With a thud, the two artisans from the Honglu Sect, the most skilled in artifact refining within the Asian Dao Alliance, rolled their eyes and promptly fainted—a blissful unconsciousness, it seemed.

Gu Xichen took a deep breath. He clapped the Qiankun Pouch, and a stream of azure energy swept out, instantly sucking in the mountain of treasures piled before him.

As the light within the circular opening dimmed, Daoist Zhang and the others finally snapped back to reality. They started shouting in unison: "Let us see one more time! Just one more glance is all we need!"

Gu Xichen spoke with resolute authority: "We return to Earth for the distribution. I am the Commander-in-Chief this time; everyone follows my orders! Penghua, Daoist Little Zhang, and the Monk Feili, the three of you are now the Military Discipline Officers for this operation, responsible for recording the merits of every disciple in the Dao Alliance!"

Glancing over the assembled Dao Alliance disciples, Gu Xichen thumped his chest with a grand gesture of taking responsibility: "We absolutely cannot consume all these fantastic items ourselves; the lion's share must go to the sponsoring sects of so many brothers. However, while our brothers' sects eat the meat, shouldn't we brothers at least get a taste of the rich broth? I decree that we set aside two-tenths of all discovered treasures. Upon returning to Earth, these will be distributed among the brothers present based on the level of their merit. Does anyone object?"

With a chorus of "Brotherhood!", the disciples of the Dao Alliance instantly felt their connection with Gu Xichen grow warmer. Not just the disciples of the Jiuyou Dao, but those from other sects as well, all voiced their approval.

Gu Xichen's distribution plan was undeniably fair and reasonable. No single person could possibly hoard such a vast quantity of heavenly materials and earthly treasures without facing serious accountability upon returning to Earth. But by setting aside two-tenths for distribution, every single person present would be amply rewarded! Out of the myriad members of the Asian Dao Alliance, their contingent of a few hundred would equally divide two-tenths. This was more than enough to make their compatriots remaining on Earth green with envy.

Daoist Little Zhang clenched his fist fiercely. He performed a motion of flipping up the front of his Daoist robe and produced, from somewhere unseen, an electromagnetic "Armor-Shattering Cannon," which he hoisted onto his shoulder. He roared loudly: "Brothers, whether we feast on meat or merely sip soup depends on this final push! Damn it all, with this haul, my innate magic artifact can be upgraded by at least five, six, seven, or even eight levels! Heh heh, maybe I can even forge a supreme-grade Spirit Artifact! Damn it, let's do this!"

Monk Feili waved his hand. A pitch-black dove-head staff materialized in his grasp. He jumped up and bellowed: "Damn their mothers! Namo Amitabha Buddha, ha! Let’s tear down this nest of stone creatures!"

The numerous disciples of the Asian Dao Alliance, their morale surging like a tide, roared in agreement.

Only then did Gu Xichen feel a measure of relief. Guided by the orientation provided by the officer just now, he turned his attention to what the officer had called a "strange object."

It was an engraving carved into a massive crystal slab several meters long and wide. It must have been created by the Crystalian inhabitants of this settlement. Although the craftsmanship was crude, the surface was polished smooth and flawless. Yet, this pattern rendered everyone, including Gu Xichen, utterly stunned, unable to utter a sound for a long moment.

At the very top of this pattern was a celestial map: nine planets orbiting a single star. No explanation was needed; everyone recognized it as a map of the Solar System. On the star map, a long arc extended from the small circle representing the third planet—Earth—and connected directly to the circle representing the ninth planet—Pluto.

Below this star map was another one: three satellites orbiting a single planet. Gu Xichen recognized this as the stellar map of the Pluto system; Pluto indeed possessed three moons.

What made this truly inconceivable, however, was that superimposed above the circle representing Pluto on this second star map, a small, twenty-four-story pagoda was carved. A beam of light shot out from the pagoda’s base, completely enveloping Pluto. Within this light, dozens of vaguely humanoid figures were carved, appearing to fall from the light toward Pluto.

The third image depicted the pagoda shattering, countless fragments raining down onto Pluto.

The fourth image showed a patch of land where dozens of humanoid figures merged with the fragments of the pagoda.

The fifth image was of a Crystalian figure, crude in execution but rich in spirit. This Crystalian was surrounded by numerous smaller figures, each carrying a stone-like object on its shoulder, standing before a high platform toward which they were bowing in worship.

"This..." Gu Xichen felt a headache coming on. He grabbed his communicator and asked, "Uncle Beard, check the database. During previous hunts, have we ever found patterns this bizarre?" He ordered several soldiers to photograph the engraving and transmit it back to the hunting vessel.

Penghua and Daoist Little Zhang had already crowded around the crystal slab, their brows furrowed as they studied the pattern, continuously drawing sharp, hissing breaths.

After a full ten minutes, Commander Beard finally replied: "According to data provided by the Federal Academy of Sciences, they have previously found traces of carving and ritual sacrifice by these Crystalians. But we have never encountered a pattern this clear, this strange. I have sent the images back to the Academy headquarters; they say they are currently considering whether to dispatch a scientific expedition team to our location."

"Absolutely not!" Gu Xichen frowned. "Unless they have their own means of defense, I will not be responsible for their safety."

Closing the communicator, Gu Xichen stood before the crystal slab with his hands on his hips, and then suddenly laughed. "Why worry about them? In any case, we hunted this down. The oddities we've encountered in the last two years..."

The more he pondered, the more suffocated he felt. Gu Xichen suddenly jumped up and delivered a heavy kick to a crystal pillar next to the slab.

With a dull thump, the pillar swayed slightly and slowly shifted aside. With a grating creak, the massive crystal slab engraved with the star map slowly moved, revealing a gout of scorching, humid air jetting out from behind it, exposing a vertical passage roughly two hundred meters in diameter descending downward. On the wall of this circular passage, a spiral pathway led continuously down.

Cautiously approaching the mouth of the passage and peering down, the spiral road wound ever deeper, the passage descending endlessly. The passage eventually shrank to a mere pinpoint in his line of sight, yet he still could not see the tunnel's end.

A strong wind carrying humid air exceeding one thousand degrees Celsius continuously blasted from the tunnel opening. The energy detectors carried by the Special Operations Bureau soldiers began to emit sharp alarms; there seemed to be an extremely powerful, vast energy reaction deep below. Intermittently, faint flickers of purple light flashed and vanished deep within the tunnel. Each flash increased the wind speed blasting from the tunnel entrance.

"Laser rangefinder, give it to me!" Gu Xichen took the rangefinder from an officer's hand.

A laser, as thick as a fist, shot straight into the tunnel. The rangefinder quickly provided the depth of the tunnel: from where Gu Xichen stood to the deepest visible point of the tunnel was a full five hundred kilometers.

Penghua exclaimed in astonishment from the side: "Heavens, a five-hundred-kilometer-deep tunnel? How long would it take to fall to your death if you fell down there?"

A passage with a diameter of two hundred meters, a spiral path about ten meters wide, and a maximum depth of five hundred kilometers—all this imbued the tunnel with an irresistible sense of attraction.

Gu Xichen stared at the tunnel, gritting his teeth.

Pluto has a diameter of over two thousand kilometers. On its complex ice crust, there are tens of thousands of entrances leading to various underground tunnels and caverns. However, these passages and caves seem to change constantly. Every time they hunt, an entrance recorded previously can never be used again.

As for this particular ice fissure, it was not recorded during the last hunt; it must have been a new entrance formed within the last two years. Yet, within this ice fissure, they found not only a high-level Crystalian that had evolved into a purple one, but also this bizarre pattern, and now a passage plunging five hundred kilometers deep into the ground.

Staring intensely at the tunnel before him, Gu Xichen suddenly took a deep breath: "Are we incredibly lucky, or incredibly unlucky?"

Daoist Little Zhang solemnly took out six copper coins and tossed them onto the ground. After three consecutive tosses, he nodded vigorously: "We are incredibly lucky! If we were unlucky, how could we have found so many heavenly materials and earthly treasures? It must be good fortune!"

Monk Feili bit his lip and declared: "Buddha above, this is definitely good luck! Heh, why hasn't anyone else discovered so many treasures on Pluto? Why did we find so much good stuff the moment we arrived? This must be our destined affinity! Heh!"

Gu Xichen looked toward Penghua, pointed at the tunnel, and sneered: "This is a five-hundred-kilometer-deep tunnel! Five hundred kilometers!"

Penghua gritted his teeth, his face dark as he pondered for a moment before finally saying fiercely: "Fortune favors the bold! Perhaps a thousand Black Crystalians are waiting for us down there!"

"Ptooey!" Siren spat fiercely at Penghua. He roared back: "A Purple Crystalian is equivalent to a high-level fighter on Mercury! A single Black Crystalian could easily destroy a small space fleet. A thousand Black Crystalians? Do you want us all wiped out?"

Stomping his foot hard, Gu Xichen glanced at the pale-faced Special Operations Bureau soldiers. This tunnel was too bizarre, and that pattern was too bizarre. Faced with these supernatural entities, it would be strange if the ordinary soldiers looked cheerful.

After pondering for a while, Gu Xichen rubbed his brow, finally making up his mind.

"Fortune favors the bold; Senior Brother Penghua is absolutely right! Now hear my order: all Dao Alliance disciples return to the hunting vessel and carry all equipment such as Ultra-High Frequency Sonic Missiles, Ultra-High Frequency Sonic Bombs, and High-Energy Netting. Those with the courage, follow me down to take the gamble; those without courage can provide support inside the tunnel!"

Cultivators defy the heavens and must constantly face disasters from water, fire, wind, and the elements; every single one of them lives with their lives hanging by a thread. Who would be a coward?

Hundreds of Dao Alliance disciples clamored to follow Gu Xichen down.

Without further delay, Gu Xichen immediately issued several orders, made all necessary preparations, and then took the lead, bringing the contingent into the tunnel.

Following signal triangulation, twenty-nine hunting vessels hovered directly above the tunnel. Twenty-nine ultra-high temperature beams roared down, instantly melting the hundreds-of-meters-thick layers of ice and rock, revealing the deep passage below. The high-temperature, high-humidity gas jetting from the tunnel met the extremely low temperatures outside, immediately condensing into flakes of snow that drifted down.

Amidst the swirling snow, Gu Xichen led the team deeper underground. Reminder for an intermission break.

Monthly votes, please. Monthly votes! During the double monthly vote period, work hard to cast your votes! (To be continued)

He stomped his foot hard, and Gu Xiechen glanced at the pale faces of the Special Operations Bureau soldiers. This tunnel was too bizarre, and those markings were equally uncanny. Facing such supernatural phenomena, it would be strange if the ordinary soldiers looked anything but ill.

He lowered his head, pondering for a moment, then touched his brow, finally making up his mind.

"Fortune favors the bold, Senior Brother Hua was absolutely right! Now listen to my command: all Dao Alliance disciples are to return to the hunting vessels and bring every piece of equipment—all the ultra-high frequency oscillation missiles, ultra-high frequency oscillation bombs, high-energy electric nets, and similar gear. Those with the courage, follow me down to take a gamble; those without the nerve can stay here in the tunnel to provide support!"

Cultivators defied the heavens in their actions, always subject to various calamities of water, fire, wind, and elemental fury—every one of them lived with their heads dangling from their belts. Who among them would be timid?

Hundreds of Dao Alliance disciples clamored to follow Gu Xiechen below.

Without another word, Gu Xiechen immediately issued several commands. After making thorough preparations, he took the lead and brought the team into the tunnel.

Through signal triangulation, twenty-nine hunting vessels hovered directly above the tunnel. Twenty-nine beams of ultra-high temperature rays roared downward, instantly melting the hundreds of meters of ice and rock layers, revealing the deep gorge beneath. The superheated, humid airflow ejected from the tunnel met the super-low temperatures outside, immediately turning into fluttering snowflakes.

Amidst the heavy snowfall, Gu Xiechen led the team deeper underground. Reminder for a mid-chapter break

Monthly tickets, please. Monthly tickets!

During the double monthly ticket period, everyone work hard to throw those votes! (To be continued)