The tomb’s entrance exhaled centuries of dust and oxidized iron. Seven hundred figures crowded the valley floor—a mosaic of sweat-slicked leather and chattering steel. Lin Hao leaned against a lightning-scarred oak, fingertips tracing the bark’s charcoal fissures. Kung Fu Fly’s compound eyes split Fang Xiaoke’s silhouette into pixelated fragments as she lingered at the mob’s rear.

  09:47 – Assault

  A mountain of muscle hefted a double-bladed axe. The weapon’s edge gleamed with predatory intent. “Witness true strength!” His bellow carried the fermented stench of barley ale. The axe struck stone—a thunderclap reverberating through bedrock.

  The tomb’s seal flared to life. Azure runes spiraled across granite, their luminescence casting skeletal shadows. The axeman flew backward, boots carving trenches in soil that reeked of crushed earthworms. His weapon clattered beside Lin Hao’s feet, blade warped like melted wax.

  09:52 – Coalition

  Five faction leaders stepped forward—their regalia stinking of camphor-oiled leather and ambition. The Eagle Claw Sect’s elder cracked knuckles resembling gnarled tree roots. “Cooperation ensures survival,” he rasped, talon-like fingernails oozing green phosphorescence.

  Energy constructs materialized—a spectral hawk, twin sabers dripping mercury, a wolf-headed mace pulsing with seismic waves. The mob’s collective roar shook dew from pine needles as attacks converged.

  10:03 – Fracture

  Granite groaned. Hairline cracks spread like spiderwebs, each fissure leaking ozone and grave mold. Lin Hao’s tongue caught the metallic tang of decaying Saint-tier energy—a flavor halfway between battery acid and blood.

  The seal shattered.

  Dust plumes billowed, carrying whispers of rusted gears and desiccated bone. Cheers erupted, quickly choked by the tomb’s first exhalation—air so cold it crystallized sweat on brows.

  10:07 – Folly

  The axeman charged into darkness. His torchlight revealed stone sentinels lining the corridor—statues pitted by time, left hands clutching spears crusted with mineral deposits.

  “Cowards!” he jeered over shoulder, voice echoing with cavernous mockery. “Treasure’s ripe for—”

  The nearest statue pivoted. A spearhead sheared through his ribcage with the wet crunch of melon rind splitting. Blood sprayed the mob’s front ranks—warm droplets contrasting with the tomb’s glacial breath.

  10:09 – Awakening

  Mechanical shrieks tore the air. Two hundred statues lurched into motion, joints screeching like nails on slate. Their eye sockets ignited with witchfire—pale green flames that cast no heat.

  The Eagle Claw elder hissed through rotted teeth. “Soulforged automatons! Their cores burn with trapped spirits!”

  Chaos erupted. A speartip impaled three men in sequence—kebabed bodies twitching as gears ground their bones to pulp. The mob fragmented, trampling the wounded in their panic. Lin Hao tasted bile rising as a teenager’s skull burst beneath automaton greaves.

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  10:12 – Observation

  Fang Xiaoke pressed against moss-slick canyon walls, Chen Wu’s dagger pricking her kidney. “Wait,” she breathed, pupils dilating to absorb every death. “Let the statues thin the herd.”

  Lin Hao’s boot nudged a severed hand still clutching a ruby ring. He crouched, feigning corpse-looting while Kung Fu Fly zoomed ahead—its lens capturing automaton attack patterns.

  10:17 – Pattern

  The constructs moved in hexagonal formations, spears interlocking like piston-driven teeth. Each kill fueled their witchfire cores—the devoured souls brightening their ocular flames.

  “Master,” Kung Fu Fly buzzed, “thermal scans indicate weak points at cervical vertebrae junctions.”

  10:19 – Intervention

  Bai surged forward—evolved muscles rippling beneath steel-bristled fur. Its mutated fist shattered an automaton’s neck joint. The construct collapsed, gears spewing black sludge that hissed where it struck ferns.

  Lin Hao’s sword severed three more spinal columns. Each kill released a wisp of screaming ectoplasm—ghostly faces dissolving into the tomb’s hungering void.

  10:25 – Threshold

  The surviving mob bottlenecked at an inner sanctum door. Fang Xiaoke’s blood droplet struck its surface—a sizzle of caramelized hemoglobin. Bronze gears whirred.

  The door yawned, exhaling air so ancient it stung lungs. Racks of crystal vials lined the walls—each containing swirling storms miniatured behind glass.

  Chen Wu’s greed overpowered caution. He lunged for the nearest shelf—

  —and dissolved mid-stride.

  Thunderbound Sentinel

  The tomb’s maw exhaled ozone and charred flesh. Fifty-three charred corpses smoldered at its threshold, their carbonized limbs frozen in final contortions. Lin Hao’s tongue registered the aftertaste—burnt keratin and ionized metal.

  10:31 – Revelation

  The Purple Thunder Rampager emerged. Seven meters of arc-welded steel and synthetic muscle fibers, its claws sparked against bedrock. Witchfire eyes cast cyan shadows across fleeing warriors.

  “Soulforged construct!” The Eagle Claw elder’s shout carried vinegar-aged authority. “Core houses a storm dragon’s essence!”

  Chen Wu pressed Fang Xiaoke against lichen-crusted stone, dagger trembling. “Your blood’s the key,” he hissed, breath reeking of garlic and fear-sweat. “Why aren’t they using it?!”

  10:33 – Stratagem

  Xie Ying’s jade talisman shattered. Golden sigils spiraled into a pentagonal killzone—the Five Directions Annihilation Array. Warriors channeled qi into the formation until the air hummed like high-tension wires.

  The Rampager retaliated. Lightning vomited from its maw, searing three mercenaries into ash sculptures that crumbled at the breeze’s touch.

  10:37 – Convergence

  Lin Hao’s retinal display flickered with thermal overlays. “Master,” Kung Fu Fly buzzed, “construct’s weak point triangulated—third thoracic vertebrae junction.”

  Bai’s mutated form quivered with restrained violence. Steel quills along its spine vibrated at frequencies that made nearby pebbles dance.

  10:39 – Execution

  The array constricted. Golden chains materialized, binding the Rampager’s limbs with shrieking metal-on-metal protests. Xie Ying’s talon-hands glowed viridian. “Now! Strike its—”

  Lin Hao moved first.

  Devourer Sword cleaved air with event horizon darkness. The blade struck the specified vertebrae—a black hole consuming lightning. The construct’s roar became a dying turbine’s whine as its core overloaded.

  10:41 – Detonation

  Saint-tier energy erupted. Warriors became silhouettes in the blast’s X-ray glare. Lin Hao’s draconic scales deflected shrapnel that embedded itself in oaks like metallic ticks.

  When the light faded, the Rampager stood frozen—a statue once more. Smoke curled from its ocular cavities, carrying the stench of fried circuitry and dragon’s bile.

  10:43 – Opportunism

  Chen Wu lunged. His dagger drew a ruby trail across Fang Xiaoke’s palm. “Open it!” he snarled, flinging her bloodied hand toward the inner sanctum door.

  The tomb drank her essence. Hieroglyphs ignited—crimson circuitry spreading across obsidian slabs. Gears ground like giants chewing gravel.

  10:45 – Threshold

  Wu Kuang’s inner chamber yawned. Racks of storm vials lined walls—each containing miniature hurricanes that howled against glass. A skeletal figure sat enthroned, finger bones clutching a staff crackling with captive lightning.

  Chen Wu’s greed overpowered survival instinct. He reached for the nearest vial—

  —and disintegrated mid-stride.