The ceaseless fire-rain poured down, seemingly without end. Below, magma surged, the incandescent rock radiating astonishing heat, while overhead, lightning coursed, periodically striking down with savage force, blasting the lava high into the air, scattering sparks everywhere.

For many, this realm was pure purgatory, a place where one constantly endured relentless disaster. Even Lei Ao of the Three-Eyed Clan and the Tuohai people here had to tread with extreme caution, terrified of being consumed by the flames or struck dead by the sky’s thunder. Yet, for others, this was paradise! Huofeng was one such being, and Ji Changkong was another.

Like Huofeng, Ji Changkong remained utterly unaffected by the towering inferno in this strange world. Moreover, the drops of fire-rain that struck him brought an indescribably wonderful sensation, making him feel as if he were bathing in sunlight or a warm spring; his entire body was comfortable, and the energy within him rapidly replenished. He was an anomaly!

A massive bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, fatefully striking directly above his head. The dragon-like, serpentine lightning flashed through his body in an instant, vanishing entirely within him. . . The violent explosion never occurred.

Surprisingly, the smile on his lips broadened, and he couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh, his laughter brimming with uncontrollable satisfaction and a veiled, arrogant triumph.

The vital blood essence of the Vermilion Bird, the Sacred Beast, allowed him to resist the flames, rendering him unharmed in the sea of fire, and even allowing him to benefit from it.

The Azure Dragon of the Holy Bodhi controlled lightning; the essence blood originating from the Azure Dragon flowed through his body, enabling him to be immune to electrical damage and draw nourishment from the lightning strikes as well. What was hell for others was absolute heaven for him!

The raging flames, the surging magma, the fire-rain, and the lightning that saturated this world brought him a sense of ecstatic release, akin to a drug, making him long to roar with wild laughter.

Ahead, the first figure gradually materialized, obscured by a shimmering haze of pale light. Her every step seemed immeasurably heavy.

This was a foreign maiden following Jiunan. She possessed a cascade of verdant, moss-green hair flowing over her shoulders, sharply pointed ears, and a pair of ink-green wings spanning six to seven meters sprouting from her back.

The Feather Race, a high-ranking species within the Endless Star Domain. Like humans, they could cultivate the path of the Heavenly Scholar, but they possessed the innate ability to soar through the void. The wings of the Feather Race allowed their clansmen to navigate the Star Domain without having reached the Realm of Ten Directions Heaven—a truly prodigious gift.

This Feather Race maiden was exquisitely beautiful and ethereal. Her eyebrows were long and slender, her chest full and rounded, and a pair of long, straight legs were irresistibly alluring—truly a beauty whose mere presence could stir the soul.

But this beauty seemed to be suffering terribly now. Her delicate brows were tightly furrowed, and her pair of ink-green wings, which shielded her slender form, were riddled with bloody holes. The green luminescence radiating from those wings was fading under the corrosive burn of the fire-rain.

She appeared to be enduring agonizingly. Red blotches were emerging on her fair, delicate feet, clearly indicating burns from the intense heat.

The Feather Race could also cultivate the Heavenly Scholar path, and this beautiful maiden possessed the cultivation level of the Ten Directions Heaven Realm. Her innate talent was the only reason she had managed to hold on this long, but by her appearance, it was evident she could not last much longer. For reasons unknown, despite knowing the path ahead was fraught with peril, she did not turn back, continuing her perilous advance.

Not far from the Feather Race maiden, a white dot gradually enlarged, revealing the youth named Tuohai. Tuohai’s body was enveloped in the chilling aura emitted by the Heavenly Sea Ice Heart, shielding him from the fire-rain, and he appeared remarkably relaxed. “How about it? If you submit to me and willingly become my slave, I can give you a ride?” Tuohai ahead sneered playfully.

“Dream on!” the Feather Race maiden retorted through gritted teeth. “If you weren't relying on the Heavenly Sea Ice Heart, you’d be no match for me! A fellow whose actual strength falls short of mine, shamelessly relying on an external artifact, dares to demand I become his slave—truly laughable!”

“Heh, outside, you might indeed have a slight edge over me, but here, you are far inferior. Right now, it’s already too late for you to even retreat. If you don’t comply, you’ll be scattered into oblivion momentarily, and what use will your pride be then?” Tuohai lectured coldly from the front.

Tuohai and Ji Changkong were separated by the Feather Race maiden, and their distance was substantial, so for a moment, Tuohai failed to notice Ji Changkong.

Suddenly, he wiped the look of ease from his face, immediately contorting it into an expression of intense pain. Five Elements Light Shields circled his body, and as fire-rain struck them, the shields warped incessantly, looking as if they might dissolve at any second.

He was deliberately hiding his true composure, masking his fearlessness regarding the environment’s harshness, instead projecting an image of extreme suffering and difficulty, all to make others overlook him.

Gritting his teeth, Ji Changkong ‘strained’ to take a step forward, his expression agonizing, gradually drawing closer to the Feather Race maiden. “Is that you?” The maiden immediately sensed someone behind her, weakly turning her head for a glance. Her clear, cold eyes were filled with surprise.

She swiftly turned back, facing away from Ji Changkong, muttering, “It seems I’m not the only fool here. Another idiot has come along…”

Ji Changkong chuckled inwardly, though his face remained etched with pained effort. He slowly came to a stop beside the Feather Race maiden and said with a wry smile, “It’s too late to turn back now. I can only move forward, hoping the end point is near. Alas, things being as they are, all we can do is leave it to fate.” The Feather Race maiden sighed softly but offered no reply, though a sense of shared destiny began to emerge between them. “Huh!” Tuohai ahead suddenly exclaimed in shock, then immediately let out a cold sneer. “Kid, you dare to come here seeking death?” “Having come this far, death is inevitable anyway. What, are you planning to add an extra step and send me on my way early?” Ji Changkong nodded ‘laboriously,’ fixing his gaze on Tuohai.

“The kid is certainly clever! Hah!” Tuohai’s face turned sinister. “It takes no effort for me to kill you. Sending you off early is a favor to you.” Muttering this, Tuohai slowly walked toward him.

A cold, faint chill flickered in Ji Changkong’s eyes as he stared intently at Tuohai. “Ever since we passed that entrance, you’ve shown hostility. Is it merely because I’m blocking your path? For this reason alone, you want to kill me?”

“Heh, since you’re about to die anyway, it’s no harm in telling you,” Tuohai grinned coldly. “It’s not just you. Aside from Huofeng, Xiaohan, Yinjí, Tianlie, Jiunan, and Tuotie—six people I cannot touch—I view everyone else as an enemy. You are just one of them. I’ll be dealing with that Lei Ao shortly too! Even that Feather Race maiden, unless she willingly submits her soul imprint to my confinement, I will kill her!” “For what reason?” Ji Changkong frowned.

“There are things on the upper level that I absolutely must obtain! Those things might not be necessary for Huofeng and the six others, but they are necessary for you! By eliminating those who compete with me on this level, everything on the next level will belong only to me!” Tuohai sneered. “And once you enter the next level, you will share what should be mine, so you must die!” As Tuohai finished his statement, he rapidly closed the distance toward Ji Changkong. “Did you understand?” Ji Changkong turned to look at the Feather Race maiden.

“Yes, I don’t want to be anyone’s slave, and I certainly don’t want to die. I can only fight you to the death,” the Feather Race maiden nodded helplessly. Then she said, “My name is Xueli. You only possess the cultivation of the Nine Palaces Heaven Realm. You can harass Tuohai from a distance; I will take the brunt of his main attacks.” “Ji Changkong,” he smiled, introducing himself. Then he added, “Kill Tuohai, and the Heavenly Sea Ice Heart is yours; you will be able to pass this level safely.” “If I truly obtain the Heavenly Sea Ice Heart, I will ensure your passage,” Xueli conceded.

Ji Changkong nodded, saying no more. The Five Elements Light Shield surrounding him slowly expanded, completely encasing his body. He silently readied the World-Destroying Gauntlets and the Dragon-Shining Long Saber, even donning the Soul-Guarding Crown. The Tianyuan Pearl in his lower abdomen was poised and ready to unleash its power.

The power of the blood within him, the energy from the Tianyuan Pearl, and the immense latent force stored in his acupoints quietly converged. These energies flowed through his body like trickling streams, coursing toward his arms and pouring into the World-Destroying Gauntlets and the Dragon-Shining Long Saber.

He held nothing back; every ounce of his strength was amassed, ready to confront the impending great battle.

He was facing a Ten Directions Heavenly Scholar, one who might be even more formidable than Hong Mandun. He had to give his absolute all; not a shred of carelessness was permissible!

When Tuohai reached a spot ten feet from Xueli, he lowered his head and smiled. Then, two dark purple chains suddenly shot out. The chains, patterned with violet markings, twisted in mid-air to become two massive pythons, striking viciously toward Xueli.

Simultaneously, Tuohai casually unleashed a silver beam of light. The beam shot straight toward Ji Changkong, transforming mid-flight into an arrow that accelerated rapidly, emitting a piercing shriek.

Xueli’s clear, beautiful eyes were filled with gravity. Her ink-green wings flapped, unleashing a sudden surge of gale force that swept the overhead fire-rain toward the two giant pythons.

But the pythons were fundamentally just two chains. When the fire-rain struck them, it only left some faint spots on their forms, yet the pythons persisted relentlessly in coiling toward her.

Xueli had no choice but to maneuver her wings to ward off the attacks of the two pythons, all while diligently shielding her body to prevent being drenched by the falling fire-rain.

On the other side, the arrow streaked toward Ji Changkong with imposing momentum. A shrill whistle emanated from the arrow, piercing the soul—this beam of light was a dual attack, aimed not just at the body, but at annihilating the soul!

Ji Changkong felt a chill deep in his heart. He immediately adjusted his state of mind according to the Taixu Secret Record, dissolving into nothingness, completely concealing his consciousness until his soul felt like an intrinsic part of this world.

The soul-penetrating power from the arrow’s shriek suddenly seemed to find no target. Ji Changkong’s soul, having returned to the void, was no longer assailed by the soul-devouring malice within the arrow.

Within the World-Destroying Gauntlets, a disc-sized cyan thunderbolt slowly coalesced. Within this cyan thunderbolt, a thick streak of lightning writhed. Upon closer inspection, one would see that this powerful lightning bolt was identical to the ones twisting in the sky above this world! Indeed! This very lightning bolt was the one that had previously surged into Ji Changkong’s body!

The Vermilion Bird Sacred Beast could manipulate lightning, and possessing its vital essence blood while cultivating the Heavenly Thunder Strength, he too could control the lightning energy here! Boom! Boom!

The cyan thunderbolt shot out, violently colliding with the arrow midway and instantly shattering it. The cyan thunderbolt then exploded, and a massive lightning bolt burst forth like a giant dragon, rushing directly toward Tuohai.

Tuohai, who had been watching Xueli with a cold smirk, suddenly started, letting out a piercing scream: “Impossible!”

Tuohai could no longer spare any attention for Xueli. The two giant pythons he had sent toward her suddenly retracted, coiling rapidly around the lightning dragon forged from the thunderbolt.

Under the relentless bombardment of the lightning, the spiritual energy of the two giant pythons was stripped away, causing them to revert into two purple chains suspended in the air.

That enormous lightning bolt also expended all its thunderous energy, vanishing into thin air, its power diffusing as minute strands of lightning throughout the world. Tuohai’s harsh gaze snapped back to Ji Changkong. “Kid, you’re not dead!”

“Sorry to disappoint you; I don’t think I’ll die that easily,” Ji Changkong shrugged, looking uply at the lightning overhead. He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a ball of lightning, thrusting both hands into it to form a peculiar hand seal, and commanded: “Thunder Move!”

The lightning sphere shot upward, rolling amidst the massive bolts of lightning descending from the sky. Incredibly, all the immense lightning flashes in the heavens were drawn into this lightning sphere.

In a mere few seconds, the lightning sphere released by Ji Changkong swelled to more than ten times its original size. Dozens of scaled-down lightning bolts writhed within it, and the explosive power of the thunder within the sphere grew increasingly intense.

“Whoa!” Xueli gasped, covering her mouth, her face a picture of disbelief.

She could never have imagined that Ji Changkong could actually command the lightning power of this world. Others in this realm lived in terror of the lightning striking down, desperate to avoid it, yet the sphere Ji Changkong released was actually absorbing the lethal bolts!

“Um, Ji Changkong, right? We can cooperate! Really, we can cooperate! I have a marvelous idea—if you and I join forces, we can… we can take out Huofeng and the others!” Tuohai’s expression shifted violently, and he suddenly shrieked, forcing an awkward, friendly smile toward Ji Changkong. “Sorry, I already have a partner,” Ji Changkong replied coolly, then suddenly roared: “Fall!”

The lightning sphere, now spanning several acres, plummeted from the sky, entirely engulfing Tuohai. Within the sphere, Tuohai’s body acted as if it were made of sand, instantly dissolving into minute particles. Those tiny particles continued to decompose until, in the end, not even dust remained of Tuohai.