Chapter 476 - 294: Heavenly Palace Ruins

Chapter 476: Chapter 294: Heavenly Palace Ruins

Their research plans were structured in hundred-year phases, with each generation building upon the last. That was how they achieved their current level of technology.

Tianwen had gathered many Martial Saints who decided to seek breakthroughs through technology, many of whom joined later on.

After cultivating all the way to the rank of Martial Saint only to find their path forward blocked, some would try everything before finally starting over from scratch to pursue scientific research. It was a viable alternative.

With lifespans far exceeding ordinary people, top-tier learning aptitude, and the ability to fabricate precision materials with their bare hands, every Martial Saint possessed the potential to be a great scientist.

「Three days later.」 Yu Fei paid Ren Feng a total of five hundred million merit points and received the first of two sets of Mechanical Battle Armor. The other was still being rush-produced.

Because the dimensions Yu Fei provided were so extreme, many of the standard components couldn’t be used and had to be custom-fabricated.

The configuration of this suit of prime energy battle armor was even higher-spec than Ren Feng’s. A two-hour charge provided thirty minutes of operation. More importantly, it was equipped with a Burst Mode that could concentrate its energy to achieve three times the speed of sound for ten minutes.

At such terrifying speeds, an ordinary Grandmaster couldn’t hope to keep up, even if they pushed themselves to the point of coughing up blood. ℴ

Afterward, Yu Fei submitted an application to Tianwen’s external affairs department. Once his identity was verified, he prepared to head to the Tiangong Waste Domain.

Ren Feng procured a full set of equipment for him, the main item being a communicator powered by prime energy that would function in the Tiangong Waste Domain, along with matching large and small prime energy converters.

These were all items not for public sale; obtaining them without the right connections would be impossible.

For Ren Feng, however, it was a simple task. His mentor was in charge of one of Tianwen’s largest laboratories and held a status comparable to Zhuo Feiming.

Furthermore, Ren Feng provided Yu Fei with some basic, and quite reliable, information on the Tiangong Waste Domain.

After donning the prime energy battle armor and being seen off by Ren Feng, Yu Fei passed through the Cross-Border Black Fog into the other world.

The surface of the armor had a matte finish, having been sprayed with an inert material, giving it a clean, imposing look.

The armor had a small, built-in smart core that allowed for simple interaction via brainwaves.

Of course, it was far from light, weighing around a full ton.

The moment he stepped onto this land, his eyes were met with a scene like a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Collapsed buildings were everywhere, and metal scrap was strewn about. Bundles of wiring, crystals, and electronic waste were piled up in mountains.

The ground was scorched earth. Yu Fei opened his faceplate to test the air but didn’t feel the stinging sensation from the super-energy radiation mentioned in the files.

’That’s strange!’

According to the exploration data, the super-energy radiation in this realm was extremely harmful to the human body, manifesting as a burning, stinging sensation on the skin.

But Yu Fei didn’t feel a thing. In fact, it felt rather pleasant.

’Could it be... the Great Sun Glaze Body?’

’It’s said that a very small number of people are immune to this kind of super-energy particle radiation. Some Dharma Bodies are immune as well. Am I one of the lucky ones?’

’It seemed highly likely. The Great Sun Glaze Body was extraordinary; he had even managed to consume the Great Sun Golden Flame. Immunity to this type of environmental damage was probably well within its capabilities.’

He didn’t take off the armor, though. The Burst Mode made it incredibly fast, and it was a good trump card to have.

He looked toward a colossal metal fortress about ten kilometers away. It was forged entirely from steel, its surface covered by a pale blue Energy Shield—the very technology Tianwen dreamed of acquiring.

A constant stream of uniquely designed, spider-like robots moved in and out, carrying all sorts of miscellaneous materials on their backs and occasionally dropping more metal scrap.

This was a metal fortress codenamed [T-S201]. In the vicinity of the Cross-Border Black Fog, there were six such fortresses, codenamed T-S201 through T-S206.

In this world, the cities humans had built were thousands of miles away.

He recalled the information he’d read. In the early days, humanity had attempted to occupy these six fortresses, harvest their technology, and establish a city.

Later... that ended in a tragic story. The records stated that six Martial Saints died in that battle. It was only after that incident that people discovered these metal fortresses were capable of continuously deploying Martial Saint-level mechanical lifeforms.

Moreover, within a certain range, the fortresses could even coordinate their attacks. It was a fatal discovery.

Later, humanity managed to attack and occupy a damaged metal fortress a great distance away, which led to a massive leap in their technological capabilities.

Normally, these metal fortresses followed fixed patrol routes and performed set tasks. As long as one didn’t provoke them, they were harmless.

But if attacked, their combat mode would activate, and they would relentlessly dispatch increasingly powerful mechanical lifeforms to kill the intruder, stopping at nothing.

They would also record a Martial Artist’s personal data and resume the chase upon their next encounter.

The primary mission of the Shenxiao Corps, which Zhuo Feiming belonged to, was to clean up rogue mechanical lifeforms.

Over long periods, some of these metal fortresses would inevitably break down. The mechanical lifeforms within would then mutate, fall into chaos, and begin to attack all living things indiscriminately.

Stripped of their fortress and its ability to mass-produce Martial Saint-level machines, these chaotic entities became valuable resources. The Shenxiao Corps was tasked with eliminating and recycling them.

In addition, there were mechanical lifeforms that had been culled and expelled from functioning fortresses. These, too, would frantically attack any life they encountered.

He didn’t use his Pupil Skill. The data files mentioned that actively probing the mechanical lifeforms or the fortress would trigger an alert.

’It was incredible. He had no idea how they could even detect such a thing.’

A total of 367 metal fortresses had been discovered in the Tiangong Waste Domain. Eight hundred years ago, that number was 401. According to records kept by Tianwen University, the number of fortresses was dwindling, and the trend was accelerating.