My starting summon is a small skeleton

Elder Mountain, District 1.

The day after Lu Wu was captured.

In the laboratory on Elder Mountain, there stood one cross after another, each cross binding one person.

The Dark Conference's chairman Domok, along with his Five Elders,

the Grand sage of the Science Alliance, along with his Four Deans,

together with the two elders of fire and water from Elder Mountain,

it could be said that except for Tie Xiong, everyone who participated in capturing Lu Wu the day before was present, neatly assembled.

At this moment, all the bound people felt incredibly conflicted.

They had never imagined that after going through so much trouble to capture Lu Wu, such a fate would await them.

While doubting life itself, the ones who had captured them, Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui, stepped forward.

Looking at the row of spoils before them, they seemed to see one after another Gate Fragment successfully refined; they couldn't contain their smiles.

Zhang Mingrui even couldn't help but spread his arms wide: "Gentlemen, as you all basically know the situation, our simple and pure reason for inviting everyone here is to hope you could contribute and help us brothers refine some more Gate Fragments."

The words directly startled the people on the crosses.

They struggled and responded.

"Zhao Xue'en, Zhang Mingrui, you are inhuman, may you find no peace in death!"

"Speaking of Lu Wu's demons, you are hardly better than him!"

"No, you are even more ruthless and inhuman than he is!"

This was the response of Old Huo and Elder Shui, who clearly understood the true nature of these two men.

They knew even more clearly that there was no hope of survival for them, as despair and fear made them scream hysterically.

But some still hadn't given up hope of living.

"Lord Zhao, Lord Zhang, I beg you to show mercy, please let us go, refining the Gate Fragments is not an easy task, forcing it won't work!"

"Yes, let me go, I am the Grand Sage of the Science Alliance, I have mastered the highest knowledge of the Alliance, I can help you perfect the plan."

"Lords, I think we can talk…"

Compared to the two fire and water elders, the others still harbored some hope, wanting desperately to survive, but soon a cold splash dashed their hopes.

"Enough, no need to say more, whatever you say is useless!

The fragments to be refined, as for perfecting the plan or whatever, there's really no need since Lu Wu has already perfected it for us, so you might as well just cooperate nicely!"

"Of course, rest assured, we brothers are not good people.

If you do not cooperate, we still have ways to make you beg for life and crave death."

Zhang Mingrui looked down at these fearsome figures before him.

The two Elder ghosts of fire and water were provoked again.

"Come on then, if you dare, just bring it on, it's all the same death anyway, I am not afraid of you at all!"

Hearing their defiance, Zhang Mingrui laughed, a very gentle laugh.

While laughing, he came up to the defiant Old Huo, looking at the eerily smiling man before him, Old Huo suddenly felt a bit scared, but considering his situation, he squared his shoulders and glared back at Zhang Mingrui, about to challenge him again.

Just then, Zhang Mingrui touched his forehead and leaned in close, whispering something into his ear.

Everyone just saw that after Zhang Mingrui had spoken, Old Huo, who had just been clamoring, was suddenly stunned.

Then, he could not utter another word.

He honestly lowered his head.

Watching Old Huo, whom he had dealt with in just a few words, Zhang Mingrui smiled, reaching out to stroke Old Huo's head as if he were patting his own dog, "That's right, be good, strive to refine the Gate Fragment soon. If I'm in a good mood, I might even spare your life; after all, keeping an elder as a dog is quite prestigious!"

While speaking, he turned his head to look at the other pinned-down individuals.

He did not speak, but the eerily gentle smile on his face and the pair of eyes, deep with hellish malice, made everyone present shiver and feel a chill.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Xue'en stood up, "Alright, that's enough; we can begin now!"

"Why wait any longer? Let's start!"

Following the nod from these two big shots, a group of people flooded into the laboratory.

Simultaneously, another Gate Fragment was brought out.

It must be said, as the supreme existence of the Alliance, Elder Mountain's heritage was indeed shocking.

Organizations like the "Dark Conference," "Holy Sect Alliance," and "Science Alliance" only had one or two fragments, but at Elder Mountain, they easily brought out three fragments that had previously been used for refinement and to bait Lu Wu.

And now, they effortlessly produced five more fragments.

The depth of Elder Mountain's heritage was evident.

However, this heritage had previously been just that—a kept heritage.

But now, it was different.

Thanks to Lu Wu's kind-heartedness, they were now fully able to transform their heritage into power.

If they could refine these five fragments, they could fuse them into a single fragment larger and stronger than the one Tie Xiong held.

At that time, they could not only ensure their own safety but also use the fragments to overpower Tie Xiong and seize his fragment.

Having two fragments of that caliber would significantly enhance the power of Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui.

They would possess the power to surpass President Lu Haikong and even the Zeroers.

If they could take a step further, they could even collect all the Gate Fragments to assemble the complete Gate and become the supreme existence.

Although that last step was a bit far off, the thought alone was quite thrilling.

Setting aside the former, as long as they could refine these five fragments, they would also see a significant enhancement.

As for refining these five fragments, they figured there probably wouldn't be a big problem, right?

Hmm, under the anticipation of these two, the refinement of the Gate Fragments began swiftly.

Initially, the process was indeed as fast and stable as they had hoped.

From the beginning of refinement to reaching ten percent completion took only about thirty minutes.

From ten percent to ninety-nine percent completion took only about five hours.

This efficiency was quite terrifying.

Watching fragment after fragment gradually light up, Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui were incredibly excited.

However, their excitement was soon braked, as the refinement of the Gate Fragments also hit a snag.

For some unknown reason, the process was stuck at ninety-nine percent for four to five hours, with no progress at all; the last bit simply wouldn't complete.

This made Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui very uncomfortable.

"What's going on here? Is it a problem with the fragments? Or is it because this group isn't cooperating?

Should we kill one to set an example?"

Zhang Mingrui suggested sternly.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xue'en focused his gaze on one person.

This person was in charge of the Gate Fragment Refinement project and was also someone Lu Wu knew fairly well—Gutian from the Cultivation Profession Center.

Although he was severely outclassed by Lu Wu.

Regardless, he was part of the higher management of the Profession Center and a cultivation master, almost stepping into the Grandmaster level.

He indeed possessed some capabilities.

However, that was not the main reason he was responsible for this project.

The main reason was that he was obedient, had the lowest standard, and was the most suitable as a pawn!

Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui were not planning anything pleasant, and such matters definitely required cooperative individuals to avoid additional troubles; after all, the core techniques were already handled by Lu Wu's side, they just lacked an executor, making Gutian the perfect candidate.

As the project manager, Gutian also had his own understanding of the project.

At least, in the current problematic situation, he could stand out immediately and pinpoint where the problem originated.

"Both lords, after studying the last refinement, as well as the refinement personally overseen by Lu Wu, I believe I have identified the direction of the problem.

The reason the refinement wasn't completely successful lies in the soul power!"

"Soul power?"

"Yes, the first time when Lu Wu personally oversaw it, Elder Fei reached the peak of Epic 2 Star, and his soul had already touched the level of Epic 3 Star, plus with Lu Wu's assistance, it's normal that the refinement was successful.

The second refinement succeeded because Zhang Chen himself was an Epic 3 Star powerhouse, and his soul power was strong enough to complete the refinement on his own.

But this time it's different!"

Gutian explained this, and Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui basically understood.

"Are you saying this batch of people for the refinement are too low level, not reaching Epic 3 Star, so the refinement couldn't succeed?"

"Both lords are wise, indeed—"

Zhao Xue'en waved his hand, cutting off Gutian's flattery: "Alright, save the boring chatter; just tell us the solution."

"I have two immature ideas."

Gutian took a deep breath: "The first one requires both lords to lend them a hand."

"How would we assist?"

"Would it consume a lot?"

Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui went straight to the point, and Gutian dared not beat around the bush before the two big bosses.

"It would require a certain amount of soul power, and conservatively estimated, both of you might need to use up a third of your soul power or even more."

"That's not acceptable!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingrui and Zhao Xue'en decisively rejected it.

After all, it involved a third of their soul power; though it posed no lethal risks, their abilities would significantly decline in the short term.

That was something they absolutely could not allow.

Who knew what they might encounter after their power declined?

Whether it would be Tie Xiong or something else, both were unsure and unwilling to take such a gamble, so they firmly rejected this approach.

"What's the second solution?"

"To solve this kind of problem, there are only two methods: either increase the quality or the quantity..."

When it came to quantity, even Gutian, who was not a good person, hesitated somewhat.

Because he was well aware that once Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui chose the second solution, it would definitely involve deaths, and not just a few.

"Just spit out the solution without dawdling!"

"Yes, the second approach requires sacrificing some people to aid in the completion of the refinement."

"Sacrificing some people? How many?"

"For Ordinary individuals, about a million for each fragment, and for Summoners, nearly a hundred thousand."

Gutian stated this with a somewhat heavy heart.

However, what he did not expect was that after he finished speaking, Zhao Xue'en and Zhang Mingrui visibly relaxed.

"Five to six million for five fragments isn't too bad; it's not very damaging to the Alliance!

Let's proceed quickly then—pull all the criminals from the Alliance Prison, and from districts 11 or 12 bring over five to six million people..."

Zhang Mingrui immediately began planning how to handle this matter.

Upon hearing this, Gutian felt a chill passing through him.

Though he himself wasn't a good person either and had trampled on others' lives, he still had some respect for life.

Therefore, he truly found it hard to believe—hard to believe that the Alliance's big shots would treat life with such disregard.

Listening to what Zhang Mingrui was saying, life in his mouth seemed no longer to be life, but just a string of cold numbers.

How could this not frighten and scare Gutian?

He instinctively looked towards Zhao Xue'en, hoping that Zhao Xue'en would differ from Zhang Mingrui.

Indeed, almost as soon as he turned to look at Zhao Xue'en, Zhao shook his head: "This won't do! We can't go about it this way!"

Hearing this, Gutian perked up.

"That's right, we shouldn't—"

Before Gutian could agree further, Zhao Xue'en had already spoken the latter half: "Going about it this way would take too long to prepare; by estimation, it wouldn't be resolved without one or two weeks.

Delays in such matters can lead to complications; we don't have that much time to waste.

Additionally, if we really do this, it will be tough to whitewash later.

After all, there would be too many traces, and it would be hard to justify to the public.

So, I suggest we just find a city with five to six million people near Elder Mountain and sacrifice it directly.

It would be quick, and after the sacrifice, it would be easy to deal with the aftermath, just like the situation at Changping Secret Realm last time—just shift the responsibility to Lu Wu, oh wait, Lu Wu is already dead, so just shift it to the Zero Organization, it's all the same."

"Alright, your method is good; let's go with it!

I'll handle the sacrifice; Gutian, you assist me. By the way, Gutian, weren't you about to say something?"

Both big shots' gazes simultaneously fell on Gutian.

At this moment, the two big shots' faces wore gentle smiles as they looked at Gutian in approval, yet that gentle demeanor could not offer Gutian any warmth. Facing their gazes and smiles, Gutian felt a chill running down his spine...