Li Jiayi quickly said, "Your Great Sage..."
Before Li Jiayi could finish speaking, a monkey, holding a Bin Tie staff, swung it towards Li Jiayi's head.
"Damn it!" Li Jiayi cursed, "I hate guys like you who only know how to fight and kill, and are completely incapable of communication."
Muttering, Li Jiayi drew a long sword and held it in front of him.
Clang!
A crisp ringing sound echoed.
Li Jiayi was slightly startled, realizing how strong this monkey was.
Everyone knew the Great Sage Equalling Heaven was a formidable fighter, but how could a monkey be so powerful?
On the other side, Bai Ye was also being surrounded, with two monkeys swinging their staffs at him.
Indeed, the two monkeys wielded their staffs with surprising skill. One swept his staff towards Bai Ye's face, while the other aimed at his lower body.
Most importantly, the two monkeys maintained perfect timing, preventing Bai Ye from dodging by jumping or crouching.
Bang, bang!
Bai Ye could only raise his arms to block, deflecting the two staffs. However, in the next instant...
Bang!
A staff came from the side, striking Bai Ye in the waist.
Bai Ye winced and then swept his leg towards a third approaching monkey. To his surprise, the monkey dropped its staff, grabbed Bai Ye's calf with both hands, and yanked him backward.
Bai Ye suddenly executed a mid-air split, his legs splayed apart.
Bai Ye took a deep breath, grateful for his enhanced physique, or he would have surely pulled something.
On the other side, Li Jiayi, outnumbered, was struck in the chest by a monkey and sent stumbling backward, crashing into Bai Ye.
As they fell in a heap, the surrounding monkeys closed in again.
Bai Ye quickly reached out, and a large wave of flames spread out, engulfing the area in front of him.
Then...
Flame Burst!
A thunderous explosion occurred.
The dispersed flames erupted, forming a scorching fireball, and the resulting shockwaves rippled outwards. Barriers suddenly appeared along the surrounding walls, creating concentric ripples.
Bai Ye and Li Jiayi got up. They didn't run out of the alley, as monkeys had appeared at both ends, blocking their escape route.
Trapped, Bai Ye and Li Jiayi slowly retreated to the wall, positioning themselves diagonally across the two alley entrances, forming a pincer formation.
At the same time...
As the flames from the explosion gradually dissipated, humanoid outlines began to emerge.
The monkeys had not been blown away by Bai Ye's attack. They were still alive and slowly emerged from the flames.
The next instant...
Bai Ye froze.
"Robots?"
Bai Ye's surprise was evident.
Although the flames and explosion hadn't obliterated the monkeys, they had clearly inflicted significant damage.
One monkey had an arm severed. Meat fragments fell from the wound, but there was no blood. The fallen fragments were strangely resilient, wobbling on the ground like jelly.
Simultaneously, cables dangled from the wound, emitting crackling sparks.
Another monkey had a small piece of its skull blown off, revealing steel bone armor. Some of the internal components were still in operation.
Click, click...
A monkey approached Bai Ye and Li Jiayi, appearing to be the worst off.
Its facial fur had completely fallen off, revealing a bizarre metallic face. Its left eye dangled outside, connected by thin wires. Due to poor contact, the eye flickered like a faulty light bulb.
Furthermore, the monkey's right leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, preventing it from moving normally. It could only drag itself along the ground, accompanied by the sound of metal scraping and sparks flying.
These were definitely robots disguised as monkeys.
As Bai Ye thought this, he looked at one of the monkeys.
Mechanical Reconstruction, activate!
Almost instantly, the moment Bai Ye activated his Mechanical Reconstruction ability, the monkey before him exploded into pieces, scattering into components on the ground. Even its skeleton shattered, clattering onto the floor.
The monkey-like fur also fell to the ground.
Being dismantled by Mechanical Reconstruction confirmed they were indeed robots, not illusions or some kind of Daoist magic or treasures.
Bai Ye looked at Li Jiayi and said, "The Great Sage Equalling Heaven's subordinates are all robots... hmm... mecha-monkeys?"
Li Jiayi looked bewildered, scratching his head. "I really don't know about that."
Bai Ye's brow furrowed deeper. While it wasn't strange for robots to exist in this world of mythical civilizations, which blended immortal cultivation with futuristic technology, the idea of the Great Sage Equalling Heaven's subordinates all being robots was perplexing.
Were the bull-headed figures seen earlier also robots?
Were the two sides engaging in a robot battle?
Bai Ye felt something was off, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
Meanwhile...
The mecha-monkeys advanced towards them again.
Even the mecha-monkeys blocking the alley entrances began to move into the alley, and new mecha-monkeys appeared on the rooftops.
They were completely surrounded, from all sides.
Bai Ye remarked, "Speaking of which, it's a bit unusual for the Great Sage Equalling Heaven's subordinates to help the Fire Virtue Star Lord block us, isn't it?"
"It is a bit unusual," Li Jiayi replied. "But what's the point of discussing that now? Who cares why, let's focus on how to break out. These metal contraptions are not easy to deal with."
Bai Ye nodded. "You're right!"
As Bai Ye spoke, he surveyed their surroundings...
Whoosh!
The surrounding mecha-monkeys instantly exploded into pieces, becoming scattered components.
Bai Ye commented, "Going out like this doesn't seem so difficult after all."
Li Jiayi: "..."
Li Jiayi cursed inwardly, realizing Bai Ye had quite a few hidden tricks.
With Mechanical Reconstruction, Bai Ye was completely unfazed by these mecha-monkeys.
However, Bai Ye didn't deny Li Jiayi's point that these mecha-monkeys were indeed difficult to handle. The reason was simple: they consumed a significant amount of mental energy.
While all types of mechanical constructs were countered by Mechanical Reconstruction, using such abilities still required mental energy.
The amount of mental energy consumed varied based on size and mechanical complexity.
These mecha-monkeys were clearly of a higher caliber than the robots encountered in the City of Ruins. Bai Ye had dismantled those with no effort, but with these mecha-monkeys, he could clearly feel a drain on his mental energy with each dismantling.
However, there was good news.
...