Facing the venomous mist rushing in like thick smoke, Xiao Yuan proactively met it, standing at the outer edge of the toxic fumes and taking a deep breath.

The yellowish-green poisonous smoke billowed into her nostrils. Xiao Yuan's pale face quickly flushed with red blotches, developing lumps of festering blisters. Her bright, moist eyes became cloudy, shedding tears of blood.

In an instant, a mature and aloof older sister transformed into a hideously disfigured person.

"Xiao Yuan..."

Zhang Yuanqing's expression shifted slightly. He took out the Azure Emperor Jade Belt and rushed toward her.

"Don't come over!" Xiao Yuan coldly stopped him, retreating from the toxic fumes. She spoke with her face covered in festering blisters and red sores, "You can't withstand this poison. Even with Detoxification Pills and healing items, you'll inevitably die if you're enveloped by the toxic fumes and continuously eroded."

"And without Detoxification Pills and healing items, the Fire Controller and Swordsman will perish on the spot."

The Fire Controller and Swordsman's expressions changed slightly. Sun Miaomiao and the others didn't look any better. The toxic mist blocked their retreat, forcing them to brave the dangers. Guan Ya's analysis was correct; the Mechanical City was indeed designed as a one-way street.

If they didn't pass, they would die.

"I'm a Corpse Spirit, I'm not afraid of poison." Yin Yao, Princess of the Silver Realm, raised her little loudspeaker like a proud elementary school student.

"Sizzle." The Cat King sound system in her waist pouch played along, "You are electricity, you are light, you are the only myth~"

"Shut up!" Zhang Yuanqing's blood pressure surged. He thought to himself that these two living treasures had ganged up. He would separate them after leaving the dungeon.

"He's angry, give him some face." Yin Yao patted her waist pouch, and the music immediately stopped.

Zhang Yuanqing glared at Yin Yao, then took out the Mountain God Scepter, "How is your face? Do you need healing?"

"No need, it will recover within five minutes. Gu poison at the Saint level can't kill me." Xiao Yuan appeared indifferent, and didn't provoke Guan Ya at this moment.

If it were Xie Lingxi, she would have cried and said, "Brother, I'm disfigured! Brother, it hurts! Brother, hug me!"

"Let me see." Still worried, Zhang Yuanqing carefully observed and found that the redness and swelling on Xiao Yuan's face had begun to subside, and the blisters were gradually drying up.

The Witch Gu Master's poison resistance was taking effect. The toxins in her body were rapidly breaking down. Poison that could easily kill a Level 4 Saint was just a matter of minutes for Xiao Yuan.

Relieved, Zhang Yuanqing put away the Mountain God Scepter, put on his blue gloves, and thrust his palms forward.

"Whoosh~"

A strong wind swept through the tunnel, tearing the oncoming yellowish-green toxic mist to pieces.

The toxic mist was forced back. Zhang Yuanqing quickly removed his gloves, looked around, and tossed them to Hongji Ge, "Hongji, you block the wind." Giving the gloves to Hongji Ge was a reasonable allocation of manpower. Hongji Ge didn't need to think in meetings, he just needed to do the work.

"Come, come, come." Zhang Yuanqing gathered everyone together, "Let's discuss how to get through this checkpoint."

Guan Ya spoke quickly, concisely explaining the rules of the grotto.

1. Skills cannot be used.

2. The faster you move, the faster the attacks come.

3. Both spirits and physical bodies will be attacked.

4. The strength of the attacks can easily break through the defense of Level 5 Terracotta Warriors.

Sun Miaomiao frowned, "Our weakness is the lack of an Earth Elemental; we can't withstand it by force."

"If we combine the Corpse Spirits of the three of us, we should have enough for a human-wave tactic, but the cost is too great," Zhao Chenghuang said in a deep voice.

The Fire Controller Shame said, "No need for such trouble, I already have an idea. We can hide in Little Red Riding Hood. As long as you pass through the grotto, it's the same as us passing through."

Xiahou Aotian's eyes lit up, "That's right, this level shouldn't be too difficult for Yuanshi."

The Under Heaven Returns to Fire's opinion was unanimously approved by the team members.

Zhang Yuanqing looked around, estimating the diameter of the grotto, and quickly calculated in his mind.

"The five slides of the Sliding Shoes should get me to the center of the grotto. The Yin-Yang Robe's Water Ghost passive can block one attack, and the rest I'll use the Purple Gold Shield to withstand, plus the Azure Emperor Jade Belt's beastification."

"First, test the upper limit of the Evil Ghost Statue's attack."

He took out the Thunderstorm Cannon with its slender barrel and switched it to a round shield.

"Let's try." Gripping the small shield, he stepped into the grotto under the slightly nervous gazes of the others. The Taiji fish immediately turned one-third.

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the statue and the Taiji fish, and continued to take two steps. The Taiji fish completed its rotation instantly. The next moment, two beams of white light shot out from the Evil Ghost Statue's eyes, illuminating the dim grotto.

"Bang!"

The round shield in Zhang Yuanqing's hand shattered into pieces. Metal fragments splashed on the ground, automatically softening and melting into beads of liquid metal.

Even a top-grade Saint-level item, the Purple Gold Shield with its amazing defensive power, couldn't withstand a single blow.

Behind him, Under Heaven Returns to Fire and the others turned pale.

"The right arm has a comminuted fracture," Zhang Yuanqing stood frozen in place, not moving.

"Retreat quickly," Xiao Yuan and Guan Ya spoke almost simultaneously.

"Retreating won't trigger an attack," Sun Miaomiao added.

Only then did Zhang Yuanqing quickly retreat. The liquid metal scattered on the ground returned, merging into the broken shield to repair the item.

"This is troublesome," Zhang Yuanqing said with a solemn voice, "My shield can withstand one attack from a Level 6 Saint, well, an early Level 6. There's also something more troublesome."

"What is it?" Under Heaven Returns to Fire felt a bad premonition.

"I just discovered that the ability to switch item forms, the ability to reflect electricity, has been prohibited. In other words, using item functions in the grotto not only restricts skills but also items," Zhang Yuanqing said.

This news was undoubtedly a double whammy for the team.

If the item functions were also restricted, wouldn't they have to withstand the attacks with their physical bodies? Then everyone present would die, Yuanshi Tianzun included.

The corner of Under Heaven Returns to Fire's mouth twitched slightly, and Sun Miaomiao's eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot.

"Have you guys come up with a good solution or not?" Hongji Ge shouted from the tunnel.

"Don't shout!" Xiahou Aotian turned his head and yelled. The next moment, his pupils slightly contracted. Hongji Ge was ten meters away from them before, but now he was only five meters away.

The toxic mist was rushing along the stone walls, eroding the safe distance bit by bit, and would soon engulf them.

"We have to think of a way, we have to think of a way," Under Heaven Returns to Fire paced back and forth with a heavy expression.

"We can all hide in the hat, that's the last resort," Yin Yao raised her little loudspeaker.

"There's no food or drink in the hat, it's just quenching thirst with poison," Guan Ya said in a low voice.

"Damn it, I can't hold it anymore," Hongji Ge yelled and quickly ran back.

The toxic fumes were rushing toward the crowd, already close at hand.

At the critical moment, Xiao Yuan, her face still swollen, stepped forward and grabbed a handful of brownish-yellow powder from her inventory. It was sparkling. Upon closer inspection, they were insect eggs resembling fish roe.

Xiao Yuan scattered the insect eggs in her hand. The yellowish-green mist suddenly sank, then thinned and slowed down at a visible rate.

The immediate crisis was resolved. Xiao Yuan said urgently, "The eggs need Gu poison to hatch, but the number of eggs is limited, it can only last for thirty seconds at most. Yuanshi, what do we do next?"

"I'm thinking!" Zhang Yuanqing was a little anxious. He didn't know much about mechanism techniques, and he didn't know much about Moism either. Without enough information, even the smartest person was helpless.

Suddenly, Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred. He pulled Xiahou Aotian aside and whispered, "You are a Scholar, you should know about the Moism mechanism techniques. You are the protagonist, you can solve it."

Xiahou Aotian thought, "I may be the protagonist, but I'm not an omniscient god."

But then, he saw Yuanshi Tianzun's gaze drift toward his thumb.

The clever protagonist suddenly realized, "That's right, I am the protagonist, I have a ring grandpa by my side."

The old man was a high-level Scholar, an ancient cultivator contemporary with Moism. As a contemporary of the same profession, he must have dealt with Moism.

And the founder of the Mo Sect was a descendant of Moism.

Xiahou Aotian pinched the black iron ring and silently called out in his heart, "Master, emergency assistance!"

The laughter of the Qin Dynasty alchemist echoed in his mind, "You call me Master when you need something, and you call me a dead old man when you don't."

"I didn't call you the wrong thing, you are an old man who has been dead for thousands of years. Cough, cough, Master, I was wrong." Xiahou Aotian could always be flexible in critical moments.

The Qin Dynasty alchemist chuckled and said, "This road is the only way to the inner region. Mo Sect disciples usually have to pass through it. If it were so dangerous, the Mo Sect disciples would have died long ago. Have you thought about the reason?"

Xiahou Aotian's heart filled with joy, "Are you saying that everything we see is an illusion? The Mo Sect's illusion is so profound that even Yichuan Mei didn't see it."

"No, the Mo Sect activated the mechanism, making it so dangerous."

"Do you always have to talk so annoying?"

"I learned it from you."

Xiahou Aotian's face twisted slightly, but he forced himself to endure it and lowered his head, "Is there a way to break it?"

The Qin Dynasty alchemist smiled and said, "Do you remember the meaning of 'Knowing Ghosts'?"

"Believing in ghosts and gods, being fearful, and not doing bad things," Xiahou Aotian quickly replied, glancing at the active toxic fumes and the anxious teammates.

The Qin Dynasty alchemist nodded, "A pure and good person can pass directly, ghosts and gods will not attack. If ghosts and gods attack, it means you have done something wrong."

Xiahou Aotian suddenly understood, "Then what if someone has done something wrong? How should they pass?" Xiahou Aotian quickly asked.

The Qin Dynasty alchemist said with a smile, "Didn't I just say it? Believe in ghosts and gods, be fearful. Confess any bad things you've done to the ghosts and gods."

Xiahou Aotian perked up and said loudly, "I know how to pass the grotto, I've figured out a way to break it!"

The team members were filled with surprise. They didn't expect this unreliable, chuunibyou youth to be so reliable at a critical moment.

Zhang Yuanqing smiled, "Tell me quickly."

Xiahou Aotian didn't answer, but walked toward the grotto. The Taiji fish immediately started to turn. As he took the third step, Xiahou Aotian shouted loudly, "I shouldn't have stolen my dad's private money to pay off debts!"

As the third step landed, the Evil Ghost Statue quietly watched him. No attack came. Xiahou Aotian quickly turned his head and said, "You must believe in ghosts and gods, be fearful, and not do bad things. If you've done bad things, confess to the ghosts and gods."

The smile on Zhang Yuanqing's face slowly disappeared.

Confess?

The joyful expressions of the team members froze on their faces like a painting.