The current Gu Nan could shrug off the points needed to create the Dark Knights.
Divine Kingdom Wars were a type of large-investment, large-gain playstyle, and the most difficult part was undoubtedly the initial accumulation of points.
By the time a player successfully formed an army and managed to conquer a plane, the points earned would often be more than what they invested.
The hardest part of the First Round wasn't players not knowing how to make money; rather, it was players not knowing how to spend money. Newbies tended to make the mistake of conserving their points, which actually lowered their efficiency.
That was why Gu Nan was quite appreciative of Ren Dongzhan's approach.
Even if he was just throwing his life away, it could nevertheless serve as an example to others—anyhow, resurrecting mortals was no longer a difficult task after obtaining Macefield's crystal ball.
As subordinates, they need only carry out orders meticulously. Weighing the gains and losses wasn't something they should do, especially when Gu Nan himself didn't care about the losses.
Regardless of Gu Nan's war policy, his arrival was a turning point for the battlefield.
Wu Gui was the first to sense that something was wrong, and she didn't have any intention of fighting Gu Nan. She casually slapped Ren Dongzhan down, while her other hand had already swept Ying Ge and Zi Dian into her kasaya with a light wave.
However, she felt a blur in front of her eyes just as she was about to retreat; Gu Nan was already standing in front of her at some point.
Wu Gui launched a palm strike without hesitation, and boundless Buddhist chants instantly enveloped their surroundings, making Gu Nan feel as if he was in the Kingdom of Three Thousand Buddhas.
It was the same Buddhist kingdom as the one she created in the past, but Wu Gui had to make sufficient preparations to call it out back then, while she could casually create it now, so she clearly made tremendous progress.
Unfortunately, Gu Nan's changes were even greater, and with his current realm, he was able to tank Wu Gui's attack without any pressure.
Gu Nan's fist smashed into Wu Gui's palm, whereupon all the Buddhist chants disappeared in this instant and all the Buddhas crumbled and disintegrated, while Wu Gui's entire body flew backwards.
"Mm, you guys continue." Gu Nan glanced down at them. Then his figure instantly disappeared, actually returning to the depths of the starry sea.
...
In the blink of an eye, Gu Nan had traveled back and forth between the Sky Palace and Indigo Mountain, and after severely injuring Wu Gui, he once again stood in front of Red.
Based on his estimate, after Wu Gui received a direct punch from himself, even if she didn't die on the spot, she wouldn't have much fighting power left.
Even if she could still attack, he could simply give her a second punch.
Red's face, however, was pale. Her ghostly guards continued to gather one after another, surrounding Gu Nan on all sides. Having already learned her lesson, she didn't want to make the mistake a second time.
Red's initial plan was to lure Gu Nan here and utilize her home-field advantage and her own power to the extreme as a means of stalling her opponent.
Apart from that, her other words and actions were nothing more than psychological warfare.
It's just that she hadn't expected Gu Nan to be so tough to the point that he could withstand all the attacks from the Crimson Guards and still leave her palace.
But in Gu Nan's view, there was nothing remarkable about it. It was nothing more than a tactical contest between the two sides.
Red wanted to utilize her own advantages by using an army to slow him down, so of course he could do the reverse, utilizing the army's shortcomings of being too bulky and far less agile than himself to counterattack.
At this point in time, Red no longer had many trump cards left.
She wasn't a Star Ruler who had a wide network of friends to begin with. She couldn't even manage her own astral world all these years because all her time was spent trying to recuperate from her injuries.
If the script went on like this, Red would have to helplessly watch her astral world be invaded and completely destroyed by Gu Nan's army of divine servants.
And the divine servants did indeed do so. Under the leadership of their respective apostles, they simultaneously launched attacks on all nine major regions, and the flames of war instantly engulfed Star Realm.
Gu Nan could also use this to gain a large amount of points. Based on earlier estimates, he would likely be able to save enough points to advance to Tier 8 this time.
After all, although Star Realm was internally weak, largely due to the characteristic of an outer space-type astral world making it impossible to centralize high-end power, the total value of points wasn't low.
But reality was never as rosy as the script.
Just as Gu Nan was leisurely dealing with the Crimson Guards' attacks in the Sky Palace, he and Red's expressions changed simultaneously.
"So there were more helpers?" Gu Nan glanced at Red with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
In his senses, a Star Ruler was descending from the Myriad Heavens, going directly to a region in Star Realm and sniping Gu Nan's army of divine servants.
However, this Star Ruler wasn't very strong and appeared to have barely reached Tier 6. He most likely hadn't even chosen an astral world yet.
But instead of a look of understanding, Red's expression seemed equally puzzled. However, such an emotion only flickered for a second before disappearing. She was fully aware that the most important thing right now was to prevent Gu Nan from seeing through her bluff.
Gu Nan didn't think much of it as his figure vanished once again. This time, the Crimson Guards couldn't even delay his departure at all; it was clear that he'd already familiarized himself with their attack patterns.
Gu Nan's figure instantly appeared in front of that Star Ruler and swung a punch down without another word. The terrifying force behind that punch caused the Star Ruler to instantly change color.
But at that instant, an inexplicable sense of danger rose up in Gu Nan's heart, as if there was a thorn in his back, causing him to subconsciously pull back his punch.
The warning from the Evil God physique was indeed accurate. At the same time Gu Nan withdrew, a solemn and rigid "kill" character appeared out of thin air in his original position.
An old man with white hair and beard slowly appeared. There was no expression on his face, but his gaze was firmly fixed on Gu Nan.
"Fang Chaoyun?" Gu Nan couldn't help raising an eyebrow when he saw the new arrival.
This person was none other than Graceful Heaven's Fang Chaoyun, who'd previously been injured at Gu Nan's hands. He was Song Fei's disciple as well as a powerful Tier 10 Star Ruler, and was considered a bigshot even in the Myriad Heavens.
Gu Nan laughed involuntarily, not expecting someone with this person's status to actually pay a special visit just to look for his trouble.
But Fang Chaoyun's next words made Gu Nan realize that the other party not only came to find trouble for Gu Nan, but that he intended to keep finding trouble for him.
"Gu Nan." Fang Chaoyun slowly stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Star Realm's Star Ruler has no grudges against you, so why are you invading this plane?"
"None of your business," Gu Nan shot back rudely.
Fang Chaoyun, however, sneered. "If the chaos of war rages on endlessly, then it will devastate all living beings. This humble one lives life holding the Confucian teachings in the highest regard and accepts the responsibility of protecting the safety and security of all common people, so how can I sit back and watch you run amok?"
This erudite speech gave Gu Nan a slight headache, but he got the meaning.
To put it simply, it was just one sentence: "If you, Gu Nan, want to invade other astral worlds in the future, you'll have to ask me, Old Fang, first."
After all, Old Fang was a Tier 10 Star Ruler. The only reason he suffered injuries at Gu Nan's hands previously was because he courted death by running inside Gu Nan's Divine Kingdom. But if they fought outside, he really didn't fear Gu Nan.