Less than a hundred kilometers from the North Pole, a thousand meters beneath a dimly lit military camp, lay the base of the Hell Angels Mercenary Corps.

Inside a spacious warehouse, separated by thick bulletproof glass, Gu Xichen watched two strangely shaped multi-armed robots diligently working around a metal container. This warehouse, over fifty meters long and wide, had originally stored miscellaneous mechanical parts, but everything had now been cleared out. High-energy laser emitters were positioned in the four corners, their barrels constantly trained on the metal container from which small sparks of electricity occasionally erupted.

Invisible scanning waves covered the entire warehouse. If the metal container held any highly toxic or radioactive hazards, the base's defense systems would detect it immediately.

Boreyo sat cross-legged beside Gu Xichen, his hands held before his chest in a wheel-like mudra. Rings of calming Chanyuanli continuously seeped out from his body. Like Gu Xichen, he quietly watched the two robots busy themselves in the warehouse. After a long while, he suddenly spoke, "Let's make a bet. I don't think there's anything alive inside."

"Who knows? Maybe, perhaps?" Gu Xichen slyly left the question ambiguous.

Boreyo refused to let go of the opportunity to fleece a fat sheep, pressing on relentlessly, "One hundred thousand Federation Credits? I don't believe anything alive would cause a direct descendant of the Holsom family to abandon their family warriors and flee the battle. The Romans value face above all else; honor their families is paramount. Abandoning family warriors? Impossible!"

"I didn't agree to bet with you!" Gu Xichen frowned in annoyance. The Hell Angels Mercenary Corps' efficiency was too high; the bounty for killing over thirty Romans right after returning to base had already been deposited into his mercenary card account. This fellow Boreyo had immediately targeted Gu Xichen, a fresh and plump target, determined to take a bite out of him.

Releasing the wheel-like hand seal, Boreyo looked at Gu Xichen with a furrowed brow, curiosity laced in his voice, "You don't strike me as someone so stingy? It's just a hundred thousand Federation Credits. Can I just skip treating you to a meal instead?"

Gu Xichen suddenly revealed a malicious smile, extending his right hand towards Boreyo. He chuckled, "Then, let's make the stakes higher—one million! My intuition tells me there should be something alive inside!"

Intuition—since cultivating the Hanyuan True Canon, Gu Xichen's intuition had grown stronger, especially his Daotai's perception of various life forms, which was extraordinarily acute. He vaguely felt that there was a living being inside this metal container, so since Boreyo had actively dug a pit and jumped in, he naturally had to kick dirt in after him.

However, Boreyo, who had been badgering him to take his money, suddenly recoiled like a startled fawn. He shot Gu Xichen a strange look, then smiled lightly and said, "Forget it. Gambling is a bad habit. Although I am a mercenary now, gambling is still something I cannot indulge in."

Bringing his palms together, Boreyo recited 'Namo Amitabha Buddha' with exceptional piety.

"Clever enough!" Gu Xichen gave Boreyo a deep look.

The automatic door behind them slid open, and the full-bearded Captain strode in with several senior leaders of the mercenary corps. While twisting his large beard, the Captain boomed, "Have you opened it yet? Have you opened it? Ugh, aren't those brats from the engineering corps always bragging? Why is it taking them this long to open a box?"

A slick, oil-tinged voice came from a loudspeaker mounted on the corner of the warehouse wall, "Uncle Beard, don't blame us! This container has thirty-six hidden locks, and each one has its own layer of password verification. Tsk, this requires meticulous, slow work! Don't rush!"

The Captain cursed good-naturedly, arguing back and forth with the young voice coming from the speaker.

As they were squabbling, the mechanical arms of the two robots simultaneously heaved, and the lid of the metal container slid open silently. A large cloud of white mist, generated by liquid nitrogen vaporizing upon contact with the air, jetted out from the container. Immediately following this, a piercing alarm blared throughout the entire ice-cap base, and a chorus of shouts erupted from the loudspeaker: "Heavens, we've struck it rich! Uncle Beard, we're rich!"

Every hair on Gu Xichen's body suddenly stood on end, and his heart instinctively began to beat faster.

One hundred beats per minute...

Two hundred beats per minute...

Three hundred beats per minute...

Six hundred beats per minute...

Soon, Gu Xichen's heart rate reached a terrifying nine hundred beats per minute. Waves of pure energy swept through his meridians like a hurricane. The once smooth and fluid Xiantian Gang Qi was shattered by the domineering and forceful tide of energy. Gu Xichen’s lean, solid body began to inflate like a balloon; in just one breath, he became bulkier than Boreyo sitting beside him. A terrifying aura faintly radiated from Gu Xichen, causing the Captain and the other senior leaders to retreat a few steps.

Boreyo leaped up agilely, staring at Gu Xichen in alarm, "Evil Dragon? What's wrong?!"

Two extremely thin blue beams shot out from Gu Xichen’s pupils, which had shrunk to the size of pinpricks. He stared intently at the metal container and roared sternly, "What is inside?"

From Gu Xichen’s vantage point, no one could see what was in the metal container. Only the engineers operating the two remote robots could see exactly what it was.

The voice with the slick, oil-tinged tone was about to say, "It's a Kry..."

His answer was no longer needed; everyone saw what the metal container held!

Two broken black arms suddenly reached out from the billowing white mist. Two bursts of invisible energy erupted, and the two multi-armed maintenance robots exploded with a 'boom' into countless fragments scattering everywhere. The two black arms slowly rested on the edge of the metal container, and a bizarre figure sat up from within the box.

The body was semi-transparent, composed of material nearly like crystal. The smooth body was utterly devoid of hair. Its shape and facial features were about ninety percent similar to a human, but within the two pitch-black eyeballs, two clusters of blinding black flames burned fiercely. Distinct cracks ran throughout the person’s luminous body, resembling the fracture lines inside a crystal ball that had been violently struck. Fine, thin black electric sparks continuously overflowed from deep within the body, and a thick layer of black electricity slowly wrapped around its surface.

"A Crystal Man!" The Captain shouted with elation, "Damn it, a huge sum of money, a huge sum! We've made it!"

"A Crystal Man!" Boreyo stared madly at the seemingly ruined body, "Crystal Fusion! Activate Crystal Fusion!"

"A Crystal Man? Black?" All the data related to Crystal Men flashed through Gu Xichen’s mind. He shrieked, "A black Crystal Man? Damn it, this is huge trouble! A black Crystal Man! Shoot, shoot, kill him! Damn it!"

The Crystal Man was a marvelous life form condensed from high-energy crystals. The newly born infants were pure white. As they aged and their strength increased, their body color gradually transformed following the spectrum of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple. As the body color deepened, the energy contained within the Crystal Man grew stronger, and so did their power!

A purple Crystal Man possessed strength comparable to Earth's top fighters, but a black Crystal Man was an existence unheard of!

The Captain snapped back to reality. A cold sweat instantly coated his forehead. He also shouted wildly, "Shoot, shoot, kill this guy!"

The high-energy lasers pre-positioned in the four corners of the warehouse charged briefly before simultaneously firing beams of white light, about a meter thick, striking the Crystal Man.

The intense flash momentarily blinded Gu Xichen and the others. The four laser beams were completely absorbed by the Crystal Man's body, turning the black crystal being countless times brighter than the sun in that instant. The Crystal Man casually swung his arms toward the four corners, and four black arcs of electricity whistled out, causing the four high-energy laser emitters to instantly explode. Even louder alarms sounded continuously, and the sound of dense footsteps echoed from all directions.

The black Crystal Man moved. Nearly two meters tall, he stepped out of the metal container. His footfall produced a faint cracking sound, and a dozen black crystalline shards detached from his body. The Crystal Man's face twitched, and his entire body trembled slightly as he advanced steadfastly toward Gu Xichen's position. He clenched his fist and slammed it straight into the bulletproof glass. The meter-thick glass shattered into powder amidst a deafening crash. A terrifying torrent of energy surged forward, engulfing the few senior leaders of the mercenary corps the Captain had brought with him. In the blink of an eye, they were torn to shreds.

The Captain and Boreyo threw all their might into a full-force strike to block the attack. Several black shockwaves were shattered before them, and the bones in their arms groaned under the strain. Both men spat blood and recoiled.

Gu Xichen, whose body was already on the verge of exploding from the violent energy surging from his Daotai, let out a muffled groan. He clenched his eyes, temporarily blinded by the intense light, and swung a punch purely by instinct toward the attacker.

The Crystal Man’s right arm had been pulverized in the previous violent blow. His body appeared to have suffered irreparable damage; hundreds more cracks appeared on his form with loud fracturing sounds. He stomped his left foot forcefully backward, but his body didn't budge an inch. Instead, the part of his body from the left knee down exploded into countless crystal fragments.

"My body!" The Crystal Man roared toward the sky in shock and fury.

Gu Xichen's full-power punch landed squarely on the Crystal Man's chest. The violent energy within him surged down his arm and straight into the Crystal Man's body. A massive explosion followed; a transparent hole was blown through the Crystal Man's chest, spraying sticky, iron-like black fluid everywhere. The temperature of this fluid was terrifyingly high, with every drop emitting a blinding, intense light.

The Crystal Man's body disintegrated amidst continuous bursts of explosive noise. The Crystal Man howled in despair, "Thief... Butcher..."

An overwhelming sense of danger chilled Gu Xichen to the bone, and he instinctively retreated rapidly backward.

But the black flames in the Crystal Man's eyes surged, and an immensely powerful suction rigidly bound Gu Xichen in place. The Crystal Man mumbled vaguely, "Body... powerful body... take!"

A cluster of black light scattered outward. The Crystal Man's body completely vanished within the glare. The scattered black liquid rushed toward a fist-sized black crystal core suspended in the void, and waves of terrifying, chilling power radiated continuously from that core. In just two breaths, all the Crystal Man's energy was condensed into this core.

Gu Xichen let out a piercing scream as the black crystal core, wreathed in rolling black flames, plunged into his chest, merging into his body like spilled mercury.

A ball of scorching fire rampaged wildly inside Gu Xichen, finally rushing into his heart. A cold, merciless spiritual fluctuation, laced with surging resentment, burst forth from Gu Xichen's heart and rushed along his meridians straight to his brain.

'Possess this body'—only this single command roared within that supreme, overwhelming spiritual wave.

Boreyo opened his eyes and stared blankly as black thunder-fire erupted around Gu Xichen, instantly incinerating his clothes to ash.

"Crystal Fusion? A fusion initiated actively by a Crystal Man? Heavens! This kid is finished!"

The Captain looked on the verge of tears as Gu Xichen floated in the air in a spread-eagle posture.

"My God! A red Crystal Man is worth over a billion on the market! Waaah, an orange one must be at least five billion! Once, a blue Crystal Man was auctioned for five hundred billion!"

"A black Crystal Man? Black! How much is a black one worth?"

The Captain hopped up and down, howling, "Evil Dragon! You'll be serving my mercenary corps for the rest of your life!"

"Aoo! Aoo!"

After a few mournful howls, the Captain began to jump and cheer excitedly again.

"God! Jade Emperor! Buddha! Protect him so he merges successfully! Let our Hell Angels Mercenary Corps also possess a powerful Realm Master!"

Gu Xichen suddenly let out a sharp, unpleasant scream. Black and red flames erupted simultaneously from his seven orifices. His body convulsed violently for a moment, then the black thunder-fire around him extinguished. Gu Xichen, covered in black smoke, fell to the ground without a sound and passed out.

A 'hiss' sound came from the floor below. The alloy floor in contact with Gu Xichen's body melted.

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Well, comrades, it’s the same old tune: recommendation votes... recommendation votes, please!