Facing the enraged, lunging Sanwu ghosts, Xu Nan raised his right hand. A thick black chain, as thick as his wrist, flew out from his sleeve, emitting a bone-chilling cold.
—Ghost Artifact: Earth Flood Dragon!
Xu Nan gripped the black chain and aimed it at the charging Sanwu ghosts.
*Snap, snap, snap!*
The weaker Sanwu ghosts were instantly scattered. Those with more solid bodies were flung against the mountain wall, stunned for two seconds before regaining their grip.
*Snap, snap, snap!*
*Snap, snap, snap!*
The black iron chain moved with effortless grace in Xu Nan's hands. Within a three-meter radius around him, an absolute defense zone was formed.
On the other side, the mechanical sphere grinned and charged forward. It was exceptionally excited, "Just in time!"
*Swish, swish, swish—*
Slender blades extended from its arms. Facing the lunging Sanwu ghosts, it leaned forward and swung its right arm. Instantly, a row of blades on its arm slashed out in unison.
With a tap of its toes, its tall frame spun in the air. Faster and faster it spun… The blades on both arms blurred into afterimages, forming a circle of blade light around it. Any Sanwu ghost that came close was chopped into pieces, scattering into black mist and disappearing into the air.
A few agile Sanwu ghosts, seeing this, prepared to attack the mechanical sphere’s lower body. However, they didn't expect the mechanical sphere’s transformation had only just begun.
*Swish, swish, swish—*
Slender blades popped out from the mechanical sphere's head, legs, and soles. It spun, it leaped… directly into the ghost nest below. It was like a humanoid harvester, reaping wherever it spun.
Before long, the densely packed Sanwu ghosts at the bottom of the cliff were visibly reduced in number. The ghost nest was thrown into chaos. Even the mindless Sanwu ghosts felt fear and began to crawl outwards. Some ran towards the ends of the cliff, others up the mountain wall, in their panic.
As they fled, the number of Sanwu ghosts became clear. At a glance, the mountain wall was densely covered with them, and they were even crawling onto the road. Fortunately, no vehicles were passing by at the time, or it would have caused significant disruption.
Seeing this, Xu Nan’s black chain vibrated. Ghost flames appeared along the chain.
*Crack!*
With a flick of the chain, ghost flames erupted. In front of the fleeing Sanwu ghosts, a barrier of ghost flames formed.
*Crack, crack!*
The ghost flames from the black chain splattered onto the Sanwu ghosts, growing rapidly in the air. Soon, a patch of them ignited. The burning Sanwu ghosts instinctively rolled and beat at the flames on their bodies. However, this only made the flames burn faster and spread wider, igniting some of the Sanwu ghosts that hadn't yet caught fire. In the flames, Sanwu ghosts struggled, dissolving into black mist and disappearing into the air. Before long, a large area was cleared.
…
The Sanwu ghosts behind them quickly changed direction. Some made a desperate charge, lunging directly at Xu Nan. Then, with a *snap*, they were flung away.
While blocking the fleeing Sanwu ghosts, Xu Nan reminded the mechanical sphere, which seemed to be having too much fun, "They're trying to escape!"
After a while, the mechanical sphere's voice came from the bottom of the cliff, "I know! You retreat!"
As it spoke, small iron balls with a metallic sheen and an ice-blue color flew out from the bottom of the cliff. As they collided in the air, they emitted crackling electric sounds.
*Crack!*
Xu Nan swung his chain, knocking away a Sanwu ghost in front of him, and quickly retreated. Facing such a large number of monsters, the mechanical sphere's method was more effective.
*Sizzle—*
*Sizzle—*
The electric light emitted by the ice-blue iron balls connected in the air, rapidly forming a giant electric net. The net spread out, covering the entire area around the mountain wall. At this moment, a figure flew out from the bottom of the cliff and landed above the electric net. It snapped its fingers.
*Snap!*
The electric net instantly released a powerful current, emitting a dazzling white light.
"%…%￥"
"**…%"
The Sanwu ghosts let out strange cries and were all blasted back into their original black mist state, disappearing into the air. This stirred up gusts of wind, blowing the mechanical sphere's hair and flowing skirt. Amidst the swirling grass and trees, the mechanical sphere placed a hand on its hip and gave Xu Nan a confident smile.
"Done!"
After the white light faded, Xu Nan scanned the cliff below. There were indeed no stragglers. He looked at the mechanical sphere with a hint of admiration, "Well done."
"Your progress is immense. I need to work harder too."
Although it enjoyed reading strange books, the mechanical sphere had indeed made significant progress. Xu Nan reflected on his own progress during this period and felt it was still a bit slow. He would have to put in more effort when they returned.
The mechanical sphere retracted its small ice-blue iron balls and said proudly, "Of course! When the artifact refiners from the Western Hall were here, I learned a lot by watching!" Hearing Xu Nan's latter sentence, it said nonchalantly, "You don't need to compare yourself to me. I'm a mechanical body; my path to becoming stronger is different from yours."
"Look how strong Senior Seven-Colored Egg is. Did I ever compare myself to it?"
"It's a dragon body; its evolutionary path is inherently different from ours."
Even with the same cultivation time, their fundamental natures were different. There was no need to focus on the present. Moreover, due to their fundamental differences, their upper limits would also be different. How could they be compared? The mechanical sphere was quite open-minded about this. With that time, it might as well read more books and think about how to become the group's darling… and then obtain more resources for modifying its mechanical body… Its dream was to sleep on a pile of modification resources, doing whatever it pleased!
"It's not about comparing myself to you." Xu Nan shook his head and began to clear the battlefield, tidying up the traces on the road and the mountain wall. "It's just that as fellow members of the eighteen halls, I want to keep pace with everyone." If the strength gap became too large, it would be difficult to say if he could help in the future. In times of trouble, he could only be anxious.
The mechanical sphere tilted its head, "...I don't quite understand." In its view, Xu Nan was already quite strong. As far as it knew, among those who started cultivating at the same time in the campus, none had even half of Xu Nan's cultivation.
Xu Nan didn't explain further. After clearing the battlefield, he said, "The task here is complete. Let's go back and report."
The mechanical sphere: "Okay. Let's see what the next mission is!"
…
On the way back, Xu Nan suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, I wrote a book list for you. You can check it out when you get back."
"It's not some quick-fix method, but Captain Jiang might be more receptive to it."
The mechanical sphere's eyes lit up, "Really? Really?!"
Xu Nan: "Mm." He thought that reading some scholarly books would surely please Captain Jiang.
The mechanical sphere eagerly said, "Then give it to me quickly! I'll secretly read it during class from now on!"
Xu Nan paused his action of retrieving the book list: "…" Must it be read during class?