As this world came into being, a world-shattering sound erupted within the Celestial Aperture, followed by a surging tide of flame that swept across the expanse like a mountain range coming down. As this wave of fire advanced, it continuously gathered the flame power within the Celestial Aperture, its volume rapidly expanding as it hurtled forward.

By the time the fiery surge was about to reach Ji Changkong, the wave had grown larger than a mountain peak, and the flame power it contained was enough to utterly destroy a small nation on the Five Elements Continent!

Yet, watching the raging torrent of flames approach, Ji Changkong remained unmoved, taking no defensive action, and was completely submerged by the fiery surge.

Battles within the Celestial Aperture are always known for their brutality and speed. Here, because the Aperture cannot sustain more than two souls for long, once two souls appear within it, there are virtually no pleasantries; a savage conflict erupts immediately!

Everyone who gathers in the Celestial Aperture understands the preciousness of time, giving their utmost effort in an instant, hoping to annihilate the opponent in the fastest possible way.

If the enemy cannot be killed in the shortest time, when the allotted moment passes, the Celestial Aperture will be unable to bear the pressure of the two souls. The entire Aperture might collapse, and in that event, even the victor would be unable to escape—it would be a dead end for both!

The unique environment of the Celestial Aperture dictates the cruelty of combat. Here, there is no idle talk, no rambling negotiation; only instantly ignited battle.

The end of the fight is often marked by the death of one party. Those who, like Teng Ye, possess the wisdom to withdraw decisively are, after all, only a minority.

A magnificent figure gradually emerged from the swirling sky, his expression fierce. This man stood over two meters tall, his head crowned with fiery red long hair, his torso mostly bare, inscribed with various strange symbols. His eyes burned like twin suns, and the veins beneath his skin pulsed visibly.

Though this was merely a phantom body materialized using soul power, it projected a feeling of flesh and blood, intensely real!

This was the sign of a Divine Soul reaching its apex in the Eight Trigrams Celestial Realm!

He seemed convinced that under such a violent strike, the incoming challenger must have been utterly annihilated. Therefore, he immediately approached swiftly, intending to devour the challenger's mental energy to replenish the power he had previously expended.

Plunging into the colossal wave of flames, the imposing giant laughed sinisterly, "Good timing. The next explosion of the Sea of Celestial Fire is about to begin, and I need to supplement some mental energy."

Saying this, he began to release his Divine Soul, attempting to probe for Ji Changkong's dissipating essence.

Crack, crack, crack! Crack, crack, crack!

Suddenly, within the world of the Celestial Aperture, the earth and sky resonated with a strange noise.

The grim expression of the giant shifted instantly to horror. He roared, "Boy, you actually aren't dead! Come out and fight me! Either you kill me, or I kill you! Let’s finish this quickly, or both of us are done for!"

The sound within the Celestial Aperture proved that two souls still coexisted. Under this condition, the Aperture itself would react; as time passed, the power within the Aperture would become increasingly unstable until the entire Aperture was destroyed.

The fierce giant understood that lingering in the Celestial Aperture meant mutual destruction, which was why he spoke those urgent words.

"Very well. To claim this Celestial Aperture for myself, I can only kill you as fast as possible!" Ji Changkong's voice suddenly echoed from the heart of the fiery sea.

The next instant, a flame condensed from nine clusters of Celestial Fire transformed into a massive expanse of fire, the size of one mu of land, rolling out from the fiery tide and soaring directly toward the upper reaches of the 'Heavenly Slaughter' [Tian Lü].

In any other setting, Ji Changkong would have used his mental power to split the nine Celestial Fires, utilizing the marvels of the Star Cloud Soul Refining Art to make the fire attack more erratic and unpredictable. After all, while the nine fires condensed together achieved maximum power, their speed became sluggish, making them easy for an enemy to evade.

He deployed this massive, easily dodged fire mass precisely because Ji Changkong understood one thing: the opponent would not evade!

Just as he expected, the fierce giant, watching the colossal celestial fire approach, made no move to dodge. Having cultivated in this Celestial Aperture for many years, his soul aura had long merged with everything in this world. Before Ji Changkong's flame could get close, he began to gather all the power within the Aperture's internal world to fuse with his Divine Soul.

The surging flames condensed, gathering around the giant's Divine Soul as the core, rapidly fusing power. In an instant, he transformed into a colossal Flame Beast hundreds of feet high. This beast burned with roaring flames, wielding a mountain-splitting giant flame axe, occupying nearly half of the Celestial Aperture's internal world!

Standing like an ancient Heavenly God within the fire world of the Celestial Aperture, the Flame Beast roared out, sending whirlwinds of fire and waves crashing toward the mu-sized Celestial Fire. Immediately afterward, the beast swung the world-rending giant axe down toward Ji Changkong's head.

Simultaneously, the Flame Beast extended a claw capable of tearing the sky and slammed it fiercely down upon the single mass of Celestial Fire.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The world of the Celestial Aperture seemed to shatter. Astonishing roars emanated from the internal world. Space twisted, the ground tore apart, beams of light shot through the sky, and energy collided within the Aperture. These forces hammered against the barrier between the Aperture and the outside world like giant hammers.

Outside, Meng Gang and Teng Ye could clearly see the Celestial Aperture continuously warping, emitting startling flares of fire.

"Heavens! How powerful!" Meng Gang gasped, secretly sucking in his breath. "These two are too terrifying. If they fought outside, their power could probably shatter a minor star!"

"Be careful," Teng Ye whispered, his expression grave. "Let's quickly retreat further away. If the battle in the Celestial Aperture lasts too long, the Aperture might explode. Once the interior explodes, the resulting power will affect everything around us!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Gang turned pale with fright and hurriedly followed Teng Ye backward, muttering, "He is inside the Celestial Aperture! If the Aperture really explodes, won't that be a dead end for him?"

"More than dead!" Teng Ye said grimly. "If he cannot kill the enemy in the shortest time, the only option is to immediately roll out of the Celestial Aperture, or both will perish together!"

Meng Gang was filled with worry but helpless, knowing his own strength was insufficient to aid Ji Changkong in any meaningful way.

The mu-sized mass of Celestial Fire suddenly unleashed an unimaginable, terrifying power. Wherever this massive flame passed, it immediately enveloped the Flame Beast.

The mu of Celestial Fire, compared to the Flame Beast that occupied half the Aperture's interior world, was utterly insignificant—like a tiny, finger-sized spark landing on a person. Yet, this one patch of Celestial Fire, upon contact, burned the Flame Beast into dissipating air currents.

Under Ji Changkong’s gaze, the arrogant Flame Beast rapidly shrank under the power of the Celestial Fire. The flare points of light contained within the fire exploded one after another with astonishing ability; several merging points could obliterate a nation.

The Flame Beast finally could not hold on. In just a brief moment, it was burned away completely.

As the Flame Beast continued to shrink to one-thousandth of its original size, the fierce giant within it gradually began to show his features.

Unfortunately, at this point, he was already on the verge of death. His mental energy was almost entirely depleted, and his Divine Soul could no longer resist the assault of the Celestial Fire. When the shrinking Celestial Fire, now three-quarters its original size, covered the fierce giant, he instantly turned into smoke and vanished entirely from the world of the Celestial Aperture.

Before his death, he had exhausted seven or eight parts of his mental energy resisting the fire. After his soul perished, no significant mental energy remained.

Ji Changkong was deeply disappointed, having gained nothing. He muttered a curse under his breath and began observing the newly stabilized Celestial Aperture.

As soon as the battle between the two concluded—or rather, as soon as the giant’s soul died—the collapse of the Celestial Aperture abruptly halted. The flames the giant had gathered began to fly back to the sky, forming a new passage connecting to the Sea of Celestial Fire.

In just a short while, the Celestial Aperture had returned to its original state. No further sounds emerged.

It was as if the battle between him and the giant had never happened, as if nothing had occurred. The dissipated power of the Aperture began to replenish rapidly through the newly formed channel connected to the Sea of Celestial Fire. In moments, the Celestial Aperture was once again saturated with dense flame energy.

Ji Changkong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Having finally slain one and forcibly occupied a Celestial Aperture, he prepared to release the nine clusters of Celestial Fire he controlled and re-quench his soul using the energy here.

However, just as he was about to release the flame that was continuously draining his energy, a violent fluctuation erupted from the channel connecting to the Sea of Celestial Fire. Vague auras of several more powerful experts began to leak through that fiery passage.

Ji Changkong’s face changed. He hastily stopped releasing the Celestial Fire and stared intently at the flame channel undergoing transformation.

He sensed that another massive explosion in the Sea of Celestial Fire had already begun!

Whenever this occurred, peak experts situated within Celestial Apertures could faintly sense the auras of others through that fiery channel.