With a faint hum, tens of thousands of crimson rays, as fine as ox hair yet several feet long, pierced the void and vanished into the three Dead Starships. Inside the vessels, tens of thousands of Yafeik Imperial control officers and soldiers were struck by the red light, their physical bodies instantly dissolving into pus and gore. Their souls drifted listlessly out of their flesh.

A single, blood-red banner, utterly silent, swept around the three Dead Starships, engulfing and rolling them up. The souls of the tens of thousands of Yafeik officers and soldiers were sucked into the banner. In moments, several demonic figures, whose forms became visible within the banner, devoured them completely. The demons vaguely seen inside the banner stretched out long tongues to lick their faces with satisfaction; these tens of thousands of powerful souls pleased them greatly.

A mass of black mist, carrying several indistinct ghostly shadows, swept past, and the blood-red banner flew back, tightly wrapping around the black mist.

Behind these ghostly shadows, a dozen Taiyi Golden Immortals, leading hundreds of Golden Immortals and over ten thousand Heavenly Immortals, surged forward on the clouds, breaking through the sole outward navigation channel of the Spiral Nebula and charging into its interior. All fixed gun emplacements and patrolling Dead Starships of the Yafeik Empire along the passage had been utterly destroyed; the souls of every soldier had become sustenance for that banner.

Nearly a hundred improved White Wing-class warships suddenly leaped out of the void ahead. Their fire control radars instantly swept over this formidable host of immortals, identifying their terrifyingly high energy readings. The friend-or-foe identification system made an immediate judgment: these powerful life forms did not belong to the Yafeik faction. The warships’ fire control systems instantly drew over ninety-nine percent of the assembled Divine Crystal energy.

The time needed for firepower preparation was about one-hundredth of a second. Before those immortals had even given the White Wing-class warships a second thought, nearly a hundred of them unleashed their strongest attacks simultaneously. The void around the hundreds of Heavenly Immortals closest to them suddenly collapsed, and a miniature black hole, radiating an ominous black light, erupted violently. The immense gravitational pull yanked these Heavenly Immortals in one by one, dragging them into the singularity.

In the blink of an eye, the black hole exploded. The hundreds of Heavenly Immortals were blasted into dust before they could even summon their protective immortal artifacts.

After delivering their full-force strike, the White Wing-class warships instantly retreated into subspace, fleeing at full power. However, the leading dozen Taiyi Golden Immortals roared in fury and humiliation. One immortal, possessing a cultivation at the initial stage of Taiyi Golden Immortal, pointed a finger, and a vibrant, tender red lotus flower, appearing vividly alive, flew from his hand. Ten thousand red rays sprayed from the stamen, haphazardly tearing the surrounding ten thousand miles of void into shreds.

The White Wing-class warships, which had just retreated into subspace, could not escape in time. Those crimson rays pierced space in pursuit. Any warship touched by the red light instantly dissolved into a wisp of blue smoke. In just two breaths, nearly a hundred warships were all destroyed.

Another indignant Taiyi Golden Immortal let out a sharp cry: “What in the worlds have these lower realm humans been doing all these years? Instead of diligently tilling the fields and weaving cloth, working from sunrise to sunset, what have they manufactured? To actually be able to injure our immortal bodies!”

The faces of the immortals were grim. There was a time, in the Primordial Ages, when the immortals looked down upon humanity from such a height; any single immortal could arbitrarily determine the fate of billions of mortals. But now, the war machines manufactured by humans in the mortal realm could actually harm beings at the Golden Immortal level. Along the path to clearing the Spiral Nebula’s only external channel, they had already lost about a hundred Golden Immortals.

After finally breaking through that heavily fortified channel, they had lost several hundred more Heavenly Immortals. In their shame and anger, the proud and arrogant Taiyi Golden Immortals reacted. A female immortal immediately brandished a golden, dazzling Hundred Flowers Roving Lantern. A cyan flame erupted from the wick, instantly reducing a nearby planet, about one hundred thousand miles in diameter, to ash.

This planet was the headquarters for the Yafeik Empire’s garrison responsible for defending that external channel. It housed over ten million garrison soldiers, more than six hundred million ordinary civilians and members of merchant guilds, and stored vast quantities of strategic resources. This female immortal acted purely out of spite. Even though her divine consciousness had registered the existence of hundreds of millions of civilians on the planet, she nonetheless unscrupulously annihilated the entire world.

Screeching alarms sounded across almost every planet in the entire Spiral Nebula.

All of the Yafeik Empire’s war machines activated at full capacity. Banruo and Mohe, who had just returned to oversee the Spiral Nebula, immediately initiated the most urgent contingency plan. They presented an official document, personally signed by Fuya Ming long ago, taking over the supreme authority of the entire Yafeik Empire.

Wherever the contingent of immortals passed, all planetary administrators respectfully blocked the path of the clouds with transport vessels of all sizes, awaiting them. The administrators’ demeanor was humble and obsequious. Inside the transport vessels were vast amounts of mundane treasures like gold, silver, and jewelry, which the immortals disdained, though occasionally mixed in were a few unrefined innate materials and ordinary high-grade metals.

When the immortals inquired about the origin of these innate materials and fine metals, everyone simultaneously named Huashan in the Wol Nebula. They said these materials were being collected at the demand of the strange people residing within Mount Huashan!

The few writhing ghostly shadows within the black mist cackled ominously: “I told you there was something peculiar about that Mount Huashan. What are you still hesitating for?”

The dozen leading Taiyi Golden Immortals exchanged glances and simultaneously drew their communication talismans, activating them with immortal power and casting them toward the path they had come from. Streaks of long rainbows, varying in color, flashed and instantly vanished without a trace.

The female immortal who had ruthlessly destroyed a planet impatiently rushed out of the formation and flew forward: “How could we not believe Senior Ghost Sage? But no matter what benefits we find up there, it will all be ours, nothing to do with you, Senior.”

The Two-Hearted Ghost Sage within the black mist chuckled, “Fairy Yu, rest assured. I, old ghost, am the most trustworthy. I only wish to reclaim my true body; I have no interest in these worldly benefits.”

The immortals’ flight speed abruptly increased by nearly a factor of ten. The planetary administrators along the route could no longer keep up with their movements. They quickly reported this new development to the Supreme Command Center of the Yafeik Empire, and all the data was fed back to Planet Tael at the fastest possible speed.

Although the immortals flew with exceptional speed, their passage left fluctuations of immortal power spreading out. Relying on the large number of reconnaissance satellites and detection equipment densely deployed throughout the Spiral Nebula, the general movements of the immortals were still grasped by those within Mount Huashan.

The Two-Hearted Ghost Sage’s clone technique differed from other immortals; due to the esoteric nature of his cultivation method, the connection between his clones and his true body was not as close as with other immortals. Although his true body had visited Mount Huashan before, this clone, leading the way, still took a full two months to locate Planet Wol. He observed the surroundings for a long time before confirming this was the place his true body had once been.

Stomping his foot, the Ghost Sage unleashed a column of ghostly fire, cleaving down toward the sky above Mount Huashan. His unpleasant, screeching howls filled the air: “Old man Yuanluo, Daoist Evil Dragon, where is my true body? Return my true body, or don’t force me to say things I shouldn’t!”

A ghostly fire, a thousand feet long and entirely ghastly green, suddenly encountered a faint silver light blocking it above Mount Huashan. The foul-smelling ghostly fire burst against the silver light, scattering countless viscous fireballs the size of fighting bulls in all directions. Correspondingly, beams of silver radiance sprayed out from above Mount Huashan, perfectly enveloping every fireball. With a sound like thunder, all the ghostly fires were instantly annihilated.

Two clouds of green vapor shot out from within Mount Huashan. Two young Daoists, with refined and handsome features, emerged from the mist, gazing at the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage and the contingent of immortals high above, shouting sternly: “Our Sect Master Grandpa is not within the mountain. If you seniors are looking for our Sect Master, please wait a few more days!”

The Two-Hearted Ghost Sage suddenly shrieked, countless ghostly shadows flashing within the black mist. He roared: “Wait a few more days? This Sage cannot wait! What has happened to my true body? You must give this Sage an explanation! Why, why does this Sage feel such a profound dread?”

The two Daoist acolytes smiled sweetly at the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage, mocking him lightly: “If Senior wishes to know the current state of his true body, why not investigate it yourself?”

“Uh…” The Ghost Sage was momentarily speechless. His true body had lost contact with his clone only after entering Human Source Star. If anything had happened to his true body, nearly seven-tenths of his countless years of arduous cultivation would be wasted. All his clones combined amounted to only the cultivation of an initial-stage Great Golden Immortal! Before figuring out what had truly befallen his main body, how could he dare investigate Human Source Star again?

Glancing back at the immortals following closely behind him, the Ghost Sage said through gritted teeth: “It’s up to you all to take action!”

The dozen or so Taiyi Golden Immortals who had followed the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage all laughed. The female immortal holding the Roving Lantern sneered: “Senior, rest assured. If there are benefits here, we certainly won’t let them go. But if Senior has merely lied to trick us and our Master for the sake of your own true body, then no matter how famous Senior is across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, the consequences will be dire.”

Suddenly, several strands of ghastly green, sinister light shot from the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage’s eyes, illuminating the female immortal’s face. He roared: “Woman, if you do not wish to disappear suddenly while traveling through the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths in the future, then shut your mouth for this Sage!”

The previously haughty female immortal abruptly realized what a terrifying demon she was facing. Even if his true body had encountered some mishap, he was not someone she could afford to offend. She meekly and repeatedly apologized to the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage, cautiously retreating a great distance behind him.

Perhaps to show her apology to the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage, this female immortal fiercely took the initiative, stepping onto a cyan cloud and charging into Planet Tael. She arrogantly shouted at the two Daoist acolytes: “Fairy Baiyuan, under the Heavenly Venerable of the Xuanji Palace lineage of the Linghua Fanfu Heaven, is here! Why haven’t you lowered the mountain protection formation!”

The two Daoist acolytes stared blankly at Fairy Baiyuan, asking with confusion: “Why should we lower the formation?”

Fairy Baiyuan let out a few cold laughs. Holding her head high, she snorted contemptuously from her nostrils, spitting out two jets of cold air: “We are true immortals from the Upper Realm. Your Mount Huashan lineage harbors evil intentions and has schemed against the true body of Senior Two-Hearted Ghost Sage—this is a heinous crime. We have merely been ordered to assist Senior Two-Hearted Ghost Sage in investigating Mount Huashan.”

The two acolytes glanced at each other. The one on the left sneered: “Does Senior know that our Mount Huashan lineage belongs to the Yuanluo Palace?”

Fairy Baiyuan impatiently interrupted the acolyte: “So what if it is Yuanluo Palace? Senior Two-Hearted Ghost Sage said—”

The Two-Hearted Ghost Sage roared impatiently: “Fairy Baiyuan, are you courting death? If you’re going to attack, hurry up! Stop chattering endlessly with these little bull-nosed novices. If you fancy their tender skin and pure virgin bodies, you can capture them later and enjoy them!”

Fairy Baiyuan’s face turned pale. She dared not utter another word. She hastily raised the Roving Lantern in her hand. A cyan fire dragon erupted from the wick, carrying overwhelming heat waves and swirling toward the two acolytes. This flame was incredibly domineering; as soon as it erupted from the wick, it scorched the nearby sea around Mount Huashan until it dried up, set the forest trees ablaze, and cracked the rocks, turning them into dust.

The eyes of the two acolytes turned cold. They shouted in unison: “Audacious slut, you actually dare to be presumptuous!”

Without forming seals or chanting incantations, the two acolytes instantly teleported before Fairy Baiyuan.

They both exhaled sharply and threw out two small, tender fists, aiming precisely and fatally at the two prominent mounds on Fairy Baiyuan’s chest.

With two muffled pa-pa sounds, Fairy Baiyuan’s protective battle garment was shredded to pieces, and the tender flesh on her chest sprayed blood and gore, leaving two inverted sea bowls on her sternum! The two acolytes grunted; their two punches nearly punched clean through Fairy Baiyuan’s body. The intense pain nearly made her faint. She had never dreamed that these two clean and innocent-looking Daoist acolytes would be such vicious fiends! She looked at the two small fists penetrating her sternum and let out a piercing, desperate scream.

A mature woman values her figure and appearance above all else, especially a female immortal with the cultivation of a Taiyi Golden Immortal like Fairy Baiyuan! Fairy Baiyuan usually pampered her physical body to a pathological degree; even losing a single strand of hair could trigger a murderous rampage born of her rage. But now, the two acolytes had nearly destroyed the parts of her body she took the most pride in as a woman!

With trembling limbs and convulsing muscles, Fairy Baiyuan wailed discordantly. Her eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.

Hysterical, Fairy Baiyuan spat a mouthful of vital essence onto the Roving Lantern. The bean-sized flame on the wick suddenly expanded to the size of a human head, and faint sounds of wind and thunder could be heard emanating from the light. In her rage, Fairy Baiyuan was prepared to self-destruct her most prized ancient immortal artifact, obtained from an ancient Golden Immortal's grotto, even if it meant sacrificing tens of thousands of years of future diligent refinement, just to kill the two acolytes before her.

However, the two acolytes revealed extremely strange smiles. Their bodies suddenly swelled rapidly, their small Daoist robes being torn to shreds by their sudden expansion. Their skin turned a bizarre purplish-black, countless scales emerged from beneath their skin, massive flesh wings sprouted from their backs, and their heads—good heavens, their heads transformed into strange dragon heads!

In the blink of an eye, two monstrous beasts with three heads and four wings, entirely pitch black, appeared before Fairy Baiyuan.

Each of the two monsters had one foreclaw deeply embedded in Fairy Baiyuan’s body. As soon as their transformation was complete, they savagely pulled their claws apart. Fairy Baiyuan let out a shrill scream. Pitiable, her physical body, cultivated painstakingly over countless years, split open horizontally, intestines and viscera scattering everywhere, large chunks of bloody flesh flying far away.

“Jie jie…” Strange laughter emerged from the mouths of the two monsters. They glared with wide, crimson eyes at the dumbfounded Two-Hearted Ghost Sage and the other immortals, then opened their massive mouths and sucked ferociously, swallowing all of Fairy Baiyuan’s flesh and blood. They didn't even chew before swallowing the mouthfuls of gore.

Fairy Baiyuan’s soul fled quickly, and the Roving Lantern she had activated with her vital essence became her means of escape. The suddenly enlarged ball of light enveloped her soul, which frantically transformed into a streak of cyan light rushing toward the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage.

Fairy Baiyuan shrieked, desperately begging the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage for rescue, and demanding that the Taiyi Golden Immortals seek revenge on her behalf, considering the reputation of the Xuanji Palace.

The Two-Hearted Ghost Sage’s several clones had sinister light flickering in their eyes, and large strings of saliva dripped constantly from his jowls.

The other dozen or so Taiyi Golden Immortals’ mouths curled up as they watched Fairy Baiyuan’s physical body destroyed. Some even looked greedily at her soul trapped within the light, their hands already forming malicious restrictions specifically designed to capture souls and spirits.

Before the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage or these immortals could react, a neck hundreds of miles long suddenly extended from within Mount Huashan, topped by a gigantic dragon head the size of several dozen li. It opened a mouth as black as lacquer, frighteningly enormous, which also emitted an intensely foul, fetid breath. Like lightning, it snatched the escaping soul of Fairy Baiyuan. “Awu! It swallowed her whole in one gulp.”

Heaven knows how many years it had been since that dragon head last brushed its teeth. When it opened its mouth to prey, the stench was so overwhelming that even the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage, accustomed to dealing with zombies and ghosts, nearly fainted. The flying swords and magic treasures ridden by the nearly ten thousand Heavenly Immortals were slightly inferior in quality. The flying swords, magic treasures, and protective garments below the standard of high-grade immortal artifacts were all dimmed by the stench emanating from the huge mouth, almost exploding.

“What a vicious beast!” The Two-Hearted Ghost Sage was furious. He rubbed his hands together, and several hundred black skull heads the size of water vats appeared around his body. These grinning skulls, looking frighteningly alive, spewed thick smoke and ghostly fire, charging toward the giant dragon like meteors.

But the dragon merely grinned at the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage and the others, let out a satisfied belch, and then quickly retracted, retreating along with the monstrous beasts formed from the two acolytes back into the dense white fog above Mount Huashan.

The hundreds of skull heads were blocked by a vast expanse of silver haze before they could touch the dragon. A mournful, strange howl sounded from within the skulls, and they all exploded one after another.

Columns of pitch-black fire shot straight toward the heavens. Hundreds of black fire pillars rose simultaneously, and the clouds of fire and black smoke swept outward, spreading over tens of thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. The area around Mount Huashan shook violently; hundreds of peaks, large and small, were reduced to powder. Everywhere not protected by Mount Huashan’s protection formation, the underlying strata within a hundred thousand miles were cleanly shaved off by one layer.

The Two-Hearted Ghost Sage roared in anger, pointing at Mount Huashan and cursing it wildly.

Yet, there was not a sound from within Mount Huashan, only increasingly dense mist drifting out from the mountain. The mist gradually spread, eventually enveloping the entire Planet Wol.

Furious, the Two-Hearted Ghost Sage yelled sternly at the Taiyi Golden Immortals behind him: “Fairy Baiyuan has perished. This is a disgrace to us all. What are you waiting for? Join forces and break through this Mount Huashan! I will not take a single blade of grass inside.”

The dozen or so Taiyi Golden Immortals exchanged glances, shouted in unison, and led their subordinates to attack Mount Huashan.

Before long, the sound of dense thunder and the roar of wind and fire began to emanate from Mount Huashan.