With a whoosh and a flurry of strikes, the two venerable monks from Iron Threshold Temple had finished off the Feili Monk. He needed to make a break for the tunnel exit now. Behind him, the crystal figures were closing in, their heavy footfalls seeming to echo right at the fleeing monk's heels.

Feili Monk was so terrified his soul felt like it was about to shatter into seven or eight pieces; he cried out in despair, “Fellow Daoists, save me! Buddha-damned, I’ll lose weight when I get back! Ouch, help!

The escape technique of our Dispersing Plague Temple is famously the worst in all of Buddhism, please, save me!” Two disciples from the Flying Heaven and Escaping Earth Sect, moving with incredible speed, snatched up the Feili Monk and transformed into a streak of light, vanishing instantly. Three purple crystal figures had already caught up to the fleeing ranks of the Asian Daoist Alliance disciples. Without preamble, they drew long, purple crystal pillars, each about three meters long and as thick as a bowl, and began wildly beating the disciples who were running so fast their heels nearly scraped the backs of their own heads.

Amidst dull thudding impacts, the Daoist Alliance disciples were smacked away like golf balls, many howling as they were knocked clear out of the tunnel and straight into the hall where the Immortal Severing Array had already been set up. Like startled deer scattering from thunder, the disciples poured into the hall, closely followed by the three purple crystal figures leading over two hundred blue crystal figures and more than six hundred cyan ones, all roaring as they charged forward. “Save me!” the Feili Monk’s fat face was contorted in a desperate, piercing wail.

“Namo Amitabha.” Banruo, whose skin had been peeled away by the intense heat and steam, stepped into the perimeter of the Immortal Severing Array’s cage, a swirling blue light emanating from his body. He turned, solemnly intoning the Buddhist invocation with magnificent composure. A touch of soft, clear water light spread from beneath Banruo’s foot, quickly expanding into a misty sheen that in the blink of an eye occupied the entire hall, spanning roughly two kilometers in diameter.

With a soft swish of water, three-foot-high clear springs, glowing with a faint white light, erupted from the flat ground. The surrounding high temperature dropped rapidly, soon reaching a level bearable for human life. Mohe placed his hands on Banruo’s back, circulating the thirteen energy centers within his body.

Rolling waves of death energy surged into Banruo, converting into the boundless life force of Zen energy. A beam of white light shot from Banruo’s brow as his Domain activated to its fullest extent. Countless white lights emerged from the clear springs, and Bodhi trees, no taller than three feet and some only a foot high, sprouted within the water.

Flakes of sweet frost rained down from the sky, seeping through the combat suits and directly into the fleeing, scrambling Daoist Alliance disciples. The scalded skin and muscle on Banruo, Mohe, and Siren healed rapidly. Although Aredia hadn’t suffered burns, the neural damage to her brain from the crystal figures’ mental assault was also swiftly mending.

The injured Daoist Alliance disciples felt a coolness envelop them, a massive influx of vital energy flowing through their bodies, making their already minor injuries vanish without a trace in an instant. The three robust monks of Iron Threshold Temple breathed a sigh of relief; the large wounds on their bodies were regenerating visibly. Everyone was savoring the marvelous sensation brought by Banruo’s Domain, except for Penghua, who was pitifully curled up in a corner of the Immortal Severing Array, miserably wrapping himself in a cloak of dark, dead energy.

He watched with profound grievance as the falling sweet frost landed upon his death energy, rapidly corroding it as if struck by the strongest aqua regia. “So pitiful, woe is me. Buddhist Zen arts are my direct bane, heavens above, I’m so unfortunate!

I got a hole blown through me, and now I have to painstakingly heal myself—I’m so miserable!” Penghua wailed pitifully in a hoarse voice, his rasping sound making several surrounding disciples who were setting up the array twitch and frown deeply. With heavy footsteps, the crystal figures charged into the Immortal Severing Array, chasing the fleeing Daoist Alliance disciples. Simultaneously, they unleashed brilliant light, preparing to unleash their most powerful attacks.

Nine successive peals of thunder echoed across the ground, and Zhao Yi, wielding the Golden Dragon Bronze halberd, emerged from the void with majestic gravity. He pointed the halberd, and the Immortal Severing Array immediately activated. Innumerable bolts of lightning enveloped the hall, and dense clouds and mist filled the surroundings, plunging the crystal figures inside the formation into darkness.

In the blink of an eye, these figures saw the surrounding area blaze with lightning, as if they had been transported to a world ruled by thunder, completely surrounded by dense electric light. The crystal figures terrifyingly projected their mental energy in all directions to scan the situation, but an invisible barrier blocked their psychic waves, sending strong, jolting feedback that made them dizzy. A long dragon's roar resonated from all directions as thousands of golden dragons, each tens of feet long, coiled and flew out from amidst the myriad bolts of lightning, their eyes fierce as they lunged toward the crystal figures.

Penghua stared blankly at Zhao Yi, who was controlling the array, and exclaimed, “Huh? You’re alright? Does that mean my junior brother is also safe?

But he was eaten by the Innate Scarlet Flame Qilin—something that can’t even be processed into waste, it’s instantly incinerated! How could my junior brother possibly be unharmed?” Gu Yechen was indeed fine. Following the instinctual guidance of the Primordial Dao Fetus, he had abandoned evasion and allowed the Scarlet Flame Qilin to swallow him whole.

However, just in case, he had summoned the Five Brothers of Xinjia to set up the Five Elements Transformation Array to protect himself. A powerful suction pulled Gu Yechen into the belly of the Scarlet Flame Qilin. The Qilin’s stomach was spotless, its smooth lining devoid of any debris or odor.

Instead, it was churning with viscous, nearly solid essence of Innate Yang Fire. Through the Qilin’s semi-translucent body, Gu Yechen glimpsed a sphere of crystal, blue-purple in color and the size of a head, spinning rapidly within the creature’s brain. It emitted a heat and glare so intense it inspired despair.

Gu Yechen couldn’t help but swallow: “This must be the beast’s inner core, right? Small…” Xinjia remained calm, nodding steadily. But Xinwu, who cultivated fire-attribute techniques, was already drooling as he stared at the core, crying out, “What a treasure!

We must seize it! Seize it!” Xinwu cleared his throat and declared righteously to Gu Yechen, “Esteemed One, subduing demons and eliminating evil is the sworn duty of our Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.” Gu Yechen glanced at Xinwu, thinking what a righteous and grand excuse that was. It seemed the Xinwu brothers had engaged in plenty of such demon-slaying before.

Gazing at the endless, churning essence of Yang Fire surrounding them, Gu Yechen commanded, “Subdue this fellow. He and everything inside belongs to us! Hmm, but it’s strange, why is there a Qilin here?” Gu Yechen turned his questioning gaze toward the Xinjia brothers.

Silence reigned for a moment, then Xinjia spoke, “Esteemed One, judging by the layout here, this Scarlet Flame Qilin seems to have been suppressed. The location it occupies should be an Ancient Innate Earth-Fire Spirit Nexus, where an Innate Treasure is likely gestating. This Qilin is probably a divine beast left behind by an ancient master of great magical power to guard this nexus, and also to protect the Innate Treasure below.” Innate Treasure.

Gu Yechen’s eyes lit up. Taiyin Xuan Yan was also an object of Innate origin, and he knew the terrifying power it possessed. The chain around Xinjia’s waist was also forged from Innate material, its power beyond imagination—but Xinjia had four other brothers.

Nodding seriously, Gu Yechen pointed at the boundless essence of Yang Fire swirling around them and smiled, “Come, help me refine all this. Let’s see what good things we can find to forge each of you five brothers a boundless divine chain made of Innate material. This Qilin’s hide is also incredibly tough; it would make excellent armor.” When Gu Yechen had punched the Qilin’s head earlier, the impact force, exceeding ten thousand tons, hadn’t even shattered a single scale, showing just how durable its armor was.

Within the First Battalion of the Great Sovereign Heaven Town, there were soldiers skilled in artifact refining; given the Qilin’s massive size, five sets of armor would be more than enough. With the combined strength of the five Xinjia brothers equipped with five sets of Qilin armor—wouldn't they become five human-shaped weapons of mass destruction? Lost in this triumphant thought, Gu Yechen couldn't help but grin so wide his mouth cracked.

He looked at the Qilin’s belly and chuckled, “You must never have read Journey to the West; you don’t know that eating certain things randomly gives you a stomach ache, do you? Heh heh!” Upon his command, Xinjia and his four brothers fully activated the Five Elements Transformation Array, while Gu Yechen sat cross-legged in the center, wholly focused on refining the Innate Yang Fire Essence within the Qilin. The Taiyin Xuan Yan erupted from Gu Yechen’s body without reservation.

The ash-white, chilling flames lunged at the surrounding viscous Yang Fire Essence like starving wolves spotting a feast. A large amount of Yang Fire Essence was devoured by Gu Yechen, converting into an enormous surge of energy flooding into his body. Xinwu was ecstatic, greedily drawing in the fire energy from within the Qilin, continuously refining it into his innate vital energy to enhance his cultivation.

Whenever the amount of Yang Fire spiritual energy he absorbed was too great for his body to handle, he would either shoot a bolt of Yang Fire spiritual energy towards Gu Yechen or send a surge of internal fire energy towards Xinjia. Gu Yechen functioned like a bottomless black hole, consuming the incoming Yang Fire Essence—whatever arrived, he devoured. The Five Elements Transformation Array devoured and refined the surrounding Yang Fire Essence even faster than Gu Yechen, colorful light swirling between the bodies of the five Xinjia brothers.

Gradually, using the Innate Yang Fire Qi refined by Xinwu as a catalyst, the true essence within the brothers’ bodies began the process of converting toward the Innate level. With every inhale and exhale, the colorful light intensified brilliantly. After an unknown period, Gu Yechen’s external spiritual power and the spiritual power of the five Xinjia brothers merged perfectly.

He gradually integrated into the Five Elements Transformation Array, becoming the crucial nodal point that transformed from Post-Natal to Innate within the formation. Ultimately, all the spiritual energy refined and transformed by the five Xinjia brothers passed through Gu Yechen’s body for purification. The refinement power of the Innate Taiyin Xuan Yan was far, far greater than the natal true fire of the five Xinjia brothers.

Since the five Xinjia brothers possessed supreme Yang and supreme Net [Yin] constitutions, the refined spiritual energy flowing into their bodies infused them with a touch of Innate Supreme Yin energy. The Yin and Yang energies harmonized, causing their internal spiritual energy to flow ceaselessly, subtly hinting at the potential for an independent spiritual energy cycle. Time slowly passed.

The Yang Fire Essence within the Scarlet Flame Qilin showed no decrease, yet Gu Yechen and the five others had gained tremendous benefit. The five-colored streams of energy released by the Xinjia brothers merged into Gu Yechen’s five internal organs, nourishing and stimulating them to secrete more of this multicolored energy. Stimulated by the natal Five Elements True Qi released by the five Xinjia brothers, Gu Yechen’s viscera became increasingly robust, their functions growing ever stronger.

About ten percent of Gu Yechen’s soul origin had taken on a five-colored hue. The devouring continued. Eating one Qilin was excellent, and immensely powerful.