Chapter 658: Cannot Crack It

Since the mechanism was on the stone tablet, it meant that this was not the real underground palace; the real one might be hidden somewhere else, just not discovered yet.

“The teacher has sharp eyes!”

Luo Qiqi’s eyes lit up as she looked at Zhang Xuan, full of admiration.

As expected of the teacher she had invited with great effort, his eyesight was indeed extraordinary—he could tell at a glance that the stone tablet was problematic.

Otherwise, they would still be searching everywhere, wasting who knows how much more time.

“Just lucky!”

Yu Fei’er, standing to the side, saw her friend’s admiration and curled her red lips, snorting.

Although she knew that this Teacher Zhang was very strong and had excellent eyesight, for some reason she felt unconvinced and wanted to say something.

“Lucky? Dare to make a bet?”

Zhang Xuan looked over.

“You…”

Almost choked by saliva, Yu Fei’er gritted her teeth and quickly turned her head away.

“Let me try to see if I can open it!”

Knowing the conflict between the two and not wanting to interfere—having been beaten last time for meddling—Wu Zhen kept his eyes on his nose and nose on his heart, quickly stepped up to the stone tablet, interrupting their conversation.

Closing his eyes tightly, he gently touched the stone tablet with his palm.

Since it was a mechanism, there must be joints. By carefully observing the grain, relying on his identity as a master artisan and his control over mechanisms, he should be able to find the weak point.

“Everyone be quiet. For a master artisan to crack a mechanism, he needs to concentrate and find the grain. Once found, no matter how powerful the mechanism, it can be easily opened with little effort!”

Xing Yuan said.

Although mechanisms designed by master artisans were very powerful, they also had a method of activation—the power nodes. Once found, even the most seamless thing could be easily broken open.

“Mm!”

Everyone knew this and nodded simultaneously, falling silent. In an instant, the entire underground palace was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Controlling his breathing and heartbeat, Wu Zhen rapidly circulated his true energy, making his sense of touch more acute. Soon he had felt over the stone tablet once, pondered for a moment, and opened his eyes.

“Alright, I’ve found the node. In a moment, I’ll open the real underground palace!”

Smiling lightly, Wu Zhen’s eyes showed strong confidence.

His strength might not match Xing Yuan, Luo Qiqi, Princess Fei’er, and the others, but in mechanisms, he had great confidence.

Now was the time for him to show his prowess.

Taking a deep breath, he suddenly shook the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella in his hand.

Swish!

A sharp spike immediately appeared at the tip of the umbrella, like a silver needle, gleaming with cold light.

The spike was over a foot long, giving a chilling feel under the gentle glow of the night pearls, clearly extremely sharp.

“This is the Thousand Mechanism Spike of the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella, specially used to crack various mechanisms. Forging this single long spike requires five five-star artifact refiners working day and night for a full ten days!”

Luo Qiqi explained.

“Five five-star artifact refiners, ten days?” Zhang Xuan was astonished.

Just this slender spike, as thin as a hair, required such effort?

But thinking about it, he understood. Being so fine yet so sharp, forging it must be very complicated.

Weapons—the finer they are, the harder they are to forge.

“Mm! Only because he is a master teacher could he invite so many artifact refiners. For an ordinary person, it would be impossible to get others to help so painstakingly!”

Luo Qiqi continued.

Zhang Xuan nodded.

As the number one profession in the world, master teachers had natural advantages.

A five-star master teacher, also a genius, making friends now would bring nothing but benefits. Getting five artifact refiners to spend ten days forging a weapon was not difficult, but for other professions, it would be impossible.

Hum!

As he spoke, Wu Zhen’s entire aura suddenly gathered. His eyes widened, and with a flick of his wrist, the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella stabbed straight toward a spot on the stone tablet.

Ding!

The Thousand Mechanism Spike contacted the stone tablet, as if hitting a tiny crack invisible to the naked eye.

Squeak, squeak!

The stone tablet emitted a heavy sound, like a millstone.

“Damn, fall back!”

Hearing this sound, Wu Zhen’s confident expression suddenly changed, and he shouted loudly.

Before the shout ended, a rain-like sound came from the stone tablet. The crowd saw countless fine needles shooting toward them.

These fine needles, though fired by a mechanism, were extremely fast. If hit, though not fatal, they would cause unbearable pain.

Swish!

Knowing the danger, Wu Zhen pressed a mechanism on his hand, and the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella opened.

The umbrella cloth of the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella was made of special materials, comparable to a shield. Not only could it block these fine needles, even some sharp weapons could not break through.

If it weren’t so powerful, this item wouldn’t be so favored by master artisans, who would exhaust their fortunes to forge one.

Clang, clang!

The tough umbrella cloth blocked many silver needles, but still many shot toward the crowd.

“Fall back!”

Stepping forward, Xing Yuan flipped his wrist, and a shield appeared in front of everyone.

Knowing there might be mechanisms here, he had prepared in advance. This shield was over two meters tall and two meters wide, enough to block everyone behind it.

Whoosh!

A sound like rain hitting banana leaves, and the fine needles stopped, many stuck in the ground and in the shield.

“That was close!”

Seeing such dense fine needles, everyone broke out in cold sweat.

If Xing Yuan hadn’t prepared this item, even with their considerable strength, they would probably have been turned into pincushions, suffering unbearably.

“Are you trying to open the underground palace or kill people?”

Wiping the cold sweat from his head, Xing Yuan looked at Wu Zhen and couldn’t help shouting.

You were told to crack the mechanism, not kill people. If he had reacted a bit slower just now, this whole group might have died here.

Even with his quick reaction, four or five fine needles still stuck into him, making him burn with anger.

So confident just now, and this is what you do? Can’t you aim properly before stabbing?

“I…”

His mouth twitching, knowing he was in the wrong, Wu Zhen didn’t explain: “Every mechanism, to prevent cracking, designs several fake nodes. I found the wrong one just now. Don’t worry, this time I’ll definitely find the right one…”

Putting away the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella, he closed his eyes again, felt the stone tablet for a while, determined a node, and looked confident.

“This time it should be right, no mistake…”

“Are you sure?” Xing Yuan poked his head out from behind the shield, full of disbelief.

“Sure. If I’m wrong again, I’ll cut off my head!” Wu Zhen gritted his teeth, didn’t hesitate, and stabbed the Thousand Mechanism Spike forward again.

Having failed once, this time he would prove himself with strength!

Rumble! Creak!

The Thousand Mechanism Spike hit the stone wall, and the millstone sound came again. Before he could shout, countless fine needles flew out again.

His face turning pale, Wu Zhen was about to cry.

I felt it carefully, how could it be wrong…

“You’re asking for death…”

Before he could believe it, Xing Yuan on the side was about to explode, pulling fine needles from his face while roaring.

Can you do it or not?

Can’t you warn before stabbing? My head was still exposed… If not for using true energy to block part of the force at the critical moment, I might have died.

Even so, his face was stuck full like a hedgehog, driving him crazy.

Can’t you be more careful and find the right node before acting?

Twice in a row, are you trying to make everyone die with you?

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, next time I’ll definitely find the right one…”

Pulling out a few silver needles from his head, Wu Zhen’s mouth twitched as he put away the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella again and touched it over and over.

After who knows how long, he stopped and gritted his teeth: “This point is definitely right…”

“You… sure?” Xing Yuan no longer trusted him this time.

“I’m sure!”

Wu Zhen nodded.

“Then go ahead!”

Xing Yuan quickly hid behind the shield, concealing his entire body, not showing a bit.

Although the guy spoke confidently, he had already shot fine needles twice in a row; even a fool would be cautious.

“Mm!”

Gritting his teeth, Wu Zhen picked up the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella again and stabbed.

Creak!

This time it wasn’t the millstone sound but the sound of a spring mechanism.

“Haha, success! No problem this time…”

Hearing this sound, Wu Zhen’s eyes lit up, and he quickly turned his head.

“That’s more like it…”

Relieved, Xing Yuan poked his head out again. This sound was different from the previous two, so it should be right…

Swish!

As soon as he showed his head, a rain of needles came again, and he saw fine needles everywhere.

“Damn it!”

Xing Yuan was about to cry.

Brother, you won’t stop until you kill me, will you?

Didn’t you say no problem?

If no problem, what are these fine needles?

Actually, it wasn’t just him who wanted to cry; Wu Zhen was even more frantic.

He clearly heard the spring sound, so why did fine needles shoot out again?

Although the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella blocked part, due to carelessness, dozens of needles still stuck into him, his whole body swollen like a hedgehog.

Xing Yuan, it’s not that I want to kill you, it’s this mechanism that wants to kill us…

“I know…”

After who knows how long, finally pulling out all the fine needles from his body, Wu Zhen remembered something and twitched his mouth: “This… this seems to be a sixth-level mechanism set by a six-star master artisan…”

“Sixth-level mechanism?”

Everyone staggered.

If it was a sixth-level mechanism, what were you doing just now?

A five-star master artisan, and you couldn’t even see that?

“It’s… a sixth-level deceptive mechanism!”

Knowing what everyone was thinking, Wu Zhen said.

“Deceptive mechanism?”

“Mm, it’s a sixth-level mechanism disguised as fifth-level using special means, using fake nodes to lure people in, and each activation sound is different to confuse the opener, causing losses… I’ve only seen this kind of mechanism in books once, said to have been lost long ago. I didn’t expect… it’s here!”

Wu Zhen’s face turned pale.

A deceptive mechanism, traps within traps. Even a real six-star array master would probably fall for it, let alone him.

Master artisans specialize in making various mechanisms, a special profession with inheritance. Each level differs greatly. He was only at the early five-star level, while the opponent used a sixth-level mechanism, and a lost deceptive style. Not recognizing it was normal.

Fortunately, due to the disguise, the stone tablet couldn’t hold anything more powerful; otherwise, with just these three strikes, everyone would be mostly dead.