"Did we get him? He's down, right?!" Standing atop the mechanism hound, Brother Red Chicken ripped off his honeycomb arrow quiver, threw his head back, and looked excitedly toward Bagua Square.
The very next second, an ambush from a puppet on his flank knocked him flying.
Tianxia Guihuo used Fire Traveling to rush to his aid. His Blazing Flame Blade spewed fire, and with a flash of light and a loud bang, the puppet shot backward like a cannonball, crashing into the distant ruins.
"Don't lose focus during a fight," Tianxia Guihuo scolded before also turning his gaze toward Bagua Square.
Once they confirmed their own safety, Xiao Yuan, Guan Ya, Zhao Chenghuang, and Sun Miaomiao all looked toward Bagua Square in the center of the city.
They had heard the deafening crash of the mech collapsing to the ground.
From afar, they saw that only Zhang Yuanqing and his two yin corpses stood tall on Bagua Square.
The mech lay beside their feet, rising no more.
The outcome was decided!
*This guy Yuanshi Tianzun is truly powerful...* Sun Miaomiao's round face broke into a smile as she sighed in heartfelt admiration.
He had actually taken down the mech. It was a pity she had been too occupied with fighting to see how he did it.
Asano Ryo, playing crowd control, had an easier time and thus witnessed the entire process of Yuanshi Tianzun crushing the mech.
What left the deepest impression on her wasn't the strength of the yin corpses, nor the destructive power of the Purple Gold Hammer, but the Heaven-Worship Set.
Leaving aside its dazzling special effects and targeted oppressive aura, the combat power shown by uniting the basic skills of four different professions in one person was terrifyingly immense.
As a Water Ghost, Asano Ryo was profoundly shaken.
Zhao Chenghuang and Xiahou Aotian were equally shaken. Zhao Chenghuang's anxiety spiked through the roof; he felt he and Yuanshi Tianzun were no longer peers on equal footing, and that he was merely a noob being carried by a top-tier pro.
Xiahou Aotian, on the other hand, felt that Yuanshi Tianzun seemed even more like a main character than he was—though this protagonist lacked an old grandpa in a ring—leaving him feeling a twinge of frustration.
Guan Ya was the calmest. Seeing that her boyfriend was unharmed, she called out immediately, "Yuanshi, come help!"
"Coming!" Zhang Yuanqing answered as he swept his eyes across the surroundings. Over thirty drones still circled overhead, and more than a dozen mechanism beasts and humanoid puppets remained on the ground.
*Not a big problem.* He tossed the Gale Gloves to Greed Divine General and split off half his spirit body to control the yin corpse.
Wild winds surged. One man and one corpse charged in opposite directions. Greed Divine General rode the air currents into the sky, his long saber and wind blades cleaving down drones one after another.
Zhang Yuanqing swung the Purple Gold Hammer, taking down one with each strike. Under the resonance of the Purple Gold Hammer, the sturdy bodies of the mechanism beasts and puppets shattered into pieces.
In under ten minutes, through the team's combined efforts, all the mechanism creations were cleared away.
As the final mechanism hound fell, the Spirit Realm notification chimed in everyone's ears:
[Ding! You have defeated the boss. Rewards will be settled in fifteen minutes.]
"Yuanshi Tianzun, lend me your Little Red Riding Hood," Xiahou Aotian urged excitedly. "Hurry, hurry! We only have fifteen minutes, and these are all top-quality materials!"
Although the mechanism creations were wrecked, their frames and parts were rare, valuable materials. He could use them to modify and craft new mechanism beasts, or at the very least sell them for a massive fortune.
Zhang Yuanqing casually tossed Little Red Riding Hood to Xiahou Aotian, then suddenly felt something was off. He let out a puzzled noise. "Shouldn't rewards be settled immediately after clearing a trial? Why in fifteen minutes?"
Xiahou Aotian, who was happily gathering scrap metal, paused and stopped what he was doing.
Guan Ya and the others froze as well.
Everyone was an experienced Spirit Realm walker with countless cleared trials under their belt, but none had ever encountered this situation.
The sharp-minded, analytical veteran Guan Ya was the first to react. "This means we haven't finished the quest."
"What?" Brother Red Chicken's face changed. "The mech wasn't the final boss?"
"The mech is certainly a boss, but our main quest is to uncover the cause of the Mohist Sect's demise," Tianxia Guihuo said, looking around at the group. "Evidently, we haven't completed the main quest yet."
Saying this, he looked at Brother Red Chicken. "My earlier deduction was right. There was another reason for the destruction of Mechanism City."
In the valley earlier, the two Fire Masters had argued. Brother Red Chicken believed the main quest was already complete and only required slaying the boss to settle, while Tianxia Guihuo believed there was another cause for the destruction of Mohist Mechanism City.
Now it turned out Tianxia Guihuo was right.
As expected of the Shame of the Fire Masters!
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the trial countdown and sighed. "I knew the main quest wouldn't be that simple. It really was a trap. Looks like we still need to solve this mystery, or the rewards for this S-rank trial will be heavily diminished."
If the rewards were discounted, half the sweat and hardship they'd endured along the way would go down the drain.
The team's nerves grew taut again, their brains churning.
A dozen-odd seconds later, Guan Ya suddenly spoke up: "Yuanshi, look for the treasure mentioned in the trial introduction."
"Right! We haven't found the treasure yet! If we can unearth a supreme relic passed down from ancient times, even if we don't complete the main quest, we won't come out at a loss!" Brother Red Chicken clapped in hearty agreement.
Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a breath of lunar energy, which touched the ground and morphed into a chubby, adorable infant with sparse baby hair.
"Find the treasure!" Zhang Yuanqing patted Little Doubi's head. "The scrap on the ground doesn't count."
Little Doubi's intelligence had grown substantially; he was now able to rein in his Treasure Seeking instinct and conduct targeted searches.
Upon receiving his master's order, the infant spirit babbled "aba aba" and crawled away.
Sun Miaomiao chased after him with stars in her eyes, looking completely smitten, only to be yanked back by her collar by Zhang Yuanqing. "Don't distract him from his job. We don't have much time."
"I was just going to look with him! Let go of me! Ah, Yuanshi Tianzun, let go!" Sun Miaomiao fumed, ready to spit salty soda in his face.
Xiahou Aotian continued collecting materials while the others pondered and waited for the search results.
Ten minutes later, Sun Miaomiao returned with Little Doubi.
The infant spirit crawled up before his master, propped his chubby little hands on the ground, tilted his head, knitted his faint eyebrows, and let out a string of "aba aba"s at him.
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't understand ghost babble, but as his master, he instantly understood Little Doubi's mental waves.
No treasure.
There was no treasure inside the mountain hollow!
Sun Miaomiao shook her head at everyone with a grim expression. "Yuanshi Tianzun's little spirit servant has a Treasure Seeking skill, but he didn't find anything. There's no ancient relic at all, or maybe it's not here..." She glanced at the countdown. "Only five minutes left before we exit the trial. Should he search elsewhere?"
"There's no time," Zhang Yuanqing said, shaking his head.
Guan Ya pondered aloud, "I think... I might know what happened."
Everyone turned their heads toward her in unison.
Guan Ya said, "Don't you find it strange? Starting from the second trial, we saw three stone tablets: 'Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty,' 'Reclaim the Old Rivers and Mountains,' and 'Expel the Jin Invaders.' Those aren't Mohist philosophies, yet they were placed right alongside Mohist doctrine."
Without waiting for her teammates to reply, she voiced her thought: "Because those were the convictions of Mohist Mechanism City."
"What does that prove?" Brother Red Chicken asked, never shy to inquire when confused, while the others looked pensive.
"It proves their motive!" Guan Ya explained. "Yuanshi learned from the wraith's memories that the Jin Court's southern push had stalled, putting them in a dire predicament. Just then, rumors spread across the pugilistic world that the Mohist Sect had obtained an ancient supreme relic. Consequently, the Jin Court summoned exceptional talents and masters under its banner to seize the treasure at the Mohist Sect. Isn't that all a bit too coincidental?"
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up. "You mean..."
Guan Ya nodded. "The rumor was fake. There never was any supreme treasure. The Mohist Sect leaked it deliberately to lure the Jin Court's top experts, baiting them into this peril-filled Mechanism City so they could wipe them out in one stroke—relieving pressure on the Southern Song and crippling the threat of ancient cultivators. That is the true story behind the demise of Mechanism City.
"The Mohist Sect succeeded, which is why the boss we faced was the mech and not the Jin Court's Ancient God of War. If I'm not mistaken, the elder inside the mech was likely the Sect Master of the Mohist Sect. He was definitely far from his peak, his combat power heavily depleted, having fallen to a weak Dominator level."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Spirit Realm notification chimed in their ears:
[Ding! You have completed the Guild Spirit Realm—Mohist Mechanism City, ID: 039, Difficulty: S-rank. Settling rewards...]
Correct!
Everyone rejoiced. So that was how it went.
It had all been a plot—a conspiracy orchestrated to defend the nation.
Zhang Yuanqing seemed to recall something. He dissolved into starlight and reappeared beside the mech.
The team members turned toward Bagua Square, watching his back, unsure what he had gone over to do.
Zhang Yuanqing stared at the elder inside the mech for several seconds, thick, pitch-black energy welling in his eye sockets.
The next moment, the remnant spirit inside the elder's corpse drifted out.
His eyes remained shut, his expression serene, completely devoid of hostility or resentment.
"I thought something was strange. He was dead all along," Zhang Yuanqing muttered softly.
During their fight, he had felt something was off about the elder. Although he piloted the mech and possessed immense willpower, he hadn't seemed like a living person.
Now, examining the remnant spirit directly, Zhang Yuanqing realized the elder had died long ago. His body had been kept alive by the mech through some mechanism, but his soul had already perished.
What lingered within this vessel was merely an obsession—an obsession coalesced from a Dominator-level soul.
Most likely out of devotion to his homeland and common folk, he had stubbornly remained in the mortal realm.
Zhang Yuanqing whispered, "Senior, the Jin Court has fallen. The Great Song was saved."
At those words, the elder's obsession dissolved with a silent collapse, scattering into heaven and earth.
*Sigh...* Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a long breath and turned his attention to the Spirit Realm notifications.
[Rewards settling... Acquired items/props: Craftsman Ring, Frugal Use Token (Consumable), Clarifying Spirits Token (Consumable), Frugal Burial Token (Consumable), Exalt Worthy Token (Consumable), Conformity Token (Consumable), Six Domestic Animals Apparatus (Replica), Universal Love Token (Consumable), Non-Aggression Token (Consumable)]
[Exp rewarded: 39%]
[Main quest settlement completed!]
[Settlement complete! Exiting Spirit Realm in ten minutes...]
No character card exclusive reward? Zhang Yuanqing paused.
Instinctively, he wondered whether the Demon Lord's inventory had run dry, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Given the Demon Lord's status, he wouldn't lack Dominator-level items.
*Could character card exclusive rewards only trigger in regular Spirit Realm trials, not guild trials?* Zhang Yuanqing deemed that the more likely explanation.
*Whatever, no Demon Lord legacy item is fine too. First was Durability Spray, then Charm Ring—I'm honestly terrified he'd give me some dual cultivation prop next...* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled internally.
Speaking of which, the Unyielding Visor had broken before he lost his virginity, so he'd never had the chance to experience secret dual cultivation arts with Guan Ya, which was quite a pity.
*Right, Huang Taiji definitely has items of that sort. I'll buy one from him later!*
Just then, a nebula mark appeared on his forehead. A majestic surge of astral energy poured from the insignia, gently washing through his body, seeping into every cell and bone.
In that instant, he felt his Stargazing, Astromancy, Star Escape, and Star Illusion reach a whole new level.
The most direct sensation was the heightened strength and proficiency of his skills. His astral energy grew vastly more profound, gradually freeing him from the worry of spiritual depletion caused by consecutive casts of Star Escape.
A deeper mastery of Stargazing meant his deductions would be more precise and comprehensive, allowing him to see more visions of the future.
With this, any newly minted Level 5 Star Officials would be puppets dancing in the palm of his hand.
In addition, his spirit body became tougher and mightier, expanding the capacity of his lunar power, which allowed him to devour more spirits to strengthen it.
The depth of his lunar power dictated the quantity and grade of yin corpses he could control.
Manipulating yin corpses relied on lunar power rather than astral energy; without actively accumulating lunar power, even at Level 6, the number of spirit servants and yin corpses one could command remained limited, barely stronger than a Level 4 Star Official's.
Hence the distinction of one's "primary focus."
"Holy crap, so many tokens!" Brother Red Chicken slapped his thigh in excitement. "I feel like I could take on a Level 6 Saint now!"
*Looks like tokens are baseline rewards—surviving each checkpoint granted a token...* Zhang Yuanqing scanned his teammates' faces. Even without Insight, he could clearly see their thrilled, ecstatic expressions.
"I'm back to Level 5, with 22% experience," Xiao Yuan said, a radiant smile breaking across her cool, mature face.
At this rate, she could return to peak Level 5 in at most three months and make a push for Level 6 before the end of the year, perhaps even catching the killing trial.
With the three Saint-grade items Yuanshi Tianzun had compensated her with, plus the token consumables and items from this reward, if used properly, she stood a good chance of entering the killing trial to fight for the Dominator stage.
Tianxia Guihuo and Zhao Chenghuang—one cold and taciturn, the other somber and reserved—could not suppress the smiles on their faces.
Since Qinfeng Academy, they had obtained Dominator-grade items and materials, and now they had acquired another top-quality Saint-grade item, plus cheat-like tokens. They were noticeably prospering.
Both of their experience bars had passed the 50% mark, stepping into the late Level 4 stage.
Asano Ryo and Sun Miaomiao also received generous experience gains: 15% for the former and 26% for the latter.
Yet compared to the boost in experience, Asano Ryo was happier about receiving an exquisite item: the Thousand Mechanism Tube.
The Thousand Mechanism Tube could transform into three forms: a crossbow, a shield, and a puppet.
What the island nation lacked most was item resources; to compensate, ancient island cultivators had invented shikigami arts.
But shikigami were ultimately inferior to genuine, potent items.
Her master was right: following Yuanshi-kun truly offered a boundless future. This was a rare opportunity unique to her, something that others in the Thousand Cranes Group could only dream of.
Guan Ya looked at her boyfriend delightedly. "My exp reached 73%. I'll hit Level 5 before the end of the year."
Outwardly, Zhang Yuanqing praised her, saying Sister Guan Ya was amazing and truly worthy of being the third best among the Fu family's younger generation.
Inwardly, he thought: *So slow. These folks became Saints at the same time as me, yet I'm already in the mid Level 6 stage while they're still lingering at Level 4.*
These people were the elite of the elite, their leveling speed outstanding, even stunning. But compared to him, it was still far too slow.
"Ahahaha, I'm going to be invincible under heaven!" Xiahou Aotian's boisterous laughter shattered the group's cheerful mood.
Everyone turned toward the slightly unhinged fellow.
"I'm Level 6! I'm Level 6!" Xiahou Aotian raised his chin. "Of course, that's not the point. Reaching Level 6 was only a matter of time for me anyway. The point is, the trial rewarded me with a manual on mechanism arts!"
"Ah... congratulations, congratulations!" Everyone offered sincere, heartfelt smiles.
In the future, they would have cheap mechanism creations to use.
A single S-rank trial had boosted the entire guild's strength by an entire tier. The haul was pretty good, but he didn't want to enter another trial anytime soon; he just wanted to go home and lie around like a salted fish. Zhang Yuanqing reeled in his attention, opened his inventory, and brought out the tokens.
The tokens' powers matched the rules of the trials they had faced, though a tier weaker than the originals. Even so, they were consumable trump cards.
Next, he took out the Craftsman Ring. It was an unpretentious black iron thumb ring, warm to the touch, lacking the cold metallic chill of iron.
[Name: Craftsman Ring]
[Type: Accessory]
[Function: Increases Item Affinity]
[Description: A ring favored by the Sect Master of the Mohist Sect. It increases the wearer's affinity with items and wins the favor of item spirits. Reduces the penalty of using items by 30%. Can actively grant immunity to an item's penalty once.]
[Note 1: Active immunity only applies to items with a penalty.]
[Note 2: Beware of item spirits getting jealous over you.]
*Holy shit, a god-tier item!* Zhang Yuanqing's eyes widened instantly, his heart thumping wildly.
A superb support-type item! A function that reduced item penalties was exceptionally rare; though Zhang Yuanqing had seen countless items by now, this was the first time he'd encountered one with this effect.
Take the Slide Tackle Shoes, for example—a 30% reduction meant he could slide one and a half more times.
A true godsend for pay-to-win players!
"Yuanshi Tianzun, let me take a look at your item," Xiahou Aotian hurried over to compare.
Zhang Yuanqing handed the Craftsman Ring over.
Xiahou Aotian took it, focused his mind to read its information, and tossed it back a few seconds later, declaring gleefully, "Pff, trash item! As expected, my rewards are the richest!"
Everyone stared suspiciously at the ring in Zhang Yuanqing's hand. Yuanshi Tianzun had made stellar contributions to clearing the trial; how could he possibly be rewarded with trash?
"Yuanshi Tianzun, what are its stats?" Sun Miaomiao asked in her soft voice.
"Reduces item penalties by 30% and grants active immunity to one penalty," Zhang Yuanqing said with a shrug. "Total trash!"
Tianxia Guihuo and the others suddenly breathed heavier, their eyes fixed on the Craftsman Ring with burning hunger.
Brother Red Chicken swallowed hard. "W-Would you sell it?"
"Get lost!"
"..."
To a Scholar, the Craftsman Ring was indeed trash, but to other professions, it was a supreme treasure people would murder for.
"We still have a little time left. Hurry up and sweep the battlefield." Zhang Yuanqing brought out Little Red Riding Hood, recalling his yin corpses and items.
The others began picking up damaged mechanism creations.
"Oh, right," Xiahou Aotian remembered something. "Did you figure out the answer to that Rogue Dial's riddle this time? Answering it correctly last time had to be dumb luck, right?"
"You saw its question?" Zhang Yuanqing shot him a sidelong glance, only to find the others quietly staring at him as well. "All right, so you were all paying attention."
Tianxia Guihuo said, "I'm curious about the answer too. The Yin-Yang Dial has a fixed style. If we can grasp the logic behind its questions, we can extrapolate and master this item completely."
Saying that, he offered his own analysis to get the ball rolling: "Due to their professions, neither the eunuch nor the Daoist can indulge in women, so it was only natural for the merchant to get the free pass. But the merchant's success definitely wasn't because of money, right?"
If it were because of money, it wouldn't be called the "Rogue Dial."
*If it were that easy to figure out, the people at the Jianghuai Branch wouldn't have been so tormented by it...* Seeing everyone looking at him expectantly, Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and said, "I did guess an answer, but I can't be sure if it's right."
Pausing for a beat, he announced his conclusion:
"It has to be the merchant, because businessmen always say: *Allow me to drink first out of courtesy!*—except *gan* also means to screw!
"So the real answers should be: one missed his chance because he lacked the hardware, one was humbly seeking 'the path', and the merchant insisted on 'screwing first out of courtesy'... Naturally, the guy who screwed first took the prize. Whether that's right, I can't say, since the dial never got to verify it."
Everyone: "???"
Zhang Yuanqing generously shared his insight. "Actually, the logic behind the Rogue Dial is simple. It doesn't necessarily have a fixed answer, but you have to satisfy it. And the more shameless you are, the more satisfied it gets."
The corner of Tianxia Guihuo's mouth twitched. "Truly, the Rogue Tianzun!"
Zhao Chenghuang nodded silently. "A nickname truly earned."
Just then, the five-minute countdown came to an end. The scenery before everyone's eyes began to ripple, blurring their vision entirely.
Chapter 545