As soon as Ji Changkong broke through to the Nine Palaces Heaven Realm, the full power of the World-Extinguishing Gauntlets was finally unleashed. With a single punch, power of terrifying magnitude erupted like a deluge. When the vital energy within him fused with the power sealed within the World-Extinguishing Gauntlets, this divine weapon—originating from the Heavenly Origin Pearl—seemed to finally release its true 'world-ending' might!

The Blood Emperor was also at the Nine Palaces Heaven Realm, and the secret arts of the Blood Pool were undoubtedly mystical. Yet, under the blow from the World-Extinguishing Gauntlets, despite being at the same cultivation level, he suffered shattered bones throughout his body, leaving him in a state where his survival was utterly uncertain.

And at the peak of the Eight Trigrams Heaven Realm, the King of Darkness—who had repeatedly clashed with Ji Changkong, and was the husband of the Manichaean Cult’s Holy Mother Youlan—was instantly killed merely by being brushed by the residual shockwave of the World-Extinguishing Gauntlets.

Watching the King of Darkness’s bones and blood explode into a pulverized mess, Ji Changkong moved his spirit and finally recalled the World-Extinguishing Gauntlets, releasing the Heavenly Origin Pearl instead.

Once the Heavenly Origin Pearl appeared, a strange and potent energy slowly diffused outward, enveloping the entire expanse of heaven and earth. The souls of the masters from the Manichaean Cult and the Blood Pool, having been struck down by the Divine Punishment, flew out from their physical forms, attempting to flee this place of strife with all possible speed.

With the Heavenly Origin Pearl manifested, under its influence, all those souls were immediately affected. A powerful suction force released from the Pearl ensnared every spirit attempting to escape.

Simultaneously, Ji Changkong initiated the profound and esoteric secret art of the Soul Quelling Dirge from the Purgatorial Ghost Race. As the miraculous chanting of the Dirge echoed in his mind, the very souls of the Blood Pool masters—who had already fled far away—were instantly frozen, then slowly drawn into the Six Roots Vital Energy Pillars.

The Heavenly Origin Pearl, deeply hidden within the Six Roots Vital Energy Pillars, acted like a massive machine devouring all souls, mercilessly consuming every spirit that entered. In just a brief time, dozens of souls, each belonging to masters at least at the Seven Stars Heaven Realm, were utterly swallowed.

The soul of the King of Darkness was among them.

When Ji Changkong sensed the King of Darkness’s soul entering the Heavenly Origin Pearl, a remarkably subtle expression crossed his face.

He recalled those early days, shortly after leaving Qingyan Mountain and entering the Chen family compound. At the Spiritual Treasure Assembly held by the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, the King of Darkness had been utterly dominant, leading the Manichaean experts in seizing the assembly’s treasures under the gaze of countless onlookers.

At that time, Ji Changkong was merely an inexperienced fledgling. Under the might of a powerful Eight Trigrams Heaven cultivator like the King of Darkness, he could only hide amongst the teeming masses, doing his utmost simply to preserve his life.

Had the King of Darkness exerted even a small fraction of his effort then, he could have easily ended Ji Changkong. Back then, during the assembly, Ji Changkong had truly believed the King of Darkness to be the most powerful entity in the world, thinking he himself would never reach such a pinnacle in his lifetime!

Yet, the ways of the world are unpredictable. In the short span of ten years, here and now, he had casually annihilated the King of Darkness—and that was merely a secondary action!

He could not have imagined it! The King of Darkness certainly never imagined it until his final breath!

In just a decade, the dynamic between them had completely inverted. Ji Changkong had become the absolute sovereign! And the King of Darkness, to him now, was a mere ant, something to be crushed into dust with a casual gesture!

“Blood Emperor, flee! Flee to that slut Youlan’s location! Coward, I knew you wouldn't dare stay and fight!” Ji Changkong stood proudly between heaven and earth, shouting coldly toward the direction of the Manichaean Cult.

But he perceived that after being struck by the World-Extinguishing Gauntlets, the Blood Emperor had spat blood and been flung away, yet before he even hit the ground, he had utilized a Blood Pool secret art to forcefully mobilize the blood within him and escape. In an instant, the Blood Emperor had appeared a thousand miles away within the land, still fleeing desperately.

Being of the same Nine Palaces Heaven Realm, if the Blood Emperor was solely focused on escape, Ji Changkong could do nothing. While the World-Extinguishing Gauntlets granted him explosive, violent power, they did not grant him superior speed. Thus, although his spirit could track the Blood Emperor’s trace, he was helpless, forced to let him go.

Following Ji Changkong’s thunderous shout, the remaining remnants of the Manichaean Cult and the Blood Pool began to flee in sheer terror.

Those experts who survived the Divine Punishment were either at the peak of the Seven Stars Heaven Realm or already in the Eight Trigrams Heaven Realm; none were weaklings. Knowing they could not escape Ji Changkong’s might without employing special measures, they all activated secret arts akin to Blood Evasion, abandoning self-preservation to flee.

When Mu Luo, Ba Tul, and the other experts of the Aurore Divine Religion saw this situation, they immediately moved to intercept. However, against those whose sole focus was survival, the actions of Mu Luo and the others proved a fraction too late.

Only five or six experts from the Blood Pool and Manichaean Cult were slain under the attacks of Mu Luo, Ba Tul, and their cohort. The majority escaped alive through these secret methods, vanishing without a trace from outside the Aurore Divine Religion’s Grand Temple in the blink of an eye.

The power of the Divine Punishment finally began to recede slowly.

Ji Changkong lifted his head, drew a deep breath, and attempted to re-integrate his spirit with the power linked to the Aurore Divine Religion. After a while, upon discovering he could reconnect with the ancient formations existing within the Aurore Divine Religion, he began to utilize the esoteric technique that had resided in his mind for many years to control those formations.

When he first arrived here and entered the Grand Temple of the Aurore Divine Religion, he had used the power of the Heavenly Origin Pearl to acquire their ancient secret arts, learning many peculiar secrets that even elders like Mu Luo and Ba Tul did not understand.

Soul Control Technique was a specialized secret art handed down by the Aurore Divine Religion, primarily used to control their various ancient formations.

Within the Grand Temple of the Aurore Divine Religion, there had always been these ancient formations, but following the disappearance of the previous Cult Master, gradually no one knew how to utilize them anymore. Divine Punishment was one of these ancient formations, and the most potent in terms of destructive power!

Divine Punishment, like Star Sea, was a unique secret art exclusive to the Aurore Divine Religion. The difference lay in that Star Sea could gather the vital energy of heaven and earth, transforming a desolate region into a paradise brimming with spiritual energy. Furthermore, Star Sea possessed various restrictive seals and barriers, capable of both attack and defense.

Divine Punishment was different; it lacked the power to gather heaven and earth’s vital energy and could not turn the area into a cultivation treasure land. The sole purpose of Divine Punishment was to attack any enemy who had not cultivated the secret arts of the Aurore Divine Religion! Its very existence was for the purpose of slaying foes!

The presence of Divine Punishment was profoundly mysterious, seemingly responding to power from beyond the heavens while also commanding the power of the earth. It required only an initiator to erupt.

Ji Changkong, who had cultivated the Nebula Soul Refining Art and broken through to the Nine Palaces Heaven Realm, was precisely that initiator! As long as his spirit merged with the power of the ancient formations within the Grand Temple, he could command the Divine Punishment!

Under the influence of Ji Changkong’s spirit, the power of Divine Punishment slowly receded. The dark clouds dispersed from the sky, lightning ceased, falling meteors stopped, and even the fissures tearing the earth miraculously began to seal themselves one by one.

Half an hour later, the Divine Punishment completely subsided. The sky above the Grand Temple regained its clarity, the surrounding land was smooth and level, leaving behind only oddly shaped corpses.

Everything returned to normal, while the masters of the Manichaean Cult and the Blood Pool had vanished completely. The King of Darkness, master of the dark faction of the Manichaean Cult and infamous throughout the Western Regions, was forever left here, his physical body becoming part of the earth, swallowed by the healed ravines.

The Six Roots Vital Energy Pillars continued to turn, and the Heavenly Origin Pearl within them continued to draw in the immobilized souls.

In this location, the Heavenly Origin Pearl appeared incredibly active. As the souls of the Manichaean Cult and Blood Pool experts were drawn in, they were instantly converted into energy for the Pearl, dissipating within it.

Although the Heavenly Origin Pearl was no longer in his hand, Ji Changkong could sense the power within it growing increasingly robust.

The energy the Pearl had expended with that single punch had already been completely replenished.

“Cult Master!” Mu Luo, Ba Tul, and the others knelt low, looking up at him with fervent gazes.

“The King of Darkness… has the King of Darkness truly… truly been killed by the Cult Master?” A disciple, only at the Five Elements Heaven Realm, stared blankly at Ji Changkong, his face a mask of disbelief.

“Heh heh, I can guarantee one thing: I guarantee that the King of Darkness will never appear in the Western Regions again,” Ji Changkong smiled faintly, looking at the low-ranking disciple. “The catastrophe of the Divine Religion is over. Henceforth, the Divine Religion will be the most powerful Heaven Cult in the Western Regions. The Manichaean Cult will surely vanish from the Western Regions—from this entire world!”

“Cult Master is divine and mighty!” This disciple bowed his head to the ground, shouting in exultation.

“Cult Master is divine and mighty!”

“Cult Master is divine and mighty!”

In an instant, this cry echoed everywhere, even flooding out from within the Grand Temple itself.

Ji Changkong was momentarily stunned. He suddenly realized how much he owed this sect. The Heavenly Origin Pearl was the sacred artifact of the Aurore Divine Religion; the Nebula Soul Refining Art came from them; various soul skills originated here; even the Star Sea Ancient Formation came from this place. He had received too many supreme treasures from this sect, yet he had never truly taken the sect seriously.

Watching the devout disciples gaze at him as if he were a god, an indescribable emotion welled up in Ji Changkong’s heart—an emotion called ‘responsibility.’

Ching! Ching! Ching!

Just then, a strange sound resonated from the Heavenly Origin Pearl in the distance. The Pearl glowed intensely and suddenly flew out from the Six Roots Vital Energy Pillars, casting streams of bizarre light into the various temples of the Aurore Divine Religion. Strands of peculiar energy began slowly flowing from the temples into the Heavenly Origin Pearl.

The Heavenly Origin Pearl, it seemed, was undergoing another transformation…