A spectral, elongated tunnel manifested from thin air, its walls studded with points of strange light. Within each glimmering spot, convoluted symbols swirled, concealing profound, obscure principles of heaven and earth, dense and enigmatic. Tongtian Guimu seized Ji Changkong, and before Nie Chang could react, plunged straight into the tunnel.

The pinpoints of strange light suddenly shattered, releasing tendrils of chaotic spatial energy. The tunnel contracted violently, then instantly sealed itself shut. Nie Chang shrieked, "Chaos Chengtu?!" He jumped and bounced in agitation, losing all composure, and roared toward the heavens, "How can there be a fragment of the Chaos Map?

What in the world is going on?" The tunnel vanished without a trace; Tongtian Guimu offered not a single response. Nie Chang cursed for a while, his face etched with regret, before finally turning to Diangong with a grave tone, "What exactly happened?" Diangong’s face was a mask of misery, pale and drawn. "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics either.

I only heard it from Yu Feiyu—that boy named Ji Changkong was the one who brought out the Chaos Fragment..." Nie Chang then looked toward the haughty woman of the Yu Clan. Yu Feiyu's expression shifted, yet her demeanor remained respectful as she explained, "This page of the Chaos Fragment came from that boy; he obtained it from within the Nine-Story Pagoda. Once my Yu Clan learned of this, we prepared to seize it..." Yu Feiyu was remarkably forthcoming in front of Nie Chang, detailing every piece of information she knew.

Nie Chang’s mood was volatile. He listened to Yu Feiyu's narrative, and only after she finished did he nod once. "No wonder.

It seems Nine-Tail must also know about the Chaos Fragment. Now that this Dragon Python is dead, Nine-Tail will certainly pursue accountability. This promises to be quite a spectacle." The few experts at the Tong Shen realm trembled, speaking little in Nie Chang's presence.

"You have been on Fire Prison Star for years, haven't you learned the rules here?" Nie Chang suddenly recalled something, letting out a cold snort. "Fire Prison Star is where I have cultivated for many years. It is my mercy that you are allowed to live here; do not mistake courtesy for weakness!" Yu Feiyu and the others repeatedly offered apologies.

Nie Chang still seemed to be smarting over the Chaos Fragment issue. After issuing a threat or two, he seemed to remember something urgent, brutally tearing open space and vanishing, presumably off to consult with someone important. As soon as Nie Chang departed, the others quickly dispersed.

Teya managed a wry smile, shaking his head as he sighed, "That fellow really is one of the Purgatory Ghost Clan. Good thing I didn't try anything against him, or I'd be utterly finished." Within the vast river of stars, celestial bodies swept past him in rapid succession. A tunnel leading deep into the cosmos flickered into existence repeatedly, giving the sensation of never reaching an end.

Held by Tongtian Guimu, though his body felt foreign, he could perceive the swift passage of the stars, allowing him to estimate that he was accelerating at a speed of hundreds of millions of li per second. There was no whistling sound near his ears, yet at such extreme velocity, his body struggled to cope. A pervasive sickness roiled within him, threatening nausea—a clear sign that the speed had far exceeded his physical tolerance.

"Don't worry. Once we return, immersing yourself in the Purgatory Blood Pool for a while will help you adapt to these journeys," Tongtian Guimu said placidly. Ji Changkong opened his mouth, trying to speak, but no sound emerged.

The various energies present in the endless star domains surged toward him the moment he opened his mouth. Instantly, his abdomen felt choked with hundreds of conflicting forces. He urgently suppressed his breathing and concentrated, only recovering after a prolonged effort.

Having experienced this once, even if he had a belly full of complaints, he dared not utter them carelessly. He cursed inwardly, resigning himself to whatever Tongtian Guimu planned. Not long after, a colossal, honeycomb-shaped star suddenly appeared within his sight.

"We've arrived," Tongtian Guimu murmured again, carrying him across layers of spatial barriers, instantly transporting them into the honeycomb star. After a stretch of absolute darkness where sight was impossible, light suddenly reappeared. They had finally stopped moving.

The feeling of solid ground beneath his feet was exquisitely wonderful. After steadying himself, Ji Changkong looked around and found himself on a desolate island covered in grotesque foliage. He stood atop a towering, blood-red peak, surrounded by an endless sea of blood.

This thick sanguine expanse emitted no metallic stench; instead, a sweet fragrance was subtly alluring, soothing the mind and bringing an inexplicable sense of comfort to his entire being. The blood within his body began to flow with exhilaration upon arriving here, as if recognizing something. Breathing the air here instilled in him a feeling of boundless refreshment, akin to a traveler finally returning home...

"Do you feel it?" Tongtian Guimu asked with a gentle smile. "Feel what?" "The feeling of home." Ji Changkong paused. He did sense something, but he was stubbornly unwilling to admit it.

A Purgatory Ghost Clan member, distinct in appearance, clad in dark scales with sharp spikes protruding from his shoulders and nails like blades, approached from nearby. Upon reaching Tongtian Guimu, he knelt on one knee respectfully. "Clan Mother, the Blood Marrow Pool is prepared." As he spoke, he cast a curious glance at Ji Changkong.

Tongtian Guimu nodded slightly. "Gather all clan members at the Blood Marrow Pool." The man bowed, respectfully retreated. Soon after, a strange, drawn-out cry echoed down from the peak, spreading across the entire island.

"You must have many questions," Tongtian Guimu observed him calmly, slowly sitting down. "Don't hold back. Ask me anything you wish; I will resolve your doubts one by one.

I will also explain matters concerning the clan so you are not left in the dark." "I am different from you." Ji Changkong hesitated, realizing concealment was futile before her, and stated frankly, "In my normal state, I appear human. I only transform into... into this form when I choose to.

I am not the same as you." The female members of the Purgatory Ghost Clan were seductive and breathtakingly beautiful; every woman possessed peerlessly enchanting features, yet their sharp claws and the goat-like curved horns on their heads were distinct traits, as were the menacing spikes on their shoulders. However, the women were not entirely covered in scales, only possessing them on certain intimate areas. The male members of the Purgatory Ghost Clan were identical to the attendant who had just arrived—their transformed state matched him exactly: wholly enveloped in whale-like scales, even their faces completely masked.

They possessed spikes on their arms, elbows, knees, and even their backs, giving them an intensely evil and terrifying appearance. He lacked the curved horns on his head, even in his transformed state, which made him feel distinctly different from Tongtian Guimu and the others. "Indeed, you are not entirely like us.

You only assume our appearance when necessary, which is a clever way to conceal your power—an excellent disguise," Tongtian Guimu conceded casually. "You are a half-blood, a hybrid of the Human Clan and our Divine Clan, which is why you are different. My sister's blood flows within you, though it has been suppressed.

If you hadn't fortuitously broken through to the Shi Fang Heaven realm, her bloodline would have remained dormant, contained by the essence blood planted by the Four Sacred Beasts, preventing you from ever understanding your true identity throughout your life!" As Tongtian Guimu spoke these words, Ji Changkong's expression drastically changed. When he had been refining his vital essence using the source of his life, he had sensed an anomaly in his body. At that moment, the essence blood within him underwent a tremendous change, completely erasing the aura of the Four Sacred Beasts within his blood.

The newly emerging aura consumed everything else. At that instant, his essence blood mutated, and his body changed accordingly, his fingernails suddenly shooting out like blades. It was around that time he had vaguely sensed a hidden truth.

He suspected that the Four Sacred Beasts might have known about the strangeness of his blood long ago, which is why they collaborated to plant essence blood within his body. The essence blood of the Four Sacred Beasts simultaneously strengthened his body and suppressed the Purgatory Ghost Clan’s essence blood, ensuring he could never transform into a Purgatory Ghost Clan member. No one in the Ji family's Xuanyuan lineage had ever broken through to the Shi Fang Heaven realm; at the critical juncture of the Jiu Gong Heaven peak, they were always drawn away to resist the Ancestral Demon and purge the fiends on that continent.

Perhaps the Four Sacred Beasts acted this way precisely to prevent Xuanyuan from reaching the Shi Fang Heaven realm and transforming into a Purgatory Ghost Clan member. With Tongtian Guimu's explanation, Ji Changkong finally understood: the Four Sacred Beasts had apparently known the secret of his body all along! "Our clan doesn't have a good reputation.

The Four Sacred Beasts likely acted that way out of fear that you might one day turn against them, fearing you might destroy the Five Elements Continent. After all, the life force of the Four Sacred Beasts is easily acquired, and if you successfully transformed there, you would have the opportunity to slay them and seize their life essence. They were afraid, so they preemptively took measures—which is quite understandable," Tongtian Guimu explained with a smile, seemingly reading his thoughts.

"You say the blood flowing in me is your sister's. What does that mean?" Ji Changkong pondered for a moment and asked again. "Our clan was once extremely prosperous, the most powerful race in the immense star regions.

However, the arrival of a catastrophe nearly led to our extinction. Before that disaster struck, our clan was incredibly mighty throughout the endless cosmos; all other races feared us. After the catastrophe, the various races banded together, attempting to wipe us out while we were severely weakened.

That was our most difficult war. After that battle, which lasted many years, the surviving members of our clan from the disaster perished one by one; many powerful experts were lost..." "In those desperate times, our Divine Clan suffered immense hardship, and too many members died. Those outsiders were determined to annihilate us.

The Great Priest feared that our clan would be wiped out, so he issued a strict decree: as long as a single breath remained, the bloodline must be passed on. If no clansman was present, uniting with another race was permissible; the seed of life had to be sown so our race could continue." "My sister nearly perished in that war as well. Severely wounded, she used the Blood Evasion technique to flee across billions upon billions of li, traversing countless star systems.

Her body drifted unconsciously through the sea of stars until she finally landed on the star that held your nascent life. She must have been critically injured, otherwise, she would not have united with a human and passed on the bloodline." "This Ghoul Corpse must have been forged by my sister using her last vestiges of strength. It carries the Soul-Entwining Divine Melody of our clan.

Fearing she might perish and never see her kin again, she inscribed the profound essence of the Soul-Entwining Melody upon the tombstone of the forged Ghoul Corpse. Fortunately, it was you who obtained it..."