"Huh, there really are a lot of people here!"
After the carriage stopped, Jiang Xiaobai lifted the curtain and stepped out.
The first thing he saw was a tall building.
It stood over ten stories high, built entirely of black timber and bronze, with intricate mechanism patterns visible across its exterior.
Indeed, it looked less like an ordinary building than an enormous mechanical device.
A large crowd had already gathered outside its entrance.
Some carried sabers on their backs, others swords, and there were also burly men of the martial world whose thick arms marked them as practitioners of body-hardening arts.
"Are all these people here to test that armor?"
Jiang Xiaobai turned to Pei Shen in surprise.
"Of course."
Pei Shen nodded, his gaze moving toward the crowd ahead. "The Heavenly Mechanism Workshop's mechanisms and weapons are renowned throughout the martial world."
"If I remember correctly, that battle saber your father carries came from the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop."
"Oh?"
Jiang Xiaobai raised his brows slightly.
That... was something he had not expected.
Although he had never examined his father's battle saber closely, anything Jiang Jingcheng kept constantly at his side was surely no ordinary weapon.
To think it had also been forged by the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop.
"Besides..."
Pei Shen continued, "Though the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop pays no heed to rankings in the martial world and never competes over martial prowess..."
"They have an enormous collection of martial arts manuals. Some... heh, are even the only surviving copies of works long thought lost."
"So, with the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop announcing this armor challenge and offering anyone who breaks it their choice of one item from the Martial Arts Vault or the Weapon Vault, naturally plenty of bold fighters have come."
"But why are they doing this? Surely they aren't