Qin Ze shattered the incoming sword energy with a single punch, and at the same time, a pillar of lightning descended onto the hillside, leveling it to the ground.
The unexpected encounter greatly excited the clones.
"Yay! A new quest has been triggered!"
"Where is the enemy? I'm ready to unleash a massacre."
"Witness my story!"
"You dare touch the mount of the Pretty God? Send it to the cycle of reincarnation immediately!"
"It's an experience baby!"
"..."
The group looked around the leveled hillside but found no trace of any living person.
The Dharma King said, "Could it be that he was struck by lightning and turned to dust?"
Qin Ze looked at the still-changing array patterns. "Still nearby."
The opponent was exceptionally skilled at concealing their presence, which reminded Qin Ze of an invincible Shelter Space.
The diameter of the array on the ground expanded to a hundred meters, and the empty space in the middle gradually developed intersecting lines.
Soon, a blood-red gear was branded onto the center of the formation.
Qin Ze frowned. "The same gear as the God of Machinery, a coincidence, or...?"
The celestial gates closed, and no more strange beasts fell; the earthly formations were now fully complete.
Qin Ze's mental energy swept outwards like ocean waves, and soon yielded results.
His gaze settled on a spot on the ground, and he murmured, "So it was hidden down there."
Brother Devour said, "It's a trapping and killing formation."
The array on the ground has been activated, and its fluctuating Space Rule and powerful killing intent can no longer be concealed.
Just as Qin Ze was wondering who this formation was for, a white figure sped over from afar.
Qin Ze sent the Abyss Puppet into the air to make way for that guy.
As they got closer, Qin Ze was able to see the newcomer's appearance clearly.
It was a humanoid creature that was entirely white.
Her limbs were slender, her head was adorned with a flower-like crown, and behind her were a pair of white, butterfly-like wings.
Strangely, Qin Ze couldn't detect any trace of the strange beast's aura from it; instead, he sensed a faint, Chaos smell.
The butterfly-like creature, in its Zhang Fei, inadvertently stepped into the array's range, instantly creating a confined space above it.
Immediately, countless phantom images of mechanical parts and gears coalesced in the void, instantly assembling into a pair of strong and powerful mechanical arms, which tightly gripped the butterfly man.
The clones started discussing this heatedly.
"The formation was prepared for this unknown creature."
"A foreigner, perhaps."
"The little thing is actually quite pretty after looking at it for a while."
I want to ride it.
"?"
I mean a mount.
Those who know, know.
"..."
Qin Ze is now completely certain that it is the power of the God of Machinery.
However, compared to both the current God of Machinery and the Unit Zero, this power of the same origin is much gentler.
Qin Ze's gaze remained fixed on the "rat" scurrying around on the ground; it was this creature that was controlling the formation.
If it weren't for the fact that this guy hadn't released his killing intent towards Qin Ze after that sword aura, Pretty God would have already stabbed him with her sword.
The butterfly-like creature struggled incessantly in the mechanical hands, its beautiful wings emitting a dazzling fluorescence.
Suddenly, Qin Ze felt a familiar force surging forward, and he quickly moved the Abyss Puppet away.
With a loud "boom," Chaos erupted within the butterfly-like being, instantly turning the surrounding space into shattered glass, riddled with cracks.
Abyss Puppet escaped in time and was not affected.
Qin Ze looked at the butterfly-like creature with great interest. "A creature capable of unleashing Chaos, how interesting."
The formation was unaffected, but the mechanical arms clearly couldn't hold on for long and were being slowly stretched open by the butterfly-like creature.
A golden mechanical gear suddenly appeared on the Butterfly Man's chest and embedded itself into his body.
boom--
A violent explosion occurred in the distance, and a mushroom cloud a hundred meters high rose into the air. Qin Ze sensed a strong fluctuation of Rule of Darkness power.
Hunting on one side, fighting on the other—when did the Abyss become so lively? It's like a New Year's celebration!
The Butterfly Man emitted a shrill whistle, like a buzzing bee, and the golden gear on its chest was shattered, while its mechanical arm was forced open.
Splash--
The butterfly man transformed into a large cluster of stars in only red, green, and blue, and vanished into the sky.
Qin Ze raised his eyebrows. "They ran away."
The robotic arm was disassembled, and the array on the ground reverted to its original state of severed limbs.
"Senior, over here."
A rat's head peeked out from the hillside that Qin Ze had previously leveled, greeting Qin Ze.
After Qin Ze retrieved his clone, he let Abyss Puppet go play somewhere far away, then landed with Miss Sword Case on his back.
"Rat Rat" pulled himself out of the ground and became a yellow rat-man.
"I was very rude just now. I didn't know that the Abyss Puppet belonged to you, senior. I hope you will forgive me."
The rat-man bowed respectfully to Qin Ze, which was quite polite.
Qin Ze sized the other person up and down.
The mouse was dressed in ordinary cloth clothes and held a staff in its hand; it possessed Level Nine strength.
Judging from his appearance, he has absolutely no connection with the Intellect Clan.
Qin Ze nodded slightly. "Since you've been polite enough, I'll let this matter drop."
The mouse breathed a sigh of relief, "Senior, this isn't the place to talk. They're about to catch up. Please, senior, hide with me for a bit."
With that, the mouse swung its cane and slammed it heavily onto the ground.
The ground beneath Qin Ze's feet instantly became as soft as a swamp, and the two of them immediately sank into the ground.
Buried dozens of meters underground, Qin Ze felt no discomfort whatsoever.
The surrounding soil seemed to disappear; I could breathe freely without any resistance.
The mouse said in a deep voice, "Senior, they've arrived."
Qin Ze looked up and saw that the ground above him had turned into transparent glass, allowing him to clearly see the outside world.
A man and a woman appeared where the formation had originally been.
The male's partial prosthetic body modification is clearly a product of the Intellect Clan.
The woman's appearance and attire were those of Little Black from the Night Clan.
The man's prosthetic eye emitted a red scanning beam, sweeping across the corpse and the surrounding space.
"It escaped, but there are still some remaining forces nearby."
The woman kicked at the wreckage beside her feet. "What's going on here?"
The man stared intently at the ground. "Someone has set up a killing formation here, using blood as a sacrifice."
The woman frowned. "The group of people we encountered earlier?"
The man nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, they're together."
"It seems others have their eyes on this lucrative opportunity."
The woman scoffed, "Snatching food from a tiger's mouth, you've got the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard, could you be Spirit Clan?"
The man replied, " The Spirit Clan disdain to do such things."
The woman asked in bewilderment, "Besides the Spirit Clan, who else can stand against us?"
The man said calmly, "Thinking isn't what weapons are supposed to do; we just need to report to our superiors."
The two circled the area a few more times, but after finding no further clues, they left.
The Ancient Race was also chasing that Little Butterfly.
The rats, who can wield the power of the God of Machinery, are not allied with the Intellect Clan, but rather stand on the completely opposite side.
Qin Ze was becoming increasingly confused.