It was purely a momentary vision, a group barely held together by necessity. The Fire Sun's clamor instantly dispersed. The departure of the twelve rogue cultivators instantly brought the strength of both sides closer again; the Manichaean sect could no longer maintain its absolute advantage!
Paridai was busy using mind-condensed conical light waves against Ji Changkong. Even seeing the rogue cultivators she had influenced leave, she couldn't stop them for the moment. She could only concentrate her attention further, hoping to destroy Ji Changkong's soul in one strike.
As the new Saintess of the Manichaean sect, the sole successor of Youlan, Paridai naturally understood the irreconcilable, deep-seated hatred between the Manichaean sect and the Ouroboros Divine Cult. She knew that as long as she killed Ji Changkong, the new Cult Master, the Ouroboros Divine Cult would, as always, continue to live under the shadow of the Manichaean sect.
Killing intent surged in her heart. The "Heart-Piercing Soul Corrosive," a technique only qualified for the Saintess to cultivate, evolved into sharp conical light waves that stabbed fiercely toward Ji Changkong.
The "Heart-Piercing Soul Corrosive," a secret technique that ravaged the soul, could corrode the entire soul imprint. Once anyone's soul was corroded by the mental energy attached to the "Heart-Piercing Soul Corrosive," they could not escape the torment of the attached power.
Even Ji Changkong's nebula-like soul, should it be struck by the "Heart-Piercing Soul Corrosive," would find that because this evil secret technique corroded the soul's life imprint, even if his nebula-like soul split apart, it couldn't completely eliminate the power attached to the "Heart-Piercing Soul Corrosive."
Paridai knew the mystical and unpredictable nature of the Nebula Soul Refining Art, which is why she showed no mercy from the start, immediately unleashing the Manichaean sect's technique specifically targeting the Ouroboros Divine Cult's secrets: the "Heart-Piercing Soul Corrosive!"
Waves of conical light struck out like whistling arrows, swift and imbued with divine power capable of destroying the soul imprint. The conical light waves possessed a wondrous sense of tracking; before even approaching, they seemed to have locked onto Ji Changkong's life imprint. No matter how his soul shifted or concealed its aura, the conical light waves moved forward relentlessly, their target unchanged!
He continuously shifted his soul aura forty-nine times, yet discovered that the incoming conical light waves still locked onto his soul, never once disrupting the tracking ability of the waves.
He suddenly became tense!
The soul left behind to deal with Paridai—its vividly realistic features were etched with deep solemnity. In the illusory eyes, wisps of electric light coiled and writhed like tiny silver serpents. Fluctuations imperceptible to ordinary senses rapidly spread from him.
They were coming!
The minute silver serpents in his pupils strangely flew out one by one! These silver serpents, no thicker than threads, vanished instantly upon touching the air, burrowing into the pervasive starlight of the Tianheng Star, becoming utterly invisible!
In a single breath, the dozens of "silver serpents" that flew from his pupils had all merged into the surrounding starlight and disappeared.
Simultaneously, a chaotic, disorderly fluctuation suddenly erupted from the starlight surrounding him!
The conical light waves originating from Paridai's soul instantly slowed their rapid approach!
Suddenly, Paridai, who relied purely on the conical light waves' wondrous tracking and sensing energy to pursue Ji Changkong, instantly lost track of him!
The strangest thing was that Ji Changkong's soul image remained right in front, mere meters away from the conical light waves!
Yet, the relentlessly charging conical light waves acted as if suddenly blinded, unable to see Ji Changkong, who was so close!
The weakness of the "Heart-Piercing Soul Corrosive" was suddenly exposed!
This secret technique relied entirely on attacking the life imprint within the enemy's soul; it possessed only sensory ability. But since it was not a true life form, it had no eyes. A technique that attacks purely through sensation becomes utterly powerless once it can no longer feel the target's presence.
"Hmph!" Paridai's beautiful eyes turned icy. Her graceful figure, like the ribbon in her hand, swept gracefully toward Ji Changkong.
Her slender, captivating form swayed with mesmerizing beauty in the void, executing wondrous, dazzling movements. As her body moved, the coldness in her eyes vanished without a trace, and her beautiful eyes regained their soul-captivating allure.
Ji Changkong, who had been staring intently at her, focused his spiritual attention on her eyes, which held a sinister, bewitching charm. Suddenly, Ji Changkong's constantly calm soul seemed like a small pond into which a giant boulder had been dropped; the stillness was immediately broken!
The Destruction Web, which required continuous mental effort to sustain, instantly fell into disarray.
Those "silver serpents" that had burrowed into the starlight seemed unable to bear the power within the starlight and flew out from it one after another. The Destruction Web, which relied on linking the starlight via the "silver serpents" to subtly follow the rules of the stellar domain, could suddenly no longer function as intended.
Right in front of the stalled Destruction Web, the conical light waves suddenly accelerated again, piercing toward the hidden soul of Ji Changkong within the web like a sharp sword.
Not good!
His expression shifted slightly. Ji Changkong didn't think, instead releasing the massive soul radiance stored in his mind, originally intended for Paridai's soul!
The streams of soul radiance, normally invisible to the naked eye, had gathered into hundreds, if not thousands, becoming clearly visible.
The hundreds of streams of soul radiance gathered together and miraculously formed the shape of a skull. The skull opened its sinister maw and fiercely swallowed the conical light waves whole.
Wave after wave of soul-piercing light entered the skull. The skull slowly expanded, bit by bit, twisting and changing shape continuously!
"Scatter!" Ji Changkong's soul-thought roared.
Gui Lao Qi, Lan Xingyun, and the others near the skull, who had been battling two Manichaean experts, heard Ji Changkong's urgent soul-thought shout. Without hesitation, they fled at the fastest speed they could muster!
The souls of the Manichaean experts hesitated for a moment, as they had not heard Paridai's voice.
That moment of hesitation cost them their souls!
The skull expanded to its limit. The force of the continuous impact and collision between the soul radiance and the conical light waves finally ceased to be concentrated in one area and exploded outward with a roar.
Like a star shattering, the skull dissolved into clusters of light of varying sizes, shooting out in all directions.
The souls of the Manichaean experts who hesitated and remained in that area were struck by the dense light clusters, shattering into pieces! They did not possess the miraculous ability of Ji Changkong to split his soul and reassemble it. The scattering of their souls meant the shattering of their life imprints.
The sudden violence of the soul radiance and the conical light waves also affected their casters, Ji Changkong and Paridai!
The two individuals applying mental energy to the soul radiance and the conical light waves were both momentarily affected by the explosive power resulting from the chaotic bombardment of the two secret techniques, even impacting them directly.
The souls of both leaders were impacted as if struck by a force, involuntarily thrown backward far into the distance.
After a while, the souls that had been involuntarily thrown back finally settled down.
Once his soul stabilized, Ji Changkong immediately reconstructed his mental energy and unleashed the "Drive" soul skill, applying it to the souls of the two nearby Manichaean experts.
"Kill for me!" His soul-thought pointed toward Gan Li.
The two soul clusters, completely influenced by Ji Changkong's mental energy, instantly lost their self-control; their souls contained only the soul-thought conveying Ji Changkong's command. Driven by these thoughts, the two showed no hesitation and lunged toward the unsuspecting Gan Li.
"You guys—"
Seeing the two soul clusters suddenly fly back, Gan Li was momentarily confused and was still transmitting a query about the situation.
Before he could fully release his soul-thought, the sudden attack from the two soul clusters—a negative sea formed by mental energy and killing intent—instantly engulfed Gan Li's unprepared soul.
Although Gan Li possessed robust mental energy, being suddenly attacked by his own side caught him completely off guard, and his mental energy solidified, desperately protecting his soul from harm.
Seeing the unexpected effectiveness of the Drive soul skill, an idea sparked in his mind. While Paridai had not yet arrived, Ji Changkong’s soul darted around, continuously gathering mental energy to execute the miraculous Drive skill.
One by one, the Manichaean experts, influenced by the Drive skill, began attacking the companions beside them!
The Manichaean experts who had followed Paridai suddenly descended into chaos!
Gui Lao Qi, Huang Xun, Xiao Yunduan, and the other experts from Xuanyuan Valley naturally seized this opportunity. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, they unleashed their soul skills at full power toward the disarrayed enemies.
In just a few breaths, seven Manichaean experts were utterly destroyed, four of whom died at the hands of their own comrades.
"Calm your minds, hold your hearts steady," Paridai rushed over, furious.
"Kill! Kill that bitch!" Ji Changkong's soul-thought echoed wildly.
Two Manichaean experts with weak wills, under the influence of Ji Changkong's Drive soul skill, became truly dazed and charged toward Paridai. The souls under their control continued to broadcast their soul thoughts outward.
"Kill... kill that bitch... bitch... bitch..."
Paridai was furious and wanted to destroy these two subordinates whose minds were lost. The moment this thought surfaced, Paridai was startled and quickly expelled the thought from her mind.
Focusing ahead, she clearly saw Ji Changkong in the distance, shouting wildly, a peculiar, meaningful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Close call!
Paridai inwardly shuddered, realizing she had almost fallen prey to the Drive soul skill herself. She quickly stabilized her inner self and adjusted her mental fluctuations.
A moment later, Paridai was smiling charmingly again, her eyes flowing with seductive longing, murmuring softly, "My dear brothers, wake up. It is time for us to go home."
The wondrous influence of "Limitless Enchantment"—the art of bewitching all living things—finally exerted its proper effect.
The Manichaean experts whose souls had been manipulated by the Drive skill were influenced once more by "Limitless Enchantment," flying forward in a daze, forgetting to continue attacking their own side.
"Ji Changkong, I will remember you! Hee!"
Paridai's heart-stirringly beautiful eyes lingered deeply on Ji Changkong's face for a moment, as if to sear his appearance and figure into the deepest recesses of her mind.
After saying this, her graceful, moving body swayed lightly, and she rode the wind away, closely following the three brothers led by Gan Li.
Gan Li, at the forefront, his soul flickering uncertainly like a candle flame, was clearly severely injured in that sudden ambush.
The experts from Xuanyuan Valley, including Xiao Yunduan and Huang Xun, saw the Manichaean experts retreating like a tide and immediately adopted a pursuit posture, attempting to inflict further heavy damage on the Manichaean sect while they had the advantage.
"Do not pursue!" Ji Changkong's soul transmitted.
The floating and wavering souls of Xiao Yunduan, Huang Xun, and the others suddenly halted in unison and turned toward Ji Changkong.
"Young Master Ji, why not take the chance to pursue them now? The Manichaean sect has fewer experts than us now, and they have already expended a large amount of mental energy earlier. If we pursue now, we can seize the initiative and certainly inflict heavy damage upon them!" Huang Xun argued.
"Indeed, the overall strength of the Manichaean sect is currently inferior to ours, and Young Master Ji's soul skills are mysterious and unpredictable. We could certainly capture that demoness!" Lan Xingyun added.
Although Xiao Yunduan and Gui Lao Qi were equally puzzled, they asked no further questions, responsibly keeping their souls near Ji Changkong.
"The direction that demoness fled is exactly where those rogue cultivators retreated earlier. If we chase in that direction, we might encounter those rogue cultivators who just fled. The overall strength of those rogue cultivators cannot be ignored. I had previously separated a small portion of my soul, wrapped around small stones, precisely to draw that group away first; otherwise, we would have suffered a major loss in the previous battle," Ji Changkong explained.
Paridai's apparent retreat was actually due to her realizing the situation was unfavorable and her desire to borrow external power to counter the enemy. Those rogue cultivators who left with the small stones were a very tempting force. Once Paridai reunited with them, combined with her methods and their greed, they would inevitably become enemies.
In the previous battle, the Xuanyuan Valley side had gained the upper hand and won the fight, but everyone had consumed a significant amount of mental energy.
Even Ji Changkong himself had lost a large portion of his mental energy fighting Paridai. Whether it was the Destruction Web, the soul radiance, or the Drive skill, all required a massive expenditure of mental energy to deploy. In just a few breaths, Ji Changkong's mental energy had dropped by seven or eight tenths!
In his current state, he couldn't execute the Drive soul skill many more times. If he encountered a scenario where the dozen or so rogue cultivators allied with the Manichaean sect, he knew he wouldn't be able to cope.
"So that's how it is..." Huang Xun's soul flickered, then he asked, "Young Master Ji, just now... what was happening? Why did your soul split in two? Truly mystical! I cultivated in the Big Dipper Star Domain for a time after reaching the Seven Star Heaven Realm, but I have never seen anyone able to split their soul in two!"
The Seven Star Heaven Masters from Xuanyuan Valley all trembled inwardly, clearly also amazed by this event.
"The soul cultivation technique I practice is different from most others. Splitting the soul in two is one of the unique methods of this technique," Ji Changkong admitted calmly.
Splitting the soul in two was actually an extension of the Soul Splitting Miracle Skill, still utilizing the principle of splitting and reassembling the soul. The other soul carried very little mental energy, just a small portion of soul power, its purpose being to carry away the small stones formed by the dead Soul Devouring Fungi, thus leading the rogue cultivators astray.
Huang Xun, Xiao Yunduan, and the others had already learned some things from Paridai's earlier words. Some among them had heard of the miraculous nature of the Ouroboros Divine Cult's Nebula Soul Refining Art. Seeing Ji Changkong calmly admit it, they felt a bit strange, but none of them pressed further.
"Young Master Ji, where is the other part of your soul that split off now?" Xiao Yunduan asked, still uneasy.
"Right now? It should be nearing return to Xuanyuan Valley. Heh heh, we should go back and recover our mental energy too. With those small stones in our hands, when we return to Tianheng Star to cultivate next time, I believe our harvest will be even greater. Let's go back to Xuanyuan Valley together!" Ji Changkong said casually.
Everyone readily agreed.
Xuanyuan Valley.
A ball of divine light carrying tiny stones slowly traversed the star sea outside the valley, gradually descending toward the back mountain of Xuanyuan Valley.
Pitter-patter!
The small stones fell onto the lush green thicket behind the Scripture Depository. The ball of divine light, however, passed through the obstruction of the rocks and entered the secluded cave where Ji Changkong was meditating.
Souls could traverse mountains and earth, but the small stones formed from the corpses of the Soul Devouring Fungi lacked this ability. Only when the soul returned to the physical body could the body move and open the rocks blocking the cave entrance. Therefore, he had to drop the small stones first so that this portion of his soul could return to its main body first.
Inside the Scripture Depository, Mo Yunyi and the others were deep in discussion about certain matters. Upon hearing the movement from the thicket, they all sent a portion of their divine sense to investigate.
A strange attraction originated from those small stones. The group's divine senses flew over, simultaneously detecting the starlight energy attached to the stones and sensing the extraordinary nature of the stone material.
Before they could fully express their astonishment, a creaking sound echoed from a cave in the back mountain, and then Ji Changkong was seen flying out of his meditation chamber.
With a sweep of his long sleeves, the small stones that had fallen into the thicket flew out one by one, landing perfectly into his sleeve without missing a single one.
"Smelly boy! What kind of mischief are you up to?" Mo Yunyi came out.
"Heh heh, just returned from Tianheng Star. Um, brought back some gifts from Tianheng Star," Ji Changkong said with a smile, walking in front of Mo Yunyi and the others.
Mo Yunyi, Xiao Poshan, Xiao Xing, Gui Rong, Gui Hai, Han Feng, Mu Luo, and the other experts and leaders of Xuanyuan Valley were gathered together, their faces heavy with concern.
Just a glance at them was enough for Ji Changkong's heart to tighten. He said in a deep voice, "What is it? Have any major events occurred while I was away?"
"We were discussing whether to wake you up. Fortunately, you are back..." Xiao Xing said with a wry smile and a soft sigh.
Ji Changkong's expression grew increasingly solemn. Summoning back the soul that had wandered the endless star domain was no trivial matter; what could make them so tense and anxious?
His gaze swept across their faces. Ji Changkong asked in a deep voice, "Is it that serious?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.