With a light tap of his hand on the table before him, Du Lang spoke in a cool tone, "I will dispatch a master to assist you. You will follow his every instruction regarding the scope of that assistance.”

From the ceiling of the conference room, a laser emitter slowly descended. A red beam hissed out, carving an intricate, three-meter-diameter magic circle onto the alloy conference table. Following Du Lang’s direction, Jin Bolai rose and retrieved over thirty extremely high-quality Zakla energy crystals, each the size of a thumb, from the room's storage cabinet, placing them precisely onto the magic circle.

Jian Qiao issued an order to Count Yachum. Yachum muttered several incantations, and a mist of blood rose up, merging into the formation. This activated the array, causing it to emit a brilliant, intense light.

A distorted human silhouette gradually manifested within the intense radiance. The strong light emanating from the magic circle quickly stabilized at a fixed level. Following a pained grunt, the figure coalesced within the brilliance.

It was a young man, entirely nude, possessing long black hair and dark eyes; tall, handsome, and powerfully built. Every component, every muscle on his body perfectly matched the optimal human configuration simulated by a supercomputer. His very perfection made him appear almost unreal. As soon as he had materialized from the light, he violently lurched forward, collapsing onto the conference table and dry-heaving. A large volume of clear water streamed from his mouth. The youth gasped for breath for a long time before slowly managing to straighten up.

Du Lang and Jian Qiao both frowned simultaneously. Du Gun muttered discontentedly, "The subspace pressure during the transfer was excessive; an ordinary warrior cannot withstand it. It seems this cannot be used for large-scale troop deployment."

Jian Qiao, meanwhile, stared at the Zakla crystals on the table, now reduced to fine powder, shaking his head repeatedly. "The consumption is too immense, the cost too high. Even if we resolve the pressure issues caused by subspace-temporal distortion, it’s still unsuitable for transporting massive armies. It can only be used for small-scale infiltration strikes by elite units."

They exchanged a glance and voiced their shared complaint simultaneously, "Twenty years of research, trillions invested, for results this meager."

Jinkeli’s ivory pipe slipped from his mouth, and he cried out in shock, "A long-distance teleportation array? This thing actually succeeded in its research?" As soon as the words left him, Jinkeli clapped a pale hand over his mouth, looking fearfully at Du Lang and Jian Qiao, whose brows had furrowed.

Du Lang coughed, setting down his teacup and fixing Jinkeli with a stern glare. Jinkeli immediately bowed his head in submission, remaining silent.

Jian Qiao spoke calmly, "That is Jack. In the battles for market share, you must have Jack engage with Siren and Aredia. If those two do not appear, then create opportunities to challenge them directly. In short, you must ascertain their true strength."

Du Lang picked up his teacup again, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "Young people today are truly untrustworthy. Though they are registered with the Federal Special Management Bureau, nobody can truly ascertain their actual capabilities. Even if we want to use them as pawns, we have to worry about them actually being eliminated by someone else. That feeling is not pleasant."

Jin Bolai and the others lowered their heads, treating Du Lang's self-deprecating remarks as if they hadn't heard them.

Jack slowly slid off the conference table. He suddenly took a sharp, deep inhale through his nose and exclaimed in a low, surprised voice, "What is going on?"

Du Lang and Jian Qiao both asked, startled, "What is going on?"

Jack pointed at Jin Bolai and the other three, declaring, "There are only four people here, but I sense the aura of five. What exactly is happening?"

Du Lang and Jian Qiao both shot to their feet, roaring, "Bastards, you four pieces of trash, you fools!"

Crack, crack, crack, crack—amidst a rapid succession of explosions, countless fine specks of blood burst from within the bodies of the four men, including Jin Bolai. They cried out in agony, flailing wildly, completely unaware of what was transpiring.

On the beach, Siren suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He raised his sleeve to wipe the corner of his mouth and nodded to Gu Xiechen, "Mm, that nuclear bomb definitely wasn't the work of Gu Juechen. You guessed correctly."

Gu Xiechen did not ask who had struck Siren; his primary concern was his companion. "Are you alright?"

Siren shook his head. "I’m fine, just used up a bit too much mental energy."

Smiling oddly, Siren said with a touch of smug satisfaction, "It seems one of the four major defense corporations is about to go bankrupt. Heh heh. My nano-level boundary puppets are undetectable by current scanning equipment. Heh heh, they will have to invest in the next generation of cellular-level high-precision scanners, or how else could they possibly detect the nano-level puppets I hid within their somatic cells?"

Gu Xiechen sat down next to Siren and chuckled lightly, "In that case, tell me everything that happened. I am very curious about what they discussed."

Siren recounted the events of the underground meeting to Gu Xiechen verbatim. As he listened, Gu Xiechen's brow twitched repeatedly. The long-distance teleportation array entering a practical phase, Jack's ability to smell the nano-level boundary puppets hidden within Jin Bolai's cells, and the complex machinations of Du Lang and Jian Qiao—Gu Xiechen shook his head repeatedly.

"Still too weak," he murmured. "We are still only regarded as pawns by others. Even with the backing of the Yasha Dao Alliance, we are merely pieces that others must treat with caution."

"More strength is needed. It seems I must continue to grow stronger!"

Staring up at the bright moon, Gu Xiechen felt a sudden, ethereal clarity in his heart. His spiritual energy seemed unusually agile, connecting with certain energetic fluctuations outside.

He pointed a finger, and a thread of frigid wind condensed at his fingertip. Gu Xiechen flicked his finger lightly, sending dozens of extremely fine ice blades whistling hundreds of meters away. Gu Xiechen watched with delight as a patch of the distant sea surface froze solid, then looked at Siren with a smile, "See? My innate ability... has been awakened! Ice-attribute power, not bad, eh?"

Siren stared dumbly at the ice blade attack launched by Gu Xiechen and cried out in shock, "How many days has it been since I taught you how to awaken your abilities? You... you monster!"

The gloom that had settled over Gu Xiechen due to his concerns about Du Lang and Jian Qiao suddenly vanished. He felt a burst of joy, even thinking that surviving the nuclear strike was an interesting event worth boasting about. He puffed out his chest, hands behind his back, and declared proudly, "This is genius... do you understand? This is what genius looks like!"

He laughed toward the sky a few times, and the cold air around Gu Xiechen intensified, with countless ice blades rapidly forming.

"At the Exchange Conference, I want that Jack eliminated!"

Gu Xiechen said darkly, "If they want to probe our foundations, then don't blame me for touching the hindquarters of these big tigers!"

He stomped down hard on the ground and roared, "Penghua, did you hear what we said?"

A deep voice echoed up from the depths below, "I heard, and I understood. Du Lang feels his wings have hardened and wants to break away from those who backed his rise, the Kunlun Dao Sect, right?"

A strange laugh sounded from beneath the earth. Penghua said dismissively, "But what does that have to do with us? We are disciples of the Nine Nether Dao! Why should we care what Du Lang does? Heh heh. If he wants to use Jack to test our limits, then let's unleash our full power and swallow Jack whole. We'll deal with trouble as it comes; with the Nine Nether Dao supporting us, are we afraid of Du Lang?"

Penghua laughed arrogantly, "It's not bragging, but a mere Du Lang is not worth our attention. A Water Star-level World Fighter? That’s equivalent to a cultivator who has just condensed his nascent spirit. The Nine Nether Dao has so many Elders, one mouthful of saliva from any of them would kill him!"

Gu Xiechen and Siren were momentarily stunned, then burst into loud laughter.

Indeed, why worry about all that? Whether Du Lang and Jian Qiao were maneuvering or fighting for power—what did it matter to them? They were disciples of the Nine Nether Dao; their only focus should be on doing what they wished! With the Nine Nether Dao as their backing, as long as they were slightly cautious when traveling to avoid being killed on the spot, what was there to fear?

Looking up at the bright moon, Gu Xiechen felt profoundly relaxed, his true energy flowing lightly and freely throughout his body. The sea breeze blew, bringing a wonderful sensation of lightness, as if he might float away. New blood, faintly white in his marrow, was constantly being generated, and thin, reddish, viscous blood threads began to exude from the surface of Gu Xiechen's skin. The rate of blood replacement within him accelerated. New blood increased while the old was constantly expelled—this was the process of discarding the old and welcoming the new.

Blood filled every part of Gu Xiechen's body. As the blood gradually turned over, his body tissues began to change. Surging true energy was slowly absorbed by the blood cells, and the energy value contained within Gu Xiechen’s cells grew higher and higher. Similar to the true energy compression and refinement he had experienced before, Gu Xiechen’s viscous plasma also began to compress, gradually becoming as thick as gruel, and the degree of compression continued to increase.

His powerful heart beat relentlessly. Perhaps only Gu Xiechen’s peculiar heart could continue to drive this increasingly viscous blood, counteracting the impact of blood that contained ever-higher energy levels per unit volume.

Gu Xiechen’s father had established an incredibly perfect foundation for him; as long as his skills reached a certain point, everything else would follow naturally. Just as the bright moon hung high overhead without needing any conditions, illuminating everything clearly.

His body shone with a clarity like water, and a faint white light seeped out from within Gu Xiechen. This light seemed to be appropriating the moonlight, slowly drawing it into Gu Xiechen’s body and integrating it into every blood cell.

The beach fell silent. The tide washed the ice chunks frozen earlier onto the sand. As the ice collided with a reef, it shattered into countless sparkling ice crystals.

A gentle breeze swept past, and Gu Xiechen and Siren simultaneously vanished like spectral images.