After a long while, Elder Chang Jiang looked at Ming Zhi Tian in confusion. "Your Fire Sea Overlord... I saw the Overlord, but what do you mean by Fire Sea?"
Ming Zhi Tian smiled faintly. "You'll know if you keep watching."
Suddenly, the Fire Sea Overlord jumped into the hellish magma. It remained motionless despite the intense heat, until the arrows on its shield melted.
Elder Chang Jiang slapped his thigh. "I knew why I couldn't see the titanium alloy! It was you who took it, you brat."
Ming Zhi Tian smiled slightly. "The hellish magma's highest temperature is only fourteen hundred degrees Celsius, which cannot melt titanium alloy. I bet that even if this hellish fire burned for forty-nine days and forty-nine nights, it still wouldn't melt. By then, the winner will be clear."
The Hundred Arrow Crossbow King fired hundreds of arrows again! The Fire Sea Overlord hurled balls of hellish fire towards the Hundred Arrow Crossbow King!
No matter how many arrows were fired in volleys, they were all burned by the hellish fire thrown by the Fire Sea Overlord. The Fire Sea Overlord's defensive shield showed no signs of cracking, putting both sides in a stalemate.
Elder Chang Jiang said, "How about a draw for this third round?"
Whether it would truly take forty-nine days and forty-nine nights without melting was unknown, but metal was metal, and it would melt eventually, it was just a matter of time. Ming Zhi Tian accepted.
"Alright."
Following that, Ming Zhi Tian's energy was exhausted, and he collapsed onto the ground. Elder Chang Jiang caught him as he stumbled and embraced him, caring for him as a father would his son.
"Once upon a time, I also had a son as old as you."
"Alas, it's all in the past..."
For a long time afterward, guided by Elder Chang Jiang, Ming Zhi Tian easily advanced to level eleven in Mechanical Arts! This was the legendary level that Bai Ju had spoken of, a level that even he, who had studied Mechanical Arts for nearly a century, had not managed to glimpse the threshold of. He didn't expect to succeed in advancing so easily.
Just as Elder Chang Jiang suggested another spar, Ming Zhi Tian observed him closely and discovered that his entire face was a facade!
Ming Zhi Tian touched his hands and legs, his chest and buttocks, and after repeated confirmation, he discovered that only the upper half of his body was real. The other half was a mechanical construct, every part made of gears and components. Even his eyes, nose, and mouth were fake, except for his brain.
He then looked at Elder Chang Jiang in disbelief.
Elder Chang Jiang, sensing his curiosity, stroked his white beard and said, "Normally, after death, people retain consciousness in their brains for ten minutes. For cultivators, it's half an hour. So, I used this time to forcibly activate my bones and control the fingers I could operate, summoning mechanical parts from my storage bag to build this puppet body. Unfortunately, my skills were limited, and I could only assemble half a body. My brain is protected by the remaining soul power."
Ming Zhi Tian's interest was piqued. "Then you are truly remarkable."
Elder Chang Jiang looked at him, his eyes sparkling, and smiled faintly. "Your right hand can be fitted with a mechanical arm. Do you want it?"
"Of course!" Ming Zhi Tian had been struggling to find a solution, so if there was one, he definitely wanted to try it. "Can it be used flexibly and autonomously?"
Elder Chang Jiang stroked his white beard proudly. "Who do you think I am? They call me the God of Mechanics. Is 'flexible' even enough to describe it? It's a hundred times more flexible than the original!"
Hearing this, Ming Zhi Tian's expression was wonderfully complex. "When are you free?"
Elder Chang Jiang stroked his white beard. "I am always free."
Ming Zhi Tian immediately grabbed him. "Now, no, can you arrange it for me right away?"