Star Rulers were completely independent existences. Outside of the Thirteen Heavens, it was almost impossible to see a certain Star Ruler living in someone else's astral world as a subordinate.
In other words, even in a large plane like Extreme Sword Heaven, the only Star Ruler who truly belonged here was Xue Ren.
The other Star Rulers here were at most visiting or living in seclusion, or perhaps even seeking revenge, but they had absolutely no affiliation with Extreme Sword Heaven.
Only at the level of the Thirteen Heavens, where the Star Ruler merged with the great Dao and their astral world experienced a fundamental breakthrough, would a Star Ruler have a basis for recruiting other Star Rulers.
Because of this, there was a group of Star Rulers below the Thirteen Heavens who used all kinds of methods in their attempts to create Star Ruler Realm fighting strength.
Extreme Sword Heaven was a very typical example.
Xue Ren's own cultivation was more like conducting research, so he came across some peculiar methods that could be used to create soldiers during his research.
After all, science and technology are a primary productive force[1], and the production of a fighting force was also considered production.
Gao Xiaowen's face was ashen as he stared at the "fighting force" rapidly flying away in front of him, his heart frozen in fear.
It was already a heavy crime to secretly take a sword beast outside the sect. It would be fine if he could resolve it perfectly, but he'd be implicated if the problem escalated.
And now, he actually lost control of a Star Ruler Realm sword beast… Gao Xiaowen didn't know how he'd explain this to the sect. He might even be expelled for this.
Wang Qiu, his companion, also froze when she saw the roaring giant ape disappear into the distance. When she recalled the terrible consequences of an out-of-control sword beast, she couldn't even speak for a while.
"W-What do we do…?" Wang Qiu's voice trembled.
"Hurry! We must go back and find Master!"
...
Gu Nan held Qu Hongye by the neck with one hand and slowly walked through a dense forest.
Ever since they approached the Sword Sect's mountain gate, Gu Nan never allowed Qu Hongye to leave his grasp.
The "physics sword Dao" was a field he'd never seen before. Who knew what kinds of strange abilities they had?
If Qu Hongye successfully wormed into a spatial passage just because he was careless, it'd be hard to find her again.
Laws could be cut off and abilities could be restricted, but the Evil God physique was unstoppable.
Gu Nan believed that as long as he was willing, not even Xue Ren himself would be able to stop Gu Nan from snapping Qu Hongye's neck.
"Hey! Can't you put me down?" But Qu Hongye didn't have the same considerations as Gu Nan. She was currently asking in annoyance.
"Why?"
"I can walk by myself!" She said as she stomped her one good leg.
Gu Nan cast her a glance and unhurriedly placed her on the ground, then slammed his foot down on her good leg.
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking came again. Qu Hongye immediately cried out in pain. "What are you doing?!"
Gu Nan coldly swept her a glance. "Can you still walk now?"
"I-I… No." Qu Hongye wanted to draw her sword and cut this fellow, but the harsh reality made her give in.
"Just you wait…" Qu Hongye glared viciously at Gu Nan while wondering, 'Why aren't my senior brothers and sisters here yet?'
At that moment, an enormous roar traveled over from their front. A giant ape was giving a long roar while looking up at the sky, wreaking havoc on everything around it.
Qu Hongye's face paled. Of course she knew that a sword beast would never make such a move under normal circumstances.
This was clearly a sword beast they lost control of!
"A Tier 5 divine servant? Not bad," Gu Nan, however, just glanced in that direction and commented offhandedly.
Divine servants were a type of existence with the Divine Kingdom distinct from apostles and the populace, and generally, their responsibility was to conquer foreign planes.
To use the concept of base building games as an analogy, the Divine Kingdom's populace were the normal residents, the apostles were the various types of heroes, and the divine servants were the soldiers.
Different types of heroes specialized in different fields, but different levels and types of soldiers all played the same role—to fight wars.
Divine servants were generally artificial creations, and most of them weren't even living beings. They belonged to a relatively rare category of existences.
This was the first time Gu Nan had seen a divine servant since he transmigrated here.
"Get out of the way! Quick, get out of the way!"
A white-bearded old Daoist was chasing the giant ape. When he saw Gu Nan and Qu Hongye, he immediately shielded them protectively behind him.
"H-Hurry up and let go of me!" Gu Nan was still carrying Qu Hongye by the neck, but she couldn't help shouting right now.
Qu Hongye knew exactly how terrifying the sword ape's power was.
This was originally the product of her Martial Uncle's experiments on making beasts take the path of traditional sword cultivators. Reality proved that beasts could also cultivate swordsmanship, and apes were the best among them.
The power of this sword ape was already enough to fight against a newly-advanced Star Ruler!
But what made her helpless was that Gu Nan didn't move at all and just watched as the ape rushed forward, chopping its palm down.
This chop was as fast as lightning. It actually used its palm as a sword without scattering any sword intent contained within the strike at all. This chop alone was enough to prove the giant ape's extraordinary sword Dao attainment.
One had to wonder what the cultivators who wholeheartedly dedicated themselves to swordsmanship would feel if they saw this scene—man was inferior to ape.
Gu Nan just stood in front of the giant ape and raised his left hand.
He steadily caught the giant ape's palm, yet his hand didn't even shake from the impact. On the contrary, the gales generated by the collision almost blew Qu Hongye away.
The giant ape's palm was the size of Gu Nan's entire body, but Gu Nan casually grabbed it with his hand. The small and large figures faced each other just like this, looking very bizarre.
The other people in the forest also fell silent. The giant ape, however, gave another roar as it tried to use all its power to break free.
The hand Gu Nan used to grab it didn't budge. Only then did he violently fling it to one side. The giant ape was actually swung around like a ball, smashing into the ground.
With a loud rumble, the giant ape's head hit the ground, and it let out a wail of pain.
The sword ape's true power was entirely in its swordsmanship, but its actual body wasn't very strong, so Gu Nan's frightening strength caused it to lose consciousness.
"This… Don't tell me it died from that throw?" Gao Xiaowen stared at the motionless sword ape on the ground and couldn't help asking.
"How can it die so easily from just a throw? This is a sword beast!" Wang Qiu denied vehemently, but she didn't sound very confident.
"It's not dead, but it's almost there." Their master, the old white-bearded Daoist, sighed. "You guys drag the sword beast back first."
"No need, leave it to me," a gentle voice rang in everyone's ears. Only then did they realize that an additional figure had already appeared beside them at some point.
It was a young man dressed in light green Daoist robes. As soon as the old Daoist saw him, he immediately bowed and greeted, "Sect Master, Senior Martial Brother."
"Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle, save me!" Qu Hongye, who was beside Gu Nan, even shouted hurriedly.
The person who just arrived was clearly the target Gu Nan wanted to meet, the strongest Sword Saint of the Myriad Heavens—Xue Ren, the Star Ruler of Extreme Sword Heaven.
Gu Nan raised such a ruckus here. If Xue Ren still couldn't sense that, then he wouldn't be called a Star Ruler.
Xue Ren greeted the old Daoist, then took another step to arrive in front of Gu Nan and Qu Hongye, smiling gently. "Your Excellency Gu Nan, I've wanted to meet you for a long time."
As he said this, he also patted Qu Hongye's head gently, signaling for her to keep quiet for now.
"What did you want to meet me for?" Gu Nan asked the follow-up question.
"To test my sword." Xue Ren's voice was still as warm as jade, but there was a touch of fervor on his face. "I heard that your physical body is invincible. If you can block this strike of mine, I can grant a request of yours."
Swordsmen were usually martial arts fanatics, and Xue Ren was no exception.
But Xue Ren was a very special swordsman—he paid special attention to etiquette, or rather, going through the proper procedures first. Surprisingly, he didn't have any intention of making a move before he received Gu Nan's reply.
It was the first time Gu Nan had seen such a polite person, so he nodded. "Alright."
While saying that, he raised Qu Hongye in front of him like a shield, squarely blocking him from Xue Ren.
[1] "Science and technology are a primary productive force" - Famous quote from Deng Xiaoping