socalfunplaces Chapter 74: The Final Trial
Chapter 74: The Final Trial
With a deep mechanical roar, the dark gold gate, which was over ten meters tall, slowly slid open to both sides.
Without the slightest hesitation, Hong stepped into the room, carrying the black spear in one hand.
Behind the door was a vast, hemispherical hall. The dome and walls of the hall were engraved with complex, now faded, energy patterns. In the center of the hall, the floor had long since cracked, and a humanoid puppet, its entire body a dark red, stood silently there, holding a massive sword almost as tall as itself and as wide as a door panel.
That weary voice echoed once again deep within Hong's mind.
"Your ability to easily defeat those ordinary puppets outside proves your potential. However, after countless years of erosion, the energy reserves of this ruin are almost depleted, and it is no longer able to conduct a complete final deathmatch trial for you."
"I just stripped away the minimum energy needed to keep the ruins running and forcibly poured all the remaining energy into the body of this elite guard."
Hong raised his spear, the black tip pointing at the dark red puppet, his tone cold and hard: "Defeat it, and you can take my people, right?"
The mysterious voice chuckled twice in a low voice, the laughter carrying an indescribable meaning.
"That's right. I only set its base energy at the second level of the Hengxing level."
However, be careful. This elite guard's combat chip is imprinted with advanced power generation techniques. Furthermore, its outer shell is forged from a special B7-grade alloy; within the celestial sphere, breaking through its defenses is extremely difficult.
"Come on, don't disappoint me. Let me see your strength and whether you're worth my gratitude for your appearance."
As soon as he finished speaking, the previously soft emergency red light in the hall suddenly became blinding.
The dark red puppet's mechanical crystals suddenly lit up, and it slowly raised the terrifying giant sword in its hand.
A terrifying aura, like a tangible tide, crashed down.
Hong's aura suddenly changed, revealing his sharp edge.
Without the slightest overconfidence, he activated the sixth layer of light domain to its limit with a thought.
Absolute darkness, like spilled ink, exploded outwards from him, instantly engulfing the entire massive hemispherical hall.
"Whoosh!"
The puppet moved.
Its speed was astonishing; its figure transformed into a blurry, dark red shadow, brutally tearing through the domain's suppression and appearing before Hong in an instant.
The giant sword brought up a gust of wind and, without any fancy moves, cleaved straight down towards Hong's face.
Hong's body sank, but he did not back down.
The black spear in his hand hummed as it charged forward fiercely, meeting the sword's edge, which was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks.
The surface of the spear was covered with a layer of extremely compressed primal energy.
The black spear tip struck the broad blade of the greatsword with perfect precision.
"clang--!"
The spear and the greatsword collided with a deafening roar.
The deafening clang of metal against metal echoed through the spacious hall.
A tremendous recoil force surged back along the sturdy gun barrel.
Hong's body slid backward uncontrollably for more than ten meters, his legs carving two deep, sparking furrows into the hard alloy ground.
This seemingly casual strike from the puppet unleashed a terrifying power far exceeding its second-tier Hengxing energy level. Hong quickly determined that this power was definitely equivalent to the full-force attack of a sixth-tier Hengxing martial artist!
"What a powerful and domineering technique!"
Hong forced down his surging blood and qi, steadied himself, and casually shook his slightly numb wrist.
However, the dark red puppet gave Hong no chance to catch his breath.
With a powerful stomp of his legs, the alloy floor cracked, and he pounced on Hong Kuang.
Its attack was incredibly violent, instantly engulfing Hong's figure completely.
The enormous sword seemed as light as a feather in its hand.
Thrust, flick, chop, sweep—each basic attack move is accompanied by a shrill sound that tears through the air, constantly changing the angle of attack.
This was a purely physical attack.
There is not a single fancy release of primal energy, no domain constraints or confrontations, only the ultimate efficiency of power exertion techniques and the most primal understanding of combat.
Hong could only push his movement skills to the limit, struggling to weave and dodge through the airtight gaps in the attacks. The spear in his hand transformed into a winding black dragon, constantly seeking opportunities to stab at the puppet's joints and vital points such as its chest.
However, the black spearhead colliding with the dark red armor only produced a series of dazzling sparks and left a very shallow white mark, unable to break through its defenses at all.
After just a few rounds of clashes, Hong was forced to retreat repeatedly by the puppet's exquisite combos, and his blood and qi surged continuously within his body.
The mysterious voice rang in his mind at just the right moment: "Your primal energy is stronger than its, but your technique for exerting force is inferior. You cannot break through its defenses. Once your primal energy is exhausted, this trial will be a failure."
Hong ignored everything the voice said.
Even in this intense battle, he remained absolutely calm, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter during the defensive maneuver.
The puppet's power techniques opened a door to a whole new world for him.
He no longer forced himself to fight the puppet head-on. Instead, he used the subtle perception of his domain to focus most of his attention on the unique energy flow trajectory inside the puppet's body each time it made a move.
This is a systematic, domineering, and perfect power generation technique. Even the ninth level of Thor's Nine-Fold Thunder Blade only has a power amplitude of seven times, while the power generation technique of this puppet brings a power amplitude of at least twenty times.
While using the flexibility of his spear to constantly deflect force and maneuver within the sword net, Hong also forcibly dismantled, imitated, and learned this incredible way of exerting force in this life-or-death struggle.
The black primal energy on his spear began to undergo a strange change. The energy became increasingly restrained, and he gradually gained more and more control in his parries.
He was waiting for a fleeting opening.
The intense offensive and defensive maneuvers continue.
The dark gold puppet seemed to be thoroughly enraged by Hong's slippery, mud-like attacks.
The red light in its eye lens suddenly became exceptionally bright, and the energy core in its chest, which served as the power source, emitted a high-frequency humming sound.
The puppet abruptly took a step back, raising the heavy greatsword high with both hands. A destructive force frantically condensed on the broad blade, and the surrounding air even emitted ear-piercing sonic booms due to the extreme compression of this force.
It seemed poised to end this endless tug-of-war with its strongest strike.
There was not a trace of panic in Hong's eyes.
Just as the puppet was gathering its strength, it abruptly retracted its spear. The immense power of its surrounding domain contracted in an instant. All the outward-released, suppressing primal energy of light was extremely restrained at this moment, frantically compressed onto the black spear tip.
In the dark hall, a faint yet terrifying light shone from the tip of the spear.
"Now's the time," Hong said in a low voice.
The giant sword of the dark gold golem, carrying the supreme power to split mountains and shatter rocks, slashed down furiously towards Hong's head.
This strike sealed off all of Hong's escape routes. The fierce pressure of the sword even caused the solid alloy ground to begin to crumble piece by piece.
But at this critical moment...
Hong's figure vanished mysteriously from the spot. The massive sword, having lost its target, crashed heavily onto the open ground, creating a deep, bottomless chasm.
Hong's figure appeared at the puppet's side in the next instant. The spear in his hand was like a venomous snake that had been lying in wait, thrusting out with incredible speed.
The divine spear destroys the world!
Combined with the amplitude generated by the power generation techniques he had just learned, this strike was Hong's strongest shot at this stage!
"Snap!"
The seemingly indestructible dark gold armor was finally torn apart by this extreme single-point penetrating power.
The black spearhead plunged straight in.
Without any hindrance, it pierced directly into the puppet's chest, into the complex core array.
At the tip of the gun, the primal energy of light, compressed to its limit, exploded with a deafening roar!
The energy core, which was flashing red light, suffered a devastating blow. It, along with the surrounding intricate energy-conducting metal circuitry, was instantly reduced to a pile of useless scrap metal.
The massive body of the dark gold golem came to an abrupt halt.
Those originally fierce mechanical eyes flashed red twice before going completely black.
The heavy metal body crashed to the ground, causing the entire hall to tremble violently. The giant sword in its hand also flew out with a clang.
The moment the puppet fell to the ground, a hidden side door on the right side of the hall slowly opened.
Hong immediately grabbed his gun and rushed in.
This was a small treatment room, where Yao Rao lay quietly on a cold metal table. Her standard spacesuit was tattered, her body was covered in gruesome wounds, and her breath was extremely weak.
Hong immediately strode forward, took out the wooden crystal he had prepared in advance from his spatial ring, quickly crushed it, and carefully fed it into her mouth.
Pure and abundant life energy began to rapidly repair her alluring body.
A few minutes later, her alluring eyelashes trembled slightly.
She struggled to open her eyes.
As her gaze gradually focused and she saw the familiar face with a concerned expression, the psychological defenses she had been struggling to maintain in that desperate situation instantly collapsed.
"Master..."
Her alluring voice was hoarse and choked with sobs, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. Ignoring the excruciating pain in her body, she suddenly sat up, stretched out her arms, and hugged Hong's waist tightly.
"I thought... I thought I would never see you again."
Hong was startled by the sudden embrace. He held his hands up, somewhat at a loss, unsure whether to pat them or push them away.
"It's alright. I'll take you there." Hong softened his tone and gently reassured him.
Just as the atmosphere was becoming somewhat delicate, that weary, mysterious voice once again rang out abruptly throughout the secret room, completely out of place.
"What a heartwarming reunion. To be able to find an opening in a life-or-death moment and decisively launch a fatal blow. Your combat instincts are very strong."
"You have passed the trial."