Mei Gemu's attention fell on that Mana he had suppressed.

In the process of his rapid rise from the Qi Cultivation Stage to the Great Perfection of Core Formation, this Mana had also seized a lot of Spiritual Energy, growing a hundred times compared to the beginning.

However, Mei Gemu's Mana had increased by far more than just a hundred times!

With 170,000 acupoints simultaneously absorbing Spiritual Power, his Mana increased a thousandfold within these few breaths!

Now, he no longer looked like the way Wang Qi initially saw him, full of Essence Demon Energy.

His current Mana was now dozens of times greater than the Essence Demon Energy.

This was because of his unique Banished Immortal essence and his low foundation. In addition, the three stages of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, Core Formation are merely about constructing an internal Spiritual Energy circulation system, which doesn't involve much transformation of the Essence of Life. These factors together allowed him to reach this state.

In a metaphorical way, if originally his strength was five and the foreign Spell Power was ten, now the foreign power would be a thousand, and his strength would have soared to a full fifty thousand!

"Very strong, worthy of the top heterodox spell. It can even drill into my soul and mutate me. A mortal spell that can ignore the essence of an Immortal's soul is indeed remarkable."

"Moreover, more importantly, it can grow. If someone tries to forcibly suppress it like I did, the power of the seal will also be assimilated by this spell, merely serving as nourishment. If someone tries to rely on cultivation to obtain overwhelming power, this mysterious spell will only seize the opportunity to plunder power, growing faster than the Taker."

"For a mortal spell to achieve this, it's definitely worth bragging about."

"But... I am an Immortal!"

"Competing in growth with me? Ridiculous!"

"My essence is that of an Immortal level, and I am not afraid of such a degree of mutation!"

Such thoughts flashed through Mei Gemu's mind, and then his own internal Mana quickly pressed towards that point of power.

Next came a brute collision where no skill could be applied.

Mana that was tenfold, a hundredfold that of Wang Qi's Tribulation God Plague Power surged over. Some of this Mana was assimilated, but more of it continually annihilated with the Tribulation God Plague Power. Although the Tribulation God Plague Power was strong, it ultimately lacked a root source. Meanwhile, the Banished Immortal was backed by the accumulated power of the Poison Swamp of ages.

This brutal grinding lasted for a small half-hour. Soon, the last trace of the Tribulation God Plague Power was forcibly refined by him.

"Very good, very good."

With this trace of menace gone, Mei Gemu immediately felt as if he had shed a heavy burden, as if he had lifted a weight of a thousand catties, and the power within his body grew even stronger.

When his Mana was not equal to that of the heterodox cultivator, he could already fight to a stalemate. Now his Mana had increased dozens of times, wouldn't that heterodox cultivator be crushed by him?

"Very good..."

Mei Gemu emerged from the sludge, then shook off the mud from his body. He slapped his palm against a big tree, and the massive wood disintegrated into dust, immediately falling, leaving only fifty long wood fibers emanating a green glow in the air. The essence of an ancient giant tree was casually compressed into these fifty wood fibers by him. Then, the fifty fibers intertwined, forming a set of Vestment robe. He stroked the Vestment robe, and it was instantly refined into a Magic Artifact.

Mei Gemu donned the robe and then walked to Lian Yichen's side. As he approached, each breath exuded pure strength. It was a strong, purely primitive feeling. With each breath, Lian Xingling and Lian Xinjie's hearts trembled. Even though they were both at the Golden Core level, a Golden Core of Mei Gemu's level could easily kill dozens of Lian Xinjie or Lian Xingling with a mere wave.

Mei Gemu showed no interest in these two Golden Core Cultivators. He looked at Lian Yichen and said, "Try cutting me with a sword."

There was a soul-stirring "power" or "aura" in Mei Gemu's words that directly commanded respect. Lian Yichen couldn't even discern if this was a material-level strength or a spiritual-level aura. Listening to Mei Gemu's words, this Sword Cultivator nodded with excitement.

Sword Cultivators are innately good at battle and even better at waging it; this is an unchangeable trait. His current opponent was just a Golden Core, but Lian Yichen understood that the other was no ordinary Golden Core.

He was also curious about just how strong this Golden Core could be.

The Sword Cultivator unsheathed his long sword, becoming one with the sword, as the Sword Qi became ethereal and unconfined. Considering the current relationship between them, he only used seventy percent of his strength. But suddenly, he felt the world spinning, and inexplicably found himself thrown into the mud pit. Poison invaded his body, making this Divine Separation Stage cultivator gasp in surprise.

There was pain but also astonishment.

When...

How did he do it?

This is impossible!

To Immortals who also mastered the characteristics of leaping out of the long river of time and space, such a trait had no particularly obvious advantage. However, against such common enemies, "leaping out of the long river and controlling oneself" is a crushing power.

Mastering one's own "time" is more powerful than any movement technique or strength.

Mei Gemu looked down from above and asked, "Are you okay?"

Lian Yichen nodded in a daze. However, Mei Gemu was a Banished Immortal, not a mortal, so he had at least a little reason to comfort himself. But recently, being constantly defeated by those at the Golden Core Level left him feeling quite ashamed.

Mei Gemu looked at his own hands, looking quite satisfied: "Good, with this, I should be able to eliminate that Heterodox Cultivator... However, that Heterodox Cultivator is no longer a problem now; I must hurry to the hive of those demon bees to enslave that Queen Bee."

Lian Xinjie hesitated a bit: "Is this... is this really a good idea? If you do not eliminate the roots, the troubles will come back... That Heterodox Cultivator's talent is terrifying. If we don't get rid of him now, he will become a major threat in the future."

Mei Gemu said coldly, "No need. Did you see how I was cultivating just now?"

Lian Xinjie trembled and nodded.

"Ordinary mortals simply can't match me in cultivation speed. I am fully awakened; it only takes a few decades to complete that final step... Comparisons of growth? The talent of mortals means nothing to me..."

As he said this, Mei Gemu's tone began to change. Those who could comprehend "transcending the long river" couldn't be described as "talents at the mortal level."

However, it can be foreseen that in the coming years, even decades, his growth rate would have an absolute advantage. There is no need to fear that boy at all.

In comparison, the pursuit by the Immortal Alliance is the biggest problem.

The Immortal Alliance wouldn't dispatch a single Primordial Spirit Master. Because now, even Primordial Spirit Masters themselves wouldn't be afraid. However, a team of multiple Primordial Spirit Masters would be different.

He had heard from underworld spies within the Immortal Alliance that "all matters regarding Banished Immortals are kept confidential," which is the consistent policy of the Immortal Alliance. Assembling a team of absolutely loyal, sufficiently powerful, and confidential Primordial Spirit Masters wouldn't be done quickly. However, with teleportation arrays everywhere and the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm's positioning, gathering elite Primordial Spirit Masters might not take long.

An hour, at most.

Time is already very pressing for them.

If they surpass the first wave of attacks, they might win a few more hours to breathe, and within this short period, he might be able to trigger the arrangement left by "another self."

Although according to "another self's" plan, this arrangement should be completed last. But that is no longer important.

The key now is how to confront a team composed of multiple Primordial Spirit Masters. Lian Yichen is definitely not to be relied on. He might not even be able to defeat a low-grade Primordial Spirit, and elite Primordial Spirit Cultivators of the Immortal Alliance could probably kill him with a few moves.

Their only chance now is to enslave the Queen Bee among the demon bees.

The cultivation of a beast herd species cannot be judged by the level of any individual within its body. Usually, the level of a beast herd species itself should be one to two levels higher than the highest-level individual within it.

If the most basic "worker bee" is at the Golden Core Stage, then the guards, the queen, and others are mostly in the Transformation Stage, with the Queen Bee at least at a Divine Power Stage equivalent to the Divine Separation Stage.

The "collective" of this beast herd species is likely equivalent to the Body Integration Realm or Demon God Stage.

Even the Body Integration Realm wouldn't necessarily ensure victory against a team of elite Primordial Spirit Masters. However, if the power of this Body Integration Realm is controlled by Mei Gemu, things would be very different.

For example, beast herd species are very suitable for setting up arrays, while blood and flesh species mostly cannot achieve the unity of body and mind that beast herd species can. Having commanded the civilizations of myriad worlds, his insights into arrays far surpass those of these lowly beings who haven't transcended heaven and earth. Once the beast herd species falls into his hands, he has the confidence to handle those Primordial Spirit Cultivators.

Beast herd species is merely a broad term and doesn't simply refer to a single type of life being. There are differences among beast herd species. Some do not have a "hub," while others do. The insect clan probably belongs to the latter. In a beast herd species of the insect genus, the Queen Bee or Mother Insect is equivalent to the "brain."

Once this hub is mastered, it is tantamount to mastering the entire beast herd species.

"Now, I am confident I can enslave that Queen Bee probably at the Divine Power Stage!"

"Time is running out. I consumed too much time in cultivation just now and must complete the enslavement as soon as possible."

"Furthermore, those blood and flesh species are fighting that Heterodox Cultivator using primitive methods. That Heterodox Cultivator is not weak. Even if the primitive strength of the beast herd species is a thousand times stronger, it wouldn't know how to use it and would only be gradually killed by him using strength against weakness... The loss is too great, I must quickly subdue the Queen Bee!"

With this thought, Mei Gemu led Lian Yichen and two others swiftly towards the beehive. Along the way, they encountered little resistance from bee swarms. Mei Gemu's face darkened. It seems Wang Qi's strength is somewhat beyond expectation... He actually forced the beast herd species to draw off most of its power to deal with him.

Must hurry... or else if the loss is too great...

However, at the entrance of the beehive, Mei Gemu witnessed an unimaginable scene.

Wang Qi sat on the head of a huge, fat insect and greeted him: "Hey, I've been waiting for a long time."

The fat insect was none other than the Queen Bee.