The five brothers, led by Gan Jia, were seated at the doorway of the house. Each rested his posterior upon a cushion woven from the essence of the five elements—earthy yellow, pure white, fiery red, woody green, and watery black jade. Potent Five Elements spiritual energy continuously surged from these cushions, enveloping the five siblings entirely. The brothers’ hands shifted through intricate seals, weaving currents of profound energy back and forth between them.

Approximately every fifteen minutes, Xin Jia would open his mouth and expel a stream of his natal, earthy yellow true qi. Xin Yi would immediately inhale this vital essence, refine it within his body for a moment, and then exhale a stream of silvery-white natal metal qi. Xin Bing would absorb the silver-white natal metal qi, refine it, and then exhale a stream of pitch-black natal water qi...

The five brothers thus cycled through the generative and restrictive principles of the Five Elements. Though they employed the Post-Heaven Five Elements Grand Array, they managed to evoke the infinite mysteries of the Pre-Heaven Five Elements. Their cultivation levels rose and recovered ceaselessly, and the divine light emanating from their eyes grew sharper and more formidable.

These five cushions originated from the Heaven Star. They were the crystallized essence of the Post-Heaven Five Elements elite, meticulously carved by the ancient Great Divine Power holder, Ban Jue Li, transforming them into perpetual sources of Five Elements spiritual energy. Originally, they served as the core array eyes for the mountain-guarding formation of some blessed cavern-heaven on the Heaven Star, which Zhao Yi secured after shattering the great array.

The starship flew toward Pluto at near-c velocity. In half a month, they would reach their destination.

The Hunter III-class vessel’s defenses were so formidable that its excessive mass precluded sub-space warp-speed travel. At its maximum velocity, it required a minimum of twenty-five days to traverse the distance from Earth to Pluto. Gu Yuchen was naturally unwilling to waste this time; as soon as he and everyone else boarded the hunting vessel, they immediately plunged into diligent cultivation and study.

Next door to Gu Yuchen, the grizzled Commander and other high-ranking members of the Hadewor Defense Company were also diligently cultivating.

Lian Tai Hermit from the Laojun Valley took thirty-six Flame Orchids from Gu Yuchen as part of his payment. In return, Lian Tai Hermit presented a large quantity of spiritual elixirs refined by the elders of Laojun Valley. These elixirs possessed tremendous efficacy for cultivators at the Golden Core stage and above, and even greater power for warriors like the Grizzled Commander. In just over ten days, the Grizzled Commander’s true qi cultivation surged directly to the high-level Jupiter Tier. The strength of other company executives, such as Linghu, also saw massive improvements.

The changes unfolded silently. Ju Xianghua and his cohorts, indulging in riotous pleasure and dissolute behavior, had entirely captured the attention of Vice Admiral Tartaros. He was so terrified that this group of restless demons and monsters would somehow blow up the hunting vessel that he paid no heed whatsoever to what Gu Yuchen and his people were doing.

The fleet continued its flight for fifteen days and three hours. The dark, dim sphere of Pluto suddenly loomed into view.

Sixty hunting ships arranged themselves in a tight, elongated serpentine formation, positioning one of their broadside viewports toward the nearby Pluto. A piercing alarm blared through the warships—red warning lights flashed incessantly as a high-pitched electronic tone alerted everyone that the destination had arrived.

The Pluto hunting operation was a top-secret Federal matter. Vice Admiral Tartaros ordered the military police aboard his flagship to confine all the conscripted women whom Guo Hua had brought onto the warship into lockdown cells. These women were forbidden to leave until their return to Earth. Even then, they would likely undergo memory cleansing by the Federal Academy of Sciences before potentially being released.

The flagship of the Roman Hunting Fleet sent out a sequence of light signals, inviting the commander of the Federal Hunting Fleet for a meeting aboard their vessel. Before this, the two fleets had maintained strict communication silence after converging in Earth orbit; neither side knew precisely which personnel the other had prepared for this hunt.

Tartaros watched the Roman flagship repeat its light signal across the thousands of miles separating them, a cold smirk touching his lips.

“Go fetch the Colonel. As Director of the Special Operations Bureau, he is the commander of this hunt.”

“No need to trouble yourself; I am here,” Gu Yuchen announced, dressed in a high-collared uniform, striding into the command center. He glanced at the Roman vessel still sending light signals, then stated gravely, “Senior Brother Jinhua, Daoist Xiaozhang, accompany me to meet the commander of our allied force this time.”

The heavily intoxicated Daoist Xiaozhang burped loudly, sending a plume of white vapor erupting above his head, a thick, potent aroma of baijiu spreading in all directions. The haze in his bloodshot eyes cleared instantly.

Jinhua took a long, deep pull from the cigar stub clenched in his mouth, only discarding it reluctantly when the ember threatened to burn his lips. He ground the stub violently under the toe of his boot, then laughed boisterously, “Let’s go, let’s go! Ah, those Romans have some good wine and meat. Monk, are you coming along?”

The plump, round, and lively little Monk Feili laboriously retracted his gaze from the delicate white neck of a female soldier. He clasped his hands in solemn reverence. “Namo Amitabha, of course I’m going! Hmm, Monks from Tiejian Temple, are you joining us?”

The three monks from Tiejian Temple present were all over two meters twenty tall, their bodies knotted with muscle and possessing boundless divine strength. Moreover, they were notorious in the cultivation world as ‘bottomless pits’ due to their massive appetites. When the little Monk Feili invited them, it was easy to guess his intentions.

Gu Yuchen paid no mind to the little Monk Feili’s schemes. He offered a brief greeting to Tartaros, then led his entourage onto the transport shuttle and sped toward the Roman flagship.

It took only three minutes for the shuttle to reach the side of the Roman flagship. A massive armored plate retracted, revealing a docking bay. The transport settled lightly into the hangar of the Roman vessel. A contingent of two hundred Roman warriors clad in golden energy armor advanced to meet them. Their eyes were exceptionally keen, and pale blue patterns flickered constantly across their fair complexions.

The appearance of spiritual power markings on their skin indicated that these Roman warriors were the true elite among their people. Only Romans whose spiritual power had broken through to a level equivalent to Earth’s Jupiter Tier or higher could manifest these pale blue demonic patterns on their surface.

The Roman warriors formed a rank near the shuttle’s gangway. As Gu Yuchen stepped onto the ramp, they simultaneously raised their halberds, and a blue halo, about a meter thick, suddenly erupted from their bodies. A powerful spiritual shockwave radiated outward from these Romans, intentionally converging around Gu Yuchen into a turbulent vortex of mental energy. A massive force tugged at Gu Yuchen’s soul, as if attempting to rip it from his body and tear it to shreds.

A month prior, Gu Yuchen would have suffered a significant setback and great embarrassment from such an attack. However, having fully assimilated the pure essence of the Red Feather Witch King, Gu Yuchen’s spiritual power had swollen to an almost unimaginable degree. Especially under the refining power of the Taiyin Xuan Yan, his mental fortitude had become as tough as nano-grade alloy wire—hardly something these Roman warriors could shake.

With a cold laugh, Gu Yuchen calmly took three steps forward within the spiritual vortex. He released his vast, pure spiritual power outward without restraint, colliding fiercely with the vortex of two hundred minds.

With the first step, the two hundred Roman elites simultaneously trembled. With the second step, they simultaneously coughed up blood.

By the third step, just as Gu Yuchen’s toes touched the ground, his colossal spiritual power had transformed into countless tangible blades hacking outward in all directions. The spiritual force projected by the two hundred elites was utterly shredded. The potent mental shockwave struck directly at the Romans’ brains. They let out miserable cries, dropped their halberds, and collapsed unconscious.

Chaos erupted in the hangar. The surrounding Romans, who had gathered to watch the spectacle, cried out in astonishment. A Terran had suppressed two hundred Roman elites head-on at the spiritual level—was this Terran some mysterious cultivator capable of resisting the priests of the Pantheon?

Crisp applause sounded from the sky-bridge on the side of the hangar. Pol Pot Holosom stood there, staring intently at Gu Yuchen, clapping slowly and deliberately.

“Magnificent! Absolutely brilliant! Worthy of the lucky man who merged with the Black Christo Crystal Ball! How many times did it amplify you? Twenty times? Thirty? Fifty? Or perhaps more?”

Pol Pot’s voice was saturated with intense jealousy and malice. The light in his golden eyes intensified, as if he wished to swallow Gu Yuchen whole.

Looking up at Pol Pot, Gu Yuchen smiled. He bowed gracefully in a formal salute, then remarked with seemingly genuine delight, “Haha, Duke Cat, Lord Holosom, it is wonderful to see you safe and sound... Find an opportunity, and we shall continue our last duel! You are a true warrior, and I greatly admire your strength!”

Standing behind Pol Pot was Ducat, whose face was grim. Gu Yuchen’s words caused Ducat to frown, and a clear flicker of murderous intent appeared in Pol Pot’s eyes. He turned and shot Ducat a fierce glare before growling through gritted teeth, “Since you have arrived, you are a guest. We are not here to fight this time; we are allies!”

Gu Yuchen feigned a look of utter shock. “Oh my, it’s Lord Pol Pot! Uh, apologies, I only noticed your younger brother and didn’t recognize you! Uh, how should I put it? Lord Ducat is a true warrior; he gave me quite a bit of trouble before, but you... uh, I apologize!”

Watching Pol Pot’s face turn sickly green, Gu Yuchen added an ill-advised, self-defeating qualifier: “Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to sow discord between brothers, but I must admit, the trouble Lord Ducat caused me was a hundred times greater than yours. And you, sir—thank you for the high-energy cannons and the Zakla Crystals you gifted me on those few occasions!”

Hitting someone should not mean slapping their face; Gu Yuchen was not merely slapping Pol Pot’s face, he was peeling the skin off it.