At this critical juncture, the flame passage connecting to the Sea of Heavenly Fire was exceptionally unstable; anything could happen!
When the Sea of Heavenly Fire detonated, it might shoot some bizarre energy through the flame passage into a Heavenly Cave. If that energy surpassed the absorption limit of the Heavenly Cave, the person inside would face the most difficult decision imaginable.
Should one remain to continue absorbing this long-coveted power, or immediately flee the Heavenly Cave? This was a choice few could make easily. To stay meant risking the collapse of the Heavenly Cave; to leave meant losing that power forever.
If one could absorb the incoming power fast enough, perhaps they could alleviate the Heavenly Cave’s extreme capacity and share some of the load, thereby stabilizing the situation and claiming everything attainable!
This choice only arose when one had already acquired too much power from the Heavenly Fire.
Under the wondrous influence of the Sea of Heavenly Fire, the eight Heavenly Caves held another possibility for fusion: perhaps two caves could merge, or three, or maybe all eight could unite to form one singular Great Heavenly Cave.
Regardless of the configuration, anyone inside a Heavenly Cave would have to contend with the danger posed by others. In a space where everyone harbored selfish intentions, the introduction of another person created infinite possibilities.
Under such circumstances, if malice arose in someone's heart, someone else was bound to suffer misfortune. Thus, to cultivate in peace, a single location often could not accommodate two people, and conflict inevitably erupted.
Seeing the violent fluctuations emanating from the flame passage, a string of thoughts flashed through Ji Changkong’s mind. He instantly resolved not to release the shard of Heavenly Fire he held—shrunk to one-third its size—but instead chose to continue expending mental energy to sustain its existence, waiting silently.
His recent battle with the expert from Tianlu had consumed roughly two-tenths of his mental power. The reason for this minimal drain was that before entering, he had been ruthless enough to condense nine shards of Heavenly Fire using the spiritual energy of several outside infiltrators.
The power unleashed when these nine shards fused had incinerated the very soul of the Tianlu expert from the Tianyun Continent. He only needed to expend two-tenths of his mental power to manipulate the Heavenly Fire.
So, after this fight, his mental expenditure was not significant. He still possessed enough strength to fight another opponent, provided that opponent appeared soon!
Even maintaining the existence of the Heavenly Fire required immense mental energy. If the enemy arrived too late, the mental energy he expended might become so great that he would fail during the engagement. This was a risk, but one he had to take!
The power surging from the flame passage grew more intense. Inside the internal world of his Heavenly Cave, Ji Changkong noticed the sphere-like interior beginning to churn more violently. Even in his soul form, he felt dizzy and disoriented.
During this process, a massive influx of power poured in from the Sea of Heavenly Fire. This was not the absorbable energy everyone desired; this energy was saturated with a destructive intent capable of incinerating all things. This inherent death intent could corrupt a person’s soul.
If anyone rashly absorbed these death-infused auras, their soul would twist. They wouldn't die immediately, but they would transform into a mindless flame-body. This flame-body would perpetually absorb energy from the Heart of the Sun, and even the light specks resulting from solar flares shattering.
Until one day, after absorbing sufficient energy, this flame-body would bifurcate into two things: a more terrifying solar flare, or a new Heavenly Cave!
No one wished to become either of these things!
Becoming one of these entities meant eventual explosive death, an ultimate reduction to ash. Therefore, when the power saturated with death intent rushed in, those inside the Heavenly Caves were not focused on absorption, but on evasion!
The eight peak experts within the eight Heavenly Caves scattered frantically when the aura laden with death intent erupted, darting everywhere inside their respective internal worlds, terrified of being caught in the deadly flames.
Not a single person left their Heavenly Cave!
Though leaving the cave was the easiest way to temporarily evade the deathly fire, everyone understood that simultaneously with the influx of death intent, there was a chance for the life-infused flame energy to enter. And that life-force containing flame energy was the coveted prize! Any person who obtained this life-infused fire energy would have their soul utterly tempered. During this soul-tempering process, if they could successfully evade the encroaching death-intent flames, they might even grasp the true essence of the Heart of the Sun!
Only those who achieved this had the highest chance of breaking through to the Nine Palaces Heavenly Realm!
Therefore, at this moment, no one attempted to depart. All remained, simultaneously hiding and extending their consciousness, hoping to sense the arrival of the life-filled energy.
Most of the time, the explosion from the Sea of Heavenly Fire only released death-laden flames into the Heavenly Caves. Out of ten detonations, perhaps only once or twice would the life-infused power of the Sun surge forth, and usually, it would only enter a single Heavenly Cave.
The eight peak Eight Trigrams Celestial Masters from various continents worked together within their eight Heavenly Caves, striving to dodge the invasive death-intent flames, spreading their souls wide in hope of detecting the arrival of the vibrant, life-giving essence of the Sun.
Everyone waited, but Ji Changkong was the exception.
He wasn't aiming to acquire the vital life-force from the Sea of Heavenly Fire; he intended to enter the Sea of Heavenly Fire itself!
While evading the death-intent auras, he pressed forward toward the flame passage. He recalled Li Hentian saying that the only way to use the Heavenly Cave to enter the Sea of Heavenly Fire was to wait for the explosion, wait for the death intent to flood in—meaning, right now!
Silently releasing his soul consciousness, cautioning himself repeatedly, he filtered every aura seeping from the flame passage. His soul shifted position constantly, moving with the sluggish speed of a snail toward the visible flame passage overhead.
Suddenly, through the flame passage high above, he sensed a strange, life-affirming solar energy subtly leaking into an adjacent Heavenly Cave passage.
From that neighboring passage, he faintly detected the aura of Shang Bingjie from the Hailan Continent. Shang Bingjie was clearly agitated; her soul's aura momentarily disordered, writhing like an eel within that channel. As she unnervingly shifted position, her soul signature betrayed her true state.
Simultaneously, from his own flame passage, Ji Changkong felt six waves of ferocious, terrifying killing intent surge toward him!
The experts in the other six Heavenly Caves also sensed the change in Shang Bingjie’s cave; they knew a stream of the rare solar life energy they yearned for had entered her domain.
The distances between the eight Heavenly Caves seemed to shrink drastically. Though the experts in the other six caves dared not enter Shang Bingjie's passage directly, they could assail her using their soul consciousness.
If they could seize this moment to strike Shang Bingjie with their soul consciousness, once the Sea of Heavenly Fire’s explosion ceased, they could depart their own caves and enter hers, seizing the solar life energy she hadn't yet absorbed.
This single stream of energy held the massive potential to elevate them to the Nine Palaces Heavenly Realm!
Thus, the moment they realized Shang Bingjie had lucked out, the six immediately unleashed torrents of killing intent and conscious attacks, condensing various Soul Secret Arts, pumping them through their respective flame passages into the Sea of Heavenly Fire, and then blasting from the Sea into Shang Bingjie’s flame passage.
Their objective was nothing less than the death of Shang Bingjie!
Ji Changkong, who had just managed to approach his own flame passage, preparing to shield against the death intent flowing from it into the Sea of Heavenly Fire, instantly detected the continuous emergence of bizarre, fierce soul attacks within the Sea—soul skills from the peak Eight Trigrams Celestial Masters of other continents, each incredibly potent, no less powerful than his own Soul Refining Art’s soul rays or Destruction Nets.
Ji Changkong was nearly cursing aloud!
At this critical juncture, because those six interlopers had injected their soul essence into the Sea of Heavenly Fire, the Sea had instantly become the nexus for the convergence of soul skills. If his soul entered the Sea now, he would be the first to be struck.
Perhaps before Shang Bingjie was injured, his soul would be annihilated by those six!
The explosion within the Sea of Heavenly Fire continued, but its power was gradually waning.
Ji Changkong knew this current wave of explosive turbulence from the Sea of Heavenly Fire would likely end soon. If he couldn't enter the Sea now, he would have to wait for the next detonation.
The next one could be ten days away, or perhaps several years—no one could say for sure.
Ji Changkong refused to miss this opportunity. While silently cursing the six, and harboring resentment toward Shang Bingjie, he desperately sought a solution to this predicament.
The Sea of Heavenly Fire within the eight Heavenly Caves was actually just a small fraction of the greater Sea. What lay in the distant center of the Sea was unknown to anyone. Their eight caves merely orbited a corner of the Sea. At this moment, as long as the six individuals’ soul attacks did not constantly bombard that corner, given Ji Changkong’s soul speed, he could pass through it instantly and enter the true center of the Sea of Heavenly Fire.
Before him was the equivalent of a corridor. If he could move fast enough, he could traverse it quickly. But currently, this corridor was choked with a chaotic flurry of sword-light and shadow. To pass through this intersection of chaos now would be suicide.
If the chaos in the corridor would just cease for a moment, allowing him passage, he could reach the Sea’s center, safe from further worry.
Damn it, if I cut off your hope, will you stop wasting energy!
Ji Changkong made a ruthless decision. He released the shard of Heavenly Fire, condensed from nine flames, still retaining immense power. Under the control of his soul's mental energy, that massive shard of Heavenly Fire slowly drilled into the flame passage within his Heavenly Cave.
The shard traveled forward, propelled by Ji Changkong’s desperate, ferocious injection of mental power. It shot through the passage connecting his Heavenly Cave to the Sea of Heavenly Fire and instantly entered the central corner of the Sea.
As soon as it emerged, this shard of Heavenly Fire headed directly toward Shang Bingjie’s flame passage.
The souls of the peak experts in the other six caves simultaneously detected the Heavenly Fire emerging from Ji Changkong’s passage. Those six immediately redirected their soul attack energies to avoid colliding with Ji Changkong’s fire. One "Soul Burst Sphere" trailing behind the Heavenly Fire even deliberately slowed down, allowing Ji Changkong’s fire to pass first.
They assumed Ji Changkong’s objective was the same as theirs!
Because that energy surge appeared in Shang Bingjie’s cave, everyone had temporarily designated her as the enemy. Given the vast space within a Heavenly Cave, they knew that even if their soul attacks flooded Shang Bingjie's space, it might not guarantee her death within that massive cave.
The safest bet was to fill Shang Bingjie’s Heavenly Cave entirely with their soul techniques! Only when her cave was completely saturated with the attacks of their respective souls, leaving her nowhere to hide, could she truly be killed.
When the Sea of Heavenly Fire detonated, those within found the binding force of the Heavenly Cave increased tenfold; no one could leave until the explosion ended, at which point the cave’s defensive barrier would return to normal.
If they could flood Shang Bingjie’s cave with soul power now, leaving her exposed, she would face certain death. They all knew this method, which was why they momentarily united.
Once Shang Bingjie was dead, and the Sea of Heavenly Fire’s blast subsided, they would resume killing each other—then they would be enemies.
Without any resistance, the Heavenly Fire condensed by Ji Changkong surged into Shang Bingjie’s flame passage, hurtling toward her Heavenly Cave.
Inside her cave, Shang Bingjie discovered with bleak despair that she was surrounded by countless soul energy attacks of every description!
The soul attack energies from the other six individuals danced everywhere within her cave, rapidly filling the space. At a glance, the sky was thick with soul burst spheres and raging torrents of killing intent in soul form. They were omnipresent and expanding swiftly, threatening to completely inundate the entire cave.
That stream of life essence from the Sea of Heavenly Fire lay right there in her cave, yet Shang Bingjie had no chance to absorb it.
Watching another shard of Heavenly Fire, bearing world-shaking, terrifying energy, slowly emerge from the flames, Shang Bingjie despaired, cursing her terrible luck; she, who once dominated all men on the Hailan Continent, was about to be killed here.
She failed to notice that, at this very moment, the shard of Heavenly Fire flowing into her Heavenly Cave passage was beginning to undergo a strange transformation…
Third watch completed; I sincerely beg for monthly tickets for support, I am truly working hard!