Chapter 455: Reduced to a Hired Grunt, Collecting Materials!

In the blink of an eye, Chen Yi had defeated the Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan using Sotuofeiren, but he didn't take their lives, because keeping them alive still served a purpose.

The Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan lay sprawled on the ground, covered in wounds, rolling around in agony, looking so miserable that not a trace of their Martial God demeanor remained.

They weren't stupid. They could tell that Chen Yi had held back and spared their lives.

"Se-Senior, you've spared our lives, does that mean there's something you need us to do for you?"

Sotuofeiren clicked his tongue in amusement.

He was quite familiar with the Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan.

These five Martial Gods had been recruited by Sky City on multiple occasions.

But all five of them had arrogantly refused, claiming they revered freedom and leisure, that they would never become anyone's subordinates, that they wanted to live for themselves.

And now they were calling him "Senior" and willingly offering to work for this human.

All that talk about pride, about living for themselves, it was all bullshit after all.

Chen Yi landed on a large boulder and crouched down, looking at the five of them.

"Good, I like talking to smart people."

"Senior, please give us your orders."

After the trials of the sixth simulation, Chen Yi's artifact forging skills had reached new heights.

Combined with his newly acquired "Reverse Engineering" trait tag, there was something he could now do—

Reforge the immortal artifacts of the human world, elevating their quality to a whole new level!

Demon Refining Pot, Immortal-Binding Rope, Heavenly Dragon Blade...

Chen Yi wanted to raise their strength to keep up with the current major version of the Real Realm.

However, even the cleverest housewife can't cook a meal without rice.

He needed rarer, more precious, and more abundant heavenly treasures and earthly wonders.

The reserves of the human world alone simply couldn't provide enough.

When sweeping his Divine Sense across the Winged Realm, Chen Yi had discovered some precious artifact forging materials here that didn't exist in the human world.

Since he was already here, he might as well collect some.

Even adding the Winged Realm's materials probably wouldn't be enough.

But Chen Yi still had several more planes to visit.

That said, this was just a side quest, and Chen Yi had a main storyline to focus on, so he needed some helpers.

These five Martial Gods were perfect for the job.

"I need some things. I'll give you a list later, and you'll collect them for me in the Winged Realm.

Some are buried deep underground, so you dig them up for me.

Some are stored in other people's warehouses, so you steal them for me.

Some have already been refined into Spirit Artifacts, so you take them by force for me.

In short, obtain them by any means necessary.

Get them, and you live.

Fail, and you die.

Understand?"

Sotuofeiren watched from the side, enjoying the spectacle.

Proper Martial Gods, now reduced to sneaking around, thieving, and pillaging like bandits. How shameful!

The Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan also felt these tasks were beneath their dignity.

Their first instinct was to refuse, but when they looked up and saw Chen Yi's ambiguous half-smile, all their courage evaporated.

The Xuanlan Big Brother still mustered up his nerve and offered a small suggestion.

"If we do these things, we probably won't be able to show our faces in the Winged Realm anymore. Could we perhaps do this under your banner? Or should we disguise our identities?"

"No need for that. Once you've gathered all the materials in the Winged Realm, you'll come with me."

"Go where?"

"To the next plane, to keep robbing."

"..."

That left the Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan completely speechless.

Was this really the human Guardian, or a human bandit?

Sotuofeiren was doubled over laughing on the side.

"The prestigious Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan, starting today, are reduced to interplanar bandits! Oh, I'm dying of laughter..."

"You're going too."

"..."

And so, the Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan, renowned throughout the Winged Realm, were reduced to Chen Yi's hired grunts, running all over the Winged Realm on his behalf, collecting materials.

With all five Martial Gods combined, even in the more powerful Winged Realm, they could basically bulldoze their way through.

Besides, Chen Yi just wanted them to grab some materials, not conquer the Winged Realm.

Anything that could be handled with force, they handled directly.

For anything that truly couldn't be resolved, five Martial Gods could use their brains and pull off some schemes to get it done.

The Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan passed through the Sky-Earth Barrier and arrived at the ground region, discussing things as they flew.

"Big Brother, are we really going to work for that guy?"

"What else can we do? He's absurdly strong, it feels like we're not even on the same level as him!"

"Big Brother, you're just scared of him, overthinking it. What realm could he possibly be? This is the Void Realm, not the Real Realm!"

"If you ask me, since we're outside his Divine Sense range right now, why don't we just keep flying, hide out at the edge of the plane, and I refuse to believe he can find us!"

"Great idea!"

The next second, all five of them slammed on the brakes and froze mid-air.

Because Chen Yi had appeared out of thin air right in front of them.

Chen Yi spoke to them with his face turned to the side.

"Trust me, that's not a great idea."

The Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan's faces went pale with terror on the spot.

"Se-Senior, we, we were just joking around.

Don't worry, we'll get you what you want at top speed!

What reputation? What principles? It's our honor to work for you, Senior!"

Chen Yi smiled and pointed at them.

"Good, glad you've seen the light."

The next second, Chen Yi vanished again, appearing and disappearing without a trace, leaving the Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan trembling with fear.

"Is he gone? He's really gone this time, right?"

"Hey... Senior, are you still there?"

"Senior, we're going to run now, okay?"

"Enough! Shut up! If you make him angry again, we'll all die here!"

The Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan completely accepted their fate and began seriously carrying out Chen Yi's tasks.

Not long after, with Sotuofeiren pointing the way, Chen Yi arrived at the holy land of the Winged Clan, Sky City!

It was a massive complex of buildings suspended in the Starry Domains, like row after row of European medieval castles stretching across the sky.

Most of these castles were white or silver, radiating a holy radiance.

At the very rear of Sky City, a massive ring of colorful light slowly rotated, giving it an even more divine aura.

The Winged Clan ruled their people through theology. This Sky City, unreachable by mortals, was the "Heaven," "Holy Land," and "Temple" that the Winged Clan members recited prayers to every day.

For Winged Clan cultivators, it was the goal they strove and fought toward through their cultivation.

Being able to join Sky City was the most pride-worthy achievement for Winged Clan cultivators, seen as the ultimate mark of success.

When Chen Yi arrived.

Hundreds of thousands of Sky City warriors, along with the ten directions of divine beings from the Winged Realm, the co-ruler Furry Divine of the Winged Realm, and the Winged Clan Guardians, were all standing at full alert.

Sky City's intelligence network was very well-connected.

They already knew about Chen Yi's furious destruction of Alba City and his subjugation of the Five Talented Brothers of Xuanlan.

The Winged Realm was treating this as an imminent crisis.

No, scratch that, "imminent" wasn't even the right word.

Chen Yi's arrival was, to the Winged Clan, clearly an invasion of an Alien Race, a demon descending from the Outer Domains!

"Halt! Take one more step forward, and we'll reduce you to ashes!"

Chen Yi stopped in front of the Winged Clan army, holding the Immortal-Binding Rope with Sotuofeiren bound to it.

"Everyone, no need to be nervous. I haven't come for war."

Furry Divine, who had four pairs of wings and stood twice the height of a normal Winged Clan member, puffed out his massive, gleaming golden muscles and flew forward a short distance.

"Who exactly are you, sir, and what business do you have in our Winged Realm? If you don't explain yourself clearly today, I'm afraid you won't be leaving!"