Xie Xiao stared in surprise at Mi Tou Xiang Ji, whose head was twice the size of a normal person's... With a burst of laughter, Bo Shan Guan suddenly dissolved into a puff of white mist enveloping him, and the mental shock dissipated into nothingness upon contact. With a wave of his hand, over a dozen dragon-like plumes of white vapor erupted from Bo Shan Guan, transforming into huge palms that rushed toward the group of strong men. The massive hands stirred up tremendous gusts of wind, roaring down with piercing sound, and under the desperate gazes of those men, the colossal palms slammed them hard onto the ground, grinding them roughly from side to side.

Continuous roaring sounds echoed as the palms formed by the white vapor dispersed into wisps of gentle breeze, leaving behind only shattered metal and pulped flesh on the spot.

With a light tap of his toe, Gu Xichen rapidly shot forward several hundred meters, plunging into the portal ahead. Before him stood an extremely colossal elevator, judging by its scale, capable of holding nearly a thousand people at once.

Without hesitation, Gu Xichen stepped into the elevator. He then shattered the elevator floor with a single stomp and leaped down into the bottomless shaft below.

A low engine hum sounded as hundreds of armed robots, each the size of a human head, swarmed out from all directions of the shaft. They frenetically lunged at Gu Xichen, while a shrill, unbearable electronic voice shrieked hoarsely: "Intruder, intruder! Eliminate, eliminate!"

Just as these bizarrely shaped robots were about to reach Gu Xichen, he finally struck the Zhu Jian () hanging from his belt, injecting a surge of True Essence into the blade.

An indescribably marvelous aura shot skyward from the Zhu Jian. The blade suddenly disassembled, dissolving into points of black and white light that streaked across the void. Centered on Gu Xichen’s body, the space within a ten-meter radius transformed into a death trap.

Any armed robot that approached this boundary, in the final millisecond before it could close the distance, would be intercepted by a subtle, unremarkable sword-light, neither gray nor white. It wasn't the light striking the robots; rather, the robots smashed headlong into the light.

Silently, one by one, the robots were cleaved in two and fell like rain into the elevator shaft.

Such was the divine mystery of the Zhu Jian. "Zhu ()," ancient scholars used it for divination and calculation; naming the sword Zhu implied foreknowledge, the ability to divine the future. This sword flew without trace, its speed impossibly fast. Furthermore, it could traverse the void, appearing exactly where needed according to the master's will. In combat, its flashing light seemed to always anticipate the enemy, striking the vital point at the critical moment.

Gathering the sword-light, Gu Xichen inverted his body, shooting downward in a streak of azure light, plummeting several thousand meters in the blink of an eye.

Along the way, the densely packed emitters lining the elevator shaft continuously spewed out immensely powerful high-energy lasers and deadly rays. However, Gu Xichen's descent speed was too great; most attacks merely grazed the soles of his boots, unable to touch a single strand of his hair. The few lasers that were triggered early enough to hit him were easily deflected by the Carefree Robe ().

The screeching alarms grew louder and stronger until the entire shaft was bathed in glaring red emergency lights. The piercing ultra-high-frequency bell was enough to drive an ordinary person to mental collapse.

Unaffected, Gu Xichen shot straight to the bottom of the shaft. With a sweep of his left hand, the Flying Waterfall Sleeve () divine ability was unleashed, blasting the heavy metal door before him into ruins, revealing a vast hall beyond.

The hall, several kilometers long and wide and nearly a thousand meters high, was illuminated with transparent light. On an altar soaring one hundred meters high in the center of the hall stood Dagor, the President of the Doko Federation, clad in crimson robes, gazing at Gu Xichen with a strange smile. As Gu Xichen stepped inside, Dagor suddenly began to clap, letting out a harsh, unpleasant laugh: "Esteemed Priests, welcome our friend from afar! Oh, the envoy from the Yafik Kingdom, the respected Court Knight, the legendary fiancé of Queen Yafik—oh, truly magnificent!"

This hall contained more than just the altar where Dagor stood. Besides the central, circular altar nearly a hundred meters tall with a base diameter of about two hundred meters, there were twelve smaller altars arranged in a perfect circle around it.

Standing upon the twelve trapezoidal pyramid-shaped altars were three figures each, entirely shrouded in crimson cloaks, revealing only two fiery red orbs that seemed to perpetually spew flames. The breastplates of their cloaks were embroidered with enormous sun symbols in gold thread; the combination of gold and crimson was intensely striking.

Beside Dagor stood a circle of twelve figures in golden cloaks, their breastplates embroidered with sun patterns in red thread, their entire appearance still dazzlingly golden.

With a slight wave of his Fu Yao (), Gu Xichen asked with surprise, "Your people are fighting for their lives, and what are you doing here?"

Dagor erupted into near-manic laughter. He gestured wildly as he chuckled, "They are fighting, they are bleeding, they are sacrificing. And I? I am the messenger sent by the True Body of the Great Sun! I am here to receive them into the Great Solar Kingdom. Their souls will live eternally in the God's realm, and their blood and power will grant the God the strength to reawaken."

Taking a heavy breath, Dagor crouched down, looking down upon Gu Xichen as he chuckled eerily, "Do you know? Once the God accumulates enough power, he can awaken from his eternal slumber and lead us to become the masters of the entire universe!"

Gu Xichen paused, shaking his head. "You are insane!"

Dagor was truly mad. The Doko Federation faced annihilation, yet he was here engaging in these superstitious rituals. If he weren't insane, there was no other explanation!

"No! I am not mad! I am clearer-headed than anyone!" Dagor let out a strange cackle, shaking with laughter as he pointed at Gu Xichen, "I know more clearly than anyone!"

"Binkel could never have done such a thing! Because Binkel is my most loyal subordinate and the most devout warrior of our Solar Cult! His mission was to control the Yafik Kingdom, not to ignite a war between the Doko Federation and the entire Star Alliance. How could he possibly have killed so many envoys?"

Pausing for breath, Dagor pointed at Gu Xichen and laughed scathingly, "It must be you! You used evil sorcery to control Binkel's soul and made him do this madness! But it works out perfectly for me, perfectly for me!" Dagor hopped and skipped on the altar, singing a joyful tune and jumping like a madman for nearly a full minute. He finally stopped, panting, and said to Gu Xichen, "At first, I was terrified. I had failed the hope of the True God of the Sun; I was truly terrified. If the Doko Federation, a vital stronghold of the Solar Cult, were destroyed, I would be the most unforgivable sinner in the Solar Cult, forever barred from the True God's blessings!"

Glancing thoughtfully at the priests whose eyes blazed as they stared at him, Gu Xichen nodded pensively. "Oh? The Doko Federation is a stronghold of the Solar Cult?"

Dagor burst into uproarious laughter, bent double as he said, "All citizens of the Doko Federation are devout believers in the True God! Everything we do is for the True God!"

Gu Xichen’s eyes widened in shock. The entire citizenry of the Doko Federation belonged to some mysterious sect? What was going on? Why had neither Fuya Ming nor Duke Shenwu, nor any other intelligence reports, mentioned this? This Solar Cult was hidden too deeply, too secretly.

Seeing Gu Xichen’s shocked expression, Dagor laughed even more maniacally. "But the True God told me that this is all His will! You are attacking the Doko Federation, and all Federation citizens will dedicate themselves to the Great God during this campaign! They will fight to the death, they will struggle until their last breath! When they can no longer fight, they will kill themselves! Their souls will return to the True God’s kingdom, and their strength will become His strength! The True God will return! The True God will awaken!"

The slogans shouted by Dagor now bore an uncanny resemblance to the rallying cries of many ancient cults throughout Earth Federation history.

Gu Xichen ignored the hysterical Dagor, focusing his attention on the walls surrounding the hall. Like the underground hall in the Yafik Kingdom, the walls here were also carved with numerous patterns, though the craftsmanship and elegance far surpassed that of the Yafik underground hall.

The carving began with a hazy mist of black and white, immediately bringing to Gu Xichen’s mind the Primordial Chaos Qi and Turbid Qi he had seen in the subspace.

Following that, the black and white energies dissipated, revealing a massive stellar map. In this grand star chart, a small, fist-sized red star radiated a brilliant glow, drawing particular attention.

Later, it seemed as if the red star swallowed every celestial body in the map, growing into an unimaginably huge sphere of red fire. In this carving, a gigantic red sun occupied a vast portion of the wall. Within this colossal sun sculpture, nearly a thousand meters high, a faint shadow could vaguely be discerned at its center, resembling the shape of some great bird.

The subsequent images left Gu Xichen awestruck. Upon that massive sun, a giant, enormous figure with a pair of red, avian wings sprouting from its back was slowly ascending from within the solar body. Although the carving technique was not overly refined, the sense of power conveyed in the image was perfectly rendered. It was clear the giant was struggling mightily to climb out of the sun, much like a chick breaking free from its shell; the bulging muscles and strained tendons on the giant’s body illustrated the immense effort.

The final, immense depiction showed the giant seated on a throne hanging high above a sun, accepting the worship of billions of subjects. These subjects were uniformly clad in crimson or golden cloaks, their eyes emitting faint flames, just like the priests of the Solar Cult standing before him now.

A very interesting myth, Gu Xichen shook his head. A giant emerging from the sun? Even in the Asian Dao Alliance, he had never heard of such a wondrous being.

Dagor had been roaring and gesturing wildly for nearly five minutes, flecks of white saliva spraying from his mouth. Finally, he seemed tired, stopping while panting heavily and sweating profusely. He pointed at Gu Xichen and chuckled, "We must truly thank the machinations and tricks of your Yafik Kingdom. All of this perfectly aligns with the will of our God. This is the opportunity for our God to resurrect; our God will reappear, and our God will lead us to become the rulers of the entire universe!"

Shaking his head, Gu Xichen waved his fan with a wry smile, "Every person who has ever played cult games has a slogan very similar to yours. Hmm, does your God also promise you eternal life?"

Dagor's eyes snapped open in surprise. He pointed at Gu Xichen and stammered, "H-how did you know the Great God's promise to me?"

Gu Xichen nodded firmly, smiling at Dagor, "Your God promised you eternal life, and once He awakens, He will grant you the power and status just beneath the one, and above ten thousand. You will become the most revered figure in the entire universe, isn't that right?"

Dagor's face turned profoundly grim. He looked at Gu Xichen and said coldly, "Yes, this is the reward from God! When I awaken the Great True God, this is the reward I deserve!"

With a harsh curl of his lip, Gu Xichen pointed devilishly at the priests beside Dagor and laughed, "If you become the paramount figure, what about these priests beside you? As I understand it, you are merely one of the directors of the Solar Cult's many strongholds. Although you are a President, you are an outsider to the Solar Cult. These priests are the inner circle serving your True God, are they not? Surely their status and position are not inferior to yours?"

Dagor froze, his mouth agape, unable to speak for a long moment.

A priest standing behind Dagor suddenly strode forward, pointing at Gu Xichen and shouting sternly, "Heretic! You attempt to sow discord! The devotion of all believers to the True God is unshakable! All heretics who dare disrupt the True God's plan will be punished by the True God!"

With a cold sneer, the priest roared, "You possess a powerful soul, and we possess great power. You are perfectly suited as a sacrifice to my God!"

Before Gu Xichen could react, the priest roared, "Dagor, execute the task given by the God! All believers of the Doko Federation, initiate suicide attacks! Kill all heretics!"

Thick torrents of flames erupted from all thirteen altars, large and small. Long pillars of fire shot up from beneath the altars, intertwining to form a vast and complex formation diagram.

A beam of red light shot skyward. Gu Xichen felt the pressure around him surge instantly, his vision went black, and he was enveloped in the red light.

In the massive hall, all the priests on the thirteen altars and Gu Xichen vanished simultaneously.

Dagor blinked, pondering for a moment, before finally letting out a few crazed shouts and quickly pulling out his communicator to issue the general attack order.

"Children of the God's kingdom, dedicate your lives for the Great True God!"