Er Xie, accompanied by the Ten Heavenly Lords, swept past the great mountain range on his sword light. The sword's radiance and the fierce astral winds shredded dozens of large trees below, carving a deep scar ten thousand meters long across the solid rock strata. Behind them, Mei Lin led a host of cultivators in hot pursuit, but now only a sparse few dozen under the Venerable Heavenly Corpse could keep up; the rest of the cultivators had long been thrown off.

After fleeing rapidly for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a faint black and yellow light flickered over Gu Xiechen's body. His nearly pulverized muscles and skin slowly healed, becoming smooth and flawless without a trace remaining. As his body mended, he was pleasantly surprised to find his strength and power had more than doubled. It seemed that injury was indeed the best way for the Indestructible Profound Yellow Body to elevate its cultivation. As long as it was properly managed, avoiding irreversible fatal harm in one blow, moderate injuries were exceptionally effective for boosting one's cultivation.

Just as he was reveling in this discovery, a dozen streaks of azure sword light suddenly shot out from a valley ahead. A few cultivators, at most in the Refining Essence into Qi stage, ascended on their swords, pointing aggressively at Gu Xiechen’s group and shouting fiercely, "Who dares trespass on Duoltuoluo Star? Don't you know this is the fiefdom of the Duoltuoluo family?"

Before the words even finished echoing in the air, Gu Xiechen's party had already swept past the junior Daoists in a rush of strong wind. The violent astral gale tore apart their sword lights, shredding their fragile physical forms like reeds in a storm. Fine dust scattered everywhere, flying with the wind. The minor cultivators shrieked, instantly dissolving into a mist of blood within the astral winds.

Gu Xiechen and the others swept past the valley without looking back, but Mei Lin refused to let this outpost guarded by Duoltuoluo family cultivators escape unscathed. Three Six Tribulation Loose Immortals serving under the Venerable Heavenly Corpse let out a piercing, unpleasant ghostly howl, and with a slight gesture of her fair little hand, Mei Lin, utterly frenzied with excitement, charged toward the small valley. Gu Xiechen had barely fled a hundred miles when the mountains behind him began to shake violently. That small mountain range, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, was lifted entirely into the air by immense divine power and then slammed heavily back onto the ground.

A streak of crimson light chased them from behind. Centered on that small mountain, the ground within a thousand-mile radius vibrated continuously, cracking open with deep, long fissures. The small mountain range exploded with a roar, scattering countless boulders hundreds of miles away. A massive pit, a hundred miles deep and stretching a thousand miles long, appeared on the surface of Duoltuoluo Star, causing the entire planet to tremble slightly.

The combined destructive power of three Six Tribulation Loose Immortals, all possessing Heavenly Immortal strength, was truly terrifying.

Gu Xiechen, who had largely recovered, let out a few hearty laughs. Seeing Mei Lin’s actions, he was even more certain that she had come today specifically to cause trouble for the Duoltuoluo family. With that, he swiftly unleashed his divine sense to scan ahead, locating a city populated by perhaps three hundred thousand people, and flew toward it.

When still more than a hundred kilometers from the city limits, Gu Xiechen saw nearly a hundred gun emplacements of various sizes emerging from the dense woods surrounding the city. Countless triangular crystal spikes, shimmering with a crystal-like luster, locked onto his group from afar. Gu Xiechen gave the order, and he and the Ten Heavenly Lords began flying in rapidly shifting, massive trajectories in the sky. The triangular crystal spikes on the gun platforms frantically tracked their movements, but they could no longer lock on. Gu Xiechen and his group were too agile and too fast.

A sharp alarm blared from within the city. Suddenly, several hundred small fighter jets screamed out of a dense forest near the city edge and rushed toward them in a blaze of fire. These small fighters rapidly accelerated through the atmosphere, closing the distance to the speed of Gu Xiechen's group’s sword light in the blink of an eye. Immediately afterward, countless flashes of fire appeared ahead, as a large volley of small missiles, each no longer than a foot and only as thick as a thumb, were launched by the jets, instantly accelerating to speeds exceeding ten thousand kilometers per second as they hurtled toward them.

"Flee!" Gu Xiechen laughed heartily, signaling the Ten Heavenly Lords to simultaneously teleport about ten kilometers ahead, just avoiding this intense barrage of missiles.

Mei Lin’s group happened to fly into the path of the missile wave. The sky-blotting volley of nearly ten thousand missiles instantly locked onto Mei Lin and the others, shooting toward them like streaks of light.

The deafening sound of dense explosions echoed through heaven and earth. Gu Xiechen was astonished to realize that the explosive power of each of these tiny missiles was equivalent to the full force of a thunder technique unleashed by a God Transformation expert. With nearly ten thousand missiles detonating simultaneously, the shockwaves created a peculiar effect of superposition and amplification, pushing the destructive power right to the brink of a full-force attack from a Five Tribulation Loose Immortal.

Although Mei Lin and her followers were not afraid of attacks at the level of a Five Tribulation Loose Immortal, this concentrated missile barrage caught them completely unprepared, leaving them disheveled and miserable. Angrily, Mei Lin swept away the smoke around her with her sleeve and pointed fiercely at Gu Xiechen, shouting, "You ugly Daoist! If you surrender obediently now, you won't miss out on future benefits!"

Gu Xiechen turned back with a sinister grin, formed the Grand Yin Talisman Seal with both hands, and released half of the Grand Yin Qi within his body in a large-scale Yin Restriction. The moisture in the void around Mei Lin and her group suddenly solidified. Vast sheets of water vapor rapidly moved to their sides, instantly condensing into sheets of profound ice that sealed off their movements. Mei Lin and the others were caught off guard and their movements were restricted by this Yin Restriction for approximately two seconds.

Two seconds was enough time for the gun emplacements near the city to lock onto their figures. Nearly a thousand triangular crystal spikes from over a hundred platforms simultaneously blasted out dark, potent light. These beams of black light, like arrows shot by the God of Death, instantly pierced Mei Lin’s group. Immediately following, a blinding black light spread outward. The inherently unstable black light rapidly exploded, even causing a localized spatial collapse about a hundred meters in diameter. Clearly, the energy drawn by these platforms also originated from Divine Crystals.

The Heavenly Corpse Venerable snatched Mei Lin by her slender waist, dragging her rapidly upward. Relying on his own formidable physique, the Heavenly Corpse Venerable protected Mei Lin from any harm. The twenty experts of the Grand Sovereign Emperor Heaven serving under the Heavenly Corpse Venerable also evaded the black light unscathed. However, the several dozen Loose Immortals of varying cultivation levels following closely behind them were not so lucky: three unfortunate souls were swept into the spatial collapse and transported to some unknown location in subspace; the rest sustained some injuries and lost considerable vital energy.

Mei Lin let out a shrill, unpleasant curse. Like a shrew cursing in the marketplace, she dragged her retinue and swooped forward fiercely. Mei Lin personally unleashed three streaks of crimson lightning against the small city. The earth trembled once more, and a crater nearly a hundred kilometers in diameter suddenly appeared in the red light. The over three hundred thousand inhabitants of the small city were turned into fine dust by Mei Lin’s single palm strike.

The Heavenly Corpse Venerable, also angered by the needless loss of his subordinates, shattered the unmanned fighters zipping through the void with a palm strike. He opened his massive mouth and sucked fiercely downward toward the ruins of the city, drawing all three hundred thousand wandering souls into his body to be refined by Yin Fire.

Seeing Mei Lin’s group venting their rage by destroying the city, Gu Xiechen stopped his sword light far in the distance. Suspended in a brilliant black and white light, he shouted loudly toward Mei Lin, "Your Majesty the Empress, what benefits can you offer me? I demand to become the Emperor of the Extreme Star Empire. Can you agree to this demand? Ah? You can't? Hahahaha, come and chase me then!"

After wantonly provoking Mei Lin several times, Gu Xiechen hurriedly fled again with Jin, taking the Ten Heavenly Lords with him. Mei Lin’s group furiously continued the pursuit, and their flying speed was clearly several notches faster than before. But Gu Xiechen was mischievously slippery; he deftly led his group darting all over Duoltuoluo Star, intentionally or unintentionally guiding them toward cities with large populations of Duoltuoluo clansmen. The Duoltuoluo family had managed their fiefdom like an iron barrel, with defensive systems densely spread across the planet. These powerful defense systems caused immense trouble for Mei Lin’s group; in just half an hour, the Loose Immortals under the Heavenly Corpse Venerable lost seven of their number.

But the Duoltuoluo family suffered even heavier losses; nineteen cities had already been razed by order of the enraged Mei Lin, and the souls of all residents were used by the Heavenly Corpse Venerable as nourishment to enhance his cultivation. The once beautiful Duoltuoluo Star was scarred everywhere with massive craters. In some places where the rock strata were thin, Mei Lin’s furious blows even pierced through the crust, causing magma from beneath the earth’s mantle to erupt. Plumes of black smoke surged skyward like beacon fires, bringing an ominous portent.

When Gu Xiechen finally led Mei Lin and her band of scourges straight toward Duoltuoluo City, the largest city on Duoltuoluo Star, cultivators of refined skill finally emerged to question them. Those left defending the city were merely five Four Tribulation Loose Immortals—their cultivation level even lower than the five bodyguards who had been beside Jin moments before.

Gu Xiechen was too lazy to waste breath on these Duoltuoluo family cultivators; he instantly teleported to the opposite end of the city. The five Loose Immortals were furious and jointly unleashed a powerful Five Elements Restriction, which happened to intercept Mei Lin’s group. Gu Xiechen and Mei Lin were separated by nearly a hundred miles, with the five Four Tribulation Loose Immortals standing between them, staring across the distance.

"Your Majesty the Empress!" The five Duoltuoluo family Loose Immortals glared at Mei Lin in exasperation, seeing her as the ultimate culprit for everything. They weren't wrong in thinking so; if not for someone like Mei Lin, who else would dare recklessly attack the Duoltuoluo family's domain? The Duoltuoluo family and its allies had essentially gained control over everything in the Extreme Star Empire!

Mei Lin gracefully used her finger to smooth back a strand of hair, gazing at the five Loose Immortals trembling with rage and offering a slight smile. "Oh, it's you lot? I seem to recall seeing you before? But it doesn't matter. Today, every one of you from the Duoltuoluo family must die. It truly means nothing."

Mei Lin was also unwilling to exchange pleasantries with these old men. She flicked both hands, and thousands of red lights shot out, rapidly landing on the ground and quickly sprouting into massive Blood Jin Flowers, each towering nearly a thousand meters high. These flowers opened their enormous blossoms, emitting a dizzying, bloody stench. Countless slender vines shot out rapidly from the flowers, traversing the void like arrows, instantly piercing the physical bodies of the five Loose Immortals. Runes flowed across the vines, and a baleful crimson light shot toward the sky. The five Loose Immortals let out agonizing shrieks as their essence blood was sucked dry by the vines in just two or three breaths. Soon, they completely dissipated into the world.

These fierce and ferocious Blood Jin Flowers violently pulled up their long roots and, like living creatures, rushed throughout the city of Duoltuoluo. Innumerable fine tendrils swept around, ensnaring countless living beings in the urban area. Their vitality was instantly drained. Corpses flew through the air, and countless vengeful souls rushed toward the sky, wailing, only to be excitedly swallowed by the Heavenly Corpse Venerable. As he consumed more and more vengeful souls, the bronze hue of the Heavenly Corpse Venerable grew deeper, gradually shifting toward an indigo-blue color.

Gu Xiechen, whose injuries were fully healed, watched Mei Lin’s frenzy in destroying the Duoltuoluo foundation with cold eyes, unable to conceal the sheer delight on his face. Destroy, slaughter—they were all Gu Xiechen’s enemies. Conflict between enemies was precisely what he most enjoyed witnessing. It was just a pity that Daoist Mu wasn't here today.

After directing the giant Blood Jin Flowers to slaughter every person within the city, Mei Lin finally drew a satisfied, deep breath. The Blood Jin Flowers gradually withered and shrank, eventually transforming into specks of red light that flew back into Mei Lin’s body. A massive influx of vital blood essence surged into her, and Mei Lin’s spirit, energy, and mind instantly elevated by a notch. She took a deep breath and turned to Gu Xiechen with a smile brimming with intoxicating charm. "The taste of hot blood is truly wonderful. You still refuse to pledge allegiance to me?"

Gu Xiechen merely watched Mei Lin quietly. The Grand Yin Thorns materialized as three white lights circling around him. The Azure Lotus Ring remained held lightly between his fingertips, unreleased. The Five Water Dragon Whisker Fan was also waved gently; with every sweep, all the water in the waters within a thousand-mile radius simultaneously rippled. Water vapor in the void gradually condensed toward them, the clouds swiftly changing from white to a worrying black. Thunder rumbled faintly within the cloud layer, signaling an impending downpour.

Shaking his head, Mei Lin glanced coldly at Jin and then suddenly burst into a mocking laugh. "You must protect Jin to the death? Why? Because of her beauty?"

Puffing out her proud, ample chest, Mei Lin swept her long hair back, fully exposing her exquisitely beautiful face to Gu Xiechen, and laughed smugly, "How about it? I am more beautiful than her, and my figure is ten thousand times better! Everything you hope to gain from her, you can gain from me, and it will be better than what she possesses! Kill her, and I will be yours!"

Gu Xiechen shook his head and spoke word by word, "I have no interest in old women!"

Mei Lin froze. Her exquisite face instantly turned deathly pale. Trembling with rage, she pointed at Gu Xiechen, her lips quivering, unable to speak for a long moment. After a long pause, she finally let out a heart-rending scream, pointing at Gu Xiechen and yelling fiercely. After spewing vulgarities for a full Xuan Bell period, Mei Lin abruptly turned around, threw her arms around the Heavenly Corpse Venerable’s arm, and winked triumphantly at Gu Xiechen. "Oh? You’re not interested in me? Well, I’m not impressed by your level of cultivation either. Venerable, what do you think?"

The Heavenly Corpse Venerable stuck out his azure-colored tongue to lick his nose bridge, and his powerful hands gripped Mei Lin’s breasts, shamelessly caressing them.

His eyes flickered as he glanced at Gu Xiechen, shaking his head dismissively, before fixing his gaze intently on Jin. After a long moment, the Heavenly Corpse Venerable said in a low voice, "I want your daughter's eyes. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a trace of rare spiritual energy in them, which can be refined into a very fine magical artifact."

He paused slightly, licking his lips and smiling, "Of course, they could also be dipped in vinegar and... well, my own eyes can carry her spiritual essence as well." Mei Lin flirtatiously stood on her toes and pressed a kiss hard onto the Heavenly Corpse Venerable’s cheek, sweetly praising him repeatedly. She narrowed her eyes at Jin, her slender gaze filled with crazed disgust and biting hatred. Stroking the Heavenly Corpse Venerable’s strong waist and abdomen, she said with intense venom, "I truly regret not squeezing you to death the moment you were born. You damnable little slut, do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me? If it weren't for you, would I have acted so impulsively?"

Jin’s face instantly turned pale green. She tightly gripped Gu Xiechen’s sleeve, her cheeks twitching, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, "I never asked you to give birth to me!"

The corner of Gu Xiechen's mouth twitched. He patted Jin’s head forcefully, pinched her ear, and casually pushed her backward into the embrace of the Golden Light Holy Mother, one of the Ten Heavenly Lords. He twisted his fingers and coldly scolded Mei Lin, "No matter what, you are a mother. Don't defile the word 'mother,' understand?"

Glaring coldly at Mei Lin, Gu Xiechen suddenly struck the sword-box strapped to his back.

The Heavenly Corpse Venerable suddenly roared in anger opposite them, enveloping Mei Lin’s delicate body. "Sss-sss-sss." With three crisp sounds, sparks flew from the Heavenly Corpse Venerable’s blue-green body. His broad, powerful back was split by three gashes, each more than two feet long, thin as a hair, and of unknown depth. Wisps of black mist rapidly surged out from the sword marks, followed by large amounts of viscous black blood spurting forth. The Heavenly Corpse Venerable’s body convulsed violently, letting out muffled groans.

"Hahahaha!" With a loud laugh, the True Magnetic Splitting Light Sword struck out rapidly. A curtain of light swept through the Loose Immortals accompanying the Heavenly Corpse Venerable, immediately splitting the bodies of seventeen more Loose Immortals. Large amounts of immortal spiritual energy jetted out from their bodies. These Loose Immortals suffered massive vitality loss, their cultivation levels plummeting as if on a roller coaster.

The Heavenly Corpse Venerable jumped about in fury. He hastily ordered everyone to activate their protective magical treasures. Immediately, various colored lights rose up to shield the Heavenly Corpse Venerable and his group. The True Magnetic Splitting Light Sword struck them thousands of times more, but their protective treasures were also first-rate Immortal Artifacts. Although it forced them to retreat continuously, it no longer yielded the brilliant results seen before.

Shaking his head, Gu Xiechen recalled his sword light. Managing to injure seventeen of the enemy’s Loose Immortals was already a considerable gain; he couldn't be too greedy now.

The Heavenly Corpse Venerable turned around furiously toward Gu Xiechen, roaring in anger, "As far as I know, the only treasure capable of injuring my subordinates before their protective artifacts spontaneously activated is the legendary True Magnetic Splitting Light Sword! Where did you inherit the True Magnetic Splitting Light Sword from?"

Gu Xiechen looked at the Heavenly Corpse Venerable with surprise. He opened the sword-box and took out the True Magnetic Splitting Light Sword—a weapon so faint it was barely visible, seemingly empty when viewed head-on, ethereal and exquisite. He gripped the hilt and waved it lightly toward the void, causing dozens of extremely fine black lines to flash into existence out of thin air. Gu Xiechen nodded in approval. "You know of this divine weapon?"

The Heavenly Corpse Venerable growled angrily, "Nonsense! I inherited the lineage of the Great Strength Ghost King of the Nine Nether stream. The Great Strength Ghost King had a close acquaintance who once possessed three True Magnetic Splitting Light Swords! Hmph, the fastest flying sword in the Three Realms, a sword that flies faster than light! You little thief, how insidious! With such a treasure in your possession, why didn’t you warn us earlier to bring out our protective artifacts?"

The Ten Heavenly Lords laughed in unison. Gu Xiechen also laughed heartily and shook his head, "Are you stupid? You and I are enemies. Why would I show off to you?"

Frowning, the Heavenly Corpse Venerable patted Mei Lin’s hip and pointed at Gu Xiechen, saying, "Kid, I see your foundation is decent, and your cultivation is acceptable. How about this: join my Nine Nether lineage? I am the Sect Master of the Nine Nether Sect, and I can make you the Vice Sect Master! A position beneath one person but above ten thousand awaits you!"

Gu Xiechen just smiled. He returned the sword in his hand to its sheath and said with a grin to the Heavenly Corpse Venerable, "Forget it, I'm not interested... Hmm, do you know why I wasted so much breath talking to you?"

Mei Lin opened her mouth and suddenly shrieked in dismay.

Gu Xiechen laughed heartily several times, hurriedly took the Ten Heavenly Lords, and used the Starry Sky Great Teleportation to flee rapidly.

A massive pressure slammed down from the void. A dead starship, entirely grayish-blue, escorted by hundreds of White Winged warships, pierced the atmosphere of Duoltuoluo Star with overwhelming force, carrying a tinge of exasperation as it rushed toward Mei Lin’s group. Powerful loudspeakers on the dead starship and the White Winged warships simultaneously activated. A voice, clearly bursting with rage, shrieked, "Mei—you damned woman! You destroyed Jade Void Star! Our Duoltuoluo family swears eternal vengeance upon you!"

Mei Lin also let out an angry scream. She roared, "Eternal vengeance? I think so too! With Mu Sha gone, who else in your Duoltuoluo family can stand against me? This must be your last remaining strength, right? Ha, I was waiting for you to come out!"

Mei Lin retreated rapidly with the Heavenly Corpse Venerable and the others, pulling back tens of thousands of miles in a few flashes. The dead starship, damaged earlier by Gu Xiechen, flashed out of the void and welcomed them aboard. Immediately afterward, the space surrounding that dead starship rippled, and two entirely black dead starships, along with nearly a thousand White Winged warships, materialized out of nowhere.

In the surrounding void, countless warships of the Imperial Royal Guard of the Extreme Star Empire materialized densely. As soon as these warships appeared, they immediately split into fleets of varying sizes and launched ferocious assaults on the administrative planets belonging to the Dortro family.

Gu Yechen, who had already escaped far away, looked back at the warships continuously emerging from the void, his brow furrowing slightly.

The strength guarding the Dortro family’s core territory was certainly not limited to those cultivators whose power was shallow; they must have held back their ultimate trump cards. And what could be the ultimate steel besides the Death Star ships? Gu Yechen’s goal in stalling for time was precisely to prompt the Dortro family to deploy their Death Star ships swiftly to deliver a fatal blow to Mei Lin and the others. But what he hadn't anticipated was that Mei Lin was also fully prepared; she had even brought the entire Royal Guard of the Extreme Star Empire!

“The Dortro family is finished!” Gu Yechen remarked indifferently.

The three Death Star ships led by Mei Lin had already launched a full-force assault on the Dortro family’s own Death Star.

With a colossal roar, flames and fire swept in all directions, and the entire Dortro Star disintegrated, shattered into dust by the combined attack of nearly a hundred White Wing warships.

The ancestral domain of the Dortro family was annihilated this day.