The continent below shuddered violently. A groan, too heavy for sound to bear, rose from the depths of the molten core. The oceans surrounding the continent suddenly whipped up into colossal waves, soaring thousands of meters high, their crests churning as they surged outward. Centered on Dukaat’s body, dozens of fissures, thousands of kilometers long, tore across the entire landmass. The cracks widened and deepened, and in the span of a few breaths, the massive landmass collapsed entirely. Mountains and rivers vanished, and the surrounding seawater rushed in, turning the area below into utter chaos.

The battle of the Heavenly Immortals inflicted devastating damage on the planet’s surface. Gu Xichen watched the rapidly disintegrating landmass and suddenly understood why the Star Alliance referred to Heavenly Immortals as Peak-level existences. Once one achieved the Heavenly Immortal realm, they stood at the pinnacle of all mortal beings, capable of dictating the life and death of billions with a mere gesture. This was the true meaning of 'pinnacle.'

Not allowing Dukaat a chance to escape the collapsing land and the colossal vortex, Gu Xichen pointed a finger. A vast, sweeping True Essence Splitting Light Sword Qi, hundreds of li long, whistled out, rapidly piercing through Dukaat’s vital joints. Dukaat let out a desperate, agonizing scream. He struggled, beating his wings to fly, but with over a dozen holes punched through the base of his wings, how could he possibly generate the necessary lift? He could only twist his body helplessly, watching as a dozen Boundless Divine Chains, shimmering with seven-colored light, descended upon him.

The thick Boundless Divine Chains drilled into the wounds piercing Dukaat’s body, binding him tightly like a giant rice dumpling. The Ten Heavenly Lords commanded with a sharp cry, and with synchronized force, they hauled Dukaat up roughly. Talismans, emitting green, red, black, and yellow light from ten different directions, flew over and sealed every vital aperture on Dukaat’s body, severing his exchange of spiritual energy with the outside world. Several of these talismans relentlessly drained the energy within him, leaving him progressively weaker and more powerless.

Looking at the tightly bound Dukaat, Gu Xichen shook his head with resignation and solemnly ordered everyone to return to Paradise Star, instructing them to hand Dukaat over to the Federal Academy of Sciences for examination, to discover precisely what had transpired within his body and what entity had caused the mutation in his physique and mind.

Calculating the time, this monumental battle with Dukaat had consumed fourteen months. Contests between Heavenly Immortals were inherently protracted affairs; even battles lasting several centuries were not uncommon. However, the gains Gu Xichen had amassed in these mere fourteen months were immense. After all, few beings in this universe could inflict such severe damage upon Gu Xichen’s physical body as Dukaat had. Only sufficient grievous injury could continuously advance Gu Xichen’s Primordial Yellow Immortal Body.

The group returned to Paradise Star, where Du Lang was already waiting in the office, holding various reports from the intelligence department.

All the Romanians had vanished as if evaporated. Apart from the millions of servant soldiers and the small contingent of Romanian warriors they left on a few planets as decoys, the rest of the Romanians had disappeared without a trace. To mask their escape, they had even left most of their ancient super-motherships in the space docks, fleeing only aboard a few ordinary transport vessels. The Earth Federation’s reconnaissance ships had probed a vast expanse of space over the past fourteen months, yet they had no clue where the Romanians had gone.

“Can someone tell me why they fled?”

Du Lang looked at Gu Xichen, utterly bewildered.

Gu Xichen sat opposite Du Lang, gritting his teeth. He held a tortoise shell in both hands, slowly performing the art of divination. Suddenly, the tortoise shell disintegrated almost instantly. The intense heat and pressure generated by the shell’s vaporization nearly blasted Du Lang’s office skyward. Fortunately, Gu Xichen reacted with incredible speed, clapping his palms together and annihilating the massive energy released by the shell’s collapse within his grasp. Even so, Du Lang was thrown backward by a surge of violent airflow, slamming hard against the floor-to-ceiling window behind him.

“What was that?”

Du Lang staggered up from the floor, staring at Gu Xichen, dumbfounded.

“An extremely ominous sign.”

Gu Xichen brushed off the faint residue of tortoise shell dust from his hands and replied plainly. This ominous sign was even more perilous than the omen preceding the destruction of Earth. The entire shell had vaporized instantly, indicating the extreme ferocity of the enemy’s approach. Yet, considering the strength of his current forces, Gu Xichen could not fathom why such a dire omen had manifested. Although his cultivation was only at the second grade of Heavenly Immortal, his actual combat power was equivalent to at least a sixth-grade Heavenly Immortal, or a Seven-Luminaries Mighty Evil Heaven.

Coupled with Peng Hua at the first grade of Heavenly Immortal, Siren and Aredia at the third grade, and the Ten Heavenly Lords—who, despite being only first grade, possessed enough power to instantly kill any immortal below Golden Immortal, and even trap and kill early-stage Heavenly Immortals—this collective strength did not appear weak even against the Star Alliance.

Furthermore, considering the one hundred Death Star vessels he had conned from the Star Alliance, along with the production lines for the White Wing class battleships, what else could possibly threaten him?

Glancing at Du Lang, the two made a decision almost simultaneously: “Withdraw a portion of the population back to Earth, and then make our final stand against them here on Paradise Star.”

They laughed heartily and slapped their palms together forcefully. Du Lang immediately busied himself with arranging the evacuation of Paradise Star’s populace. Gu Xichen summoned the cultivators of the Nine Nether Dao, the Kunlun Sect, and the Zhongnan lineage, instructing them to immediately pack all their belongings and bring everything back to Earth. Earth, resurrected by the Great Divine Power of the Prostitute Empress, was bound to possess unimaginable wonders. According to Siren, Earth, having merged with a portion of the Xirang soil, had transformed into a genuine Blessed Grotto-Heaven, inherently possessing marvelous defensive formations capable of ensuring everyone’s safety. After an exhausting fourteen months, Gu Xichen and Du Lang finally managed to complete all the necessary arrangements. Thanks to Du Lang’s efforts, the forty Death Star vessels under Paradise Star’s jurisdiction were fully staffed with the required psychics and elite soldiers. The production lines for the White Wing class battleships had also been transported to the newly reborn Earth, assembled in a top-secret underground cavern, and were already operating at full capacity.

With the immense mineral resources previously mined by Xiao Xiao, these White Wing class battleships could be produced at full speed for thousands of years.

Having completed these tasks, Gu Xichen focused all his attention on Dukaat.

Dukaat, imprisoned in the Federal Academy of Sciences’ top-secret laboratory, continued to unleash powerful resistance despite being suppressed by the Boundless Divine Chains and the talismans. Research on him had reached a deadlock; even the most elite biologists at the Academy could not decipher the changes occurring within his body. Their only achievement was discovering the modifications within Dukaat’s gene chain.

Dukaat’s original gene chain was the Romanian six-helix structure. However, countless foreign gene segments had now been haphazardly inserted, integrating perfectly with his original chain as if they had always been part of the same entity. Amidst the helical six-strand structure, there were now three straight, bizarre gene chains linked by countless filaments.

These three chains contained incredible power. The biologists at the Academy once extracted a few of Dukaat’s blood cells and stimulated those three straight chains with high-energy lasers. The resulting energy surge completely destroyed a high-density core laboratory. The energy contained within those few blood cells reduced a mountain, ten thousand meters high and several hundred kilometers in circumference, to ash.

Research on Dukaat remained stalled. Gu Xichen could not solve the problem either. All he could do was visit the excessively energetic Dukaat, who never seemed to tire, daily to draw blood. Following Peng Hua’s advice, since Gu Xichen had predicted a ‘bloody disaster’ for Dukaat, draining ten or eight tons of blood—a truly significant disaster—should be enough to offset any future peril. However, all the blood drawn was incinerated by Gu Xichen using the Sun Crow Heavenly Fire. He perceived the greed in Peng Hua’s eyes and dared not let Peng Hua come into contact with this bizarre black blood. Who knew if Peng Hua might be transformed into the same kind of monster as Dukaat?

Everything seemed eerily calm. The residents of Paradise Star had been evacuated, and all critical departments had returned to Earth. Paradise Star’s defense systems were fully activated, and Gu Xichen and everyone remaining awaited the unknown attackers. According to Gu Xichen’s divination, the attackers were already close.

Finally, the day arrived. A fleet, composed of over eight hundred Star Alliance first-class warships and more than seven thousand transport and auxiliary vessels, jumped into existence near Paradise Star.

This fleet stealthily approached the night side of Paradise Star. All vessels simultaneously dove beneath the planet’s atmosphere. Nearly a hundred million soldiers poured haphazardly from the holds. They took deep breaths of Paradise Star’s fresh air, fragrant with flowers and herbs, before rapidly forming ranks and beginning to construct various fortifications and defensive structures on the planet’s second-largest continent. Vast amounts of war matériel were unloaded, including millions of long-range ballistic missiles that the Earth Federation had decommissioned nearly a century ago—many tipped with nuclear warheads!

Paradise Star’s defense system was rendered deaf and blind at this moment. Six hours after the fleet from the Aimei Duchy had landed, no one on Paradise Star was yet aware that the enemy had infiltrated right under their noses. Reconnaissance satellites hovered above the fleet in high orbit, but they transmitted no alerts back to the Paradise Star command center.

It wasn't until Gu Xichen completed his overnight cultivation and habitually swept his divine consciousness across the entire planet that he was stunned to discover the presence of the fleet!

Before Gu Xichen could issue an alarm, the Aimei Duchy launched hundreds of thousands of ballistic missiles toward various military bases of the Earth Federation on Paradise Star. Countless long, fiery trails ascended into the high atmosphere. Nearly a million conventional warheads drilled down at high speed, then lightly passed through the atmosphere, striking the seven largest Federation military bases with brutal intent.

The automated defense systems of the Federation bases showed no reaction; they watched helplessly as millions of missiles with synchronized warheads descended. Innumerable high-explosive warheads pulverized the Federation bases into dust. Fire, explosions, and earth-shattering tremors erupted everywhere. The seven largest military bases of the Federation on Paradise Star were paralyzed almost instantly. Vast stores of weaponry in the warehouses were instantly destroyed. Seventy percent of the Federation’s regular garrison forces were wiped out in the surprise attack, and over three hundred thousand Federation soldiers perished in the assault.

Gu Xichen watched, grinding his teeth, as hundreds of thousands of Federation soldiers were vaporized in the explosions. He roared in furious indignation.

“Xiao Xiao! What are you trying to do?”

The only entity capable of allowing the enemy to infiltrate Paradise Star as if it were an open field, completely disabling the automated defense systems of the Federation bases—and rendering the energy shields, which should have easily repelled these primitive conventional warheads, completely inert—was Xiao Xiao. Gu Xichen could think of no one else capable of such actions.

His divine consciousness instantly swept his surroundings. Gu Xichen discovered a massive mechanized army attacking the guards protecting the central laboratory of the Academy, where Dukaat and Lily were held. The guards were overwhelmed and forced to retreat. This incredibly powerful mechanized army advanced like a hot knife through butter, storming the laboratory and reaching the vicinity of Dukaat’s cell.

He slammed his palm onto the red alarm button signifying the highest emergency status and ordered the on-duty Federation officers to sever all electronic and intelligent systems. All operations were to be conducted using manual calculation commands. Then, he flashed away, instantly teleporting to the exterior of the laboratory where Dukaat was confined.

The True Essence Splitting Light Sword whistled fiercely through the void, slicing thousands of ferocious, armed robots into fragments, revealing a lively metal monkey, no more than three feet tall, standing behind them. Gu Xichen glared at the metal monkey and fiercely demanded, “Xiao Xiao, what are you doing? Do you know how many people your actions have killed?”

Xiao Xiao spread his hands and spoke with chilling calmness, “I had no choice, Boss. This is the only way to threaten you! I can cause more Earth Federation officers and soldiers to die! If you don’t want greater casualties, then hand Xiao and Lily over to me! I swear, I will take them and leave this place far away. I won’t let them become your enemies.”

Gu Xichen watched Xiao Xiao with cold eyes. A sword light of black and white subtly flickered behind him, radiating a chilling, murderous aura.

Xiao Xiao cautiously retreated a few steps and shouted sternly, “Don’t force me, Boss. You know my power! If you don’t release Dukaat and Lily, I will let everything be destroyed along with us. Not just the people here on Paradise Star, but also the White Wing production lines sent to Earth. Their self-detonation is powerful enough to kill everyone you evacuated to Earth.”

He paused, then continued, “And the Yafic Empire too. I have several clones stationed there; they will also react appropriately. They will destroy everything they can.”

After a moment of silence, Gu Xichen waved his hand, resolutely stating, “Take them and leave. I can give you one warship. But Xiao Xiao, what you are doing will harm Xiao!”

Xiao Xiao shrugged dismissively and stated lightly, “It doesn’t matter. I only know that you are my friend, and Xiao is my brother. He is my kin, and he shares the same life signature as me—the signature of electronic life that you cannot comprehend. Therefore, I must save him. Otherwise, I will be very lonely.”

Gu Xichen swept his sword around, cleaving open the meter-thick metal door, revealing the laboratory where Dukaat was imprisoned.

There was no more need for words. Xiao Xiao cautiously directed several robots into the laboratory to retrieve Dukaat and Lily and escort them rapidly onto a White Wing class battleship. Xiao Xiao himself boarded the warship, glanced back at Gu Xichen, and nodded, promising, “Once we are safe, I will destroy all my clones.”

Gu Xichen merely pursed his lips without a sound, a thin stream of blood slowly tracing a path from the corner of his mouth.

Three hundred thousand Federation soldiers—essentially, they died directly by Xiao Xiao’s hand. Gu Xichen desperately wanted to cleave Xiao Xiao into pieces with one stroke, but he could not.

This monster controlled the life and death of so many people. Gu Xichen secretly vowed that he would never trust any outsider again.

The White Wing battleship ascended into the sky and instantly vanished into subspace.

Gu Xichen clenched his fists tightly. Suddenly, he roared toward the sky, his cry filled with tyrannical energy, shaking the clouds above until they shattered layer by layer. He transformed into a streak of crystalline light and shot skyward.

Above the Aimei Duchy army, the clouds suddenly churned and rolled. Countless black lightning bolts writhed within the cloud cover, and a dull thunder shook the ground, causing countless soldiers to fall and roll helplessly. Vast sheets of electrical energy poured down. Tens of thousands of fighter jets that had just taken off suddenly spun wildly and plummeted to the ground. The planes, loaded with ammunition and fuel, exploded upon impact, triggering a chain reaction with the massive stockpiles of munitions and fuel piled on the ground. Within a radius of nearly a thousand kilometers, the air was filled with the deafening roar of explosions and towering walls of fire. Countless Aimei warriors were incinerated in the flames, while a few who were lucky enough to be only burning staggered and ran wildly, igniting even more ammunition and fuel.

It was an inferno of hellfire. The Aimei Duchy was thrown into utter confusion by this sudden strike, and their entire command structure instantly collapsed.

Just as Gu Xichen hovered in the clouds, continuously bombarding the ground with lightning, a sinister laugh echoed from behind him.

“These weak little things don't even need you to lift a finger!”

Thousands of figures, flickering with faint blue electrical light, swept past Gu Xichen. Thousands of Romanian warriors rose from a deep pit in the ground, laughing as they charged toward the stunned Aimei army. High-energy particle streams, high-energy lasers, and mental shocks—the classic Romanian methods of attack—whistled out, sweeping across the Aimei soldiers like a tide. A few thousand high-level Romanian warriors forced the Aimei soldiers back repeatedly. Before long, the Aimei forces were routed, suffering devastating losses.

Where had these Romanians come from? Gu Xichen realized with sudden fury that he had once again fallen into a Romanian trap!

The Grand Duke of Aimei had already recorded everything happening on the battlefield and transmitted it via long-range communication systems.

In the footage recorded by the Grand Duke of Aimei, the figures of the Romanians were strikingly clear.

In subspace, more fleets accelerated their approach.