That last creature was nothing more than a four-legged beast, easily seven or eight meters long. Its general shape resembled a tiger, but its head was decidedly crocodilian. When it opened its maw, hundreds of glittering, triangular, razor-sharp teeth lined its jaws, sending a chill down the spine. The entire beast was a uniform inky green, and the first thing it exhaled was a thick cloud of green vapor: "Hold it right there, little enchantress Jin. You're not the type to risk life and limb for a friend. What kind of friend is worth you chasing after us?"

Gu Xiechen leaned close to the light screen with a smile, nodding gently. "Esteemed Four Grand Commanders, I, Gu Xiechen, pay my respects. Now, I'll give you a chance: all of you, sever your own limbs and return with me obediently to Yafix Star. You will compensate my two subordinates for all their losses. Hmm, I won't be too harsh. Based on their value, your Bloodfang Ability User Group will hand over half of all your accumulated savings, and you will kneel before them, kowtow in confession, and sweetly address them a few times. Then, and only then, will I let you go today."

Dead silence. A long, profound silence.

The four Grand Commanders of the Bloodfang Ability User Group stared blankly at Gu Xiechen. After a long moment, they suddenly erupted into maniacal laughter. "What did you say? What did you say? Are our ears playing tricks on us?"

Gu Xiechen, entirely unruffled, repeated his demands. This time, however, he required the Bloodfang Ability User Group to compensate them with eighty percent of all their savings.

A wave of hysterical mockery assaulted their eardrums, making them ring. The four Grand Commanders pointed at Gu Xiechen and spewed forth a torrent of vile profanities. The so-called Ability User Group was essentially a band of pirates composed of espers; one couldn't expect any refinement or elegance among them. The curses they hurled were extremely vulgar, yet remarkably inventive. Many of these obscenities had evolved and been adapted from the racial characteristics of the four Grand Commanders—theses were insults beyond the imagination of Terrans.

Gu Xiechen's expression gradually darkened. He stated coldly, "Since that is the case, I shall gladly accept these thousand warships. Your lives, hehe... they no longer belong to you!"

A flash of white light illuminated the cockpit, and Gu Xiechen shot out into the vacuum of space. With a single upward gesture, his Fuyao Fan whipped up an invisible energy storm that swept forward.

This Fuyao Fan was crafted by Old Man Dachu using the primary feathers of the Primordial Roc. A single sweep could summon myriad storms, both innate and acquired, from the heavens and earth to assail an opponent. Though space lacks air to generate conventional gales, it is rife with countless invisible radiations and particle streams, particularly the solar winds blown out during stellar flares. Gu Xiechen instantly stirred up all the energy within a radius of several hundred li, coalescing it into a single, formless hurricane.

"Sssshhh," the fleet controlled by the Bloodfang Ability User Group had not raised its energy shields. Facing the solitary Dajiaoji, they saw no need to expend energy on shielding. The energy storm unleashed by Gu Xiechen swept over the warships ahead without obstruction. The Tier-One battleships, protected by heavy armor, might withstand it, but the outer armor plating instantly sputtered with bursts of green magnetic light, and all external detection instruments were instantly fried clean.

The auxiliary vessels, those with thinner armor, fared much worse. While their hulls were designed to resist conventional space storms, they could not withstand Gu Xiechen’s attack, which had compressed every bit of radiation and particle stream within several hundred li into a single vortex. The resulting energy storm was tens of thousands of times more powerful than normal! The highly penetrating radiation and particle streams instantly pierced through the ships' armor, killing every living being inside.

The electronic systems of these vessels erupted in dazzling firelight, resembling primordial warships battered by an energy surge in subspace. All vacuum tubes and chips were incinerated. Nearly ten thousand auxiliary warships of various sizes lost all power, hanging silently in space like coffins.

The four Grand Commanders of the Bloodfang Ability User Group cried out in alarm, "Raise the energy shields! Raise the shields! Quick! Quick! Lock onto that bastard and fire!"

Three thousand Tier-One battleships of the Star Alliance—vessels whose technology surpassed that of the Earth Federation by several generations—possessed main cannons that, if aimed at a single individual, might make even ancient monsters like the Corpse Emperor hesitate to block head-on. However, these warships never even got the chance to fire.

Mo Liqing charged forward from the Dajiaoji, casually flicking his Qingyun Sword. With a booming laugh, he rushed toward the distant fleet, riding atop a ball of azure cloud.

Mo Lihong, Mo Lihai, and Mo Lishou—the four Mo brothers—simultaneously drew their innate magic treasures and soared forward on clouds as well.

The five Xin Jia brothers trailed slightly behind the four Mo brothers, leaving five streaks of five-colored shield light in their wake as they utilized the Five Elements Evasion technique, their speed just a fraction slower.

Gu Xiechen sneered, waved his Fuyao Fan, and sent five hundred streaks of violet light sweeping out. Zhao Yi and the other five hundred Heavenly Soldiers followed, each wielding immortal weapons found in the Tiangong Hall.

Witnessing this spectacle, Fuya, Ming, and Jin gasped simultaneously, "How are there so many more people?!", their minds alight with wonder. Gu Xiechen’s mystique increased tenfold in their perception. Especially his display of overwhelming power as if merely strolling in outer space left both women entranced and bewildered. Furthermore, the fact that Mo Liqing, Xin Jia, and the others possessed the ability to survive in the vacuum of space was terrifying. Except for a very small number of unique lifeforms, even Six-Star Venerables could not linger in space for long.

As the hearts of Fuya, Ming, and Jin were still clenched in apprehension, Yunhua also transformed into a streak of blood mist and zipped into space. He threw his head back and laughed wildly, only to realize with vexation that his laughter carried no sound without air. Annoyed, Yunhua made a crude gesture toward the distant fleet before transforming into a streak of scarlet light and rocketing onward.

A flash of green light followed. Gu Xiechen rode a wisp of water cloud, appearing to move slowly but actually accelerating at terrifying speed. The four Mo brothers, who had been charging at the forefront, were overtaken by Gu Xiechen in the blink of an eye. In the next instant, they could only stare in stunned silence as Gu Xiechen diminished into a tiny speck of light.

The sleeves of his Xiaoyao Robe billowed out, increasing Gu Xiechen's speed by nearly a hundredfold. Coupled with the "Water Cloud Evasion" secret technique he acquired from the Taiyin True Scripture—an incredibly sophisticated method of cloud riding—his flight speed was frighteningly fast. The fire-control radars of the three thousand warships commanded by the Bloodfang Ability User Group frantically swept over Gu Xiechen’s position, but before they could lock on, he had already pierced the fleet's formation.

"Those who harm my brothers shall die!" Two streaks of white light shot from Gu Xiechen’s eyes. He felt no psychological burden in killing members of the Bloodfang Ability User Group. The four Grand Commanders clearly did not appear human. Non-kin are inherently suspect. Following the habitual mindset of Terrans, it was best to eradicate such alien races early to ensure peace of mind.

As for the common soldiers of the Thirteen Kingdoms, since their kings had committed acts of treachery and tried to play dirty tricks against Gu Xiechen, they had to bear the appropriate consequences. Gu Xiechen was a merchant, and merchants adhere to merchant rules. Those who violate commercial pacts and resort to underhanded tactics deserve universal reprisal.

A Tier-One battleship was less than a hundred meters away. The Star Alliance’s energy shield technology was several generations ahead of what the Earth Federation and the Romans possessed. For such a massive warship, the energy shield covering its hull appeared deceptively thin, barely a dozen centimeters thick. But this shield was crystallized, as if carved from pure crystal; the highly compressed energy was almost solidified.

"Get lost!" Gu Xiechen swept the Fuyao Fan violently toward the warship. The vessel’s energy shield shuddered violently. The hull, over six thousand three hundred meters long, let out a moan as it was lifted sideways by an invisible gale, sent careening into another nearby warship. The gap between the two vessels was less than a kilometer. The power of the Fuyao Fan was immense; the tossed warship slammed into the second vessel almost instantly.

"Boom!" The two energy shields detonated, and the two warships collided violently. The sheer force of the impact completely pulverized the bow of one ship, while a massive breach, over three hundred meters long, tore open the midsection of the other. A torrent of air, mingled with countless flowers, trees, deck chairs, and flowery swim trunks, sprayed out of the gash. Also expelled were large volumes of water and several naked, unclothed soldiers—evidently, someone had been enjoying the ship's beach recreation area.

What Jin said was true; these Star Alliance warships were more luxurious than the cruise liners of the Earth Federation. Gu Xiechen grinned as he watched the screaming soldiers being ejected into space. He shook his head, and his Boshan Crown emitted a sharp chime, unleashing five streams of milky-white force that shot out. They struck the energy shield protecting the warship—which was slightly taller than a mountain peak—and instantly shattered the crystalline shield into countless fragments. The white streams of force then sliced the warship in half at the waist.

Silently, the warship was cleaved in two by the shockwave. Hundreds of giant, python-like white streams shot out from the small mountain shape, darting like lightning into the bisected vessel. All bulkheads and pressure doors proved useless against the incursion of these white streams. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of soldiers, screaming at the top of their lungs and flailing wildly, were swept out of the ship by the white energy and tossed into the boundless vacuum of space.

Some senior officers had faint lights shimmering around them—their personal energy shields had automatically activated, allowing them to survive momentarily in space. However, without a sustained energy supply, these personal shields could last a maximum of two hours. After those two hours, they too would meet the scythe of the Reaper.

Unlike the ordinary soldiers who died instantly from asphyxiation upon ejection, these officers would slowly, second by agonizing second, calculate the approaching moment of their death. This prolonged torment was enough to drive any man insane.

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