The "Guangchen," carrying the Zaks clan leader, was violently wrenched from the chaotic, unordered expanse by the power at the core of Ji Haotian's Twelve Heavenly Demon Banners, plunging downward toward the Ancient Nine Transformations Grand Array on the Tuoman Continent.

The Zaks clan leader within the "Guangchen" was thrown into disarray, desperately unleashing bursts of intense light from the vessel, only for each beam to be nullified by the force emanating from a single banner on Ji Haotian.

Amidst the leader’s shouts of panic, the "Guangchen" continued its uncontrolled descent, reappearing above the Tuoman Continent in a matter of moments.

Ji Changkong's Demon Body was also exerting itself, trying to drag the other "Guangchen" down. However, his Demon Body lacked the terrifying power that Ji Haotian possessed. Even unleashing his full strength, he could barely budge the vessel.

That "Guangchen" remained immobile.

Both "Guangchen" vessels held Zaks clansmen. If they managed to escape this encounter and accurately report the situation back to their people, the Zaks clan would be far better prepared for their next attempt.

The best course of action was to annihilate every single Zaks person who had come here, ensuring their kin remained completely in the dark about what had transpired.

If that happened, perhaps the Zaks leadership would assume these two individuals had gone missing elsewhere. Even if the situation was eventually linked back to the Solar Star Domain, without fully understanding the depth of the Solar Star Domain’s power, they wouldn't dare act rashly.

Given enough time, the people of Xuanyuan Valley might actually manage to break through to the Ten Directions Heaven Realm!

Once Xuanyuan Valley possessed experts in the Ten Directions Heaven Realm, they would no longer need to fear the Zaks clan so much, even if they arrived.

It was precisely because he held this thought that he absolutely could not allow any Zaks survivors to escape this time.

Therefore, seeing that the Demon Body could not wrench the "Guangchen" down, Ji Changkong's true body acted without hesitation, launching the Tianyuan Pearl hidden deep within him.

With the Tianyuan Pearl deployed, it soared past the Ancient Nine Transformations Grand Array and sped directly toward the Demon Body. This exotic treasure, rumored to originate from the Dead Star Domain, showed no fear of the chaotic, disorderly energies in the expanse, rapidly arriving before the Demon Body.

The Demon Body reached out and seized the Tianyuan Pearl, instantly absorbing it. The moment the pearl made contact, the immense power contained within it flooded into the Demon Body.

Because the Demon Body had been refined using specialized methods, its capacity to hold power was astonishing. Under the impact of the Tianyuan Pearl’s vast energy, the Demon Body almost instantaneously gained an incredibly significant reserve of new power!

Boom, boom, boom!

The Demon Body mobilized once more, and aided by the surging energy from the Tianyuan Pearl, the power overflowing from the Demon Body's crystalline bones permeated the entirety of the "Guangchen."

The "Guangchen" could no longer move within the vast star field. Under the immense force channeled by the Demon Body, this vessel, too, could not escape. It was dragged from the sea of stars toward the chaotic, unordered region of the Tuoman Continent.

Amidst the shrieks of terror from the Zaks expert inside the "Guangchen," this vessel also passed through the chaotic, unordered region, ultimately falling rapidly toward the Ancient Nine Transformations Grand Array, just like the other "Guangchen."

During this process, both Ji Changkong and Ji Haotian were exceedingly cautious. As they pulled on the "Guangchen," their actions were meticulously guarded.

They feared another blast of the "Ice Magnetic Ripples" from within the two vessels. Having experienced it once, both men were now deeply wary of the "Ice Magnetic Ripples," whose destructive and bizarre power—capable of freezing and even shattering spatial warp tunnels—had far exceeded their previous estimations.

However, their caution seemed to be an overreaction. Under their fierce pulling, although the two Zaks clansmen panicked and ceaselessly unleashed beams of intense light from the "Guangchen," they failed to conjure the terrifying "Ice Magnetic Ripples."

It appeared that the "Ice Magnetic Ripples" were an extremely rare artifact, deployable only once even by these Zaks experts.

Soon, to the curses ringing out from the two Zaks experts, both "Guangchen" vessels finally descended into the Ancient Nine Transformations Grand Array.

Ji Haotian and his Demon Body began attacking the two vessels in tandem. However, the "Guangchen" proved incredibly durable; under the relentless bombardment from the Demon Body and Ji Haotian, the vessels only sustained a single indentation each, failing to crack open a gaping hole.

Just as Ji Haotian prepared to summon the power of the Twelve Heavenly Demon Banners for a more devastating assault to breach the "Guangchen," Ji Changkong suddenly spoke, halting him. "Let me handle this. These two 'Guangchen' vessels still have use; destroying them outright would be too wasteful."

Hearing this, Ji Haotian ceased his attack, looking at him with curiosity. "You have a method?"

"Indeed. It's not strictly necessary to destroy the 'Guangchen' itself. We just need to extinguish the souls of those two Zaks fiends inside, and the problem is solved," Ji Changkong smiled. The Demon Body remained near the entrance of one "Guangchen," while his true body was seated cross-legged on a floating mountain peak.

With a thought, several peaks surrounding the two "Guangchen" began to rotate one after another. Under the influence of a bizarre power, these mountains started emitting a strange soul fluctuation.

This soul fluctuation seemed capable of influencing the soul's magnetic field, causing it to rapidly diminish until it descended into complete chaos.

Ji Haotian, standing near one of the "Guangchen," gasped, immediately perceiving the strangeness of these soul magnetic fields. Even his own soul felt as if it were trying to break free from his control, wanting to dissipate.

Simultaneously, on the skull-head of Ji Changkong’s Demon Body, the Soul-Guiding Crown suddenly manifested.

As the Soul-Guiding Crown appeared, the skull-shaped Demon Body’s eyes, filled with demonic intent, suddenly gained a mesmerizing power, seemingly linking with some arcane formation within the Ancient Nine Transformations Grand Array.

Ji Changkong’s Demon Body fixed its strange gaze on one "Guangchen," unwavering.

Buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz!

A peculiar sound resonated from all directions around the "Guangchen," multiplying the strange energy that was disrupting the soul magnetic fields.

Crack! The entrance and exit of the "Guangchen" opened by themselves. The Zaks expert hidden inside, his dark-golden eyes glazed over with vacancy, began to step out, one slow pace after another.

"Kolo! What are you doing?"

The Zaks leader in the other "Guangchen" roared when he saw his subordinate exhibiting such an abnormal state.

However, the Zaks expert named Kolo seemed unable to hear him. His dark-golden eyes were fixed solely on Ji Changkong’s Demon Body, which wore the Soul-Guiding Crown, and he walked steadily towards it.

"Come out!" the Demon Body of Ji Changkong commanded sternly.

A shadowy, gloomy soul drifted out from the mind of the Zaks expert named Kolo, instantly flying before Ji Changkong’s Demon Body.

A crystalline, white bone hand reached out, snatching the gloomy soul and swallowing it whole.

The skull-head within the Soul-Guiding Crown emanated wisps of strange smoke, while the life-magnetic field of the Zaks expert’s soul instantly weakened until it was extinguished.

"Impossible!" the Zaks leader shrieked in terror from within the "Guangchen." "How could this be? Our Zaks clan excels in soul power! You actually... you actually managed to seize his soul and extract his memories! How is this possible?!"

The Zaks leader could scarcely believe it.

Among the high-level races of the Endless Star Domain, the Zaks were renowned for their mastery of artifacts and souls, particularly the latter, where their reputation was well-established. Their physical bodies lacked strength, and they did not pursue refinement in that area, instead focusing all their energy on soul exploration.

In the Zaks' view, if one's physical body was weak, it could be compensated for with artifacts; the existence of marvelous armor could shield their limbs from harm.

However, the cultivation of soul power could not be remedied by artifacts; only arduous soul practice could grant them greater power and wisdom, which in turn benefited their accomplishments in artifact creation.

Throughout the Vast Star Domain, the Zaks utilized their profound soul attainments to directly control all aspects of lower-tier beings!

They had traversed the Endless Star Domain for such a long time without ever having their souls seized by anyone. For a Zaks expert’s soul to be forcibly extracted from his body this time was utterly inconceivable.

"Heh heh, your turn now!" Ji Changkong’s Demon Body sneered, its pair of sinister eyes abruptly falling upon the "Guangchen" where the Zaks leader resided.

A peculiar soul fluctuation suddenly emanated from near that "Guangchen." Amplified several times over by the effect of the Soul-Guiding Crown, these fluctuations surged violently toward the Zaks leader.

In an instant, the Zaks leader, who had been shouting loudly just moments before, fell silent, seemingly locked in a desperate internal struggle.

Ji Haotian also wore an expression of astonishment, repeatedly scrutinizing Ji Changkong’s Demon Body. "Your vessel... can control souls?"

"Indeed. The profundities of the Oro Cult contain methods related to this. Under normal circumstances, I might not handle these Zaks people, as their soul attainments surpass ours. However, this is my array formation. Within this formation, I can amplify soul power several times over. Coupled with that peculiar Soul-Guiding Crown, it naturally compels them to exit the 'Guangchen' willingly," Ji Changkong explained with a laugh.

Amidst Ji Haotian’s half-believing, half-doubting gaze, an even stronger wave of soul fluctuation plunged into the "Guangchen."

Crack!

The Zaks leader, who had been cowering inside the "Guangchen," indeed opened the hatch voluntarily and stepped out, his expression vacant. (To be continued) H