Zhang Ze chose not to remove the white frost or feed it more Taisui to let the thing keep growing.

Because if this thing really was a Nine Huis, then based on his day-to-day observations of Fuji, if it kept growing, there was a decent chance it'd end up just like Fuji—splitting off a new sub-body and establishing a link with the main body.

That had already happened several times with Fuji.

Once, Fuji had plucked off a small pinch of slime mold for Zhang Ze and made him a Fuji

Radar.

By sticking another pinch in advance onto the target's body, he could use it to locate them.

Since it was a bit of a hassle to use, Zhang Ze only used it a few times before shelving it, tossing it carelessly in a drawer at home.

Until one night, when he was playing cards with Junior Sister, that drawer suddenly exploded open—a Little Fuji burst out and shouted.

"Three threes with two kings! I win! You can't keep me locked up!"

Then it whooshed away, smashing through the window and escaping, leaving the two people in the middle of a game of blackjack utterly dumbfounded.

Zhang Ze did not want this Nine Huis pulling the same stunt on him.

"Who did this? Did this Nine Huis find its own way here, or did someone plant it into those two corpses?"

Looking at the frozen-squid-tentacle-looking thing before him, Zhang Ze went over what he'd seen and heard today in Mo Pass, and the intel he'd gotten from that Dragon thief.

He suspected that the Nine Huis latching onto those two corpses was probably to replenish its nutrients.

Because aside from Lord Shang and the Gongsun clan, the other five bodies had been shipped to Mo Pass a long time ago, and under the Array beneath this Dragon Fighting Arena, most of their Spiritual Qi and origin had been drained away, turning them into air-dried hams with only a trace of Spirit Charm left.

By the time the Nine Huis got to this Mountain and Sea Secret Realm, they should've already lost all edible value.

And if it just hunted at random, it would inevitably attract the attention of that Horror Saint who wandered around everywhere.

Eating corpses really was a good solution.

The Array under this Dragon Fighting Arena could also serve as perfect cover, making its movements much more concealed.

The only question was whether this plan had been made by the Nine Huis itself.

From Zhang Ze's previous few encounters with it, and Brother Feng's brief clash with it, this thing didn't seem very bright.

However, even if it wasn't intelligent, it could still corrupt others.

According to Brother Feng, while it was fighting him for the steering wheel, it had tried to invade and corrupt him multiple times, and even succeeded briefly, but in the end it was always pushed back by Brother Feng's steely will and unwavering conviction.

As Brother Feng recalled, the Nine Huis' invasion was very subtle, not a simple takeover, but more like a kind of parasitism and hypnosis.

Once it entered you, you'd be clearly aware of its existence, and would naturally develop the urge to fulfill its wishes.

If it wanted to go somewhere, you'd think of ways to take it there.

If it wanted to eat something, you'd think of ways to feed it.

The Nine Huis wouldn't do the planning; it only laid out the conditions. All the scheming would be carried out by the host it parasitized.

So this whole thing was very likely the work of some Dragon.

And there were probably only two who could pull this off.

Lord Shang's son and the Mo Family's Giant.

He put his gear back on, left Cyan Lotus Dust.

After one last look at the now-empty Dragon Fighting Arena, with only seven Dragon corpses left, he slipped toward a high ridge.

Lord Shang's son was over there.

But when he got close, Zhang Ze stopped.

Because that area had already been sealed off by a Space

Spell.

Breaking it wasn't hard for Zhang Ze, but doing it without alerting Lord Shang's son was something he couldn't manage for now.

Like a mouse locked outside the grain warehouse, Zhang Ze circled the mountain a few times, watching Lord Shang's son stand there motionless like a statue. In the end he gave up on the idea of forcing his way through to probe him.

Zhang Ze turned and slipped toward the core of Mo Pass City, the Mechanical Hub.

...

The Mechanical Hub of Mo Pass City was the most central sector of Mo Pass City.

It was the most technologically advanced place in the Mountain and Sea Secret Realm.

Because resources were limited and could not be wasted, under the tangible giant hand of the Horror Saint, Artifact Refining Art and Mechanical Art in the Mountain and Sea Secret Realm had been monopolized by the Mo Family.

Other latecomer competitors either chose to join and become disciples of the Mo Family, or were carefully beaten into mince by the Horror Saint.

And unlike the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, which believed that "explosions are art," the Mo Family's Mechanical Art focused more on energy saving and conversion.

They pursued achieving their goals at the lowest possible cost, squeezing out the last bit of potential from every material, and after squeezing it dry, they'd still recycle the leftovers.

In their eyes, waste was the most shameful behavior.

So someone like Lily, who loved burning money and dropped bombs whenever she had an idea, would be lined up and shot here.

The Giant playing with that Transforming Great Axe wasn't because it liked Bounce Back; it was simply stingy. It felt that using its own strength to attack others was also a kind of waste.

Yet at this moment, the Mechanical Hub was filled with waste.

Inside the Mechanical Hub, it was as if invisible water had flooded everything; all motion was almost frozen and congealed.

All sorts of Mechanical Magical Artifacts floated in midair, including the Giant's Transforming Axe.

The Giant's Dragon body was the same, its jaws gaping wide, the curse it hadn't finished yelling frozen along with it in midair.

If the Restriction were to be lifted right now, the entire Mo Pass would probably hear a roar of "Xiao Yaozi, I xxx you!"

Xiao Yaozi, who had shifted from a pterosaur into an azure Dragon, swam through this invisible water, each flick of his fins accompanied by the complete destruction of a Mechanical Magical Artifact.

"My suggestion is you keep quiet, let me finish talking, and then do as I say. I don't really want to dismantle your entire Mechanical Hub either."

As he spoke, a shield-shaped artifact began to age rapidly, as though stained by time, and finally crumbled into a handful of black ash.

That had been the Magical Artifact of the previous Giant.

Xiao Yaozi said, "If you understand, blink."

The Giant's blood-red eyes blinked.

Xiao Yaozi nodded in satisfaction, swam up to the Giant's face, and got down to business.

"You guessed right—another foreign entity descended on Mountain and Sea today, though it's somewhat different from the previous ones.

"It doesn't seem to harbor malicious intent."

"Though I don't know what this one is after, the Ancestral Temple must not suffer any mishaps.

"So, neither I nor the Horror Saint will be attending tomorrow's festival.

"The ceremony to pay respects to the Saint's shed body has to be postponed."

At some point, Xiao Yaozi had already undone the seal around the Giant's head. After swallowing back the curses, the Giant asked.

"Postponed until when?"

Xiao Yaozi replied, "Postponed until the Horror Saint's injuries have healed."

The Giant, "It's injured?"

Thinking back to the fight today, that lunatic hadn't looked injured at all.

Xiao Yaozi, "It's hurt. Lord Shang's strength was somewhat beyond expectations; he's practically touched the limit of taboo. Without your giant axe, the Horror Saint would've almost fallen."

The Giant, "Then why was it still acting that crazy today?"

Xiao Yaozi, "Its brain was always messed up to begin with."

The Giant, "..."

Xiao Yaozi, "Remember, don't let outsiders learn that the Horror Saint is injured. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

With that, Xiao Yaozi was about to go.

But just as he turned, the Giant called him back.

"Get back here!"

The Giant's massive head turned with difficulty. Looking at the utter wreckage all around, its eyes reddened again as it roared.

"How are you going to compensate me?!"

Xiao Yaozi sighed, "Idiot, this is a dream."

With those words, he dissolved into a cluster of bubbles and vanished before the Giant's eyes.

A wave of weightlessness hit, and the Giant couldn't help but shudder. Then it opened its eyes.

The Mechanical Hub was silent, the doors shut tight, no one there but itself.

All those Magical Artifacts passed down in the Mo Family were perfectly intact, not a single Magical Treasure or mechanism damaged.

"It really was a dream?" the Giant muttered suspiciously.

It stood there in a daze for a long time, still a bit lost. It was starting to suspect that what it was seeing now was the dream.

Smack!

The Giant grabbed its giant axe and gave itself a thump.

"So it's really not a dream?"

Once it was sure it was awake, it muttered to itself as it walked deeper into the Mechanical Hub.

After the Giant left.

Zhang Ze stepped out from behind the previous Giant's shield. He'd caught the rough gist of the conversation just now.

Although Xiao Yaozi had been cautious and chosen to talk in a dream, he apparently had no idea that the Giant had a habit of talking in its sleep, and hadn't noticed Zhang Ze, this foreign entity, arriving.

Zhang Ze did not drop his invisibility. Leaning against the shield, he pondered.

"So the Horror Saint's injured, huh. Really can't tell.

"So the Legalist School does have issues after all, but…"

Zhang Ze glanced around.

"How am I supposed to get out now?"

He'd followed right behind the Giant's backside to get in here, and now that the Mechanical Hub was fully sealed, he was locked inside.

Looked like he couldn't get out.

As long as I don't blow this place up,