Above the Hǎilán Continent, amidst swirling mists, mountain peaks surged skyward, their forms partially veiled by the fog—a truly astonishing sight that left every observer utterly speechless.

Among these towering peaks, fleeting human figures could be glimpsed, and a single glance at any of them would inspire the conviction that they were celestial beings descended from the heavens, stirring a deep-seated sense of awe in the onlooker.

Yet, for those trapped within these heavenly-seeming mountains, the experience was anything but pleasant.

The Master of Tiānlù and the leader of the Death Alliance, along with their contingent of followers, had been trekking through the dense vapor for a considerable time. Whether it was the Master of Tiānlù, the Death Alliance Leader, or the experts from other Life Stars who had flocked to their cause, all possessed their own profound understanding of Grand Arrays.

On their respective Life Stars, these individuals might well have been Grand Array Masters, revered by thousands.

But within the Primordial Nine Transformations Absolute Array, they were reduced to array novices, completely bewildered. They attempted countless methods, desperately trying to crack the secrets of the Primordial Nine Transformations Absolute Array and escape its confines. Alas, every effort proved futile!

In that moment, a wave of utter bewilderment washed over the experts from the other Life Stars. Facing an array entirely unknown to them, a primal fear began to surface in their hearts.

This is inherent to human nature; people instinctively dread novelties they cannot comprehend, especially lethal arrays. To know an array poses a fatal threat yet lack any means to dismantle it inevitably breeds terror among the group.

Soon, the terror simmering in their minds began to amplify infinitely.

As expected, the first to suffer was the one who led them there: Cháng Méi, that fellow from the Separation Heaven Sect. Due to an old grievance with the Xuānyuán Valley, after being humiliated on Misty Island by them, he had journeyed alone to the Destiny Continent, relaying everything that transpired on Misty Island.

He desperately required the strength of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance. He intended to eradicate the Xuānyuán Valley and Gǔ Yá, slaughtering everyone who had mocked him. This was why he had brought the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader to Misty Island.

Cháng Méi, naturally, was the one most deserving of death.

In the vast, enveloping mist, Cháng Méi stood behind the specters of the Death Alliance. Then, as he set a foot into the vapor, his figure abruptly vanished from everyone’s sight.

Piercing, agonizing screams echoed from the distant clouds. Though the others could not see Cháng Méi, they knew the shrieks belonged to him.

Evidently, somewhere near where they stood, Cháng Méi was enduring some horrific assault—perhaps even suffering grievous damage to his very soul. Pity, no one could witness it!

The masters of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance, affected by the array, naturally could not perceive Cháng Méi. However, Gǔ Yá, Shāng Bīngjié, and the others, unaffected by the array, could clearly see what Cháng Méi was currently enduring.

Mountain peaks, as if imbued with life, suddenly erupted one after another, hurtling toward Cháng Méi.

Each peak weighed billions of jin and towered a thousand zhang high. Influenced by the core 'hearts' refined within the Primordial Nine Transformations Absolute Array, these mountains struck Cháng Méi like colossal hammers, again and again.

Although Cháng Méi possessed the cultivation of the peak of the Nine Palaces Heaven realm, he could not withstand such terrifying impacts. Once, twice, three times—his body gradually began to fail.

By the time five or six mountains battered him relentlessly, leaving him no room to evade and forcing him to absorb the blows head-on, he realized the sheer misery of his predicament, and a deep despair took root in his heart.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Five or six mountains attacked him from all angles—above, below, left, and right—in an ever-changing barrage. The mystical hearts embedded within the peaks supplied the mountains with immense energetic support. Under the influence of this power, the mountains grew heavier, imbued with endless, terrifying force.

Sometimes, dazzling, ornate attacks prove far less effective than this purest, most savage form of assault.

When five or six mountains converged in a relentless onslaught, Cháng Méi’s body finally gave way. Even a body at the peak of the Nine Palaces Heaven realm emitted the sound of shattering bone.

Cháng Méi’s body was drenched in blood, his face deathly pale. He tried to flee, only to find all avenues blocked.

He understood Jī Chángkōng’s ruthlessness; within this mystical array, releasing his soul to escape would simply hand Jī Chángkōng the perfect opportunity to utterly annihilate him.

Therefore, despite knowing there was no solution, Cháng Méi persisted, refusing to release his soul, hoping a turning point might appear at the very last moment.

The turning point finally arrived.

The mountains suspended above him, which had been pulverizing his bones, finally halted. A vast force suddenly materialized beneath him, pushing him directly toward one of the peaks.

Where birds sang and flowers bloomed atop the lush summit, stood the very people who were the objective of his current journey.

Gǔ Yá, the elderly matriarch of the Shāng family, the three bald monks from Vajra Mountain, and those experts from the other Life Stars were all gathered above this one peak, gazing down at him with cold detachment.

“Gǔ Yá,” Cháng Méi whispered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his expression fierce. “You are despicable! If you have any honor, fight me one-on-one! Relying on the power of an array to win—is this the style of you, Gǔ Yá?”

Gǔ Yá frowned, letting out a soft sigh. “Cháng Méi, you struck first in the Sun Star Domain. My retaliation was purely self-defense. On Misty Island, you were the aggressor from the start; you were constantly pushing me. Yet, by the look of you, it seems all the fault lies with me?”

Cháng Méi’s gaze was sharp; even now, he remained arrogant. “The Sun Domain is inherently survival of the fittest; Star Essence is finite. Whoever has the capability claims the Star Essence! If you, Gǔ Yá, were truly a figure of consequence, you would fight me openly. Then, even in death, I would have no regrets!”

A flicker of pity crossed Gǔ Yá’s face as he shook his head. “You are also rather pitiful. You thought Tiānlù and the Death Alliance could aid you, help you kill all of us. Alas, you never foresaw ending up in such a state.”

Saying this, Gǔ Yá glanced toward Jī Chángkōng, who sat alone on a separate peak. “Chángkōng, grant him a chance at reincarnation.”

Jī Chángkōng, seated alone on the opposite peak with his legs crossed, remained silent with his eyes closed, but he gave a slight nod and murmured, “Good.”

The five mountains that had battered Cháng Méi suddenly arranged themselves into a strange formation. Between these five peaks, a dark vortex abruptly materialized, within which faint wisps of soul energy shimmered.

Jī Chángkōng, his eyes still shut, casually pointed towards Cháng Méi from a distance. Cháng Méi’s body was suddenly propelled forward.

While airborne, Cháng Méi’s physical form seemed to be violently compressed by an invisible force, exploding with a deafening sound. Cháng Méi’s soul seized the chance to escape the wreckage, flying into the peculiar dark vortex.

The dark vortex also showed faint strands of soul energy flashing. As Cháng Méi’s soul entered it, its aura was slowly decomposed. The memories belonging to Cháng Méi were drawn out like threads, painstakingly extracted from the soul imprint.

After swirling within the dark vortex for quite some time, Cháng Méi’s soul grew extremely weak, all its memories wiped clean. The purified soul of Cháng Méi spun violently once more within the vortex before vanishing into a dazzling aperture of light.

With all his memories erased, even if Cháng Méi were given the opportunity to be reborn, he would never recall the hatred from this lifetime, ensuring he would never pose a threat again.

Gǔ Yá watched as Cháng Méi’s soul memories were separated thread by thread, and his soul imprint disappeared into the light hole. He knew that after this long journey through the soul plane, Cháng Méi had gone from one destination to another; the reborn Cháng Méi would still be Cháng Méi, but he would retain no recollection of these events and would never become their enemy.

The Shāng family matriarch, along with many other experts from the Life Stars, seemed somewhat perplexed. One individual could not restrain himself and inquired, “Isn’t he your enemy? Why, why would you let him go? As long as the soul exists, he is still Cháng Méi!”

Gǔ Yá remained silent for a moment, murmuring, “This Cháng Méi was my enemy, but he was also a knot in my heart. Back then, when Cháng Méi and the people of the Separation Heaven Sect drove me from my Star, I lost the chance to obtain a piece of Star Essence. During the subsequent period, I treated the Separation Heaven Sect as my supreme foe.”

“It was precisely the existence of such a powerful enemy that motivated me to advance continuously. Because of Cháng Méi and the Separation Heaven Sect, I was able to break through to the Realm of the Nine Characters Heaven Peak and reach my current cultivation. So, viewed from that perspective, Cháng Méi actually helped me.”

When Gǔ Yá explained this, some people still looked confused, but others nodded slightly, seemingly grasping some part of Gǔ Yá’s intent.

The Master of Tiānlù, the Death Alliance Leader, and their subordinate experts could finally no longer hear Cháng Méi’s agonizing cries; they knew he was finished. The experts who had allied themselves with the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader began to feel a chill creep into their hearts, harboring new thoughts.

The human heart is the most unpredictable of all!

Those not affiliated with the two major powers of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance exchanged covert glances, silently hatching other plans.

Slowly, these individuals gathered together, maintaining a respectful distance from the Tiānlù and Death Alliance factions. Then, suddenly, they all shot into the vast mist, moving at top speed to separate themselves from the forces of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance.

Soon, these escapees appeared on the opposite side of the vapor, separated by a considerable distance from the two groups. Having found no immediate danger, these fellows began shouting into the open air: “This has nothing to do with us! We were only forced here by the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader. We have no feud with you; we are also victims!”

Because of Cháng Méi’s sudden demise, these people sensed they might become the next target. Unable to find a way to break the Primordial Nine Transformations Absolute Array, they betrayed the Death Alliance and Tiānlù. Desperate to survive, they shamelessly began pleading for Jī Chángkōng and his group’s forgiveness.

They could not see Jī Chángkōng, nor Gǔ Yá or the Shāng Matriarch, but they knew someone was definitely watching and that the array’s master could hear them, prompting this desperate measure.

These were people who, in their pursuit of survival, would likely abandon even their own parents and siblings!

Gǔ Yá and the others watched with disgust, finding these turncoats even more nauseating than they had found Cháng Méi. They frowned, muttering curses like, “Shameless!”

As Dì Kè cursed them, he spared a glance for some others aligned with them, who also came from different Life Stars, thinking that these people might reveal the same character when push came to shove. The inherent flaws of humanity, it seemed, were not limited merely to greed.

As if sensing their thoughts, Jī Chángkōng, his eyes closed, formed a peculiar hand seal. The space around those who had fled from the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader distorted violently. Suddenly, they reappeared right next to the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader.

Simultaneously, ten peaks shifted, enclosing them all in the center, and a massive Glazed Astral Shield encased everyone inside.

Those who had been shouting about leaving the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader wore expressions of profound wretchedness when they realized the two leaders were now staring at them with cold hostility.

They started forcing nervous laughter, attempting to explain that it was merely a diversionary tactic, that everything was for their own good, and similar nonsense.

Once they realized they were trapped back with the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader, they understood Jī Chángkōng’s stance; begging was useless. They had no choice but to turn back.

“You truly are pathetic,” the Master of Tiānlù stated coolly, without warmth. “I won’t move against you, but once we leave this array, ensure we never cross paths again.”

Both the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader were true overlords; at this juncture, neither initiated a full-scale conflict.

Seeing that the trapped enemies were not immediately turning on each other, Jī Chángkōng, whose eyes remained closed and who was fully integrated with the eighty-one peaks, finally began deploying the killer move.

The natural forces of the Hǎilán Continent seemed to respond to some unseen command, suddenly surging in from all directions. Celestial thunder boomed, lightning snaked and writhed like dragons, gale-force winds howled inward, and the boiling fire from the earth’s core unexpectedly rushed skyward, all converging toward the peaks above.

Many observers below on the Hǎilán Continent had initially believed the spectacle in the clouds was a celestial paradise. But when rampant lightning, gale winds, and subterranean fire—all forms of disaster—flew upward and manifested among the mountains in the sky, they suddenly realized that paradise had transformed into hell!

The peaks became entangled with these various forces, imprisoning the figures within. The areas among those peaks turned into an apocalyptic battlefield.

During this process, spatial rifts morphed into colossal, sharp blades, slashing everywhere. Solar flares, usually only seen above the sun, slowly began to appear, drifting aimlessly. The terrifying warping force of the Endless Star Domain suddenly manifested.

The razor-sharp edges of the spatial rifts descended, slicing through the bodies of two Nine Palaces Heaven masters as cleanly as tofu, leaving no blood behind. Then, the master split in half and instantly vanished.

The halves of the body, severed by the spatial blades, fell into two different spaces, while their souls had their life imprints annihilated in an instant.

The solar flares, mere specks, slowly expanded, drifting randomly.

A Nine Palaces Heaven master touched by one of these tiny flares screamed wretchedly as the flare exploded with energy, akin to ten volcanic eruptions, instantly obliterating the master. Body and soul were destroyed, leaving no chance for rebirth.

In comparison, the warping power of the Endless Star Domain seemed utterly bizarre.

The source of this warping force was unknown. It only appeared in some perilous regions of the Endless Star Domain. When this warping power contacted a cultivator’s flesh, it twisted the master’s bones, flesh, and soul together.

A well-cultivated master struck by this warping force might instantly transform into a creature unrecognizable as human or ghost—perhaps becoming a low-level demon or even a strange, monstrous flower bud.

The warping force twisted both a person’s soul and body; it seemed capable of altering a creature’s very life form, instantly turning one being into another creature or even a plant.

This power was profoundly eerie; no one knew how it originated, only that it could alter a person’s life form.

Creatures whose life forms were changed might become beings never before seen in the Endless Star Domain, their memories erased, becoming entirely new life forms!

However, the new life forms created by the warping force invariably died quickly, as if fundamentally incompatible with this world.

A specter from the Death Alliance was affected by this warping power. The specter, whose life form was already somewhat grotesque, transformed under the influence of the warping power into a corporeal demon creature, complete with a vicious maw, fangs, and jet-black scales. It immediately began tearing at those nearby.

A Nine Palaces Heaven master from another Life Star, caught completely unaware, was seized by this demon, torn apart, and devoured bit by bit.

In short time, those trapped within the Glazed Astral Shield—affected by spatial blades, solar flares, and the warping force—were killed one after another. The new life forms, the demons created by the transformation, though fated not to live long, possessed astonishing strength, devouring three Nine Palaces Heaven masters in mere minutes.

Even the Master of Tiānlù and the Death Alliance Leader were helpless against these life forms whose very nature had been altered, forced to flee frantically. In a brief span, about half of the experts from the Death Alliance, Tiānlù, and the other Life Stars were wiped out. Those who desperately tried to escape could not break through the barrier of the outer shield, struggling uselessly within.

And this was merely one iteration of the Primordial Nine Transformations Absolute Array!

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