Let the professionals handle the technicalities; as the mastermind behind the scenes, all that matters is grasping the overall situation. Embracing this hands-off philosophy, Gu Xiechen delegated every responsibility to others. Fuya•Ming, accompanied by a retinue of officials skilled in commerce and internal governance rather than warfare, commenced the development of Doko Star.

The very first order of business was liquidating assets that Dagoer had pawned to the Star Alliance Black Market Bank, requiring a comprehensive inventory of everything recoverable for the Yafik Kingdom. Following that, she needed to liaise with the thirteen allied nations, including the Lewu Kingdom, to negotiate various intricate matters. The Original Energy cultivation method, meticulously summarized by the Demon-Expelling Knights, now rested in Fuya•Ming’s hands.

She needed to trade this knowledge for research data sufficient to satisfy Gu Xiechen. The Minister of Commerce, subordinate to the Yafik Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, clashed spectacularly with the group of slave traders recruited by Borubolu. Hundreds of millions of Doko citizens lay limp and sprawled across a circular area centered on the City of Radiance, spanning over 1,300 kilometers in diameter.

These excellent potential slaves made the old associates of Borubolu’s slave-dealing cohorts’ eyes turn green with avarice. If not for the more than a thousand Tier One battleships patrolling overhead on behalf of the Yafik Kingdom, it was impossible to guess what those slavers might have attempted. Thirty new recruit training camps were established on Doko Star, housing 1.2 million hastily conscripted young men from Yafik.

Their welcome party consisted of eight thousand mercenaries from Hadwar Defense Company, the entirety of the South Gate ‘Zhen’ Battalion led by the Four Heavenly Kings, including Mo Liqing, and several hundred ruthless interstellar pirates from the Broken Hook Adept Corps. The “Doko Hell Recruit Training Camp,” which would later become infamous throughout the entire Star Alliance, officially opened for business. Gu Xiechen washed his hands of these troublesome matters and retreated into an extremely hidden military base dug thousands of meters beneath Doko Star, taking Runhua, Ducart, and Lily with him.

In the underground hangar, nearly a thousand meters long and wide, Runhua held a bottle of strong liquor, looking distressed as he faced Gu Xiechen. His life these past few days had been far too luxurious; with hundreds of millions of Doko Federation citizens on the verge of being sold into slavery, he had been hosting his own beauty pageants among them. He had sampled countless beauties from every profession—soldiers, police officers, nurses, doctors, teachers—siphoning copious amounts of their vital essence.

This period of blissful indulgence was abruptly shattered when Gu Xiechen dragged him to this godforsaken underground base, leaving Runhua deeply resentful, intensely resentful. “Junior Brother, why did you summon me? There are still so many beautiful little lambs waiting for my salvation out there!” Gulping down several mouthfuls of strong liquor, Runhua grimaced as he looked at Gu Xiechen.

Gu Xiechen paced the vast hangar, nodding in satisfaction. This immense space should suffice, shouldn’t it? When he heard Runhua’s question, Gu Xiechen couldn't be bothered to reply.

Rifling through the Small Qiankun Pouch, he selected an impossibly sharp, purplish-black flying sword and began setting up the hangar floor. He toiled for over two hours before finally carving a Spirit Gathering Array spanning over three hundred meters in diameter. Gu Xiechen then retrieved a large cache of nine-forged Tungsten Gold with extremely high compatibility from the pouch, melting and refining it using the Profound Yin True Flames.

He filled the array diagram with the viscous, ice-crystal-like molten Tungsten Gold, finally embedding over a thousand head-sized spirit stones into the diagram before clapping his hands and standing up with evident delight. This was the first large-scale formation Gu Xiechen had personally deployed. Integrating the array essentials transmitted by the Golden Stars within his Purple Mansion and the formation insights gathered from the Great Simplicity Hermit in the Heavenly Artifact Collection, this Spirit Gathering Array was vastly different from those commonly used in the Cultivation World.

The formation was more complex, and its efficacy in gathering spiritual energy was far more potent. Such an array could artificially manufacture an artificial blessed land where the concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy was supremely abundant. “Hah!” Gu Xiechen let out a soft shout, launching a Palm Thunder strike directly at the array’s core.

“Buzz.” It was as if the entire military base shuddered, and streams of white currents, clearly visible to the naked eye, surged in from all directions. In just over ten minutes, the hangar was choked with milky-white spiritual energy. The density of the smoke-like energy continuously increased, gradually condensing into tiny droplets, finally raining down with the force of a torrential downpour, sized like thumbs.

A violent wind erupted across the hangar floor, whipping Gu Xiechen’s long robes and sleeves into disarray. Laughing heartily amidst the gale while holding his Floating Fan, Gu Xiechen in that moment transcended the mortal. After more than an hour, the rate at which spiritual energy surged in stabilized.

The anomalous phenomena caused by the sudden spike in concentration quickly faded. By then, a three-foot-thick layer of white fluid—all liquefied Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy—had pooled on the hangar floor. Runhua’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

If this hangar were transported to Earth, the Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters of the Asian Dao Alliance would fight to claim it. Nowhere among the countless famous mountains and rivers under the Asian Dao Alliance could boast even a tenth of the spiritual energy concentration found here; even Mount Zhongnan, the supposed ancestral home of Daoism, lacked such density! “Excellent, excellent, even better than I imagined!” Gu Xiechen laughed, clapping his hands.

“There are hardly any Dao Cultivators in the Star Alliance, so the concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy here is truly enviable.” Ducart watched Gu Xiechen’s display with astonishment but offered no unnecessary words, instead giving him a hearty thumbs-up. Gu Xiechen smiled, then clapped his hands forcefully. “Alright, time for serious business.

Senior Brother Runhua, bring out Han Chi now and have her fulfill her promise to teach you the Corpse Scripture, or I’ll ruin her appearance.” Runhua’s face instantly lit up at Gu Xiechen’s words. He hastily summoned the Drought Fiend. Clad in a red dress, Hanba emerged slowly from a flash of blood-light, reluctantly glaring at Gu Xiechen.

She reached out and grabbed a vat-sized mass of spiritual liquid from the dense white energy on the ground. Hanba flicked her fingers with elegant precision, sending several bloody talismans shooting into the liquid mass. This mass violently compressed inward, instantly solidifying into a thumb-sized white spirit stone.

An extremely thin thread of blood shot out from Hanba’s brow, striking the spirit stone with lightning speed before retracting back into her body. Hanba tossed the spirit stone crossly to Runhua, her voice laced with three parts anger, three parts resentment, and four parts fear as she addressed Gu Xiechen: “I have taught him your entire Corpse Scripture! Hmph.

Until my strength is restored, I never want to see you again! Do you understand?” Gu Xiechen smiled, scrutinizing Hanba from head to toe before extending his right palm toward her. “The Corpse Scripture belongs to my Senior Brother; that was agreed upon long ago.

Don’t hold any grudges. Harmony brings wealth, antagonism brings loss—we are all on the same side, there should be no internal friction! Heh heh… Do you happen to have any cultivation methods suitable for those with innate Fire and Wood attributes?” Hanba frowned, looking at Gu Xiechen’s outstretched hand.

After a moment, she sneered, “Do I owe you something?” Gu Xiechen stated plainly, “If you have suitable Fire and Wood cultivation methods, I will give you sufficient benefits in exchange.” She rolled her eyes and coldly laughed, “What benefits can you offer me?” After a moment of contemplation, Gu Xiechen pulled out the jade vial he had used to contain ‘one drop’ of the vital essence of the ‘Sun True God.’ He flicked his wrist, ejecting that ‘one drop’ of essence. Over two thousand cubic meters of the massive ‘blood drop’ surged out, hanging suspended behind Gu Xiechen like an ultimate red gem. It radiated intense light and heat.

The rich scent of fresh blood, the boundless, majestic power emanating from it, and its overwhelming might caused everyone except Gu Xiechen to stagger backward repeatedly. Ducart and Lily stared at the colossal drop of blood in shock. Lily muttered softly, “How many people did it take to yield this much blood?” Runhua’s drool stretched over three feet long as he shrieked in disbelief, “Junior Brother, where did you acquire such a treasure?

By the Ancestors! This aroma is too intoxicating!” Hanba stared blankly at the massive blood drop, a gurgling sound emerging from her throat: “You, you, you wretched boy, how can you possess such a thing? This is the Natal Sacred Blood of an Innate Star Lord, possessing the divine power to transmute decay into wonder and transform the Acquired into the Innate!

Only one drop of such vital essence exists in the heart of an Innate Star Cluster. You, you…” Gu Xiechen simply smiled faintly, saying nothing. Suddenly, Hanba transformed as if frozen earth had sprung into life, or a withered peony had bloomed.

She beamed sweetly at Gu Xiechen, sashaying gracefully before him. Without hesitation, she condensed two spirit jades, a fleeting flash of blood tracing between her brows. She handed the two jades, one tinged faintly red and the other faintly green, to Gu Xiechen: “One is the ‘Grand Scarlet Heaven Refining Fire Scripture,’ the other is the ‘Wood Source Canon.’ These are the natal divine abilities cultivated by the Fire and Wood Star Clusters within the Nine Luminaries.

Back then, I… no, this lady barely managed to win these treasures by gambling dice with them! Exchanging these two secret arts for thirteen drops of your Innate Sacred Blood—you are not losing out!” Gu Xiechen looked at Hanba, who was fidgeting like a newlywed bride, and couldn't help but chuckle. He cleared his throat and asked casually, “Thirteen drops?” Fearing Gu Xiechen would refuse, Hanba quickly raised both hands, carefully indicating the size: “Only thirteen drops this big.

Compared to this massive mass you have, it’s nothing.” Hanba used both hands to gesture to a volume the size of a human head. “This big?” Gu Xiechen knitted his brows. “This big!” The volume between Hanba’s hands immediately shrank by half, becoming the size of an infant’s head.

“This big?!” Gu Xiechen exclaimed again. “This big!” Hanba’s face crumpled, and the volume between her hands shrank again, now matching the size of an adult’s fist. “This big?” Gu Xiechen shook his head in continued dissatisfaction.

“Just this tiny bit!” Hanba coquettishly swayed her hips, winking flirtatiously at Gu Xiechen. She retracted one hand, tracing a small, orange-sized fist in the air with her index finger—half the size of the previous adult fist. “But…” Gu Xiechen sighed deeply.

A cough interrupted them. Runhua swaggered over to Hanba’s side, his right hand naturally settling on her hip. “Junior Brother, Hanba is my woman.

Give us some face; don’t squeeze her too hard! Ah, you don't know how much this thing appeals to our Zombie Clan!” Runhua gently massaged Hanba’s hip, his eyes instantly narrowing to slits, saliva dripping uncontrollably from his mouth. With the Innate Sacred Blood before her, Hanba paid no mind to Runhua’s opportunistic fondling.

She smiled sweetly at Gu Xiechen, blinking her eyes rapidly, a seductive glaze in her gaze that gave Gu Xiechen goosebumps. “Fine, I’ll give you thirteen drops! But in the future, you must learn the principles of marital fidelity, the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, and the notion that when married to a dog, you follow the dog!” Gu Xiechen narrowed his eyes and casually sliced off thirteen cubic portions of blood from the massive drop suspended behind him, presenting them to Hanba.

“Ohohoho!” Hanba let out a high-pitched, joyous shriek. She opened her small mouth and sucked the entire mass of blood in a single gulp, consuming every last drop instantly. A strong burst of fire erupted from within Hanba, making her stagger slightly as if she had downed strong liquor.

She spat out a plume of fierce flames and slurred indistinctly, “No… impossible, I need to absorb the Pure Yang True Fire inside quickly… Runhua, this Pure Yang Sacred Blood is extremely beneficial to our Zombie God lineage. With this Sacred Blood, you will never fear heavenly lightning again—you must absorb a lot more!” Her body swaying, Hanba stumbled drunkenly into Runhua’s embrace. She giggled a few times, then suddenly stood on tiptoe and kissed Runhua.

Immediately after, she dissolved into a streak of blood-light and merged into Runhua’s brow. “Well, although you are a junior, I am not my true body… You’re a decent fellow!” “Heh heh~ Heh heh~ Heh heh~!” Runhua erupted in a string of idiotic laughter. “Not only am I a decent fellow, but my ** skills are even better!

I have traversed the fields of romance for hundreds of years undefeated! My unyielding spear of **… Dong qiang, dong qiang, dong qiang, dong qiang, heh heh. Ancestral Auntie Hanba!” Runhua stood foolishly dazed, drool streaming from his lips.

Gu Xiechen rolled his eyes, casually slicing off a head-sized clump of Innate Sacred Blood and placing it before Runhua. “Find somewhere to squat by yourself and absorb this Innate Sacred Blood properly. I have serious business to attend to.

Remember, absorbing this Pure Yang Innate Sacred Blood will greatly improve your physical aptitude, and you won’t have to fear Pure Yang Thunder-Fire anymore!” The natal essence of the Sun True God was naturally pure fire. Hanba was a pure fire zombie, so the Innate Sacred Blood would have immense efficacy for her, rapidly boosting her cultivation and strength. For Runhua, this Innate Sacred Blood was a massive opportunity for metamorphosis.

Once absorbed, the wisp of inherent evil energy and Yin essence within him would be entirely purged, granting him, in a sense, a Zombie God physique like Hanba’s, allowing him to cultivate the Corpse Scripture with twice the result for half the effort, achieving phenomenal progress! Understanding Gu Xiechen’s thoughtful intentions, Runhua wiped the drool from his mouth, temporarily setting aside his rosy fantasies about Hanba. He ecstatically clasped the clump of vital essence and hopped over to the spot within the Spirit Gathering Array where the spiritual energy was densest to begin absorbing and integrating it.

Don't be fooled by Hanba’s ability to swallow over a dozen cubic meters of Innate Sacred Blood in one go; that was due to her powerful foundation and countless methods for enduring the shock to her body. Runhua could not manage that; he had to proceed slowly, improving his physical form bit by bit. Once his body became stronger, he could naturally absorb more and more Innate Sacred Blood.

Gu Xiechen took the two spirit jades and walked toward Ducart, raising his gaze to meet Ducart’s dark, shining eyes. Ducart looked intently at the two spirit jades in Gu Xiechen’s palm and nodded forcefully. “Send my mother home, and from then on, if you kill, I’ll light the fires for you; if you rob, I’ll block the road for you.

Even if you intend to assault women—though I loathe such behavior—I will stand guard!” Gu Xiechen smiled. “Are you certain? Have you made up your mind?” Ducart stated grimly, “You and Runhua are the only ones, besides Lily, who truly treat me as a friend.

I lack friends.” Gu Xiechen powerfully slapped Ducart’s broad, solid chest, then turned to Lily. Lily stood obediently to the side, her hands clasped behind her back, two pale green, light-and-shadow-formed harriers flying swiftly around her. Ducart smiled gently, looking at Lily.

“In the clan, Lily was discriminated against since childhood due to her weak innate strength. She is like me; I only have her, and she only has me.” Runhua, who was already seated within the Spirit Gathering Array, carefully absorbing the clump of Innate Sacred Blood, suddenly yelled out, “Tsk tsk, so sappy! You only have her, and she only has you!

Good thing you’re a man and a woman; if you two were both men… Gakakaka~~” Gu Xiechen, Ducart, and Lily attacked simultaneously. Gu Xiechen instantly spat out a bolt of Palm Thunder. Ducart gritted his teeth, snatched a metal plate from the ground, and hurled it.

Lily, her face turning sickly green, struck out with a dozen vivid green light-and-shadow constructs forming harriers. “Thump!” Runhua was sent flying hundreds of meters by the combined assault of the three, crashing into the hangar wall. Gu Xiechen gave Ducart a wry smile.

“Forgive the display; it’s the misfortune of my sect—you can’t expect ivory to come out of a zombie’s mouth!” Runhua weakly pulled himself up from the ground, gritting his teeth, and yelled, “Who says a zombie can’t spit out ivory? There’s an Eon Mammoth Zombie Spirit in Master’s palace!” “Silence!” Gu Xiechen, Ducart, and Lily roared in unison. Realizing he had incurred the wrath of all three, Runhua obediently clutched the clump of Innate Sacred Blood and sat back down in the Spirit Gathering Array, silently resuming his cultivation.

This time, he pressed the spirit jade Hanba gave him against his brow, familiarizing himself with the Corpse Scripture while absorbing the Innate Sacred Blood.