Chapter 1 An Unexpected S-Rank Dungeon

"An S-rank dungeon. It's both unexpected and reasonable," Guan Ya sighed. "It takes everything I have just to get through an A-rank dungeon. I don't know if I'll come back alive from this S-rank one."

"Don't be so pessimistic!" Zhang Yuanqing smacked her on the side of her翘臀. "Didn't I tell you to ask your cousin, the one who likes to use virtue to subdue people, for some treasures before entering the dungeon?"

"You go ask, you go ask..." Guan Ya spat at him. "He might not give me anything good, but he'll definitely give it to you."

That guy had a superb Reconnaissance item that he gave to Fu Qingyang. And Fu Qingyang always thought of him when he had good stuff.

Who was the cousin and who was the girlfriend?

Zhang Yuanqing just chuckled and said, "That's because you're trash."

"Zhang Yuanqing, do you want to die?" Guan Ya said in exasperation, raising her hand to chop him with a knifehand strike.

"Shh, don't say my real name. Lingxi might be listening."

"Forget it. The price for using her item is a fifteen-minute ringing in the ears after each use. She won't use it casually."

"How do you know?"

"I borrowed it when I was doing a mission."

Zhang Yuanqing said "Oh," and opened the chat app. He created a temporary group and pulled all the Saints in the gang into the group, including Asano Ryo from Japan. To make it easier to contact the organization, she specifically downloaded the Chinese version of the chat app.

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Everyone, you've seen the gang dungeon information, right? Unfortunately, the first Saint-stage dungeon is S-rank. Considering my level, you can imagine how dangerous the dungeon is. Anyone who wants to back out can say so now.]

An S-rank dungeon was one where even he couldn't guarantee his survival.

Except for Xiahou Aotian, the other Saints in the gang were all Level 4. The risk of entering the dungeon was too high.

They had no choice when it came to Lingjing dungeons, but they could back out of gang dungeons. The people in the group were all friends, girlfriends, potential romantic interests, and maybes. That's why Zhang Yuanqing felt it was necessary to remind them.

[Zhao Chenghuang: I've reported to my grandfather. If I die in the dungeon, he won't trouble you. This is my own choice.]

[Xiahou Aotian: I don't need to report to my family. My experience points are at 89%. If I can clear this S-rank dungeon, I can smoothly advance to Level 6.]

[Hongjige: @Xiahou Aotian, of course you don't need to report. Your family is too lazy to care about you. My experience points are at 77%. If I can clear the S-rank gang dungeon and then do a solo Lingjing dungeon this month, I'll be Level 5.]

[Xiahou Aotian: @Hongjige, if you can't speak properly, shut up. Look at Tianxia Guihuo. You're both Fire Manipulators. How can the difference be so big?]

[Hongjige: Nonsense. He's a disgrace to Fire Manipulators. Can he be the same?]

[Tianxia Guihuo: If it means abandoning my brain, I'd rather be a disgrace.]

[Hongjige: What do you mean? Are you implying that I have no brain? You want to fight?]

[Sun Miaomiao: He's saying it directly.]

[Yuanshi Tianzun: All of you, shut the hell up!]

Seriously, the moment Hongjige came in, the scene went out of control…

Zhang Yuanqing used his prestige to stabilize the situation.

[Yuanshi Tianzun: No one's backing out? Asano Ryo, do you not understand Chinese?]

[Asano Ryo: I understand, Yuanshi-kun. I also want to level up, and I believe that Yuanshi-kun can lead us to a smooth victory. Please (bows).]

[Hongjige: You have to say, these Japanese people are really interesting. They bow at every turn.]

[Sun Miaomiao: The spirit of craftsmanship is still worth affirming (laughing).]

[Xiahou Aotian: Did you misspell the word?]

[Sun Miaomiao: I didn't misspell it.]

[Xiahou Aotian: Oh, you're mocking the Japanese. Do you believe she'll spray you with nuclear wastewater?]

Asano Ryo silently watched the screen, feeling the deep malice from her foreign friends, but she didn't dare to argue with them in the group. She could only curse silently in her heart: Baga~

After some discussion, no one in the group backed out. Xiahou Aotian, like Xiao Yuan, only needed one high-difficulty dungeon to level up. Hongjige hoped to push his experience points to the peak of his current level through the S-rank dungeon. The others were hoping to enter the later stages of their current level.

An S-rank dungeon could save them at least two months. As for Zhang Yuanqing himself, he currently had 7% experience points, belonging to the early stage of Level 6. If he could raise his experience points to over 90%, his hard power would double.

The two Level 6 Yin corpses sealed in Little Red Riding Hood could be refined. One person, five Level 6 Yin corpses, not counting the Spirit Servants. Who else at Level 6 would be his opponent?

[Yuanshi Tianzun: Since no one's backing out, there are some things I need to explain in the group. For everyone's safety, please take out any Dominator-stage items and materials. Don't put them in your inventory, and don't think about exploiting bugs. The Spirit Realm won't give us a chance. Carrying Dominator-stage items will bring a disastrous end to the team.]

He mainly said this to the members of the Underground Palace team.

[Hongjige: Where would we get Dominator-stage items? You can't even buy that stuff even if you wanted to.]

[Yuanshi Tianzun: It's best if you don't have any. Get ready. We'll enter the gang dungeon at ten o'clock.]

It was nine-thirty now. He needed to give Tianxia Guihuo and the others some time to store their items.

It was worth mentioning that Zhang Yuanqing had already handed over the Dominator-level materials and the Five Elements Chaos experience card to Fu Qingyang to keep safe.

The only Dominator-level item he currently had was the Azure Emperor Jade Belt, but this item had extreme restrictions. The Beast Transformation's amplification couldn't cross stages. In the future, when Zhang Yuanqing advanced to the Dominator stage, using this jade belt would still give him amplification, but now that he was in the Saint realm, Beast Transformation could only reach the peak of Level 6 at most.

"Did your Yin-Yang Disc application go through?" Guan Ya asked.

Before the dungeon was generated, the two had discussed late into the night what to do if they were matched with an S-rank dungeon. To ensure the team's survival rate, the first thing was to "remove Dominator items," and the second thing was to prepare more superb Saint-stage items, including the Yin-Yang Disc and Holy Infant.

When Zhang Yuanqing returned the Yin-Yang Disc, he had an agreement with the Huaihai branch that he could borrow the Yin-Yang Disc three times. The Huaihai branch agreed but added a condition: Fu Qingyang's permission was required.

Of course, Fu Qingyang agreed. He submitted an application for use to headquarters, but headquarters rejected the application. They didn't say no, but every time Young Master Qian called headquarters, the reply was always the same: The process is underway. Please wait patiently!

They were just trying to disgust you and hold you back. The process could take a few days, a few months, or even a few years.

"The application went through. Fu Qingyang finally found the boss of the Huaihai branch and gave the Huaihai branch an 80 million sponsorship in the name of the Fu family. Hey, the application went through that day."

Zhang Yuanqing sneered, "The money was probably split between the Huaihai branch and some people at headquarters."

Hearing this, Guan Ya frowned. Some people at headquarters and the Huaihai branch were using their power to rip off Fu Qingyang.

Eighty million could buy a superb item, though it was probably priceless.

"You and Fu Qingyang aren't ones to take a loss. Have you thought about how to get revenge?" Guan Ya asked.

Zhang Yuanqing smiled wickedly, "Once this Yin-Yang Disc gets to me, it won't be so easy to take it back. After we get out of the dungeon, I'll tell the Huaihai branch that the Yin-Yang Disc…"

He clapped his hands. "It's gone!"

Guan Ya frowned. "What a lousy idea. Would the Huaihai branch agree? Would headquarters agree?"

"Don't worry. When we signed the agreement, it was written in black and white that if the Yin-Yang Disc was lost, the Huaihai branch would take back everything they gave me and headquarters would erase my Grade B merit once."

Zhang Yuanqing spoke eloquently, "Fifty million in cash, a Saint-quality Daoist item, and Grade B merit. They can take the merit as they please. It doesn't mean much to me anymore. I've already fallen out with headquarters. What would I do with merit?"

"I don't lack Saint-quality items. As for the 50 million in cash, hey, I've already put this house under the name of my boss. There's not much money in my bank account, and I've already exchanged it for cash. There's no money. At worst, they can label me as a deadbeat and deduct a sum of money from my salary every month to repay the debt, but would I care about that? Compared to the Yin-Yang Disc, these things are nothing."

"You're so cunning," Guan Ya pinched her boyfriend's face.

"Your brother is the cunning one. This is his idea. One evil brings on another."

Zhang Yuanqing snorted, "Since they don't have martial virtue, don't blame us for tricking and ambushing them. Whatever they eat, they'll have to spit it all out."

As they spoke, it was ten o'clock in the morning. Zhang Yuanqing opened the gang interface and clicked on "Mo Sect Mechanical City." He heard the Spirit Realm's familiar prompt. After a 30-second countdown, the scenery in front of him rippled and became blurred.

A hazy "sparkling wave" followed. Then, the scene calmed down. Blue skies, white clouds, and green mountains and rivers came into view.

Zhang Yuanqing found himself on a narrow path. In front of him was a dense forest, and in the distance were undulating, dragon-like mountain ranges. Behind him, the wilderness was covered with undulating green grass, dotted with colorful wildflowers.

Beside him was Guan Ya. Further away were Xiao Yuan, Tianxia Guihuo, Zhao Chenghuang, Sun Miaomiao, Xiahou Aotian, Hongjige, and Asano Ryo, nine people in total.

"Hello, darlings! We meet again." Hongjige took the lead in launching a passionate exchange, shaking hands with Sun Miaomiao and the others one by one.

Tianxia Guihuo ignored him. Hongjige ran over to shake hands with Asano Ryo enthusiastically. "So it's such a beautiful girl. You're so well-behaved. Let me introduce myself. I'm Hongjige from Huadu. We Huadu people are quite low-key. Does Asano-chan have a boyfriend? I can introduce you to one."

Tianxia Guihuo said lightly, "Your enthusiasm makes you sound like you're from Northeast China."

Hongjige ignored him and trotted to Xiao Yuan. He praised her cold and beautiful appearance, and exclaimed, "Yuanshi Tianzun, this is Xiao Yuan, right? The Psychic who betrayed her faction for you in that Five Elements Chaos dungeon? Aiyo, she's really beautiful. Is she your girlfriend?"

Xiao Yuan glanced at him coldly and looked at Guan Ya. "The real girlfriend is over there."

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent for a moment. Everyone looked at Guan Ya.

Hongjige's hearty smile froze on his face.

Guan Ya smiled generously. "Hello, my name is Guan Ya. I'm Yuanshi's girlfriend."

"Ah, this... Lei Hou, Lei Hou, ah haha, hahahaha..." Hongjige laughed awkwardly a few times.

This stinky man. He already has a girlfriend, but he's still ambiguous with the Psychic and even teases me often… Sun Miaomiao puffed out her cheeks angrily, and her face immediately fell.

How could he bring his girlfriend and potential interests into the dungeon together? How unwise… Tianxia Guihuo frowned secretly. Such a brain-dead operation didn't seem like something Yuanshi Tianzun would do. It would be normal for Xiahou Aotian or Hongjige.

Yuanshi Yaoshen's kid has a good eye for girlfriends, but how can he let two women meet? Does he think he's the main character…

Xiahou Aotian thought that this kid was ignorant and arrogant. He didn't have the life of a protagonist but had the protagonist's disease. He, the protagonist, hadn't even found a confidante yet, though he felt that he didn't need such troublesome creatures as women.

At this moment, everyone received a Spirit Realm notification at the same time:

[Ding! Please arrive at the Mo Sect before dark.]

"Cough, cough, cough…" Zhang Yuanqing took advantage of the situation to break the awkward atmosphere. Without changing his expression, he said, "The side quest is out. Arrive at the Mo Sect before dark. That means the Mo Sect isn't far from us, but it's not close either. I'll go look for it on the nearby mountains."

He cast his gaze toward the towering mountains. "You guys wait here." After saying that, he took out the azure Swiftwind Gloves, pressed his palms down, and flew through the forest towards the distant mountains in the "woo" of the strong wind.

Watching Yuanshi Tianzun fly away quickly, everyone tacitly flashed the same thought: He ran away!

The blue sky was clear, and the clouds were like cotton candy frozen in the sky.

Zhang Yuanqing looked down. The lush canopy spread out like a green carpet, covering the terrain.

He quickly arrived at the nearest mountain peak, flying around the towering mountains. During the process, he landed several times to cool down his flight skills.

Half an hour later, he returned to the team without any gains. "I didn't see any architectural ruins," Zhang Yuanqing shook his head.

After saying that, he emptied his brain and waited for his teammates to analyze it. Everyone here was talented. Although they didn't speak as pleasantly as he did, their brains were useful.

Sure enough, the Fire Manipulator's disgrace never disappointed. He pondered, "The Mo Sect Mechanical City can't be too far. We wouldn't find it in a day if it was too far. But since we've been given a day, it'll probably take some effort to find the entrance. It should be in this mountain range."

The thought process was immediately clear.

"Then how do we find the entrance?" Hongjige asked, habitually emptying his brain.

Guan Ya was about to speak when she saw a farmer leading an ox in the wilderness behind her. Her eyes lit up, and she smiled sweetly, "Isn't this it?"

Zhang Yuanqing led his teammates over. The farmer was startled to see a group of strangely dressed people running towards him. He grabbed the reins and ran back.

"Uncle, please wait!" Zhang Yuanqing blocked his retreat.

"Who, who are you?" The farmer looked at them in horror.

"Have you heard of the Mo Sect Mechanical City?" Zhang Yuanqing asked directly.

Hearing this, the farmer's expression changed drastically. He fell to his knees with a thud, his voice shrill, "Don't, don't take me there. Please, sirs, don't take me there."