Gu Xiechen watched the massive, composite fleet of the Seven Kingdoms appear on the light screen with cold eyes, shaking his head slightly, utterly unimpressed.

With a sweep of his hand, Gu Xiechen said in a cold voice, "Fuya, this is up to you. Go have some fun with them."

Watery clouds rose beneath his feet. Gu Xiechen’s body dissolved into over a dozen afterimages, scattering in all directions, gradually vanishing into the mist.

Fuya, Ming thumped her chest with excitement. She shot a fierce glance at the grim-faced Haelis and shouted, "Your Majesty Haelis, order the Xith Empire fleet to draw the Seven Kingdoms Allied Forces to the front! Hold them for at least ten days, and try your best to lure the entire allied fleet into the star sector I designate. Ten days later, I will lead the Yafik fleet to strike from the rear of their mixed formation."

Haelis stared at Fuya, Ming in shock. She wanted the Xith Empire fleet to hold off the Seven Kingdoms Allied Forces for ten days? Haelis’s very core clenched in agony.

But the almost palpable aura of monarchy emanating from Fuya, Ming so completely suppressed Haelis that he lacked the courage to negotiate. Under Fuya, Ming’s gaze, which burned with the intensity of molten lava, the last vestiges of Haelis’s resolve melted away like snow and ice. He obediently lowered his head, meekly assenting to Fuya, Ming’s request—or rather, submitting to her command.

The decisive battlefield Fuya, Ming selected was ‘Shepherd Star,’ the Xith Empire’s largest border trade world situated behind the St. Hongyin One Fortress. It was also the Xith Empire’s most crucial hub for agricultural distribution. The crops flowing through Shepherd Star supplied sixty percent of the daily consumption for the Xith Empire’s populace, and seventy percent of the empire’s textile materials and precious furs were centralized there before being distributed widely.

Due to Shepherd Star’s critical importance, its day-to-day administration was directly managed by the Xith Empire’s Vice Minister of Finance, making it the planet with the highest administrative rank outside the Xith Imperial Star itself.

Setting the decisive battleground at Shepherd Star made Haelis tremble down to his very soul. Yet, faced with the overwhelming force of Fuya, Ming, Haelis dared not suggest a single alternative. He followed her instructions to evacuate all Xith Imperial officials and civilians from Shepherd Star to the rear. Utilizing the structures on Shepherd Star, five million Yafik ground troops began constructing defensive positions. These five million troops consisted entirely of pure Yafik soldiers. However, the officers and the combat oversight teams were manned by Hadwar’s mercenaries.

This was the first major step in Fuya, Ming’s imperial restoration plan. She needed an army tempered by genuine, bloody warfare. Using this force as her foundation, she intended to recast the martial spirit of the Yafik people, a spirit dormant for ten thousand years. While the five million Yafik soldiers had all participated in the civil war of the Lei Wu Kingdom, that kingdom ultimately collapsed due to internal strife, a factor entirely unrelated to the combat prowess of the Yafik soldiers.

This fierce battle against the Seven Kingdoms Allied Forces would be the ultimate test for the Yafik soldiers.

"Five million soldiers? I only demand that a hundred thousand survive. They will be the seeds of the invincible Yafik war machine!”

Fuya, Ming stood with her arms crossed, looking out through the viewport at the slightly disordered Yafik Imperial fleet as it adjusted formation. The sharp glint in her eyes was too piercing to meet directly. At this moment, the feminine aspect vanished entirely from Fuya, Ming, replaced by that of an iron-willed, bloodthirsty monarch wielding absolute power.

The Yafik officer corps inside the bridge involuntarily straightened their spines, gazing up at Fuya, Ming with blazing reverence. As their gaze swept over the massive fleet outside, their expressions became as bloodthirsty and frenzied as hers.

The Yafik fleet vanished into the vastness of space. The composite fleet of the Seven Kingdoms marched forward, confronting the main fleet of the Xith Empire near the St. Hongyin Fortress. This location was three days' journey from Shepherd Star. The main Xith Imperial fleet would try to delay the enemy for four days en route, before retreating to the vicinity of Shepherd Star to engage in defensive warfare around the planet.

Because of Shepherd Star’s unique and vital status within the Xith Empire, the Seven Kingdoms Allied Forces were certain to launch ground assaults there. Since the Seven Kingdoms were attacking the Xith Empire, their leaders had surely already earmarked Shepherd Star as their own territory. They would refrain from using ship-mounted cannons for area saturation attacks, instead deploying only ground troops to engage the Yafik soldiers.

Fuya, Ming intended to subject the Yafik soldiers to six days of siege warfare against the superior ground forces of the Seven Kingdoms. Preliminary estimates suggested the allied forces would commit around ten million ground troops, utilizing weaponry far more brutal than anything the Yafik soldiers had previously encountered. Only those soldiers who survived this war—and remained mentally sound—were the seeds Fuya, Ming required to forge the true, iron-blooded Yafik legions.

"Just ten days. Do not disappoint me!" Fuya, Ming watched Shepherd Star gradually recede, clenching her fists tightly. Above her head, a wisp of five-colored energy suddenly shot skyward.

Gu Xiechen had returned to the abandoned mining planet near the St. Hongyin Fortress to continue his closed-door cultivation. He would not have left had Fuya, Ming not brought her fleet to the front lines. He was confident she could teach the presumptuous Seven Kingdoms a harsh lesson, and he intentionally allowed her to proceed according to her own design.

The Great Yin Scripture circulated at full power. The Primordial Chaos Qi and Turbid Qi stored in his cells continuously transformed into his own cultivation base. Gu Xiechen immersed himself in the boundless mysteries of the Great Yin, his strength growing step by step. The Great Yin Profound Orb gradually merged with Gu Xiechen’s aura, increasingly exerting a powerful auxiliary effect, boosting his cultivation speed by more than threefold.

Ten days later, the Battle of Shepherd Star concluded. After the brutal sniping actions by the Xith Empire and the ground fighting on Shepherd Star, the aggressive spirit of the Seven Kingdoms Allied Forces was completely depleted. Fuya, Ming seized the opportunity to lead the Yafik fleet in flanking assaults from the left, right, and rear. Combined with the main Xith Imperial fleet—whose core strength remained intact—launching a frontal attack, especially with the participation of tens of thousands of triangular fighters capable of traversing spatial barriers at superluminal speeds, the allied fleet of the Seven Kingdoms was completely annihilated after three days and nights of frenzied slaughter, with tens of thousands of warships captured.

The Yafik warriors on Shepherd Star had been besieged by over twenty million troops from the Seven Kingdoms. The main continent of Shepherd Star was riddled with holes, yet miraculously, over 1.3 million people survived the brutal combat. After excluding the more than half a million who had suffered severe psychological damage, over seven hundred thousand soldiers had instantaneously advanced into the ranks of seasoned veterans.

An aura of an iron-blooded army was beginning to coalesce within the Yafik forces. Though the sacrifice was tragic, the reward was gratifying.

In this engagement, the Yafik and Xith allied forces captured twenty thousand Tier-One warships, nearly a hundred thousand auxiliary vessels, and took tens of millions of enemy officers and soldiers prisoner. The ecstatic Emperor Haelis immediately sent formal diplomatic protests to the seven nations, demanding exorbitant ransoms for the return of their fleets. If they refused, he threatened to sell all the captured personnel into slavery according to custom, thereby reducing the honor of the seven nations to a complete farce.

The supreme leaders of the seven nations offered no response, as if nothing had happened.

Haelis was furious, ready to execute half the captured soldiers on the now-scarred surface of Shepherd Star just to vent his rage, but Fuya, Ming stopped him.

Fuya, Ming knew that the attitude of these seven nations was not what mattered; the ultimate decision lay elsewhere.

Gu Xiechen contentedly recalled the Great Yin Thorn, plucking off five strands of long hair from it. These hairs were taken from five Loose Immortals whose bodies were pierced when the Great Yin Thorn struck. Although the Loose Immortals’ protective artifacts shielded their bodies, they paid little heed to protecting their long hair, giving Gu Xiechen the opportunity to claim these five trophies.

He also had the chillingly Yin-infested white bones and a gourd filled with Earth Core Yin Fiend Qi.

He traced several runes onto the white bones with his finger, then filled them with a drop of his own fingertip blood. Once all the bones were inscribed, he piled them into an altar, placing the five strands of hair upon it. Next, he took out several pieces of ore exuding a sinister, chilling energy and quickly refined them with the Great Yin Blazing Flames. He forged seven miniature blades, each no longer than a thumb, and Gu Xiechen shook his head with slight dissatisfaction. It was a pity he lacked some of the world’s most malevolent materials, such as a drop of pus from the heart of a ten-thousand-year-old corpse—such wicked substances—otherwise the power of these seven blades could have been increased tenfold. Nevertheless, even as they were, they should be sufficient to stun those five unlucky Loose Immortals who had prioritized their bodies over their hair.

Their flagship destroyed, the seven great Loose Immortals, who had been observing from the rear, felt deeply humiliated. They summoned clouds of light and furiously charged toward the ranks of the cultivators and psychics, shouting with all their might, "Shamelessness incarnate! Do you possess not an ounce of chivalry? To use such sneaky, underhanded tactics?"

Waves of pale golden sound burst from the mouths of the seven great Loose Immortals, peeling back the armor layer by layer from the surface of the St. Hongyin Fortress, revealing the pitch-black rock beneath. With a final roar, the rock core of the fortress cracked open with a ‘kacha,’ releasing a massive plume of high-pressure gas that scattered countless fragments, yet not a single body emerged.

All garrisoned troops had evacuated the St. Hongyin Fortress days earlier; not even a single compressed biscuit remained in the massive structure.

Gu Xiechen, who was performing the ritual at the altar, had split his attention to monitor these Loose Immortals. When he abruptly heard the daoist-robed Loose Immortals utter the phrase ‘chivalry,’ even with his stabilized mental state, Gu Xiechen nearly suffered a backlash of true essence. After grimacing and struggling for a long time, he forcefully controlled his disordered true qi and muttered a few curses under his breath. Daoist cultivators speaking of chivalry? Did that mean all the myriad evil assassination techniques in the cultivation world were rendered useless?

With a few cold laughs, Gu Xiechen braided the five strands of hair into a small queue and placed it on the altar, slowly permeating the braid with the entire gourd of Yin Fiend Qi.

A low, sinister chant slowly began, like an evil ghost that had slumbered beneath the earth for millennia slowly awakening from its sleep. Gusts of cold wind swept up from the ground. Gu Xiechen’s body gradually merged with the air, transforming into a faint, pale-green shadow. Two crimson evil lights shone from his eyes, the light glowing faintly, congealing slowly into five talismans dripping with red halos like bloodstains. These talismans slowly seeped into the small braid woven from the hair.

A harrowing scream rang out from the altar. The true faces of the five Loose Immortals materialized within a cloud of green smoke. They were shown screaming toward the St. Hongyin Fortress, their forms in the smoke so vivid, their hairs so fine, it was as if they were standing there in person. Gu Xiechen, without a second thought, grabbed one of the magical blades and viciously stabbed it into the mouth of one Loose Immortal. The other six blades followed like shadows, transforming into six lines of blood that pierced the seven orifices of that Loose Immortal, instantly spraying a large amount of blood before darting out again to pierce the seven orifices of another Loose Immortal.

Each time a blade emerged from a Loose Immortal’s seven orifices, its bloody glow intensified. By the end, the blades seemed forged from pure blood, continuously spewing large plumes of gore as they slashed through the air. The mine shaft filled with a potent scent of blood, and countless semi-transparent devils with green bodies began to faintly appear around the altar, greedily snatching and sucking the blood spat from the blades.

This was the deadly curse recorded in the Witchcraft Chapter of the Great Desolation Scripture: Summoning Outer Realm Blood Demons to Manifest True Forms and Claim Ten Thousand Lives. Gu Xiechen propelled the Blood Demon Curse using his Great Yin power, and the supreme Yin energy amplified the malevolent aura of the Blood Demons. Therefore, despite the lack of the most virulent materials to quench the blades, the curse still generated an extremely effective killing effect.

Among the Loose Immortals screaming madly in the void, five suddenly convulsed. Their previously ruddy faces turned instantly pale. In the next instant, all five screamed simultaneously. Large amounts of golden blood spurted from their seven orifices. This blood flowed like a small stream, unstoppable, instantly filling several bathtubs worth.

Loose Immortals do not possess physical bodies; their forms are pure agglomerations of energy. Thus, their blood was the composite of their magical power and spirit, every drop being pure essence. After ejecting the equivalent of a bathtub of essence-blood each, the bodies of the five Loose Immortals immediately became hazy, like frosted glass. Their auras plummeted from the Three Tribulation or Four Tribulation level of Loose Immortals down to Two Tribulation or even One Tribulation, making them little stronger than Void Realm cultivators.

The strongest among them, the old daoist in the purple robe, cried out in alarm. He hastily pulled out a pale purple banner and waved it toward the five Loose Immortals. Instantly, a gust of yellow wind whipped up, carrying starlight that enveloped the five figures. In the surrounding void, countless pale-green demons began to faintly appear, spewing blood mist from their mouths as they frantically sucked the essence-blood ejected by the five Loose Immortals. The purple-robed daoist roared in fury, "Supreme Yin energy-body lifeforms! Kill Gu Xiechen!"

Gu Xiechen playfully focused his divine sense tightly on the purple-robed daoist. The Outer Realm Blood Demons were indeed energy bodies whose energy attribute was supreme Yin and extreme malice. However, the term ‘Supreme Yin plundering energy-body lifeforms’ was far too scientific, making Gu Xiechen highly uncomfortable! He wondered if this purple-robed daoist would use some grand, pure-Yang spell to disperse these blood demons.

But something astonishing happened. The purple-robed daoist pulled not a powerful magical artifact from his sleeve, but—a red bomb the size of a human head. The bomb, encased in smooth metal, was tossed out by the daoist’s hand. A flash of fire erupted in the void, sending out a high-temperature radiation stream with extreme penetration power, equivalent to the combined heavenly lightning of several Void Realm Tribulation crossings, spreading in all directions. This scorched the Outer Realm Blood Demons, causing thick green smoke to billow off them. The blood demons cried out in alarm, each spitting out a cloud of blood mist to block the continuously expanding radiation flow, before swiftly vanishing into the void.

How humiliating, Gu Xiechen stomped the ground in disdain. To rely on high-tech explosives against Outer Realm Blood Demons instead of using Daoist magic—were they even qualified cultivators?

But that bomb was truly miraculous! It could actually harm the Outer Realm Blood Demons! Gu Xiechen became even more interested in the power behind these Loose Immortals and cultivators. This purple-robed daoist was likely an associate brought in by the Wood Daoist, implying a connection to the Polaris Empire. That bomb was clearly a product of the Polaris Empire. Gu Xiechen’s expression grew somewhat grim. The power of that bomb rivaled a casual strike from a Celestial Immortal. How many weapons of such destructive capability did the Polaris Empire possess? If they could mass-produce such bombs… Gu Xiechen instantly dismissed the thought. What kind of joke was that? If they could manufacture bombs like that, ordinary soldiers of the Polaris Empire could wield the power of Celestial Immortals?

After pondering for a moment, Gu Xiechen teleported in front of the purple-robed daoist and performed a respectful salute.

The sudden appearance of Gu Xiechen startled the purple-robed daoist greatly. He brandished his large banner, sweeping his companions along as he retreated two or three miles. Only when he saw that Gu Xiechen was alone and showed no intent to attack did he sheepishly fly back with the other Loose Immortals, standing formally to return the salute.

"Fellow Daoist, this humble Daoist Gu Xiechen greets you." Gu Xiechen waved his Five Water Dragon Whisk Fan, squinting as he assessed the purple-robed daoist.

The purple-robed daoist puffed out his chest and nodded authoritatively, "You are Gu Xiechen? Hmm. This humble Daoist is Ziyun, an imperial retainer of the Polaris Empire, and also the Deputy Director of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau."

After a slight pause, Ziyun Daoist gazed deeply at Gu Xiechen and nodded, "I have been ordered to kill you. You, Fuya, Ming, and those few around you, must all perish." He pointed behind him, then sighed, "After eliminating you, my old friend the Wood Daoist—who is, incidentally, the current Director of the Polaris Imperial Intelligence Bureau and one of the empire’s great nobles—will have his secret forces, painstakingly managed over the years, accounted for. Your destruction would not be unwarranted."

Waving his Five Water Dragon Whisk Fan, Gu Xiechen said faintly, "I have no desire to die yet."

Ziyun Daoist shook his head. "Death is inevitable. Fellow Daoist Mu and I share a thousand years of friendship, and my family has been long-standing allies with his Dultron family. Therefore, you must die."

Gu Xiechen smiled thinly, pointing at the five dying, severely weakened Loose Immortals beside Ziyun Daoist. He mocked with a sneer, "With these wastrels by your side? You think you can kill me? If you have the guts, follow me!" After thoroughly ridiculing Ziyun Daoist, Gu Xiechen turned and transformed into a streak of watery light, plunging toward the abandoned mining planet.

Ziyun Daoist’s face shifted slightly. He glanced at the injured five Loose Immortals beside him, then suddenly drew a pale jade ruyi scepter, three feet and six inches long, and swept it forward, bringing a vast force of over a hundred thousand people in pursuit. The seven Loose Immortals rushed at the very front, followed by hundreds of Void Realm masters, then cultivators of the Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation stages, and finally the howling, screeching psychics—the momentum was overwhelmingly immense.

Darting into a tunnel in the mining planet, Little Daoist Zhang suddenly rushed out from the side and grabbed Gu Xiechen’s arm. Little Daoist Zhang had also recognized the magical energy signature emanating from Ziyun Daoist as originating from the Zhongnan Mountain Range. However, he didn't question Gu Xiechen about Ziyun Daoist’s identity; instead, he urgently pointed at the cultivators and stammered, "They might be practicing the legendary Upper Clarity Three Realms Evasion Art! It’s an extremely easy-to-learn technique, usable proficiently by anyone at the Golden Core stage. This evasion art has no other offensive power; it merely allows cultivators below the Void Realm to ascend directly into the azure heavens and traverse the nine skies."

In ancient times, once cultivators reached the Golden Core stage, they could utilize the power of the Upper Clarity Three Realms Evasion Art to enter space directly—either to gather materials or collect celestial fires and profound winds for artifact refinement. Later, during the era of the Asian Dao Alliance, most ancient texts were lost, and the Evasion Art disappeared. Only Void Realm masters could move through the vacuum based on their formidable cultivation.

The cultivators brought by Ziyun Daoist, both Spirit Transformation and Golden Core stages, could fly freely on their swords in the void, clearly indicating they had mastered this lost evasion technique.

Little Daoist Zhang looked at Gu Xiechen like a greedy puppy, his eyes flashing with hopeful expectation.

Gu Xiechen nodded thoughtfully. The last time he eliminated Daoist Bai Ya, he had only searched his memories regarding Daoist Mu, paying little attention to specific cultivation methods—having the Great Yin Scripture and the Great Desolation Scripture, he naturally held other techniques in lower regard. However, since these cultivators possessed something as valuable as the Upper Clarity Three Realms Evasion Art, he needed to pay closer attention in the future. He gripped Little Daoist Zhang’s shoulder, signaling him to rest assured. Then, Gu Xiechen turned and exited the tunnel, effortlessly hurling over a dozen Water-Controlling Yin Thunders toward the vast, oppressive mass of cultivators descending from the sky.

The Yin Thunder, condensed from the most Yin and softest energy within the essence of Kui Water, clings like a maggot once attached, incredibly difficult to remove. The destructive power of the Yin Thunder explosion is gentle yet unending, instantly recovering even as it dissipates, capable of absorbing the water-aligned spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish its own explosive expenditure, attacking the enemy without ceasing. Unless one’s Daoist magic or divine abilities far surpass Gu Xiechen, the Kui Water Yin Thunder cannot be expelled at all. Precisely because of this gentle nature of the True Coriander Water Yin Thunder, Gu Xiechen has always preferred using it against enemies, rather than choosing the fiercely aggressive and violent Kui Water Divine Thunder.

More than a dozen grayish-white Yin Thunders sped closer like lightning. Before Daoist Ziyun could react, all the Yin Thunders detonated simultaneously, instantly blasting more than ten disciples of the Wood Daoist, who were at the Void Realm cultivation level and positioned at the forefront, off their feet. Fist-sized Kui Water Yin Thunders sprang up immediately following each blast. The water-aligned spiritual energy of the surrounding heaven and earth continuously surged into the Yin Thunders as azure waves, and countless orbs of lightning continuously spawned from the original Yin Thunders.

The grayish-white thunder orbs flew wildly everywhere, blasting cultivators who rushed down into a spectacle of severed limbs soaring through the air, blood pouring down like a heavy rain. The Yin Thunder ceaselessly exploded and regenerated. In the blink of an eye, over two thousand cultivators perished under a casual strike by Gu Xiechen, the chasm between Immortals and cultivators instantly laid bare. Daoist Ziyun was horrified.

Seeing the endless momentum of the Yin Thunder explosion, he hurriedly unfurled the massive banner in his hand, transforming it into a boundless yellow cloud that enveloped the Yin Thunders, which now covered an area of several li, tightly binding them into a single mass. Just as he was about to exert force to crush these Yin Thunders into dust, he heard Gu Xiechen let out a roaring laugh, and instantly the yellow cloud churned, as the Kui Water Yin Thunders, having proliferated to several thousand, detonated all at once, their power no less than the bomb Daoist Ziyun had released earlier. The shockwave from the explosion pushed the yellow cloud hundreds of li wide. Nearly ten thousand cultivators behind Daoist Ziyun were swept by the shockwave and simultaneously vomited blood, sustaining injuries.

Daoist Ziyun’s brow twitched in fury. He pointed at Gu Xiechen and roared, “I challenge you! I demand a duel with you! Gu Xiechen, if you are a man, if you still possess even a sliver of chivalry, then stand at Jizui Peak and duel me!” At this moment, all the cultivators had closed in on the Mineral Star; the furthest distance from the ground of the Mineral Star was less than five li.

Gu Xiechen shook his head forcefully. He glanced at Daoist Ziyun and laughed in a tone that mocked an idiot, “Do you really think I’m stupid? To forgo using the grand formation to duel you? Chivalry?

Bah!” With a wave of his hand, Gu Xiechen sternly commanded, “Up!” Instantly, one hundred and eight immeasurable divine chains shimmering with purple-gold light rose from all directions, instantaneously weaving into a massive Heavenly Net and Earthly Web, trapping the hundreds of thousands of cultivators and ability users within. Before Daoist Ziyun could act, a mass of white mist surged up from the ground, and a purple haze descended from above, plunging the surroundings into a state of dimness. The primordial energies of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind were utterly churned, transforming into rushing whirlpools that twisted and swirled everywhere. The Demon Family Generals, including Mo Liqing, activated their prized magic artifacts and plunged into the formation.

The Azure Cloud Sword tore through the void, slashing wildly everywhere. Wherever it passed, flesh and blood flew, and countless sharp blades struck the cultivators and ability users amid the sky, causing screams of agony. The Chaos Umbrella stirred up Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, transforming them into countless giant dragons dancing wildly overhead. Boulders the size of water vats, trailing rolling flames, plunged down from the void.

Every boulder that struck a cultivator’s sword light exploded violently, unleashing countless wind blades, fireballs, earth spikes, and black winds that rushed out from within the boulders, blasting nearby cultivators and ability users until their bones were shattered and their internal organs were pulverized. Furthermore, the White Jade Pipa hovered high above, emitting a grating twang of plucked strings. This harsh sound resonated with the primordial energy, shaking the minds of many cultivators and ability users so they could not concentrate; their internal True Essence and abilities went into chaos, and some instantly suffered Qi deviation and went berserk. The most terrifying was the giant Flower Fox Marten.

It grew as large as three elephants, slowly weaving back and forth in the air. Whether human bodies or ordinary flying swords and magic treasures, it bit them down in one gulp, crunching them down in a few bites. The more human flesh it consumed, the denser its ferocious aura became; the more flying swords and magic treasures it gnawed through, the tougher its hide grew. After devouring only three to four hundred people, the Flower Fox Marten was already covered in a dense bloody light, its true form obscured.

Sword lights hacked against its body, leaving behind only negligible scratches. One hundred and eight thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals shouted in unison and charged out from the numerous mining tunnels of the Mineral Star. Excitedly and with practiced ease, they rode clouds and soared into the great formation of the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web. Following the positions they had practiced countless times eons ago, they rapidly occupied all the critical nodes of the formation.

Among these Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals, only Zhao Yi, Ji Huan, and others, having followed Gu Xiechen for some time, had recovered a certain level of strength. Most of the other Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals were around the Golden Core stage cultivation. Although their cultivation had diminished, they were still the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals of the Ancient Era in their bones; they were not unfamiliar with controlling various Immortal Artifacts and magic treasures. They were seen moving in groups of three or five within the formation, pouring all their strength into the Immortal Artifacts, exerting all their might to chant seals and direct the artifacts for a full-force strike.

Brilliant, magnificent beams of intense light flashed continuously within the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web formation, easily breaking through the protective magic treasures and energy shields of the numerous cultivators and ability users, severing both their physical bodies and souls. After unleashing a powerful strike, the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals immediately retreated into the formation to recover their True Essence and strength, protected by the array. Occasionally, a Heavenly Soldier or Heavenly General who had recovered their power would dart back into the formation on a streak of light, activating an Immortal Artifact for a fierce attack, resulting in another batch of unfortunate souls being utterly annihilated, body and spirit destroyed. The hundreds of thousands of ability users and cultivators lost their formation; they darted about chaotically within the array like headless flies.

Some rushed towards the white mist beneath their feet, while others flew towards the purple mist in the sky. But no matter how far they flew, after darting through the mists for a while, they were always swept back by a barrage of thunder and fire intertwined with the various colored vortices formed by the Five Elements' primordial energy, once again returning to the confines of the formation. Gradually, as more and more people rushed towards the two-colored mists, the mists began to churn violently, rapidly covering that expanse of the void. For a time, the cultivators and ability users in the void could not see each other; the surroundings were an endless expanse of drifting purple and white mist, occasionally punctuated by glints of sharp light.

A few cultivators would suddenly spray jets of essence blood from massive gashes cut across their bodies, their forms rapidly falling into the mist, never to stir again. 》Guohua flapped his fleshy wings, rushing into the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web formation along with the Corpse Fiend burning with blood-colored corpse flames all over its body. 》Guohua moved like the wind, his double fists shattering the void as he swung wildly. Cultivators below the Spirit Transformation stage, struck by his heavy blows, instantly exploded into bloody pulp.

》Guohua greedily opened his massive maw to inhale the pure essence blood of the surrounding cultivators; his own power and physical strength skyrocketed as if on a rocket. The Corpse Fiend’s corrosive energy became increasingly domineering. She moved with effortless grace, circling the cultivators. Wherever she passed, cultivators and ability users touched by the corpse flame turned into wisps of green smoke and dissipated, their entire essence, spirit, and energy plundered and injected into the Corpse Fiend.

The Corpse Fiend killed ten times faster than 》Guohua, and her rate of power increase was also ten times that of 》Guohua. Ducat transformed into a metallic war god and charged into the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web formation. Metallic wings spread from his back, and plasma flames spewed from his feet as he hovered in the void. Two massive missile launch bays emerged from his shoulders.

Missiles capable of instantly vaporizing cultivators below the Golden Core stage roared out, raining down like hail upon the cultivators and ability users, blasting them relentlessly. Centered on Ducat, cultivators and ability users within a radius of over ten li fell, all blasted into bloody messes. Even some Nascent Soul stage cultivators were caught off guard by Ducat, hit by successive volleys of over a dozen missiles, unable to even summon defensive magic treasures before being heavily wounded and crashing down. Immediately afterward, the Four Generals of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning also soared into the formation, bringing forth crackling thunder, raging wind, and downpours that howled through the void.

Only with the Four Generals of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning did the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web formation truly earn the title of "complete." Heavy thunderbolts crashed down from above, and countless streaks of electricity wound and flowed through the void. The harsh wind and rain, like armor-piercing shells accompanied by piercing whistles, enveloped the entire space. No matter where one was, they had to face the frantic assault of the Four Generals. Even more terrifying was that the divine abilities and magic spells of the Four Generals were amplified several hundredfold by the spiritual energy trapped within the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web formation.

Although the Four Generals had only (barely) recovered to the early Nascent Soul cultivation, the killing power of their spells, once augmented by the formation, was sufficient to threaten ordinary Void Realm cultivators.