In a place far from everyone’s sight, Gu Xiechen closed his eyes in deep meditation. A gentle, warm ripple spread across his Daoist robe, his crane cloak, and his cloud boots; gradually, the garments reshaped themselves. Gu Xiechen’s attire transformed into a set of black clerical vestments, a priest’s outfit.

Satisfied, he assessed the new clothing, placed the green jade Daoist crown upon his head, and wiped the cold sweat forming on his brow from the severe expenditure of spiritual power. He immediately resumed his meditative state. The Azure Wood Crown silently absorbed the spiritual energy Gu Xiechen continuously infused, slowly emitting wisps of cyan light that tightly enveloped his head.

After about three minutes, the crown vanished from atop his head, but Gu Xiechen himself was utterly transformed—now a gaunt, frail-looking, pale-faced man with yellowish hair. At first glance, this face appeared utterly unremarkable and easily overlooked. However, upon closer inspection, one would realize the features were strangely familiar, like an acquaintance known since childhood; the name hovered right at the tip of the tongue, but he couldn't recall it for a moment.

This was a function of the new Daoist attire Gu Xiechen had developed after absorbing three drops of essence blood from the Hanba, which had profoundly enhanced his soul's origin. As long as sufficient spiritual power was available, this robe could morph its appearance according to his will, and the Green Jade Crown could alter a person’s features. This crown had once helped Gu Xiechen resist the mental impact from the Roman people; it possessed not only the ability to defend against spiritual attacks but also functions of illusion and bewitchment.

Unless the spiritual power intensity was far greater than Gu Xiechen’s, his illusion would not be uncovered.

He cautiously surveyed his surroundings and softly clapped his hands. A flow of earth-yellow energy erupted near his feet, and Xin Jia’s thick arms emerged, instantly grasping Gu Xiechen’s waist and dragging him underground. Xin Jia carried Gu Xiechen forward through the earth faster than a galloping horse, quickly transporting him to the depths of the valley. Xin Jia cautiously raised half his head above the surface to scan the area. Over two hundred meters away, the Church’s forces were besieging Ru Hua and Little Daoist Zhang; no one paid attention here.

Xin Jia deposited Gu Xiechen back on the surface. Gu Xiechen patted Xin Jia’s shoulder approvingly. Xin Jia grinned widely, bowed deeply to Gu Xiechen, and then sank back into the earth.

Straightening his new robes, Gu Xiechen smoothly melted into the dense ranks of the Church personnel.

The Church had numerous troops, and they were currently focused on attacking Little Daoist Zhang and Ru Hua; no one noticed the black-robed Gu Xiechen. Even if someone’s gaze occasionally swept over his face, they would only perceive the features as strikingly familiar, never realizing that Gu Xiechen was not one of their comrades.

Using the cover of the Church fighters, Gu Xiechen crept forward, keeping low, toward the fray.

Thirty Church Knights, whose strength and speed had been multiplied several times over, were hacking and slashing at Ru Hua with their longswords. The thirty heavy two-handed greatswords tore through the air, the resulting dense sword gusts sealing every inch of space around Ru Hua. Ru Hua’s black cloak had long since been shredded to tatters, and his body bore three massive gashes, each a foot long and several inches deep. Empowered by the Church’s Level Eight Divine Art scroll, ‘Descent of the Holy Angel,’ every strike carried a thick infusion of sacred power—precisely the antithesis of Ru Hua. Although Ru Hua’s absolute strength far exceeded that of these Knights by more than tenfold, he was still suppressed to the point of near suffocation.

Ru Hua fought desperately without retreat. A few meters behind him, nestled in a mountain crevice, was Little Daoist Zhang.

Little Daoist Zhang frantically fiddled with the communicator in his hands, cursing into it with murderous rage: “What? The people from the Pantheon Alliance have blocked you? Damn it, tell them if this Daoist dies here today, the moment my Master, Grandmaster, Great-Grandmaster, and all the ancestors of my Sect are enraged, they will definitely march upon the Grand Canyon in North America!”

“Tell them to clear the way, or this Daoist will truly lose his temper!”

“What? They stubbornly refuse to yield and insist we hand over the bamboo slips? Bah! Tell them that once something enters the mouth of this Daoist Zhang, it is impossible to spit out! Dreaming is easier!”

“Bastards, what are you waiting for? Attack... Fellow Daoists, hurry and save me, or Ru Hua will be chopped into a zombie and used for firewood!”

“Ouch, it doesn’t matter if Ru Hua dies; I, Little Zhang, still have a bright future ahead. I am destined to inherit the Daoist lineage of Zhongnan Mountain. If I die, it will be a massive loss for the Asian Daoist Alliance!”

Ru Hua managed to drive back two heavy swords chopping down at him with a powerful punch. Golden holy light, like molten glaze, clung to his fist and burned fiercely, causing his flesh and bone to crack and emitting plumes of chillingly cold, foul-smelling, dark green smoke. Enraged, Ru Hua kicked a charging Church Knight away, but the circular magic array beneath the Knight suddenly flashed with golden light. The Knight remained completely unharmed; instead, Ru Hua was hit by such a massive recoil force that one of his toe bones snapped.

“You stinking long-nosed fellow, have you managed to call for reinforcements yet? Hurry up and help, or I won’t let you rest even as a ghost!” Ru Hua shrieked in fury.

Little Daoist Zhang hurriedly tucked away the communicator. He lifted the front of his Daoist robe, fumbling for something while muttering, “You’re already a type of ghost, why talk about being a ghost or not? Uh, let me look, let me look... Aha! Found them!”

Little Daoist Zhang rummaged through his robe and Gu Xiechen watched as he pulled out three spindle-shaped objects, each the size of an egg and shimmering with a purple-gold hue. It was impossible to tell what material these three items were made of; they were semi-transparent, and countless flickering streaks of lightning could vaguely be seen inside. Little Daoist Zhang happily weighed the three artifacts in his hands, then shouted, “Ru Hua, stand back! This Daoist will teach these foreign devils what it means to have the King of Horses with three eyes!”

Gu Xiechen’s heart hammered violently; he instinctively felt an intuition of extreme danger. The hairs on his back stood straight up. He stomped hard on the ground with both feet, retreating backward with whirlwind speed. As he retreated, his claws deftly swept across the waists of the nearby Church personnel. True Qi flowed into the Ruyi Gloves, and the gloves sliced through the armor and bodies of the Church Knights as easily as cutting tofu.

The Ruyi Gloves were too sharp; the Knights’ bodies had already been cleaved, yet they hadn't registered the pain for a moment.

Gu Xiechen retreated rapidly for several hundred meters. Little Daoist Zhang had already hurled one egg-sized object amidst Ru Hua’s near-collapsing screams.

“I curse your mother!” Ru Hua wailed tragically. Clutching his head, he leaped skyward with all his might. He completely ignored the more than twenty greatswords descending upon him. He allowed the heavy swords to hack at him, letting deep, bone-visible gashes carve into his body, only striving to soar toward the sky. “Stinking long-nosed fellow, ‘Profound Origin Unified Pure Barrier Divine Thunder’—where did you get three of those? Are you trying to murder me?”

Andre’s face twisted abruptly when he heard Ru Hua’s scream.

Waving his hands frantically, Andre immediately produced a scroll and crushed it, shouting just as wildly: “Danger! Defend! Defend!”

With a crisp crack, the Profound Origin Unified Pure Barrier Divine Thunder thrown by Little Daoist Zhang detonated in the densest cluster of the Church forces. The explosion wasn't massive; a gentle cluster of purple light softly enveloped a space spanning over two hundred meters. As the hazy purple light shimmered, thirty-six thin bolts of purple lightning suddenly struck down from the sky in rapid succession.

A powerful burst of white light erupted from the scroll in Andre’s hand. The dozen or so white-robed and black-robed clergy beside him simultaneously crushed their Divine Art scrolls. The dozen scrolls released their power simultaneously, and the clusters of white light merged perfectly, forming a giant, inverted bowl that covered all the Church members.

Did everyone enjoy that side story from yesterday? Uh, keep sending those votes and recommendations... It's only two days until the official launch, and then I can let everyone really have a blast...