Chapter 278

Gu Xuan Ce walked over to the scattered parts of the poisonous python, picked up the blood-stained fourth-tier crystal core, and held it in his palm to examine.

"Marvelous idea."

Gu Xuan Ce looked and praised,

"Abandoning insight into the great Dao of heaven and earth, simply compressing spiritual energy to the extreme and then directly infusing it into the body—this method, though it cuts off a cultivator's path of advancement, is quite unique in terms of energy utilization efficiency."

"The most crucial point is……if used for mass production……it could produce a batch of high-tier death warriors in the shortest time."

In an instant, Gu Xuan Ce thought of many ways to play with it.

For example, cultivating a supreme death warrior.

Again, for example, a supreme-realm death warrior walking the path to immortality……

He turned his head to look at Tie Tu: "In your warehouse, how many of these things do you have left? Defective and scrapped ones—bring them all over."

Tie Tu dared not delay, dragging his crippled body up and responding repeatedly.

Gu Yuan found a relatively clean chair to sit down, looking at A Qi still lying paralyzed on the ground.

"Have you cried enough?"

A Qi shuddered, hastily wiping his face with his dirty sleeve using both hands and feet to crawl to Gu Yuan's feet, his head striking the concrete floor with a dull thud.

"Thanks to the immortal's life-saving grace, A Qi is willing to be an ox or a horse……"

"Shut up." Gu Yuan interrupted his protestations of loyalty,

"I have no interest in listening to nonsense; taking you in was merely a coincidence that I happened to choose you."

A Qi lowered his head even further, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"This is the last time."

Gu Yuan raised a finger,

"The Gu Family never keeps trash. If you are ever trampled underfoot like a dead dog again, I will personally replace you. In Tian Shu's Eleventh City, there are millions of lower-class poor; what we lack least are desperate souls eager to climb up. Do you understand?"

A Qi's mind worked slowly, but his will to survive outweighed his fear.

He understood the subtext in Gu Yuan's words.

What the immortal wants is not a waste who only knows how to kowtow and beg for mercy, but a blade capable of getting things done and holding the field.

"I understand." A Qi gritted his teeth, biting his lips until they bled, the metallic taste spreading in his mouth.

Gu Yuan turned his head to look at Tie Tu huddled in the corner.

"Tie Tu."

Tie Tu shuddered all over, hastily crawling two steps forward: "My lord, what are your orders?"

"You've been mixing in this muddy pit for decades; you know the rules better than he does."

Gu Yuan pointed at A Qi,

"I want the Ancient Immortal Sect to, in the shortest time, completely integrate this underground black market. Since the Poison Python Gang has come knocking, take their territory, resources, and manpower—swallow it all. Any resistance, fill the mine pits directly."

Tie Tu swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"My lord, the Iron Blood Society……no, the Ancient Immortal Sect now suffers severe manpower losses, and my fourth-tier engine is also ruined; if we really have to fight head‑on, I fear we lack the strength." Tie Tu forced himself to speak the truth.

This is also why they were attacked at their door.

Gu Yuan chuckled.

He stood up, walked over to Tie Tu, and placed his hand on the latter's shattered energy‑gathering engine casing.

"Engine ruined? That crude toy—if it's broken, it's broken."

Gu Yuan's heart stirred slightly; from his half‑step Immortal King–level soul foundation, he casually drew out a minuscule amount of power and forced it through his palm into Tie Tu's atrophied meridians.

To Gu Yuan, this strand of power is less than a fraction of an ox's hair—so weak it can almost be ignored.

Yet, landing in this world where the heavenly Dao is defective and the laws are distorted, it amounts to a dimensional strike.

Tie Tu let out an inhuman low growl.

His long‑dead carbon‑based blood vessels were forcibly pried open, and a pure, domineering force violently scoured his limbs and bones.

The half of his body that had been paralyzed from loss of power actually regained vitality under the influx of this force.

Tie Tu stared in horror, discovering that although he no longer possessed a fourth‑tier crystal core, the energy now circulating in his body was actually ten to a hundred times more terrifying than at his peak!

Let alone the petty gang skirmishes of the underground black market; even if faced with the financial‑elite warriors of the upper city equipped with fifth‑ or sixth‑tier prosthetics, this power would absolutely allow him to walk sideways across this wasteland!

"This is merely borrowing a trace of your minuscule power as a down payment for the task."

Gu Yuan slowly withdrew his hand, looking down at him from above,

"Any problems now?"

Tie Tu violently slammed his head against the cold concrete floor, even denting the alloy plate with a thud, his voice hoarse and frenzied as he roared:

"No problem! My lord has bestowed this supreme power upon me; if Tie Tu cannot take even a mere underground black market, I will twist off my own head and offer it to you as a chamber pot! Within three days, Tie Tu will utterly sweep the black market clean and deliver it with both hands before you!"

Standing nearby, A Qi clenched his fists tightly, his eyes fixed on Tie Tu's half‑body that had just regained vitality.

A surge of uncontrollable envy and jealousy welled up inside him.

That power could instantly crush the upper city's elites—why didn't the immortal grant it directly to me?

If it were given to me, why would I still need to risk my life in battle?

Harboring their respective thoughts, Tie Tu and A Qi respectfully withdrew from the air‑raid shelter meeting room.

Watching the two disappear down the end of the circular passage, Gu Xuan Ce lifted his head from a pile of scrap copper and iron, frowned slightly, and said: "Young master, this lad called A Qi……his disposition seems a bit problematic."

Gu Yuan lifted the tea cup on the table, gently skimmed off the foam, his expression unruffled: "Because of him it began, because of him it will end. I have already given him the opportunity; whether he understands how to cherish it and can seize this fortune depends on his own fate."

He set down the tea cup, turned his head to Gu Xuan Ce, and his tone returned to its usual calm:

"Enough, the life or death of these ants need not concern you; focus on studying the underlying logic of those mechanical array patterns, soon mastering that seamless integration method and incorporating it into the Grand Stellar Array is the proper task."

Upon hearing this, Gu Xuan Ce immediately cast A Qi from his mind, his eyes lighting up as he nodded repeatedly, then turned and dove headfirst into the heap of disassembled crystal cores and array plates.

……

……

At the same time, in the dim passage outside the air-raid shelter.

Tie Tu felt the intoxicating terrifying power within him, deeply exhaled a turbid breath, and only then turned his head to look at A Qi walking ahead.

He lowered his head slightly, his tone tinged with a hint of probing:

"Sect Leader, Sir only gave us three days; the Venomous Python Gang being leaderless is nothing to worry about, but the Eastern and Northern Districts still have a few tough nuts. I don't know what the Sect Leader's lofty opinion is—how should we proceed with our first step?"

A Qi was still immersed in the jealousy and resentment from just now; hearing Tie Tu's question, he involuntarily lowered his head and glanced at him.

Yeah, so what if one obtains supreme power?

Even facing oneself, one still has to respectfully address the Sect Leader.

He took a deep breath and put on the Sect Leader's airs.

He replayed in his mind the tactics of those small gangs in the slums forming alliances, and said in a low voice:

"Our Ancient Immortal Sect's biggest problem right now is too few members; we should first win over those fringe small gangs and gather the vagrants in the slums. Grateful, they will surely join our Ancient Immortal Sect."

"Then we tell those underground forces that the Ancient Immortal Sect has an Immortal backing them; those who follow us prosper, those who oppose us perish."

"As long as they are willing to hand over all their crystal essence and territory, and pay tribute on time each month, we can spare their lives. If they refuse, let them see your current power."

"Once we have absorbed all the manpower of those small gangs, we will then concentrate our firepower to strike the other major gangs."

After hearing that, Tie Tu's half-flesh, half-mechanical face almost couldn't hold its expression.

Distribute supplies? Peace talks?

Tie Tu couldn't help but burst out cursing, what a fool crawled out of a trash heap!

On this man-eating wasteland of the Heavenly Pivot Source Realm, kindness and flaunting wealth will only attract even more frenzied hyenas.

Do you really think you're a braised dish? If it weren't for that unfathomable Immortal backing you from behind, I could slap you into minced meat with one hand! Who the hell cares about you, a piece of junk without even a neural interface!

However, Tie Tu is a seasoned veteran; he knows that A Qi is currently the nominal representative of the Immortal, and cannot directly break face.

He forced out a stiff smile, slightly bowed, and said:

"Sect Leader is truly... kind-hearted. However, this does make some sense. But those gangs are the sort who won't shed tears until they see the coffin; negotiating would be giving them too much credit. Here's what we'll do: the Sect Leader handles the bestowal of favors, and I, Tie Tu, will take care of the dirty work of killing."

Tie Tu lowered his head, concealing the contempt and mockery in his eyes, "Tonight we'll start clearing the Eastern District."