The living stars were the essence of the stars themselves! They evolved from the very core of the stars; the stars' essence was the heart of the stars. Without the essence of the stars, a living star was like a person without a heart, destined to perish naturally.
Living stars possessing the essence of the stars would exhibit volcanoes and icy waters, though perhaps unsuitable for human habitation. Yet, they retained all the characteristics of a life-bearing star. Once deprived of this essence, a living star became a dead star, and those volcanoes would turn dormant, never again to erupt with fiery magma.
On a dead star, dead volcanoes were an exceedingly common sight. Generally, dead volcanoes held nothing remarkable; the magma, having lost the star's essence, solidified into a substance as hard as iron, incapable of melting.
Across this expanse of dead stars, every single one bore various forms of dead volcanoes. The two individuals had traveled for so long, passing thousands of dead stars, yet had never once observed any activity within the dead volcanoes on any of them.
The moment he sensed the sound of soul force clashing emanating from the dead volcano on that one star, Ji Changkong felt a surge of excitement. He suspected this might be a breakthrough, a potential lead to find traces of his maternal grandfather and the Shang Clan members by tracking the combatants within that volcano. After Shang Bingjie followed his instructions and waited elsewhere, Ji Changkong settled his mind and boldly entered the dead volcano, following the soul's guidance deep toward its base.
Descending perhaps several thousand zhang, he began to see brilliant rays of light intertwining, and illusory figures locked in a life-and-death battle beneath the dead volcano.
The Nine Palaces Celestial Masters engaged in combat were divided into three factions, totaling fifteen individuals. Judging by their Soul Skills, the disparity in strength among the masters of these three camps was not significant.
After a cautious probe, he discerned that one of the engaged factions seemed to originate from the Heavenly Serpent Cult of the Mofan Continent. Having once battled a Heavenly Serpent Cult master within the Heart of the Sun, he confirmed this identity based on their Soul Skills.
The Heavenly Serpent Cult contributed six Nine Palaces Celestial Masters, who had allied with another force to confront the primary faction.
That opposing faction consisted of only four Nine Palaces Celestial Masters. Their soul-projected bodies shimmered with blue light; at a glance, their illusory soul forms appeared as if sculpted from azure seawater.
Yet, these four, facing the combined might of the six Heavenly Serpent Cult experts and the five masters from the other force, were not merely holding their own; they were actually gaining the upper hand.
The four Nine Palaces Celestial Masters, whose soul forms were a profound azure, stood in a quadrilateral formation. The faint blue light emanating from their bodies connected, weaving layers of breathtakingly wondrous defensive circles, above which rested an incredibly vast reservoir of soul power.
These four shared their soul power intimately; it was mutually accessible. The Soul Skills they practiced seemed capable of stacking, magnifying their destructive force immensely.
Thick, viscous, strange light orbs flew forth from the combined defensive circle of the four, hurtling toward the Heavenly Serpent Cult and the five others. These viscous orbs resembled some malevolent biological entity, imbued with a chilling aura, morphing into various shapes as they traveled.
The eleven Nine Palaces Celestial Masters from the Heavenly Serpent Cult and the other force exhibited looks of sheer dread upon seeing the sticky orbs approach. They hastily evaded, terrified of being ensnared by the clinging matter.
Precisely because of this, the eleven, despite their combined strength, could never truly concentrate their power under the movement of those orbs, often forced into ignominious retreats.
Suddenly, one of them failed to dodge in time and was grazed by a sticky light orb.
A bizarre scene immediately unfolded.
The illusory soul form could not shake off the tenacious grip of the light orb. It struggled desperately, revealing an expression of utter terror, and emitted powerful soul fluctuations: "Save me! Save me!"
This individual was a Nine Palaces Celestial Master from the Heavenly Serpent Cult. Though not at the peak of the Nine Palaces realm, the intensity of his soul suggested he had refined a significant number of his internal acupoints.
However, upon seeing his form touched by the viscous orb, neither the Heavenly Serpent Cult masters nor the members of the other force attempted a rescue. Instead, they all displayed expressions of panic and hurriedly retreated farther away from him.
Under Ji Changkong's gaze, the struggling soul form gradually took on an indigo hue. Its structure twisted violently, conveying extreme fear.
Slowly, the life fluctuations within that soul form began to alter, and even the very imprint of its life started to transform into a different state under the influence of the sticky light orb.
Ji Changkong started, suddenly realizing that the transformation of that person's soul under those peculiar light orbs bore a resemblance—though not identical—to those distorted by the influence of the ancient Nine Transformations Grand Array. It possessed a similar underlying principle: the very form of life seemed to be changing.
Under his soul's observation, the person's body turned completely azure. Then, his soul form disintegrated, fracturing into hundreds, even thousands, of blue light particles that adhered to the azure defensive circle formed by the four masters.
As each light particle attached itself to the azure perimeter, the defensive circle expanded slightly outward, accumulating ever more of that strange, inherent power.
"This is bad!" one of the Heavenly Serpent Cult masters transmitted a fierce soul wave to the strongest individual in the other force: "Zhou Hong, why haven't you brought out the 'Ecstasy of Paradise' from the Harmonious Union Valley? If we delay any longer, we'll all be finished!"
The Harmonious Union Valley master addressed as Zhou Hong shuddered three times in his soul projection: "Heavenly Serpent Cult Leader, you could also summon your 'Serpent Transformation into Dragon.' Once your serpent transforms, you can surely tear apart Lan Haiyun!"
The Heavenly Serpent Cult Leader cursed, "If our Heavenly Serpent transforms, it ceases to be a Heavenly Serpent, and we will lose half our power!"
"You worry, and I worry too," the expert named Zhou Hong responded without ceremony. "The 'Ecstasy of Paradise' can only be used once every hundred years. If we use it now, what will the Harmonious Union Valley use to counter the Heaven's Scourge and the Death Pact?"
The Heavenly Serpent Cult Leader and Zhou Hong, while both evading the encroaching sticky orbs, engaged in sharp haggling, neither willing to unleash their ultimate techniques.
Heavenly Serpent Cult, Harmonious Union Valley.
Ji Changkong’s heart stirred. Casting a glance over the members of the Heavenly Serpent Cult and the Harmonious Union Valley, he internally sneered. These masters were inherently weaker than their opponents, and unable to unite their efforts; no wonder they were so distressed.
From the soul exchanges between the Heavenly Serpent Cult Leader and Zhou Hong, he understood that the Heavenly Serpent Cult's "Serpent Transformation into Dragon" and the Harmonious Union Valley's "Ecstasy of Paradise" must both be profound Soul Skills, yet both carried significant drawbacks that greatly impacted the user once executed.
Clearly, the Heavenly Serpent Cult and the Harmonious Union Valley were each harboring ulterior motives, mistrusting their allied partners, thus hesitating to deploy their trump cards despite being in peril.
Perhaps they feared that once the enemy was eliminated, their own ally might seize the opportunity to strike them down?
Musing on this, Ji Changkong quietly shifted his position slightly higher up the dead volcano, covertly muffling his soul aura to prevent detection by the combatants below.
The Taixu Secret Record was incredibly effective at concealing aura. As long as his soul remained in its primordial state and he refrained from wielding powerful soul techniques, even those at a higher cultivation realm would struggle to perceive his presence within a certain range.
Ji Changkong naturally understood what constituted a safe distance for him, so he quietly began to withdraw further back.
"You damned bastards from the Sun Star Domain, daring to oppose the Undulating Cloud Celestial Vein of our Abyss Sea Star Domain! We will slaughter you all sooner or later!" one of the figures within the azure defensive circle stated coldly, radiating intense killing intent toward the Heavenly Serpent Cult and the Harmonious Union Valley members.
Undulating Cloud Celestial Vein?
Ji Changkong started in shock. He had heard of the Undulating Cloud Celestial Vein; it was an exceptionally formidable Celestial Master force in the Abyss Sea Star Domain, comparable to the Heaven's Scourge and Death Pact in the Sun Star Domain—one of the paramount Celestial Master powers there. It was rumored that Celestial Masters cultivated within the Undulating Cloud Celestial Vein were born with innate, prodigious talents and possessed great divine abilities from birth.
After embarking on the Celestial Master path, these individuals not only advanced rapidly but also managed to amplify their innate divine abilities. In the Abyss Sea Star Domain, Celestial Masters hailing from the Undulating Cloud Celestial Vein were revered as Celestial Vein Holders—divine beings favored by heaven.
Celestial Vein Holders, at the same cultivation level, were vastly superior to non-Vein Holders. A newly ascended Nine Palaces Celestial Vein Holder could handle two or even three non-Vein Holders who had just entered the Nine Palaces realm without much difficulty.
Four Celestial Vein Holders from the Abyss Sea Star Domain's Undulating Cloud Celestial Vein, currently holding their ground beneath this dead volcano against eleven experts from the Sun Star Domain’s Heavenly Serpent Cult and Harmonious Union Valley, and even maintaining a slight initiative, clearly demonstrated the terrifying power of these so-called Celestial Vein Holders.
"Changkong." Suddenly, Shang Bingyi's voice drifted from behind him. Shang Bingjie slowly descended from the top of the dead volcano, a look of worry etched on her face.
"Don't!" Ji Changkong blocked the mouth of the dead volcano, urgently transmitting a soul message to stop Shang Bingjie from approaching.
"I was worried about you," Shang Bingjie replied, freezing her movement where she stood.
"Who is there?" Zhou Hong of the Harmonious Union Valley, located directly beneath Ji Changkong, could not sense Ji Changkong's presence but registered Shang Bingjie's arrival. He immediately projected a fierce soul inquiry.
Damn it! Ji Changkong quickly signaled Shang Bingjie to retreat the way she came, while he himself ascended slightly, attempting to evade Zhou Hong's soul probing.
"There is someone else coveting the Evil Dragon Crystal," the Heavenly Serpent Cult Leader snorted coldly, immediately creating distance from the four Celestial Vein Holders and moving beside Zhou Hong. He looked up and demanded, "Who approaches?"
"Just an insignificant nobody. My apologies for disturbing everyone; we are leaving now." Ji Changkong responded with a soul thought and swiftly flew toward the volcano's opening. Should you wish to know what happens next, please log on to Jibi website. For more chapters, support the author and genuine reading! Yixun Book shaisiao yue shanshan, a different kind of physical feeling D.