Standing atop the solidified lava lake, five hundred mighty men, including Zhao Yi and Fan Huan, formed five neat phalanxes. They knelt on one knee, bowed in salute toward Gu Xechen, and shouted in unison, "We, the entire corps of officers and soldiers from the First Battalion of the Zhen-word, Third Heaven, Supreme Sovereign Heaven, the Thirty-Three Heavens, salute the Exalted One!"

With a mighty boom, a vast aura surged forth from within Zhao Yi, Fan Huan, and the others.

Perhaps it was due to forcibly seizing all the cultivation and essence of the Red Feather Witch King, or perhaps from draining every drop of spiritual energy from this fire-attribute spirit nexus; or maybe, it was also because of the ten thousand cubic meters of Zakla crystals—the auras of Zhao Yi and the other five hundred officers and soldiers of the First Battalion of the Zhen-word, Third Heaven, utterly surpassed the strength possessed by the so-called Jupiter-level fighters of the Federation; their strength had reached, at the very least, the level of Mars-class power.

As for the five brothers, including Xin Jia, they had absorbed the ball of five-colored soul-origin energy that Gu Xechen had painstakingly converted. This caused their primordial spirits to fundamentally exceed the original Xin Jia by a millionfold. Their gazes were sharp, their eyes radiating brilliant light when opened or closed; clearly, their sentience had greatly awakened.

According to Xin Jia, although their damaged primordial spirits had yet to be fully restored, and their lost memories were still not entirely recalled, the essence of their primordial spirits now far surpassed what their original bodies once possessed.

"The five-colored primordial spirit cultivated by the Hanyuan Zhen Dian: Yunshen Chapter is of a higher soul-level than what Xin Jia’s original body possessed back then!"

Gu Xechen was ecstatic in his heart. His confidence in the Hanyuan Zhen Dian grew even stronger. Amidst his joy, he felt a slight puzzlement. Was the Hanyuan Zhen Dian truly calculated by Gu Yitong using the supercomputer and the Daoist Canon in an optimally refined mode? Gu Yitong’s claim might have fooled the young Gu Xechen back then, but now, reflecting on it, it always felt a bit strange.

"Never mind that; the more profound the cultivation method of the Hanyuan Zhen Dian, the better."

Pushing this question aside, Gu Xechen helped up Xin Jia and the others who were kneeling. While Zhao Yi and the others now possessed strength equivalent to the Mars level, the five brothers of Xin Jia had seen their power soar to the standard of the Venus level. Especially Xin Jia, who was summoned earliest among the five brothers. He had cultivated for so long in Gu Xechen's Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, and now his primordial spirit had undergone a fundamental change; his strength was actually approaching the critical threshold of breaking through the Venus level.

This meant Xin Jia was already a true Golden Core cultivator. He even produced his own Golden Core for Gu Xechen to observe.

The entire Golden Core, purple-gold in color, shone brightly and glittered. The fist-sized core felt heavy, weighing hundreds of catties. Purple energy coiled within it, and faint outlines of towering mountains could be seen flickering inside the core. A Golden Core.

Penghua’s eyes suddenly lit up. He opened his massive maw and lunged toward the Golden Core.

"Good heavens, such a massive Golden Core! My god, how abundant is the magic power contained within it?"

The greedy Penghua didn't even notice the hundreds of fierce-eyed, burly men in the cave. When his great mouth was still more than three feet away from Xin Jia’s Golden Core, Xin Yi and the others simultaneously formed mudras and chanted spells, activating their thunder magic. Hundreds of bolts of lightning, accompanied by crisp crackling sounds, descended from above their heads, striking Penghua’s body with precision.

A bright flash erupted around Penghua’s body. His large black cloak burned to ash. He sprayed out a puff of black smoke toward the sky while completely naked, then tumbled heavily backward.

Gu Xechen was thoroughly startled. He hastily tossed the Golden Core back to Xin Jia and rushed over to Penghua’s side. The gravely injured, near-death Penghua struggled to open his eyes and wailed, "Junior Brother! I only wanted to look at that Golden Core. I wasn't planning to forcibly seize it. Why are your boundary puppets becoming increasingly unreasonable?"

Grabbing Gu Xechen’s wrist, Penghua cried out urgently, "A mouthful of blood, just give me a mouthful of blood! Ouch, I’m dying, hurry, give me some!"

The four other brothers of Xin Yi strode forward, raising their thick legs to stomp down on Penghua’s body. Xin Yi roared angrily, "Evil creature, how dare you show disrespect to the Exalted One?"

Gu Xechen stopped Xin Yi and the others in time, forcing a wry smile. "Penghua is my senior brother. From now on, you must treat him with utmost courtesy. If you have any questions, you can ask Xin Jia!" Astonished, Xin Yi and the others stared blankly at Gu Xechen. Why would the senior brother of the one they recognized as the Exalted One be such a small zombie? And one of such an unremarkable, low-tier variety at that!

Xin Jia walked over. He shook his head at Penghua, "Asking for the Exalted One's blood to save you? Impossible! My five brothers and I have the Five Elements Salvation Grand Array; it benefits an anomaly like you the most..."

Not giving Penghua a chance to argue, the five brothers took up positions according to the five cardinal directions. Five streams of colored strong light erupted from the ground, firmly enveloping Penghua within them.

Penghua first screamed in terror, then suddenly began to chuckle, "Hee hee," followed by low groans of intense enjoyment and comfort. Beneath the shroud of the five-colored strong light, his charred wounds healed rapidly, and dark, sinister energy continuously poured out from his body, frantically devouring the gathered five-elemental spiritual energy of the five brothers of Xin Jia.

This Five Elements Salvation Grand Array was extraordinary. It was designed specifically for them by some Grandmaster of Array Formations, based on their innate attributes. It possessed the power to convert the acquired into the innate, turning the rotten into the miraculous.

Ordinary five-elemental spiritual energy, after being refined by the array, could carry a trace of the chaotic innate aura. In the current world of cultivation, innate items were treasures that one couldn't even dream of seeing.

Xin Jia only felt a slight apology for his brothers and subordinates having injured Penghua, which was why he expended his primordial energy to deploy the Five Elements Salvation Grand Array to rescue Penghua. The trace of innate aura transformed by the array was insignificant in Xin Jia’s eyes, but this minuscule hint of innate energy was an immense boon to Penghua!

Stimulated by this trace of innate energy, all the power contained within the three drops of Hanyuan essence blood that Penghua had previously absorbed was rapidly activated and integrated into his body.

Hanyuan itself was an innate being, an ancestral figure at the deity level among the Zombie race. Guided by the Hanyuan essence blood, the innate aura within the Five Elements Salvation Grand Array continuously poured into Penghua’s body, slowly sculpting his ordinary zombie form toward that of a true Hanyuan body.

Gu Xechen was hazy about this transformation; he couldn't see clearly, as he was not a true Dao cultivator.

Penghua, however, understood it perfectly. Absorbing a trace of innate energy within the array was equivalent to the achievement of ten years of arduous cultivation for him. He looked gratefully at Gu Xechen, gave him a thumbs-up, and then shamelessly clamored, "Ouch, you guys almost beat me to death! Waaah, Junior Brother, this array must be maintained for at least seven days and seven nights, or I won't survive!"

The brothers of Xin Jia were furious, but Gu Xechen said carelessly, "Fine, maintain it for seven days and seven nights. It’s a good opportunity for me to carve the Profound Flower Pot using the top-grade Fire Spirit Jade to transplant these Flame Orchids back to Earth. You can take your time recuperating! Zhao Yi, Fan Huan, come over and help me!"

Inside the cavern, Gu Xechen diligently worked, carefully tending to the Flame Orchids. The top-grade Fire Spirit Jade came from the Red Feather Witch King’s private collection. Although he himself was reduced to ash, the Nájie Ring he used remained intact, and all its contents benefited Gu Xechen, including dozens of top-grade Fire Spirit Jades, each about a foot square.

Penghua, meanwhile, remained comfortably nestled in the Five Elements Salvation Grand Array, continuously enhancing his strength.

Gradually, the paper-pale complexion of Penghua’s face was overlaid with a faint blush of color.

Reminder: Mid-point rest

Ninth Blast on May 1st

Where are the Monthly Tickets? (To be continued)