The Black Crystal Man heard Miao Hua's scream and gave a strange, tight-lipped smile. "Mianlu? Reproduction? Every time we advance, we can split off a larva after three years. Don't you know this?" With a wave of his hand, a blast of black vital energy erupted, shattering the white mist that Peng Hua had fled into into countless flecks of white vapor. But Miao Hua had long since vanished.

"Strange, where is the person?" The Black Crystal Man paused, confused by how fast Miao Hua had moved. He was intimately familiar with this hall, where the Immortal Sealing Array was deployed; it was the key thoroughfare to the Fifth Divine Lake, the hub connecting the Fifth Altar and the Lake. As the guardian of the Fifth Divine Lake, he knew every single pattern etched into the floor. Yet, the white mist had changed everything, rendering the terrain utterly alien to him, while the enemy used the fog as cover to escape easily.

A figure flashed nearby, and the Black Crystal Man instinctively kicked out. The white mist suddenly dispersed, and the Black Crystal Man’s kick cleaved a Blue Crystal Man in half at the waist. Amidst a tremendous sound like hundreds of floor-length mirrors shattering simultaneously, the Blue Crystal Man looked on in horror as the lower half of his body disintegrated. Before the upper half of the panicked Blue Crystal Man could even hit the ground, it vanished before the Black Crystal Man’s eyes as the mist swirled back in.

"Damn it, what is going on?" The Black Crystal Man roared in fury, unleashing hundreds of meteor-like bursts of black energy in all directions. But within the grand formation, light screens rose from the countless clouds of white mist, gradually neutralizing and dissolving the black energy blasts, absorbing and dissipating the vast power to fuel the Array’s operation.

A pillar of crimson-gold fire suddenly shot up from the ground, the intense heat causing the Black Crystal Man to sizzle and pop. Unfazed, the Black Crystal Man stomped the ground, completely crushing the pillar of fire. He strode forward and haphazardly charged in one direction. After breaking through layers of thick fog, he found a Cyan Crystal Man struggling and contorting on the ground ahead.

"What's wrong with you?" The Black Crystal Man charged forward and scooped up the Cyan Crystal Man, whose body was split by countless fissures.

"Oh? At least the Federal Academy of Sciences didn't get this wrong—you guys use eyes to perceive things too, right?" A light flowed over the Cyan Crystal Man’s body, and the figure in the Black Crystal Man’s embrace transformed back into Peng Hua. Dozens of ultra-high-frequency oscillation bombs were tightly strapped onto the Black Crystal Man by Peng Hua, who then swiftly turned into a streak of light and dove underground.

"What... what the hell?" The Black Crystal Man stood stunned. How had his own kin turned into that wretched, despicable Earth human again?

A massive detonation ripped through the air as dozens of ultra-high-frequency oscillation bombs exploded on the Black Crystal Man’s body. The violent shockwaves penetrated deep inside him, violently shaking the minute crystals that constituted his form. With a crack, fine lines—impervious to lightning, fire, or quicksand—appeared on the Black Crystal Man’s body. He let out a howl of utter horror: "Why is my body—my body is indestructible!"

From the thick fog nearby, Peng Hua spat a thick glob of phlegm heavily onto the ground, cursing, "Indestructible? Even Master wouldn't claim that! Hey, you bumpkins from Pluto, you haven't seen what the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation looks like, have you? Damn it, I, Peng Hua the Great, am taking this crystal sphere of yours! Heh heh, what will my Domain be like?"

Standing beside Peng Hua, Siren aimed a massive-caliber electromagnetic cannon at the nearby Black Crystal Man, sneered, and scoffed, "Your luck, naturally, can't compare to mine!" Two silver streaks flashed around Siren, and two blonde women in skimpy, fiery bikinis sprang out from the light, laughing as they embraced and rubbed against Peng Hua.

"My Domain will be better than yours!" Peng Hua shot Siren an angry glance and declared provocatively, "I plan to merge this black crystal sphere in the biggest underground red-light district in Paris. I'm going to book every girl there and spend a hundred cubic Zakkra energy crystals to lock down that district for a month—I refuse to believe I can't inspire a Domain I'm satisfied with!"

Siren stared blankly, the corner of his mouth twitching in deep resentment. Taking a deep breath, Siren roared and pulled the trigger on the electromagnetic cannon: "Damn it, this world is so unfair!"

An eighty-millimeter depleted uranium armor-piercing round, accelerated by the electromagnetic field, instantly blasted out of the muzzle at over twenty times the speed of sound. The shell struck the Black Crystal Man several meters away, hurling him forward. Siren was thrown back by the cannon's recoil, shrieking and tumbling into a thick bank of white fog behind him.

Peng Hua glanced disdainfully at the tossed Siren, sneering, "A poor fool who sacrifices the whole forest for one tree. I, Peng Hua the Great, despise you! We real men should seek revenge swiftly, drink huge bowls of wine, eat massive chunks of meat, and sleep with women on great, wide beds—oh my god!" The Black Crystal Man, hit by the shell, suddenly zipped about wildly and burst out of the white mist in front of Peng Hua. Peng Hua shrieked in terror, spun around, and fled.

The Black Crystal Man, whose fissures had deepened, watched the fleeing Peng Hua with rage. He let out an "Awoo-awoo" howl and suddenly raised both hands, slamming them fiercely onto the ground.

"Great Ancestor! Lend your immense divine power to your descendants!"

As the Black Crystal Man screamed madly, the floor of the hall—spanning roughly two kilometers in diameter—began to tremble violently. A furious electromagnetic field erupted from beneath the earth. All the screens aboard the hunting ship in space flickered wildly; they could no longer receive any signal from within the hall. On the cruiser, Commander Ji shrieked and jumped up: "Bad news! The old brute is going berserk! Wei Lixuan, charge up and prepare for contingency!"

Blinding, brilliant light poured from underground, flowing like dragons along the surface and pouring into the Black Crystal Man’s body. His frame, which had only suffered dozens of tiny fissures despite repeated heavy blows, suddenly began to expand. The streams of light surging from below contained an unimaginably vast energy. His extremely solid body swelled while simultaneously developing countless fissures the thickness of a thumb. Large chunks of black crystal flaked off him, showing that these light streams were also an unbearable burden on his form.

"You bandits, villains, and butchers who massacred my people—accept the punishment of the Ancestor!"

Crystal shards flaked off the Black Crystal Man’s cheeks. His face became utterly ferocious. He roared, and immense energy erupted from within him. The white mist both inside and outside the Immortal Sealing Array was blasted away by the powerful energy waves. Dozens of disciples setting up the Array who were too close to him lost their footing; despite the protection of the formation, they were still flung into the air.

The northwest corner of the Immortal Sealing Array instantly disintegrated. Zhao Yi roared anxiously: "Quickly stabilize the formation! Damn it, this fellow is borrowing stellar power! But he isn't using Daoist arts. Which star would lend him power?"

Daoist Xiao Zhang and the other disciples of the Asian Dao Alliance cried out in horror: "What? Borrowing stellar power?"

Only these orthodox cultivators understood how terrifying the divine ability to borrow stellar power was. Even an insignificant little star in the sky possessed the power to overturn the universe with ease; destroying cities and nations was even simpler. However, this great divine ability to borrow stellar power had been lost to the Asian Dao Alliance for thousands of years. This Black Crystal Man was actually borrowing the power of the stars? Where did he learn this technique? And which star was lending him its strength?

A chilling, frigid aura poured from the Black Crystal Man’s body. Within this killing cold, there was strangely mixed an overwhelming, violent heat capable of incinerating everything. Absolute yin cold and absolute high temperature mingled, and this bizarre aura spread outwards in waves. The surrounding Dao Alliance disciples felt as if they were simultaneously in a furnace and an ice cave, or perhaps in both at once. Every cell in their bodies felt like it was being frozen and scorched. Many disciples with weaker foundations simultaneously spat out a mouthful of vital blood.

The Black Crystal Man’s body had swollen to nearly six meters tall. The black crystal sphere in his chest erupted with sunlight-like brilliance. Enveloped in the intense light, the black crystal sphere slowly rotated, and an aura of inviolability, supreme majesty, and ancientness—as if it had hung above all living things since the dawn of time—rolled forth from his sphere.

Under the coverage of this aura, the true qi within the Dao Alliance disciples could no longer circulate. They collapsed onto the ground, their limbs weak and their tendons numb, like a flock of defenseless chicks awaiting slaughter.

Zhao Yi roared and soared into the air. He brandished the Golden Dragon Cudgel, summoning the last remaining strength of the Immortal Sealing Array and bringing it down upon the Black Crystal Man’s head.

Another piece of black crystal disintegrated on the Black Crystal Man’s face. The disintegrated fragments burst into powder in the fierce light, and the Black Crystal Man let out a pained cry to the heavens. The Golden Dragon Cudgel, transformed into a golden dragon, roared and slammed down onto the Black Crystal Man’s crown, exploding in blinding light.

"Ow!" With a gasp, Zhao Yi found a gash running from the web between his thumb and forefinger all the way to his elbow, deep enough to see bone. Streams of pale gold blood spurted out, and a massive recoil slammed him several miles into the air. The light on the Golden Dragon Cudgel vanished entirely. A black force hammered the Cudgel hundreds of times, causing it to moan mournfully before finally transforming into a golden streak and flying back into Zhao Yi’s body.

"Ha! You..." The Black Crystal Man raised both fists and smashed them down hard onto the ground.

Tens of thousands of crystal spikes, each the thickness of a finger, erupted simultaneously from the hall's crystal floor. Thwack, thwack, thwack—the Dao Alliance disciples lying on the ground had their limbs pierced by the spikes, and streams of black energy flowed through the spikes into their bodies, completely sealing their meridians and freezing their forms.

Seeing the Black Crystal Man's heavy fists descending, Peng Hua, Siren, and the others reacted instantly, leaping into the sky almost simultaneously. Siren, Aridya, Bonny, and Mo He were supported by bright light formed from psychic energy beneath their feet, hovering steadily several miles above the ground. Daoist Xiao Zhang and the strongest remaining Dao Alliance disciples rose high on flying swords and artifacts. Peng Hua, like a giant flea, sprang straight up several hundred meters, hopping erratically a dozen times before standing shaken on the spiral passage, staring blankly below.

The Black Crystal Man swung his arm forcefully, tremendous energy surging through his body. Unable to withstand the impact, a small section of his arm shattered into powder amidst swirling black light. He gasped, pointed a trembling finger at Siren and the others in the sky, and roared: "Your people... capture you... and come to take my kin... Release my kin... swear never to invade us again... then your people can go back."

The Black Crystal Man was clearly overexerted; even his short sentence was fragmented, and he nearly choked several times.

...

Many thanks to all the brothers and sisters who have already cast their monthly tickets. Even more thanks to all the brothers and sisters who will continue to cast their monthly tickets. (To be continued)