Deep in the far north, a hundred-foot-tall altar made of bones and bronze rises from the ground. This was once the 'flesh and blood workshop' where the ancient gods mended their followers. The air is thick with the strange, sweet stench of rust and decay.
At the centre of the altar, the dark blue flames of the ancient gods flicker eternally, while the illusory figures of three thousand Imperial Guards appear behind Xiao Wuchen. They sway in the icy wind; their consciousness has been awakened, but their bodies crumbled to ash within three thousand years of confinement in this frozen wasteland. They are now sustained only by a remnant of 'unwilling spirit'.
'Master, this place is incredibly sinister.' Chi Kui shrank his neck and pointed to the mountain of Netherworld Erosion Alien remains piled up below the altar. 'Are you really going to throw the brothers into this furnace?'
They don't need to 'come back to life.'" Xiao Wuchen stared coldly at the ancient divine fire. 'What they need are bodies capable of severing the necks of immortals.'
'Trespassers in the divine realm... die!' A thunderous roar erupted from above the altar and a colossal, headless figure clad in heavy black-gold armour covered in barbs slowly rose.
Purple demonic light surged from its severed neck and it held a giant axe with a long handle, each hand entwined with countless vengeful spirits. Xiao Wuchen didn't waste any words. The clang of the black-gold cold iron armour pierced the air, the cold iron core in his chest instantly overloading and the dark red Netherworld Flames instantly vaporising the snow beneath his feet.
'Leng Wuxue, watch the altar.' Before he had finished speaking, Xiao Wuchen had already transformed into a black lightning bolt. His demonic sword, Rootless, drew an almost vertical arc in mid-air and collided with the decapitated man's giant axe.
The violent clash of wills and divinity resulted in a deafening clang. The surrounding void distorted due to the sheer force of the impact.
Despite being at a significant physical disadvantage, the metal shavings of the Raider within Xiao Wuchen were drilling frantically into the decapitated man's body at the point of contact. They were analysing and plundering the ancient god's defensive logic.
"Shatter!" Xiao Wuchen roared, causing the miniature array in his right armour to self-destruct and gain a burst of explosive power. This allowed him to deflect the giant axe with force.
The short dagger, 'Rootless', pierced the decapitated man's neck energy source like a venomous snake's tongue.
Just as the creature roared in rage, Xiao Wuchen swiftly swung his arm, guiding the ancient god's divinity towards the blue flames at the centre of the altar. 'Into the furnace!'
Led by Leng Wuxue, three thousand Imperial Guards threw themselves into the raging blue flames without hesitation.
Xiao Wuchen swept the remains of the Netherworld Mother Root — fragments of the decapitated creature's divinity and millennia-old cold iron from the graveyard — into the furnace. Guided by his Eye of Truth, he wove a new semi-mechanical, semi-undead physiological structure into the void. The torso was formed by fusing Netherworld Mother Root fibres and cold iron, giving it extremely strong self-healing abilities.
Joints: Miniature hydraulic structures driven by the divinity of ancient gods with explosive power one hundred times greater than that of mortals.
Weapons: The arms were fused directly with the claws of the Netherworld Erosion Alien and could transform into embroidered spring blades at will.
"Netherworld Iron Cavalry, pay your respects!" As the altar shattered with a deafening roar and the blue flames extinguished, a deadly killing intent instantly enveloped the entire icy plain.
As the grey smoke dissipated, three thousand figures, each about two metres tall and covered in obsidian-like armour, stood in neat rows. Their eye sockets burned with eerie green soul fire and their breath exuded deadly frost. They were no longer the Imperial Guards, but rather the 'Netherworld Iron Cavalry', personally crafted by Xiao Wuchen.
Leng Wuxue slowly stepped forward; his body was even more imposing than before and his left arm had been completely transformed into a dark red chainsaw blade. He knelt on one knee before Xiao Wuchen, his voice like the tolling of a bell from the depths of hell:
"Netherworld Iron Cavalry, three thousand strong, at full strength! General, please direct your troops towards the Immortal Gate!"
The blue flames atop the altar were melting bodies and scorching souls. Three thousand Imperial Guards let out low growls amidst the eerie blue flames — not cries of pain, but the casual friction resulting from the forced fusion of soul and metal, flesh and the divinity of ancient gods. Xiao Wuchen stood at the edge of the altar, his dark red eyes fixed intently on the progress of each soul's fusion.
[System residual log: Large-scale 'Divine Consciousness Assimilation' detected.'
[Warning: The host is using their 'Unwilling Soul' as a medium to forcibly withstand the impact of the ancient god's will.'
[Risk: If even one person collapses, the host's sea of consciousness will undergo a chain reaction.]
'They've risked their lives with me. If they can withstand this impact, so can I.' Xiao Wuchen clasped his hands together and the dark red cloud patterns on his black iron armour erupted with an intense red light. This light forcefully suppressed the chaotic divinity unique to the 'Decapitated Ones' that had attempted to resist. It was pinned to the bottom of the furnace.
Xiao Wuchen knew that a strong physique alone was not enough. He needed a killing machine that would obey him absolutely and share his will. He activated the 'Eye of Truth', forcibly connecting his vision with that of the three thousand iron cavalrymen. In that instant, the breathing, heartbeats and killing intent of three thousand people all converged on Xiao Wuchen.
This was the ultimate stage of the Great Qian Forbidden Technique: 'United as One, Returning to Nothingness'.
'From this day forward, you are no longer the shadows of the Great Qian.'
Xiao Wuchen's voice pierced the blue flames and resonated throughout the entire altar.
"You are the sins of this world, the nightmare of the immortal sects. You are... Netherworld Raiders!" As the divinity of the last severed head was completely absorbed, the white bone altar that had stood for ten thousand years finally succumbed to the pressure within and shattered with a deafening roar.
After the dust settled, the icy plain was no longer deathly silent. Three thousand terrifying warriors, each over two metres tall and entirely black with dark purple light flowing from their joints, knelt in perfect unison on one knee in the heavy snow. Their footsteps converged into a muffled thud, causing the surrounding glaciers to avalanche. Xiao Wuchen strode forward; the cold iron core in his chest had now completely transformed into a deep, purplish black. He pulled a massive metal spear from the altar ruins, planted it in the ground and said, 'Leng Wuxue, let's go.'
'To the so-called "Gate between Immortals and Mortals". Let's show those watchdogs what true resurrection is.'
On the ruins of the collapsed altar stood three thousand Netherworld Iron Cavalry, silent and motionless like a forest. No longer disorganised, they were now a swarm of killing bees, with Xiao Wuchen's consciousness acting as their central nervous system and Leng Wuxue as their execution terminal.
Xiao Wuchen closed his eyes and used the 'Eye of Truth' to sense these three thousand newly formed nodes. He could feel the icy cold of the iron skeletons within each warrior's body and the bloodlust of the 'living muscles' woven from the Netherworld Mother Root.
System Residual Log:
'Reorganisation complete.'
Current Legion Rating: S-Rank (War Weapon)."
[Note: the host's mental load has reached 75%. Avoid prolonged use of the 'Ten Thousand as One' mode.
Special effect: Flesh and Blood Stripping. Anyone struck by this blade will have their flesh and blood rapidly consumed by parasites along the wound, which will then be used to repair the iron cavalry's armour. Xiao Wuchen mounted his horse, a 'Bloodstained Warhorse' that he had personally stitched together from the bones of decapitated warhorses and the Root of Erosion. This warhorse had no fur, only exposed muscles like red-hot iron bars. He rode to the front of the formation, holding his demonic sword, 'Rootless', diagonally towards the sky. 'Three thousand years ago, you were abandoned by the immortal sects on the icy plains. Three thousand years later, you return from hell to demand your debt from the gods!" Xiao Wuchen's voice exploded deep within the souls of every warrior through the will link. 'From this moment on, no prisoners, no retreat! All immortal cultivators who stand in your way are fair game, and all the high and mighty sect territories will be reduced to scorched earth!"
"Roar!" The three thousand iron cavalry roared in unison, their voices shattering the thick ice for miles around. Their soaring killing intent pierced the perpetual blizzards of the far north and transformed into a blood-red pillar of energy shooting straight into the sky. Meanwhile, at the exit of the far northern ice plains, at the gate between the immortal and mortal worlds,
"Report! Report! A massive amount of alien energy is approaching at high speed from deep in the far north!"
'Not demonic beasts... it's... it's an army!' The young cultivator guarding the array plate watched in horror as the pointer spun wildly on the plate. Finally, with a snap, the array plate exploded completely.
At the end of the snowstorm, Xiao Wuchen led his three thousand Netherworld Iron Cavalry like a black tide, carrying three thousand years of resentment, as they officially embarked on the bloody path back to the cultivation wo