To all the demon clans across the Six Strange Continents, Ji Changkong was seen as a mere stepping stone. At the shriek of the serpent-headed demon, countless fiends surged towards Ji Changkong.

"The situation has become grave," the Origin Poison exclaimed. "These fiends are no longer afraid of us. They will charge, even knowing they face certain death."

"I know," Ji Changkong nodded with a wry smile. Judging by the serpent-headed demon's demeanor, his sudden arrival on this strange continent was clearly akin to a lamb walking into a tiger's den—a suicide mission. He could never have imagined what sort of 'Ancestor Demon' this strange continent harbored, nor the deep-seated hatred between that Ancestor Demon and the Four Holy Beasts. Even less did he anticipate that above the great peak lay the depths of the Poison Dragon Pool, leading directly to the Five Elements Continent.

Seeing the entrance to the Poison Dragon Pool tantalizingly close, Ji Changkong felt no joy. The gate to the Five Elements Continent was open to him, yet he could not enter.

"Every generation of Xuanyuan reaches the peak of the Ninth Palace Heaven realm and enters here to annihilate us. The mission of Xuanyuan is to kill beings like me. Once I am dead, they will be without a leader, waiting for the next Demon King-level fiend to mature before they have a chance to enter the Five Elements Continent."

"Your most pressing mission is to kill me first! If I die, they will lose their momentum. The previous generations of Xuanyuan did the same thing—and yet, alas, even after killing my ancestors, they were ultimately submerged and killed here by us, like a surging sea!"

"The Four Holy Beasts sent you here knowing you'd die. You should harbor hatred. If you recognize that you are merely a pawn, we can join forces right now. We can break the barrier and enter the Five Elements Continent together. I promise you can attain the power of the Four Holy Beasts."

"What do you say?"

The dense throng of demons slowly closed in on Ji Changkong, but the serpent-headed demon remained motionless, attempting to subdue Ji Changkong with words. This demon possessed high intelligence and understood temptation; it was far cleverer than common fiends. Even the Three-Headed Great Demons that the Demon Sovereign had pulled from the Asura Realm were far inferior to this one.

"Impossible!" Ji Changkong shook his head.

What a joke! To let them break the barrier and enter the Five Elements Continent—that world would truly be ravaged, not a single life surviving!

Hundreds of thousands of demons possessing the power of a Seven Star Heaven Soldier, thousands of powerful demons with the vitality of an Eight Trigrams Heaven Soldier, and nearly a hundred demons wielding the strength of a Ninth Palace Heaven Soldier—this force was terrifying. If they truly entered the Five Elements Continent, it was certain that within a few days, not a single human would remain.

He could not be the sinner of the entire Five Elements Continent. His kin, his friends, and those he loved resided there; he would never permit the Five Elements Continent to be destroyed by these demons!

"Then I have no choice but to kill you. Once you are dead, the next Xuanyuan will take at least several centuries to mature, while I only need a decade or so to master the power to open the barrier!"

"Once you die, the Ancestor Demon has hope of breaking free, and the doom of the Four Holy Beasts has arrived."

The serpent-headed demon's sharp voice was filled with killing intent as it stared coldly at Ji Changkong, then suddenly issued another piercing, shrill roar.

With the cry, the surrounding demons finally launched their assault, pouncing upon Ji Changkong.

Nearly a hundred demons, possessing the formidable vitality of the Ninth Palace Heaven Soldier realm, had their demonic aura surging to the heavens. They spat out various bizarre columns of demonic light, roaring as they hurtled toward Ji Changkong at the center.

Ji Changkong's expression instantly changed. He hastily stuffed the Origin Poison into the Heavenly Origin Pearl and, without a second thought, vanished into the Void Illusory Realm he could conjure at will.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

A colossal roar erupted from the periphery of the Void Illusory Realm. The space where he had just stood collapsed, the air exploding violently. An immensely powerful shockwave rippled outward, spreading to all four corners of the continent.

This terrifying impact directly pulverized the various plants that survived by drawing sustenance from the demonic energy. Everywhere the force passed, aside from this single great peak, mountains crumbled, seawater was whipped skyward, and the earth split open, revealing bottomless chasms.

Ji Changkong, inside the Void Illusory Realm, forcibly altered its trajectory. As his soul merged entirely with the realm, the Void Illusory Realm abruptly vanished, only to reappear in an area sensed by his soul.

Spatial Displacement!

This was a new ability of the Void Illusory Realm that he had evolved after reaching the Ninth Palace Heaven realm, after manifesting mountains, rivers, trees, sun, and stars within it.

As long as his soul was integrated with the Void Illusory Realm, he could, by relying on the power of his soul and mental strength, instantly project the realm to any location sensed ahead of his soul. Of course, this location had to be within the original space.

In other words, he was still on this strange continent.

Pfft!

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Ji Changkong's face was ashen. Providing even a sliver of power to the Void Illusory Realm had left him utterly drained, and he collapsed weakly beside a man-eating plant with three huge claws.

The plant was just preparing to attack Ji Changkong, but before it could strike, its own branches and leaves began to smoke. In a short while, it turned into light smoke and vanished.

The Origin Poison frowned, glancing at the plant that had been poisoned to death. Wisps of light smoke drifted out from its body, diffusing into the air.

Suspicious plants nearby that were about to approach saw the Origin Poison appear, seemed to instantly sense the danger, and retreated one after another, turning from living things back into inanimate objects.

"Hmph! Don't court death!" The Origin Poison coldly snorted, releasing its unique soul signature to warn off any malevolent entities.

Ji Changkong's face was paper-white as he sat there. He immediately retrieved Black Jade Origin Crystals and Supreme Grade Origin Stones from his Mustard Seed Bag, ignoring the surrounding situation. He began using these stones, which could supply him with energy, to immediately recover his strength.

The spatial displacement of the Void Illusory Realm within that collapsing space had been affected by the power of the collapse, instantly draining too much of Ji Changkong's mental energy. Furthermore, his physical body had sustained injuries within the collapsing space.

Nearly a hundred demons, each possessing the life force of a Ninth Palace Heaven Soldier, attacking simultaneously—the destructive power was absolutely earth-shattering. The space collapsing was normal, but displacing the Void Illusory Realm within that collapsing space required several times the mental energy. Its source was Ji Changkong, so he was naturally the one to suffer the consequences.

The Origin Poison guarded him constantly, vigilant. As soon as it saw any demon approach, the Origin Poison would immediately emerge and poison all nearby fiends to death, giving them no chance to report back.

Although the Demon King-level serpent-headed demon possessed extremely robust vitality, a demon was still just a demon. In terms of soul power application, they were far inferior to true Ninth Palace Heaven Soldiers, or even Heaven Soldiers in the Seven Star Heaven realm.

With such immense vitality and soul, it could not unleash its power to sense Ji Changkong's presence. The Origin Poison could faintly perceive the aura of the Demon King-level demon here, but the serpent-headed demon had no idea where they were, merely dispatching all its fiends to search for them.

This allowed the Origin Poison to secretly relax. This continent was vast, three times larger than the Five Elements Continent. Although the fiends numbered in the tens of thousands, once dispersed, they were not so fearsome. As long as those demons could not pinpoint their exact location, the Origin Poison believed they would be safe for the time being on this continent.

After guarding for two hours and killing a few low-level demons occasionally passing by—sent by the serpent-headed demon—the Origin Poison saw Ji Changkong finally recover and quickly asked, "How is it?"

"Slightly injured. All the Black Jade Origin Crystals and Origin Stones in my Mustard Seed Bag are used up this time. I had no choice; the mental energy consumed was too great, and I had to restore my injuries as quickly as possible."

Ji Changkong took a deep breath, closed his eyes to sense his condition, and then said, "We are a million li from that great peak. It won't be easy for the demons over there to reach us in this time. We must think of a solution..."

The path home was known, but how to return remained the biggest problem.

The serpent-headed demon remained motionless beneath the spatial turbulence above the great peak, having not moved a single step. It only dispatched other demons to pursue them. This Demon King-level demon was very cunning; luring it out with a diversionary tactic would likely not be easy. However, its power was immense. Killing it was one option, but the difficulty was enormous...

"Kongkong, I think we might have to stay here for a while. Since you've used up all the Black Jade Origin Crystals and Origin Stones in your Mustard Seed Bag, I think we should first find a way to restore our strength. Only then can we sustain a long fight," the Origin Poison hesitated before suggesting again. "Also, the demonic energy here..."

"Wait a moment, let me try another method," Ji Changkong said.

"Another method? What method?" the Origin Poison asked.

Looking up at the sky, Ji Changkong's eyes shone with brilliant light, his expression peculiar. "Ninth Palace Heaven Soldiers must borrow the power of the stars to cultivate. Only by gathering the stellar energy of one star into their acupoints can they continuously progress."

"However, in the Solar Star Domain, because there were too many Ninth Palace Heaven Soldiers, the stars available for cultivation became increasingly scarce. Ninth Palace Heaven Soldiers even engaged in mass slaughter in the Solar Star Domain to fight for cultivation resources. Even so, many people could never cultivate all seven hundred-plus acupoints in their body throughout their lifetime."

Having said this, Ji Changkong took a deep breath and pointed to the star-filled sky. "But this region of the stars seems entirely uncultivated. All these stars overhead—I can slowly claim them for myself. This is truly a blessing in disguise."