Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Old Turtle, Are You Here to Make Us Laugh?

Huolin Nana had always admired the strong.

Gu Qijue's formidable strength had already earned her respect.

That was why she'd let him call her Nana.

Who else would dare call her that?

"Not bad!" Gu Qijue praised her without reservation.

If he hadn't been here, devouring monsters from seven last night until after three this morning and reaching the peak of the Seventh Order, he might not have been able to beat Huolin Nana.

Gu Qijue needed three or four times as much energy to advance as Meng Bao and the others.

But his strength was naturally several times greater, too.

At the peak of the Seventh Order, Gu Qijue could at least fight someone at the peak of the Eighth Order.

Huolin Nana's strength was at most in the early Eighth Order, on the verge of reaching the middle stage.

Naturally, she had little power to resist Gu Qijue.

"President Gu, is that the Main Star-Sucking Tree—the one that grew into a monster?"

Huolin Nana looked at the Main Star-Sucking Tree towering into the clouds in the distance, curiosity in her voice. "I wonder if it'll grow any Star Fruits today..."

Gu Qijue replied with absolute certainty, "It will!"

How could he be so sure?

The reason was simple.

Instinct.

The feeling was unmistakable.

"Really?" Huolin Nana's eyes lit up, and she asked excitedly.

"It'll be daylight in three or four hours. We may as well wait here."

Gu Qijue said no more. In a single step, he appeared a hundred meters in the air. His terrifying Black Dragon Soul burst out of his body and swallowed four Star Monsters, then, after a few seconds, devoured several more.

The Super Cells inside Huolin Nana resonated with the air, freeing her from gravity. She flew up beside Gu Qijue, then sat cross-legged and looked him up and down. "I'm so jealous, President Gu. You can devour these monsters to evolve..."

"If you're jealous, you can try it too!" Gu Qijue said with a faint, amused smile.

"I wouldn't dare..." Huolin Nana pouted. "Is devouring these monsters the same as eating those Star Fruits?"

Gu Qijue nodded slightly. "More or less."

"Ah! If only I could devour them too." Huolin Nana's mature, alluring face was full of envy.

"I still have two thousand Star Fruits. You can have them."

With a thought from Gu Qijue, a large pile of Star Fruits floated before Huolin Nana.

"Wow!"

Huolin Nana's sensual lips parted slightly. Delighted and grateful, she said, "Thank you, President Gu!"

Then she grabbed one and took a bite, only to discover in shock that the Star Fruit was far more effective than the Mutation Fruit.

After that, Gu Qijue devoured monsters while she ate Star Fruits.

They were both enjoying themselves.

Before dawn, Gu Qijue thought he could reach the Eighth Order.

Meanwhile, in the darkness beneath Dragon Cloud Mountain,

Chu Yuan appeared.

Once he arrived, he didn't stop.

He headed straight up the mountain.

He reached a hidden barrier that required true qi to activate and stepped inside.

Beyond the barrier, the scene before him transformed.

The real Dragon Cloud Mountain appeared before him.

Pavilions and towers stood across its slopes, shrouded in drifting mist beneath the moonlight.

Here, one could even sense faint traces of spiritual energy.

Chu Yuan knew his way around. He headed straight for the Hall of Righteousness.

When the mountain guards saw him, they neither stopped him nor asked any questions.

By seniority,

they should address Chu Yuan as their grandmaster.

The legacy Chu Yuan had received was that of Zhang Fenglei, one of Dragon Cloud Mountain's previous patriarchs.

By seniority, he was Zhang Fenglei's disciple, on the same level as the several old fogeys currently living on Dragon Cloud Mountain.

Chu Yuan climbed the mountain and soon arrived outside a wooden cabin in a bamboo grove.

The air here was exceptionally fresh, filled with rich spiritual energy. A single breath could cure many minor ailments.

Chu Yuan cupped his hands outside the cabin. "Senior Brother, I'd like to ask you to come out of seclusion..."

"Though the outside world is in chaos, with your strength, you shouldn't be unable to control the situation."

A deeply aged voice came from inside the cabin.

"Alas! I really can't control the situation anymore. Here's what happened..."

Chu Yuan sighed and told him everything that had happened in the outside world over the past few days.

"So something like this has happened... It seems things really are serious."

The old voice carried a note of gravity.

Chu Yuan smiled bitterly. "Senior Brother, come out of seclusion and watch my back this once! I'm worried that Aoroos of the War God Group may also be in Yun City. If he is, just hold him off while I test Gu Qijue's strength."

"I can kill Gu Qijue!"

The cabin door slowly opened. An old man in a Daoist robe emerged, white hair and beard flowing, his bearing otherworldly.

Chu Yuan shook his head solemnly. "No, Senior Brother. Even if you can kill him, he'll surely have a way to strike back. You could get hurt. Let's wait for those powerful beings in the deep sea to make a move. I only want to test Gu Qijue's strength and then leave."

The old man considered this, then nodded slightly. "That's a good plan. Let's see whether those powerful beings in the deep sea can kill Gu Qijue. Come on, let's head down the mountain!"

That was how humans schemed.

The three beings in the deep sea were far more straightforward. When a creature that threatened the planet appeared, they didn't waste time thinking—they went straight to kill it. They were only holding back because they were at a critical point in their breakthroughs.

A little after four in the morning,

the Old Turtle arrived in downtown Yun City.

It stood atop a building, staring gravely at the Main Star-Sucking Tree towering into the clouds.

It also spotted Gu Qijue and Huolin Nana devouring Star-Sucking Monsters.

But the next moment, it turned around and tried to flee.

Because Gu Qijue's voice rang out just then:

"You're that Old Turtle, aren't you? Don't be in such a hurry to leave."

Boom—

As Gu Qijue spoke, the air around the Old Turtle compressed under an immensely powerful force, forming a bubble around it. In the space of a few blinks, it was drawn before Gu Qijue.

"Damn it, I let my guard down." The Old Turtle shuddered inwardly, but kept its expression unchanged as it looked at the man before it—the culprit who had helped the Star-Sucking Tree grow into the Main Star-Sucking Tree.

"It really is an old tortoise. Who knows how long it's been alive? President Gu, why not stew it? It'd be really nourishing." Huolin Nana spoke slyly.

"Don't! Killing me won't do you any good." The Old Turtle's face darkened.

Gu Qijue looked at it and said coldly, "About when will those three terrifying creatures from the deep sea arrive?"

The three fearsome creatures in the deep sea were what Gu Qijue feared most right now.

"Within a month. Black Dragon Emperor, for the sake of this planet, you... should kill yourself and let Mu Yuxin go!" The Old Turtle went straight for the moral high ground.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Old Turtle, are you here to make us laugh?" Huolin Nana looked at it as if it were an idiot.

"I've never given in to moral blackmail, even if your predictions are completely accurate."

Gu Qijue smiled faintly. "Whether other people die has nothing to do with me. As long as the people I care about survive, I don't care if the world is destroyed."