Peng Hua shrieked with delight, bouncing from one side of the spiral passage to the other like an oversized flea leaping downwards. Every time he zipped past the abyss of the chasm, he would flaunt his maneuvers in the air, provocatively shouting towards the young Daoist Zhang, “Nose-wrinkler, come on, show us a fancy trick?”

He performed somersaults, 360-degree spins, 3,600-degree spins, three and a half forward flips followed by a sudden seven-and-a-half backward whirlwind turn. Peng Hua reveled in showcasing a dizzying array of aerial techniques.

Young Daoist Zhang descended slowly, balanced upon an ancient bronze sword. He gestured crudely at Peng Hua, his face contorted with rage, “I am a cultivator, not some dried-out zombie like you!”

Peng Hua let out a series of ‘hehe’ chuckles and continued his erratic bouncing, left, right, up, and down.

A ball of white cloud gently supported Feng Yechen, allowing him and Siren, along with the others, to float downward. Above their heads, hundreds of disciples from the Asian Daoist Alliance were also employing their magic to drift down, all of them cautiously monitoring their surroundings with extreme vigilance. Only Peng Hua bounded around merrily.

Because the tunnel exuded such an unsettling aura, Gu Yechen and his group dared not descend too quickly. Moreover, they needed to install signal repeaters along the tunnel walls, slowing their descent even further. It took a full twelve hours—during which the Bearded Leader complained countless times from the flagship—before they finally reached the tunnel’s base.

This was a circular hall spanning over two kilometers in diameter. The floor was etched with the exact same pattern found on the crystal blocks above, only magnified by scores of times.

The hall’s walls were composed entirely of natural crystal. Crystal pillars, some thick, some thin, some long, some short, jutted out from the walls, emitting intense light that painfully stabbed at their eyes. If not for the helmet visors on their combat suits automatically regulating the intensity of the natural illumination, Gu Yechen and the others would have been unable to open their eyes.

In one corner of the hall was an opening several meters high, leading into a wide passageway. This tunnel appeared artificially smoothed and polished, its walls as reflective as mirrors, causing various strong lights to flash brilliantly under the powerful illumination spilling from the crystal walls—a truly magnificent sight. The energy readings here had reached astonishing levels. The energy detector held by Gu Yechen emitted a few piercing shrieks before suddenly exploding, its circuits completely fried.

Young Daoist Zhang took a deep, lingering breath and murmured in near-reverence, “Such dense spiritual energy! Even the core sanctum of the Kunlun Dao Sect doesn't possess one-third the spiritual density found here.”

A ‘whoosh-whoosh’ of wind gusted out from the tightly sealed tunnel walls. Formless, immaterial air rubbed against itself, generating massive amounts of heat. The ambient temperature was already around three thousand degrees Celsius, pushing the limits of what their combat suits could withstand. Heatwaves surged straight upward through the tunnel. Water vapor seeping in from some unknown source was instantly vaporized, expanding into searing, high-pressure steam that roared upward.

Gu Yechen didn't quite grasp the concept of 'spiritual energy.' Young Daoist Zhang, in a fit of excitement, pulled out a compass and began spinning wildly around the hall, muttering incomprehensibly about unknown things. Uninterested in this ritual, Gu Yechen proceeded with the plan agreed upon earlier: he summoned Zhao Yi, who, with the cooperation of disciples from the Wenji Sect and the Miluo Sect, began setting up several grand formations throughout the hall.

These formations were not the common San Cai, Wu Xing, or Nine Palaces Bagua arrays popular in the current cultivation world, but rather a complete set of four linked arrays—Illusion, Entrapment, Deception, and Slaughter—that Zhao Yi had memorized.

The spiritual energy within the hall was exceedingly abundant. According to Daoist Zhang, this location sat atop the convergence of at least five massive spiritual veins, which explained the presence of so many rare materials like Profound Jade Essence and Earth Fire Jade Marrow. The "Immortal Severing Array" that Zhao Yi was deploying drew its power directly from the terrestrial spiritual energy beneath the hall; once the deploying disciples held their positions, the array’s might could be unleashed.

Fortunately, the Wenji and Miluo disciples carried numerous fully processed flag gates and altar platforms. Gu Yechen also possessed a large supply of what cultivators called 'spirit stones'—Zackla energy crystals—in his pouch. Thus, the enormous Immortal Severing Array was successfully established in a mere half hour. Although these flag gates and platforms were not specifically forged artifacts for this particular array, under Zhao Yi's meticulous arrangement, they could still channel one or two percent of the Immortal Severing Array’s destructive power.

Over two hundred disciples of the Asian Daoist Alliance took their designated positions throughout the formation, each clutching various magical implements under Zhao Yi’s command. Several disciples from the Wenji and Miluo Sects encircled the array core, holding command flags. Zhao Yi himself took the central nexus, gripping an exceptionally heavy, six-foot-long Golden Dragon Steel Halberd. The Golden Dragon Steel, radiating brilliant golden light, struck the void three times; then, Zhao Yi drove the bronze weapon deep into the array core. The entire hall shuddered violently.

A massive torrent of terrestrial spiritual energy surged into the Golden Dragon Halberd, and a three-meter-long, golden-radiant Flood Dragon erupted from within the weapon, silently letting out a skyward roar. Streaks of golden light spread across the ground, instantly connecting with the two hundred-plus disciples forming the array. Waves of scorching airflow rushed into their bodies through the Yongquan acupuncture points, stimulating their internal magical power to flow wildly. All array disciples felt their bodies swell, filled with immense strength. They seemed to have suddenly advanced two or three major cultivation realms, possessing inexhaustible reserves of mana.

The golden light flowed from the hands of these Daoist Alliance disciples into the magical artifacts they held. Beams of focused light shot out from the implements, converging above the Immortal Severing Array into a swirling, nebulous mist.

With a loud hum, the Golden Dragon writhed in the air a few times. A faint white mist rose from the floor, enveloping the entire hall. Following three bolts of lightning unleashed by Zhao Yi, every Daoist Alliance disciple within the array, along with their artifacts and flag gates, vanished from sight.

Seeing that Zhao Yi had successfully deployed the Immortal Severing Array, Gu Yechen finally led his group forward cautiously.

The smooth passage was paved with neatly polished natural crystal pillars, where natural, graceful patterns spread across the floor. Strong light flowed along these lines, dazzling the eyes.

They proceeded forward several kilometers along the tunnel, met by waves of scorching heat. Immense energy signatures washed over them, accompanied by the ‘kōng, kōng’ sound of a raging storm in their ears.

Approaching the tunnel's end cautiously, they peered out. It was an underground cavern spanning over fifty kilometers in diameter. Countless purple crystal pillars hung haphazardly from the towering ceiling. At the cavern floor lay a lava lake several kilometers wide, but what churned and boiled within was not ordinary magma, but a reddish, near-transparent crystalline substance.

“Ten-Thousand-Year Crystal Milk!” Gu Yechen sighed, staring fixedly at the massive lava lake with a wry smile. “Another rare treasure. It’s the finest material for Buddhist monks to forge Glazed Treasured Artifacts.”

Little Monk Feili’s eyes glazed over. Looking at the lake of Ten-Thousand-Year Crystal Milk, he forced a bitter smile. “A pity. Our Sanwen Temple doesn't know how to forge Glazed Artifacts. Even the Wuliang Temple, the foremost temple of the Daoist Alliance’s Zen Branch, can only manage to forge Seven-Colored Glazed Pearls nowadays. The methods for crafting the more powerful Pure Land Glazed Artifacts have long been lost.”

Peng Hua affectionately patted Little Monk Feili’s head, rubbing the monk’s shaven scalp and chuckling, “No worries, Baldy. While your bunch of bald donkeys lost the art of forging Glazed Artifacts, we of the wicked path still retain plenty of texts for refining various lustful magical treasures.”

“Hmph, I’ve always wanted to forge a ‘Soul-Phantom Pagoda.’ Tsk, tsk, with that treasure, I’ll go to the next Academy Awards ceremony!”

“Eh?” Gu Yechen gave Peng Hua a strange look.

Peng Hua winked mischievously. “With that treasure, every woman in the world will see me as her dream lover. Hee hee, imagine the spectacle at the Oscars: all the female stars streaking simultaneously!”

Siren’s eyes went wide. He blurted out instinctively, “What a magnificent sight! How about you forge a Soul-Phantom Pagoda for me?”

“Ouch!”

A sharp, miserable cry tore from Siren’s lips as Aredia, standing beside him, grabbed his ear in exasperation and wrenched it a full 180 degrees counter-clockwise. Aredia had absorbed considerable essence from dragon cores in recent days; her physical strength had multiplied more than tenfold. This twist nearly tore Siren’s ear clean off. Seeing Siren’s fair ear turn the color of pig’s blood, Gu Yechen and Peng Hua quickly sidestepped far away.

“You scoundrels! Don't corrupt Siren!” Aredia glared angrily at Gu Yechen and Peng Hua.

Peng Hua rolled his eyes and squatted on the ground, looking thoroughly aggrieved.

Gu Yechen let out a few dry chuckles, then slyly glanced toward Siren’s lower half. Siren felt an icy chill run down his spine; he instinctively clamped his legs together and smiled fawningly at Gu Yechen. “Aredia, don’t talk nonsense! Peng Hua is indeed a bastard, that’s absolutely true—but our Boss, our Leader! He is the epitome of human morality!”

Gu Yechen sneered a few times and patted Siren’s shoulder. Siren humbly maintained his forced smile, feeling half his body trembling uncontrollably.

Suddenly, a deafening clang echoed from a distance as two deep-blue Crystal-Men wrestled their way out of a cavern entrance some twenty kilometers away. Sparks flew as their fists slammed against each other, each blow possessing the force to cleave mountains. One Crystal-Man was suddenly blasted hundreds of meters high by a punch from the other, smashing headfirst into a thousand-meter-long crystal pillar protruding from the ceiling. The Crystal-Man fell back to the ground completely unharmed, but the crystal pillar was shattered by nearly a hundred meters.

The two Crystal-Men exchanged blows like the wind for a moment before simultaneously firing blinding blue beams from their fingertips at each other.

A massive explosion radiated throughout the cavern, and a blue shockwave swept outwards. The blue light struck the cavern walls, causing a resounding wummm sound.

Both Crystal-Men were thrown back several miles, sliding across the ground for several kilometers before slowly climbing back to their feet, disoriented.

After pausing ten kilometers apart and staring at each other for a moment, both Crystal-Men simultaneously placed their hands on their hips and laughed toward the ceiling, emitting a deep, resonant “Hah-hah!” These beings produced sound purely through energy resonance; their solid bodies acted as massive resonators. Consequently, their voices were powerful, full, and clear, like dozens of immense bells ringing simultaneously, causing painful throbbing in the listeners’ eardrums.

“So, they were just sparring.”

Gu Yechen gasped, taking a sharp breath. Based on the ferocity of their exchange, he had assumed they were engaged in a desperate death match, only to discover it was merely friendly practice. It was fortunate that these Crystal-Men possessed bodies of such extraordinary resilience; any other creature blasted hundreds of meters would have sustained severe injuries.

Just as he was about to order their capture, massive waves suddenly churned in the distant lava lake, forcing him to retract the command he had nearly spoken.

A low roar emerged from the lava lake, and the two blue Crystal-Men immediately knelt respectfully on the ground.

A strangely shaped, semi-transparent monstrous creature slowly hauled itself out of the astonishingly hot lava lake.

Peng Hua gasped in a low voice, “Heavens, that’s…”

The monster suddenly turned its gaze toward them and instantly spat forth a massive fireball several meters in diameter that hurtled toward them.

[Intermission Reminder]

Pluto, very precious.

For Pluto's sake, comrades, throw those votes! (To be continued)