hair and handsome features was delivering a speech with a steady tone.
Every word was powerful and sonorous, and the content was rich and obscure; without careful listening, it was impossible to understand his meaning.
Only his voice echoed throughout the hall.
"Mu Ye · Xing Chen..." Dai Lian murmured in her heart.
This was the first time she had personally seen the second commander of the Black Star Walker Army.
Unlike other conquering great commanders,
Xing Chen's sole objective was Xianxia.
When Xing Chen said, "This year, this very year, I will officially attack Xianxia," Dai Lian's eyes lit up.
She knew what this meant.
The previous Louhai campaign and the Huangji Zhi Ge campaign were merely tests.
Mu Ye · Xing Chen's ultimate goal remained unknown.
Perhaps it was any city in Xianxia, or perhaps it was Xianxia City itself.
After listening to Commander Xing Chen's speech, everyone stood up, raised their heads 30° upwards,
Clasped their left hands over the center of their chests,
And shouted in unison, "Long live the Black Star!!!"
Dai Lian still followed suit.
Just then, a dark figure suddenly grabbed Dai Lian's arm from behind and dragged her into the shadows.
"Exposed!?"