As he listened to the thirty seconds of footsteps nearing their end, Zhang Yuanqing grew deeply anxious, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He did not want their team to suffer any casualties in this dungeon. Every person present was a beloved friend or confidant. Even Xiahou Aotian, that most exasperating problem youth, was among his closest inner circle—a companion he could fight back-to-back with.
Furthermore, if they suffered losses at this stage, the danger in subsequent stages would skyrocket, likely leading to more deaths.
He did not merely want to clear the dungeon; he wanted zero deaths.
*The footsteps are about to end. Think of something, fast, think of something...* Instinctively, Zhang Yuanqing wanted to summon an army of yin corpses to act as cannon fodder and take the blow for his teammates. But on second thought, the decapitation attack was not targeted at random; it was being directed by the female statue.
The female statue possessed thought and sapience.
This meant her target would be very clear—it would certainly be one of the five Dominators among them. She would never squander such a precious opportunity on a mere yin corpse.
Using a yin corpse to take the hit had zero chance of improving their survival rate.
Who would the statue's target be?
Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts raced, pushing his mental faculties to their absolute limit.
To the female statue, Xiahou Aotian and Commandery Princess Yinyao posed the least threat. The former had three defensive items, and the latter was a yin creature; neither would be a primary target.
*She will choose between me, Fu Qingyang, and Heavenly King Demonic Eye.*
*Among the three of us, my combat power is the weakest, but I am a Day Wanderer and a natural nemesis to yin creatures, so the probability of her choosing to cut me down is not low either.*
*I have to find a way to protect all three of us at once.*
Within two or three seconds, Zhang Yuanqing ran through every item and method in his arsenal.
Then he drew out the Yata no Kagami and called out loudly, "Boss, where are you?"
"Over here!" Fu Qingyang's voice came from the front right.
"Catch it, use it, and then put away your sword and cloak." Zhang Yuanqing threw the Yata no Kagami with all his might toward the sound. With a dull thud, it seemed to hit something.
*Did it hit Boss? Did he miss the catch? Mm, it must be the black smoke's fault!* Pretending he had heard nothing, Zhang Yuanqing deftly took out Little Red Riding Hood, shook out a yin corpse, and then grabbed the Perfect Human Skin and the Dragon Qi Amulet, slapping them onto the corpse's face.
The Perfect Human Skin adhered to the yin corpse, writhing slightly as it transformed the corpse into a wicked, arrogant Heavenly King Demonic Eye with an upturned smirk.
Finally, he took out the Companion Spirit Moon and pressed it to his forehead, letting black, vine-like markings spread over half of his face.
Just as he finished, the footsteps ceased.
Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and entered Night Travel.
This way, the female statue could only choose between Fu Qingyang and Demonic Eye. If she chose to strike Demonic Eye, the Perfect Human Skin would bear the karmic blow. If she chose Fu Qingyang, she would have to distinguish between two Fu Qingyangs to tell real from fake.
Even if she struck the true body, the avatar could fight in place of the real Fu Qingyang.
However, Zhang Yuanqing believed the probability of the female statue targeting Fu Qingyang was low.
First, Demonic Eye's Eye of Bewitchment was an absurdly powerful crowd-control ability. While Fu Qingyang's slashes defied reason, the female statue could rely on her tough physical body to endure them, but she had no way to resist the Eye of Bewitchment.
Second, Fu Qingyang and the female statue were both Swordsmen. Members of the same class understood each other inside and out, so what was there to fear? When swords clashed, it came down to whose blade was sharper and whose steel was harder.
Based on these two points, Zhang Yuanqing figured that if the female statue possessed even a normal amount of reasoning, she would definitely choose to take out either him or Demonic Eye first.
Of course, if the statue's attack was rule-based and could pierce his hidden state, Zhang Yuanqing was not afraid either; a Day Wanderer's vitality was extraordinarily robust, and a mere decapitation would not be fatal.
Meanwhile, Fu Qingyang's avatar could fill any gap in combat strength and deal with the female statue just the same.
As the footsteps halted, the black smoke rapidly receded.
Fu Qingyang and Demonic Eye immediately locked eyes; both had assumed the female statue would choose the other as her target.
Seeing that each other was safe, they both felt a momentary relief, only to startle with alarm. They swiftly searched for Yuanshi Tianzun, spotting him beside a patch of shrubs a dozen meters away.
Both Daode Tianzun and the Money Prince breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Xiahou Aotian let out a surprised, "Huh? Nobody lost their head? Who among you blocked that damn statue's attack?"
*Phew, we survived a peaceful night!* Zhang Yuanqing exhaled in relief and pointed at the yin corpse at his feet. "It died. I used it to block the Yaoguang statue's attack."
Everyone's gaze fell upon the corpse. Its head had rolled onto the ground, and its torso was draped in a bloodstained human skin.
"Splendidly done! As expected of someone who can compete with Fu Qingyang for the secondary male lead," Xiahou Aotian said in delight. Though he did not know what method Yuanshi Tianzun had used, resolving lethal crises was par for the course for Yuanshi Tianzun in his book.
Inside a dungeon, the sense of security Yuanshi Tianzun provided was far greater than that of Fu Qingyang or Heavenly King Demonic Eye.
Fu Qingyang and Demonic Eye were not ones to pry into details or exchange empty flatteries. Fu Qingyang looked away toward the pavilion:
"She is hiding in the pavilion. Avatar, go draw her fire."
The avatar Fu Qingyang caught a sword tossed by the original, nodded slightly, and replied coolly, "Understood."
He surged forward like a bolt of white silk, darting out from Yaoguang Hall.
The others trailed behind, maintaining a set distance.
As the avatar rushed into the pavilion, he suddenly fell back. Densely packed sword qi chased him like a torrential squall, striking the open ground outside the pavilion with muffled thuds and carving deep craters.
Right after, shriveled human heads flew out one by one, their eyes blood-red and fangs protruding, swarming around Fu Qingyang's avatar like a plague of locusts as they opened their mouths to spit streaks of sword qi.
Leading the pack was the head of Elder Xuanzhen, whose sword qi was exceptionally sharp—so much so that even the avatar dared not take it head-on.
Avatar Fu Qingyang brandished his iron sword, dodging here, parrying there, and lopping off a head from time to time. Although he fought with ease and poise, he was bogged down by the array of flying heads.
"Flying heads?" Xiahou Aotian exclaimed in surprise. "No wonder these heads didn't rot away. They're all elite monsters!"
"Why did the avatar get weaker?" Heavenly King Demonic Eye asked.
"It can only replicate level 7," Zhang Yuanqing explained offhandedly, then shouted, "Boss, pull back!"
Avatar Fu Qingyang understood instantly, transforming into sword light to retreat to their side.
Zhang Yuanqing, on the other hand, executed Star Escape and appeared right in the middle of the flying head array. A golden sun sigil emerged at his brow, his short hair lifted strand by strand with woven golden light, and his skin turned dark gold as if coated in gold lacquer.
He condensed a massive golden greatsword with both hands and planted it heavily into the ground.
Instantly, a dazzling golden sun rose behind his head, bathing a fifty-meter radius in scorching, pure radiance—purifying all filth and dissipating all hostile energy.
The heads swirling through the air scattered in panic, but how could they outrun sunlight? One after another ignited, turning into balls of golden torches.
Elder Xuanzhen's head resisted the golden light's incineration. The charred, broken head flew back toward the pavilion.
Zhang Yuanqing hurled the greatsword from his hands in a flash of golden light.
The greatsword impaled Elder Xuanzhen's head to the floor at the pavilion's entrance. The mangled head thrashed for a few moments before reluctantly burning into charcoal.
The flying heads, which a level 7 Swordsman found quite troublesome to handle, crumbled in an instant before a Day Wanderer.
Zhang Yuanqing looked toward the quiet pavilion and called out, "Yinyao, how does my countenance look?"
From the distance, Yinyao called back, "Bathed in bloody light! That thing is lying in ambush inside the pavilion."
*Choosing an ambush? It seems the Five Declines of Heaven and Man from the Dragon Qi Amulet weakened her!* Zhang Yuanqing twisted the Craftsman Ring on his thumb and summoned the slumbering Five-Clawed Golden Dragon.
The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon let out a thunderous roar. Its sinuous body looped through the air around the pavilion, exhaling arcs of golden flame over a dozen meters long.
In an instant, golden fire enveloped the pavilion. Scorching heat laden with supreme yang power baked the yin creature within.
*Boom!*
The second-floor windows shattered, and the more than two-meter-tall female statue burst out, hurtling toward Zhang Yuanqing with ferocious momentum.
Zhang Yuanqing deactivated Blazing Sun God of War and Sunrise. The moment the sword qi descended, his body dissolved into phantasmal starlight.
Xiahou Aotian dropped to one knee, pressing both palms against the ground.
An Eight Trigrams formation containing earth, wind, water, and fire flared to life, expanding across the ground into a sixty-meter circle that encompassed nearly the entire area.
"I'll refine you to death!"
He formed hand seals.
From within the formation, an illusory Eight Trigrams Furnace descended from the heavens, "swallowing" the female statue.
At the same time, Xiahou Aotian cast out Samadhi True Fire, condensing it at the bottom of the furnace.
*Crack, crack—*
Fractures spread across the Eight Trigrams Furnace before it shattered apart. The charred female statue threw her head back and shrieked, her body erupting with wild bursts of sword qi that slashed randomly in all directions.
The sword in her hand had already melted into molten iron, rendered useless.
"Marsh!"
Xiahou Aotian pinched an incantation seal, lighting up the glyph for "Marsh" within the formation. Viscous, sludge-like energy enveloped the female statue, dragging her down as if into a quagmire, binding her limbs and drastically diminishing the sharpness of her sword qi.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye manifested his dharma body with three heads and eight arms, each hand clutching a weapon as he charged forward.
*Clang, clang, clatter...*
He shattered and parried streams of sword qi, charging right at the female statue.
Fu Qingyang did the same, but unlike the brutish Ancient God of War, he was far more graceful and agile, darting through the storm of sword qi like a butterfly.
The two rapidly closed in on the female statue, engaging her in ferocious close-quarters combat.
The moment they clashed, Fu Qingyang and Demonic Eye sensed that the female statue's strength had severely deteriorated, lacking her prior dominance.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Besieged by two level 8 Dominators, the female statue stumbled backward, stone chips flying as cracks and sword gashes multiplied across her form.
Without her weapon, the power of her sword qi plummeted. Though it left several sword marks on Heavenly King Demonic Eye, an Ancient God of War was so thick-skinned and tough that any wound not reaching bone barely counted as an injury.
Fu Qingyang, possessing Insight, could effortlessly remain unscathed.
While the three were locked in battle, Zhang Yuanqing took out the Companion Spirit Moon, pressed it to his forehead, entered the hidden state, and crept forward without a sound.
Approaching silently from behind the female statue, he raised his left hand. A dark muzzle split open in his palm, crackling with jumping arcs of purple-gold electricity.
He dropped out of the hidden state.
*Hum!*
A violet lightning orb whistled through the air, hurtling toward the female statue's damaged, remaining half-head.
The instant the ball lightning fired, the female statue perceived the disturbance behind her. Wheeling around, she brought her right fingers together like a sword and slashed down with sudden fury.
A flash of sword light sheared the ball lightning in half, triggering a roaring explosion.
The violent shockwave and surging electrical current forced Fu Qingyang and Daode Tianzun to hastily pull back.
The female statue's right hand blasted apart, raining shattered stone as her heavy body was hurled back more than a dozen meters.
*Clatter, clatter...*
The gourd that had remained clutched in her left hand tumbled free.
Her very first instinct was to retrieve the gourd rather than defend against incoming attacks.
Seeing this, Xiahou Aotian hastily formed a seal, teleporting the female statue another dozen meters away.
Fu Qingyang's true body and avatar, along with Daode Tianzun, clung to her like maggots on bone, launching a fresh round of close-quarters assault, while Commandery Princess Yinyao watched from the sidelines, looking for an opening to strike.
Taking advantage of the three pinning down the enemy, Zhang Yuanqing bent down and picked up the weathered yellow gourd.
He had noticed this object for a long time. During the previous round of combat, the female statue had treated it with immense care; whenever she needed to free her left hand, she had cautiously set it atop her head first.
Grasping the yellow gourd, an item description surprisingly surfaced after several seconds:
[Name: Immortal-Slaying Flying Dagger]
[Type: Weapon]
[Function: Decapitation]
[Description: A supreme treasure of antiquity. It houses a slender ray of fine light with eyes and brows, roughly seven inches long. By offering a sacrificial dance, one may summon the ray of light to sever an enemy's head, sealing their primordial spirit and magic power so that they cannot transform, flee, or resist. Offering the sacrificial dance again can undo the seal.]
[Note 1: Cooldown is ten minutes.]
[Note 2: If the dance is performed incorrectly, the summoned flying dagger will turn on its master.]
[Note 3: Dungeon item. Cannot be stored in the inventory.]
*Fuck, the Immortal-Slaying Flying Dagger?!*
Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. He was already quite familiar with the history of ancient practitioners and held the mythological Kui Bull Drum in his possession, but seeing the legendary Immortal-Slaying Flying Dagger still filled him with shock.
He felt the bizarre sensation of myth walking straight into reality.
Then he caught another key detail and shouted, "Don't kill her yet!"
The three besieging the female statue slowed their rhythm of attack in unison.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye grinned and said, "Two minutes left. Say what you have to say, quick."
Zhang Yuanqing replied calmly, "The decapitation attack comes from this gourd. It's in my hands now."
Everyone's eyes immediately snapped to the yellow gourd.
"Focus on the battle, don't get distracted. Keep her pinned down for me." Zhang Yuanqing drew the Form and Spirit Annihilation Blade and activated its Soul Capture skill without hesitation.
Black radiance coated the blade. Setting the gourd atop his head, his left hand took on an inky luster as he made a grasping motion toward the female statue.
Weakened by the curse of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man and the group's relentless siege, the female statue was already frail and exhausted; her internal spirit body was easily extracted by Zhang Yuanqing.
It was a beautiful woman clad in Daoist robes.
Without a second thought, Zhang Yuanqing swung the short blade, slicing through the spirit body's projection.
The female statue abruptly froze, her soul severely battered.
Using the rules of Incorporeality, Zhang Yuanqing appeared directly in front of the female statue. Thick, dark energy welled in his eye sockets as he opened his mouth and inhaled.
From the statue's head, the greater part of a spirit body was drawn out, but the lower half remained wedged firmly inside the statue, refusing to emerge.
Unfortunately for her, with the Companion Spirit Moon affixed to his brow, Zhang Yuanqing's suppression of spirit bodies had reached unprecedented heights.
In the end, the beautiful woman inside the statue transformed into a stream of black smoke and was sucked into his mouth.
Zhang Yuanqing promptly closed his eyes, beginning to digest the beautiful woman's memory fragments while enduring the tidal wave of mental pollution.
Chapter 898