In the dense forest, the brothers, Banruo and Mohe, clad in coarse homespun robes, sat cross-legged facing each other.

An invisible surge of qi held their bodies aloft, their crossed legs suspended three inches above the ground. The dust, dry twigs, and fallen leaves beneath them were swept up by this subtle power, coalescing into two pale gray lotus pedestals beneath the brothers. Their palms pressed tightly together, pure Chan energy surged and flowed ceaselessly between their forms. From crown to sole, twenty-six halos of blue light flickered around them, rising and falling with an inherent rhythm.

The same Chan energy, upon entering Mohe’s body, acquired a dense aura of death and brutality; yet, once it flowed into Banruo, it transformed into tranquil, serene vitality. The energy of life and death cycled endlessly, and the Chan power within the brothers gradually merged into a single, exceedingly pure essence devoid of any discernible attribute.

“Huuuuhhhh…”

Banruo and Mohe exhaled a long breath simultaneously, then both concluded their practice and rose. Banruo’s movements as he stood were as gentle as flowing water, stirring not a speck of dust. Mohe, however, rose as if a stick of dynamite had suddenly detonated; every gesture was imbued with explosive power, and the joints throughout his body cracked with sharp snaps.

Mohe had finally and completely assimilated the vast essence of spirit and vitality he’d extracted from Keiko of Dizang Temple. The brothers had divided this immense power, and now both stood firmly upon the level of mid-Jupiter.

The First Combat Group Commander, **, whose entire body was covered in coarse black hair, rose from a nearby thicket of grass. He clapped lightly. “Congratulations, congratulations! Your power has advanced greatly! Care to spar sometime?” On **’s bear-like, powerful physique, mounds of muscle continuously swelled and contracted as he flexed his arm toward Mohe, proudly showcasing the ingot-like muscle lumps on his bicep.

Mohe beckoned to ** with great enthusiasm. He had long been intrigued by this battle-crazed maniac. Mohe called out excitedly, “Good! Once we finish this mission, we’ll have a proper bout! **, I’m going to beat your bowels out of you! And if you don’t procure me a few fair-skinned Nordic maidens, I won’t just beat your bowels out—I’ll blow your balls to smithereens!”

“Namo Amitabha!”

Banruo pressed his palms together and recited the Buddha’s name. He commanded softly, “Quiet! There’s movement!”

** and Mohe instantly pricked up their ears, then both dashed toward a grassy nest enclosed by three large trees nearby, dragging out two heavy, high-velocity machine guns.

Dozens of meters away, perched high in a tree, Holm, clad in his Assassin series combat suit, made several silent hand signals. The dozens of snipers, trained entirely by Holm, simultaneously lowered their heads, pressing their eyes tightly against their rifle scopes. These snipers were spread across a two-kilometer radius, their large-caliber, high-energy rifles capable of controlling every movement within a twenty-kilometer sphere.

The green-haired beauty Medusa crawled out of a patch of tall grass on all fours, resembling a lizard, before swiftly slipping into another patch. Where Medusa passed, the very air carried a fresh, herbal scent. This faint fragrance was utterly unremarkable in the dense woods, yet several birds perched on nearby branches suddenly tumbled to the ground, dissolving into pools of inky green pus within mere blinks of an eye.

“Montetedi! Why are you chasing me?” Gu Xichen’s feet drove him rapidly through the forest, leaving a sweeping gust of wind in his wake. Trees flashed by as he shot forward, and clumps of tall grass were pulverized by his swift passage. A few unfortunate night-roaming beasts struck by Gu Xichen let out painful shrieks before being flung aside. The sound of air being torn apart by Gu Xichen was like a bellowing locomotive whistle, shaking the nearby jungle into disarray.

Less than fifty meters behind Gu Xichen, an almost transparent phantom pursued relentlessly. Montetedi, the mysterious master whose face Gu Xichen hadn’t even managed to glimpse clearly, roared low, “You destroyed my clan’s sacred artifact, the ‘Illusory Jade Blade’! You must die; you absolutely must die! I will bring your heart and brain to my clan’s deity as sacrifice to atone for your sins!”

With a whoosh, Gu Xichen tapped the forehead of a giant panda that suddenly burst from the tall grass. Utilizing that slight push, he soared upward, tapping rapidly against tree trunks before gliding hundreds of meters further ahead.

Splat! The unlucky panda, alerted only by the sonic boom Gu Xichen created, had rushed out of its lair to investigate. Before it could even comprehend what was happening, Montetedi slammed directly through its body and burst out the other side. A rain of blood sprayed everywhere, black and white fur flying, as Montetedi, reeking strongly of gore, shot upward, continuing his high-altitude pursuit of Gu Xichen, more than a hundred meters off the ground.

Listening to the fierce tearing of air behind him, Gu Xichen muttered complaints in succession.

Judging by Montetedi’s physique, he was a member of the ‘Phantom Clan,’ another subsidiary race of the Romans. The Phantom Clan possessed inherently powerful psychic abilities and excelled at concealment. The scarce Phantom Clan members were a sharp dagger in the hands of the Romans, and accomplished Phantom Clan practitioners were Grandmaster assassins whose names struck terror into all who heard them.

Furthermore, the Phantom Clan were fanatical religious zealots, worshipping everything left behind by their ancestors. Since the Illusory Jade Blade was considered their sacred artifact, it was undoubtedly a treasure left by an ancestor tens of thousands of years ago, effectively as priceless as the Imperial Regalia of ancient China.

Such a profound treasure had been cleaved into three pieces by Gu Xichen’s Ruyi Gauntlets!

“I am wronged!” Gu Xichen sighed deeply, continuously injecting pure zhenqi into his Cloud Boots. The cloud light surrounding the boots intensified, and Gu Xichen’s forward speed increased once more.

A cold snort followed, and Montetedi’s speed of pursuit also accelerated. Waves of sharp, blade-like mental assaults struck repeatedly. Blue light flashed violently above Gu Xichen’s head as his Azure Jade Dao Crown diligently mitigated Montetedi’s psychic onslaught. Nevertheless, Gu Xichen saw stars dancing before his eyes; his head throbbed as if it were about to explode.

Ahead lay the forested area where Gu Xichen had arranged for Banruo and the others to lie in wait—his contingency plan. As the pursuer and the pursued approached this dense wood, dozens of high-powered lasers shot straight out from all directions toward Montetedi. Caught completely off guard, Montetedi shrieked. His body suddenly transformed into a hazy, indistinct mass. With a muffled boom, dozens of Montetedi figures shot upward from the blurry green silhouette, and all the laser beams passed straight through his momentarily vaporized form.

The dazzling beams of light left striking trails in the night sky. Enraged, Montetedi launched his most savage counterattack.

Rings of powerful mental shockwaves spread outwards in all directions. A chilling, ethereal light suddenly burst forth from Montetedi’s brow. Dozens of azure phantoms streamed out from the cold light. These specters possessed only rudimentary human-like features, trailing long, cold streaks of light several meters behind them. The moment these ghosts appeared, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and heavy snow began to fall abruptly from the sky.

Wails echoed continuously. The snipers under Holm were simultaneously struck by the mental shockwaves, each spitting blood and plummeting to the earth.

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Well, that's the third chapter for today... There will be one more chapter before I sleep... Tomorrow is April 1st... Comrades, please give recommendations and throw your votes! Tomorrow, Pig Head will start demanding monthly votes... Hit me with those monthly votes with everything you’ve got!