Ji Changkong had been in the Dead Star Domain for four or five hundred years. During this span, he had leaped from the Subtle Realm all the way to the Divine Communication Realm—a pace of advancement that was nothing short of terrifying.

Unless one was a firsthand witness like Huo Feng or Xiao Han, it would be nearly impossible to believe that someone could progress with such terrifying speed in such a short time.

As for the Demon Body, before entering the Dead Star Domain, its cultivation level was not vastly different from his own. For these past years, it had remained deep within the Celestial Origin Pearl, relying on the Pearl's peculiar energy to cultivate and comprehend the profound mysteries of the powers originating from the Aoluo Divine Cult.

The Celestial Origin Pearl formed a world unto itself, possessing vast lands and overflowing ambient energy. Moreover, it contained many strange scenes rarely found in the outside world. Within the Pearl, the Demon Body had ceaselessly gathered this peculiar energy for its own use, relentlessly toiling in the cultivation of various powers.

In the Life Vortex, as Ji Changkong’s main body made tremendous progress, the Celestial Origin Pearl mutated after absorbing that black vortex. The world inside the Pearl shifted again, and the Demon Body, diligently cultivating within it, also reaped immense benefits.

After so many years, Ji Changkong knew this Demon Body must be extraordinary. However, because the power the Demon Body cultivated could not be measured by the Heavenly Scholar ranking, even he was unaware of the level it had ultimately attained... until today.

The Demon Body finally emerged from the Celestial Origin Pearl, standing proudly suspended in the firmament. Surrounding it were massive vortices, each resembling the world within the Celestial Origin Pearl. Feral demonic qi continuously billowed out from these vortices, seemingly endless, threatening to swallow even Fury Flame Star whole.

Amidst the inky, towering demonic miasma, the Demon Body’s eyes were sharp and chillingly sinister. With a fierce shout, clusters of demonic qi gathered and transformed. Thick, lengthy demonic snakes materialized in the void. They were black as jade, shimmering with a dark luster, carrying a savage, violent intent that seemed eager to devour any living thing. Centered on the Demon Body, they ravaged everything in their path!

As the demonic snakes solidified, they struck out together, and in an instant, Fury Flame Star was plunged into eternal night, losing every speck of light.

Within the dense demonic qi, everyone’s vision was severely hampered; visibility dropped below ten meters. The ambient energy within the miasma behaved erratically, obstructing their spiritual senses as well. Their bodies felt as if they were being dragged into a bottomless vortex, causing them to spin helplessly along with the current.

Tens of thousands of demonic snakes slithered forth, twisting their massive forms within the ink-like demonic qi. Wherever the snakes passed, a chill of sinister malevolence washed over people, making their whole bodies ice cold and compelling them to instinctively recoil from the aura.

Within the thick, inky darkness, shrieks like the roars of savage beasts echoed out. Hearing them made scalps crawl, intensifying the creeping coldness in their bodies. These were the sounds coming from the clansmen of the Bone Tribe!

The Bone Tribe’s vocalizations were distinct, sharp as a blade’s edge. Their piercing cries rang out like steel scraping against glass—unbearably grating and agonizing.

In the dark demonic qi, besides the Bone Tribe, there were experts from various races hailing from adjacent Life Stars. All these ill-intentioned intruders were enveloped and entangled by the surging, churning demonic qi, feeling the cold malevolence within, and hearing the shrill cries of the Bone Tribesmen. Many began to feel a chill deep in their hearts.

Even Granny Yu, who possessed the cultivation of the Divine Communication Realm, looked on with astonishment. Using the unique Water Curtain technique exclusive to the Kui Water Sect, she layered shields around the sect’s most promising young women, repeatedly cautioning them: "Do not move rashly! No one is to leave the water curtain!"

"Granny Yu, how has another identical him appeared?" a young woman from the Spring Water Sect asked, filled with shock.

Within the water curtain, these elaborately dressed young women were all frowning deeply, gazing out at the boundless dark demonic qi. They clearly sensed the peril, and one by one, they settled down obediently.

"The Second Divine Soul," Granny Yu breathed deeply, her tone grave. "This fellow is extremely dangerous. The power held by this Second Divine Soul is not much inferior to that of his main body. Within this demonic qi, there is an intent forbidding anyone from approaching his true body. As long as we remain quiet and refrain from any irrational attempt to approach his core self, his attacks will not be directed at us."

"Whoa ah!"

Just then, a cry of sheer panic cut through the air. Judging by the pitch, it belonged to a tribesman of the Three-Eyed Race. After a terrified shriek, he quickly pleaded: "I mean no harm, I’m just—I’m just lost, please don’t kill me! No! Ugh ah!" Following a final, drawn-out "Ugh ah," the Three-Eyed Tribesman's cries abruptly ceased.

A strange light flashed in Granny Yu’s eyes. She spoke again in a low, serious voice: "You heard that. That fellow from the Three-Eyed Race was the designated target. For this trip, we will simply watch coldly from the sidelines. Do not entertain any other thoughts; it seems we have no destiny with the Origin Fire."

"Granny Yu, you possess the Divine Communication Realm, are you truly afraid?" another young woman challenged, pausing before adding resentfully, "Why is he being so overbearing? That Lord Yuan doesn't belong to him; truly, everyone should have a fair chance! This fellow is too tyrannical!"

Granny Yu managed a wry smile and shook her head, sighing. "I am not afraid, but... I feel there is no need to make an enemy of him. Although the Kui Water Sect still holds some renown on Fire Prison Star, to those beings in the Chaos Realm, our sect is like an ant, easily wiped out at any moment... This fellow's future achievements are immeasurable; making an enemy of him would be profoundly unwise."

As she explained, several more people cried out and lost their life auras—some among them Bone Tribesmen, others experts from different races.

The Demon Body floated proudly within the dense dark demonic qi, its expression sinister, its eyes filled with wickedness and brutal tyranny, projecting an aura of lawless arrogance and dominance. It let out a sneering laugh: "Come on, charge if you dare! Anyone, absolutely anyone who dares approach within fifty meters of this spot, I will send you all to the netherworld!"

Within a fifty-meter radius around him, dozens of corpses already hung suspended. Though the manner of death varied for each one, the look of extreme terror etched onto their faces was identical.

The torment these people suffered before death had clearly been immense, and this terror remained fixed on their faces even after they expired.

These dozens of corpses, drifting aimlessly in the thick demonic qi, presented a deeply shocking spectacle with their faces frozen in fear.

Among these deceased were experts of the Nirvana Rebellion and Satisfied Will Realms, yet they seemed to have virtually no power to resist when they died. Some had their bodies shattered; limbs and heads lay separated, sometimes ten meters away. The thick scent of blood in the dark demonic qi originated from their splashed remains.

Fifty meters out, various experts of the Satisfied Will and Divine Communication Realms watched with horrified faces as the other Ji Changkong raged, slaughtering wantonly. They constantly weighed in their minds whether or not to risk death. Before those several dozen corpses, the Heavenly Scholars of the Satisfied Will Realm dared not make a move.

However, a few masters in the Divine Communication Realm entertained notions of testing the waters. Their faces tight with vigilance, they seemed to be silently measuring Ji Changkong’s strength, calculating the potential gains and losses beforehand.

"Insolent brat!" A roar echoed from a Divine Communication Realm expert of the Bone Tribe nearby.

The onlookers, hearing the Bone Tribe expert’s shout, couldn't help but probe with their spiritual sense. They discovered that the Bone Tribe powerhouse was densely encircled by countless demonic snakes, trapped within a vortex built of writhing serpents. He struggled fiercely, blasting snakes apart one by one, yet he could not break free from the snake-woven vortex in a short time.

The demonic snakes were condensed from the overwhelming demonic qi, possessing strength and physical characteristics comparable to solid matter. However, they were ultimately mere constructs of demonic qi. Even if utterly pulverized, as long as the caster, Ji Changkong’s Demon Body, had residual energy to constantly inject, they could instantly regenerate, ready to drag the enemy back into the endless depths.

Consequently, no matter how many demonic snakes the Divine Communication Realm Bone Tribesman annihilated, he would find more continuously surging forth, surrounding him densely—as if they were inexhaustible, imposing a crushing psychological defeat upon him.

He realized that the process of killing the snakes was essentially a contest of sheer tenacity against Ji Changkong’s Demon Body. He consumed power to destroy the snakes, and Ji Changkong required power to re-condense them; it was a pure clash and balance of power—a test of whose reserves were deeper, whose tenacity was greater.

Yet, what he could never have foreseen was that the power the Demon Body used to forge the snakes did not come from itself at all! The giant vortices suspended overhead were directly relocated from within the Celestial Origin Pearl. Those demonic snakes were also unleashed using the Pearl's energy. Under this premise, the Bone Tribe Divine Communication expert was doomed to fail from the very start—this was fundamentally not a fair fight!

But only Ji Changkong knew this truth. The spectators from various races clearly did not grasp the reality. They subconsciously assumed that Ji Changkong had already expended too much strength and focus resisting the Bone Tribe expert, leaving him with little capacity to handle further attacks.

They even assumed that the reason Ji Changkong had arranged these hovering corpses within a fifty-meter radius was precisely to intimidate them, deterring them from making any rash moves. They believed Ji Changkong was employing an empty fortress stratagem!

"The Origin Fire does not belong to you alone; we too are qualified to obtain it." A Divine Communication Realm expert from the Wood Tribe, after repeated contemplation, concluded that Ji Changkong was indeed incapable of dealing with external assaults. With a forced laugh, he became the first to step into the forbidden zone, walking toward Ji Changkong’s fifty-meter perimeter.