The disciplines of the Ni Sect are divided into the Dark and the Bright factions. Generally, one can only cultivate the secret arts and profound mysteries of the lineage they belong to, and the mysteries of the two factions cannot be merged.
However, for the leader of the Manichaean Sect, there are no such restrictions. Not only that, but the leader of the Manichaean Sect must cultivate both systems simultaneously. They must not only master the profundities of the Bright faction to their peak but also deeply comprehend the doctrines of the Dark faction.
Only by fusing the powers of Darkness and Light can one truly grasp the essence of the Manichaean Sect, and only such a person is qualified to be its leader!
Youlan effortlessly cast the Dark Canopy and the Bright Canopy, enveloping the entire area. The two canopies separated, each enveloping Ji Changkong and Yao Kui respectively. Though having expended significant power, Youlan still appeared remarkably relaxed handling both Yao Kui and Ji Changkong alone.
Yao Kui wielded that enormous scythe. While inside the Bright Canopy, he used the killing intent within the scythe to resist the invasion of the light. The various negative forces within the scythe seemed to be severely suppressed by the action of the Bright Canopy, and a portion of the murderous resentment appeared to be purified by the Holy Light imbued in the canopy above.
The power within the Bright Canopy was righteous and majestic. The vast, holy aura purified the mind and expelled evil, proving to be the natural bane of the evil forces within the scythe. Under the illumination of the Holy Light, the negative power in the scythe dared not stir, remaining coiled deep within the weapon.
With the most fundamental and fierce negative energy of the scythe suppressed by the Bright Canopy, Yao Kui’s overall strength was greatly diminished. He was forced to rely on his true power to fight, gradually falling into a disadvantage.
The situation for Ji Changkong was the complete opposite; he faced the Dark Canopy, whose power was saturated with endless darkness. Rolling demonic energy churned within the dark expanse, as if countless endless souls from the depths of hell were struggling to break free.
Maintaining clarity of mind while within the Dark Canopy, Ji Changkong remained extremely calm. Under the influence of the rolling demonic energy, he was shrouded by the Heavenly Fire Barrier, his soul manifesting as three flames. The strange power originating from the Heart of the Sun began to exert its effect.
An inviolable, majestic righteousness rapidly radiated outwards, centered on his soul. In that moment, Ji Changkong seemed to transform into a celestial being purifying the world, intending to sweep away all sin and evil with the righteousness in his heart. Flames erupted from his body, surging within the Heavenly Fire Barrier, slowly leaking out to resist the Dark Canopy’s encroachment.
Righteousness contended with demonic energy, and the scorching heat of the flames grew more vigorous, gradually pressing upward, dispelling the darkness inch by inch.
Keeping his heart clear and harboring good intentions, his mind filled with compassion, the searing power of the Heavenly Fire intensified. Eventually, more flames streamed forth from Ji Changkong’s body.
The Three Ultimate Fires of Heaven and Earth—Heavenly Fire, Earthly Fire, and Samadhi True Fire—all emerged from within him. These flames contained not only his primal force and spiritual will but also the fundamental essence of the Vermillion Bird’s vital blood, further amplified by the strange power of the Heart of the Sun.
The Three Ultimate Fires of Heaven and Earth shook the heavens and earth, incinerating everything!
The darkness was driven back, the rolling demonic energy burned to ash by the Heavenly Fire and Samadhi True Fire, and the Dark Canopy was suddenly ruptured with a large hole, revealing the beams of light constantly shooting through the Spatial Turbulence Domain.
Just as the Bright Canopy targeted Yao Kui, Ji Changkong utilized the Heavenly Fire to expel all evil forces in the world to counter the Dark Canopy. The sacred, world-cleansing aura within the Heavenly Fire seemed to be the natural bane of the Dark Canopy, directly burning it into massive ruptures.
Once the Dark Canopy developed holes and light reappeared, it immediately lost its intended power. The various intentions Youlan had infused into the Dark Canopy could no longer coalesce the dark power to deal with Ji Changkong.
Youlan could use the Bright Canopy against Yao Kui, but she could not use the Dark Canopy to imprison Ji Changkong and slowly erode his strength until he perished in this Spatial Turbulence Domain.
Youlan quickly realized that the Dark Canopy seemed ineffective against Ji Changkong. When she noticed the Dark Canopy being riddled with huge cracks, Youlan immediately understood that the Dark Canopy could not hold him.
Just as Youlan prepared to employ another tactic, Ji Changkong’s Three Ultimate Fires suddenly shifted direction and flew towards Yao Kui.
If the Three Ultimate Fires could incinerate the Dark Canopy, they could likewise break open the Bright Canopy. When the Heavenly Fire, Earthly Fire, and Samadhi True Fire reached the Bright Canopy surrounding Yao Kui, in a mere instant, they tore a large hole in it, allowing the light power to leak out.
Yao Kui, previously contained within the Bright Canopy, instantly seized the opportunity to fly out once the light power could no longer be replenished. The evil power in his scythe instantly recovered. Filled with hatred, Yao Kui coldly snorted and charged fearlessly toward the Holy Mother Youlan.
Ji Changkong freed Yao Kui from the Bright Canopy because he knew that facing Youlan alone, he was not her match; thus, he offered Yao Kui assistance.
Seeing Yao Kui charge toward Youlan, Ji Changkong did not hesitate either, charging towards Youlan as well.
After they jointly broke open the Bright and Dark Canopies, Yao Kui and Ji Changkong arrived alongside Youlan. Yao Kui's scythe flew up, its evil light transforming into massive sharp blades that hacked toward Youlan from all directions.
Ji Changkong followed closely behind, re-gathering more flames, arranging the Three Ultimate Fires into blossoming flames of varying sizes behind the evil blades, surging toward Youlan while simultaneously gathering more power. He altered the flow pattern of the nearby heatwaves, enhancing the might of the Heavenly Fire.
Youlan had never fully recovered from her battle with Gu Ya. Last time, she expended significant power suppressing the ** of the Bright Holy Seal, then further energy setting up the passage connecting to the Demonic Continent in this Spatial Turbulence Domain. Moreover, being interrupted by Heavenly Martial King Tianwu Wang had drained even more of her strength.
The continuous depletion of power caused Youlan, a powerhouse at the peak of the Nine Palaces Celestial State, to decline. Under the combined assault of Yao Kui and Ji Changkong, she finally showed signs of fatigue, forced into a purely defensive posture.
Youlan manifested the Light-Dark Heavenly Barrier, a weave of light and dark intermingling to envelope her. No matter how Yao Kui and Ji Changkong attacked, the Light-Dark Heavenly Barrier remained intact. Inside, Youlan smiled faintly, yet her eyes were filled with killing intent, as she calculated how to deal with the two adversaries.
On the other side.
Heavenly Martial King Tianwu Wang abandoned the Divine Art of the Emperor's Earth and Heaven, resorting to the Heavenly Corpse Transformation Divine Ability that he had secretly cultivated, forming the Heavenly Corpse Demonic Body, making him appear neither wholly human nor wholly spectral.
This Heavenly Corpse Demonic Body was shrouded in corpse qi. Attacks from Hu Gao and Shi Qianjie that struck it were instantly neutralized by the surrounding corpse qi, greatly weakening their force. The few attacks that managed to penetrate barely left a mark on his physical body, which was tougher than a ten-thousand-year-old mummy.
With the Heavenly Corpse Demonic Body manifested, Tianwu Wang dragged five stone coffins from his wristband. Thick corpse qi emanated from the coffins as they soared through the Spatial Turbulence Domain, smashing incoming meteorites and forcing Shi Qianjie and Hu Gao into a desperate retreat.
These five stone coffins must have been divine weapons refined by Tianwu Wang over the years. Within each coffin, there appeared to be a thousand-year-old corpse whose corpse qi had already merged with the stone. Under the influence of Tianwu Wang’s Heavenly Corpse Transformation ability, the five ancient corpses within the coffins became his central puppets.
Even before the five thousand-year-old corpses emerged from their stone coffins to confront Shi Qianjie and Hu Gao, the two were already struggling immensely. If the mummies inside were to emerge, their peril would only increase!
"After years of bitter cultivation beneath the Great Canyon, upon emerging, this King traveled to every absolute Yin location across the world, locating these five ancient corpses. I forged the Heavenly Corpse Divine Coffins for them, unifying their essence. These five thousand-year-old corpses, each possesses strength no less than a Nine Palaces Celestial Master. Under my control, the five of them can hold their own even against Cao Xuanqi!"
Tianwu Wang’s face was terrifyingly pale, and his once robust physique had become gaunt, like wind-dried jerky.
The person Tianwu Wang feared most was Cao Xuanqi. The primary reason he sought out the five ancient corpses and forged the Heavenly Corpse Divine Coffins for them was to deal with Cao Xuanqi.
As the five stone coffins danced, the corpse qi gradually spread, forming the secret array of the Corpse Skeleton Yin Sea within the Heavenly Corpse Transformation. Both Shi Qianjie's and Hu Gao's bodies and souls were affected by the corpse qi, causing their movements to become increasingly sluggish.
Ji Changkong’s display of the Three Ultimate Fires of Heaven and Earth had successfully forced Youlan to manifest the Light-Dark Heavenly Barrier alongside Yao Kui, placing her at a temporary disadvantage.
This reprieve allowed Ji Changkong to dedicate a portion of his attention to observing the surrounding situation. Through the faint spiritual auras he had previously attached to the major meteorites, he could maintain awareness of the surroundings regardless of any changes in the environment.
While Tianwu Wang’s five stone coffins relentlessly bombarded Shi Qianjie and Hu Gao, Ji Changkong noticed that Tianwu Wang himself had managed to free his hands and moved towards two massive, colliding meteorites. From within these two massive meteorites, the corpse qi emanating from Tianwu Wang's body suddenly erupted.
Holy Mother Youlan, inside her Light-Dark Heavenly Barrier, saw Tianwu Wang’s action and her face instantly lit up with joy. She abruptly ceased her passive defense, dissolving the Light-Dark Heavenly Barrier and resuming her active assault.
At this moment, Shi Qianjie and Hu Gao were already overwhelmed by the five stone coffins and had no surplus energy to monitor Tianwu Wang.
"Not good, Tianwu Wang is trying to open the Spatial Passage!" In a flash of realization, Ji Changkong understood Tianwu Wang’s objective, his face drastically changing. He urgently flew toward Tianwu Wang, completely disregarding Holy Mother Youlan and Yao Kui behind him.
If Tianwu Wang succeeded in opening the passage and allowing the masters of the Demonic Continent to pour in, the situation would become truly uncontrollable; he had to stop it!
Shi Qianjie and Hu Gao also changed color. The two discerned Tianwu Wang’s intent, but frustratingly, they were completely entangled by the five stone coffins. Furthermore, the five thousand-year-old corpses that had remained inside the coffins began to stir and sit up at this very moment.
As a result, the power of the five stone coffins instantly more than doubled!
Shi Qianjie and Hu Gao were now struggling to protect themselves, making it utterly impossible for them to impede Tianwu Wang’s actions.
Meanwhile, Yao Kui was completely occupied by Holy Mother Youlan. Youlan was fully aware of what Tianwu Wang was doing and naturally wished to lend a hand. Her Manichaean Sect shared a lineage with the Demon Cave of the Demonic Continent, and she had long reached an understanding with the masters of the Demon Cave. She desperately hoped for the Demon Cave masters to arrive soon. Seeing Tianwu Wang preparing to establish the Spatial Passage, Youlan was delighted to ease her burden, intending only to use her close ties with the Demon Cave later to deal with Tianwu Wang.
With Shi Qianjie, Hu Gao, and Yao Kui all held back, Ji Changkong was left to rely on himself. Watching Tianwu Wang proceed heedlessly without even glancing back, Ji Changkong sneered internally, and a thought surfaced in his mind.
The Requiem of the Purgatorial Ghost Clan!
He recalled the stone coffin he encountered in the East Sea and the ghost corpses refined by the Purgatorial Ghost Clan. If the Requiem of the Purgatorial Ghost Clan could suppress ghost corpses, perhaps it could also suppress Tianwu Wang, who cultivated the Heavenly Corpse Transformation?
Being similar dark and bizarre corpse refinement secret arts, the ghost corpses of the Purgatorial Ghost Clan in the Boundless Star Domain were far more terrifying; one ghost corpse could destroy a continent. If the Requiem could suppress a ghost corpse, it should be equally effective against Tianwu Wang!
With this thought, Ji Changkong felt no more hesitation!
His spirit suddenly shifted, and the eerie melody of the Requiem sounded in his mind. Six primal power pillars manifested, upon which unknown, peculiar symbols of the Purgatorial Ghost Clan appeared one after another. A strange field instantly formed between the six pillars.
Without turning his head, the Heavenly Martial King, who had paid Ji Changkong no heed, suddenly trembled violently and immediately turned back in terror.
Tianwu Wang abruptly discovered that the power of the Heavenly Corpse Transformation was slipping beyond his control, as if the power he had painstakingly cultivated for years was being violently torn from his body. For the first time, Tianwu Wang felt true fear—even greater than when facing Cao Xuanqi.
Utterly terrified, Tianwu Wang let out a piercing scream and channeled the manageable power of the Divine Art of the Emperor's Earth and Heaven, blasting it towards the two rapidly approaching external meteorites, causing their speed to dramatically increase. They collided with one another with blinding swiftness.
A massive explosion suddenly erupted, and a huge, pitch-black passage formed amidst the blast. The shockwave of the explosion violently flung Tianwu Wang away. Then, a suction force emerged from the explosion, directly pulling in Ji Changkong, who was closest to the blast.
In an instant, Ji Changkong vanished into the bizarre tunnel at the epicenter of the explosion. By the time others reacted, the tunnel had already reverted to its original state.