The Gengzhong Block Starfield was also within his grasp, meaning he no longer needed to fret over the Star Essence required for cultivation in the Nine Palaces Heaven, let alone the cultivation needed for the Ten Palaces Heaven in Xuanyuan Valley.

What a stroke of sheer luck!

This newfound potential only solidified Ji Changkong's resolve to pursue the monster; he fixed his gaze on the creature, determined to cut it down.

This starfield, teeming with living stars, must belong to this monster. Only by slaying it could he possibly claim this domain; otherwise, no matter when he came to cultivate here, encountering this beast would be unavoidable. The creature might even strike him down mid-fusion of Star Essence.

He had to keep up the pursuit!

Accelerating to his absolute limit, Ji Changkong tore through space like a bolt of lightning. The six Soul Pillars, refined from his soul, hovered high above, poised to completely refine the monster.

Persistence paid off. After another stretch of relentless pursuit, Ji Changkong finally located the monster hovering over a massive, living star.

The creature was burning a deep crimson from the Sky Fire, its hideous face contorted in obvious agony. It seemed that even its scales, forged from condensed Star Essence, were not entirely invulnerable.

After being subjected to the flames for so long, the monster’s Star Power must have been nearly depleted.

The monster, realizing escape from the Sky Fire was futile and that continued flight would only lead to the same end, abruptly stopped on the surface of the living star. It thrashed in pain, spewing curses wildly.

"Damn you Heavenly Scholars! You are the very parasites of the Boundless Starfield! Wherever you pass, all living stars slowly turn into dead ones. The origin power of the stars within the Boundless Starfield is being squandered entirely by you damned Heavenly Scholars!"

"Your existence is the sorrow of the entire Starfield! You are the enemies of all high-ranking races! You only know how to destroy, never how to create. Sooner or later, the foundational stellar power of the Boundless Starfield will be exhausted by you, and that day will mark your extinction!"

Ji Changkong descended from the heavens, landing on the colossal living star. With a thought, the six Soul Pillars immediately enveloped the monster.

He did not immediately unleash the power of the Soul Quelling Melody to refine the creature. In fact, Ji Changkong even withdrew his Sky Fire Clone from the monster, merely allowing the ubiquitous Sky Fire to surround it without inflicting further harm for the moment.

The instant the Sky Fire Clone separated from the creature, the monster began to shimmer brightly with starlight.

Suddenly, threads of brilliant starlight detached themselves from the nearby living stars. These threads of light, drawn by the monster’s body, streamed into it.

Just as he suspected, this starfield was indeed the monster’s homeland!

The Star Essence adorning its body must have originated entirely from this region—the Star Essence within these neighboring living stars. This was why, once the Star Power in its body was largely consumed, it could rapidly gather the stellar energy from the living stars again through its scale-like Star Essence to restore its strength.

"You criticize us Heavenly Scholars, but are your Dark Star Clan any different?" Ji Changkong scoffed. "Though your methods of cultivation differ from ours, you still require Star Essence. We use it to temper our acupoints and integrate it with our souls. You turn it directly into the scales covering your flesh. Are the ultimate goals not the same?"

"That’s right, where we Heavenly Scholars pass, we do exhaust the Star Essence in living stars, turning them into dead ones. Is that not true for you as well? Since you need Star Essence to temper your bodies and form those scales, do you not turn living stars into dead ones wherever you go?"

Seeing the Sky Fire depart and the Soul Pillars refrain from launching a soul-destroying attack, the monster’s violent, frenzied emotion gradually stabilized.

Tiny specks of starlight drifted out from the nearby living stars, slowly settling onto the scales covering its body. The overheated scales began to regain their luster, and the monster’s strength slowly returned.

This situation was extremely advantageous for him!

Therefore, despite his inner reluctance, he had to engage with Ji Changkong’s conversation, steering it toward topics that interested the cultivator. Every second this situation persisted allowed him to recover more physical strength. He needed time!

"It is different! The laws governing the actions of our noble Dark Star Clan are fundamentally dissimilar to yours, Heavenly Scholars. We both require Star Essence for cultivation, that is true, but we would never willingly turn a living star into a dead one!"

"Look here—this is our cultivation ground. Do you see a single dead star? Every star here is alive! They can continue to absorb the energy of the Starfield, allowing them to continuously gather origin power to form new Star Essence!" At this, Ji Changkong paused slightly, momentarily stunned. He released his spiritual sense to probe cautiously and discovered the monster was not lying; the surrounding stars were indeed all living, with not a single dead star in sight.

After a brief hesitation, Ji Changkong snorted coldly. "Perhaps you simply don't require as much Star Essence for your cultivation as we do? There is only one Dark Star Clan member here, and you don't use the Star Essence to form scales in the same manner. That is why the surrounding Star Essence has been preserved. If there were more Dark Star Clan members like you here, I doubt this Star Essence would have survived!"

The monster suddenly revealed a flicker of disdain, sneering back, "Do you think every race is as short-sighted as your humans? Let me tell you! Even in the starfields where our Dark Star Clan gathers, the skies are filled with living stars! Our cultivators never commit such ruthless acts that destroy the path of our descendants!"

"As long as one-fifth of the Star Essence remains within a living star, the star can continuously absorb free-floating stellar energy from the Starfield. Given two hundred years, the Star Essence in one living star can double its reserves. If left untouched, after a few hundred years, all the collected Star Essence in a living star will fully regenerate!"

"However, if a living star becomes a dead star, with all its Star Essence taken, it requires millions of years for a dead star to generate new Star Essence."

"If a living star possesses Star Essence at its core, it will almost never perish. But dead stars are different; without that core, a dead star has no center. Within the Boundless Starfield, if it suffers an unfortunate collision with a stray meteoroid, it will be knocked from its orbit and shatter completely."

"You damned Heavenly Scholars only know endless taking. You drain the Star Essence from living stars until they become dead. Then those dead stars are struck by meteors and explode, creating more debris that flies out to collide with other dead stars, causing them to vanish entirely into the sea of the Starfield!"

"By doing this, you will eventually destroy every star in the entire Boundless Starfield! Your greed! Your limitless desire! It proves you are the very parasites of the Boundless Starfield!"

"You turn the starfields you inhabit into realms of silence, and then you seek out more living stars, turning more into dead ones. You are annihilating the Boundless Starfield. No wonder so many high-ranking races have united to extinguish you humans—you deserve death!!"

This Dark Star Clan monster was stalling for time to secure more stellar energy, but he was also genuinely incensed. Having finally found a target for his righteous fury, he unleashed a torrent of abuse upon Ji Changkong without restraint.

Ji Changkong fell silent. This was the first time he had ever learned how the high-ranking races of the Boundless Starfield viewed humanity.

Parasites?

It was a designation that brought him a profound sense of sorrow. He could never have imagined that humanity, which considered itself the pinnacle of creation, was viewed by these high-ranking races as the very parasites ruining the resources of the Boundless Starfield.

Yet, as he listened closely to the monster's fierce denunciation, he realized the creature was not speaking without foundation. What he said was likely the truth.

Because the Sun Starfield and the Meteor Sea Starfield stood as undeniable proof. Being situated in the Sun Starfield, he knew exactly how scarce resources had become there. Living stars, once ubiquitous, had one after another turned into dead stars over tens of thousands of years. One dead star after another had broken down into meteorites, which rained down upon the various continents, causing widespread devastation.

Before this moment, he had never seriously contemplated this issue.

Nor did he understand why the natural disasters outside the heavens had grown increasingly severe over the years. His maternal grandfather had told him that within the last century, many life-bearing stars suitable for human habitation in the Sun Starfield—planets like the Five Elements Continent—had vanished one by one.

They had been destroyed amid countless meteor showers.

Many claimed this was the punishment of natural law, unable to find the root cause. But hearing the Dark Star Clan monster’s words, Ji Changkong finally understood.

All of this could have been avoided if only humanity possessed a little more goodwill, a little less greed and desire, and more consideration for future generations.

If humanity ceased turning living stars into dead ones, the great starfields could avoid devastation and annihilation by natural law. In that case, the life-bearing stars could endure forever!

With this realization dawning in his heart, Ji Changkong suddenly felt his soul undergo a form of sublimation.

He had done nothing tangible; he had merely grasped an understanding of a certain cosmic rule and recognized the importance of nature. His soul seemed to have acquired a new strength.

Nature—this was, after all, one of the core doctrines preached by the Grand Void Scripture! And cultivation in the Nine Palaces Heaven realm required an even deeper comprehension of the profound laws that had existed in the heavens and earth for ten thousand years when tempering the body and soul!

Standing motionless, Ji Changkong’s soul rapidly shifted.

The chanting of the Soul Quelling Melody had long since ceased. His soul secretly aligned with the profound truths of heaven and earth, turning over in a marvelous manner. A sudden clarity was deeply imprinted upon his soul.

His mental power had not increased, nor had his soul been refined further, yet he knew his soul had fundamentally changed.

It seemed... he had gained something, yet it remained elusive to capture.