Within two breaths, every single "Nightmare Worm" vanished completely. That solitary white sun continued its ascent, and in the space of a mere moment, it began to pierce through the enveloping mist.

"Th-This..."

Outside the miasma, the Dark Night God-Vener’s eyes brimmed with astonishment and utter disbelief. "You... you can actually shatter my 'Nightmare Worms'? How is this possible?"

"Dark Night, this is only the beginning!"

Nie Kong’s laugh had barely escaped before the white sun abruptly expanded several dozen times its size. Countless rays of light poured down like liquid mercury, drenching the colossal mist-cage and the ghostly silhouette hovering just outside it.

"Ah!"

The Dark Night God-Vener shrieked, his spectral form instantly merging into the cage. His voice, laced with suspicion, vibrated outward. "Nie Kong, what have you done to me?"

"This is the 'Great Sun Chaos True Fire,' specially forged for me by the Old Master!"

Nie Kong roared with laughter. "I spent an entire month perfectly synchronizing the Chaos Heavenly Fire, the Battle God Star Seal, and the Blood Prison Sword King Tree to finally master this 'Great Sun Chaos True Fire.' Old fellow, you are truly fortunate; you get to be the first to savor the taste of my 'Great Sun Chaos True Fire.'"

As he spoke, the light emanating from the white sun simultaneously burst into flame.

The flames were white as ice and snow, their radiance dazzlingly brilliant, relentlessly pressing in on the mist-cage. The thirty-six pitch-black colossal pillars that formed the prison began to visibly melt.

The Dark Night God-Vener screamed again, and streams of "Nightmare Worms" erupted from the melting pillars, surging toward the white radiance in all directions.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

The sound of fierce collisions was ceaseless. Those "Nightmare Worms" were like moths drawn to a fatal flame, continuously dissolving under the snow-white fire. The Dark Night God-Vener was a mixture of shock and rage: "Nie Kong, you despicable villain! Possessing the means of the 'Great Sun Chaos True Fire,' yet hiding it while you were only at the third layer of the Grotto-Heaven realm!"

Nie Kong smirked teasingly. "If I had used it back then, how could I have so easily reached the fourth layer of the Grotto-Heaven?"

"You..."

The Dark Night God-Vener’s voice trembled with fury.

Nie Kong sighed with mock contemplation. "Speaking of which, I should thank you. If you hadn't deployed the mist-cage, I couldn't have subdued you so quickly. This mist-cage imprisoned me, but it also tethered you. Dark Night God-Vener, gifting me a Ninth-Grade Spirit God to refine—such a grand offering! I truly don't know how to thank you properly."

"Dream on if you think you can refine me!" The Dark Night God-Vener roared furiously, black miasma surging outward as the thirty-six pillars instantly fused into a single mass.

"Mist Coagulation! Dream Shatter!"

A chilling voice suddenly erupted.

The swirling black fog around Nie Kong instantly solidified, then, as if struck by a stone, shattered like porcelain, piece by piece. Terrifying force surged out, bombarding Nie Kong’s body from all directions.

A desperate gambit?

Nie Kong’s pupils constricted momentarily. Chaos God Power layered itself around the Taiyan artifact and the gourd resting on his chest.

"Crack! Snap!"

In the blink of an eye, the area filled with rapid, popping sounds, much like corn exploding. Nie Kong’s "Spirit Rhyme Battle Robe" remained completely undamaged, but his body was instantly covered in blood marks of varying depths, transforming Nie Kong into a giant figure drenched in crimson.

"Mist Coagulation!"

The Dark Night God-Vener roared again, but his voice was significantly weaker. The moment the command left his lips, the black fog that had just dissipated began to re-condense. "Dream..."

Before the final syllable, "Shatter," could ring out, something within the solidified black fog exploded.

"Ah!"

The Dark Night God-Vener let out a howl of agonizing pain as the black fog scattered once more.

Immediately afterward, a white silhouette was revealed amidst the dissipating black mist—it was the true body of the Dark Night God-Vener, his exterior currently being consumed by the "Great Sun Chaos True Fire."

"Dark Night, don't forget my 'Hand of Space.' Didn't Sea Dragon tell you?"

Nie Kong’s blood-soaked right arm shot out with sudden force, clamping around the Dark Night God-Vener’s neck. Lifting him up as easily as an eagle snatching a chick, Nie Kong grinned menacingly. "This Ninth-Grade Spirit God body is the great gift you offered me. It doesn't matter if you die, but how can I let the Dark God Power within this vessel be destroyed along with you?"

The Dark Night God-Vener's "Mist Coagulation, Dream Shatter" was essentially a self-destructive technique that harmed the user as much as the enemy, designed to shatter one's divine power layer by layer to inflict damage. If he were to execute the "Mist Coagulation, Dream Shatter" a third time, his physical body, soul, and all his divine power would be utterly annihilated.

Nie Kong hadn't anticipated the Dark Night God-Vener being so ruthless even toward himself. The instant he realized escape from the "Great Sun Chaos True Fire" was impossible, he decisively chose this path.

Fortunately, Nie Kong's reaction was equally swift. Sacrificing his battle body to severe injury, he managed to sense the true body's location during the Dark Night God-Vener's first attempt at "Mist Coagulation, Dream Shatter," then utilized the "Hand of Space" to detonate the attack, crushing his second self-destruction in its nascent stage.

"Hand of Space?"

The Dark Night God-Vener seemed to have encountered the Sea Dragon God-Vener in the 'Primal Chaos Grotto-Heaven,' as he roared curses. "That old scoundrel Sea Dragon! I am irreconcilable enemies with him..."

"And you, Nie Kong!"

"I have certainly lost this engagement, but don't get cocky. Ziwei, Dantian, and the six Ninth-Grade Star Gods of the Panxing Clan will absolutely never let you leave the 'Primal Chaos Grotto-Heaven,' hahahaha..." The Dark Night God-Vener’s struggles lessened, and his howling, wailing laughter gradually faded into silence.

"Not let me leave? We'll see if they have the ability!"

Nie Kong sneered internally, paying no heed to the Dark Night God-Vener’s threats. Once he reached the fifth layer of the Primal Chaos Grotto-Heaven and refined enough "Chaos Immortal Qi," his strength would rise to the absolute peak of the Ninth-Grade Spirit God realm. Even if the Ziwei God-Vener and the others attacked him simultaneously, he would have the confidence to handle them.

In a flash of thought, Nie Kong’s body rapidly shrank.

The curtain of fire created by the white sun also rapidly contracted, gathering the surrounding dense black mist and the Dark Night God-Vener's true body into a single point.

The next moment, the white sun dissolved, and the Chaos Heavenly Fire began to burn.

"Hoo!"

Taking a long breath, Nie Kong confirmed his direction. While refining the Dark Night God-Vener’s Dark God Power, he sped toward the entrance of the Grotto-Heaven's fifth layer. He had been entangled with the Dark Night God-Vener here for quite some time; the Ninth-Grade Spirit Gods and Star Gods like Ziwei and Pan Yan must have all arrived at the fourth layer by now.

Nie Kong had to reach the vortex entrance of this level as quickly as possible to enter the final layer of the "Primal Chaos Grotto-Heaven." Only there could he finally allow himself to relax.

At this very moment, the Dark Spirit Grotto-Heaven, home of the Dark God Sect, presented an entirely different scene.

"Bang!"

The Dark Night God-Vener, who had been sitting quietly on a cushion, suddenly opened his eyes. He slammed his right palm heavily onto the ground, instantly pulverizing the jade bricks within a hundred-meter radius into fine dust.

"Nie Kong! Sea Dragon!"

The Dark Night God-Vener’s face contorted, the corners of his mouth twitching, spitting out these two names almost one syllable at a time. It was no wonder he was so furious; the Ninth-Grade Spirit God body sent to the "Primal Chaos Grotto-Heaven" had fallen into Nie Kong’s hands. What remained now was merely this Seventh-Grade Spirit God clone.

Although he had once been a Grand Venerable, for this Seventh-Grade clone to cultivate back to the Ninth-Grade realm would take nearly a millennium. Fortunately, having become a Spirit God granted him endless lifespan, so he had ample time to wait.

After a long silence, a frigid voice echoed from the spacious hall: "Issue a decree: completely seal the Dark Spirit Grotto-Heaven and halt all external activities of my Dark God Sect!"

"Yes!"

...

...