Lu Bingjian let him pull her along, following his lead through the narrow passage toward the Five Elements Continent.

After the two stopped at the Poison Dragon Pool, Shang Bingjie looked utterly perplexed, gazing at him and asking, "What is it? Why drag me over here in such a hurry? Is something wrong?"

Shang Bingjie felt invigorated. Having cultivated on this unfamiliar continent for so long, over two hundred of her acupoints were now storing Essence of the Stars. Although she hadn't fully refined any of it yet, it had already profoundly altered her Jing, Qi, and Shen. "Yes, there is something," Ji Changkong frowned, rapidly explaining the situation. "Your grandmother and the experts from your clan must have gone to that place. They must have encountered a formidable enemy, otherwise, they wouldn't have been gone from Xuanyuan Valley for so long."

Hearing that several people had died in the valley made Shang Bingjie tense immediately. Of the three who died, one was indeed from the Shang family, though thankfully, that person’s surname wasn't Shang—merely a Nine Palaces Heavenly Scholar from Hailan Continent who had pledged allegiance to the Shang family.

"My grandmother desperately wanted to go to that place. After arriving at your Xuanyuan Valley and seeing so many experts gathered, it’s understandable she would develop that notion. I just... I just didn't expect them to act so quickly." Shang Bingjie sighed softly. "You don't know how much pull a Living Star Land has for those who cannot cultivate with the Essence of the Stars."

Shang Bingjie knew that some Nine Palaces Heavenly Scholars in the Shang family hadn't found any Essence of the Stars to cultivate for decades. Once those people learned of a place containing that essence, they would certainly stop at nothing to obtain it; life and death would surely become secondary concerns.

When she first entered the Nine Palaces Heavenly Realm, she too had despaired due to the lack of Essence of the Stars for cultivation, so she deeply understood the plight of those people.

"I understand; I know their difficulties," Ji Changkong nodded. "That's why I sent Dick back to the Dark Star Clan to communicate with them. As soon as we sort out the situation in the Solar Star Domain, the Dark Star Clan can modify the dead stars within it. That way, in a few hundred years, our descendants will never have to suffer this fate."

"Nonsense! Who said we have descendants together!" Shang Bingjie blushed, clearly having misunderstood his meaning.

"Uh..." Ji Changkong froze, then hastily explained, "That's not what I meant. I meant perhaps my descendants, or maybe just your descendants—no, no, in short, later generations!"

"Descendants with whom?" Shang Bingjie fixed him with a serious stare.

"Ah, not you! Don't overthink it, that's not what I meant." Ji Changkong spread his hands, looking entirely innocent.

"You mean descendants with that Bai Qingya, right? I haven't met her, but I know your relationship with her must be deep, hmph!" Shang Bingjie snorted coldly, clearly displeased.

"Look, let's stick to serious matters, serious matters!" Ji Changkong felt a massive headache coming on and steered the conversation away. "Your grandmother insisted on taking such a risk to go there, perhaps it was for you, too. She doesn't know the situation over here in Xuanyuan Valley and is single-mindedly trying to find Essence of the Stars for you, which is why she took the gamble."

Shang Bingjie's expression immediately dimmed, and she nodded gently. "I know."

"That Living Star Land your clan discovered, you should know the general location, right? Let's go there, the two of us. If we meet your grandmother, perhaps it would be better if you did the persuading," Ji Changkong hesitated slightly. "After Dick returns, I'll consider whether I can tell them about the situation here. Of course, I will only allow those I trust to enter the lower levels."

"The trustworthy people you speak of, you mean Lan Fen and the others, right?" Shang Bingjie asked suspiciously.

"Yes, Lan Fen is certainly trustworthy. At the very least, when disaster struck, Lan Fen didn't hesitate for long and stood directly on our side," Ji Changkong affirmed.

"Lan Fen is very beautiful, isn't she? Even though she’s a bit older, she’s still stunningly attractive, right?" Shang Bingjie tilted her head back and asked lightly.

Grinning widely, Ji Changkong nodded. "Yes, exceptionally beautiful, like a perfectly ripe peach—noble, and so alluring, hehe."

"Bastard!" Shang Bingjie pinched him hard, hating him playfully. "Are you deliberately trying to anger me?"

"Yes."

"I knew it!" Shang Bingjie squeezed harder, then let out a soft chuckle, murmuring, "So, even simple bickering can be this interesting."

Ji Changkong knew she wasn't truly angry. She was experiencing something she needed to experience, expressing her feelings in her own way—different from ordinary people, perhaps, but never irritating.

"Alright, enough messing around. Let's go," Ji Changkong reached out tentatively to pull her close.

A faint smile played on Shang Bingjie's lips, her long lashes fluttering. She allowed Ji Changkong to draw her delicate frame toward him. Her body was stiff for a moment, then she relaxed, leaning her head against him and humming, "Bastard!"

Smiling smugly, Ji Changkong took a deep breath and praised, "So fragrant!"

"Hurry up!" Shang Bingjie kept her head down and deliberately stomped his foot. She said resentfully, "My grandmother and your maternal grandfather might be in danger right now, and you still have the leisure... the leisure to act naughty!" The words were followed by some unrelated text remnants from the source file.

"Right, you’re right. We can talk about it when we get back," Ji Changkong nodded, holding Shang Bingjie as they settled cross-legged amidst the dense foliage of an ancient tree near the Poison Dragon Pool. More unrelated text remnants followed.

His divine soul floated out of his body, and suddenly, Ji Changkong felt a profoundly peculiar sensation.

His soul drifted above the Poison Dragon Pool, yet he had the distinct feeling of still being inside his physical form. As this thought flashed through his mind, he saw the version of himself sitting cross-legged on the ancient tree lift its head and look toward the direction of his wandering soul.

Bizarre!

The Ji Changkong below looked up toward where his soul hovered.

An even stranger feeling surfaced in his heart. It was as if he were observing himself from below, and with a shift in thought, he was in the heavens, his soul gazing down at the body beneath him.

The two figures seemed to observe each other, yet they appeared to share a single soul—a sensation akin to looking in a mirror.

No!

With a jolt, he calmed his spirit and attempted to sense things with his mind. He suddenly realized that within the body below, there truly was a soul present.

The soul residing within the Vast Star Sea Map was still inside the physical body, hidden in the brain. However, the second soul within that map had taken the initiative, seizing primary control of the body.

The main soul had flown out, yet the second soul remained within the body, capable of controlling every movement, even gently holding the nearby Shang Bingjie.

"Ah?" Shang Bingjie’s soul turned back and glanced downward. Her soul pulsed with terror, as if she had seen a ghost.

She was horrified to discover that the physical body of Ji Changkong, which should have been soulless, was lightly caressing the arm of her own disembodied soul.

She was certain this was no illusion!

But if it wasn't an illusion, what was happening? Ji Changkong’s soul was clearly beside her; how could the body make such a movement while the soul was absent?

Shang Bingjie exclaimed in terror, "Changkong, below, below—the you below, it moved!! It actually moved!!"

Fearing Ji Changkong wouldn't believe her, Shang Bingjie continued to explain, "Just now, like this, he grabbed my physical body’s arm. He even took liberties with me! Heavens! What is going on?"

"Is this how it looks?" The Ji Changkong above the ancient tree grinned, playfully tugged Shang Bingjie's fair cheek, and looked up at the ethereal Shang Bingjie's soul, asking cheerfully.

"Ah?" Shang Bingjie's soul fluctuations spiked sharply, clearly shaken. She instantly prepared to return to her body to understand the situation.

The main soul that Ji Changkong had projected suddenly grabbed her phantom arm and laughed. "Just kidding with you. The one below is also me. I have two souls; it’s... well, it's hard to explain. I honestly don't fully understand how it happened myself."

"Two souls?" Shang Bingjie blinked, stunned for a moment, then looked at him in astonishment. "How do you know the method to cultivate a Second Divine Soul? This technique is only known by the great demon overlords in the Dead Star Domain; we’ve never heard of anyone in the Solar Star Domain cultivating a second soul."

"You know that a Second Soul can be cultivated?" Ji Changkong was astonished.

"Yes, I've known since I was little," Shang Bingjie nodded, then chuckled dismissively. "It makes sense now. I thought I was seeing a ghost when the you below started moving around; turns out this is the explanation."

Seemingly remembering something suddenly, Shang Bingjie snorted and glared fiercely at him, warning him, "You scoundrel, you are not allowed to take advantage of me when my soul is out! Hmph, or I’ll tell your maternal grandfather! I'll say you bullied me!" Ji Changkong smiled awkwardly and readily agreed, thinking to himself that this girl actually knew how to tattle.

"You don't resist the Second Soul?" After a moment's hesitation, Ji Changkong asked frankly, "Do you... do you feel it’s strange? Do you feel the me below is a separate person?"

"Not at all."

Shang Bingjie shook her head, answering plainly. "Based on what I know about the Second Soul, it’s just a powerful consciousness separated from the primary soul (Qie Hun). This consciousness is still controlled by the main soul; everything it does is an expression of the primary soul’s will. In other words, the Second Soul is merely a part of the main soul—just a part powerful enough to command the body and execute various soul techniques."

"If my main soul were to perish, what do you think, would the Second Soul also scatter into nothingness?" Ji Changkong suddenly considered this question and asked seriously.

"No. If your main soul scatters, the Second Soul will become the new primary soul. In other words, you now have two lives. The Second Soul is an extremely profound soul mystery in the Dead Star Domain. Even among the powerful experts there, only a very small fraction possess one. You truly are incredibly lucky," Shang Bingjie said with a bright smile.

"Haha, excellent! I am indeed blessed with great fortune!"

The chapter concludes with unrelated promotional text from the source document.

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