The moment the fragments leave the groove, the ancient steel tree suddenly makes a shrill sound of metal rubbing. It was as if countless gears were flipping inside, or as if a sleeping giant was stretching. Feng Hao's robotic arm was burning hot with the fragments at the same time. He took a step back subconsciously and saw the trunk of the ancient tree unfolding layer by layer, the gear blades spreading out like a peacock spreading its tail, and finally weaving a hemispherical defense cover in mid-air.
Each blade of the shield was embedded with a spirit vein crystal, and the red and yellow talismans flowed among the crystals, colliding with the afterglow of the electromagnetic sword qi left by Feng Hao. The splashes of light fell on the flying swords of the cultivators of the Qingxiao Pavilion, making the sharp blades lose their luster in an instant, like snakes whose bones had been removed.
"Stop them!" The thunderous dust once again turned red and shot towards the shield. But as soon as the dust touched the leaf, it was bounced away by the bluish-purple light, which carried the scent of Chaos Protocol fragments, making the purification runes on the dust siep as if they had encountered a Nemesis.
"The ancient tree acknowledges your 'fusion'." The old dean's voice came from deep within the tree, with an electric current noise, but could not hide his relief. "It has waited for three hundred years in this forest, just for someone who can make the psychic and the mechanical speak well."
Feng Hao looked down at the fragment in his palm, and the gears and runes on both sides of the metal sheet were glowing, in perfect sync with the frequency of the shield. He suddenly realized that it wasn't they who had found the fragments, but the fragments, along with the ancient tree, had chosen them.
"A bunch of good-for-nothing! Not even a broken tree?" Zhao Kun's roar came from outside the defense line, followed by the hum of the mecha gun barrel charging. The muzzles of the three Iron Eagle Guard mechs were aimed at the ancient steel tree, and the psychic crystals on the muzzles glowed blackish-purple. They were compressed to the extreme "psychic annihilation guns" - said to be able to shatter the entire Spiritual Vein mountain.
"Even the trees dare to help the outlings?" Zhao Kun's mecha searchlight shone on the shield as if looking at an unsightly piece of trash. "Let's destroy it together! Blow me!"
Three shells, dragging blackish-purple tail flames, rushed towards the ancient tree, the air was torn apart by this force, the forest's spiritual veins trembled, the leaves of the defense shield began to shake violently, the light of the spiritual vein crystal flickered, as if it was about to give up.
The cultivators of the Clearsky Pavilion instinctively backed away, Lei Li looked at the cannonball, and dust suddenly stood in front of him - he himself was not aware of this action.
Just as the shell was about to hit the shield, fragments from Feng Hao's palm suddenly flew out and floated in the middle of the shield. The light of gears and runes burst to the extreme, and the blue-purple psychic energy flowed along the blades of the shield, forming a Dao vortex in mid-air.
What's that? A warning suddenly popped up on Zhao Kun's mecha screen.
The cannonball plunged into the vortex, and the blackish-purple energy did not explode; instead, it was gradually decomposed and reassembled by the vortex. The fragments spin at the center of the vortex, converting the absorbed energy into blue-violet beams, three beams like precise boomerangs, shooting back along the same path, faster than the shells.
"Boom!" Boom! Boom!"
Three loud explosions followed one after another, and the three mechs that fired the shells were instantly devoured by their own energy. Fragments of parts and psychic crystals flew all over the air, and even Zhao Kun's main mech was pushed back three meters by the air waves. In the cockpit, Zhao Kun's mechanical prosthetic hand crushed the control lever, his eyes fixed on the defense shield, and for the first time felt fear - it wasn't brute force, it was the "symbiosis" he could never understand.
The light of the shield stabilized again, even brighter than before. The leaves of the ancient steel tree swayed gently as if clapping hands, and the light of the spirit vein crystal fell upon everyone, carrying a healing warmth. Feng Hao's mechanical arm resonated with the fragments again, and the metal sheet suddenly flew back into his hand, with a new pattern on it, pointing deeper into the forest.
"It's showing us the way." The voice of Lin Banxia came from behind. She and Chen Mohen had already rushed over. The light of the symbiotic liquid interwoved with the shield. "It's the next fragment of the Chaos Protocol."
Lei Li stood at the edge of the defense line, looking at the impregnable defense shield and then at the dust in his hand. In the red light of the dust, there was a hint of bluish-purple light that had just been touched by the rebound of the shield, but it was not purified; instead, it made the dust more flexible.
"Master Lei, what are you standing there for?" One of the disciples of Qingxiao Pavilion shouted, "That tree is evil, we..."
"Shut up." Lei Li interrupted him, and dust suddenly turned to Zhao Kun's line of defense, "Deal with these lunatics who use psychic power as explosives first."
Feng Hao looked at Lei Li's back, then at the ancient tree that was safe and sound behind the shield, and suddenly laughed. He grasped the fragment, and the psychic power of the mechanical arm interwove with the light of his companions' wristbands.
The steel tree continued to guard behind him, and the rustling of its leaves seemed to say: The road is long, but don't be afraid.
Zhao Kun's mecha steawed in the air waves, the searchlight swept past Lei Li's back, and suddenly sneered: "Old fellow of Qingxiao Pavilion, are you going to help the outcast?" His mechanical prosthetic hand pressed on the sub-console. "Iron Eagle Guard, listen to the order and count this group of wobbly good-for-nothing from Qingxiao Pavilion as targets and purify them together!"
"You dare!" Lei Li's dust red light soared, this time without hesitation, directly blocking the shield. The cultivators of the Qingxiao Pavilion looked at each other. A few young cultivators held their flying swords tightly, but did not rush towards the ancient tree. Instead, they aimed at the Iron Eagle Guard's mechanical armor - they might not understand "fusion", but would not allow outsiders to order the Qingxiao Pavilion.
"The dog bites the dog." Chen Mohen stroked his chin and laughed. The talisman paper spun around in his palm. "Do you want to add some fire?"
Yan Yuanxiu's data stream had already drawn a comparison chart of the combat power of Qingxiao Pavilion and Iron Eagle Guard on the ground: "The point of their contradiction lies in the 'purified object'. Zhao Kun considers all 'non-pure mechanical' to be outliers, while Lei Li regards the Iron Eagle Guard's 'Spiritual Energy Annihilation cannon' as a desecration of the spiritual vein." The data stream suddenly formed a "fanning the waves" arrow pointing to Lei Li's dust, "using Lei Li's hand to weaken Zhao Kun."
Lin Banxia's symbiosis liquid suddenly splashed onto the defense shield, the pale golden liquid merged with the blue-purple psychic energy, and tiny spiritual grass immediately grew on the leaves of the defense shield, the grass leaves coiled around the gears to grow, adding a bit of vitality to the originally cold machinery. "The energy of the ancient tree is running low." She pointed to the Spirit Vein crystal, where the light was already dimming. "We have to help it."
Feng Hao nodded and stuck the fragments of the "Chaos Protocol" onto the defense cover. The fragment immediately merged with the cover, the gear pattern spread along the blade, and wherever it passed, the spirit vein crystal shone again, even more brightly than before. The steel tree made a long humming sound, as if thanking, and the roots suddenly emerged from underground, entwining the tracks of Zhao Kun's mecha, leaving the iron lumps immobile.
"A bunch of traitors!" Zhao Kun's roar was filled with rage. He never expected the situation to turn out like this - Qingxiao Pavilion rebelled, ancient trees were tangled up, and even his own mecha was entangled. He pressed the last button, "Activate the backup plan and release the 'purification spores'!"
The storage compartment of the mecha opened, and countless black spores floated into the air. Wherever they passed, the psychic plants withered instantly, and even the leaves of the shield were corroded into small holes. "This is poison extracted from the essence of the spirit vein," Zhao Kun said with madness, "I see how long you and this broken tree can hold on!"
The thunderous dust immediately blocked the front of the disciples of Qingxiao Pavilion, and the red light formed a barrier of Dao, but it could not stop the infiltration of spores. One of the young cultivators inhaled the spores and coughed on the spot, his spiritual veins disordered like a tangled ball.
"Use this!" Lin Banxia threw the symbiotic liquid at Lei Li, "neutralizes the toxicity of the spores!"
The moment Lei Li caught the bottle, the dust resonated with the symbiotic liquid, adding a hint of gold to the red light. Without hesitation, he splashed the liquid onto the barrier. The spores, upon contact with the liquid, immediately turned into harmless water vapor, and even the withered psychic plants sprouted new shoots.
"You..." Lei Li looked at Lin Banxia, then at the fragment in Feng Hao's hand, and suddenly sighed, "Perhaps the runes of Qingxiao Pavilion should really be changed."
He raised his hand and made a new sword spell. This time, the runes were no longer red and yellow but mixed with silky blue and purple. Dust carried the runes and flew towards Zhao Kun's mecha, hitting the spore launcher precisely. "Qingxiao Pavilion, do not associate with those who poison the spirit vein."
Zhao Kun's mecha was completely out of control, its tracks entangled in the roots of ancient trees, its spore launchers destroyed, and the few remaining mechas retreated step by step under the double attack of Thunder and defense covers. He looked at everything before him, the mechanical prosthetic hand suddenly failed, and garbled characters popped up on the screen - the "absolute rationality" he was proud of shattered like a pile of scrap iron in the face of the power of symbiosis.
The defense shield of the ancient steel tree gradually retracted, the gear blades reassembled the trunk, but the light of the spirit vein crystal was brighter than ever before. Finally, the old dean's voice rang out: "The road must be walked by oneself."
Feng Hao put the fragments away, and the new patterns on them pointed to the depths of the rusted waterfall, where the second fragment of the Chaos Protocol was. The companions' wristbands lit up at the same time, making a final resonance with the spirit vein of the ancient tree.
"Let's go." Feng Hao glanced at Lei Li, and the other's dust nodded gently.
They crossed the fading battlefield, with the ancient steel tree standing still behind them like a silent guardian.