Once Upon A Time, There Was A Spirit Sword Mountain

“What is Gundam?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, don’t mind it.”

After the initial consternation, Wang Lu soon realized that the similarity between the metal puppet that he saw and the Gundam was not a dramatic coincidence, but rather the most reasonable result.

Sun Buping was right. To make up for the as-different-as-heaven-and-earth power gap with the Fallen Immortals, they had to rely on external objects. However, no matter how sharp the divine weapon was, it could not cover up the user’s weakness. Even if it was the sharpest sword, if it fell to the hands of a child, it was hard to say which one was the threat.

If the flaws were to be completely covered, then the ability of the user had to be strengthened. However, in this way, it was tantamount to returning the problem to the original point—if there was a way to make a cultivator’s own strength surpass that of the Fallen Immortal, then what external object that could be made with painstaking effort to achieve that?

A human-shaped puppet was the perfect solution to these two contradictions… However, it was inevitable for Wang Lu to be shocked when he suddenly saw this kind of thing in the immortal cultivation world.

After he understood this situation, Wang Lu put down his surprise and asked, “Thank you Senior for telling me such a long story, but…. Why do you want to tell me this?”

Sun Buping’s Gundam was indeed powerful, but that was obviously his own vehicle, which had nothing to do with him, an outsider. Moreover, this divine weapon took Sun Buping thousands of years to build, so obviously, there would not be a second one. And if it was really superior to all the immortal weapon rank since ancient times, then there was no need for the second one… So, in conclusion, the previous story of Gundam, what did that have to do with Wang Lu?

‘Since you are so powerful, then drive that Gundam and sweep away those Fallen Immortals. I will surely cheer you up.’

Sun Buping smiled and said, “I’m going to die.”

Wang Lu asked in surprise, “You haven’t yet recovered from the injury sixteen thousand years ago? Or did you fall into Black’s trick?”

Sun Buping said, “I will soon reach the end of my lifespan.”

“Your lifespan will end soon?” Wang Lu felt that this reason was ridiculous. The leader of the magnificent Earth Immortals was going to give up at this critical moment because of this reason?

“There’s no such thing as immortality in the world, and there’s never a cultivator, no matter how powerful he or she is, who lived as long as the world. My normal lifespan is around eight thousand years, and I have lost half of it in many fierce battles with the Fallen Immortals. Then, in the Tomb of Immortals, I tried my best to extend my life continuously. But, by the end of ten thousand years, the oil in my lamp of life finally ran out. By now, I have overdrawn my lifespan for two thousand years. I didn’t expect that after more than ten thousand years, the Tomb of Immortals had not been opened, and the Fallen Immortals also didn’t appear. Fortunately, however, I have finally completed this peerless divine weapon.”

Sun Buping said as he sighed in amusement, “When I first started to build it, I thought that even for the rest of my life, I could only finish at most a rough framework, which required someone from the later generations to take over to complete it. As a result, I actually worked hard on my own and built it till it finished.”

Wang Lu was silent for a while and asked, “Then… after you complete this miraculous result with great difficulties, do you plan to leave the world in peace?”

Sun Buping said with a self-deprecating smile, “I’m afraid there’s no peace to be talked about. I have overdrawn my lifespan for two thousand years, if there’s a reincarnation, I’m afraid that I will have to reincarnate in the animal kingdom for ten thousand years to pay off this debt. And if there’s no reincarnation, I would probably be struck by Tribulation Thunder after my death. But in any case, I’m sure that my time is running out… Sorry, that was a bit long-winded.”

“It’s okay. It’s understandable…” Wang Lu said, “However, back to the original question, what do these things have to do with me?”

If Sun Buping died of old age, there was still Senior Gem Emperor who would take over his place. If there was something wrong with Senior Gem Emperor, there was still Bai Ze, Xuan Mo, and the entire Union of Ten Thousand Immortals… Why did he have to go through a lot of hardship just to find someone as insignificant as Wang Lu to talk about it?

“Because I need you to drive it.”

“Me?” Wang Lu’s eyes widened incredulously, and then he turned to look at the metal puppet, which was more than three thousand meters tall. Although the big guy didn’t move, the cold sense of existence made people gasp for breath. Wang Lu had no doubt that even if he tried his best to fight it, he wouldn’t even be able to resist its little finger.

In terms of what could be seen from the surface alone, although this giant puppet looked crude, the body was built from countless small basic component parts. These basic component parts had a varying degree of size, from as big as fists to as small as a grain of sand. And each component part was engraved with complex and fine inscriptions. Finally, under the strong control of the center, it maintained a unified structure.

This kind of structure was not in the novel. Wang Lu once learned the basics of puppet making. The puppet produced in this way had functions that were extremely comprehensive. However, the drawback to this was that the strength of the primordial spirit required to control it had to be huge. If Wang Lu were to drive this thing by himself, it was likely that if his primordial spirit bridged with the control center of this big guy, he would be overwhelmed by the powerful signal surge.

However, Sun Buping wouldn’t joke about such urgent matters.

Thus, Wang Lu said, “Give me a reason that makes sense.”

Sun Buping said, “Because you have Void Spirit Root.”

Void Spirit Root… Wang Lu closed his eyes. The reason was indeed compelling.

One of the biggest characteristics of Void Spirit Root was that the access port between the Jade Mansion and the outside world was very spacious, almost unlimited even. When Wang Lu was still in the Qi Cultivating Stage, he could cause a tidal reaction from the surrounding spiritual energy. Now his cultivation had progressed to Yuanying Stage, the access port was probably comparable to that of an immortal. However, if that was the case, it meant that…

“This thing doesn’t require a primordial spirit to operate?”

“There’s no requirement for the strength of the primordial spirit, but the requirement for the primordial spirit is more severe… As for the specific circumstances, you will know if you go up there and try it.”

“… Okay then, I won’t be polite.”

Wang Lu leaped to more than one thousand meters high and entered the central control room of the metal puppet and sat on the throne in the center of the control room.

Just when he was wondering where the big guy’s joystick and other devices were, the door of the control room suddenly slammed shut. Then a red liquid, like a waterfall, poured into the room through the holes in each wall of the room, which soon filled the entire control room. Seemingly comprehending something in his mind, Wang Lu took the matters calmly and allowed the liquid to soak him up.

Soon, the red liquid filled the room. Wang Lu took a deep breath and let the liquid flow into his stomach and lungs.

The next moment, Wang Lu felt that his world was fragmented, his field of vision extremely stretched, and the rolling sound of liquid in his ears was twisted into strange notes… When he became aware again, a dark red short mound appeared in his field of view. The sky overhead suddenly appeared lower by a lot, as if it was within reach.

　　”?!”

Wang Lu felt a bit weird. He hesitated for a moment and then tried to raise his hand.

Then he saw two shiny metallic palms.

Boom!

Several hundred sounds of thunder seemed to explode simultaneously in his mind, which truly shocked him. When Wang Lu’s awareness returned, he found that he was already outside of the puppet, with Sun Buping and Senior Gem Emperor on both sides, looking concerned.

“… What happened just now?” Wang Lu shook his head, still feeling dizzy. Fortunately, there were no other side effects.

Sun Buping explained, “It’s a rejection reaction due to low synchronization rate.”

“Synchronization rate?”

“This puppet is not a cold prop, but rather a divine weapon with life. If you want to control it, you need to synchronize your mind with it. When you are able to achieve this and communicate without hindrance… It’s like you incarnate into it, and you’ll possess great and invincible power. And what I call synchronization rate is a unit that measures the level of synchronization…”

“Wait a moment, I don’t quite get what you said…” After listening to Sun Buping’s explanation, Wang Lu felt that the headache became more and more severe. “First, let’s make sure of some problems. First of all, driving this big guy, the risk should not be small right? For example, let’s not talk about if the synchronization rate is too low, but rather If it’s too high…”

Sun Buping was surprised by Wang Lu’s question, “Did you think of this step all of a sudden? Amazing. As you guessed it, the risk of driving it is high. The synchronization rate is one of the important factors. When the synchronization rate is too low, the power of the puppet could not be exerted. But if the synchronization rate is too high… You will be assimilated by it. Because compared to it, you are too weak.”

“This setup is really…” Wang Lu shook his head and asked, “The second question. In the beginning, when you made this puppet, it should be tailored for yourself, right?”

Sun Buping nodded and replied, “Yes, but the plan can’t keep up with the changes. Although I finished building it, I lost the chance to drive it by myself.”

“In that case, it’s more appropriate for your wife, Senior Gem Emperor to drive it. She and you are husband and wife for many years, so she must have known more about the thinking of the big toys you made by hand than me. At the same time, with her powerful strength, it is difficult for her to be assimilated…”

“Well, from a steady point of view, she is more suitable than you.” Sun Buping said, “In the beginning, I did arrange her to drive it. But… the rejection effect is more serious than I expected. She has no Void Spirit Root, and as a part of the center in the control room, she will inevitably be hurt by the energy bombardment from all directions. At the same time, although she and I are married and are familiar with each other, there are great differences in our temperament and philosophy in life, hence it is difficult to improve the synchronization rate to the highest level. The most important thing is… she fell into Black’s trap and is seriously injured, and there’s no hope of recovery for at least a few decades.”

When he heard this, Wang Lu glanced at Senior Gem Emperor in surprise. He found out that although she always showed a cool and calm demeanor, she was actually in a terrible condition. It was not an exaggeration to say that her body was covered with bruises. One of her arms was seriously burned. At the same time, one of her eyes was also blind, with blood that kept flowing out from within…

Sun Buping said, “Of course, it’s okay if you really don’t want to drive it. Gem will stick it to the end.”

“Okay, okay.” Wang Lu waved his hand and said, “When it comes to this, do you really want me to watch a cute loli to die without doing anything? I’ll drive it… Oh, by the way, I want to ask you one last question. This big guy, what’s its formal name?”

“I haven’t thought about naming it yet.” Sun Buping said, “This thing is something that I’ve worked all my life for, and what’s more, it encompasses the desire of countless people for victory and happiness. So, I am going to name it…”

“Genesis Evangelion.”

“Enough, change its name now!”