"Relax. Yue'er is far stronger than you think." Goku said it lightly. He glanced back at the advancing bronze ranks—axes chopping closer—and casually drew the demonic sword. A single, unhurried flick sent a line of cold light flashing out.
Silence fell. The descending axes froze mid-arc.
Before Rong and the others, dozens of bronze soldiers suddenly split neatly at the waist. Their upper halves slid aside, mirror-smooth cut faces gleaming—then crashed to the floor in a roar of iron on stone.
"A-amazing…" Tianming stared, stunned, at the bisected statues.
Even Yue Shen couldn't hide how shaken she was. Those were solid bronze. For most masters, cleaving one or two would already be a feat—yet Goku had severed scores with a single casual swing. Unthinkable.
Ahead, Yue'er moved. She clenched her small fist; her aura surged, hair lifting in the gale. She punched—wind howled like dragon and tiger; a golden beam burst forth like a rainbow spearing the sky.
Dang!
The beam slammed into the giant bronze guardian's chest. With a grinding roar, it bored through the breastplate, pierced clean through, and only then punched a yawning hole in the far stone wall. The cavern shuddered; dust rained down.
"Th-that strong…?" Tianming's jaw hung open.
Rong and Yue Shen exchanged a look—hard to reconcile such destructive force with Yue'er's slight frame.
With a final clang, the titanic statue collapsed into disjointed pieces—scrapped by a single blow.
"Brother Goku! Got it." Yue'er skipped back, grinning, holding up the inscribed plaque: Fēi Gōng (非攻, Non-Aggression).
---
"Fēi Gōng…" Rong's cool face flickered with rare surprise.
"What's that?" Tianming craned closer. This was supposed to be his prize; somehow he'd ended up playing extra.
"Fēi Gōng is the Mohist ancestral arm—crafted by the Founder and improved by successive Chieftains. It's the supreme weapon of the Mohist lineage, hidden here in the deepest test," Rong explained.
"Supreme weapon? Looks like a… metal slab," Tianming said, eyeing the plate in Yue'er's hands.
Goku took Fēi Gōng, pressed a concealed catch—its segments shifted with crisp clicks, forming a sword. Another press—now a shield. Another—an arm-mounted crossbow.
"No wonder it's the Mohists' supreme arm. It distills all their mechanism lore," Rong breathed.
"Whoa, it is a weapon—transforming and everything! Let me try!" Tianming's eyes sparkled.
"I already said it was yours. Take it," Goku said, handing Fēi Gōng over. "Come. Shaoyu should be finishing up—hmm?" His gaze sharpened; he reached forward. Space rippled—and Shaoyu suddenly appeared before them.
"Ahhh!" Shaoyu arrived mid-yell, clutching a majestic long spear.
"Shaoyu? You scared stupid? What's with the shouting?" Tianming yelped, then clapped his hands over his ears.
"How…?" Yue Shen stared, for once visibly rattled. Separate trials in different corridors—yet Goku had plucked Shaoyu across space as if moving a chess piece. Is he even human? Awe and wariness tangled tighter in her chest.
Rong, too, was wide-eyed. Every step with Goku revealed some fresh impossibility—and drew her curiosity like a tide.
"B-Brother Goku? How did I get here?" Shaoyu blinked around. "I fell into a trap. How am I—?"
"Thank Brother Goku," Yue'er chimed. "He shifted you here with his divine art."
Shaoyu bowed, earnest. "You've saved me again. If not for you, I'd have been skewered like a beehive down there."
Goku's brows knit. By rights, the King's Way trap shouldn't have been fatal—yet without intervention, Shaoyu would indeed have died. He focused; light stirred in his eyes, as if parting the veil of fate. Shaoyu's future unspooled before him like a film.
'So that's it… His destiny has already been altered by me. The original path is gone. A 'certain-death' node was removed, but disasters he once would have dodged may now strike from the side. Fate is… intricate. Not something mortals can freely rearrange.'
Goku's voice turned stern. "The manual I gave you—you must train it diligently from now on."
"I understand, Brother Goku." Shaoyu hefted the long spear he'd brought back from the King's Way. "It's called the Formation-Breaking Overlord Spear. I won't waste your guidance."
Tianming whistled. "That your 'reward,' then?"
"Seems so," Shaoyu said, pleased. "Impressive, isn't it?"
"Tch. Big deal." Tianming brandished Fēi Gōng. "Behold the Mohists' supreme weapon!"
"Just a sheet of iron?" Shaoyu snorted.
"Watch and learn." Tianming thumbed the mechanism; Fēi Gōng flowed into a longsword, edges limned with faint blue glow. "Well?"
"Huh. Clever. Swaps forms on the fly. Mohist craft indeed," Shaoyu admitted.
"Let's head back," Goku said. "Dawn's close. A hard fight is coming."
With Goku leading, every remaining trap might as well have been ornamental. They left the forbidden grounds without another hitch.
---
Back at the guest quarters of Da Siming and Shao Siming, the two were asleep. The moment Goku stepped through the door, however, a figure sprang from the bed—Da Siming, crimson-hued hands flaring with murderous light, slashing straight for him.
Goku tapped her wrist. Her strength collapsed in an instant; she fell bonelessly into his arms. The familiar warmth of him made her start.
"You're bold—ambushing me?" Goku chuckled, holding the suddenly pliant Da Siming.
"L-Lord Goku?" Panic flickered in her eyes. "Forgive me—I didn't know it was you…"
"If you can't even sense me, that does deserve punishment," he said, smiling wickedly—utterly unembarrassed. In his mind, the Siming sisters were already his women. No need to stand on ceremony.
"L-Lord Goku…" Even the ever-composed Da Siming flushed scarlet, heart hammering. Fear of him kept her from resisting; she could only tense and endure.
At the threshold, Yue Shen paused at the unexpectedly intimate scene, a rare flicker of awkwardness touching her cool features. The merciless, unblinking Da Siming—so meek? Unbelievable.
Then a velvet-soft, teasing voice drifted from the doorway. "My, Da Siming. I thought only your hands trained to blood-red. Seems your face has practiced too."
"…Chi Lian, you're here?" With the "official wives" present, Goku finally released Da Siming. Many wives make for solid nerves; even being caught red-handed, he remained serenely unruffled—such is a man's poise.
"Why—did we interrupt something?" Xue Nu stepped in behind Chi Lian, amusement dancing in her eyes. Moonlight framed her like an immortal in white, jade flute gleaming in her hand—ethereal and devastatingly beautiful.
____
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