"I'm screwed!" Gesai sensed the massive Energy contained in that little golden sword. That surge alone was enough to instantly wipe out his divine sense and brain. He didn't even know where this attack came from, who set it up, or how it was triggered.

And right when it was an inch away from the center of his brows, that little golden sword suddenly halted, just like the stone stele said: for the first person who tried to force their way in, the city's owner would give a single warning.

The little golden sword moved away from his brow, then very humanely pointed toward the stone stele, as if hinting that he should take a good look at what was written on it.

Gesai had just been holding his breath almost the whole time, and only now finally let out a long exhale. In that instant just now, he'd basically taken a round trip to the Ghost Gate!

He didn't dare doubt the warning left by this "owner," and immediately backed off to outside the stele's boundary. At that moment, the little golden sword turned around sharply and shot back up into the sky.

Only now did Gesai really notice that there were actually two strange objects floating above the city.

"This little golden sword attacks anyone who tries to force their way into the city. Looks like some kind of very high-level Sword Array Formation," Gesai muttered to himself. "It can identify intruders, and even gives such intelligent prompts and control. There's no way an average Array Master could set this up. Could it be something left behind by those existences that predate the eighteen superpowers?"

"And what's that thing?" Gesai stared at the other object, falling into thought, but obviously, there was no way he could guess that it was actually an Ultraman Transformation Device.

"Since that's the case, I'll just go in through the main gate and have a look." Gesai obediently followed the survival base owner's instructions and headed toward the entrance.

Judging from the entrance design, the owner of this survival base clearly put a lot of thought into it. Gesai's first impression was that it was full of "unique artistic flair."

From a distance it looked like two stone pillars, but when he got closer he realized they were actually two stone statues about twenty meters tall.

The two statues were of the same person, but mirrored. They were both doing a "shoulder slam"–style pose toward the sides, and the hairstyle and outfit were extremely weird.

The statue had short hair, with the bangs parted down the middle toward both sides. He wore a turtleneck sweater, and below that was a pair of weird pants with two suspenders, one of which had slipped off the shoulder. The pose gave Gesai a strong feeling of… "effortless swagger."

Suspended between the two statues were a few three-dimensional stone carvings floating by some unknown method, with several characters on them: "Home Inn Survival Base – East Gate."

"This survival base owner is really strange—acts weird, has weird taste, and even picks weird names," Gesai muttered to himself as he walked toward the entrance.

Unlike other areas, there were dense rows of robots standing on both sides of the entrance. One of the robots, upon seeing Gesai, immediately activated and rolled toward him.

"Dear guest, welcome to Home Inn Survival Base. How may I serve you?" the robot spoke in a very humanlike voice.

"Uh… I want to go in and take a look."

"Apologies, you must check in before you can enter, otherwise you will be considered an intruder and suffer indiscriminate attacks from the base Formations. Since you are the first guest to enter the survival base, you are entitled to receive a super VIP discount card."

The robot pulled out a card and handed it to Gesai.

Gesai took it and glanced down. There were several lines written on the card.

1. This VIP card may only be used by the holder. Lending or renting it out is strictly forbidden. If this clause is violated, the card will be destroyed unconditionally and immediately.

2. All of your personal spending inside the survival base will enjoy a 90% discount (pay 10%).

3. Friends you bring along will enjoy a 50% discount on all spending inside the survival base, up to a maximum of ten people.

4. The final right of interpretation of this card belongs to the owner of the survival base.

"I'm the first one?" Gesai was suspicious. "But I clearly sensed someone's presence in this city. How could I be the first one here?"

"Obviously, because I'm the one who built this city!" Right then, the owner of that aura suddenly appeared before Gesai.

"You… it's you?" Gesai instantly showed a shocked expression. He knew this person—this was the number one on the Heavenly Prides ranking, Gu Xiao from the Yanlan Empire!

Although Gesai had never had any real contact with Zhang Menglong, fame spreads fast. Among the Heavenly Prides, there were probably very few who didn't recognize Zhang Menglong, especially since not long ago everyone got fooled by Zhang Menglong's "Purity Theory," leaving most people harboring grudges against him.

Gesai couldn't say he hated Zhang Menglong to the bone, but he definitely didn't have any good feelings toward him.

"You're the one who built this survival base?" Gesai asked.

"Obviously, it was none other than your humble host—me," Zhang Menglong said proudly. "So, how is it? Awesome or what?"

"That Formation was set up by you too?"

"Yup." Zhang Menglong nodded. "That Formation cost me a lot of effort. You know how it is, this place is crawling with Warcraft. Without some defensive measures, my safety base would quickly turn into a sanctuary for those Warcraft. It can insta-kill Warcraft at Fifth Grade Divine Cultivator level. That should be more than enough in most cases."

"Fifth Grade Divine Cultivator?" Gesai's eyes widened.

He knew Zhang Menglong was strong. A powerhouse like Lin Yuan could easily insta-kill Martial Artists at First-Grade and Second-Grade Divine Cultivator level, and Zhang Menglong was even a notch above Lin Yuan. Gesai wouldn't be surprised at all if he said he could fight on par with Third Grade or even Fourth Grade Divine Cultivator Martial Artists.

As for Formations, as long as you set them up in advance, it's easy to fight one or two levels above your own. Being able to kill a Fifth Grade Divine Cultivator wasn't that strange.

But still—Zhang Menglong was only a Sixth-Grade Spiritual Body. He could practically insta-kill someone a whole major realm above himself. How ridiculous was that? 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"So, you checking in or what? Our super deluxe suite is normally 100 million Divine Crystals per day. Right now the base just opened, so it's only 80 million. Don't just sit there drooling—act on that impulse. Plus with your VIP discount, you only need 8 million Divine Crystals per day. What are you still waiting for?"

"100 million Divine Crystals a day? You're straight-up robbing people!" Gesai said.

"How is that robbery?" Zhang Menglong immediately protested. "Go ask around. Over in the Hong Yun Empire, the most expensive luxury suite in those hotels costs 65 million Divine Crystals a day. Their service only covers your food, lodging, and various other services. Anything they can provide, I can provide too!"

"But here, I can guarantee your life is 100% safe. Isn't that worth an extra 35 million?"

"Guarantee 100% safety?" Gesai let out a cold snort. After a few nights here, he knew exactly how terrifying the darkness was. Even a Divine Cultivator powerhouse coming here would probably only sit and wait for death in this darkness. On what basis could this guy guarantee 100% safety?

"Don't tell me you don't know how terrifying the monsters in the night are? What gives you the confidence to protect our safety?" Gesai asked sharply.

"What gives me the confidence?" Zhang Menglong puffed out his chest and said, "These two words: Gu Xiao! I'm telling you, if those monsters of the night so much as hurt a single hair on your head, I'll pay you back tenfold out of my own pocket!"