In the dilapidated small woods, Yan Yan and Bai Zhuyue stood at the edge of the massive crater left by the strike of the "War God Star Seal," with the middle-aged man named Li Yu lying still at their feet. At this moment, he was tightly bound by a blood-red rope, completely immobilized.

"Whoosh!" Nie Kong's figure suddenly descended in front of the two. Yu Longyue looked at Nie Kong and smiled, "After you succeeded in your sneak attack, Taiyan and I were planning to come back to help, but I didn't expect you to resolve the remaining three so quickly." "Brother Hui, this guy is too cunning, actually daring to flee..." Taiyan, however, pointed at Li Yu on the ground, huffing in annoyance.

Although Li Yu's body was restrained behind him, his hearing had not vanished. Hearing Taiyan speak this way, his nose nearly twisted with anger.

I am the enemy of you people, all my comrades have been killed, and I myself am severely injured. If I don't seize the opportunity to escape when he is careless, should I obediently wait here to die?

"Oh?" Nie Kong was also surprised by this. After sensing that Li Yu's soul aura was continuously weakening, Nie Kong hadn't paid much attention to him.

However, while pursuing Liu Hong, he had specifically observed and found that his aura had completely disappeared. He had assumed Li Yu was dead, but unexpectedly, he was still alive and well.

It seemed Li Yu was caught red-handed by Taiyan and Yu Longyue while preparing something. This fellow actually managed to conceal himself even from me.

He must have cultivated some miraculous spiritual technique for concealment... Nie Kong stared at Li Yu and said in a deep voice, "How did you manage that?" A cold sneer flickered across Li Yu's lips, and he remained silent.

Seeing this, Nie Kong directly clamped his palm onto Li Yu's head, extracting his soul to refine and absorb it. After a few seconds, Nie Kong had completely grasped all the memories within that soul.

"This guy actually relied on a tenth-grade pill called 'Hidden God Pill' to conceal himself from my senses. Taiyan, Aunt Yue, it's fortunate you arrived in time, otherwise he really might have escaped." After searching Li Yu's memories for a moment, Nie Kong let out an involuntary laugh, feeling a degree of relief in his heart.

"Nie Kong, is there any other useful information in his memories?" Yu Longyue inquired. "Let me see..." Nie Kong narrowed his eyes...

and probed again, "It turns out that in the Grand Venerable Spirit Realm, Spirit Gods are also divided into nine grades. The main bodies of these four Spirit Gods from the Primordial Heaven Mansion and the Pill Immortal Sect are fifth-grade Spirit Gods, and their avatars are third-grade Spirit Gods...

Hmm... In this guy's memory, I am classified as a third-grade Spirit God.

That is consistent with what Liu Hong, whom I refined in Huazhou, told me." "Brother, what grade Spirit God am I?" Taiyan asked with keen interest, while Yu Longyue also looked at Nie Kong with considerable curiosity. Nie Kong smiled, "You and Aunt Yue are both second-grade Spirit Gods.

Those who advance from the Lower Realms are generally first-grade Spirit Gods; only a very small number can reach the second grade." Hua Pianxian had never explained the division of Spirit God realms to Nie Kong. When he previously heard Liu Hong claim to be a third-grade Spirit God, he was somewhat bewildered, but now, after absorbing Li Yu's memories...

he suddenly understood. In the Grand Venerable Spirit Realm, the vast majority of Spirit Gods are below the sixth grade, with fewer and fewer above the sixth grade.

Generally, an eighth-grade Spirit God could be considered a peak Spirit God powerhouse. As for ninth-grade Spirit Gods, they are the most outstanding among the peak Spirit God powerhouses.

Among all the Spirit Gods in the Grand Venerable Spirit Realm, only the five Great Sovereigns—Ziwei, Dantian, An Ye, Hailong, and Leshan—are ninth-grade Spirit Gods. Besides them...

there are five others whose cultivation is extremely close to that of a Great Sovereign. Above the ninth-grade Spirit Gods is the Grand Venerable.

"Grand Venerable... Now, in the Spirit God alignment of the Grand Venerable Spirit Realm, there are three Grand Venerables..." Nie Kong was somewhat surprised.

Following the great war ten thousand years ago, two more Spirit Gods had achieved the rank of Grand Venerable—one eight thousand years ago, and another five thousand years ago. The number of Grand Venerables among the Panxing Clan had thus increased to two.

The Chixing and Xianxing Spirit Races, after the great war ten thousand years ago, lost most of their masters... and were exiled by the Spirit Gods and the Panxing Clan to a place called the 'Outer Realm Heaven.' As for the Grand Venerable of the Xianxing Clan from that time, he disappeared without a trace after the war...

his life or death unknown. "Taiyan, Aunt Yue...

I have some good news." After more than ten seconds, Nie Kong's expression relaxed, "The avatars of Spirit Gods descending into the Grand Venerable Spirit Realm cannot exceed the sixth grade in strength. If they surpass this limit, they will be obliterated by the World Gate." He paused, then continued with a smile, "This means that even the avatars personally descended by those Great Sovereigns will have a maximum cultivation of a sixth-grade Spirit God.

Furthermore, there is a daily limit on the number of arrivals—no more than twenty-one—otherwise, they will also be destroyed by the World Gate upon descent." Yu Longyue mused, "Taiyan and I are only second-grade Spirit Gods, and you are only a third-grade Spirit God. If sixth-grade Spirit God avatars appear, it might be very dangerous." "Don't worry." Nie Kong was full of confidence, "My current strength has reached the limit of the third grade.

Once I refine the few Spirit God avatars that Huajin just captured, I should immediately be able to become a fourth-grade Spirit God. Even if fifth-grade or sixth-grade Spirit Gods come, I am confident I can fight them." Yu Longyue's eyes lit up, "That's quite good.

It’s unlikely that the Primordial Heaven Mansion, the Pill Immortal Sect, and the Sea Clan will immediately descend with sixth-grade Spirit God avatars. Before such powerful beings arrive, you will have the chance to refine some Spirit Gods below the fifth grade to increase your strength." "It's not just you; you two must also increase your strength.

In the future, any water-attribute Spirit Gods we capture will be for Aunt Yue to refine, and dark-attribute Spirit Gods will be for Taiyan to devour." Yu Longyue and Taiyan's situations were different from Nie Kong's. Nie Kong's Chaos Divine Art could refine any divine power, whereas Yu Longyue and Taiyan could only refine divine power of the same attribute.

Of course, before they could refine it, Nie Kong first had to use the Chaos Heavenly Fire to temper that divine power. "Brother, there are very few Dark Spirit Gods here," Taiyan said with a slightly troubled expression, pouting.

"There are quite a few. The Primordial Heaven Mansion has many," Yu Longyue said with a charming smile.

"In the future, we will surely encounter some. Reaching the fourth grade might be difficult, but for the third grade, it should be enough." Hearing her say this, Taiyan instantly became happy, her smile blossoming like a flower.

"That's right, I currently have a mass of dark divine power on me." Nie Kong laughed heartily, taking out the dark divine power from Mo He and handing it to Taiyan. Then, his eyes darted around, "Next, our plan must also change somewhat.

We cannot escape stealthily as originally planned, but must escape with great fanfare, and we cannot escape too quickly." Taiyan happily tucked the dark divine power away, then looked back suspiciously, "Why?" Yu Longyue lightly covered her red lips and smiled slyly, "Only by doing this can we draw over those descending Spirit God avatars faster." Nie Kong nodded, then took out the 'Immortal Zither Sea Map' and smiled, "Aunt Yue, this supreme treasure of the Sea Clan is more suitable to give to you. Your cultivation of Water God Power perfectly matches it.

If you merge your spiritual imprint into it, you can exert the map's power to the maximum." "Then... Aunt Yue won't stand on ceremony with you." "..." As they spoke, Nie Kong had already melted Li Yu's body into a mass of fire divine power and guided it into his body.

With this, he possessed three masses of pure divine power, each reaching the intensity of a third-grade Spirit God. Absorbing all of them would be more than enough to elevate himself to the fourth-grade Spirit God.

Time was pressing, so the three immediately took action: Nie Kong and Taiyan began refining the divine power, while Yu Longyue started familiarizing herself with the Immortal Zither Sea Map.