Chu Xuan let out a long sigh. A ghost king comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator, and it could only bark! It was utterly absurd.

"From now on, you are not allowed to speak when we're out," Chu Xuan warned. Four Armed whined pitifully and shrank to one side.

"Two Armed, I leave this place to you. If anyone dares to approach the Yellow Springs Soul Refining Array, no need for talk, just cut them down," Chu Xuan casually ordered.

"Dad, rest assured!" Two Armed nodded emphatically.

Chu Xuan nodded slightly, retracted the Heaven-Blocking Umbrella, and took Four Armed back inside.

Back on Blue Star, he threw a few more small spiritual stones into the Psionic Cube to reactivate the Psionic Transmission Matrix.

Soon, the detached soul merged back into his body. After a brief period of adjustment, they were unified once more.

"Any changes on Blue Star?"

Chu Xuan strode out of the array and returned to Haotai Hotel. Information gathered from various parts of Blue Star by Black Blade was typically delivered here by a dedicated team, usually consisting of Wang Gangjian, Wang Yong, Tang Jinchuan, and Song Dayi, the core four.

Chu Xuan had not checked in a while, and the accumulated reports had formed a small mountain.

With a sweep of his spiritual sense, the pages flew up, hovering in mid-air. Chu Xuan read through several years' worth of updates in quick succession.

"Wang Ganjian, Wang Yong, Tang Jinchuan, and Song Dayi are all quite old now. If not for the Psionic enhancements extending their lives, they probably would have passed away long ago," he thought. "The main operations of Black Blade must have already been handed over to a new generation of Superhumans by now."

Chu Xuan felt a wave of sentiment. A year on Mystic Azure Star meant ten years had passed here.

The lifespan of ordinary humans could not compare to that of cultivators. Birth, aging, sickness, and death were just the natural order.

With these thoughts in mind, Chu Xuan flashed toward Black Blade's headquarters.

After employing his Turtle Breathing Technique, he moved among the crowds, invisible to all. People instinctively made way for him, unaware of his presence.

Chu Xuan, having returned to Black Blade's headquarters unimpeded after many years, found it transformed into a tightly secured complex of buildings including training rooms, offices, practice fields, cafeterias, and dormitories.

Black cannons stood guard outside the gates, ready to tear apart any approaching enemies. To many, Black Blade was a formidable force backed by an immortal, exuding majesty and power that fit their expectations of a celestial's subordinates.

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"Is that three-story building still around?" Chu Xuan wondered with interest.

Chu Xuan's expression turned peculiar. His spiritual sense had already detected that Wang Gangjian was engrossed in a video game, joystick in hand.

As for Wang Yong, Tang Jinchuan, and Song Dayi, they had become bona fide fishermen, clearly disdainful of joining in Wang Gangjian's frivolities.

Song Dayi earnestly advised, "Fishing is hard, Old Tang, Xiao Yong, you two are beginners, it's normal not to catch anything. Don't be discouraged. Even if you can't catch fish, you might catch something else."

"Look, I've caught a zombie." With a kick, he sent the zombie that had bitten onto his hook back into the water.

Wang Yong, puzzled, remarked, "Is fishing really that difficult?"

No sooner had he spoken than his float began to tremble violently. With a strong pull, he landed a fish over a meter long onto the shore.

Wang Yong scratched his head, "...Is it really that hard?"

Song Dayi, with a flushed face, protested, "You're just lucky as a beginner! It can't always be like this!"

But in a blink of an eye, Wang Yong caught an even bigger fish. He grinned, "Fishing is really easy! Dayi, haven't you been fishing for years? How come you only catch little fish and fry? Worse than me!"

Song Dayi, red-faced and speechless, was at least somewhat consoled seeing Tang Jinchuan had also failed to catch any fish.

Still, Song Dayi chuckled, "Old Tang, that's not how you fish, let me teach you..."

Tang Jinchuan shook his head, "No need, I've already caught one."

His rod, formed from fat, suddenly morphed into a chain harpoon that plunged into the riverbed. When he retracted the chain, a two-meter-long fish was impaled on the harpoon.

Song Dayi's eyes bulged in disbelief. "You call that fishing?"

Tang Jinchuan retorted, dissatisfied, "A fish bit the hook, so it's considered caught. My hook just didn't have bait, and it's a bit straighter, longer, and thicker, that's all. Any problems with that? No, there aren't!"

The three elderly men, their temples graying, suddenly burst into a heated argument.

"That's not fishing; this is real fishing."

"Fishing is really that hard, Dayi brother? Look, I've caught another one, at least eighty pounds heavy."

"I don't believe it! You must have stocked the river with fish beforehand!"

Chu Xuan watched from a distance, his face alight with amusement. After observing the old men's quarrel for a bit, he moved toward the Soul-Capturing Evil-Nurturing Array.

The supply of yin thunder seeds was running low. With nothing pressing in the extraterritorial battlefield, it was a good time to gather more and perhaps break through the realm he had been stuck in for so long.

"The path of cultivation is long and arduous," Chu Xuan murmured as he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

...

In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed on Blue Star. Chu Xuan suddenly opened his eyes after a long period of meditation.

The quantity of liquid Spiritual Qi stored in his spirit sea had surged. At that moment, his aura exploded with intensity.

Eighth level of the Golden Core!

Chu Xuan inspected his spirit sea, counting meticulously. He found that he had produced fifteen thousand Yin Thunder Seeds. With such a foundation, he could stand his ground in the extraterritorial battlefield.

"It's time to visit the extraterritorial battlefield," he decided. "If Duan Que is aware of the potential emergence of a strange treasure, others might know as well. This period is likely the peak of trading. It's the perfect opportunity to upgrade the treasures I possess."

Chu Xuan's life-bound magic tool, the Evil Soul Chain, was still merely at top-grade. Lacking crucial materials, it had been unable to advance to the magic treasure rank. His Blood Beehive, his other life-bound magic treasure, faced the same issue.

With the blood mirror shining brightly, Chu Xuan's form flickered, and he soon appeared in a third-tier cave dwelling located in the Righteous Dao Mountain of the Righteous Dao City.

He had spent five years on Soul Star and ten on Blue Star, totaling fifteen years. Converted to the time scale of the extraterritorial battlefield, only about a year and a half had passed.