As soon as Shao Shi arrived, he saw that the place where Fu Ya Ji of the Ancient Evil Gang had killed people yesterday was extremely lively.

The spacious, empty hall now hosted a wide, soft sofa, upon which Jin Zheng, draped in an incomparably bewitching purple robe, reclined languidly. In his left hand, he held a cup of wine the color of blood; his right arm rested casually over the armrest, gently stroking the short hair of Fu Ya Ming.

Fu Ya Ming sat on the sofa, rolling her eyes. She mumbled something low to Jin Zheng. Occasionally, Jin Zheng would let out a soft, coquettish giggle, a hint of charm unexpectedly surfacing on his androgynous face.

Nearly two hundred lean, strong men and women, all clad in red uniforms, stood within the hall. Every eye was fixed on two massive, towering figures, both nearly three meters tall.

These two exceptionally stout beings were roughly humanoid and also wore the same red uniforms, presenting an imposing and martial appearance. However, their bodies were covered in golden hair over an inch long, and their round, bulbous heads resembled those of orangutans. Yet, unlike orangutans, they did not walk hunched over; their every movement was perfectly human, save for arms that were slightly longer than normal proportions.

Though they stood nearly three meters tall, Gu Xichen estimated their waist circumference to be around three meters as well, making them look like rolling spheres. Their thick arms were knotted with bulging muscle, and they wore long metal gauntlets extending from their palms to their shoulders, currently being used with all their might to pound on a metal doorway at the far end of the hall.

"Hah!" The two great apes roared in excitement. With every cry, they struck the metal portal before them with full force. Each impact made the entire hall tremble, but the portal remained utterly unmoved.

Their full-metal fists struck the door, sending up showers of sparks, yet failing to leave even a scratch.

After striking the door like this for about fifteen minutes, Jin Zheng set down his wine cup, wrapped both hands around Fu Ya Ming's waist, and let out an annoyed cry.

The two great apes exchanged a look. They simultaneously roared toward the sky. Their round bodies suddenly elongated by nearly two meters, their waists rapidly shrinking. The red uniforms were shredded by their swiftly expanding forms. The excess flesh vanished, replaced by bodies covered in dense, well-proportioned masses of knotted muscle.

"Roar!" Accompanied by a dull bellow, large swaths of yellow light erupted from the apes' arms, and their bodies took on the appearance of being molded from lumps of earth. They retreated dozens of meters before suddenly pouncing toward the portal, their four massive fists slamming into the door.

The hall shook again, and even Gu Xichen, hundreds of meters deep below, felt the ground vibrate beneath him, accompanied by a muffled roar from above.

"What's going on? What are they doing? Is someone demolishing the building?" Peng Hua finally noticed something was amiss.

"Close enough to demolition! Those two stupid women—can't they open a door without using brute force?" Gu Xichen shook his head, hastily pulling out several materials from his satchel and spewing forth the Taiyin Xuan Yan to refine the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Soul-Bewitching Talisman. Under Peng Hua’s astonished gaze, Gu Xichen, displaying practiced ease, finished refining a second talisman in just a few minutes and handed it over, instructing him on its use.

The ability to become invisible and completely block external divine sense scans—unless one were a legendary immortal—made discovery impossible. The efficacy of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Soul-Bewitching Talisman made Peng Hua’s eyes gleam. He swiftly formed the necessary hand seals, activating the talisman and concealing his figure. Gu Xichen also activated his talisman; since all the talismans originated from his hand, they could still see each other's forms.

Like a breath of air being cleaned up, Gu Xichen shot upwards first, employing Earth Evasion to glide toward the hall above. Peng Hua let out a strange, cackling laugh, twisting his body with satisfaction, muttering proudly, "Such a marvelous treasure—absolutely not getting returned. Ah, the girls’ bathhouse at the Federation Arts Academy, a sacred spot I’ve yearned for for many years!"

Gu Xichen emerged through the hall floor. The two great apes were still frantically pounding the metal door, now panting heavily and frothing at the mouth, yet the metal portal remained completely solid. Gu Xichen shook his head and cursed quietly, "Idiots, this door has large amounts of Innate Materials mixed in; its strength is at least a thousand times that of ordinary alloys, and the door must be at least twenty meters thick. You'd have to be insane to think brute force would work."

Scanning the two apes with his divine sense, Gu Xichen found their internal physical structures were 99.99% similar to normal humans, and their meridians were identical. These creatures possessed immensely powerful physical strength, even greater than Gu Xichen's back on Earth. Their innate abilities clearly carried the aura of the acquired Earth element; they were Earth-type ability users, perhaps equivalent in strength to the peak Venus-level fighters of the Earth Federation. Earth-attribute ability users, with their tough physiques and immense brute strength, were the best candidates for manual labor—it was no wonder they were chosen to smash the door.

One ape slumped onto the ground, exhausted. He turned his head and complained in a muffled voice, "Young Commander, Your Majesty, this door is too tough, we can't open it!"

Fu Ya Ming spread her hands helplessly. She forced a bitter smile. "Jin Zheng, we can't open the door... We need to think of a way to deal with this quickly. After all, I know absolutely nothing about the specifics of the Demon Exorcism Knights. I don't know how many there are, how strong they are—I know nothing."

Jin Zheng confidently tugged Fu Ya Ming’s hair, chuckling, "Don't worry, Sister Fu Ya. The Demon Exorcism Knights? My father once fought an elder knight among them. I am confident I can overpower them. You must understand, sitting beside you is an elder member of the Star Alliance's Third Power, someone who should only exist in legends—he won't be my match!"

Fu Ya Ming rolled her eyes, looking deeply worried.

Jin Zheng sighed lightly, beckoning a finger. "Big Gold, Little Gold, rest. Dulumeng, you go try!"

The two apes retreated miserably, drenched in sweat, and plopped onto the ground, refusing to get up again. A young man, whose skin was as dark as charcoal, but whose eyes were deep black and piercing like a cat's, with sharply pointed ears similar to a fox's, quickly approached the metal door. His long fingers, one segment longer than a normal thumb, gently stroked the door like a soft breeze.

Slowly, Dulumeng’s pupils contracted smaller and smaller, and his body began to tremble violently. An explosive energy started to gather at his fingertips. The air in the hall rapidly converged toward him, and a shade of green wind shadow enveloped his body. The explosive energy at his fingertips intensified until his fingers themselves became faintly translucent light green. Ten small vortices could vaguely be seen spinning rapidly at his fingertips.

"Burst!" Dulumeng suddenly roared, and the ten whirlwinds at his fingertips exploded outward.

With a thunderous bang, the door remained completely stationary. Dulumeng was blasted backward with a continuous, agonizing scream. He slammed into Big Gold, who was sitting on the ground resting, and immediately passed out without a sound. Big Gold stared in surprise at Dulumeng, who was slumped against him, rolling his eyes and foaming at the mouth. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly delivered a fierce slap across Dulumeng’s face: "Hey, brother, wake up!" This slap landed squarely on Dulumeng's face, sending him tumbling dozens of meters away.

Fu Ya Ming’s eyes widened as she stared speechlessly at Jin Zheng.

Jin Zheng stared blankly at Dulumeng, who was convulsing on the floor. After a long pause, he managed a strained chuckle, "Ah... that’s just their racial trait. When they were young and knocked unconscious in a fight, their parents would wake them up this way. However, he forgot Dulumeng isn't a member of their 'Giant Mangke' tribe."

Gu Xichen struggled to suppress his laughter as he watched the group of men and women rush forward to administer emergency aid to Dulumeng. This unlucky fellow had first been blasted by an air explosion of his own making, fracturing several ribs in his upper torso, and then smacked by Big Gold, cracking his cervical vertebrae. If he didn't die from that, his vitality must be remarkably tenacious.

Peng Hua had already collapsed onto the floor, clutching his stomach. He was shaking with laughter, but fortunately, he knew he couldn't make a sound now, biting his lip until it bled.

Jin Zheng, growing somewhat flustered, muttered a few words under her breath and snapped angrily, "Brother Malka, you go!"

Four identical-looking figures, of normal height, slender in build, appearing as if giant locusts had gained sentience, their bodies covered in thick carapace, and sporting four long antennae protruding from their foreheads, responded and strode toward the metal door.

Jin Zheng offered a nervous smile to Fu Ya Ming. "Brother Malka and the others hail from Steel Star; they are the finest warriors of the 'Iron Fang Tribe,' the most powerful clan there. Sister Fu Ya, you must know the reputation of the Iron Fang Tribe, right?" As Jin Zheng spoke, she grew somewhat smug again, seemingly confident in the brothers' abilities.

Fu Ya Ming replied drily, "Of course. Everyone in the Star Alliance knows the Iron Fang Tribe's special ability. Seven hundred and fifty years ago, when the Star Alliance exploration vessel discovered Steel Star, all the metal components on the three ships were eaten clean by the Iron Fang Tribe within fifteen minutes. The exploration team lived like primitives on Steel Star for a year before the follow-up team rescued them back to the Alliance."

Jin Zheng grinned. "So, they definitely have a way to deal with this door!"

The four Malka brothers charged toward the metal door with fierce momentum. They opened their pearly-white jaws—it was unclear what mysterious technique they used—but their mouths stretched wider than their heads by two full circles. Two rows of razor-sharp white teeth vibrated rapidly on their own, like chainsaws. Accompanied by a low whirring sound, the four Malka brothers snapped their heads forward, their eight rows of large white teeth viciously biting down on the metal door before them.

Clang! A massive crash resounded. The four Malka brothers rushed back screaming in agony. Their eight rows of teeth had shattered neatly into thousands of tiny fragments, and their gums were ripped open with long gashes, pale green blood spurting out like a fountain.

Looking at the metal door, however, the results this time were impressive: four grooves, over a foot wide and an inch deep, had been carved into the surface.

Fu Ya Ming looked bewildered and once again turned to Jin Zheng in speechless exasperation.

Jin Zheng managed a dry laugh, continuing to laugh nervously. After a long pause, she raised her sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead. "Well, Sister Fu Ya, you see the effect is quite good. If this still doesn't work, I’ll dispatch a transport ship to Steel Star and hire every member of the Iron Fang Tribe with a heavy purse. Sooner or later, they'll chew this door down."

Peng Hua was laughing so hard his eyes rolled back, and Gu Xichen was fiercely biting his lip. Adorable, utterly adorable. This androgynous girl, Jin Zheng, was simply too cute!

It was the truth that water dripping can wear away stone. Once all the Iron Fang Tribe members’ teeth were ground to dust, this metal door was bound to come apart. Jin Zheng had truly grasped the truth of overcoming hardness with softness, the principle of cutting wood with rope.

Jin Zheng, becoming increasingly flustered to the point of nearly exploding in rage, waved her hand. "Fuge, you go!"

A man wearing a red uniform and a fully enclosed helmet slowly walked toward the metal door. As he walked, he began unfastening the clasps on his helmet, preparing to remove it.

Jin Zheng once again grew smug, leaning close to Fu Ya Ming's ear to whisper with a laugh, "Uncle Fuge is a true core member of our Ability Group, a Six-Star Venerable-level ability user, and the deputy head of my father's personal guard. He is a genetically mutated individual. His abilities are extremely powerful!"

Gu Xichen deliberately maneuvered to Fuge’s diagonal front to observe him, curious to see what wonders Fuge’s innate ability held. A genetically mutated ability user? What kind of strength would be unleashed when these two aspects combined? For Gu Xichen at this stage, scanning with divine sense felt less immediately satisfying than direct observation—a slight disorientation from having just begun his true path.

Fuge removed his helmet and stopped about a hundred meters from the portal. He was clean-shaven with delicate features, appearing at first glance like an ordinary middle-aged man. However, on his brow, there was a single, enormous eye that stretched from his hairline all the way down to the bridge of his nose, occupying nearly his entire forehead.

"Hmph!" As Fuge let out a cold snort, the tightly closed eye suddenly opened. The crimson iris radiated a sharp, crystalline light, and a strange brilliance spread out from the depths of his pupil.

In the blink of an eye, countless streams of light surged into Fuge’s third eye from all directions. His body trembled violently, and veins bulged fiercely beneath his skin. The massive third eye ignited with blazing fire, looking exactly like a miniature sun burning fiercely.

"Ha, ha, ha!"

Fuge roared three times, launching three fireballs the size of water vats roaring out of his third eye. Gu Xichen’s divine sense quickly scanned the three fireballs; the temperature at the core of each was around a staggering one million degrees. Such heat would be enough to deal with most battleships, but against this portal infused with large amounts of Innate Materials, it was likely still insufficient.

As expected, the fireballs adhered to the portal and burned fiercely, causing the temperature in the hall to rise sharply, but the metal doorway remained completely unchanged.

Fuge snorted coldly. The great eye on his brow suddenly transformed from a burning fireball into an icy sphere emitting a chilling, silver-white light. He roared again, and a beam of silver light, thick as a foot and carrying bone-chilling coldness, shot toward the portal ahead. The recoil from this silver beam was immense, forcing Fuge’s body to retreat rapidly backward.

The silver light, close to absolute zero, struck the fiercely burning metal door. Due to thermal expansion and contraction, the juxtaposition of intense heat and extreme cold resulted in a sharp, crackling sound like beans frying on the portal, causing large areas of fine, web-like cracks to appear.

Jin Zheng triumphantly wrapped her arms around Fu Ya Ming, laughing loudly, "I knew Uncle Fuge was the best!"

Gu Xichen’s face wrinkled. Although divine sense scanning confirmed Jin Zheng was a woman, her demeanor and presentation were truly starting to make him feel a bit weary.

Looking at the metal door, Gu Xichen shook his head and pulled Peng Hua toward the exit.

This ten-meter-thick metal door had only sustained damage to about ten centimeters of its thickness from that strike. To breach the portal and reach the hall below would take quite some effort.

The Star Alliance's Third Power Group?

Gu Xichen smiled. At this moment, looking at these ability users was like standing on a high mountain looking down at ants at the base; his perspective and realm were entirely different.

He truly wanted to see the expression on Jin Zheng’s face when she discovered that the so-called Divine Realm had vanished without a trace.

However, thinking of this, Gu Xichen sank back underground and secretly tampered with several crucial nodes of the teleportation array. The Heavenly Work Hall had already been secured by him; if Fu Ya Ming foolishly followed Jin Zheng there, being swept into space would be a certain death.

"I still need to cooperate with this little queen."

Gu Xichen comforted himself with this thought.