All the demon commanders on this strange continent suddenly regarded Ji Changkong as their enemy. At the sharp cry of the serpent-headed demon, numerous demons swarmed toward Ji Changkong.

The situation had become critical. Origin Poison muttered, "These fiends no longer fear us; knowing death is certain, they still charge forward!"

"I know."

Ji Changkong offered a wry smile and nodded. Judging by the serpent-headed demon's actions, his sudden appearance on this unfamiliar continent was akin to a sheep walking into a tiger's den—clearly, he had come to offer his life.

He could never have imagined that this strange continent harbored some kind of Ancestral Demon, nor could he have guessed the profound hatred existing between that Ancestral Demon and the Four Sacred Beasts, nor could he fathom that the summit of the giant peak led directly to the deepest recesses of the Poison Dragon Pool beneath the Five Elements Continent.

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

"Every generation of Xuanyuan, upon reaching the peak realm of the Nine Palaces Celestial Master, comes here to exterminate beings like me. The mission of Xuanyuan is to slay those like me. Once I am dead, they will be headless. Only when the next Demon King-level demon cultivates sufficiently will there be a chance to enter the Five Elements Continent!"

"Your most crucial mission is to kill me first! Once I am dead, they will lose their backbone. Previous generations of Xuanyuan all acted this way, but alas, even after slaying my ancestors, the former Xuanyuan Lords were still drowned by us, who surged like the sea, ultimately dying here!"

"The Four Sacred Beasts sent you here merely to die. You should harbor resentment. If you accept your hatred, realize you are but a pawn, you and I can join forces. We can break the barrier right now and enter the Five Elements Continent together. I promise to grant you the power of the Four Sacred Beasts!"

"What do you say?"

The dense mass of demons slowly closed in on Ji Changkong, while the serpent-headed demon remained stationary, attempting to break Ji Changkong with words. This demon possessed high intelligence and understood temptation. It was far shrewder than ordinary demons; even the Three-Headed Hound Demon that the Demon Commander had pulled from the Asura Realm was not its equal.

"Impossible!" Ji Changkong shook his head.

"Are you joking? Allowing them to break the barrier and enter the Five Elements Continent would result in true devastation. Not a single life would survive!"

Hundreds of thousands of demons possessing the strength of a Seven Stars Celestial Master, thousands of powerful demons with the vital energy of an Eight Trigrams Celestial Master, and nearly a hundred demons wielding the power of a Nine Palaces Celestial Master—this force was terrifying. If they truly entered the Five Elements Continent, it was certain that within days, not a single human would remain.

He could not become the sinner of the entire Five Elements Continent. His kin, friends, and loved ones resided there; he absolutely would not allow the Five Elements Continent to be destroyed by these demons!

"Then I must kill you. Once you are dead, the next Xuanyuan will take at least several hundred years to mature, while I only need about a decade to grasp the power to break the barrier!"

"Once you are dead, the Ancestral Demon has hope of breaking free, and the doom of the Four Sacred Beasts is at hand!"

The serpent-headed demon’s sharp voice was saturated with killing intent as it stared coldly at Ji Changkong, then suddenly let out another piercing, harsh shriek.

As the cry echoed, the surrounding demons finally launched their assault, rushing toward Ji Changkong.

Nearly a hundred demons, possessing the formidable vitality of a Nine Palaces Celestial Master, unleashed torrents of demonic energy that blazed skyward from their gaping maws, blasting in pillars of strange, multicolored light toward Ji Changkong at the center.

Ji Changkong’s expression drastically changed. He hastily drew the Origin Poison back into the Heavenly Origin Pearl and, without a second thought, channeled it into the Illusory Void Realm, which he could manipulate at will.

Kacha! Kacha-kacha!

A tremendous roar echoed from the periphery of the Illusory Void Realm. The space where he had been standing collapsed, and the air exploded, sending an intensely violent shockwave surging outward, spreading in all directions across the continent.

This terrifying impact instantly pulverized the various plants that survived by drawing on the demonic energy. Except for this single giant peak, wherever the force passed, mountains crumbled, and the ocean waters were churned skyward. The earth cracked open, revealing abyssal chasms.

Inside the Illusory Void Realm, Ji Changkong forcefully altered its trajectory. When his soul merged completely with the Illusory Void Realm, the Realm suddenly vanished, only to reappear instantly in an area his soul had just sensed.

"Spatial Displacement!"

This was a newly discovered ability within the Illusory Void Realm, which he had evolved after reaching the Nine Palaces Celestial Master realm, a stage where he could manifest mountains, rivers, trees, suns, and stars. As long as his soul was integrated with the Realm, he could use the soul’s immense mental power to manifest the Illusory Void Realm instantaneously at any location his soul perceived—provided that location remained 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 turned deathly pale. Having expended an immense amount of energy to sustain the Illusory Void Realm’s shift, he collapsed weakly beside a monstrous, man-eating plant clutching a giant claw.

The plant had been preparing to strike Ji Changkong, but before it could act, its own branches and leaves began to smoke, vanishing into thin vapor within moments.

Origin Poison frowned, glancing at the plant that had just been poisoned. Wisps of light smoke leaked from its body, diffusing into the air.

Several suspicious plants nearby, which were about to close in, seemed to immediately detect the danger upon seeing Origin Poison emerge. They rapidly retreated, transforming back from living things into inert matter.

"Hmph, don't court death!" Origin Poison snorted, releasing its unique soul aura to warn any malevolent entity nearby.

Ji Changkong, his face as white as paper, sat down and immediately retrieved Black Jade Essence Crystals and Supreme Grade Yuan Stones from his storage pouch. Ignoring the surrounding chaos, he began using these stones, which provided him energy, to rapidly recover his strength.

The recent Spatial Displacement of the Illusory Void Realm within the collapsing space had been severely affected by the destructive forces, draining too much of Ji Changkong's mental energy. Furthermore, his physical body had sustained damage within that collapse.

The synchronized attack by nearly a hundred demons with Nine Palaces Celestial Master vitality had generated earth-shattering destructive power; it was natural for space to buckle and collapse. However, displacing the Illusory Void Realm within collapsing space required several times the normal mental energy, and since the source was Ji Changkong, he naturally bore the brunt of the consequence.

Origin Poison guarded him vigilantly. Whenever a demon approached, Origin Poison would emerge immediately and poison the nearby fiends to death before they could report anything.

Although the Demon King-level serpent-headed demon possessed incredibly robust vitality, demons were still demons. In terms of soul power application, they were far inferior to true Nine Palaces Celestial Masters, perhaps even worse than Celestial Masters in the Seven Stars Celestial realm.

Despite its immense life force and soul, it could not release them to sense Ji Changkong’s location. Origin Poison could vaguely detect the aura of that Demon King-level fiend, yet the serpent-headed demon had no idea where they were, merely dispatching all its minions to search for them.

This realization allowed Origin Poison to subtly relax. This continent was vast, perhaps three times larger than the Five Elements Continent. Although there were thousands of demons, once dispersed, they were not overwhelmingly fearsome. As long as the demons could not pinpoint their exact location, Origin Poison believed they could hold out temporarily on this continent.

After standing guard for two hours and killing a few low-level demons occasionally passing by—none of whom were sent by the serpent-headed demon—Origin Poison saw that Ji Changkong had finally recovered and urgently asked, "How is it?"

"Slightly injured. I’ve used up all the Black Jade Essence Crystals and Yuan Stones in my storage pouch. I had no choice; the energy expenditure just now was too high, and I needed to restore my injuries as quickly as possible."

Ji Changkong took a deep breath, closed his eyes to sense his surroundings, and then added, "We are a million li from that giant peak. It won't be easy for the nearby demons to rush over. In this time, we must devise a plan..."

The way home was known, but how to return was currently the greatest obstacle.

The serpent-headed demon remained unmoving beneath the spatial turbulence above the giant peak, not having moved an inch, only sending out other demons to pursue them.

This Demon King-level fiend was extremely cunning; luring it out with a diversion might prove difficult. Yet, its power was impossibly immense. Killing it was one option, but the difficulty was even greater.

"Kongkong, I think we might need to stay here for a while. You've used up all your Black Jade Essence Crystals and Yuan Stones. I think we should first find a way to recover our strength. Only then can we sustain a long fight." Origin Poison hesitated before suggesting again, "That... the demonic energy here..."

"Wait a moment, I'll try another method," Ji Changkong replied.

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

Ji Changkong looked up at the sky, his eyes shining with brilliant light, his expression peculiar. "Cultivation for a Nine Palaces Celestial Master absolutely requires borrowing the power of the stars. Only by gathering the stellar power of one star into an acupoint can one continuously progress."

"However, in the Solar Star Domain, because there were too many Nine Palaces Celestial Masters, the stars available for cultivation grew increasingly scarce. To compete for cultivation resources, Nine Palaces Celestial Masters even waged massacres in the Solar Star Domain. Even so, many people failed to fully refine all 700-plus acupoints in their bodies throughout their entire lives..."

Having said this, Ji Changkong took a deep breath, pointed toward the starry sky, and concluded, "But this entire star domain seems unexplored. All these stars overhead—I can slowly chart them myself. This truly is a blessing in disguise!"

[Note to dear reader: The current chapter has reached the final page of this book]