When the golden rod struck the Soul Butterfly, Chu Ran instantly understood why it was banned on StarNet. Like the Life Cicada, it could devour a person's Spiritual Power. Additionally, the Soul Butterfly could use the captured Spiritual Power to counterattack the human brain. Although the simulated Soul Butterfly on StarNet was far weaker than the real one, it could still cause brain death. A powerful Spiritual Power attack invaded Chu Ran's body. The next second, a faint dark light flickered in her heart, and the divine power of the Nine-Tailed Fox spread throughout her body. The Nine-Tailed Fox, always adept at beguiling hearts, possessed a divine power far stronger than the Soul Butterfly's. Moreover, the two were nearly of the same origin, allowing the Nine-Tailed Fox's divine soul to effortlessly devour the Soul Butterfly's Spiritual Power. After being transformed by the divine power, this force became a purer energy that gradually refined Chu Ran's body. Bright golden light flashed behind Chu Ran, and the Battle Victory Buddha's dharma image suddenly appeared. The brown fur on her temples receded slightly, and a hint of bloodshot color appeared in her golden pupils. Though the Soul Butterfly on the field was constructed from data, it still possessed the intelligence of an S-rank Zerg. Sensing danger, it flapped its wings frantically, trying to flee. He Qishen, having taken Chu Ran as his protectee, couldn't miss the change on the battlefield. He sidestepped cleanly and thrust his ice sword into the Soul Butterfly's body again. The Soul Butterfly's abdomen was severely wounded; it opened its mouth and let out a silent roar. Sound waves layered and rippled outward. Chu Ran spun the golden rod in her hand rapidly, dispersing the sound waves. He Qishen, too close and unable to retract his ice sword in time, had to bear the sound wave attack head-on. He stumbled back several steps, and the entire right half of his body instantly turned transparent. In the Garbage Dump, his real body suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Unwilling to die like this, the Soul Butterfly lowered its head and bit fiercely at He Qishen, trying to tear off his spiritual body to replenish its own damage. With a crack, what entered its mouth was not the virtual flesh full of power but a hard, tooth-grinding golden rod. Chu Ran kicked off the Somersault Cloud, teleported in front of He Qishen, and shoved the golden rod into the Soul Butterfly's mouth. "Enlarge!" As soon as she spoke, the golden rod rapidly expanded with a whoosh. He Qishen's earlier fight had already weakened the Soul Butterfly considerably, so in just a few seconds, the golden rod pierced through its body. Seizing the opportunity, Chu Ran poured a massive amount of Spiritual Power into the golden rod. A golden light blazed up. The Soul Butterfly shattered into pieces. The moment the Soul Butterfly died, the cage outside the battlefield shattered, and a new Soul Butterfly lunged at the crowd in the Audience Seats. At the same time, more cages appeared around the audience, opening one after another, and the Soul Butterflies inside quickly flew out. Chu Ran's expression hardened, and she dashed toward Jian. "Don't bother with them! The pods will activate emergency protection when their Spiritual Power is severely injured!" He Qishen's face turned cold as he shouted, "They're after you!" Chu Ran didn't slow down. She had no intention of sacrificing herself to save others, but Jian couldn't be harmed in this accident. Whether it was because Jian was her only believer now or because she had enjoyed spending time with Jian recently didn't matter. Seeing Chu Ran completely unresponsive, He Qishen closed his eyes briefly and pursued her expressionlessly. He had to complete both tasks: inviting a god to possess him and protecting Chu Ran. As long as he kept a tiny part of his body from being deified, he could achieve his long-cherished wish. Past experiences flashed through his mind like a blurry slideshow. Even if he died, he wanted to die free! But what he didn't expect was that as soon as he stepped out of the battlefield, the golden rod suddenly elongated and swung straight at his neck. The force was no different from when he had struck the Soul Butterfly. Was she insane?! Before losing consciousness, He Qishen looked reluctantly around at the surveillance cameras. I want to complete the mission... He hoped the Special Squad members would see that. But he was doomed to disappointment. Because the moment Chu Ran summoned Number Three, the observation room screens instantly went snowy. All signals in the battlefield were blocked. Now, not only Lei Jianguo and the others, but even the Special Squad members had grim expressions. The tracking program they had installed fell into chaos, and in the middle of it all, a clown avatar popped up. Mockery! This was blatant mockery! Before Huang Feiying could let out a low roar, the observation room door opened. Edwood appeared at the entrance, exuding an aura of death. His gloomy gaze swept across everyone in the room. "You'd better give me an explanation—an explanation for how the first match of the Spiritist preliminaries turned into this." The Central Star wastes had let the vice president take power, and he had allowed it. The result? A massive mess with a Zerg invasion. Then the Central Star wastes had let the Special Squad take over the preliminaries, and he had tolerated that too. And the result... "Do you really think I'm easy to bully just because I'm alone?" Edwood's voice was practically squeezed through his teeth. At that moment inside the battlefield, Chu Ran knew nothing of the outside conflict. Using the golden finger of the Nine-Tailed Fox's divine power to protect her body, she was practically overwhelming the seven Soul Butterflies on the field. The greatest threat from the Soul Butterflies had been eliminated, and the power of an SS-rank deity was enough to crush these data-simulated S-rank Zergs. After being possessed by Sun Wukong this time, she found she could use even stronger divine power than before. For a few moments, she even felt she was Sun Wukong himself, and these Soul Butterflies were just troublesome demons blocking their way to the West. Jian was Tang Seng, because all the Soul Butterflies on the field targeted her for devouring. Just as Chu Ran smashed the second-to-last Soul Butterfly flat with her rod, a sharp pain stabbed her nerves, and her vision went dark. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the pod lid slowly opening. The Light Brain beside her emitted urgent beeping sounds. Chu Ran pressed the accept button, and Lei Jianguo's anxious face appeared on the screen. "Are you okay?! Is your Spiritual Power damaged? Edwood is on his way, wait there!" Chu Ran rubbed her head. "I'm fine." Suddenly, two intense streams of faith surged into her heart. One felt somewhat familiar—it should be from Jian—while the other was completely unfamiliar. It couldn't be from He Qishen, could it? "How is He Qishen? What did you promise him to make him protect me so recklessly?" Lei Jianguo's face darkened. "Not us. It was all the work of those bastards in the Special Squad." "He's been sent to the hospital now. After recovery, he should be free," Lei Jianguo said angrily. "Those Special Squad bastards had to say those things before the match, causing many hospitals to refuse him. In the end, we had to pull strings to get him into Anxin Hospital." Chu Ran's pupils contracted. She barely managed to conceal her emotions. "Sent to Anxin Hospital?" "Yeah, don't worry. Sun Zhi is treating him. He won't secretly do anything just because He Qishen is from the God Summoning Society," Lei Jianguo reassured. Only you people could feel at ease about that. Chu Ran found it hard to describe her feelings. "Has it been found out who did this?" Lei Jianguo sneered. "Huang Feiying is stubborn, but this time he nearly caused brain death for so many people, and the intruder successfully self-destructed, leaving him with nothing. Even as the Special Squad captain, he can't escape accountability." "The intruder self-destructed?" Chu Ran was taken aback. Lei Jianguo grunted in affirmation. "It must have been a pre-set program. After breaking through the first layer of defense, it self-destructed." "I see." Chu Ran nodded, her expression unreadable. No wonder it had worn the latest cat-head skin when logging in this time.