The infant's eyes were clear and pure, glistening with dew, fixed intently on the army of the corpse-souls. With a soft opening of her mouth, she cried out, "Waah!" The fresh, bright cries echoed through the valley and reverberated along the corridor, reaching even those fleeing deeper into the passage—Xiao Yuan and the others. The very next moment, their bellies subtly swelled, and within seconds, faint movements of the unborn child could be felt, accompanied by delicate cries of infant distress. "…Master Yuan-Shi, are you *not* going to wait any longer?" Xiahou Aotian pressed his hands against the corridor wall, jumping up and down in frustration. How could the main protagonist be pregnant in front of everyone? Wasn't that utterly humiliating? Just as he finished shouting, he leaned against the wall, cradling his increasingly large belly, groaning in pain. Xiao Yuan held the wall with one hand and pressed her hand gently against her abdomen, her lips slightly trembling. She had never imagined that one day she would experience pregnancy in such a manner—initiated, no less, by Master Yuan-Shi. Guan Ya had originally fled without telling Sun Miao Miao. Sun Miao Miao had suffered a life-threatening injury and needed time to heal, rendering her unable to move. But as soon as the cries came, she was overwhelmed—hugging her round belly, leaning against the stone wall, her face pale, brows furrowed tightly. "Me? Me? I'm pregnant? Absolutely insane! Grand Master Yuan Shi is absolutely insane..." Shanzhao Liang, holding her sword, looked down at her abdomen, clearly on the verge of tears. She endured pregnancy pains far beyond what a woman of her age should experience. In comparison, Tianxia Guihuo and Zhao Chenghuang, both experiencing pregnancy for the first time, were utterly stunned—straight-out shock to their masculine worldviews. Their faces were ashen, wanting to shout out complaints but too overwhelmed by the restless movements of their unborn children, now simply wishing to lean against the wall and rest. Only Hongji Brother stubbornly supported the wall, staggering forward. Seeing his teammates falling behind, he turned and shouted, "Don't stop! Move quickly! The child inside you will drain your spiritual energy and skills. If you want to avoid dropping levels, come with me—stay away from the cries, and you'll be safe!" At that moment, the team members' stomachs had nearly reached six months of pregnancy, with tiny hands clearly visible on the surface, and the fetuses inside seemed to push against the abdominal walls, eager to emerge. Their spiritual energy and physical strength began to fade, and their extraordinary-stage abilities were gradually being stripped from their genes and transferred to the developing babies. As they felt these changes, a deep sense of weight settled upon their hearts, and despite the intense pain of their internal organs flipping and turning, they steadied themselves against the walls and staggered on. After a few steps, Guan Ya suddenly remembered that Sun Miao Miao was still lying in place, and hurried to stop, her lips pale as she called out, "Miao Miao…" Even in unconsciousness, Sun Miao had not escaped the fate of pregnancy. "You go ahead. I'll go get her," came the steady voice of the Guan Ya turned to Princess Yin Yao, took a few deep breaths, and urged, "Hurry! Hurry!" Princess Yin Yao rushed back, lifting the plump Sun Miao Miao, moving with the agility of a swift female leopard, chasing after the group, overtaking them, and vanishing deep into the corridor. The team members supported themselves against the walls, hurrying on for a long time, until the infant's cries gradually faded behind them and eventually ceased. At first, the fetus within Sun Miao Miao grew calmer, then lost its vitality, and the swollen belly slowly returned to its normal shape—yet the pain from the torn abdominal muscles remained with them. To everyone else, however, this pain was nothing short of exquisite. The baby is gone—what a relief! "Wait!" Princess Yin Yao raised her small horn and spoke firmly. At her words, everyone instinctively reached for their stomachs, preparing to flee like startled birds. Hong Ji turned and surveyed the scene, seeing no immediate danger and no cries of the infant, and exhaled in relief, only to then grow angry. "What's the big deal?" he exclaimed. "I'm not pregnant!" Princess "Is it not a good thing that no one is pregnant?" Red Chicken Brother spat. "The shade corpses don't get pregnant—how then does the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign deal with his enemies?" Lady Silver Yao seized the Han Ba Fang ancient sword from Guan Ya's hands and strode off, "I'm going back to help him." The expressions of Zhao Chenghuang and others grew slightly concerned—indeed, if shade corpses don't get pregnant, how can the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign possibly face off against a hundred such corpses? "Let her go," Guan Ya said, sitting cross-legged with a calm tone. "The Primordial Heavenly Sovereign understands the function of the Sacred Infant best. Since he has asked us to leave, he must have a sure plan to handle the shade corpses—there's no need to worry." No one knew the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign better than she—she knew him inside and out. Suddenly, Lady Silver Yao stopped midway, turned back to the group, and held up her small megaphone. "I have a question for you all." The group turned to face her. "Guan Ya, Sun Miao Miao, Tianxia Guihuo…" she named each person one by one Everyone remained silent, looking at her as if ready to hit her. Princess Yin Yao sighed, patting her waist pouch gently and turning to slip away. A pity—she hadn't left behind this leverage. These plants automatically capture the corpses of the shadow-wraiths; their vine-like tendrils tightly grasp the cold bodies and then greedily siphon off the essence of the moon. This plant is known as Ghost-Claw Grass, a rare flora found exclusively within the Night-Wanderer's exclusive dungeon. It has very strict environmental requirements and must grow in areas rich in shadow energy—such as cemeteries filled with scattered graves. It cannot grow in soil but must anchor itself directly onto corpses, drawing nourishment from decaying flesh. Once the flesh is fully consumed, the Ghost-Claw Grass produces seeds and enters a long period of dormancy, waiting for the right opportunity. These seeds possess remarkable resilience, capable of remaining dormant for several decades, even over a century. Due to their unique ability to absorb decaying flesh and moon essence, the Taimei Sect invests significant manpower and time in cultivating large quantities of Ghost-Claw Grass specifically to overcome shadow-dense, hazardous grounds like cemeteries. Because of their effectiveness against shadow-wraiths, Zhang Yuanqing requested some from Fu Qingyang. After all, the elder is always the elder—never refusing his requests. Under the entanglement of the ghostly thorns, the shade corpses moved slowly, their阴气 gradually fading. Without any consciousness, they even failed to realize they needed to clear the ghostly thorns from their bodies. The black-robed spirit immediately gave out a high-pitched, commanding shriek. At last, the sluggish shade corpses "became aware" of what constituted a threat to themselves, and began to carefully clear the ghostly thorns clinging to their surfaces. The ghostly thorns grew from decaying flesh, and the corpses offered no resistance, as they had not evolved the capacity for combat—almost completely helpless, they were uprooted and torn into fragments. Then, they surged toward Zhang Yuanqing at the tunnel entrance. "Ah-ah… ah-ah…" The infant's cries continued. Suddenly, the torn fragments of ghostly thorns came to life, rapidly regenerating as if undergoing binary fission—like single-celled organisms—thus multiplying in number. The infant's cries had granted them the ability to reproduce. Additionally, black tendrils emerged from the mouths and noses of hundreds of corpses, twisting and pulsing. Their abdomens swelled high, like pregnant women. Yet instead of fetuses, they carried clumps of ghostly paw grass within them. A small portion of the grass's spores entered the bodies through the mouths and noses of the corpses, multiplying rapidly during the saintly infant’s cries—finally bursting forth now. Removing the ghostly paw grass from their bodies was straightforward, but clearing the spores from within their bellies was beyond the reach of the corpses. Zhang Yuanqing’s initial plan had been to leverage the "fertility" of the saintly infant, allowing a limited number of spores to multiply into an infinite supply of ghostly paw grass, then activate their growth and transformation through the properties of the Mountain God’s staff, enhancing their offensive power. Seeing the plan succeed, he reached for the Little Red Cap and shook it. Nine corpses, led by the Greedy Divine General, tumbled out. Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand: "Destroy them." As soon as the words fell, a streak of starlight rose from among the ranks of the Yin Shi, and Lady Yin Yao materialized within it, sweeping her sword across. With sharp cracks, several heads flew upward, the headless Yin Shi collapsing in a heap. The Greedy God led his host of the fallen, charging straight into the enemy ranks; the mass of Yin Shi, swollen and belly-heavy, offered no resistance, their decaying heads lifting one by one. Zhang Yuanqing turned his gaze to the floating black-robed spirit drifting in the air, then raised his hand and pressed it gently to his forehead. "It's time to deal with you." A deep blue glow burst from his fingertips, spreading rapidly across his face, outlining his mouth and eyes in black, white, and red—forming a resolute, spirited mask. With a blue face, his endurance increased by 50%, and he gained immunity to three spirit attacks. Zhang Yuanqing summoned the wind, guiding his troops, the Yi Chuan Mei rising skyward and swiftly advancing toward the black-robed spirit. Deep vortices formed in the spirit's eyes, drawing both of them into a dream. "A mere trick!" Yi Chuan Mei raised her hand, im The space around instantly crackled with fissures, shattering like glass. The dream dissolved. The black-robed spirit raised its head without hesitation, shrieking, and launched a psychic assault! Zhang Yuanqing's face glowed with a blue light, successfully deflecting the attack. The divine power of the Sun God surged into his palm, coalescing into a long, thin blade of thin golden light. With a powerful strike, he severed the black-robed spirit in half, sending plumes of mist rising in a hissing sound. A sixth-level shadow creature, now transformed into a spirit and without any tools, was utterly incapable of standing against a celestial official like him. Dark, viscous abilities surged in Zhang Yuanqing's eyes. He opened his mouth and drew in the two fragments of residual souls. Spirit consumption! The city of mechanisms was filled with machines and puppets. It was rare to encounter a living being with true intelligence—perhaps from the spirit's memories, he could uncover the truth behind the city's downfall. Within his consciousness, the spirit collapsed into a turbulent, malevolent flood of negative emotions, relentlessly eroding his spiritual body. Carrying the spirit-splitting agony and chaos, he soon subdued it with his will. Fragments of memory flashed before him, and Zhang Yuanqing retrieved the identity of this black-robed spirit— a dream-master active during the Song Dynasty. At that time, the Jin Dynasty dominated the north, launched a southern campaign, captured the Song capital Bianjing, and took the two emperors prisoner. This dream-master, seeking prosperity and prestige, pledged loyalty to the Jin. As the Jin cavalry advanced southward to conquer the Song, he encountered resistance from patriotic generals such as Yue Pengju, which slowed their progress. The Jin military high command received a secret report that the Mò Sect in the southwest had recently uncovered an ancient treasure capable of forging a mechanical weapon powerful enough to destroy the heavens and earth— a solution precisely suited to address the Jin's current predicament. Thus, the Jin dispatched envoys to the Mò Sect to "borrow" the treasure, promising to establish the Mò Sect as the state religion and promote the art of mechanical engineering upon unifying the realm. Yet, the Mò Sect proved ill-advised, and it severed the ties by beheading the Jin envoys. Jin Ting was furious and immediately dispatched his ablest talents and elite military officers, sending out a force of the finest troops, determined to annihilate Mo Sect. The commander was a legendary war god from ancient times, a major figure within Jin Ting's military hierarchy. This Dream Master, accompanying the commander throughout the journey, fell exhausted and was bound by the local mechanisms, becoming a spiritual servant to guard the valley. Thus, Zhang Yuanqing now fully understood the narrative arc of Mo Sect's mechanized city. A delicate yet disordered footfall echoed through the corridor. The recovered team members returned, stunned to see the scattered corpses across the ground. Though they knew Master Yuan Shi had remained alone to face the enemy and was certain to prevail, the sight still left them profoundly shaken. In their minds, someone capable of single-handedly confronting the valley's strongest warriors should have been at the level of the official's fourth prince—among the very elite under the sovereign's command. Now, Master Yuan Shi had achieved that very feat. Unconsciously, he had already ascended to the pinnacle of the Saint realm. "Zhao Chenghuang, Sun Miaomiao, I've left each of you a Level 5 ghost corpse. Once you emerge from the quest, your experience should be sufficient to manage such a level of ghost." Zhang Yuanqing pointed to the plump ghost corpse currently trampled underfoot by the greedy general and the hundred-sword warrior. Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang's eyes lit up instantly. In the Taimei Sect, a single Level 5 ghost corpse typically required at least a B-tier merit to exchange for. Although Sun Miaomiao didn't specialize in ghost management, she could certainly sell it to fellow sect members. "There's just so much good stuff in an S-tier quest," Summer Aotian remarked, then complained, "Why didn't you leave me a few more? Just one to sell and earn some cash, wouldn't that be great?" My debt still amounts to several million... that part he wasn't about to say out loud. Guan Ya asked, "Have you tried using the Spirit-Consuming technique?" "I've now fully understood the causes and consequences leading to the fall of the Mechanized City," he immediately shared the detailed intelligence gathered through Spirit-Consuming with his teammates. "Ah The world converged on the fire, furrowed his brow, and suddenly shook his head: "It doesn't seem right. The main quest is to investigate the cause of the Mu Sect's demise. According to logic, we should have completed the main quest by now, yet the副本 hasn't given any indication.