Defeat

Watching the dense swarm of mechanism creations slide out from the hollows in the stone walls, every member of the Squad of the Dead felt an urge to curse. In all the previous encounters, the mechanism puppets had only appeared from one side at a time—either left or right—rarely mounting a pincer attack or surging out in tandem. As time passed, the creations emerging from the wall openings were not only growing stronger, but their numbers were also increasing. Their worries had been justified. The longer they dragged this out, the more formidable the mechanism creations inside the walls would become; eventually, a horde of Level 6 puppets might even pour out. If it came to that, all they could do was force a bitter smile, utter a dry compliment on how ruthlessly brilliant it was, and return to the Spirit Realm by dying! Sun Miaomiao drew her handgun, aimed at a humanoid puppet, and pulled the trigger. *Bang! Bang!* Using the ruins as cover, the puppet evaded the bullets and immediately altered its charging path, darting left, dashing right, and leaping from dirt mounds. Startled, Sun Miaomiao shouted a warning, "There's advanced intelligence among these mechanism puppets!" "It's not just some of them—they all have it," Guan Ya called out. Her marksmanship was far sharper, yet one of her bullets had just been dodged as well. Everyone's hearts sank. Not only had their physical toughness and offensive power increased, but they had also become "intelligent." Taking them down in a short window of time would be even harder now. Before one trouble could subside, another arose. Xiao Yuan's somewhat shrill voice drifted down from the air: "The mech is healing itself!" The members of the Squad of the Dead snapped their heads around to see tiny, crushed fragments of bronze converging toward the mech's chest, gradually mending the breach to conceal the old man inside. "Xirang!" Zhao Chenghuang's expression darkened instantly. "This mech incorporates Xirang in its composition." He knew the properties of Xirang all too well. It had three major traits: first, self-repair; second, nurturing the soul; third, the ability to meld into any material, making it a supreme auxiliary ingredient. Within Spirit Realm instances, Xirang was scarce yet widely distributed. One could come across it from time to time, but never in large quantities; finding just a few grams was already considered a massive haul. "We can't let it heal, or all our earlier efforts will be for nothing—we'll definitely lose!" Brother Red Chicken yelled frantically. "Yuanshi Tianzun, think of something! Hurry and figure something out!" "I know! Why the hell are you yelling so loud?!" Zhang Yuanqing snapped back. "Cancel Plan A. Switch to Plan B," Guan Ya said, acting as a decisive and calm leader. "No! Plan B can't guarantee zero casualties." As the leader's man, Zhang Yuanqing flatly vetoed it. Plan A's strategy had Sun Miaomiao take on the automaton beasts single-handedly, assisted by Zhao Chenghuang's and Zhang Yuanqing's spirit servants. The rest of the team would coordinate with the Yin-Yang Dial to swiftly eliminate the living entity inside the mech. The entire process had to be kept under five minutes so that the "Will of Heaven" rule wouldn't trigger. Once Will of Heaven activated, the difficulty would skyrocket. Plan B relied on Xiahou Aotian pointing out the patterns of the Bagua diagram so everyone could endure Will of Heaven together and take down the mech at the start of the second rotation. However, casualties might occur. Glancing at the mech on the Bagua plaza, he gritted his teeth and said, "Stick with Plan A. Everyone help Sun Miaomiao deal with the automaton beasts... I'll handle the mech. I'll take it down myself. But you must ensure the mechanism puppets don't target me." With the situation so critical, his teammates wasted no time on sentimental nonsense or unnecessary worry. Trusting him completely, each dove straight into battle. Xiao Yuan released Asano Ryo and swept across the sky like a fighter jet. Relying on her peerless speed, she dodged the projectile salvos of the "drones," circled behind the swarm, and violently tore one of the flying machines apart. Her hands were left bloodied and dripping from the effort. Violent brute force was never a Bee Woman's forte—ambushes and toxins were. Yet, faced with these iron monsters, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and tear the machines apart with her bare hands. Fortunately, with the aid of the three Star Officials' spirit servants, vengeful spirits soared through the air, using their telekinetic control to disrupt the drones' flight paths and accuracy. Zhao Chenghuang retrieved his bronze box, and twelve terracotta soldiers marched forth, forming a triangular vanguard to steadily and methodically intercept the automaton beasts and humanoid puppets. Guan Ya, World Returns to Fire, and Brother Red Chicken served as the primary assault force against the ground-based automaton beasts. The three melee combatants carved through enemy lines, swift as the wind and aggressive as fire. The automaton beasts were far from a match for them in hand-to-hand combat, but their invulnerable steel frames—impervious to blades, fire, and water—weren't something Guan Ya and the others could dismantle with ease either. Commandery Princess Yinyao and Asano Ryo oversaw the battlefield, rushing wherever reinforcements were needed to ensure no teammate was left isolated. The Elvis Speaker also played its part, belting out suona music to stir their spirits and provide a modest boost to combat strength. Xiahou Aotian's sole contribution was providing everyone with a few remarkably practical items. On the other side, Zhang Yuanqing brought out Little Red Riding Hood and shook out Greed Divine General and Hundred-Man Slayer. Instead of attacking right away, he kept his attention on the Yin-Yang Dial. After the dialogue box on the dial remained frozen for ten seconds, a new prompt popped up. [Question: One day, three patrons visited a pleasure house: a eunuch, a Daoist priest, and a merchant. The madam summoned the top courtesan and said to the three patrons, 'Whoever can win her body will have their bill waived.' In the end, the merchant had his bill waived.] [Note: State the reason why the eunuch and the Daoist priest failed, and state the reason why the merchant succeeded. Answer within thirty seconds. Countdown: 00:29:45] Zhang Yuanqing thought for half a second and already had the answer in mind. Naturally, he wasn't about to tell the mech. Opening his mouth, he released Yi Chuanmei, the only spirit servant he had kept by his side, and commanded, "Mental Strike!" Without hesitation, Yi Chuanmei threw her head back and let out a piercing shriek. Immediately after, she whispered, "Master, his rank is higher than mine. Mental Strike is ineffective." "What about a dreamscape?" Zhang Yuanqing quickly shifted tactics. A deep vortex surfaced in Yi Chuanmei's pupils as she stared at the distant mech. After several seconds, she shook her head. "His willpower is exceptionally unyielding. To drag him into a dream, I would need fifteen minutes." *The food would be freezing cold by then...* Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts raced as he barked, "Pin down those bronze fragments!" Yi Chuanmei glided gracefully onto the Bagua plaza, hovering above the mech. Pressing her palms downward, the rapidly gathering bronze fragments were instantly "pinned" to the ground. The repair progress ground to a halt. With her strength at the peak of Level 6, suppressing the Xirang's repair was effortless for Yi Chuanmei. Zhang Yuanqing still held back, his eyes locked onto the Yin-Yang Dial. At the same time, he retrieved and donned the Heaven Worship Set, brought out the Thunderstorm Cannon, and slipped on the Gale Walker Gloves. He also handed the Sliding Tackle Shoes and the Beast King Bracelet to Greed Divine General, and gave the Mountain God Scepter to Hundred-Man Slayer. *Three minutes eighteen seconds, three minutes twenty seconds...* He counted the time in his head. Will of Heaven would activate after five minutes. To take down the mech single-handedly before it triggered, he absolutely required the assistance of the Yin-Yang Dial. As a supreme item of the Saint stage, it could strip away life force even from a Dominator, even if a Dominator might not care about that small amount. Against a weak Dominator-level entity, however, the Rogue Dial could exert an enormous weakening effect. *Three minutes forty seconds!* The thirty-second answering window expired. The Yin-Yang Dial projected a pitch-black beam of light that struck squarely into the fist-sized hole in the mech's chest. Inside the mech, the wrinkles on the white-haired elder's already aged face multiplied rapidly, and his skin turned withered and dull. His life force was draining away. With only one minute and twenty seconds left until Will of Heaven triggered, Zhang Yuanqing instantly activated the Heaven Worship Set's special effects: cloaked in flames, clad in dark ceremonial robes, girded with a jade belt, and treading upon the solid earth. *Snap!* Snapping his fingers, starlight rose before the mech. He leveled the Thunderstorm Cannon, aimed at the white-haired elder, and pulled the trigger. The mech's heavy frame sprang backward as a sphere of lightning chased after it. Leaping over a dozen meters back, the mech hit the ground and dove to the side, letting the ball of lightning graze past. Despite its massive, bulky frame, its agility was surprisingly high. *Boom!* The ball of lightning exploded on the metal-cast ground, leaving behind a splattered scorch mark. The moment the mech regained its footing, Zhang Yuanqing charged alongside the two yin corpses, attacking from different angles. *Clang!* Ignoring the sweeping slash of the mech's long blade, Zhang Yuanqing brought his Purple Thunder Hammer crashing down toward its chest, only for the strike to be intercepted by its left palm. The mech's entire left arm shook violently. "Four minutes ten seconds." Zhang Yuanqing's body was sent flying by the backswing of the cleaver. Clangs and crashes rang out endlessly. With the Heaven Worship Set activated, Zhang Yuanqing gained all the transcendent-stage skills of Water Ghosts, Wood Monsters, Fire Masters, and Earth Monsters, each boosted to the Saint stage. Combined with his Star Official abilities, he effectively unified five classes into a single body. Meanwhile, the life-draining effect of the Yin-Yang Dial continuously battered the mech, noticeably weakening its overall tier. The mech soon realized the problem. With one sweep of its blade, it forced back all three enemies and clanked away in a frantic sprint. —The Yin-Yang Dial's domain only covered a forty-meter radius. Dreamlike starlight flared up, and Zhang Yuanqing materialized in front of the mech to block its path. Utilizing a Wood Monster's extraordinary balance to dodge a barrage of arrows and projectiles, he brought his hammer down once more against the left palm shielding its chest. The rivets at the mech's left shoulder and elbow joints rattled violently, showing signs of coming loose. It hastily took a step back, swinging its blade horizontally, only for Greed Divine General to raise his own blade vertically and parry the strike. "Four minutes twenty seconds!" Zhang Yuanqing seized the opening to deliver another hammer strike, then vanished into Night Travel, letting the two peak Level 6 yin corpses draw the mech's attention. Yin corpses at this tier possessed immense combat prowess, harbored no fear of death, and possessed enough spiritual awareness to dodge and parry in combat—making them supreme combat supports. "Four minutes thirty seconds!" Zhang Yuanqing materialized from the shadows, landing a successful sneak attack. With a thunderous *clang*, the rivets on the mech's left arm finally gave out and snapped off, causing the bronze outer shell to crack. Refusing to overextend, he slipped back into Night Travel while ordering Yi Chuanmei to "restrain" the loosened rivets. "Four minutes forty seconds!" Zhang Yuanqing slid out from beneath the mech's legs, swinging his hammer upward with crushing force. *Crack!* The mech's left arm finally gave way completely. Fractures snaked along the bronze shell, splitting wider and wider until it detonated with a loud *bang*. Countless resonating bronze fragments flew in all directions. The mech's chest was left completely exposed. Greed Divine General and Hundred-Man Slayer closed in at once; one locked down the long blade while the other gripped the mech's back, denying it any chance of escape. Gliding forward, Zhang Yuanqing released his grip, letting the Purple Thunder Hammer drop. Fire erupted from his palm, condensing into a blazing dagger that thrust directly into the fist-sized hole. —The Purple Thunder Hammer was too large to pierce through the hole to kill the enemy inside, and the Thunderstorm Cannon took too long to charge. The flame dagger successfully drove through the white-haired elder's chest, its blistering heat scorching away whatever vitality remained in the aged body. Their deduction had been correct: the enemy was not an Ancient God of War from the Jin Pavilion, but rather from the Mohist Sect. The Mohist Sect was a Scholar lineage, and Scholars possessed frail bodies, allowing the flame dagger to easily pierce the old man's chest. At that moment, the black beam cast by the Yin-Yang Dial dispersed, and the forty-meter domain dissolved. This signaled that the old man was thoroughly dead. A second later, the mech collapsed with a deafening, heavy crash. "Five minutes. Perfect timing!" Standing beside the fallen mech, Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a long breath of foul air.