Time, like a shuttle, flew swiftly; in the blink of an eye, twenty years had rushed past. The Poison Dragon Tarn remained as it always was—serene, its banks overgrown with lush weeds where ferocious beasts lay curled, basking contentedly in the sun.

Twenty years might seem a long stretch for mortals, but for masters who had ascended to the level of a Tianshi (Heavenly Master), it was but a brief passage in a lifetime.

For a Tianshi, each breakthrough in cultivation realm granted a century of added lifespan. A master at the Yi Yuan Tian Zhi Jing (First Harmony Heaven Realm) enjoyed a hundred years; those in the Liang Yi Tian Zhi Jing (Second Harmony Heaven Realm) had two hundred. A cultivator reaching the Jiu Gong Tian Zhi Jing (Ninth Palace Heaven Realm), provided they avoided qi deviation or having their life mark extinguished by another, could potentially survive for nine hundred years. For such a monstrous being with a nine-century span ahead, a mere twenty years was truly but a fleeting instant.

On this particular day, dazzling beams of dark light suddenly erupted from the depths of the Poison Dragon Tarn, shooting straight toward the heavens, where they converged with the thick cloud cover above.

A dragon’s roar split the air, and the colossal Tian Yuan Yi Long (Celestial Turtle-Winged Dragon) burst forth from the Tarn. Hovering above it stood Ji Changkong, his expression impassive, alongside Li Hentian.

Leaping down from the Tian Yuan Yi Long, their figures blurred, and the two men materialized instantly at the edge of the Tarn. “Finally, we’ve reached this level. Twenty years—it took a full twenty years,” Ji Changkong murmured to himself.

Li Hentian’s expression mirrored a complex mix. “Indeed. We owe much to the Dark Star race. Without them, finding enough Essence of Stars to sustain this breakthrough would have been impossible. And, of course, the Dragon Crystal of the Wicked Dragon helped immensely. I suspect that in another decade or so, Gui Rong and Xiao Poshuan will also reach the peak of the Ninth Palace Heaven Realm.”

Ji Changkong smiled faintly, nodding. “That’s right. Without the assistance of the Dark Star race, reaching this realm would have been far more difficult.”

In those twenty years, he and Li Hentian had been the first to completely refine every Xuedao (Acupoint) within their bodies, stepping together into the Ninth Palace Heaven Realm.

In truth, the Dark Star race had been invaluable during these years. Through Dick’s introduction, Ji Changkong had connected with numerous other Dark Star masters. Like Dick, these beings held deep reservations toward humanity, yet once they accepted someone, their loyalty was absolute, showing not a shred of selfishness.

With the Dark Star people’s aid, they navigated the unfamiliar continent and entered secured pockets of living stars guarded by Dark Star experts. There, they gathered ample Essence of Stars, infusing every single Xuedao within their bodies until each one held this celestial energy. This foundation was why they could advance so quickly, cultivating without distraction.

As early as fifteen years ago, with Ji Changkong’s backing, a group of over a dozen Dark Star members, led by Dick, had already begun operations within the Solar Star Domain.

He had specifically located a vast expanse of dead stars and ceded this territory to the Dark Star race, allowing them to begin injecting the Essence of Stars into these barren worlds.

After fifteen years of painstaking labor, several hundred dead stars had acquired the Essence of Stars and were slowly beginning to absorb the power inherent in the vast star fields.

If this trend continued, within a century, those hundreds of dead stars enriched with celestial essence would transform into living worlds. They would no longer require continuous input from the Dark Star race and could independently reject the exotic elements of the star field, becoming truly self-sustaining planets.

Now, Ji Changkong’s reputation in the Solar Star Domain resonated so loudly that it far surpassed that of Master Tiancheng or the Alliance Lord of the Death Pact. He was undeniably the supreme powerhouse of the Solar Star Domain.

Because he had given prior notice, none of the Ninth Palace Heaven masters from the Solar Star Domain dared to cause trouble in the dead star territory ceded to the Dark Star race, allowing them to work unhindered. Under his arbitration, the relationship between the two species remained largely harmonious, with no mutual aggression.

The Xuanyuan Valley naturally ascended to become the paramount power in the Solar Star Domain, its authority eclipsing that of the once-mighty Tianlu. Crucially, he had established a new order but never violated its precepts himself.

Unlike wicked forces such as Tianlu, the Death Alliance, or the Demon Cave, whose sole aim was self-enrichment, his actions served the collective interests of every Tianshi in the Solar Star Domain.

Over these two decades, violent conflicts among the major life-bearing stars of the Solar Star Domain had become rare. Furthermore, with hundreds of dead stars evolving into Mars-like bodies, natural disasters on the established life-bearing planets had also begun to diminish.

Everyone could plainly see that the Solar Star Domain was transforming because of the Dark Star race’s salvage operations on the dead worlds.

This acceptance solidified when the Dark Star people publicly promised that within two centuries, they would open access to some of the initial dead star sites, providing the Essence of Stars to the Ninth Palace Heaven masters. At this point, all opposition from the Solar Star Domain masters evaporated.

Not only that, but the Ninth Palace Heaven masters of the Solar Star Domain began proactively safeguarding the security of that specific region.

If any oblivious intruder dared trespass into the area where the Dark Star people operated, a helpful Ninth Palace Heaven master would immediately appear to warn them away, often before the Xuanyuan Valley needed to intervene. The situation was overwhelmingly positive.

The invasion by the Zakk race, which Ji Changkong had worried about, had not materialized as anticipated. Over these twenty years, utilizing the convenience of the Vast Star Map, he had covertly infiltrated that dead star multiple times, always finding that 'Dark Dust' had deeply hidden itself within the core. The Zakk race had not arrived, perhaps because they still hadn't discovered a method to counter the Ghost Demon King.

On the side of the Meteor Sea Star Domain, things had become quite desperate over the last two decades. The supply of the Essence of Stars in their domain had been cut off. Due to their antagonism toward Ji Changkong and their inability to secure aid from the Dark Star race, their experts were forced to linger around the border where the Solar Star Domain met the Meteor Sea Star Domain, hoping to find trace amounts of the scarce essence for cultivation.

However, the essence in that border region was inherently thin, and after so many years of extraction, it had become rarer than the Divine Weapons of the Dead Star Region.

The Merchants Guild, which had once allied with Feihua to seize a living star site, found that even the ten-percent share of its Essence of Stars had vanished.

Because the distance between the Meteor Sea Star Domain and the Solar Star Domain was so vast, coupled with the current spatial cohesion within the Solar Star Domain, the masters from the Meteor Sea Star Domain who ventured over several times failed to find any Essence of Stars and were instead chased back in disarray by the Solar Domain experts.

Gradually, the masters of the Meteor Sea Star Domain abandoned the idea of treasure hunting in the Solar Star Domain, redirecting their search for the Essence of Stars toward the broader, more distant star fields.

This endeavor proved extremely arduous. Reportedly, within just twenty short years, the masters of the Meteor Sea Star Domain suffered devastating losses in those remote regions. While they did eventually locate some Essence of Stars, they also seemed to have attracted the attention of higher-level races from other star fields.

Driven by the intense allure of the Essence of Stars, some masters from the Meteor Sea Star Domain continued their exploration into the boundless cosmos until they encountered a powerful, high-ranking species—the Hidden Demon race—who routed them so severely they were forced to halt their wide-ranging search.

During this period, a powerhouse from the Meteor Sea Star Domain sought out experts in the Solar Star Domain at their shared border, asking them to relay a message to Ji Changkong, proposing negotiations for cooperation.

However, following the troublesome incident involving the five elders of the Sky-Flipping Heavenly Vein, Ji Changkong harbored deep mistrust toward those from the Meteor Sea Star Domain. Moreover, matters in the Solar Star Domain were now running smoothly, and the Dark Star race was operating perfectly within the domain. Ji Changkong directly refused any discussion with them.

It was not that he was heartless; rather, the Meteor Sea Star Domain was simply too chaotic. If the Dark Star people ventured carelessly into that territory, the Ninth Palace Heaven masters there, maddened by the hunger for the Essence of Stars, might resort to the suicidal act of slaughtering the goose that laid the golden eggs. It was better to avoid trouble than invite it, so Ji Changkong ultimately declined.

“Let’s go. It’s been a long time since we visited Xuanyuan Valley,” Li Hentian suggested, observing the pensive Ji Changkong.

Nodding, Ji Changkong addressed the Tian Yuan Yi Long. “Guard this place well; we will be gone for a while.” The Tian Yuan Yi Long gave a soft affirmation and slowly submerged back into the Poison Dragon Tarn.

Over twenty years, the Tian Yuan Yi Long had continuously evolved. With Dick’s help, it had genuinely found a method to gather the Essence of Stars using its physical body. In these two decades, its massive frame had accumulated hundreds of pieces of the essence, which integrated into its scales, continuously bolstering its power.

The current Tian Yuan Yi Long was now capable, much like many Dark Star masters, of utilizing the scale armor imbued with the Essence of Stars for both defense and offense. Furthermore, like the Dark Star race, the beast could swim directly through the sea of stars using only its physical form—a feat even Ji Changkong could not accomplish. Watching the Tian Yuan Yi Long disappear into the Tarn, Ji Changkong sighed inwardly.

The Origin Poison had not yet emerged from the Celestial Origin Pearl; it had been twenty years, and it seemed the Origin Poison had not entirely erased the consciousness of the Ghost Demon King. This spoke volumes of how terrifying that entity was. Nevertheless, Ji Changkong explored the Celestial Origin Pearl with his divine sense periodically.

He observed that although the rate at which the Origin Poison refined the Ghost Demon King’s consciousness was slow, it was definitively progressing. Over twenty years, a third of the Ghost Demon King’s divine consciousness had vanished.

If this pace held, perhaps in another forty years, the Origin Poison would completely annihilate the King’s consciousness. Only then would he know what the Origin Poison would transform into, and only at that moment could he decide how to handle the new entity.

Lost in these thoughts, he and Li Hentian suddenly materialized above the Xuanyuan Valley. The moment their feet touched solid ground, an expression of profound surprise flashed across Ji Changkong’s face. “Ji Changkong, we need to discuss something with you. Please descend for a talk ten thousand zhang below ground,” the soul projection of the Azure Dragon, a Sacred Beast, suddenly surged into his mind.

Ji Changkong paused, then said to Li Hentian, “Uncle Li, I need to go down; the Four Sacred Beasts wish to speak with me.” “En,” Li Hentian replied.

Without further words, Ji Changkong slowly sank, descending toward the depth of ten thousand zhang underground.