Fu Ya, Ming stared blankly at the sliver of purplish-gold brilliance emanating from Gu Wuchen’s scarlet eyes, tears rolling down her jade-white cheeks one by one, plink, plonk, striking the petals before her, causing those few flowers to tremble, just as her heart was shaking.

“Jin... she was my only friend.”

“A princess from a four-star civilization, daughter of Davilms Star, headquarters of the Star Alliance. It’s hard to have friends there. I was advancing my studies, and she was my only one.”

The frequency of her falling tears quickened. Fu Ya. looked up at Gu Wuchen and asked softly, “Is there truly no way to bring her back?”

In the moonlight, Fu Ya.’s face was as delicate and pure as the surrounding blossoms. Gu Xiechen narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head. “No. The departed are gone; we do not chase the dead.”

Their lips pressed tightly together, and Fu Ya. leaned weakly, slightly fragile, into Gu Xiechen’s embrace.

On a small knoll not far away, §Tā Guā squatted furtively behind some magnificent flowering trees, a fat cigar clamped between his teeth, squinting and chuckling as he watched the pair kissing. He puffed out a few thick plumes of smoke, and Guo Hua grumbled under his breath, “Ah, so that fake man is dead too? Good, good riddance. Always flaunting himself in front of this Master. Why is it that every time I see him, it’s like seeing that dead effeminate thing? Ah, that dead effeminate thing was truly worthless. Didn't they say he’d plague the world for ten thousand years? How did he kick the bucket so fast?”

As he spoke, two beads of blood suddenly seeped from Guo Hua’s eyes. The bloody tears slid slowly down his cheeks. When they reached the corner of his mouth, he swiftly thrust out his tongue and licked the drops back in. He muttered lowly, “This is the curse of being a zombie. When you’re sad, you just bleed. You can’t even shed proper tears… Every drop is vital essence, blood-qi, can’t waste it. Crying like this is so exhausting!” Drop after drop of blood-tears slid down Guo Hua’s face, and he frantically stuck out his tongue to lick his face clean.

After indulging in this for a while, Guo Hua’s agitation finally settled. He squatted behind the flowering trees, quietly watching the embracing couple, and suddenly sighed, “I really wish I could go back to when I first met my junior brother... simple and plain, like plain boiled water, but it didn't take so much effort. Not like now, facing such immense pressure every day.”

Taking a deep breath, Guo Hua looked up at the round moon in the sky and sighed mournfully, “Heaven and Earth are a great furnace, and we are merely the charcoal being tempered, the molten bronze being refined?”

Emanating from deep within Guo Hua, surging up from his core, a thread of intensely fine scarlet flame spewed from his pores. A pair of enormous fleshy wings unfolded from his back with a dull roar of wind and fire. Guo Hua’s ten fingers elongated into sharp claws several feet long, and four long, golden fangs sprouted from his mouth.

“No, I don’t want to see anyone near Grandpa Guo Hua die again... Death, I’ve experienced it once. It was awful... I don't want to see the people around me die again!”

“Is the Heavenly Dao merciless? Are all things mere straw dogs? Heh heh, if that’s the case, then Grandpa Guo Hua will become the Heavenly Dao! Ha!”

An aura of arrogance, chaos, brutality, and wickedness burst forth from Guo Hua’s body like a blood-colored gale. Guo Hua’s body twisted and convulsed violently. He slowly stood up and let out a roar toward the round moon that shot straight into the heavens. He pointed both hands rigidly toward the sky, stabbing upward repeatedly with his two thick middle fingers tipped with long claws. He screamed loudly, “Old Man in Heaven, your Grandpa Guo Hua is challenging you! If you’re unhappy, come bite me!”

Gu Xiechen abruptly turned his head. A purple glint flashed in his eyes. He clearly saw a shackle, writhing like a black python, shatter violently within Guo Hua’s body. A surge of blood-qi rose from his core, transforming into a blood-colored cloud floating and swirling above his head. With a soft whistle, a golden sarira the size of a thumb was lifted onto the blood-colored cloud, which was shaped like a lingzhi mushroom. Beneath it materialized a small Guo Hua, the size of a fist, radiating pure blood-light, grimacing fiercely, two fleshy wings sprouting from his back—a truly ferocious and savage appearance.

Between this golden sarira and the little blood-colored zombie was a square expanse of golden light about a foot wide, enclosing a golden primordial spirit radiating an immortal, Taoist aura.

“The Method of Dividing Three Corpses... Senior Brother he…” Gu Wuchen was shocked, then suddenly burst into laughter.

Back when they watched the Corpse Emperor undergo tribulation on the moon and ascend to the Void Realm, the fact that the Corpse Emperor simultaneously cultivated the path of the Corpse, the Immortal, and the Buddha had already stunned a great many people. They had assumed the Art of Dividing Three Corpses was practiced only by the Corpse Emperor, but who would have thought that the usually unserious Guo Hua was indeed the Corpse Emperor’s most beloved junior brother, who had also obtained the Art of Dividing Three Corpses, mastering it today and immediately stepping into the Taihuang Huangzeng Tian Realm!

What shocked Gu Wuchen even more was that Guo Hua’s sarira, his zombie embryo, and his immortal primordial spirit all possessed the cultivation of Taihuang Huangzeng Tian. His strength alone was equivalent to three initial-grade Celestial Immortals combined!

Laughing maniacally toward the sky, Guo Hua hopped and skipped, making rude gestures upward. He kept turning around to energetically slap his own backside in defiance of the heavens. On his face, the solemnity of Buddhism, the ethereal detachment of the Immortals, and the decisive ruthlessness of the Demonic Path switched continuously. Especially when his face turned crimson, his provocative gestures toward the sky became increasingly outrageous, until finally, he almost pulled his trousers down completely.

The heavenly tribulations experienced by demonic cultivators upon advancing to Celestial Immortals were the most terrifying—endless lightning tribulations, wind tribulations, fire tribulations, and even tribulations of the heart and heavenly demons. One misstep could reduce them to ashes.

Guo Hua also sensed his own turbulent emotions. He hurriedly pulled out several top-grade Immortal Artifacts obtained from the Heavenly Workshop of the Great Simple Hermit, intending to refine them into his own natal artifacts.

Gu Xiechen roared, swiftly snatching the Xuan Yuan Water Controlling Banner—stolen by the Fire Crow from Asura Viking—and tossing it to Guo Hua. Immediately after, he selected a Nine-Rank Lotus Platform enveloped in Buddha’s radiance and a silver flying sword glittering with starlight from the Primordial Gifts bestowed upon him by the Immortals of ancient Kunlun, throwing them over as well.

Guo Hua was startled, then roared with ecstatic laughter, “I knew you always had the good stuff on hand!”

The zombie embryo suspended above the blood mist squeaked happily and seized the Xuan Yuan Water Controlling Banner. Threads of Xuanhuang Qi jetted from the banner surface, instantly uniting the Guo Hua zombie embryo and the banner. A vague, golden-headed figure emerged from the golden sarira and snatched up the brilliantly gold Nine-Rank Lotus Platform, spitting out an essence of sarira to fuse with it. The immortal primordial spirit within the golden light chuckled and pointed at the silver flying sword, spewing out a stream of immortal energy to tightly grasp it.

These three supreme treasures had all been refined by the Xuanhuang Qi within Gu Xiechen’s Haotian Tower, scrubbing away any residual aura of their former owners. Moreover, Gu Xiechen had used the Haotian Mirror’s method to break the various restrictions within the artifacts. It was like entering a house where most doors were already unlocked; Guo Hua’s spiritual sense easily penetrated the three treasures, refining over sixty percent of their power within a few breaths.

Sixty percent of the power was enough.

The Xuan Yuan Water Controlling Banner then rolled up countless black waves and white lotuses to envelop Guo Hua’s body. Innumerable illusory figures of heavenly demons immediately rushed out of the air, hissing and screaming as if they had seen a ghost, frantically trying to evade the entanglement of the black waves and white lotuses. Before the demons could flee, a Nine-Rank Golden Lotus Platform rose beneath Guo Hua’s feet, and boundless Buddha flames soared into the sky. Each demon was imprinted with a single Buddha flame—their originally ferocious countenances instantly became solemn and dignified, and they all sat down around Guo Hua, chanting the Vajra Sutra.

Finally, a dazzling silver starlight shot toward the sky. As this light appeared, the round moon and the surrounding stars seemed to lose their color, as if the light of all stars in the three realms had been sucked into this silver beam barely three feet long. Then came a sound like heavenly music from all the surrounding stars; the silver starlight struck the sky, splitting a newly formed lightning tribulation cloud into tatters. A few sparse sparks of lightning fire sputtered weakly from the ruptured cloud, failing to scorch even a single blade of grass or leaf on the ground.

“Hahahaha! Celestial Immortal Realm, is this the Celestial Immortal Realm? Grandpa Guo Hua is indeed a genius born of heaven, possessing unparalleled aptitude and extraordinary talent! Cultivating casually for several hundred years grants the cultivation of a Celestial Immortal. Among the three realms, beyond the Five Elements, in the Thirty-Three Heavens Palaces, or the domains of the gods and demons across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, which one possesses the brilliance and intelligence of Grandpa Guo Hua?”

A streak of blood-colored corpse qi, a sphere of golden Buddhist light, and a mass of pale-green immortal spiritual energy surged out from Guo Hua’s body. These three distinct currents of energy intertwined, causing the surrounding celestial phenomena to change drastically. Clouds billowed from all directions like a kaleidoscope, only to flee toward the distant sky like startled mice. The clouds rubbed and collided, causing thunder and lightning to flash across the void, with bolts of lightning as thick as water vats wildly lashing about—like a Demon King descending, throwing heaven and earth into chaos.

This fellow is too ostentatious, Gu Xiechen snorted coldly. He faintly released the aura of Tai Ming Yu Wantian from within his body, and it lightly brushed against Guo Hua’s aura before immediately retracting.

With just that slight touch, the face of Guo Hua, who had been laughing wildly at the sky, contorted as if seized by a cramp. His jaw cracked—it almost dislocated. He looked at Gu Xiechen in astonishment and exclaimed, “This is… Second-Grade Celestial Immortal? Junior Brother… how many years have you been cultivating?”

Gu Xiechen rolled his eyes and ignored Guo Hua. The Fire Crow perched on Gu Xiechen’s shoulder let out several caw-caws of laughter, and the aura of a Fourth-Grade Celestial Immortal from the Profound Fetus Nurturing Heaven fiercely crashed toward Guo Hua. The gap in their cultivation levels was too vast; the mere collision of auras sent Guo Hua stumbling back, nearly knocking him flying.

Guo Hua, looking sheepish, sidled over to Gu Xiechen’s side, gazing at the Fire Crow in astonishment.

Gu Xiechen smiled faintly, tapped the Fire Crow’s head, and said casually, “Consider him a clone of mine. He was refined using the cores of the Thirty-Six Guardian Puppets of the Great Simple Hermit and a portion of the True God of the Sun’s body, infused with a part of my own soul origin. He is just like me.”

Guo Hua scowled at the Fire Crow, apparently contemplating how to drop the thing into a soup pot.

Gu Xiechen earnestly cautioned Guo Hua. Although he now possessed the cultivation and realm of a Celestial Immortal, the Star Alliance was a peculiar place. Due to the energy from other realms, the rules of the Heavenly Dao were subtly warped here. One had to reach the Golden Immortal level to ascend smoothly. Therefore... no one knew what things were truly hidden within the Star Alliance. He must be low-key, low-key, and even more low-key, or he might suffer a massive loss!

Guo Hua took Gu Xiechen’s lesson seriously to heart. They were brothers; there was nothing to hide. Gu Xiechen had experienced far more than Guo Hua, and these lessons were essential to absorb.

As they were chatting and laughing, the Ten Heavenly Lords and the Mo brothers approached with grim expressions, dragging Zero, Jiu, and Ze—the three brothers captured by Gu Xiechen—along with Tartar. The Xin Jia brothers were trailing a long chain upon which senior officers from the Allied Fleet were strung up like potatoes, being yelled at and pulled along.

Since they still had a long way to go, Mo Liqing growled in a low voice, “Exalted One, your subordinates are incompetent. These three strange fellows do not fear the Soul Searching technique!”

“Oh?” Gu Wuchen and Guo Hua’s interest was immediately piqued.

Mo Liqing tossed the three brothers, Zero, Jiu, and Ze, onto the ground. After bowing to Gu Xiechen and the others, he replied solemnly, “These damned things seem to possess souls, yet perhaps they don't. Their sentience is entangled with their muscles and bones; the Soul Searching method is completely ineffective. We have only seen this state in ancient Wu tribesmen and certain innate beings who rely on the supremacy of their physical bodies. Your subordinates truly cannot extract any information through interrogation.”

With Fu Ya.Ming’s hand linked in his, Gu Wuchen coldly eyed Tartar, who was trembling on the ground. He sneered, “And him?”

Tartar glared viciously at Gu Xiechen and roared, “I didn’t do any…”

Mo Lihong struck Tartar’s throat with a palm-blade, causing excruciating pain that prevented him from speaking. He sneered, “In the presence of the Exalted One, one does not roar.”

Mo Liqing recounted, point by point, the intelligence extracted from Tartar’s soul—nothing more than the promises made by the Elder Council to Tartar, and the Council’s requirement for Tartar to secretly assist the three brothers Zero, Ze, and Jiu in subduing the Yafike Empire, conquering the entire Spiral Star Domain, and then using the Spiral Star Domain as a base to explore the Savage Star Sea.

Gu Wuchen frowned. He looked coldly at Tartar for a long moment before shaking his head, waving his hand dismissively. Tartar was now useless. Hand him over to Hailis to... Immediately, several Yellow Turban strongmen rushed over, hoisting Tartar up and carrying him toward the palace where they were staying.

Fu Ya.Ming’s face looked troubled. This organization, the Elder Council, was the first she had ever heard of. But upon learning that the Demon Exorcism Knights were connected to the Elder Council, she could instantly gauge how vast the Council’s power was. The Demon Exorcism Knights were merely one of its branches; the former Yafike Kingdom was just a minuscule component. The Yafike royal family was merely one lineage of their bloodline. Furthermore, the Elder Council could arbitrarily decide the emergence of a six-star civilization—it was terrifying.

Shocked, Fu Ya.Ming squeezed Gu Xiechen’s hand tightly and turned to look at Gu Wuchen. Gu Xiechen smiled at Fu Ya.Ming and squeezed her hand back forcefully.

Fu Ya.Ming immediately relaxed. With Gu Xiechen and this group beside her, what was there left to worry about or fear? Hadn't the combined fleet of dozens of five-star civilizations been easily taken down? Hadn't the six-star civilization of the Polaris Empire been destroyed by Gu Xiechen alone in just over two years? Gu Xiechen had even disposed of two emperors of six-star civilizations. The Elder Council didn't seem so scary after all!

He glanced coldly at the three brothers, Zero, Jiu, and Ze, who were still standing there with arrogant airs. Gu Xiechen smiled, then looked at the string of senior officers from the Allied Fleet dragged over by Xin Jia and the others. The marshals, generals, and minor nobles from dozens of five-star civilizations—at least four thousand people—were all dragged over by the Xin Jia brothers, each with a death-knot secured around their necks by the Immeasurable Divine Chains.

Shaking his head, Gu Wuchen looked regretfully at the sea of flowers that these people had trampled. He asked coldly, “What do these people know?”

Xin Jia replied in a muffled voice, “Exalted One, they know nothing. They were simply following orders to form the Allied Fleet to attack the Yafike Empire.”

Know nothing? Gu Wuchen swept an annoyed glance over the group, then shook his head. “Break every bone in their bodies, strip them of all their power, and send them back to the Hiss Empire using a transport ship set to an automated course. Tell their emperor that if he dares to send troops again, I will go find him for a personal discussion about the matter.”

The Xin Jia brothers let out a few loud laughs, and with a surge of brute force, they almost pulled all four thousand captives to the ground. The brothers excitedly led this large group behind a distant knoll. A throng of bored mercenaries mixed with some soldiers whose nature was inherently malicious excitedly swarmed them, using various instruments to carefully shatter the bones of these men. Then, they stacked them like bricks onto a transport ship. After Little Xiao set the automatic course, the transport ship slowly lifted into space and flew directly toward the Hiss Empire.

Accompanied by the shrill screams echoing from behind the small knoll, Gu Wuchen turned to face the three brothers, Zero, Jiu, and Ze, who stood before him with complete indifference.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Xiechen smiled and greeted the three brothers. “Twin triplets? Hmm? Descendants of the Three-Headed Dragon?”

Zero gave Gu Xiechen a proud look and sneered, “Base existence, we grant you a chance, the final chance.”

Jiu held his head high and sneered, “Kneel immediately and beg for our forgiveness, then make the Yafike Empire obediently follow our orders and swiftly unify the entire Spiral Star Domain.”

Ze squinted sideways at Gu Wuchen, saying with even greater arrogance, “Then, kneel before our Eldest Brother and beg him to take the woman by your side…”

Chapter 272: Stirring the Stars (2)

A heavy slap landed squarely on Ze’s face, knocking out half his teeth. Gu Xiechen’s cold face drew close to Ze’s, and he spoke word by word, “I dislike your attitude, and I dislike these words of yours. Therefore... say one more nonsensical thing, and I will kill you!”

Ze erupted in anger, shouting fiercely, “My Eldest Brother fancies this woman, it is your…”

Whoosh—a black flame shot up from Ze’s feet. In less than one-billionth of a second, his physical body turned to ashes and dispersed. Nothing remained of the ashes of Ze, not even a fragment of his soul. Gu Wuchen frowned; he now understood why Mo Liqing had mentioned that the Soul Searching technique was useless against these three brothers.

Zero and Jiu screamed in horror, crying out, “You killed Ze! You actually killed Ze! Aren't you afraid of our revenge? We, we are from the Dorn Family, a top-tier family within the Elder Council! We will not let you go! You dared to kill us while we were executing an Elder Council mission; the Elder Council will definitely avenge us!”

Gu Xiechen and Guo Hua both burst into laughter. They saw something interesting in the eyes of Zero and Jiu. When their brother was burned to death before them, all they felt, apart from boundless terror, was a sliver of pathetic arrogance remaining.

If this last bit of pride hadn't sustained them, they would have collapsed long ago. These were three spoiled young masters whose personal experience was practically nonexistent, relying entirely on using the names of their family and the Elder Council to act tyrannically. It made sense that they were assigned to this liaison post for a millennium; it was likely a method the Elder Council used to train newcomers. Only by constantly interacting with people controlled by the Council, like Tartar, would these arrogant young masters learn some experience in dealing with the world.

However, it was clear that these two present had learned nothing before falling into their current predicament.

Lan Hua let out a vicious, cackling laugh. He fumbled inside his storage ring for quite some time before finally pulling out a rusty cleaver, its blade sparsely dotted with tiny saw-toothed nicks, an object that made Gu Xiechen’s scalp crawl. Extending a scarlet tongue, he licked the rust-stained edge and chuckled, "Tsk tsk," saying, "This was my dear mother’s favorite cleaver. She used this thing all the time when I was a kid to chop pig trotters..."

Gu Xiechen and the others exchanged strange looks as Lan Hua triumphantly explained the cleaver’s history. Finally, he concluded, "Later, when I turned into a zombie, I brought this blade up the mountain as a keepsake... Ah, I really miss the steamed pig knuckles my mother used to make!"

Under the horrified gaze of Ling and Jiu, Lan Hua’s hand swung down, severing Jiu's left hand cleanly at the wrist.

Jiu let out a hysterical scream. He collapsed onto the ground, weeping hysterically, clutching his bleeding left wrist—which sprayed blood like a fountain—and shrieked incoherently, "I’ll talk! I’ll tell you whatever you want to know... You, you, keep that knife away from me!"

Lan Hua let out a ghastly "Gaga" laugh and dragged the blade across Jiu’s face. What followed was deeply embarrassing for Lan Hua: Jiu’s eyes rolled back, and a dark stain bloomed in his crotch as he promptly fainted.

"Damn it, where did all that arrogance go? How could he pass out so easily?" Lan Hua cursed angrily, stomping on Jiu’s face several times. He then turned towards Ling with a sinister laugh, "I never realized that even in your advanced civilized societies, you have eunuch slaves... Hmm, why don't I give you a free cleansing operation? I’ll use this knife! Although it carries a strong aroma of pig knuckle, it’s still quite sharp. Sixty or so good chops should do it!"

Gu Xiechen’s gaze shifted subtly toward Ling’s lower body. Ling instinctively clamped his legs together, looking at Lan Hua as if he had seen a ghost.

Fya.Ming and the only female among the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns, the Golden Light Holy Mother, both turned their heads away and spat softly.

Ling slowly raised both hands. He desperately clung to the last shred of his composure and nodded to Gu Xiechen, "If I tell you everything, I will die anyway. But if I don't tell you, I will still die... Faced with death, I have no other recourse but to offer an alternative suggestion."

After a moment of silence, Gu Xiechen nodded. "Speak!"

Ling coughed a few times and said cautiously, "Spare the lives of Jiu and me. We can pin Zhou’s death on an unfortunate battlefield accident. We can frame any five-star civilization, ensuring your family won't face relentless pursuit; your family’s wrath will be diverted onto that five-star civilization."

Ling paused, then continued, "Relying on the might of the Yafik Empire, you still stand no chance against the Elder Council. While the Council cannot directly engage you—that is absolutely impossible—you also lack the power to contend with the descendants controlled by the Council. Not to mention, if just three six-star civilizations from the Polyglot Agreement Organization were to act, the Yafik Empire would be flattened in three to five days."

Gu Xiechen nodded. "Hmm, that has some merit. Continue."

Lan Hua glanced at Ling with contempt and shook his head dismissively. Lan Hua despised people who would shift the blame for their own brother’s death just to save their own skin. In Lan Hua’s mind, Ling should have avenged his fallen kin. He should have loudly demanded a duel from Gu Xiechen and Lan Hua, and Lan Hua would surely have granted his brotherly wish by killing him too.

Swallowing nervously, Ling spoke in a low voice, "So, spare Jiu and my lives, and I will provide you with things powerful enough to challenge a six-star civilization."

"Such as?" Gu Xiechen asked, crossing his arms.

"For instance, the design schematics for the improved version of the Star Alliance's exclusive White Wing-class battleships. My family possesses the chief designer of that next-generation White Wing warship."

Swallowing a thick mouthful of saliva, Ling declared with wide eyes, "Its combat effectiveness is thirty percent higher than the standard White Wing-class ship, it’s faster, has stronger defense, and superior firepower."

Gu Xiechen interrupted him, "What about the Divine Crystals? Without Divine Grade materials, the combat effectiveness of a White Wing-class ship is only on par with that of an ordinary warship."

"Divine Crystals?" Ling’s face instantly paled. He shrieked in alarm, "How do you know about Divine Crystals?"

Grabbing Ling by the throat, Gu Xiechen frowned. "Don't try to fool us with cheap tricks! I know more about the White Wing warships than you do. Without the Divine Crystal for the ultimate strike, a White Wing ship's combat effectiveness is equivalent to, at most, ten Star Alliance Level One warships. I don't lack warships, but I am very interested in the Divine Grade!"

Gritting his teeth, Ling lowered his head and said weakly, "Fine. Divine Grade... I cannot provide those. Divine Grade aids our cultivation; they are extremely precious to us. Even a six-star civilization only receives a supply of one Divine Crystal for every White Wing-class warship every hundred years. That’s why the fleet sizes of six-star civilizations are limited."

"Then we have nothing more to discuss," Gu Xiechen said apologetically, shaking his head. "Truly nothing. I don't need White Wing warships, I genuinely don't. At our level, what are warships? With my power, I could jam several planets tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter along the Golden Trade Route. As long as they are covered in giant gun emplacements, I can still exert formidable destructive force."

Sighing, Gu Xiechen clapped Ling on the shoulder and turned to Lan Hua with a smile, "Senior Brother, go ahead. I heard you used to work in the Imperial Palace's Purification Office, right?"

Lan Hua licked the rusty blade and slowly approached the ashen-faced Ling. He sighed and shook his head. "Ah, youth is reckless; to refine the heart in the mortal world, Senior Brother has done everything. Never mind the Purification Office’s duty of removing that part for the eunuchs—oh, meaning the slave eunuchs—I even worked as a butcher castrating livestock. Tsk tsk, one swift cut, a stomp, and two little balls of flesh would roll out. A large wolfhound nearby would immediately snatch them up and devour them. Tsk tsk, such a tonic!"

Ling made a choked sound and collapsed to his knees, staring at Lan Hua's rusted blade in terror, his body shaking violently.

Mo Lishou let out a few sinister laughs and released his treasured Flower Fox Marten. The beast immediately swelled to several meters long upon appearing, its two rows of razor-sharp teeth clashing forcefully, spitting out a shower of sparks. Mo Lishou chuckled oddly, "Honored One, this pet of mine eats living things whole. Never mind eating a few lumps of flesh. I guarantee, one offering, one bite!"

Ling suddenly convulsed and began vomiting violently. While retching, he shrieked, "What do you want? Tell me! What do you want to know? Just say it!" he howled hysterically, "Zhou is already dead by your hands; whatever I say can be blamed on him. The responsibility my family has to bear won't be too great... What do you want to know about the Elder Council? I'll tell you!"

The violent vomiting made Ling’s body convulse. He screamed, "I... I don’t know much."

Gu Xiechen grabbed Ling by the neck and hoisted him up, staring intently into Ling’s eyes. He sneered, "Then I’ll begin asking. Regardless of how much you know, tell me everything you know. If you hide even a fraction, you won't escape my sight... You must have heard of the Eye of the Divine Spirit, haven't you?"

Ling’s body convulsed violently, and he screamed in utter horror, "The Eye of the Divine Spirit? That is the rarest bloodline inheritance! How could you possibly..."

Gu Xiechen raised his right hand and slid aside the disguise, revealing the bloodline ring forged from the black crystal he had seized.

"So, you are also..." Ling laughed strangely. "Which six-star civilization, which family do you belong to? Heh heh, I know the ambition of people like you; you all aim to replace the Elder Council... But you are destined to be disappointed! Don't think you possess..."

Suddenly, Lan Hua slammed a fist into Ling’s abdomen and roared, "Enough of this pointless chatter! Say what you need to say, and say what you shouldn't say too!"

The purple light in Gu Xiechen's eyes flared intensely. Within this strange purple luminescence, Gu Xiechen clearly saw everything changing inside Ling: his breathing, his blood flow, his heartbeat, the state of his brain activity... He even dimly perceived the words Ling was about to speak and the actions he was about to take in the next few seconds!

"Jin... you are so foolish... Parents like that... were you worth it?" Two tears of blood burst from the corners of Gu Xiechen’s eyes but were instantly vaporized by a burst of flame before they could leave his sockets.

Gu Xiechen commanded in a low voice, "Speak... If I catch you lying, you die."

Ling gasped and recounted everything he knew about the Elder Council. His family held a high position within the Council, and he himself was considered a core heir under focused cultivation. Thus, he knew more classified information than most Council operatives. However, due to the Elder Council’s strict, meticulous, utterly secret, and almost deliberately ritualized organizational structure, and because Ling was not old enough, what he knew was merely the tip of the iceberg of this vast organization.

After three full hours of narration, Ling finished disclosing everything. Lan Hua gleefully recorded it all with a recorder, and Xiao Xiao immediately made numerous encrypted copies on-site, which were then uploaded to specialized supercomputers within the Star Alliance that handled online data backup.

Seeing Lan Hua’s shameless conduct, Ling was utterly despairing. He knew everything about him was in Gu Xiechen's hands; he could never escape Gu Xiechen’s control.

Soon after, Jiu was awakened by Lan Hua. After a session of threats and inducements, Jiu also tearfully added what little he knew. The two brothers emptied their knowledge completely, word by word. By the time they were done, they were drenched in sweat, having lost more than ten catties in weight.

Tossing Ling unceremoniously onto the ground, Gu Xiechen frowned as he analyzed the data provided by Ling and Jiu. He also demanded that Ling hand over the schematics for the improved White Wing-class battleship he possessed.

After handing the ship designs to Fya.Ming, Gu Xiechen nodded. "We will have a period of peace to build up our strength... Hmm, within the next few years, the Star Alliance will be turbulent, and the Elder Council won't have the capacity to pay attention to our situation. So, as long as we block the Golden Trade Route and a few other paths, leaving only one meticulously guarded route, we can secure at least ten years of development time."

Clapping his hands loudly, Gu Xiechen burst into laughter. "The Elder Council? We still have great potential! Hmph, I already destroyed the Polaris Empire; the Star Alliance is nothing more than twenty-six Polaris Empires combined... Our strength grows stronger, and the Star Alliance’s strength weakens! If they don't provoke us, fine. But if they dare lay a hand on the Yafik Empire..."

Fya.Ming smiled knowingly, understanding the methods Gu Xiechen used to annihilate the Polaris Empire.

Those sight-crazed dark creatures were headache enough for the Star Alliance leadership. Furthermore, with their return path severed, who knew what those frenzied dark creatures would do!

The most marvelous part was that Gu Xiechen controlled the opening and closing of that spatial tunnel. Once the dark creatures were mostly wiped out, he could instantly open the tunnel and release more over. Given the massive numbers of the dark creatures and their terrifying reproductive capacity...

Fya.Ming narrowed her eyes, clasped her hands across her chest, and offered a prayer for the Star Alliance. The Elder Council was truly unlucky to provoke such a terrifying enemy as Gu Xiechen.

However, this was a golden opportunity for the Yafik Empire: first, unify the Spiral Star Domain, and then, taking advantage of the heavy damage sustained by the other six-star civilizations, leverage the situation for the Yafik Empire’s ascent.

After taking countless 'identification photos' of the wretched brothers Ling and Jiu, and forcing them to write numerous oaths of allegiance and pledges of loyalty, the magnanimous Gu Xiechen allowed them to board a small fighter jet and sent them off on their long journey home.

Standing at the exit of the Golden Trade Route, watching the tiny blue flare from the departing fighter’s engines, Gu Xiechen raised his hand and waved toward the brothers Ling and Jiu. "Remember! You must be excellent spies for me! Otherwise, both of you are dead. Your family elders will flay your skin, and the Elder Council will tear out your tendons!"

The fighter jet, which had been slowly accelerating, instantly engaged its maximum overload power, vanishing into subspace in the blink of an eye.

Gu Xiechen smiled cheerfully as the warship disappeared, then his expression darkened. He waved fiercely behind him. "The 108 Star Lords of the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend! It’s up to you!"

Behind Gu Xiechen, 108 faint golden silhouettes responded in unison. A large banner simultaneously rose above their heads. As the banner spun fiercely toward the surrounding starry void, the Golden Trade Route suddenly surged with torrential starlight. The previously calm wilderness star sea nearby began to churn violently. Countless chaotic meteor belts, terrifying energy surges, and despair-inducing yet unavoidable miniature black holes and other celestial bodies swarmed in from the wilderness sea, completely sealing off this prime channel connecting the Spiral Star Domain and the higher civilizations.

Gu Xiechen retreated toward the Yafik Empire with the 108 Star Lords. As they retreated, the 108 Star Lords used their innate divine abilities to summon dangerous celestial bodies from all directions to densely pack the trade route, forcibly turning what was once a major thoroughfare into a deadly necropolis. The wilderness star sea converged here, becoming a hundred times more perilous than elsewhere. The passage between the Hiss Empire and the Yafik Empire was utterly severed; the Elder Council would have to detour if they wished to attack the Yafik Empire.

But Gu Xiechen did not stop there; he rushed about, sealing every other route connecting the Spiral Star Domain to the outside world. He left only one winding, rugged passage near the former Lei Wu Kingdom, now the Yafik Empire’s Lei Wu Star. This path, stretching tens of millions of light-years and requiring hundreds of jump points to traverse, was already bristling with checkpoints and defensive batteries established by the Yafik Empire.

Coupled with the various formations the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns had set up near the jump points by leveraging the surrounding terrain, this small route had become an absolute death trap.

The Spiral Star Domain plunged into complete chaos. Having lost contact with the outside world, all nations were thrown into panic, unsure of what to do. What unsettled them even more was that Xiao Xiao had cleanly severed communication and network access for tens of thousands of civilizations within the Spiral Star Domain, causing even greater pandemonium.

Just as the entire Spiral Star Domain was descending into utter disarray, the massive fleet of the Yafik Empire surged forth, launching a war to unify the entire Spiral Star Domain by force, based on geographical proximity.

On Vol Star, biological materials arrived every second, and thousands of clone soldiers and insectoid warriors emerged from bioreactors every minute. They donned uniforms, took up weapons, boarded warships and transport vessels, and embarked on their conquest under the escort of the Yafik Empire’s fleet.

Vast numbers of clone soldiers and insectoid warriors conquered one low-level civilization after another. They established a strict military administration system on the planets. The gradually expanding Yafik Empire shamelessly plundered the biological materials from these low-level planets, transporting them at maximum speed back to Vol Star to produce even more clone and insectoid soldiers.

Widespread war engulfed the Spiral Star Domain. Amidst the turmoil, Gu Xiechen, mimicking the model of Vol Star, forcibly relocated the entire native populations of several other low-level holy spheres, scattering them to different planets, and migrating a portion of the Earth immigrants from Vol Star to those worlds.

Wolf of Poison delivered the second and third waves of immigrants from Paradise Star. These immigrants never even set foot in the Spiral Star Domain. Gu Xiechen covertly took control of several low-level planets situated just outside the deliberately left-open, rugged passage, transferring all the native inhabitants there to the Spiral Star Domain, allowing the Earth Federation immigrants to secretly take root on those worlds.

Gu Xiechen further utilized the power of the 108 Star Lords to locate two habitable planets in the wilderness star sea, where he established military factories and strategic reserve bases for the Yafik Empire.

In summary, Gu Xiechen acted like a rabbit gone dizzy, frantically constructing various nests in preparation for the unexpected. A cunning rabbit has three burrows; he had set up not just three, but thirty, even ninety! After over a year of tireless effort, even if the Elder Council eventually broke into the Spiral Star Domain and destroyed every planet within it, the original citizens of the Yafik Empire and the Earth Federation immigrants could still retreat secretly into the wilderness star sea and live out their carefree days in comfort.

The horrific devastation of Earth had spurred Gu Xiechen; he would never allow such a thing to happen again. Finally, after a year and seven months of relentless work, Gu Xiechen ceased his frantic activity. He bid farewell to the reluctant Fya.Ming and led a massive merchant fleet, cheerfully setting course for the Star Alliance’s core planet, Davirmus Star.

This time, he would thoroughly muddy the waters of the Star Alliance, ensuring the Elder Council lacked the strength to pay attention...