Among the Three Realms, none can rival the Guardians of the Heavens when it comes to the exquisite nature of illusionary arts. And the Guardians of the Heavens are born from the residual bloodlines of the three hundred and sixty million primeval Demon Gods. They worship the Primordial Celestial Demon, from whom they learned all manner of illusionary techniques and demonic arts. The Primordial Celestial Demon is truly the foremost master of illusionary arts and demonic power in this entire universe.

Gu Xiechen slowly stepped forward, cupping his hands in a bow towards the three Elders of the True Yang Gate. His long hair above his head stirred slightly as the Primordial Celestial Demon, unseen, unheard, and without consciousness, unleashed an ultimate demonic art, bringing forth a host of illusions. Those from the True Yang Gate present witnessed Gu Xiechen and his three companions kneeling respectfully on the ground, kowtowing an unknown number of times before the three Elders. The most terrifying aspect of the Primordial Celestial Demon's illusionary demonic art lay in its perfect blend of truth and falsehood.

The illusory figures of the four, conjured by him, kowtowed incessantly, shaking the ground with resounding thuds, causing shallow depressions where their foreheads struck the earth. The foreheads of the four figures were also bloody and lacerated. When the illusion finally dissipated, and the three satisfied Elders of the True Yang Gate reached out to help up the illusory figures of Gu Wuchen and the others, the ground indeed bore shallow indentations, and the foreheads of the four figures genuinely showed broken skin with streaks of bright red blood flowing down.

Even at the cultivation levels of Guohua, Siren, and Mahā Sages, they were unaware of when they had been ensnared, not understanding how the illusory kowtows and bleeding conjured by the Primordial Celestial Demon could result in damage to their own foreheads.

Even Gu Wuchen himself only felt a burning pain on his forehead, followed by the sight of blood, and he couldn't discern precisely how the Primordial Celestial Demon’s magic had achieved this. He could only inwardly sigh, acknowledging that the Primordial Celestial Demon was indeed a monstrosity born from the resentment of three hundred and sixty million primeval Demon Gods, an incarnation of the flesh and blood of so many ancient deities. His profound and mysterious demonic arts were truly terrifying.

The three Elders present from the True Yang Gate—Yang Shan, Yang Hai, and Yang Yue—were also unconsciously bewitched by a soul-stirring magic restriction within the Primordial Celestial Demon's illusion, suddenly growing to adore Gu Xiechen and the other three to the core, feeling them as close and dear as long-lost blood relatives.

Consequently, the three of them comforted Gu Wuchen and the others with gentle and delighted expressions, promising to wholeheartedly cultivate them.

Gu Xiechen and Guohua became disciples of Yang Shan; Siren’s master was Yang Hai; and Yang Yue took Mahā as his own. The three great Elders thus divided the excellent talents painstakingly found by the Flame General, leaving not the slightest opportunity for the other Elders of the True Yang Gate.

As for how the other five Elders of the True Yang Gate, along with the Gate Master and numerous others, would deal with Yang Shan and the other two—how they tried and failed to force them to give up two such prodigious disciples—and how the three formed an ironclad alliance to resist the pressure from the other Elders and the Gate Master, steadfastly refusing to relinquish the authority over teaching these three—this was an internal dispute within the upper echelon of the True Yang Gate, which Gu Wuchen was too lazy to concern himself with.

In short, the four survivors from Black Flame City—Gu Xiechen and the others—found sanctuary within the True Yang Gate, formally becoming the direct disciples of the three great Elders. After resting for several days at the True Yang Gate, on an auspicious day, the Gate Master of the True Yang Gate personally presided over the ceremony to impart the True Yang Gate’s Pure Yang True Scripture to the four of them.

During the Scripture Impartation Ceremony, upon the appearance of the four, the multitude of Elders and masters from the True Yang Gate naturally gasped in admiration at their innate quality, but they also heavily criticized Yang Shan and the others for taking advantage to secretly claim them. The three—Yang Shan, Yang Hai, and Yang Yue—merely stroked their beards and smiled, looking around proudly and smugly, without a shred of shame or impropriety showing.

On the very night they received the Pure Yang True Scripture, Gu Wuchen and the other three did something that startled the entire True Yang Gate leadership into shock, followed by wild ecstasy. The cultivation methods of this universe were extremely simple, even crude.

They did not cultivate spiritual attainment or the primordial spirit; they purely relied on their naturally formidable physical bodies and exceptional innate qualities to forcibly absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper themselves, continuously strengthening their cultivation base, thus forcefully advancing their realms.

The secret codex of the True Yang Gate, the Pure Yang True Scripture, was exactly such a text. The brief summary of several thousand characters explained how to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, how to circulate it along a few meridians of the Pure Yang attribute, and how to store the absorbed energy in the Dantian—this was the core mystery of the Pure Yang True Scripture.

As for the other hundreds of thousands of characters in the Pure Yang True Scripture, they were the cultivation insights of successive masters of the True Yang Gate. Some contained genuine profound meanings of the Great Dao, having grasped a sliver of the mystery of Pure Yang Qi; others were purely the result of reckless guessing, and all were preserved within the text.

For instance, the most renowned master of the True Yang Gate thirty thousand years ago, the Blazing Sun True Lord, proposed a marvelous lightning technique, the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art, which described how to make the cultivated Pure Yang Qi highly condense and compress within the meridians, causing it to rapidly spiral and erupt from the palm to injure an opponent!

Yet, in the three millennia since, aside from the Blazing Sun True Lord himself successfully mastering this devilish lightning art, the thousands of True Yang Gate disciples who tried to imitate him were all left with mangled limbs by the highly condensed, highly compressed, spiraling, erupting thunder force. Some were even blown apart, their bodies exploding. Over time, the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art was marked with a prohibition against learning it.

But this is where the straightforward and coarse nature of the natives of this universe manifests: since the forbidden technique was banned, why not simply shelve it? Instead, they meticulously listed it among the cultivation manuals passed down to newly initiated disciples—wasn't this tantamount to inviting death?

Stroking the thick volume of the Pure Yang True Scripture, Gu Xiechen, seated cross-legged in the cultivation cave allotted to him in the Cloud Ridge, was truly at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

As a supplement: because Gu Wuchen and the other three possessed extraordinarily high innate talent, being rare gems of quality, they were immediately assigned four adjacent, secluded cultivation caves upon entering the True Yang Gate, and each had seven or eight young servants attending to them—their treatment could hardly be called poor.

Furthermore, these four caves were situated directly over the core spiritual nexus of Pure Yang Mountain. The rich, dense Pure Yang Qi constantly surged up from the ground. The concentration of Pure Yang Qi here was an astonishing one hundred thousand times greater than the spiritual energy concentration in the Grand Luo Heaven, the highest point of the Thirty-Three Heavens! It was truly an unparalleled treasure land for cultivation.

After casually flipping through the Pure Yang True Scripture, Gu Wuchen needed little mental effort to revise and perfect the text to suit his own cultivation. Frankly, the techniques within the Pure Yang True Scripture were exceedingly crude. If the physiques of the people in this world weren't freakishly strong, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth wasn't exceedingly abundant, it would likely have been impossible to even reach the late stage of the Qi Condensation realm in their original universe. However, adapting to circumstances, in order to hide within the True Yang Gate, he had no choice but to make do.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Xiechen pointed his hands towards the empty space in all directions, summoning. A massive suction force suddenly arose in his Dantian. The rolling, crimson Pure Yang Qi, tinged with a faint milky white, roared towards his body, flowing into him through thirty-six major acupoints. After being refined by six meridians, it transformed into a surge of pure and harmonious Yang energy, slowly storing itself in his Dantian.

In just a quarter of an hour, the heaven and earth spiritual energy outside Gu Wuchen’s cave fluctuated violently. A fierce wind rose from the ground, swirling crimson light that rapidly circled the cave. After half an hour, Gu Wuchen’s cave was enveloped by a pillar of crimson wind, a hundred miles high and several miles thick. A colossal amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy was continuously sucked into the wind pillar, then transformed into an extremely compressed red airflow that shot directly into the cave. Then, after another quarter of an hour, a wind pillar erupted above Guohua’s cave. This was immediately followed by a massive vortex appearing out of thin air above Siren’s cave.

A strange change occurred outside Mahā’s cave: the heaven and earth spiritual energy around remained motionless, but his cave suddenly sank three inches into the ground. The spiritual nexus beneath churned violently, and the Pure Yang Qi, like earth dragons, continuously drilled into Mahā’s cave. The Gate Master of the True Yang Gate, Yang Yuansheng, and the eight great Elders were all alarmed and emerged from their respective caves to observe.

Seeing the anomalies occurring at the caves of Gu Wuchen and the other three, everyone nodded with pleased smiles, feeling that the True Yang Gate had gained four extraordinary members.

When other disciples entered the True Yang Gate to cultivate, because their physical bodies were powerful enough to endure rough handling, they absorbed a massive amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy, resulting in various phenomena. However, none displayed a spectacle as grand as that of Gu Xiechen and the other three.

The most outstanding disciple of the True Yang Gate in recent generations was Yang Wusheng. When he joined the True Yang Gate five hundred years ago, the commotion he caused during his first cultivation of the Pure Yang True Scripture was less than one-tenth of what Gu Xiechen and the others produced. This showed that the four's innate talent was at least ten times that of Yang Wusheng! This was terrifying.

Yang Wusheng achieved the Golden Core in ten years after entering the sect. How long would it take for Gu Xiechen and the other three, with ten times his potential, to condense their Golden Cores? Yang Wusheng clapped his hands and laughed heartily, "Increase vigilance! Mobilize elite disciples to guard them."

Elite mountain-guarding disciples of the True Yang Gate were dispatched, completely surrounding the caves of Gu Xiechen and the other three, lest any spy from the Hidden Yin Sect infiltrate and sabotage their cultivation. The first cultivation session after entry was extremely important: how many meridians were broken open by the Pure Yang Qi, how many were stabilized, and the extent to which the meridians could be expanded all determined their future achievements and cultivation speed.

Time passed day by day. After their first cultivation session, none of the four—Gu Xiechen and the others—made another appearance. Soon, a year had passed.

Inside Gu Xiechen, inspecting with his divine sense into the vast and boundless Dantian, a Golden Core the size of an ordinary water vat spun rapidly. The Golden Core was entirely composed of Pure Yang Qi, without the slightest impurity. Crimson flames quietly scorched around the golden-red core, resembling a miniature sun suspended in the void, emitting a faint glow.

This Golden Core was the unique Golden Core produced by the Pure Yang True Scripture that Gu Xiechen condensed in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, beginning from the first day he started cultivating the scripture. Over the subsequent year, he spent only a negligible amount of minor effort refining this core. But given his current level of cultivation, this negligible effort brought the quality of this Golden Core to a non-human level. During the rest of the year, Gu Xiechen dedicated the vast majority of his mental focus to other matters.

Within his boundless Dantian space, a black-and-white Golden Core, trillions of light-years in diameter, slowly rotated. Utilizing the utterly abundant spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this universe, and relying on the unique laws of the Heavenly Dao of this universe, Gu Xiechen formally began to reforge his entire set of cultivation methods.

The Source Yin True Scripture, derived from the Supreme Yin True Scripture, and the Source Yang True Scripture, derived from the Solar True Scripture, merged into one, transforming into the Celestial Dao Treasure Adornment that Gu Xiechen now practiced.

The Celestial Dao Treasure Adornment integrated all the Heavenly Dao rules represented by the three hundred and sixty million Demon Gods and the Ancestor Hongjun. It encompassed the highest chaotic laws of this universe, representing the perfect fusion of the Heavenly Dao rules Gu Xiechen had mastered from two universes. Its rank far surpassed all previous cultivation methods he had mastered. It was an ultimate Daoist method that Gu Xiechen had quietly contemplated and evolved over three great eons.

Compared to the Celestial Dao Treasure Adornment, all of Gu Xiechen's previous cultivation methods—including the Pangu True Body—were merely foundational.

The Celestial Dao Treasure Adornment was a towering structure built upon this foundation, a tower representing the entirety of the profound essence of the Heavenly Dao that Gu Xiechen currently comprehended.

Throughout this year, Gu Xiechen’s divine sense stealthily spread in all directions, stealing astronomical amounts of heaven and earth spiritual energy from the countless earth veins and spirit veins surrounding the Nü Gong Kingdom for his own use. It took him a full year to form this black-and-white Golden Core in his Dantian, fusing the profound principles of two universes.

The black portion of the Golden Core integrated all the Heavenly Dao laws of his original universe. The white portion only integrated the Way of Chaos derived from the Spirit of the Chaos Bell. Once Gu Xiechen thoroughly comprehended all the profound principles of this universe, he could slowly integrate them into the Golden Core, naturally completing the divine subtlety of this half-white Golden Core.

After a year of arduous cultivation, Gu Xiechen preliminarily clarified his future cultivation path, and his personal magical power and spiritual attainment leaped forward significantly. This was an almost essential improvement, the magnitude of which shocked even Gu Xiechen himself.

This increase was comparable to the breakthrough Gu Xiechen achieved long, long ago when he surpassed the Void Realm to achieve the Heavenly Immortal realm. That was a fundamental transformation, the conversion from a mortal being to an immortal, an evolution to an entirely different level of life.

Sensing the sudden surge in magical power and guidance, feeling his physical body grow several times stronger, and perceiving that the Pangu True Blood within his heart had multiplied tenfold, Gu Xiechen couldn't help but clench his fists with a touch of anxiety.

He had only been in this universe for a year and had already achieved such a massive leap. Those Sages, those Great Divine Abilities wielders—how long had they been here? How formidable would their current strength be?

Frustrated, he waved his sleeve, and a low table before his cloud-bed silently disintegrated into a cloud of fine dust. Gu Xiechen watched coldly as the thirty-nine billion, four hundred and fifty-nine million, seven hundred and eighty-four thousand, three hundred and thirty-three minute specks of dust gradually settled to the ground. With a slight movement of his divine sense, these tiny dust motes were instantly annihilated, their very existence erased.

Before him suddenly appeared the palm belonging to the Sage Zhunti, which he had left behind to cover the retreat of the Buddha Sheng-Sheng. A single palm had prevented the now-Saint Gu Xiechen from advancing an inch, ultimately forcing him to retreat. Was this the gap in strength between him and those Sages? Gu Xiechen scoffed coldly a few times, shaking his head. "Do you think it would be so easy to scheme against me?"

He pointed a finger, and a speck of golden light drifted out from the center of his brow. Gu Xiechen summoned a hazy figure from the Source Yin Profound Pearl.

The person summoned had long, disheveled hair, was clad only in a thin, loose veil, held a jade flute in his left hand, and possessed a face like a full moon and eyes like lotus flowers—exceptionally handsome and graceful.

That graceful figure and captivating charm—even the most devastatingly beautiful women capable of overturning kingdoms in the mundane world could not compare.

The moment this being appeared, he knelt before Gu Xiechen in terror, prostrating himself with five limbs on the ground, not daring to move.

Specks of golden light constantly floated out from this being's body, condensing into flowers of light that flickered faintly around him. A captivating fragrance of a hundred flowers wafted from him. This was not the scent of incense, but the natural body fragrance of this beautiful male.

Staring coldly at this man, Gu Xiechen pointed a finger, and the man's graceful body instantly shattered, transforming into a streak of spiritual light that merged into his bewildered primordial spirit. Gu Xiechen said coldly, "You, Gandharva, go and complete the task I have set for you."

Within this past year, Gu Xiechen’s divine sense had thoroughly investigated every matter in the Nü Gong Kingdom. He knew that the leader of the Hidden Yin Sect, the Yin Yang Maiden, was inherently lustful and tyrannical, obsessively enjoying capturing handsome men from the populace for her pleasure. Within the Hidden Yin Sect alone, she maintained three thousand official male consorts, her extravagance comparable to the most debauched ancient emperors known to Gu Xiechen.

Three days prior, the Yin Yang Maiden’s direct disciples had just captured a beautiful young man and brought him back to the Hidden Yin Sect’s mountain gate. Unfortunately, the Yin Yang Maiden was in seclusion refining a treasure and had not yet had the chance to enjoy the handsome man. Gu Xiechen commanded the Gandharva, whose physical body he had destroyed, leaving only the primordial spirit, to possess that young man and diligently strive to please the Yin Yang Maiden.

With his physical body destroyed, this Gandharva retained only his innate seductive instinct; all other divine powers had been erased by Gu Xiechen. He was now merely an ordinary soul, albeit one significantly more powerful than common mortal souls because all the spiritual energy from his destroyed body had been infused into his spirit.

He was capable enough to devour the soul of the handsome young man and possess him, but beyond that, he possessed no divine abilities or magical power.

Gu Xiechen promised him that once he perfectly completed the mission assigned, in the future within the Guardians of the Heavens, his status would only be slightly lower than that of the people of the Indra Heaven Temple.

Upon receiving Gu Xiechen’s promise, this Gandharva joyfully transformed into a dark light and floated out of the True Yang Gate’s mountain gate.

With the protection of Gu Xiechen’s divine sense, who could possibly detect the existence of this Gandharva? He infiltrated the Hidden Yin Sect’s mountain gate without alerting anyone and quietly possessed the captured handsome young man. In an instant, marvelous changes occurred: the young man’s skin became even fairer, his appearance more alluring, his figure more captivating, and a faint fragrance of a hundred flowers subtly emanated from him. Even his Adam's apple seemed to have shrunk slightly.

The Gandharvas are servants of the Celestial God division within the Guardians of the Heavens; they are the musicians and trusted confidantes of the Celestial Gods. The combat power of these Gandharvas is generally mediocre; aside from a few heroic Gandharva Kings, the fighting strength of the rest is almost negligible.

However, much like eunuchs in ancient imperial courts, when it came to schemes for favor, techniques for pleasing others, and the skills involved in courtly intrigue and framing others, few in the Three Realms could match the Gandharvas.

Once this Gandharva reached the side of the Yin Yang Maiden, it was inevitable that the Maiden’s other male consorts would be ruined by him. When the three thousand favored ones were all focused on him alone, the entire Hidden Yin Sect would surely descend into chaos.

With cold laughter, Gu Xiechen released hundreds of thousands of Gandharvas in succession, commanding each one to act according to his orders.

The powerful and influential women throughout the Nü Gong Kingdom all had a varying number of Gandharvas planted near them. The mysterious figures of the Gandharvas also appeared near the powerful figures in other nations and factions across the planet.

After distributing these Gandharvas, Gu Xiechen pondered for a moment, then casually pointed a finger, and a figure of stunning beauty slowly manifested before him.

The Celestial Maiden Kučandravīrya, Urvaśī, the most famous beauty among the Guardians of the Heavens, the darling and cherished possession of numerous Celestial Gods, knelt before Gu Xiechen. She tilted her head slightly, allowing Gu Xiechen to see half of her profile, her eyes filled with ambiguous, flickering allure.

"My Master, why have you summoned your most humble servant? Do you have an order?"

Urvaśī was far bolder than those Gandharvas, perhaps relying on her beauty. As she questioned Gu Xiechen with a soft voice, she stealthily placed her ten snow-white, delicate fingers—whose nails were charmingly reddish—on Gu Xiechen's knee, and slowly began tracing her way up his leg. Urvaśī smiled charmingly, adopting a posture of complete submission to his desires.

Gu Xiechen tapped her forehead with a finger, sending out a flash of lightning that blasted her flying a great distance, nearly annihilating her primordial spirit. "Urvaśī, do not try to flaunt your seductive tricks before me."

He looked at Urvaśī with cold indifference and stated flatly, "To me, you are more nauseating than a sow that has given birth thirty times. At least the old sow contributed to our dinner table, but what can you do besides sowing discord and indulging in pleasure?"

Urvaśī trembled violently and knelt on the ground, crying out in alarm, "Great Master, please forgive your servant!"

With a cold snort, Gu Wuchen spoke dismissively, "Go, possess the body of Yang Wusheng's concubine. Use every trick you have to bewitch him, to control him, and then, await my command." With a flick of his finger, Youlibanshi's physical form, like those of the Gandharvas before, disintegrated into dust.

Casting a lingering, resentful look at Gu Wuchen, Youlibanshi bowed her head and dissolved into a wisp of cool breeze, departing. A few breaths later, she had possessed the body of Yang Wusheng's most favored concubine. Just as with the Gandharvas, the woman possessed by Youlibanshi underwent a sweeping yet subtly unnoticed transformation in both appearance and temperament.

It was a marvelous, indescribable shift, much like ephedrine, used to treat illness, being converted into methamphetamine that plunges one into an abyss.

The cold and merciless Gu Wuchen summoned one stunning female guardian deity after another from the heavens: celestial maidens, Rakshasis, Asuras, and even delicate princesses, priestesses, and female immortals. Following Gu Xiachen's instructions, they dispersed in all directions, possessing the women attached to the most powerful men.

A vast net had already enveloped the Jiaotui Star; every soul upon it was now under Gu Xiachen's silent control.

Within the Source Yin Profound Pearl resided billions of handsome men and beautiful women from the guardian heavens, like the Gandharvas, masters of bewitchment. This was more than enough for Gu Wuchen to exert influence over countless people, control innumerable planets, and command untold resources through this subtle, gentle-as-spring-breeze method. After dispatching these men and women, Gu Wuchen sat beneath the clouds, his head bowed in deep contemplation for a time. "There is no trace of a planet shifting formation on the Jiaotui Star; this suggests the planet has no connection whatsoever to the outside cultivation world." "That is the first problem that must be resolved."

After pondering for a moment, Gu Xiachen nodded and smiled faintly, "No planet shifting formation, perhaps, but there are short-range teleportation arrays between the capital cities of nations. That will suffice."

Having calculated for a long time, Gu Xiachen sent a divine thought transmission to Shunhua and the others, informing them that the time had come for the four of them to break through their seclusion and participate in the daily affairs of the True Yang Sect. Of course, to garner the utmost attention from the sect and ensure its resources were poured toward them, they needed to exhibit a sliver of strength beyond that of mere mortals.

With a loud laugh, Gu Xiachen swept his wide sleeves, and a surge of firelight rushed forward. The door to his seclusion chamber burst open abruptly. Several young attendants specifically assigned to serve him had been waiting outside. Hearing his laughter, the boys scrambled to their knees, bowing and knocking their heads repeatedly.

Rising with an air of arrogance, Gu Xiachen slowly walked out of the quiet chamber. He glanced at the terrified, submissive attendants. After a moment of thought, he stated calmly, "Enough. You have worked hard this past year, keeping watch outside my door day and night. I have wronged you."

Patting one of the attendants lightly on the head, Gu Wuchen said casually, "I have successfully condensed my Golden Core. According to the rules of the True Yang Sect, I now qualify to accept disciples. All eight of you shall join my lineage. Your aptitudes are not bad; follow me diligently, and a bright future awaits you."

The eight attendants were overjoyed, shouting their gratitude for their Master's benevolence and prostrating themselves repeatedly. Their vigor in kowtowing far surpassed that of Gu Xiachen and the others; after just three or five bows, the skin on their foreheads was already raw and bleeding, exposing the bone.

Gu Xiachen snorted lightly, waited for them to rise, and then strode grandly out of the cave dwelling with his hands clasped behind his back.

These young attendants were pitiful, born on a planet like Shupeng, where women held absolute dominance. Their best fate was to be taken as playthings by those powerful women, relying on their delicate features. Beyond that, given their relatively frail bodies, they had no hope of achieving distinction on this savage planet.

To be noticed and accepted as a disciple by the True Yang Sect was already a monumental turning point in their fate; at least they would be spared arbitrary bullying and humiliation.

But if they remained merely servant boys, their entire lives would be devoid of prospects. Now, however, with Gu Wuchen agreeing to take them as disciples, their lives were fundamentally changed. Not only their own futures, but even their families would benefit.

Becoming a formal disciple of the True Yang Sect was no small feat! Aside from Gu Wuchen, who else would take on eight disciples in one go?

The eight attendants hastily tied bandages around their head wounds and followed Gu Xiachen closely, serving him with utmost reverence.

Gu Wuchen’s earlier long cry had already alerted the True Yang Sect disciples guarding the mountain. Now, Gu Wuchen's nominal Master, Yang Shan, along with many high-ranking members of the sect, had rushed over. Seeing Gu Wuchen emerge, radiating divine light and having solidified his essence within, Yang Shan could not help but laugh heartily, "My good disciple! You have been in seclusion for a year. What harvest have you reaped?"

Gu Xiachen offered no false modesty. He opened his mouth, and the Golden Core, the size of a water vat, erupted from his mouth engulfed in raging flames.

The crimson-gold core spun rapidly before him, sending tens of feet of intense fire blazing upward. The oppressive heat billowed outward in all directions, instantly melting the ground beneath them into a vast hollow. Gu Xiachen intentionally released a strand of divine sense, sweeping it across the vicinity; the intensity of this sense was at least ten times greater than that of an ordinary Golden Core disciple of the True Yang Sect.

"Marvelous!" Yang Shan clapped his hands and roared with laughter. He was practically jumping with excitement. "Marvelous! Worthy of being my good disciple! Hahaha, Sect Master, honored brothers, can any of your disciples compare to Nanli Zheng?" The expressions of Yang Wusheng and other True Yang Sect leaders instantly became somewhat strange.

Did this count as Yang Shan's merit? Gu Wuchen and the other three had only just been taught the Pure Yang True Scripture, and Yang Shan hadn't even had time to explain the cultivation methods before Gu Wuchen immediately went into seclusion. Achieving this level of mastery was entirely due to Gu Xiachen's exceptional talent and diligence—what did it have to do with Yang Shan?

Guo Hua and the other two slowly emerged from their cave dwelling, bowing to Elders Yang Shan, Yang Hai, and Yang Yue, and then respectfully greeting the higher-ups like Yang Yuansheng. Every gesture of etiquette was performed flawlessly, without the slightest error.

Yang Yuansheng and the other high-ranking members of the True Yang Sect nodded with immense satisfaction. These four disciples were not only supremely talented but also completely courteous and refined—where could they find such adherents?

After offering a few words of praise, Yang Yuansheng chuckled happily, "Come, Junior Nephews Nanli, the four of you, demonstrate the magical techniques you have learned this past year."

Guo Hua and the other two glanced at the water-vat-sized Golden Core hovering above Gu Wuchen’s head and cursed the pretentious fellow inwardly. The three of them had always enjoyed showing off, but having just arrived, they had exercised some caution, condensing Golden Cores only the size of two human heads—barely a step above the average True Yang Sect disciple.

Gu Xiachen had condensed such a massive core. If Guo Hua had known this, he might have even tried to condense a core the size of a small house just to show off.

Sighing, Guo Hua said dejectedly, "Our Elder Brother's cultivation is the deepest; please, Elder Brother, demonstrate your skills first."

Yang Shan laughed heartily, "Excellent, Nanli Zheng, you demonstrate a few techniques first. Now that you have condensed a Golden Core, the basic spells in the Pure Yang True Scripture should not be too difficult for you."

Gu Xiachen chuckled and nodded toward Yang Shan, then opened his mouth and swallowed the ridiculously showy, water-vat-sized Golden Core back into his abdomen.

Concentrating slightly, Gu Xiachen stood squarely in a horse stance, gritting his teeth as he extended his right hand, palm facing a mountain peak several miles ahead. His entire body trembled, and he let out choked sounds, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. He looked as though a man suffering from severe hemorrhoids who had just consumed a massive, spicy hotpot, simultaneously experiencing the agony of a fissure, prolapse, and constipation. Observing Gu Xiachen's contorted face, even Yang Shan's facial muscles twitched. He cautiously asked Yang Wusheng, "Sect Master, what manner of cultivation technique is my disciple practicing?"

Yang Wusheng also stared at Gu Wuchen with confusion and instinctively shook his head.

Suddenly, a flash of fire sparked from Gu Xiachen’s right shoulder, and a faint sound of thunder emanated from his arm. Yang Yuansheng and the others shouted in unison, "Not good! He is cultivating the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art! That reckless brat!"

Before their words had fully faded, a spiral of fire burst forth from Gu Xiachen's palm, shooting straight out with a piercing whistle.

This stream of fire was only about the thickness of a rice pail but stretched for hundreds of feet. Highly condensed Pure Yang Firepower spun rapidly within the stream, the triple layers of fire energy colliding and grinding against each other, erupting with blinding red lightning and deafening thunder.

The lightning was swift; the cries of Yang Yuansheng and the others were still lingering on their lips as the rapidly spinning Nine Revolutions True Thunder struck the mountain peak ahead.

With a thunderous boom, the earth violently shook. The mountain peak, several miles high, erupted, revealing a massive pit spanning over three hundred feet wide and plunging a thousand feet deep. This power was utterly beyond what a cultivator at the Golden Core stage could unleash; it was clearly the thunder magic wielded by an existence at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm in this universe.

Yang Wusheng, Yang Shan, and the others were stunned. They stared fixedly at the trembling mountain peak and stammered, "The Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art... He achieved it? He actually achieved it? How is this possible? How is this possible?"

Gu Xiachen sank onto the ground, breathing heavily, and called out weakly, "Master, Martial Uncle Sect Master, honored Martial Uncles, is this strike of lightning acceptable? It took all my remaining strength in a single blow!"

Yang Shan was so excited he nearly screamed. He pointed frantically at his chest and shouted, "He is my disciple! He is my disciple! My disciple! He can wield the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art! He can wield the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art!"

Gu Xiachen looked at Yang Shan with feigned surprise, frowning, "Master, is the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art very difficult to perform?" Yang Wusheng and the others simultaneously looked at Gu Wuchen and complained with immense frustration, "Of course it's difficult!"

Gu Xiachen shrugged helplessly and muttered, "But the record in the Pure Yang True Scripture seems flawed. If one merely swaps the order of compressing the three key acupoints into the Void, anyone could execute the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art." At his words, the entire field fell silent.

Yang Wusheng and the others stared blankly at Gu Xiachen. Suddenly, Yang Wusheng roared, "Mountain Guarding Disciples, heed my order! All non-sect elders and other personnel must withdraw a hundred miles from this area. This location is strictly forbidden to outsiders. Anyone daring to approach shall be slain without mercy!"

Three hundred True Yang Sect guarding disciples moved instantly, driving all ‘superfluous personnel’—including the attendants from Gu Wuchen's cave dwelling—far away. Soon, only Gu Xiachen and his three companions, along with the Sect Master and eight elders of the True Yang Sect, remained within the hundred-mile radius.

Yang Wusheng forced a dry laugh and asked Gu Xiachen with a genial expression, "Junior Nephew Nanli, please tell us about the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art..."

Gu Xiachen smiled faintly and transmitted the revised version of the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art he had deduced to Yang Wusheng and the others. He explained on the side that it was purely by accident, a slight deviation in his True Qi flow, that he had stumbled upon the genuine method for executing the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art.

In reality, the true method of the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art was the bizarre technique that had caused so many casualties among the disciples of the True Yang Sect over the generations. However, Gu Xiachen, with his profound insight, had perfected this deadly art, transforming it from a skill with a near-certain death rate into a refined thunder technique that was brutally fierce, immensely powerful, and devoid of inherent danger. For a sect, what contribution could be greater than offering an advanced cultivation method?

Gu Xiachen was not content with merely being a talented, high-ranking disciple in the True Yang Sect; he aimed to secure at least a mid-level management position. Yang Wusheng quietly reviewed the modified thunder technique Gu Xiachen had handed him.

After a full quarter of an hour of contemplation, violent thunderous rumbling erupted from Yang Yuansheng’s body. With a casual wave, a spiral of fire, several feet thick, roared out from his palm and shot toward the mountain peak that Gu Wuchen had previously blasted with a massive pit.

With a colossal explosion that shook heaven and earth, the mountain peak, several miles high, vanished into nothingness amid the blinding. The spiral of fire, its momentum unabated, continued forward, destroying eighteen smaller hills along its path before crashing into a massive mountain hundreds of miles away, blasting half of that hundred-mile-high peak to rubble.

"The Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art!" Yang Wusheng roared in frenzied excitement. "It truly is the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art! It turns out the record in the Pure Yang True Scripture was incomplete! Pity our True Yang Sect members throughout the generations, pity them..." Amid his excitement, Yang Wusheng nearly wept.

The current generation of the True Yang Sect originally had twelve elders; four of them had secretly practiced this damnable Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art—the sect's most potent attack technique—resulting in three exploding and dying, and one whose Dantian shattered, losing all cultivation!

Only eight elders remained out of the twelve, all due to the trouble stirred up by the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art!

If Gu Xiachen had joined the sect thirty years earlier, the True Yang Sect would not have suffered the loss of twelve elders and subsequently been suppressed by the Yin-Concealing Sect for three decades!

Yang Shan, Yang Hai, and the other elders looked up at the sky, letting out long sighs. This "Nanli Zheng" was not only supremely gifted in talent but also unbelievably lucky. To practice such a perilous, life-threatening divine ability as the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art, and by making a wrong turn in his meridians, he managed to accidentally uncover the true cultivation method! Such luck, such luck!

Yang Wusheng gazed complexly at the devastation wrought by his single strike. After a long pause, he shook his head and then nodded heavily.

Turning back to Gu Xiachen, Yang Wusheng stated solemnly, "Junior Nephew Nanli, your merit today is immense. The Empress of the Nugong Kingdom is currently selecting the Grand Commanders of the Nine Gates of the capital city. The candidate recommended by the True Yang Sect is you!" The Grand Commander of the Nine Gates of the Nugong capital?

That seemed like a decent position. To hold an official post in the Nugong Kingdom, his status within the True Yang Sect would naturally be far superior to that of an ordinary disciple. Gu Xiachen quickly bowed deeply to thank Yang Yuansheng.

Subsequently, Guo Hua and the other two also displayed formidable strength. They had each cultivated one or several of the profound techniques listed in the Pure Yang True Scripture, though none were as monstrous as the Nine Revolutions True Thunder Art.

Yang Yuansheng was quite pleased with their progress and strength, and he also promised to recommend them for military general positions in the Nugong Kingdom.

However, for Gu Xiachen and the others to successfully secure the target positions, they would have to defeat the candidates recommended by the Yin-Concealing Sect.

They would compete for military posts on the imperial arena stage before the Empress of the Nugong Kingdom! Pig Head is miserably afflicted with a severe cold... and started coughing today.

Wrote a chapter, Merry Christmas everyone!! D