Zhao Chenghuang took several deep breaths to steady the chaotic emotions roiling inside him. His expression returned to its cold composure, and he spoke in a flat voice:
"I don't have a brother, I'm not married, and my father didn't take out loans from loan sharks. But just now, I truly felt so miserable that I wanted to kill myself." He composed himself and continued, "During that probe, I confirmed two things. First, this is indeed the final hurdle. That mech is the dungeon's final boss. Three stone steles stand beside the Bagua plaza. We were all mistaken—the enemy isn't an Ancient God of War from the Jin Court, but a Mohist mech.
"Second, the power of Universal Love strips away your will to fight. Even if the enemy raises a butcher's blade against you, you won't feel the slightest urge to resist. You'll only feel grief, because in your eyes, they are your flesh-and-blood brother, your dearest friend and kin."
Universal Love had the power to make people lose their will to fight? Everyone instantly realized how troublesome this was. Facing an enemy at the weak Dominator level, losing the will to fight was practically a death sentence.
Universal Love alone was already this thorny, not to mention the other three rules.
Brother Red Chicken drew a sharp breath and spoke plainly, calling it as he saw it: "We're done for. Doesn't this mean half of us will have to die?"
His words only added frost to snow, making everyone look even more grim.
As the weakest member of the team, Asano Ryo tightened her small face and silently gripped her Ice Soul Blade.
If casualties were inevitable, she knew she would be the first to fall. Island nation Spirit Realm walkers were scarce, and their stockpile of props was even smaller. Her division head and vice-heads often patted her shoulder and said, *Ryo-chan, work hard, you are the future hope of the Thousand Cranes Group.*
In truth, however, the adults had never let her touch any of the Dominator-stage props recovered from Takamagahara.
They had granted her one Saint-tier prop, but its quality was mediocre, and it offered neither formidable attack nor stout defense—it was merely an auxiliary item. What good could that do here?
Just then, Asano Ryo's ears twitched as she caught the rapid clatter of mechanism gears clicking and the high-pitched whirr of rapidly spinning cogs.
Startled, she looked toward the source of the noise. It came from the tunnel-like holes dotting the cavern walls.
"Careful, enemy attack!" Xiahou Aotian identified it as mechanical weaponry purely by sound. "And there are plenty of them."
Before his voice had even faded, mechanical contraptions slid out from the tunnels on the left. Resembling unmanned aerial drones, they possessed steel skeletons and membranous wings, with pitch-black iron barrels protruding from their undersides like the muzzles of flintlock muskets.
More than thirty of these "drones" glided out. Once clear of the openings, they circled above the ancient city, leveling out as their dark barrels swiveled toward the squad.
The next instant, explosive bangs erupted in rapid succession. Tongues of flame spat from the muzzles, sending black iron pellets raining down on the group.
A pellet struck near Brother Red Chicken. With a resounding boom, expanding flames and a vicious shockwave sent him flying. His clothes tore to shreds, and his skin turned a scorched, bloody red. A single blast had left him seriously wounded.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Pellets exploded around the squad one after another. Blistering flames and terrifying pressure hammered the Squad of the Dead, striking in waves that were impossible to evade.
In just a single exchange, everyone had taken injuries.
"Why the hell are there drones in a Song Dynasty dungeon?!" Brother Red Chicken roared. "Did they invent gunpowder back then, let alone build bombers? If the Mohist Sect was this badass, why didn't they go conquer the world?!"
"This is hardly the time for your commentary!" Zhang Yuanqing raised a small shield, shielding Guan Ya behind him.
The moment the blast wave struck, Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang transformed into starlight, pulling back from the kill zone.
Xiao Yuan also activated her Gu vessel in that split second, transforming into a bewitching, striking Wasp Maiden and relying on unmatched speed to dodge the follow-up barrage.
Blown into activating her Water Ghost passive, Asano Ryo hurriedly summoned two shikigami to fend off the raining bombardment.
The drones howled over their heads, climbing toward the cavern ceiling. After completing a wide loop, they banked around to face the squad once more.
"This won't work!" World Returns to Fire shouted. "Brainless, are you dead? If not, get off your ass and work!"
With that, he lunged forward. Crimson flames erupted from his palm, condensing into a scorching broadsword that warped the air around it. He slashed upward with all his might.
A curved wall of fire swept across the cavern like a tidal wave.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Licked by the flames, the pellets detonated into billowing clouds of smoke. The entire cavern trembled, raining grit and gravel down upon them.
On the other side, Brother Red Chicken donned a pair of crimson gauntlets and hurled fireballs into the air, using his precise pyromancy to intercept the remaining projectiles.
For a moment, searing winds whipped wildly through the cavern.
The second wave of the barrage was stopped in its tracks. The drones swept overhead once more, climbing higher toward the cavern ceiling.
Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly slipped on his Gale Walker Gloves, whipping up gusts of powerful wind. However, the subterranean cavern was vast, and the drones were gliding too high; the gale only caused them to wobble precariously for a moment.
Unwilling to let them off so easily, Zhang Yuanqing unleashed two wind blades, slicing two drones out of the air.
Guan Ya and Zhao Chenghuang drew their handguns, but gunfire clearly could not stop a third barrage. No matter how swift their aim was, shooting down over thirty mechanical devices in a matter of seconds was impossible.
At that critical juncture, an eerie wind shrieked. Sun Miaomiao exhaled a long stream of yin energy, and spirit servants poured from her mouth one after another, floating toward the drones in a swarm.
A moment later, the grinding screech of twisting steel skeletons rang out. Against mechanical creations that held no supernatural attributes, the spirit servants' most basic telekinetic abilities were more than enough to dismantle them.
The only requirement was numbers.
One after another, the drones plummeted from the sky, detonating across the ruined city.
"It's over..." Asano Ryo breathed a sigh of relief. Dismissing her shikigami, she bowed to Sun Miaomiao. "Arigato, Sun-chan."
"Don't mention it. This is just the beginning. We haven't even engaged the boss, yet a bunch of small fry has run us ragged." Sun Miaomiao used Star Escape to return, her sweet, rounded face clouded with solemnity. "Now we can be certain mechanical creations are hidden in those holes on the cliff. If nothing unexpected happens, that was just the first wave."
Brother Red Chicken staggered over, staring at World Returns to Fire in disbelief.
"What was that move just now? You're a Level 4 Saint—how do you have such abundant spiritual energy and such refined fire control?"
Laymen watched the show; experts watched the craft.
To an outsider, World Returns to Fire's flaming slash looked like splashing a sheet of fire. But to a Fire Master, it was like someone using the One Yang Finger witnessing the Six Veins Divine Sword.
He practically wanted to drop to his knees before him.
World Returns to Fire refused to answer. "None of your business."
Beside them, Xiahou Aotian sneered, "Foolish Fire Master, you are always asking to be snubbed."
"You scrawny Alchemist, you're always tearing me down. Do you have a problem with me?!" Brother Red Chicken barked, furious.
"I don't have a problem with you," Xiahou Aotian declared haughtily. "I mean that everyone here is trash."
"I know you're quoting a meme, but you play the punchable jerk to perfection."
Seeing that the two were about to brawl, Xiao Yuan cut in coldly, "I've tried my best to stay quiet along the way, but your lack of professionalism makes me wonder how either of you ever made it to the Saint stage. Can you cut the pointless chatter and offer something useful instead?"
Knowing their temperaments all too well, World Returns to Fire chimed in at just the right moment: "Asking them about tactics is useless."
He turned his gaze to Yuanshi Tianzun, the squad leader. "Leader, what's your take on our next move?"
Aside from Brother Red Chicken, everyone immediately grasped what World Returns to Fire meant.
Against a weak Dominator-tier enemy, clearing the dungeon wouldn't be difficult given Yuanshi Tianzun's strength and props, along with the elite caliber of this squad.
However, if they wanted zero casualties, it was not something they could achieve by simply shouting, *Everyone, charge with me!*
If they rushed in blindly, half the team would die.
At a time like this, the leader's coordination and command abilities were of paramount importance.
The moment had come to test Yuanshi Tianzun's competence as a squad leader.
He might be a brilliant genius, but that did not necessarily make him a qualified leader.
*I'm not a detective who always knows the answers. What take could I possibly have?* Zhang Yuanqing complained inwardly. If he hadn't left the Five Elements Trial Card in Fu Qingyang's safekeeping, he could have tangled with a genuine Dominator, to say nothing of a weak one.
Yet had he kept the trial card and his Dominator-tier props on him, the boss inside Mechanism City probably would have been a true Dominator, and the black-robed wraith back there might have been at the weak Dominator level. Cheap tricks couldn't exploit bugs in the Spirit Realm.
"Formulating any plan requires intelligence as its foundation," Zhang Yuanqing said calmly, projecting the composure of someone who held the reins firmly in hand. "We currently know too little about that mech, so our primary task right now is gathering information. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."
"I don't have any yin corpses left," Zhao Chenghuang said with a dark expression.
Along the way, he had lost three Transcendent-stage yin corpses, leaving him with only two Level 4 ones. Those were part of his core combat strength; using them as cannon fodder would be a terrible waste.
"Then we'll procure our materials locally," Zhang Yuanqing said. "Six Waters, Little Zhao, did either of you bring corpse-refining materials?"
Zhao Chenghuang blinked, then nodded. "A few, but not many. Enough to refine three Transcendent-stage yin corpses."
Sun Miaomiao asked in confusion, "Are you talking to me?"
"Who else has that much water besides you?" Zhang Yuanqing chuckled.
Sun Miaomiao gnashed her teeth in fury. "Stop giving people nicknames without asking!" She glared at him before adding, "I brought some too, but fewer than Zhao Chenghuang. Enough for two at most."
"I'll refine five. Ten yin corpses, along with Zhao Chenghuang's terracotta figurines, will be plenty of cannon fodder." Zhang Yuanqing turned around. "Back to the valley. There are plenty of corpses there. Even if they're missing limbs, we never expected them to fight anyway. Reusing them as cannon fodder is putting waste to good use. Once we figure out the mech's details, I'll explain the battle plan. I already have a rough outline."
With that, the group returned to the valley. The three Star Officials picked through the remains, selecting ten corpses that were in decent condition and had reasonably intact bodies, and put on a live demonstration of corpse-refining techniques for their teammates.
The gap between the three was displayed plain and clear before everyone. By the time Zhang Yuanqing had finished refining five yin corpses, Zhao Chenghuang had only finished two, and Sun Miaomiao had just completed drawing her corpse-refining formation array.
Corpse-refining and spirit-refining formation arrays were entirely different.
Once the corpses were refined, the group returned to the cavern. Zhang Yuanqing said, "Miaomiao, you take point. From now on, remember everything you see, hear, and do down to the last detail. Once your scouting run is over, tell it all to Guan Ya.
"Sister Guan Ya, you handle the analysis."
Sun Miaomiao and Guan Ya nodded. The former closed her eyes, splitting off half her spirit body to possess the yin corpse and assume control of the vessel.
She then steered the severed-arm yin corpse into the depths of the city.
Roughly ten minutes later, she opened her eyes. "I know the mechanism for Non-Aggression. Just like the name implies, you cannot attack the target."
Next, she took control of the second yin corpse and marched it toward the heart of the city.
The others waited in place. But before Sun Miaomiao could return with the second wave of intel, the clicking of mechanical triggers and the high-pitched whirring of spinning cogs echoed from the tunnels once more.
Another drone bombing run had arrived.
Having experienced it once, the Squad of the Dead easily dismantled the aerial threat.
Sun Miaomiao's second yin corpse was soon sacrificed as well.
"This time, I didn't attack it right away. I chose to observe, but it still cleaved me in two. I was hit with Universal Love, too," Sun Miaomiao said, her face awash with grief.
*Did your dad sign your name as a loan-shark guarantor, and did your boyfriend cheat on you too?* Zhang Yuanqing thought with pity. Pondering for a moment, he said, "So, not attacking triggers Universal Love?"
Guan Ya shook her head. "No, that's not the core mechanism. Miaomiao, you just said that the second time you didn't attack it right away. That means the first time, you attacked as soon as you met, right?"
Sun Miaomiao nodded.
Guan Ya pressed, "When were you affected by Universal Love? The exact timing."
Sun Miaomiao thought it over and answered, "Under a minute."
Guan Ya turned to Zhao Chenghuang. "And you?"
"Several minutes." Zhao Chenghuang paused, seemingly recalling something, and added, "I observed it from the shadows of the street for a few minutes without encountering danger. But once I stepped onto the Bagua diagram, I was attacked in less than a minute."
Guan Ya nodded in satisfaction. "From the looks of it, both Universal Love and Non-Aggression have set intervals. The former occurs within a minute, and the latter is even shorter. As for the precise timing, that will require the two of you to test it further."
*We've figured out a rule!* A wave of excitement ran through everyone.
Chapter 541