Black Blade

The scene shifted to Ye Feng and Yu Xiaoxiao.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Deep inside a cavern, steam-punk machinery was embedded in the walls.

Yu Xiaoxiao thrust her blade at a tricky angle into the joint between a mechanical life-form's neck and torso, severing the transistor that powered its core.

She pried open the copper plate covering its chest and removed the core inside.

Returning to the central circular lift, she regrouped with Ye Feng. They placed the eight cores they had collected into the grooves around the lift. The cores supplied power, steam drove the gears, and the enormous lift slowly rose toward the uppermost area of the secret realm.

"Yu Xiaoxiao, are you all right?"

Ye Feng's strength was astonishing. Protected by the "Living Demon Armor," he had barely been injured as they advanced through the secret realm.

By comparison, Yu Xiaoxiao's assassination techniques were far less effective against metallic life-forms.

These metallic constructs thought nothing like humans. They fought through optimized programs implanted in their brain centers. Assassination techniques designed around human reactions and perception were useless, leaving Yu Xiaoxiao no choice but to fight them at close range.

During an earlier battle, a mechanism had been triggered, causing a metallic life-form to suddenly go berserk and pierce through Yu Xiaoxiao's lower left abdomen.

"The special energy-metal residue is preventing the wound from healing, but it didn't damage any organs, so it won't affect my fighting."

Yu Xiaoxiao wrapped a white bandage all the way around her slender waist, then tested her movements. Her actions were unaffected.

"We've advanced quite a long way through the secret realm. Along the way, we've deciphered three secret phrases and overcome two layers of complex mechanisms.

"The top floor should be where the 'item' for this assessment is stored. Naturally, the designers