As Mulan raised her fist to smash at the Taoist priest, the priest instinctively turned into a wisp of red mist to dodge.
Just as Mulan's heavy slash had failed to hit the Taoist priest before, Mulan's fist also failed to touch him.
But…
This was clearly a mistake!
As the Taoist priest's body turned into red mist, his control over the Heart of Dawn weakened.
In an instant, arcs of electricity appeared around the Heart of Dawn. Affected by the magnetic field vortex, the Heart of Dawn instantly flew up, spinning continuously with the airflow vortex, heading towards Bai Ye.
The Taoist priest roared, "Stop him!"
In an instant, everyone abandoned their struggle against the magnetic field's pull and used the suction to rapidly close in on Bai Ye.
But it was too late!
The moment Bai Ye saw the Heart of Dawn flying towards him, his eyes lit up. He then raised his fist and smashed it towards the ground.
With a boom!
Bai Ye's fist struck the ground, followed by the sound of an explosion.
Amidst the explosion, a large amount of flames erupted from Bai Ye's fist, spreading out along the ground in all directions. They then surged upwards, forming a ring of fire that forcibly blocked everyone.
Then…
Bai Ye leaped up, grabbed Mulan's greatsword that was floating in the magnetic field, raised it high, and swung it forcefully towards the Heart of Dawn.
"Shatter for me!"
With a clang!
Bai Ye's sword struck the Heart of Dawn, directly slashing it towards the ground.
The moment the Heart of Dawn hit the ground…
Crack!
A crack appeared on the Heart of Dawn, and then…
The sound of shattering echoed!
The Heart of Dawn didn't just crack; under that single sword strike, it turned into crystalline powder and scattered in all directions.
And with the destruction of the Heart of Dawn…
The ancient mechanical giant's body suddenly froze.
Its crimson eyes lost their glow, its body remained in a forward-leaning posture, its right arm held high, clenched into a fist, poised to strike.
However, that fist would never fall.
And…
The ancient mechanical giant's body began to decompose. The giant stones floating around it, as if suddenly losing their anchor, gradually drifted away from the altar.
"You have successfully prevented the ancient mechanical giant from activating. Mission Reward: Shard of the Heart of Dawn x1, Entry Qualification to the First Layer of the Hero's Tomb x1"
The mission was complete!
As the ancient mechanical giant fell silent once more, it signaled the failure of the enemy's plan.
The Taoist priest's gaze turned grim. After glancing at the others, he retreated to the edge of the altar.
Seeing this, the rest immediately moved closer to the Taoist priest.
"We will meet again!"
The Taoist priest smirked. Then, a gust of wind blew, carrying with it countless peony petals from who knew where.
Red mist also began to appear, engulfing everyone, and then…
The red mist swirled and dissipated, and the Taoist priest, along with the others, quickly vanished into it.
Mulan picked up her greatsword from the ground and stood at the altar's edge, looking down, but could not see any trace of them leaving.
The mysterious swordsman, holding his wine gourd, came up to Mulan and said, "It seems we have won."
Mulan said in a deep voice, "But he said they would return."
The mysterious swordsman laughed heartily, with a hint of unrestrained freedom, and said dismissively, "Then let him come."
Mulan couldn't help but smile as well. She then turned to look at the others and said, "Since this matter is settled, let's head back… Huh… Bai Ye, why are you glowing?"
Mulan's words trailed off as she looked at Bai Ye in surprise.
At this moment, Bai Ye was emitting a golden radiance, his body flickering and gradually becoming ethereal.
Bai Ye also looked astonished, gazing at his own body. Then, a screen of light suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"You will be teleported in ten seconds…"
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6…"
Bai Ye almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Could it be as he suspected?
In the next instant…
Bathed in golden light, Bai Ye suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving Mulan and the others dumbfounded.
Meanwhile…
As the golden radiance dissipated, Bai Ye found himself at an intersection. The traffic light ahead turned green, and vehicles on both sides stopped, allowing pedestrians to cross the street.
It looked like a bustling city…
Then…
Bai Ye patted his forehead. It was indeed as he had suspected.
"A participant has triggered a wish mission. The first Holy Grail War is about to begin."
"Within the world battlefield, the seven chosen ones with the highest kill count will participate in the Holy Grail War."
"Your kill count ranks sixth."
…
Bai Ye sighed. Such sudden forced teleportation could only be caused by a wish mission.
Of course, normally, being able to participate in a wish mission would be a good thing. It's just that the timing of many wish missions always felt incredibly frustrating.
For example, the battle with the ancient mechanical giant hadn't even concluded, and suddenly a wish mission was triggered…
Wouldn't his hidden quest be wasted?
Fortunately, this wish mission came at a rather opportune moment. Bai Ye had just completed his hidden quest when the wish mission appeared.
And unlike the previous time when participants were selected through a restricted area mission to enter the Twelve Great Battles, this time participants were selected based on kill count. In essence, it was a competition among the chosen ones, with the seven individuals who had accumulated the most kills so far.
This left Bai Ye rather dissatisfied. How could his kill count only be sixth?
He was clearly approachable, kind, benevolent, and merciless, a killer of countless people…
Wait?
Did some strange idioms sneak in there?
Bai Ye scratched his head and continued to look at the screen.
The rules of the Holy Grail War are as follows:
"Rule 1: Seven participants will receive a magic crest and summon a Servant of their own through a summoning ritual. If the Servant refuses an order, the magic crest can be consumed to forcibly make the Servant obey. Each magic crest can be used three times."
"Servants are divided into seven classes: Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Lancer, Caster, and Assassin."
"Rule 2: The seven participants must find and seize the Holy Grail. The one who ultimately obtains the Holy Grail will be declared the winner of this Holy Grail War and receive a reward."
"Rule 3: The trigger for this wish mission has fully completed the wish for the reward. The winner's reward is: randomly obtain one Noble Phantasm of their summoned Servant."
"Gentlemen, for the Holy Grail, for your deepest desires, for your wishes."
"Let the city of Fuyuki…"
"Run red with blood!"
…