Five Eight Trigrams Celestial Masters surrounded Li Yan'er, placing her squarely in the center. The two masters who had been there previously glared with intense, deep-seated hatred. The three new Celestial Masters invited by them watched Li Yan'er with undisguised interest, clearly harboring lewd intentions.

"Gentlemen, rest assured, just eliminate her two companions, and this slut is yours to enjoy." The grim-faced man spoke to the trio whose eyes were alight with lust.

The three nodded slowly, chuckling. "With the five of us joining forces, taking down those two is a foregone conclusion. This woman is already heavily injured; she hardly counts. This matter is practically guaranteed."

One of the three, a gaunt man with deeply sunken cheeks, possessing the air of someone utterly devoid of loyalty, coldly appraised Ji Changkong as he slowly approached. He sneered, "Besides this woman, we also want the spiritual power of those two!"

At these words, the two who had invited them suddenly looked reluctant. However, they didn't object, hesitating slightly before reluctantly agreeing, but only on the condition that after they had thoroughly tormented Li Yan'er, she would be handed over to them for disposal.

The trio raised no objections to this point and readily granted the two their request.

These five clearly paid no mind to Ji Changkong and Meng Gang, casually discussing amongst themselves how they would divide the spoils once the fight was over, never considering the possibility of failure.

Li Yan'er, trapped in the center by the five, was a picture of despair. She knew the extent of her injuries and understood what fate awaited her should she fall into the hands of those two men. Before them, she knew even offering herself sexually would not guarantee her survival. Consequently, she ceased pleading and stood resignedly, allowing fate to take its course. Her eyes were fixed fiercely on the three, offering no words.

Li Yan'er was aware of Ji Changkong sneaking up, but she held no hope for him and thus saw no need to cry out for help.

How could two newcomers, only just ascending to the Sun Realm, whose very spirits hadn't been fully refined once, possibly contend against these five vicious brutes, tempered by countless battles in the Sun Realm?

"What's going on?" Ji Changkong arrived at Li Yan'er's side with a smile, glancing at her familiarly. "These bastards still haven't learned their lesson. Must they insist on coming here to seek death?"

Li Yan'er, whose heart had sunk into despair, froze, staring at Ji Changkong in utter astonishment. "Are you daft? There are five of them right here, and you still insist on joining the fray? Look at your companion; he knows his place. Someone like him might actually survive a little longer up here in the Sun Realm."

No sooner had Li Yan'er finished speaking than her eyes widened, and she looked behind Ji Changkong in alarm, shouting fiercely, "You two idiots!"

It turned out that at that very moment, Cheng Gang was also slowly approaching from the distance. Meng Gang had clearly struggled internally between friendship and the threat of imminent death. After hesitating for a long moment, he finally walked over slowly, standing beside Ji Changkong, offering a wry smile. "Brother, I'm taking a huge loss this time, actually accompanying a fool like you to die for this woman. It's simply not worth it!"

Meng Gang clearly knew there were five Eight Trigrams Celestial Masters opposing them, and these five were evidently seasoned killers. His arrival now meant certain doom, yet he came anyway.

It was only then that Ji Changkong truly accepted Meng Gang as someone he could rely on. Though cautious and suspicious by nature, this fellow proved trustworthy at a crucial juncture. Daring to come forward despite knowing the odds were heavily stacked against them proved this man possessed genuine loyalty and a sense of righteousness!

... A pause indicated by a brief, uninterpretable gap in the flow of text ...

Ji Changkong smiled faintly, his expression composed. "Who says we're here to die? I see these so-called friends are the ones coming to their doom."

Facing the five opposite him, Ji Changkong stood proudly before Li Yan'er, arrogantly proclaiming, "Get lost quickly, unless you want me to lose my temper and accidentally wipe all five of you scoundrels out!"

He was eager to test the might of his Celestial Fire and needed an excuse to kill. This posture, this sheer arrogance, was guaranteed to provoke anger in anyone who wasn't utterly weak or incompetent.

The five opponents stared at him as if he were an idiot, remaining silent. Slowly, the five spread out, widening the distance between themselves, encompassing Ji Changkong and Meng Gang within their circle of encirclement.

"Looks like we have two greenhorns," the gaunt, unscrupulous man sneered mockingly. "Pity. They managed to cultivate to this realm, only to be extinguished by us the first time they enter the Sun Realm. What a truly tragic affair." He then suddenly barked, "Move out!"

Meng Gang's expression shifted slightly. He immediately used his spiritual power to envelop his soul, then unleashed his most proficient technique, Soul Storm. Centered on him, a ferocious soul tempest exploded outwards, throwing one of the surrounding masters into considerable disarray.

Although Meng Gang was new to the Sun Realm, his spiritual power was profound, and his soul techniques were potent, meaning he held his own even against these veterans who had cultivated in the Sun Realm for many years.

In a one-on-one confrontation, Meng Gang might even gain a slight advantage.

Unfortunately, this time they faced five enemies, each one rich in combat experience!

As Meng Gang's Soul Storm took shape, forcing one master into a clumsy retreat, that master joined forces with the Eight Trigrams Celestial Master beside him. Together, they unleashed a cone of soul energy, directly impacting Meng Gang's Soul Storm.

Two Eight Trigrams Celestial Masters attacking simultaneously, channeling their soul assaults into Meng Gang's manifested Soul Storm, instantly disrupted his rhythm, causing the high-speed rotation of his storm to slow drastically. Every rotation of the Soul Storm now demanded several times the spiritual energy.

Li Yan'er's eyes suddenly lit up when she witnessed Meng Gang unleash the Soul Storm, forcing one of the Eight Trigrams Masters into a clumsy retreat, seemingly rekindling a sliver of will to survive.

However, the respite was fleeting. Meng Gang was quickly forced back to his original form, utterly battered by the combined assault of the two Eight Trigrams Masters. Gradually, he could no longer sustain the rotation of his Soul Storm.

Li Yan'er blinked in shock, then sighed inwardly: He is just a novice, and he's alone. I overestimated him. It seems this time, escape is truly impossible.

As Li Yan'er thought this, her delicate face returned to its lifeless expression. She resolved only to watch for a chance in the final moments to detonate her own spirit, inflicting the maximum possible damage on those who intended her harm.

Just then!

... A pause indicated by a brief, uninterpretable gap in the flow of text ...

Li Yan'er suddenly felt an astonishing wave of heat erupting outward! Shocked, she involuntarily turned to look in the direction the heat originated.

A scene Li Yan'er could never have imagined in her wildest dreams unfolded before her eyes.

Three of the attacking Eight Trigrams Celestial Masters were entangled by a tiny flame. This peculiar flame, no larger than a handspan, had firmly trapped the three masters within a confined space. When one of them was touched by this strange fire, his spirit instantly ignited, blazing fiercely!

Another master, filled with fear and desperately trying to evade the flame, suddenly froze. A vacant, bewildered look washed over his eyes, as if he had instantly forgotten who he was.

However, maintaining this bizarre, blank expression, the bewildered Celestial Master suddenly moved, swiftly grabbing one of his nearby companions—the safest one—and violently dragged him straight into the heart of that wondrous flame.

The first Eight Trigrams Celestial Master was just beginning to burn away into smoke from the strange fire when the bewildered master dragged his comrade right into the blaze.

In an instant, the souls of both enemies, once touched by the sparks, began to burn fiercely. In just a few short breaths, the souls of those two enemies were completely reduced to vapor, vanishing forever from the Sun Realm.

And the instigator, Ji Changkong, stood there the entire time with a faint smile playing on his lips. He flexed and contracted his fingers with masterful ease, controlling that small, bloodless flame at his leisure, completely unhurried and composed.

He curled his fingers inward, and the little flame, now shrunk by half, instantly zipped back from a distance, settling quietly in his palm, its firelight dancing there.

Li Yan'er watched, mesmerized.

After a long moment, Li Yan'er suddenly realized something and let out a cry of sheer elation. She dashed toward the area where the three enemies had just vanished into smoke, rapidly absorbing the spiritual power they had left scattered in the world, at the maximum rate she could manage!

When an Eight Trigrams Celestial Master dies in the Sun Realm, the spiritual power carefully guarding their soul, having lost the constraint of the host's consciousness, instantly disperses. Within mere seconds, this energy is scattered by the terrifying heat waves of the Sun Realm and completely dissolves into the cosmos.

An Eight Trigrams Celestial Master knowledgeable in absorbing spiritual power could capture a portion of the opponent's life force during these fleeting seconds to restore their own strength.

Li Yan'er was severely wounded, and seeing such a golden opportunity, how could she not be ecstatic?

Just as Li Yan'er was joyfully collecting the remaining traces of spiritual energy with all her might, the souls of the other two attacking Eight Trigrams Masters suddenly displayed the same bewildered blankness—a look suggesting they no longer knew where they were.

Meng Gang, who had been waiting for this very moment, certainly wouldn't miss it. The two now devoid of soul consciousness were instantly engulfed by Meng Gang's Soul Storm.

In a short while, Meng Gang burst into loud laughter. "Brother, you truly have a way with things! Coming to the Sun Realm with you this time is the wisest decision of my life! Haha!"

After devouring the two souls, Meng Gang claimed the majority of their spiritual power for himself. His spiritual strength was now deeper than when he was on the Hai Lan Continent; how could he not be excited?

"What's there to be happy about? This is just the beginning. From now on, up here in the Sun Realm, you won't have to worry about lacking spiritual power," Ji Changkong said with an undeniably arrogant smile.

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