Yan'er led the way, sixteen masters from the Soul Hunting Group arrayed respectfully behind her, clearly acknowledging her command.

Li Yan'er, now completely healed from her previous injuries and her spiritual power at its peak, had rejoined the ranks of the truly elite experts above the Sun. She walked towards Ji Changkong and Meng Gang with a beaming smile, affecting a familiarity with them. Before she even reached them, she called out with a coquettish laugh, "Long time no see, both of you still look as dashing as ever!"

Those sixteen masters from the Soul Hunting Group were the very same individuals who had clashed with Ji Changkong and Meng Gang last time. Now, all sixteen stared at the pair with ill intent, their killing intent palpable.

"I finally understand why those two hated you to the bone last time..." Meng Gang said, his face grim as he looked coldly at Li Yan'er. "It wasn't because you cursed them, but because of your entire manner of operation!"

Every single member of the Soul Hunting Group was ruthless. Since appearing above the Sun, all their energy had been focused on dealing with others, with the mission of hunting down souls. Regardless of whether their spiritual power was abundant, any Celestial Master within their spiritual sense range became a target for attack.

Li Yan'er was clearly high-ranking within the Soul Hunting Group, undoubtedly bloodthirsty and vicious—a figure who slaughtered ruthlessly above the Sun.

Li Yan'er smiled faintly, her expression calm. "Allow me to formally introduce myself: Li Yan'er, Captain of the Second Squadron of the Soul Hunting Group above the Sun! Representing the 'Tianlu' from the Tianyun Continent! Gentlemen, are you interested in joining the ▲Tianji?"

After a pause, Li Yan'er added, "If you two have such intentions, I can introduce you to the senior members of ▲Tianlu, guaranteeing you fine positions! Little brother, if you join us, I can promise you the rank of a small squad leader. How about it?"

"Not interested," Ji Changkong shook his head, squinting as he glanced at the fierce gazes of the Soul Hunting Group members. He grinned, "Li Yan'er, did you come here this time seeking to repay kindness with enmity?"

"How could that be?" Li Yan'er laughed. "I am clearly offering a favor. Our 'Tianlu' from the Tianyun Continent is one of the most powerful forces among the surrounding major continents. Not just above the Moon or the Sun, our influence is mighty even in the nearby major star regions. So many people desperately try to join our 'Tianlu' and fail. My willingness to introduce you both and promise high ranks—isn't that repaying a debt?"

"Li Yan'er," Ji Changkong murmured her name, frowning slightly, unwilling to waste more words. He stated directly, "Leave now. Given that you once helped us find a place to cultivate, I might spare your life. Otherwise, I will eliminate you and all sixteen of your lapdogs behind you!"

"Brother, truly impressive spirit!" Meng Gang boomed with laughter.

Li Yan'er, who had prepared a whole speech and intended to slowly wear Ji Changkong down, froze upon hearing this. Ji Changkong's cold attitude irritated her. Having recovered her strength to its peak, she no longer felt the need to placate anyone. With a cold sneer, Li Yan'er slowly nodded. "Very well! I'd like to see how you plan to kill me! In such a short time, can you two little rookies really overturn the heavens?"

Li Yan'er backed away slightly with a cold face, waved her hand, and ordered the Soul Hunting Group members behind her, "Test their strength. Meng Gang can be killed, but keep the younger one for me."

"Little brother, it seems that shrew is truly interested in you," Meng Gang laughed loudly.

As he spoke, the sixteen Soul Hunting Group masters drifted out from behind Li Yan'er like phantoms, instantly dispersing to surround the pair using their practiced tactics. Ji Changkong smiled coldly. "I have zero interest in her!"

He had long known that Li Yan'er was no saint and had never held any illusions about her. Now that this woman was repaying kindness with malice, he certainly wouldn't be polite.

He and Meng Gang had been fighting side-by-side constantly lately, and their coordination was excellent. They waited leisurely as the Soul Hunting Group completed their encirclement.

"Be careful of this kid's flames! Don't give him time to condense any fire!" Li Yan'er snapped.

She could never forget the sight of Ji Changkong using Celestial Fire to incinerate three Eight Trigram Celestial Masters to ash. If she hadn't recently received intelligence, gathered from a few of Ji Changkong and Meng Gang's previous battles, discovering flaws in Ji Changkong's flames, she wouldn't have dared to approach so brazenly today.

The Soul Hunting Group masters clearly knew the power of Ji Changkong's flames. The recent duo had been too conspicuous; in previous fights, Ji Changkong had displayed the Celestial Fire to good effect repeatedly.

The Soul Hunting Group members were well aware of the flaws Ji Changkong had been working to correct in his Celestial Fire. The moment they surrounded Ji Changkong and Meng Gang, they immediately attacked, having no intention of granting Ji Changkong time to refine his Celestial Fire.

He let out a cold chuckle. "You calculated quite accurately." Glancing coolly at Li Yan'er, Ji Changkong stated coldly, "Li Yan'er, since you court death, don't blame me for showing no mercy today!"

As the words fell, a ball of Celestial Fire suddenly materialized in his palm. With a sinister smile, that ball of fire instantly vanished from his palm.

Through this period of cultivation, not only had his speed in refining Celestial Fire increased, but he could also alter the process of its condensation. Now, he could refine the Celestial Fire incrementally—like soul splitting, first condensing dozens of light points, then, with a mere thought, instantly gathering those points into Celestial Fire.

From the moment he noticed the sixteen Soul Hunting Group masters behind Li Yan'er, he had been silently refining the Celestial Fire. The Soul Hunting Group members still believed that when condensing the Celestial Fire, he would follow the previous gradual manifestation of flames, which is why they allowed Li Yan'er to speak with him initially.

"Bluffing!" Li Yan'er scoffed dismissively. "Condensing fire takes time. What flashed in his palm just now was definitely an illusion. I understand him thoroughly; he definitely cannot condense true fire right now! Don't worry, attack!"

Upon her command, the Soul Hunting Group masters surged in from all directions to surround Ji Changkong.

Ji Changkong had been waiting for this moment!

When the sixteen masters were only about ten meters away and preparing to unleash their respective Soul Skills, Ji Changkong struck suddenly.

The Celestial Fire that had disappeared from his palm reappeared with extreme subtlety right in front of one of the Soul Hunting Group members. Before the man could react, the Celestial Fire, imbued with the terrifying power of a solar flare, adhered to his soul.

Almost instantly, that man's soul began to burn ferociously.

The Celestial Fire vanished once more. As the Soul Hunting Group masters cried out in shock, the fire suddenly split into several smaller orbs, each seeking out a target and wrapping around a Soul Hunting Group master.

One Celestial Fire could split into hundreds of orbs; this was the secret behind Ji Changkong's ability to make the fire vanish instantly. The Celestial Fire, split into hundreds of orbs, became almost invisible to the naked eye.

However, this time he didn't split the fire into hundreds of pieces. He had experimented repeatedly and found that splitting it into just seven smaller fires was sufficient to completely burn away the soul of an Eight Trigram Celestial Master; anything fewer would only cause severe injury, while more would be a waste.

Therefore, this time he split it into seven Celestial Fires.

Seven Soul Hunting Group masters, entangled by the seven Celestial Fires, began to howl mournfully as their souls burned. The spiritual power they had imbued into their souls could not withstand the fire's scorching; right before Li Yan'er and the other masters, these seven souls rapidly turned gaseous.

"Move out!" Ji Changkong coldly barked.

By this time, he and Meng Gang had already broken free of the encirclement. They advanced on the remaining eight stunned Soul Hunting Group masters, one on the left and one on the right.

Soul Rays, Destruction Nets, Black Holes, Soul Control—the unique soul skills of the Nebula Soul Refining Arts were unleashed. Taking advantage of the eight masters' shock, the pair quickly gained the upper hand.

Li Yan'er finally lost her composure and shrieked, "The ones engulfed by the flames are finished; take their spiritual power, don't hesitate!"

The Soul Hunting Group members, none of whom were soft-hearted, showed utter inhumanity at this critical juncture. Instead of thinking about saving their comrades, they focused on exploiting their comrades' spiritual power to instantly empower themselves.

Ji Changkong let out a cold snort, pushing his peak spiritual power to the extreme. He instantly seized control of the souls of two Soul Hunting Group members. Under the effect of the Soul Control skill, these two began to cause chaos, charging furiously towards those trying to seize their companions' spiritual power.

One of them was in the midst of that group; under the pressure of Ji Changkong's massive spiritual power, his soul instantly shattered, unleashing a violent wave of soul tremor.

Two Soul Hunting Group members were instantly killed, and two others suffered heavy injuries in that fierce explosion.

Ji Changkong smiled coldly and slowly approached the remaining Soul Hunting Group members. By this time, the seven Celestial Fires had extinguished the seven entangled men.

The seven Celestial Fires could now search for new targets...

He fixed his gaze on Li Yan'er. (End) 【Ti: Dear readers, the current chapter has reached the final page of this book】