Eighty-One Martial Kings? Time to Boil Some Water, Everyone!
The dome of the space was inlaid with glowing Spirit Stone, illuminating the entire space in minute detail.
In the center of the space, a stone platform thirty feet high stood. The platform was composed of layers of steps, with a total of eighty-one steps from bottom to top.
The top of the stone platform--
There was a stone there.
The stone was about the size of a human head. It was irregularly shaped, with a rough surface, and its color was dark blue.
Faint patterns of light flowed across the surface of the deep blue stone. The movement of these patterns was not fixed—like the tides, ebb and flow.
The origin of the water element Principle.
The first Heaven-Mending Stone.
Su Zhan stepped inside.
His foot had just landed on the ground of the spherical space—
The steps at the bottom of the stone platform lit up.
The eighty-one steps, from top to bottom, each lit up with a deep blue light.
Then--
Something emerged from the stairs.
Emerging from the first step was a water-like figure—a semi-transparent, deep blue humanoid shape, holding a longsword also formed from water.
Level Two. Another one.
Level 3.
Fourth--
Eighty-one water-based guards emerged from the eighty-one steps.
Each guard exuded an aura between the Martial King Second Level.
Eighty-one water guardians at the Martial King Rank were arranged on each level of the stone platform, forming a seamless Killing Formation around the Heaven-Mending Stone.
Su Zhan stopped in his tracks.
"Is it another assessment?"
Within his Sea of Consciousness, the voice of the Blazing Dragon Venerate trembled with excitement.
[Blazing Dragon Venerate]: Eighty-one made of water? Burn them! Steam them all dry!
Su Zhan did not act immediately.
He stood at the entrance to the spherical space, surveying the eighty-one water guardians on the stone platform.
Each guard is about 15 feet tall. Their entire body is formed from condensed deep blue liquid energy of the Principle. They have no facial features—only a smooth, water-ball-shaped head. The longswords in their hands are also formed from water of the Principle, with sharp water- Principle ripples flowing across the blade.
Eighty-one.
The lowest Martial King Second Level. The highest level is the one at the top of the stone platform closest to the Heaven-Mending Stone — the Martial King Third Stage Peak.
One is not a problem. Two or three at the same time are also fine.
But eighty-one?
Su Zhan quickly calculated in his mind. If these eighty-one guards had the enhancement of Formation —which was very likely to be the case judging from the layout of the stone platform—then their total power in coordinated combat might be close to that of Martial Emperor level.
"Let's try their reaction mechanisms first."
Su Zhan picked up a piece of gravel from the passageway wall and threw it towards the first step of the stone platform.
The stone flew past the center of the spherical space--
The Water Guardian has recently moved.
With a swing of the sword.
The stone was chopped into powder.
The other eighty guards did not move.
"Single trigger. Only attacks nearby threats." Su Zhan noted this information down.
He threw another stone—this time aiming near the fortieth step.
When the stone reached a height of thirty-seven, the guard at the corresponding position struck and shattered it.
The guards within three levels above and below also adopted a defensive posture—but did not launch an attack.
The trigger range is level three. Hitting level one will alert levels one to four. Hitting level ten will alert levels seven to thirteen.
This design is ingenious. It's not a mass attack, but a layered defense. If you attack from below, as long as you don't rush in too quickly, you'll always be facing a simultaneous attack from three to seven guards.
However, if you fly to the middle or top and take the Heaven-Mending Stone directly, it will trigger the guard groups on the top, bottom, and sides, plus the strongest ones at the top of the stone platform.
"Fighting from the bottom to the top is too slow. Even if we fight all eighty-one Martial King one by one, we wouldn't finish by dawn."
[Nine Heavens Divine Lightning]: Flying is not an option. The space around the stone platform is anchored by Principle —if you leave the ground, all the guards will attack simultaneously.
How did you know?
[Nine Heavens Divine Lightning]: Look at the air around the stone platform. Did you notice those transparent ripples?
Su Zhan took a closer look.
Indeed. In the air between the stone platform and the spherical space wall, there are faint layers of horizontal ripples, like stress lines on glass—almost invisible, but definitely present.
Those ripples formed an "air no-go zone." Anyone who flew in would be met with a barrage of attacks from all eighty-one guards.