Huo Feng and Xiao Han had just been preparing to enter the chilling, pitch-black tunnel when, upon hearing his words, they immediately froze, swallowing nervously as they stared at him.

Although they hadn't been together long, the two women had already sensed Ji Changkong’s uncommon nature through small details. Therefore, even though Ji Changkong’s cultivation realm was a tier below theirs, they still placed great importance on his opinions. “What is it?” Xiao Han stopped, asking immediately.

“Wait!” Ji Changkong closed his eyes, standing at the tunnel entrance as if silently contemplating something. After a long moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, a brilliant light flashing within them. “Huo Feng, perhaps we shouldn't go down there.” “Why?” Huo Feng asked, astonished. “The aura in the tunnel below is wrong. It seems… to emanate from some kind of living creature; it doesn't feel naturally formed.”

“The presence is chilling and bleak, yet carries a hint of bloodlust,” Ji Changkong stated gravely. “There might be a powerful creature lurking in the tunnel below, and since the passage is so narrow, if we get trapped inside, getting out might prove difficult.”

Hearing his caution, Huo Feng and Xiao Han both released their spiritual senses, probing toward the depths of the tunnel. Before long, alerted by his reminder, the two also seemed to perceive something amiss.

“Huo Feng, let’s not take the risk. While Yuan Crystal Ore is indeed precious, we haven't reached a point where we absolutely must obtain it,” Xiao Han withdrew her spiritual sense and began persuading Huo Feng as well.

With the two urging caution, Huo Feng also started to hesitate. After a long pause, even she conceded reluctantly, nodding. “Since you both insist, then let’s forget it…”

“Eh! What is this?” Ji Changkong suddenly let out a small cry, looking strangely at a tiny, glowing white insect, the size of a soybean, that had inexplicably appeared beneath his feet. The creature was minuscule, emitting only the faintest fluctuation of energy; had it not crawled right under him, he would have missed it entirely. “Goldstone Bug!” Huo Feng shrieked as if she had seen a ghost. “Hurry, leave! That thing isn’t dead yet!”

Ji Changkong was momentarily stunned. Looking at the insect, barely bigger than a bean, he felt a degree of skepticism. Focusing his gaze, he noticed it had six tiny legs, each, if magnified, resembling a sharp needle shimmering with a pale luster. “Go!” Huo Feng shouted again. “The Golden Day Worm is bred by that creature, and it’s incredibly hard to deal with—not only immune to water and fire, but it eats everything it sees!”

Seeing Huo Feng in such a state of panic, Ji Changkong’s heart sank; he instantly knew this insect was no simple foe. However, before he could react, a buzzing sound echoed from the depths of the tunnel, suggesting more insects were flying out.

At this point, even Xiao Han’s face showed sheer terror. Without a word, she and Huo Feng shot upward, preparing to flee the area at top speed. Ji Changkong wasted no time and quickly followed suit.

“Don’t leave… None of you leave… Buzz buzz buzz buzz…” Thousands of faint sounds suddenly rose from behind them, seemingly originating entirely from the soybean-sized Goldstone Bugs. The convergence of these sounds, accompanied by the vibrating buzz of countless wings, made their scalps tingle. Ji Changkong glanced back, and his expression shifted to one of horror.

Thousands upon thousands of Goldstone Bugs swarmed forward, like a milky-white curtain, enveloping the trio. The bugs moved incredibly fast, seemingly unaffected by the gravity of this star. In an instant, a portion of them reached Huo Feng and Xiao Han, blocking their path forward.

The densely packed Goldstone Bugs rapidly coalesced, and in mere seconds, they managed to form a ghostly figure entirely white, devoid of hair, with vague facial features save for a pair of eyes that were icy cold and radiating sanguinary killing intent.

“Heh heh, isn’t this Huo Feng? Last time I let you escape alone; I didn’t expect you to deliver yourself right back to my doorstep,” the figure sneered, nodding repeatedly. “Excellent. Once I kill you, no one will ever know that Yuan Crystal Ore exists on this star, and I can cultivate in peace.”

“You—you should be dead!” Huo Feng exclaimed, utterly aghast, before seemingly remembering something. She cried out, “You—you used the Soul Splitting Technique to attach your soul to the Goldstone Bugs you raised?”

“Haha, you guessed correctly,” the man hissed coldly. “I imagine Luo Yue also thinks I’m dead. Too bad he doesn't know that the Ouro Secret Art I cultivate allows for soul splitting. Heh heh, you know I can split my soul because you suffered from it before. When I reach the peak of the Desired Realm using the Goldstone Bugs as my vessel, that will be Luo Yue’s day of reckoning!” Soul Splitting Technique? Ouro Secret Art? Ji Changkong remained outwardly calm, yet inside, his mind was churning like the reversal of rivers and seas. Could this man be the missing previous leader of the Ouro Divine Cult?

The more he considered it, the more likely it seemed. While there are many profound secret arts in the world, the Soul Splitting Technique is rare, especially when this figure claimed it was an Ouro Secret Art!

Though his inner world was in turmoil, he showed no sign of it on his face. Instead, he quietly drew his Dragon Taming Great Saber, releasing the White Bone Skeleton, and even tucked the fishing net obtained from the eighth layer of the Nine-Story Pagoda into his palm, ready for any crisis.

After his cold laughter, the figure stopped rambling. With a mere thought, his body, composed of Goldstone Bugs, immediately fractured. The swarm of bugs suddenly darkened the sky, surging toward the group of three. “No good!” Huo Feng shrieked, and a curtain of multicolored flames instantly erupted around her, completely enveloping her body.

Xiao Han’s expression also changed drastically. Without hesitation, she unleashed the frigid energy within her. In an instant, thick layers of solid ice formed around her. Her delicate body was entirely encased in the ice rock, resembling an ice sculpture sealed for many years, even locking away her vital life breath within the rigid shell. “Useless—eleven—eleven—hahaha—eleven—one—r—one—”

The air was filled with the clamor of the Goldstone Bugs. The dense swarm rushed forward, aiming directly for Huo Feng and Xiao Han. The soybean-sized insects, upon reaching the flames and ice rock encasing the two women, surprisingly began to devour the flames and solid ice.

Ji Changkong watched clearly as the fire around Huo Feng and the ice around Xiao Han slowly diminished. At this rate, it wouldn't take long before their bodies were exposed and subsequently devoured bit by bit by the swarm.

The figure apparently did not spare a second glance for Ji Changkong, who was merely in the Microscopic Realm. Only a dozen or so Goldstone Bugs flew toward him, perhaps deemed sufficient to consume him. Wielding the Dragon Taming Great Saber, radiant saber light weaved into a net, forming a shield before him. However, after these bugs closed in, within a span of mere breaths, they had entirely consumed the net of saber light he had woven.

Before he could react, those dozen or so bugs pounced onto his body, ready to gnaw at him. “Ji Changkong! Flame Thunder Sacred Fire! Use the Flame Thunder Sacred Fire!” Huo Feng, in extreme peril, did not forget to shout a reminder from afar.

He didn’t need her to yell; as soon as the Goldstone Bugs landed on his body and prepared to feed, the “Flame Thunder Sacred Fire,” deeply hidden within Ji Changkong, actively flew out, instantly enveloping those dozen insects.

The Goldstone Bugs’ supposed immunity to water and fire did not extend to divine flames like the “Flame Thunder Sacred Fire.” Under this sacred fire, the dozen bugs instantly melted, turning into a dozen droplets of milky-white liquid that fell onto his body. These droplets contained surging essence energy, all of which flooded into one of Ji Changkong’s acupoints.

When he used the Source of Life to transform his internal Yuan Power into Essence, the Yuan Power stored in his acupoints had been completely depleted. Now, although Essence flowed through him, his acupoints were utterly empty.

Cultivation in the Microscopic Realm required the constant refinement of Essence to be poured into the body’s more than seven hundred acupoints. Only when all seven hundred-plus acupoints were filled with Essence could the Microscopic Realm reach its peak.

Normally, even with a continuous supply of Yuan Crystal, this process would require hundreds of years, assuming constant seclusion and cultivation.

However, the milky-white fluid resulting from the melting of those dozen Goldstone Bugs immediately rushed into one of his acupoints upon permeating his body. In just a few seconds, he sensed that the Essence within that acupoint was overflowing!

Following the shock came an irrepressible surge of ecstasy. Previously hesitant about whether to help Huo Feng and Xiao Han, he was now driven by this irresistible urge. He immediately rushed to Huo Feng’s side, extending the “Flame Thunder Sacred Fire” from both hands, directing it toward the remaining swarm of Goldstone Bugs.

“Ah… Flame Thunder Sacred Fire, it’s actually the Flame Thunder Sacred Fire…” A noisy chirping sound erupted from the individual bugs. The Goldstone Bugs comprising the figure seemed to realize the danger and immediately retreated from Huo Feng and Xiao Han. “Don’t let him reassemble his body! Once he reforms, he can use other powers!” Huo Feng warned. “Understood!” Ji Changkong chuckled. The “Flame Thunder Sacred Fire” broke into scattered sparks, violently striking the area where the Goldstone Bugs were gathered.

Amidst the low, miserable cries of hundreds upon hundreds of Goldstone Bugs, droplets of milky-white fluid reappeared in the void. Ji Changkong, inwardly ecstatic, charged forward without restraint, using his own body to completely absorb that milky-white liquid. He could clearly feel dozens more of his acupoints becoming filled to capacity with Essence.

“Don’t run!” Seeing the Goldstone Bugs attempting to disperse and flee, Ji Changkong let out a low shout. His demonic body suddenly materialized in the void, unleashing the Soul Radiance of the Star Cloud Soul Refining Art combined with the Black Hole Profundity.

Thousands upon thousands of soul rays shot out, accurately striking the faint souls within the affected Goldstone Bugs. Those hit by the soul rays became disoriented, tumbling aimlessly in the void, clearly losing all sense of direction.

“You… You are one of my sect! You… You are from the Five Elements Continent?!” A panicked buzzing suddenly emanated from the swarm of Goldstone Bugs in the sky, the sound laced with indescribable horror and fear. (To be continued. Read on!)H