The generous sleeves concealed Zuo Nian. Gu Xiechen held the white Zakula crystal, snatched from Andre, in his left hand, quietly absorbing its energy.

The quality of this white Zakula crystal was extraordinarily high; after Gu Xiechen absorbed energy from it, the crystal would actually absorb residual energy from the air to replenish what it had lost. Gu Xiechen secretly calculated that if he possessed three such supreme-grade crystals, given his current cultivation speed, he would never have to worry about Zakula crystals again.

"It seems the sensible path is to rob Bishop Dindinga when I have time in the future! The Earth Federation's three major religious groups—the Vatican Circle being the wealthiest, the Pantheon the most formidable, and the Asian Dao Alliance the most mysterious—this saying is certainly true." Countless streams of purple mist surged out from his sea of consciousness, flowing through his meridians into the Zakula crystal, thoroughly plundering its energy. Gu Xiechen drifted into whimsical daydreams.

A crisp knocking echoed from the doorway. The force of the knock was pure and steady, the sound itself bringing a sense of calm. Gu Xiechen smiled.

Tucking the white Zakula crystal into the Qiankun Pouch with a reverse motion, Gu Xiechen called out in a clear voice, "Bhanra, come in." The automatic metal door slid open, and Bhanra, dressed in a coarse cloth robe and looking slightly pale, entered with Linghu. Bhanra clasped his hands before his chest and chanted a Buddhist phrase with a bitter smile, "Vice Commander, Bhanra is useless; I failed to assist Commander Hui and instead caused trouble for the Vice Commander." Linghu shook his head. Gu Xiechen rose, took Bhanra's hand, examined him closely, and then clapped him firmly on the arm. "It’s not your fault; the opponent was too strong. That was General Wageli of the Expeditionary Force. If our detachment could handle him, why would we still be scraping by in the mercenary world?" He gestured for Linghu and Bhanra to sit on the nearby sofa and asked Bhanra, "How are things? Were you tortured?" Bhanra smiled gently, "No torture. In fact, after being injured by Monte Teddy, they even went to the expense of providing medicine to heal our wounds.

But our true qi was constantly dispersed by their qi-suppressing devices, leaving our core energy slightly depleted, which is why our complexions look a bit poor." Sighing, Gu Xiechen pulled a thumb-sized jade bead from his pouch and began rolling it between his fingers. He looked at Bhanra and nodded repeatedly, "It's good that you're unharmed. As for the rest, we are temporarily weak; we can only take things one step at a time. For the sake of so many brothers in the detachment, staying under someone else's roof for now is unavoidable." Linghu and Bhanra’s faces were drawn. They looked at Gu Xiechen, fully aware of the great sacrifices he had made to secure a foothold for so many brothers and free them from Wageli's threats.

Exploring the ruins of Paradise Star for treasure, it was one thing for Gu Xiechen to only receive a ten percent share—and there was no guarantee that treasures would even be found in the ruins, or that those treasures would suit Gu Xiechen’s needs. However, the duel with Dukat Holsam to forge an alliance with Daoist Zhang was a debt of gratitude owed to Gu Xiechen by every brother in the mercenary detachment.

Linghu even learned from Gu Xiechen that it was Gu Xiechen who had drawn away Dukat, which gave him the chance to escape. If everyone hadn't been distracted by the approaching neutron bomb, and if the high-altitude satellites hadn't been blinded by the explosion, Gu Xiechen wouldn't have had an easy explanation for Daoist Zhang about the incident.

Bhanra stood up and bowed deeply to Gu Xiechen, clasping his hands together. Linghu also stood, cupped his fists, and performed an equally deep ninety-degree bow of respect to Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen sat composedly on the sofa, nodding with a slight smile. He knew he had secured the hearts of Bhanra and Linghu; they would become his trusted right and left hands in the future, validating his efforts.

The two sat back down on the sofa. Bhanra clapped his hands in a Buddhist gesture before speaking, "Vice Commander, while I was at the Pangu Base of the Expeditionary Force, I overheard some news." "Oh? What is it?" Both Gu Xiechen and Linghu became immediately interested.

The information Bhanra gathered was purely accidental. At the time, he and Mohe and the others were in medical pods receiving treatment. The thick military medical pods isolated external sounds; an ordinary person could never have heard anything outside. However, Bhanra’s father had secretly taught him the esoteric Tian Er Tong (Heavenly Ear Penetration) divine skill, and Bhanra had achieved some mastery since childhood, allowing him to coincidentally overhear this intelligence.

"Yulice—the woman you met, Vice Commander, who injured Miss Aredia—she is the director of a secret research institute within the Federation's Academy of Sciences. Her area of focus is human modification and the stimulation of human potential. Ou Shua, the one you killed, was the first successful product from Yulice’s work. The Paradise Star Expeditionary Force is Yulice’s testing ground." "The captured fighters from our detachment were supposed to be handed over to Yulice by Wageli to serve as experimental subjects. But the Federation Military's Supreme Military Council suddenly pressured Wageli, forcing them to release us and dispatching an investigation team to look into the unfair treatment our detachment suffered. Consequently, Wageli had a huge argument with Yulice, which resulted in our release." The Supreme Military Council’s pressure, and the dispatch of an investigative team to examine Wageli’s actions against the Hell Angels mercenaries, caused Gu Xiechen to secretly marvel at the latent influence the Asian Dao Alliance held within the Federation, while simultaneously envying the power wielded by the Soul Suppressing Sect. One day, I, too, must command such a force! I, and the fate of my people, must never again be determined by the power of others. Gu Xiechen made this resolution in his heart. "Although Yulice deliberately let us go, she refuses to let Vice Commander, Siren, and Aredia off the hook. Yulice just arrived on Paradise Star. She brought three artificial psychic ability users identical in model to Du Lu. Yulice herself is an extremely senior Boundary Master; her Domain has been pushed to its limit, possessing immense power. If Yulice insists on giving the Vice Commander a hard time, Commander Hui must handle this very carefully."

Bhanra clasped his hands and relayed every piece of intelligence he had learned to Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen frowned. He knew how formidable Du Lu was; Siren and Aredia were both wounded and captured by him alone. Now Yulice had brought three psychic ability users of the same model as Du Lu... coupled with Yulice’s own formidable power, this trouble would not be small.

However, as long as they stayed with Daoist Zhang and the others, no matter how reckless Yulice became, she wouldn't openly attack members of the Asian Dao Alliance, would she? The Asian Dao Alliance was not like Gu Xiechen, Siren, or Aredia—mercenaries without deep roots or powerful backers.

"We will deal with threats as they arise—nothing more than that!" Gu Xiechen let out a long breath, then sneered, "Does that Yulice really have two heads?"

He flicked his fingers lightly in the air, and Gu Xiechen displayed that wicked smile once more.

He beckoned Bhanra and Linghu over with his fingers, and the three huddled together, whispering their strategy.

The very next morning, Siren, unable to wait, nearly turned the Asian Dao Alliance base upside down. Anxious about Aredia’s poisoning, Siren shattered the door to Gu Xiechen’s room and rushed in, repeatedly urging him to depart quickly. Daoist Zhang and Penghua were also woken by Siren’s commotion. The group hastily washed and dressed, then set off in a third-tier warship.

The warship flew toward the palace of Fairy Jin Xianzi.

The Purple Bamboo Grove was still shrouded in swirling white mist, exuding an aura of profound mystery. Both the Romans and the Expeditionary Force had noticed the anomaly here, but they were locked in fierce combat and could not spare any elite personnel to investigate. As a result, reconnaissance satellites and unmanned drones monitored the hundreds of kilometers surrounding the Purple Bamboo Forest twenty-four hours a day, yet no one dared to approach.

Gu Xiechen led Daoist Zhang, Penghua, and nearly a hundred other elite disciples of the Asian Dao Alliance to the edge of the white mist.

The dense white mist was just a few steps away, rolling and churning. Occasionally, wisps drifted past, soft, moist, and cool to the touch. A faint, subtle fragrance emanated from the mist, accompanied by ethereal, heavenly music that drifted in and out of hearing. Staring into the mist for too long, one could discern flashes of rainbow light, palaces and pavilions, throngs of beauties, alluring figures, piles of gold and silver, and apparitions of Celestial Immortals, deities, Buddhas, vengeful spirits, Asuras, and heavenly dragons—all manner of strange phenomena.

Gu Xiechen had experienced the Six Harmonies Wonder Formation (Liuhe Qimen Zhen) once before, which allowed him to stabilize his mind and resist the illusion. However, Daoist Zhang and the others lacked this experience. They focused intently on deciphering the shifting patterns within the white mist, resulting in them suffering a great loss simultaneously. After staring at the white light with strange glints in their eyes for a moment, their expressions suddenly shifted to ghastly paleness.

Daoist Zhang foolishly reached his hand out toward the white mist. "Hee-hee, Master Ningjing, are you coming for a bath too?" With a silly grin, Daoist Zhang strode toward the mist.

Penghua stared blankly at the mist, a strand of drool hanging from his mouth a full foot long. He laughed vacantly, "Senior Patriarch, are you asking me for dual cultivation? Hee-hee, granting this junior ten or eight pounds of vital blood would be enough, but joint cultivation? This junior feels truly unworthy!" Under Gu Xiechen’s shocked gaze, Penghua quickly and cleanly stripped off his clothes and unhesitatingly leaped into the white mist.

The other nearly one hundred elite disciples of the Asian Dao Alliance displayed equally pitiful reactions. Some saw Celestial Immortals descending, others saw heavenly maidens inviting them to bathe together, or countless immortal pills that promised ascension if just one were swallowed, or perhaps they suddenly found themselves as the Sect Master, issuing commands to all disciples. In short, every desire was infinitely magnified by the Six Harmonies Wonder Formation. Inner demons invaded their primordial spirits, and the five internal thieves erupted within their bodies, manifesting as visible, pale green Yin fire burning up from beneath their feet. Gu Xiechen stared at Daoist Zhang, Penghua, and the others in this state and was startled. These were elite disciples from the top ten sects of the Asian Dao Alliance. If they were all ruined here by the Six Harmonies Wonder Formation, their sect elders would likely unite to hunt Gu Xiechen down.