The crowds surged out from the Philomath Guild branch. Valkyris, possessing excellent eyesight, grabbed Qin Tianjun’s sleeve in a flash and followed him out.

A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Duofuna of the Blue Charm Guild had just been thoroughly dealt with by Gu Xichen. Valkyris absolutely dared not remain behind alone.

Gu Xichen led Jin’s hand, moving with the fluidity of flowing water, traversing over ten kilometers until they reached the base of a circular small hill. Tall ancient trees encircled the area, and beneath them bloomed a field of stark white, thumb-sized flowers called Bei Qiu Hua. A faint floral fragrance drifted everywhere—an excellent spot for murder, arson, and erasing all traces.

Striding onto a hundred-meter-wide patch of grass within the woods, a swarm of firefly-like insects was disturbed by Gu Xichen. They hurriedly took flight from the hydrangea clusters, carrying tiny, flickering blue luminescence. The azure light screen slowly ascended into the sky, gradually surpassing the treetop, and drifted away on the evening breeze toward the distance.

Releasing Jin’s hand, Gu Xichen turned and stood firm, coldly watching Enluo Longkirans stride forward with his retainers and guards. Jin winked at those chasing behind, wholeheartedly embracing Gu Xichen’s arm, clearly relishing chaos: “Give up, Enluo. I told you, I would rather marry the ugliest wretch in the world than marry you.”

Gu Xichen smiled darkly and deliberately scratched Jin’s chin a few times. In Gu Xichen’s mind, this was the motion one used to tease a pet cat or dog. Jin, however, tilted her head back in enjoyment, emitting soft humming sounds. Enluo Longkirans’ face immediately turned ashen with rage, and he roared almost apoplectically: “Jin, do not forget the engagement between you and me. It was personally agreed upon by your father and my father. Do you wish to destroy the friendship between our families?”

Her small face stiffened, and Jin adopted the rogue expression befitting the Young Mistress of a pirate guild. She glared back fiercely: “What business is that of mine? Whoever arranged the engagement can marry them! Stop clinging to me, or I’ll beat you until your face blooms with peach blossoms so you know why the flowers are so red!”

This coarse vulgarity, delivered with rough slang, caused Enluo Longkirans’ complexion to change drastically. The five elders who were escorting Jin and had rushed to catch up also swayed violently, nearly fainting from Jin’s fierce remarks. Such coarse language was not something a young lady from a top noble family in the Polaris Empire should utter. But how could they know that this jumble of inappropriate phrasing was the “essence” gleaned from fooling around with Xiao Xiao on the net back in the Earth Federation?

A sound of tearing wind, “Shī nè,” came from the rear. The Ten Tianjun, sleeves flying, charged over with Valkyris. Qin Tianjun casually tossed Valkyris aside, and the Ten Tianjun silently surrounded Enluo Longkirans and his entourage. Powerful fluctuations of magic spread from the Ten Tianjun. Ten beams of bright light flashed, and they donned their protective magical robes, drawing out gleaming treasured swords. Each glared menacingly at the surrounded group, ready to strike and kill at any moment.

Enluo Longkirans looked grimly at Gu Xichen: “You dare to make a move here, with me? Do you even know who I am?”

Gu Xichen replied lightly: “I know. A disciple of Lao Jun. A successor from Mount Zhongnan. Your Taiqing Immortal Arts cultivation is not bad.”

The Ten Tianjun widened their eyes simultaneously. Zhao Tianjun sneered, “Good, good, we’ve found the principal culprit. A successor of Senior Martial Uncle? Hahaha. Excellent. Excellent. No wonder you smell exactly the same as that bunch from Kunlun Mountain! Don't blame us for bullying the weak today; your Human Sect did the same thing back then.”

The eyes of the Ten Tianjun were shining—a green light of excitement, like a wolf starved for half a month seeing prey. They had long felt that the magical fluctuations emanating from Enluo Longkirans and the others were off. However, because the cultivation techniques these people practiced were somewhat similar yet deviated from the original heritage, they couldn't immediately recognize that they were cultivating the Taiqing Immortal Arts handed down from Taishang Laojun.

Thanks to Gu Xichen’s pointer, they finally discerned the unique aura of the Taiqing Immortal Arts, which had somehow soured over time. The Ten Tianjun were ecstatic. They had finally found soft targets to bully!

Without needing Gu Xichen to waste any more words, the Ten Tianjun raised their immortal swords and charged toward the group. Since Jin offered no objection, the Ten Tianjun decisively enveloped the five old men in their sword net as well. Having obtained the primordial spirit energy derived from the Tear of the Heavenly God, the soul realm of the Ten Tianjun was solidly at the level of a First Rank Heavenly Immortal, Taihuang Huangzeng Tian. Their cultivation realm required no further explanation; they had long surpassed the Golden Immortal level. Moreover, with all the Primordial Chaos Spiritual Energy Gu Xichen had injected into them, their magical power had also recovered to the Heavenly Immortal realm.

Ten actual Ancient Heavenly Immortals, wearing supreme immortal robes refined by the Great Uncouth Hermit, and wielding equally supreme immortal swords, formed a secret array passed down from Jinao Island to besiege a group of acquired Daoists whose strongest was barely a Five Tribulation Loose Immortal. Gu Xichen felt that he might be bullying them a bit too much.

Shaking his head, Gu Xichen pulled Jin and turned to leave. There was no need to watch this fight. However, he still asked Jin a question: “Was Daoist Mu the one who arranged your fiancé? Was he injured or what?”

Jin viciously gave Enluo Longkirans the middle finger, grinding her teeth as she roared: “Ten Seniors, kill hard! Take down this pretty boy Enluo, and I’ll buy all ten Seniors drinks!”

The Ten Tianjun erupted in a long burst of laughter. Their eyes blazed, and the inherent ferocity and courage unique to Jie Sect disciples erupted. Ten brilliant, gleaming streaks of sword energy formed a sword curtain that pressed downward. Those covered instantly dissolved into fine red powder. Immediately following, ten dragon-like sword energies swept out in all directions. The hundreds of cultivators and psychics urgently summoned by Sharodortro only saw a flash of bright light before they were cleaved in half at the waist. In an instant, the dense woods filled with the stench of blood. Countless bisected bodies collapsed to the ground, twitching and screaming. The formerly peaceful and serene forest had transformed into a living hell.

Gu Xichen, having already walked a hundred zhang away, glanced back at the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, and coldly snapped, “Go.”

Enluo Longkirans was a peerless genius from the Longkirans family, inheritors of the Mount Zhongnan lineage. He possessed naturally excellent cultivation talent. At only two hundred years of age, he had already cultivated to the peak of the Void Realm. Daoist Mu conducted genetic tests on him. After complex comparative genetic experiments and tens of thousands of deductions and calculations, the result was that if Enluo Longkirans and Jin married, their descendants had a high probability of giving birth to an unparalleled prodigy who merged the bloodlines of both families.

Therefore, Daoist Mu promptly arranged the marriage for Jin. In everyone’s eyes, this was a perfect match made in heaven, which would not only further strengthen the alliance between the two families but also produce a peerless genius inheriting the bloodlines of both. The significance of this to both families was self-evident.

The bloodline inheritance of the Dortro family was the Eye of the Divine Spirit, a miraculous bloodline capable of predicting the future to a certain extent.

The bloodline inheritance of the Longkirans family was the Power of the Dragon God. Jin had never seen what the Power of the Dragon God looked like, but legend claimed it was a miraculous power that could allow one to transform into a flying dragon, possessing extreme defense and strength. According to Jin, this was no different from the transformations of legendary demons.

And according to Daoist Mu’s explanation to Jin, the child born to her and Enluo, if they inherited both bloodlines, would possess the so-called “Perfect Bloodline.”

“Perfect Bloodline?” Gu Xichen frowned suddenly, his voice low, “What was Enluo Longkirans’ standing in his family?”

“Very high!” Jin answered honestly, “His status in the clan even surpassed some elders of the Longkirans family.”

Stamping his foot fiercely, Gu Xichen flashed towards the grassy area they had just left. In one leap, he returned to the pile of mangled limbs on the lawn. The Ten Tianjun had been ruthlessly efficient; Enluo Longkirans and the others had no time to resist before they were killed by the array, their souls ground to dust. Gu Xichen couldn't even find a wisp of Enluo’s residual soul.

Frustrated, he rummaged through the pile of crushed flesh that Enluo had become. Gu Xichen suddenly picked up a shattered middle finger with surprise. Beneath the skin of this finger, pressed tightly against the bone, was a ring made of black semi-transparent crystal, intricately carved with a ferocious three-headed, twelve-winged giant dragon. The ring emitted a faint energy fluctuation, exactly the same as the fluctuations emitted by the Divine Crystals Gu Xichen had seen on the Flame Dragon Star of the Red Dragon’s Flames.

This ring was made from Divine Crystals belonging to a six-star civilization.

Gu Xichen instinctively swept his divine sense over the ring, but as soon as his consciousness touched it, a blinding mass of black light erupted. Hundreds of layers of overlapping restrictions completely enveloped the ring. Gu Xichen’s divine sense could not penetrate it. The next instant, the black light coalesced outside the ring into a complex miniature maze, entirely composed of meticulous restrictions. Exquisite runes flowed slowly within the maze, and occasionally, wisps of black lightning seeped out.

After pondering for a moment, Gu Xichen glanced at Jin, who was panting as she ran over, and casually slipped the ring onto his right middle finger. The skin on his hand squirmed, and a layer of pale skin enveloped the ring, perfectly mimicking how Enluo had worn it earlier. This ring must possess something unique, and Gu Xichen decided to try his luck, hoping to stumble upon something useful.

Behind the distant clouds, a standard-issue Polaris Empire white-winged battleship was rapidly flying toward them. Gu Xichen glanced at the vessel, pulled Jin, and turned to leave.

While walking rapidly, Gu Xichen quickly assigned tasks. Enluo Longkirans was dead; Valkyris absolutely could not remain in the Polaris Empire. He must evacuate everyone from the Silver Mountain Conglomerate out of the Starlight Domain immediately. Furthermore, they had to send an official dispatch to the Polaris Empire to publicly disavow everything, pushing all the blame onto Jin. She was the most suitable person to carry this black pot. He wanted to see what Daoist Mu could say, how he would explain this matter to the Longkirans family.

Hearing that the blame would be shifted onto Daoist Mu, Jin became so excited she jumped and cheered repeatedly. Valkyris glanced at Cui in astonishment but dared not utter a sound.

Gu Xichen continued his instructions to Valkyris: He and the Silver Mountain personnel could withdraw from the Starlight Domain, but his cruise ship had to be steered to a location near the Death Star Domain for mooring. Gu Xichen might need to visit the Death Star Domain, and since the cruise ship was not fast, moving it there in advance would save Gu Xichen considerable time.

Valkyris hastily agreed and rushed off to gather the Silver Mountain personnel to leave the Starlight Domain, fearful that any delay might invite retaliation from the Longkirans family.

Jin called Valkyris back and handed him a palm-sized chip. Inside was an electronic authorization token signed by Daoist Mu. With this chip, he could essentially walk sideways within the Polaris Empire; all military checkpoints and space stations would dare not cause the slightest trouble. Unless Daoist Mu signed a new directive to revoke this authorization, even an imperial edict from Empress Merlyn would be useless against this chip’s authority.

Valkyris was overjoyed. He gleefully took the chip and ran off. With this chip as backing, withdrawing from the Starlight Domain would no longer be an issue.

Gu Xichen assigned Qin Tianjun and the other ten Tianjuns to escort Valkyris and his group. They had to wait until the group safely entered the public channels of the Star Alliance before returning. Then, he teased Jin with satisfaction: “That Daoist Mu really thinks highly of you, giving you such high authorization?”

Jin’s mouth twisted, and she let out a few cold laughs, walking aimlessly in the woods without a word. After a long while, she slowly recounted what happened at Jade Void Peak to Gu Xichen. She asked self-mockingly, “A man like that, a woman like that—do you think they truly cared for me? I’m just a tool.”

Spitting toward a large tree nearby, Jin sneered: “That authorization looks great, but I always have a large retinue following me. Even with that authorization, I can’t leave the Starlight Domain. Do you really think that man cares for me? All he values is this pair of eyes.”

Gu Xichen stood beside Jin with his hands behind his back, meticulously analyzing everything Jin had said. After a long pause, he asked, “Where is that Jade Void Peak?”

Jin’s eyes lit up immediately, and she eagerly declared: “You want to cause trouble at Jade Void Peak? That would be wonderful! That man went crazy about something and gathered many powerful people for some unknown purpose. There isn’t a single strong individual left on Jade Void Peak right now. If you go stir things up, you can definitely mess the place up!”

As she spoke, Jin couldn’t help but dance and laugh heartily: “There are many good things inside. I’ll help you snatch them out!”

Glancing at the excitedly gesticulating Jin, Gu Xichen smiled and nodded. The cultivation techniques handed down by the Kunlun lineage were inside; he definitely had to retrieve them. There might even be the Eight-Nine Arcane Art. Since Daoist Mu wanted Jin to cultivate the Eight-Nine Arcane Art, he should give Jin the real, original version of the technique!

The Silver Mountain Conglomerate’s retreat speed was astonishingly fast. They abandoned all their fixed assets in the Starlight Domain and were entirely gone within half an hour. Valkyris assembled all Silver Mountain ships into a massive fleet. In the face of the authorization chip signed by Daoist Mu, all checkpoints of the Polaris Empire granted smooth passage, allowing the Silver Mountain people to swagger out of the Starlight Domain.

At this time, the news of Enluo Longkirans’ death had not even spread yet.

Gu Xichen was secretly startled by Daoist Mu’s power in the Polaris Empire. This fellow was truly not… though he was merely the head of the Polaris Empire’s Intelligence Bureau, he seemed more like the Emperor of the Polaris Empire! Who was that old monster of the Polaris Empire that Chi Longlieyan spoke of vaguely? Was he the Emperor of the Polaris Empire?

Led by Jin, and with their appearances altered, Gu Xichen and she toured Planet Nine together. This was one of the most crucial commercial ports in the Starlight Domain, naturally bustling and lively, filled with interesting and novel things. Jin dragged Gu Xichen around like a child of three or five, seemingly possessing endless energy, playing non-stop for days.

Gu Xichen could somewhat understand Jin’s state of mind. Not everyone could accept having parents like Daoist Mu and Merlyn. When she discovered that the beautiful dream of paternal love and maternal affection she had woven since childhood was merely an illusory phantom, Jin didn't go mad; instead, she acted out childishly by causing trouble everywhere, which was remarkably restrained.

Three days later, the Ten Tianjun returned successfully. Valkyris reported that the Silver Mountain Conglomerate had left the territory of the Polaris Empire and were currently sailing on the public channels toward the Viking Empire. No matter how powerful the Longkirans family was, they could no longer reach Valkyris. The special envoy responsible for damage control for the Silver Mountain Conglomerate was also en route to the Polaris Empire. How they would distance themselves from responsibility, how they would dispel the Longkirans family’s wrath, and how they would pin the entire black pot on Jin were no longer Gu Xichen’s or Jin’s concern.

Under Gu Xichen’s protection, Jin flew high into the sky with the others. Under her guidance, Gu Xichen and his group approached a massive sphere forged from Divine Crystals floating in the void.

This crystal sphere was about a hundred meters in diameter, faintly emitting a soul-shaking magical fluctuation and psychic impact. It was from this sphere that the pervasive divine sense covering the entire planet, much to Gu Xichen’s exasperation, originated. Countless distorted faces flickered in and out of existence within the sphere, and faint, piercing sounds of ghostly wails constantly drifted out. If one stared at this black crystal sphere for too long, even an ordinary person’s soul could be sucked in.

Daoist Mu had not hidden many things from Jin, such as the origin of this crystal sphere, which he had explained to her clearly.

Not long after Merlyn became Empress, the Emperor of the Polaris Empire entered seclusion to cultivate and ceased managing external affairs. With Daoist Mu’s support, Merlyn quickly seized control of the empire. With the backing of the Kunlun and Zhongnan major sects, Merlyn slaughtered the noble families and aristocrats of the Polaris Empire wantonly, eliminating everyone who could possibly obstruct her hold on power.

Many members of these noble families practiced various cultivation techniques. When their clans were annihilated, Daoist Mu brought a group of cultivators to collect all their primordial spirits and souls, erasing their sentience. Subsequently, the power of all their primordial spirits was injected into thirty-six massive black crystal spheres, which Daoist Mu refined into a single entity using a secret method.

The souls of thousands upon thousands of accomplished cultivators fused into one entity, forming the immense, terrifying divine consciousness that Gu Xichen perceived.

The thirty-six black crystal spheres hovered above thirty-six administrative planets in the Starlight Domain, becoming the most reliable barrier for these planets. Nothing happening on the surface of these planets could escape the composite souls within these crystal spheres. Having had their sentience erased, they would follow the procedures pre-programmed by Daoist Mu, handling all matters rigidly and precisely.

Unless one possessed the Azure Wood Token held by Jin, committing any offense on these administrative planets would immediately invite the attack of the immense divine power contained within these crystal spheres—even a Heavenly Immortal would have their soul scattered and dispersed.

Qin Tianjun and his group’s eyes lit up. These crystal spheres were obviously some form of evil secret treasure. If they could integrate the power of these spheres into the Ten Absolute Array they had set up, the might of the Ten Absolute Array would increase several times over at least. Qin Tianjun immediately spoke to Gu Xichen, requesting this crystal sphere.

Gu Xichen naturally agreed to their request. He summoned the Grand Yin Profound Bead and collected this crystal sphere into the Grand Yin Space, intending to refine it thoroughly with the power of the Grand Yin before gifting it to Qin Tianjun and the others for use. Under Jin’s guidance, Gu Xichen and his group familiarized themselves with the Starlight Domain, seizing all thirty-six crystal spheres that Daoist Mu had gone to great lengths to refine.

Originally, if an outsider tried to approach these crystal spheres, they would be subjected to their full attack; even Gu Xichen’s Fire Crows could not withstand such a powerful frontal psychic assault. But who could help it when Daoist Mu wanted to display the demeanor of a loving father in front of Jin? He had granted Jin the Azure Wood Token, which was akin to giving her the key to a safe deposit box. Gu Xichen naturally followed the good example and emptied all the treasures within the safe deposit box. The coordination between the two was seamless and exquisite.

After Gu Xichen had collected all thirty-six crystal spheres, Jin then covertly led Gu Xichen into Starlight Number One Star.

Except for the heavily guarded imperial palace area of the Polaris Empire, Gu Xichen and his group explored every corner of Starlight Number One Star. They visited practically all the family residences belonging to the Dortro and other major clans on Starlight Number One Star. What surprised and frustrated Gu Xichen was that they couldn't find a single person of sufficient standing on Starlight Number One Star. He also couldn’t use the Soul Stirring and Spirit Capturing Grand Technique to interrogate for the classified information he desired.

He found the situation anything but strange. Daoist Mu had summoned a great many people for some unknown purpose. The elders of every major family had also gone into hiding. The atmosphere within the Polaris Empire was incredibly secretive. Even Meilin seemed to have given up the pursuit of Jin. For days, Jin, accompanied by a troupe of bodyguards, had been running rampant throughout the Starlight Domain, yet not a single pursuer had appeared.

"It is strange," Gu Xichen frowned.

It was the eerie calm that precedes a brewing storm. This stillness suggested to Gu Xichen that a massive opportunity lay within his grasp.

Several days later, under Jin's guidance, Gu Xichen and his party infiltrated the Dorterro family's territory without incident or challenge, arriving directly before Jade Void Peak.

At the summit of Jade Void Peak, Gu Xichen’s divine sense enveloped the entire mountain. Just as Cao had predicted, the strongest cultivators within this peak barely reached the Void Realm—only three such beings were present.

Masters on the level of Daoist Mu had vanished completely.

"Well then, I shall not be polite?" Gu Xichen turned to Jin.

Jin shrugged dismissively. "Kill everyone. Take everything. These people and things have nothing to do with me; I won't shed a tear over them!"

Gu Xichen smiled faintly. The Solar Profound Orb shot up from above his head, trailing a stream of black solar searing flames as it struck straight down.

Layer after layer of the mountain-protecting Grand Formations on Jade Void Peak flared to life, but they were scorched through by the Solar Profound Orb with crushing, irresistible force. In an instant, the Profound Orb smashed open the main gate of Jade Void Peak.

Gu Xichen laughed heartily, unleashing a streak of black and white sword light, driving straight toward the core stronghold of Jade Void Peak.