Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 231 - 194: Shen Qingming Says, "Screw Your Damn Romance" (Double Length)

Many say that the use of metal symbolizes the true departure of human civilization from the primitive stage, achieving a qualitative leap.

Therefore, humans always harbor an instinctive reverence for metal creations.

Even if it appears bloated, roughly humanoid, with a thick waist and short legs without a neck. Even if its structure is simple, with many vital joints and points barely covered by ill-fitting armor, like a beggar in tattered clothes full of patches. Even if it is filled with rushed and shoddy workmanship everywhere, with mismatched colors on the metal plates used for armor, and many surfaces showing pitted forging marks...

Yet, the over-seven-zhang tall Steel Giant stands in the main arena like a towering mountain, exuding an awe-inspiring sense of oppression. The moment it appeared, people seemed to return to the primitive era, seeing the tribal totems in front of the bonfire late at night, instinctively feeling an urge to worship.

This is a deadly weapon that brings immense pressure simply by existing. The 33 Defense Towers unleashed by Lu Fangchen are like sandcastles built by children on the beach, appearing insignificant.

"What the hell... what is this thing!?"

At this moment, even Lu Fangchen himself was dumbfounded, looking up at the massive figure of the Steel Giant and its suddenly lit blood-red eyes, feeling an inexplicable emotion rising in his heart.

He only knew that his heart started pounding uncontrollably, his vision narrowed, and there was no room for anything else in the world except for the seemingly sky-penetrating Steel Giant, holding his gaze captive, preventing him from focusing on anything else.

Lu Fangchen's astonishment caused a brief lapse in the flawless control of his turrets.

And his opponent would never miss such an opportunity.

In the eyes of hundreds of thousands of spectators inside and outside the arena, the giant of steel and iron took a step.

The first step was slightly clumsy, like a hibernating bear stretching for the first time after waking up. The Giant's ankle, knee, and hip joints, and all other movable parts emitted a piercing screech of metal friction, making people frown and gnash their teeth.

Boom!

Moments later, the foot landed, and after a brief yet long struggle with metal, the Giant took a small step forward, less than a fifth of its body's length. Though it caused the ground to tremble and dust to fly, it made people wonder how such a cumbersome Giant would face 33 agile, well-armed Defense Towers.

And Lu Fangchen, startled by the vibration transmitted throughout his body when the Giant's foot landed, hurried to regain control over the defense turrets and ordered them to unleash full firepower.

The 33 Defense Towers, centered around the Crystal Element Light Tower, gathered energy together, overclocking the crystal stone, firing a dazzling beam straight at the Giant's chest.

If it were a human, the first vital spot would naturally be the head, followed by the chest and abdomen. However, Lu Fangchen saw clearly that after Shen Qingming summoned this Steel Giant, its true form was hidden in the Giant's chest—a relatively balanced center point with the thickest armor on its chest.

Yet, no matter how thick the armor, it could never withstand the overclocked Crystal Element Beam. This cumbersome puppet, assuming it could act with impunity just because it was tall and heavily armored, was nothing but a joke in Lu Fangchen's eyes!

The strategy of turret defense most feared such opponents who dared to engage in frontal combat!

The next moment, the beam pierced straight through the Giant's chest, from front to back, without any obstruction.

But Lu Fangchen's pupils involuntarily contracted, and a sensation of dread welled up instantly.

With the sensory enhancement from the central control tower, he clearly saw the beam, capable of piercing metal and stone, only penetrated a phantom layer—the Giant's true body had disappeared the moment the beam was fired.

Where did it go?

The answer revealed itself at the moment Lu Fangchen pondered this question.

A powerful impact from the left shook the entire turret network, causing the twenty floating Defensive Towers, divided into upper, middle, and lower layers, to show signs of losing control like kites caught in a strong wind.

At the forefront of the entire turret network, on Lu Fangchen's left front, a Righteous Defense Tower, designed with defense as its core function, had been smashed into rubble by a massive force.

The Steel Giant, in the blink of an eye, crossed nearly a hundred-zhang distance between them, colliding head-on with the Righteous Tower with a terrifying weight of over two hundred tons, at near-sonic charge speed.

The over-seven-zhang tall Steel Giant destroyed a three-zhang high Thick Rock Defense Tower, truly like a grown man trampling a sandcastle on the beach. Not only did it destroy the Righteous Defense Tower, but it also heavily impacted the other 32 tightly connected Defense Towers.

This exposes one of the weaknesses of Lu Fangchen's turret barrage strategy. To overly control the Defense Towers, he simplified the magic for operation, connecting the 33 Defense Towers to reduce the divine sense strain. But this is akin to the chained ships tactic in river crossing battles, bearing the risk of one being damaged, all being affected.

Lu Fangchen originally believed that such a weakness could not be exploited in battles within the same realm. However, the Steel Giant's assault hit the mark exactly! And the Righteous Defense Tower, which he regarded as the defensive core, already had the strongest frontal defense among the 33 Defenses Towers. If the Righteous Tower is like this, the other Defense Towers would only be more fragile. Once the Steel Giant builds momentum, the so-called turret barrage would be no more than a paper tiger!