Zhao Chenghuang pondered the characteristics of Non-Aggression and Universal Love before volunteering Zhang Yuanqing on his behalf: "Tackling dungeons is what Yuanshi Tianzun does best. Let him go this time."
Zhang Yuanqing eyed him suspiciously. "You just want to see me make a fool of myself, don't you?"
Zhao Chenghuang said, "This is a serious occasion. Don't make such lowbrow jokes."
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at Guan Ya, who nodded. "He really just wants to see you make a fool of yourself."
Zhao Chenghuang's expression froze.
*This guy acts aloof and upright on the surface, but he’s actually quite wicked...* Everyone stared at Zhao Chenghuang in silence.
Chuckling, Zhang Yuanqing picked out a headless yin corpse that had all four limbs intact. Controlling it, he charged along the ruined streets into the heart of the city.
The distance of 1.2 kilometers vanished in the blink of an eye. From afar, he spotted the vast Bagua plaza and the mech standing upon the yin-yang fish.
Without hesitation, Zhang Yuanqing stepped onto the Bagua diagram and began counting the seconds in his mind.
*One, two, three, four...*
At the fourth second, he reached the mech, sliding to its flank. His shoulder and back muscles bunched and snapped—*crack!* A vicious cannon punch slammed heavily into the mech's knee joint.
The yin corpse's fist shattered on the spot, rotten flesh splattering outward to reveal fractured finger bones.
Struck by the blow, the mech stepped back to open up distance and swung its cast-iron cleaver in a horizontal slash.
—The cleaver was a full two meters long, which actually restricted its close-quarters combat. Without creating space, hitting an enemy was difficult.
Zhang Yuanqing rolled forward as the wind of the blade howled over his head.
Using the roll to close the gap, he stuck close to the mech and threw his intact left fist.
*Bang!* The fist exploded into pieces as well.
By this point, his silent count reached fifteen.
The fighting will in Zhang Yuanqing's heart abruptly vanished, leaving him frozen in place.
A split second later, he snapped back to his senses, springing off both legs to launch himself to the left. With a sharp *clang*, blinding sparks burst where he had just stood as the mech's cleave struck empty ground.
Having evaded the blow, Zhang Yuanqing relied on his agile movements to tumble and slide around the mech, circling without engaging, all while continuing his count.
By now, he had broken free of the Non-Aggression state. He refrained from attacking purely because the yin corpse possessed limited offensive power, making it impossible to breach the enemy's defense.
When his count reached fifty, a sudden daze washed over his mind. The towering mech before him seemed to transform into his dearest kin and friend.
And so, watching his dearest friend raise a butcher's blade toward him, his heart filled with nothing but profound sorrow and grief, without the slightest thought of resistance.
***
Outside the city ruins, Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes and summoned the Ghost Mirror, banishing the surging sadness and melancholy inside him.
—Most importantly, he could not give his teammates a chance to enjoy a laugh at his expense.
Grasping the Ghost Mirror, he wore a cold, emo *won't-evr-luv-agn* expression and said:
"Fifteen seconds after entering the Bagua diagram, Non-Aggression automatically triggers. At fifty seconds, Universal Love triggers. Non-Aggression lasts for one second. I don't know the exact duration of Universal Love because I was killed the instant it triggered, but it should be one second, just like Non-Aggression.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test out Identifying with the Superior and the Will of Heaven."
Just as he finished speaking, the clicking sound of mechanical springs snapped from the tunnel holes along the cliff face once more.
Moments later, mechanical constructs leaped out one after another. They were not drones, but strangely shaped automaton machines: automaton hounds carrying honeycomb-style crossbow boxes leaping across the ruins as if over flat ground;
automaton warriors wielding bronze swords, leaping three meters high like peerless swordsmen;
and bizarrely shaped contraptions resembling spinning tops, their bodies studded with razor-sharp blades.
They numbered over fifty.
"So many?" Brother Red Chicken's cry of alarm had barely sounded when an automaton hound built of bronze and wood halted a dozen meters from him, the sound of steel pins hammering into the ground echoing from beneath its paws.
In the next second, the honeycomb crossbow box mounted on its back produced a dense, grating noise of winding gears.
A deluge of crossbow bolts showered over Brother Red Chicken like a curtain of rain.
"Fuck!"
Fire detonated with a boom. Brother Red Chicken morphed into a streak of flame, barely escaping the volley of bolts by a hair's breadth.
The crossbow bolts pelted the ground with dull thuds, kicking up a cloud of dust.
These bolts carried a tremendous armor-piercing effect, and their heads gleamed with a dark sheen, obviously smeared with deadly poison.
*Wuuu...*
Yin winds raged. Sun Miaomiao spat out spirit servants one by one, which charged toward the mechanical creations with eerie wails and mournful shrieks.
Zhang Yuanqing and Zhao Chenghuang hurriedly sent out their own spirit servants to assist. Guan Ya took cover behind her boyfriend's shield and fired with her gun, while Asano Ryo summoned a shikigami to help.
Xiao Yuan, World Returns to Fire, and Brother Red Chicken used their speed advantage to tie down the melee puppets.
A fierce skirmish unfolded, and after more than ten minutes, they finally wiped out the swarm of mechanical creations.
Seeing the battle conclude, Xiahou Aotian sprinted out from the mouth of the tunnel and shouted, "I've got it! Identifying with the Superior! These mechanical creations represent Identifying with the Superior. They coordinate with remarkable synergy, as if sharing a single mind and answering to unified command."
As if trying to show off his own importance, he emphasized, "Much like how I am the core of our team—your unified commander."
Everyone ignored his last sentence. Recalling his spirit servants, Zhang Yuanqing said, "In other words, the only rule left is the Will of Heaven. Very good. Little Zhao, let's keep going."
Ten minutes later, the 'trash' scavenged from the valley was completely exhausted, and they had finally mapped out all the rules and mechanics of this trial.
First: Non-Aggression triggers at fifteen seconds.
Second: Universal Love triggers at fifty seconds.
Third: Identifying with the Superior triggers once every three minutes.
Fourth: The Will of Heaven triggers once every five minutes, lasting thirty seconds.
—The rule of the Will of Heaven drew from the Bagua diagram, granting the mech abilities of earth, wind, water, fire, thunder, and teleportation.
Fifth: The first, second, and fourth rules triggered upon entering the Bagua diagram; the third rule triggered upon entering the cavern interior.
Sixth: Once a cycle of rules ended, the next cycle began.
Having listed all the rules, the Squad of the Dead fell silent.
The mech possessed an iron-and-bronze body that was utterly impervious to weapons. A single blow from it could kill any one of them, and it was also equipped with crossbow bolts, miniature energy cannons, and other armaments.
Against an enemy of this caliber, clearing the stage with zero casualties seemed virtually impossible.
"I have an idea," Xiahou Aotian proposed. "Why don't we exhaust all the mechanical weapons hidden in the rock walls first? That way, Identifying with the Superior will be dealt with. Wouldn't that greatly reduce the pressure?"
Sun Miaomiao shook her head.
"You weren't in the battle, so you don't realize that the automaton beasts are growing progressively stronger. At first, my spirit servants could easily destroy the drones, but in the most recent wave, they couldn't even break their steel frames."
World Returns to Fire added, "We have no way of knowing how many automaton beasts are stored inside the walls. If we spend all day grinding and still can't clear them out, imagine how terrifying their strength will be by then."
Xiahou Aotian was left speechless.
"Then what do we do?" Brother Red Chicken looked left and right. He glanced at the crafty 'disgrace of Fire Masters,' who was frowning deeply with a grave look on his face. Then he looked at the erudite Xiahou Aotian, who wore a blank stare, looking completely zoned out.
He looked at Sun Miaomiao, Zhao Chenghuang, Guan Ya, and the evil-class Xiao Yuan; all of them wore solemn, silent expressions.
Brother Red Chicken gasped. "Are all of you out of ideas?"
"Because it truly feels insurmountable—a puzzle that demands human lives to solve," Zhang Yuanqing said.
Brother Red Chicken grumbled, "That sounds an awful lot like standing by and talking sarcastically."
Guan Ya immediately turned to her boyfriend and noticed that the gravity had vanished from his face, replaced by a relaxed expression.
Her eyes lit up with delight. "You have an idea?"
The others, who had been wracking their brains for a countermeasure, immediately snapped their heads toward Zhang Yuanqing, covert anticipation in their eyes.
"Not quite a full plan," Zhang Yuanqing said, shaking his head. "But I have a direction to try. Let's get out of here first so we don't trigger the automaton beasts."
The team's spirits lifted, and the group withdrew from the cavern space.
Returning to the tunnel, Zhang Yuanqing sat cross-legged. Under everyone's expectant gazes, he said:
"First, Non-Aggression only lasts for one second. If we can't counterattack during that second, we just need to evade—that's not a major issue. The real lethal move is Universal Love.
"Universal Love triggers at fifty seconds. So the first key point is that at forty-five seconds, we must pull out of the Bagua diagram."
The others nodded slightly.
Zhang Yuanqing continued, "The true crisis lies during the activation of Identifying with the Superior and the Will of Heaven. Someone must free up their hands to deal with the automaton beasts. Otherwise, if we're caught in a pincer attack between the mech and the beasts, we will undoubtedly die."
Sun Miaomiao promptly raised her hand. "I'll do it. I have spirit servants and firearms, so I can eliminate the automaton beasts in the shortest time possible. But you and Zhao Chenghuang have to hand your spirit servants over to me."
She had a large quantity of spirit servants, but their levels were relatively low.
"All right, the automaton beasts go to Sun Miaomiao. Next is the Will of Heaven. The mech's combat power is exceptionally high; bolstered by the divine powers of the Will of Heaven, casualties will definitely occur among us within thirty seconds. I haven't figured out how to handle that part yet." Zhang Yuanqing looked toward Xiahou Aotian. "But I know that the protagonist never disappoints."
*He really knows how to talk...* Xiahou Aotian lifted his chin and froze in place, secretly communicating with the old man in his ring.
A dozen seconds later, he declared, "Leave it to me. The operation of the Bagua formation follows a pattern. I'll use my jetpack to observe it from the sky..."
At this point, Xiahou Aotian looked toward Commandery Princess Yinyao. "When the time comes, let me borrow that megaphone of yours."
Although he possessed more convenient earpieces, their numbers were limited, and they easily fell off during combat, so they were out of the question.
By contrast, the megaphone held by this glamorous female yin corpse could amplify sound, ensuring everyone could hear his warnings.
Commandery Princess Yinyao gave no verbal answer. She patted her waist pouch, and the Cat King Speaker blared in a shrill female voice: "Are you alright~?"
Zhang Yuanqing raised a palm. "Try acting sarcastic one more time, you two."
The commandery princess patted her pouch again, and the Cat King Speaker let out a thoroughly obnoxious laugh: "Hahaha, in one word—brilliant!"
Zhang Yuanqing lowered his hand and looked at Xiahou Aotian.
"All right, she agreed."
At this moment, World Returns to Fire, who had remained quiet all along, said in a deep voice:
"Yuanshi, this is merely the most basic countermeasure. The risk remains immense. Furthermore, you've overlooked the mech itself."
The scheme Yuanshi Tianzun laid out consisted solely of basic operational plans to counter the rules. It was not brilliant; even World Returns to Fire could have devised it.
He believed the others could have as well.
Moreover, the entire plan made no mention of an offensive strategy against the mech.
A plan like this was like building a castle in the air; a single burst of power from the mech might inflict catastrophic casualties right from the first clash.
"I wasn't finished yet," Zhang Yuanqing said calmly. "Protagonist, did you bring your Italian cannon?"
Xiahou Aotian smoothly caught the reference. "I brought it, but there's only one shot left. We used seven last time."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded.
"Against the mech, I have two options. First, use Xiahou Aotian's Italian cannon as the core strike to tear through its armor. Second, destroy the living organism inside it—someone is definitely piloting it from within.
"The second plan serves as a backup should the first fail."
The corner of Zhao Chenghuang's mouth twitched. "The Holy Infant is indeed very useful, but it will also compromise our combat capability."
Everyone involuntarily clutched their lower bellies, their expressions turning rather sour.
Zhang Yuanqing arched an eyebrow and grinned. "Who said I was going to use the Holy Infant? I brought the Rogue Dial. Ah, that's the Yin-Yang Dial from the Jianghuai Branch."
Having witnessed the power of the Rogue Dial before, Xiahou Aotian and Brother Red Chicken were overjoyed.
"You actually brought that thing along too?"
Sun Miaomiao and the others, who had never seen the Rogue Dial, wore curious expressions.
World Returns to Fire had a sudden realization. "Is that the item only a rogue can wield? I heard that's where your nickname, Rogue Tianzun, came from."
Zhang Yuanqing replied in a stern voice, "This is a serious occasion. Don't make such lowbrow jokes."
Zhao Chenghuang shot him a sidelong glance.
Brother Red Chicken urged, "The plan is solid enough! Let's go back and beat the crap out of it. The sooner we clear the dungeon, the sooner we go home."
The others also felt the tactics were reasonably sound and that they could afford to take the gamble. However, Zhang Yuanqing shook his head slightly.
"If this was all I had, I would be far too derelict as guild leader. I intend to guarantee zero casualties."
With that, amid everyone's expectant gazes, he retrieved the astrolabe.
"Now that the tactics are set, we must deduce their feasibility to ensure nothing goes wrong." Zhang Yuanqing brushed his palm across the astrolabe, channeling astral power into it.
Upon the pitch-black disc, bright silver stars materialized, resembling a magnificent, dreamlike 3D projection.
The celestial stars rotated in midair, coalescing into an astral vortex that surged wholesale into the space between Zhang Yuanqing's eyebrows.
Watching this scene, Zhao Chenghuang and Sun Miaomiao looked on with eyes full of longing and envy.
Chapter 542