A lake spanning several li in length and width appeared in the dense forest ahead, with a level grassy area along its banks. 1 Novel alpha..C organized |//|

Holding an iron chain, Xin Jia stood on the grassland like a small mountain, with two fierce tigers he had slain lying at his feet, which had attempted to attack him.

Gu Xiechen shot out from the dense woods like a wisp of smoke. Xin Jia performed a profound bow, bringing his hands down like pushing a golden mountain or toppling a jade pillar, towards Gu Xiechen: "Exalted One!"

"Mm!" Gu Xiechen reached out, gesturing for Xin Jia to rise.

Siren and Aredia stared blankly at the three-meter-tall Xin Jia, instinctively sensing the profound, divine energy contained within him. Xin Jia’s large, round eyes glared fiercely at Siren, and he was tossing a fist-sized stone back and forth in his palm, which he had somehow acquired. The fierce aura on Xin Jia’s face, coupled with his lively gaze, were qualities that Siren and Aredia’s Boundary Puppets could never possess.

"This is!" Siren moved toward Xin Jia in astonishment, reaching out to touch the muscles of his abdomen. "This is..."

"Bold monstrous fiend, how dare you profane this divine body of mine?" Xin Jia roared in anger. This effeminate monster, who looked like a woman, dared to touch him? He opened his massive mouth and bellowed at Siren. If Gu Xiechen had not informed him telepathically not to attack, Xin Jia would have already kicked Siren hard in the stomach.

The colossal roar sent glittering stars before Siren's eyes and caused acute pain in his eardrums. Siren retreated several steps in terror, pointing at Xin Jia and yelling: "This Boundary Puppet, it possesses its own consciousness? How is this possible? This... this is utterly impossible!"

Xin Jia raised an eyebrow and turned away, dismissing Siren. Xin Jia judged this fiend’s intelligence to be rather low; since he was now a subordinate of the Exalted One Gu Xiechen, there was no need to concern himself with this creature. Hmph, consciousness? As a Yellow Turban Strongman guarding the Grand Primordial Heaven, of course he possessed consciousness—wasn't that self-evident? "A stupid demon, barely adequate as a child attendant to guard a grotto-heaven. At least he and that female demon beside him are decent looking, so as not to disgrace the Exalted One’s reputation!" Xin Jia’s thoughts were simple.

Gu Xiechen, who had been surveying the surroundings, turned back impatiently at Siren's exclamation and shouted: "I fused with a black Christal sphere. You should know its origin; why are you so surprised? A black Christal sphere—if you can find another identical one, you can attempt a second Christal fusion!"

Siren and Aredia exchanged horrified glances. A black Christal sphere? They had never heard of it, nor seen it. No wonder Xin Jia was utterly different from their Boundary Puppets! "No wonder the Holsom family spares no expense to seek revenge against the Hell Angels Mercenary Group. A black Christal sphere! Pol Pot must be truly distraught!" Siren suddenly understood some of the circumstances.

Aredia, however, acted petulantly, cursing Gu Xiechen. A second Christal fusion? Boundary Masters had attempted it before, but without exception, they all ended up exploding—a fate quicker than poison! Gu Xiechen’s suggestion was clearly malicious! Aredia’s gaze toward Gu Xiechen grew increasingly unfriendly.

Outside the atmosphere of Paradise Star, two high-speed assault craft from the Hell Angels Mercenary Group encountered a Roman cone-shaped warship head-on.

From five hundred kilometers away, the assault craft launched four high-velocity missiles. The Roman warship retaliated by firing dense lasers, destroying three missiles; the last one struck the warship's bow precisely. The energy shield, nearly a meter thick, instantly weakened to less than a foot thick amidst the fiery explosion. The enraged Roman warship immediately charged toward the two assault craft.

Without a word, the two assault craft turned to flee. The Roman warship, imbued with the characteristic arrogance of the Romans, relentlessly pursued them, completely forgetting their actual mission: to secretly infiltrate and scout the situation on Paradise Star. The provocation from the two craft infuriated the Romans aboard the warship; they felt absolutely capable of destroying the two craft before proceeding with their mission.

The two craft plunged into the atmosphere, rocketing toward the ground at an extreme speed exceeding ten times the speed of sound, almost in a ninety-degree vertical dive. Air friction heated the craft's outer hull, causing the special alloy exterior to gradually turn red, and a dazzling tail of flame soon erupted behind them. The two craft plummeted desperately toward the ground, only sharply banking diagonally when they were less than three thousand meters above the surface. The rapid change in trajectory made the hulls of the craft groan under the strain; large sections of external armor peeled away from the distorted bodies, trailing huge sparks as they fell. The two assault craft barely managed to level out while skimming the very tops of the dense forest, the resulting pressure wave crushing more than a dozen towering trees into dust.

The continuous roar of 'Rumble' filled the air. The storm stirred up by the two craft blew vast amounts of wood chips everywhere, causing sparks to shower across the energy shields of the pursuing Roman warship as it collided with fragments of wood and debris.

Dozens of laser beams ripped through the void. The two assault craft narrowly evaded the Roman warship’s fire, continuing their frantic flight pressed against the treetops.

The Roman warship gradually closed the distance, firing relentlessly. Yet, the two assault craft seemed divinely aided, evading the deadly lasers by the narrowest of margins each time.

Inside the Independent Army Command Center, the brothers Banruo and Mohe, gripping the remote control sticks, were drenched in sweat, constantly maneuvering the two assault craft to maintain coordinated cover as they sped forward. Only brothers with perfectly aligned spirits could manage this feat. The Roman warship relentlessly chasing them failed to notice that while its firepower seemed intense, it only managed to fire a few laser bursts at one craft before its attention was drawn to the other, which suddenly flew into its path, leading to chaotic firing directed at the second craft.

They continued this cycle of chase and evasion, keeping the Roman warship hugging the ground until they drew it directly over the lake where Gu Xiechen and the others were situated. Furthermore, the brothers Banruo and Mohe had not only lured the Roman warship into the pursuit but had also subtly reduced their flight speed below the speed of sound. The Roman warship, single-mindedly focused on attacking the tail engines of the two craft, unconsciously slowed down as well.

"Xin Jia! Act now!" Gu Xiechen commanded as he watched the two craft scream overhead.

Almost simultaneously with Gu Xiechen’s order, Xin Jia struck the iron chain at his waist, sending the chain whipping out like a massive python.

The iron chain, as thick as a small bowl, instantly elongated to over two thousand meters. With a deafening 'Clang,' the chain wrapped around the speeding Roman warship securely.

With a heavy 'Thud,' each ring of the chain stretched further. Xin Jia's muscles bulged, and streams of yellow earth-qi erupted from the ground, pouring into his body. The tremendous kinetic energy of the warship dragged Xin Jia forward, his every step leaving deep imprints on the earth. Xin Jia roared deeply, yellow light flashing in his eyes, as he rapidly formed a hand seal. His body suddenly shot up by more than a meter.

The links of the chain stretched once more. Xin Jia’s skin burst open in patches, and a stream of pale golden blood sprayed from his mouth.

"My magic power is not yet recovered! Otherwise!" Xin Jia roared low, "Otherwise, would I permit you wretches such insolence? Hah... Heaven and Earth share one breath, Man receives ten thousand spirits; call upon one spirit, and Heaven and Earth respond. Wutu Shocking Thunder, Break!"

As the word 'Break' left his lips, a crisp clap of muffled thunder echoed across the clear sky. The terrifying sound was like hundreds of heavy artillery shells exploding beside them, throwing Gu Xiechen, Siren, and Aredia to the ground. A bolt of yellow lightning, only as thick as a child’s wrist, shot straight down from the sky, slamming heavily onto the Roman warship, which was charging forward at full engine power.

With a loud 'Crackling,' currents of finger-thick electricity surged violently around the Roman warship. The meter-thick blue shield flickered weakly, on the verge of shattering.

Gu Xiechen, reeling from the piercing pain in his ears and the stars flashing before his eyes, roared and sprang up, his steps blurring as he rushed to the side of the blood-soaked Xin Jia. Gu Xiechen ran forward along the iron chain tightly gripped by Xin Jia. A faint, almost imperceptible current of energy flowed outward from his Daoist robe and crane cloak. Gu Xiechen felt his body become weightless, like a floating cloud, reaching the end of the chain in a single breath. Gu Xiechen leaped onto the Roman warship, planting his feet firmly on the hull where the energy shield had not yet dissipated.

"He's insane!" Siren and Aredia cried out. The Roman energy shield was incredibly powerful; even ordinary alloy would instantly melt. Gu Xiechen actually jumped directly onto it?

A soft halo diffused from his Daoist robe, enveloping Gu Xiechen in an eggshell-like light shield. Where the ship's blue energy shield met the halo, intense electric flashes sparked, but the energy could not penetrate the light shield in the slightest! Gu Xiechen let out a fierce cry and swung his claws down hard onto the ship beneath him.

With dozens of sharp 'Ssss' sounds, a faint light halo spun around his Ruyi Gloves. Gu Xiechen's claws sliced through the Roman warship's hull like a knife through tofu, tearing off large chunks with each strike. In the blink of an eye, a large hole, about three meters in diameter, was ripped open. The wires and conduits in the piping beneath the hull were shredded by Gu Xiechen's indestructible hands. A blinding flash of electricity erupted, and the plasma flames spewing from the Roman warship's engines suddenly dimmed.

Xin Jia had been dragged nearly a thousand meters across the ground, but he had finally stabilized himself. As the Roman engine power weakened, Xin Jia immediately felt the pressure on his hands lessen significantly.

Laughing loudly, Xin Jia roared: "Monsters, come down by my decree!" With a mighty swing of his muscular arms, the powerless Roman warship was dragged down like a stone.

'Roar, roar,' Xin Jia's form returned to three meters in size. He swung his palms, and a huge, eerie green stone, nearly a meter in diameter, appeared in his hand. Lifting the massive stone, Xin Jia bounded onto the top of the warship with a wild laugh and began smashing furiously at the large hole Gu Xiechen had created.

Several Spirit Race soldiers were peering out of the hole, attempting to shoot at Gu Xiechen. Suddenly, a huge stone smashed down. The soldiers shrieked, dropped their weapons, and turned to flee.

With dull 'Boom, boom, boom' sounds, the warship shook violently as Xin Jia smashed it, burying nearly half of the hull into the muddy ground near the lake.

Siren and Aredia gasped in unison, exchanged a look, and reluctantly acted together.

In the past few days, they had absorbed sufficient Zakura Crystals, storing massive amounts of energy in their realms. Siren summoned seven Silver-Winged Angels, while Aredia more violently summoned twelve Lava Rhinoceroses. Both summoned such a large number of Boundary Puppets without any sign of exhaustion, a stark contrast to when Aredia had been nearly dead after summoning just one Lava Rhinoceros previously.

The Silver-Winged Angels swept their silver greatswords toward the Roman warship. The twelve Lava Rhinoceroses roared savagely, lowering the sharp horns on their heads to ram the vessel violently.

With several heavy 'Thuds,' the five-hundred-ton warship was shoved thirty meters away by the twelve furious rhinos. Gu Xiechen and Xin Jia, standing on the ship, both cursed loudly and leaped down in disarray, narrowly avoiding being flung away with the vessel. A piercing slicing sound followed as the two-meter-long silver light swords held by the seven Silver-Winged Angels dug deeply into the warship. After a flurry of chopping and slashing, the intact small warship was reduced to a pile of scrap metal.

Three Romans, their faces pale with fright, along with twelve shivering Spirit Race soldiers huddled together, cautiously emerged from the undamaged cockpit. Before Gu Xiechen and the others could speak, the three Romans scrambled to shout: "We surrender, we surrender, we surrender! Our families will pay a high ransom to retrieve us; do not kill us!"

Gu Xiechen, Siren, and Aredia all let out a breath, looking at each other, gaining a new understanding of each other's combat prowess.

One Roman warrior was observant. He stared blankly at the three, then suddenly wailed mournfully: "Three Boundary Masters! You Earthlings bully people too much! Wuwu, three Boundary Masters! Why are you bullying our scout ship instead of attacking our Roman Pantheon?"

Gu Xiechen, Siren, and Aredia exchanged stunned glances, then simultaneously burst into laughter.

Eh, recommendation tickets, recommendation tickets...