The attack came without warning, utterly without preamble. "Hmph!" Sensing the ferocious assault from behind, the Divine Venerable Leshan was struck with horror, but only managed a muffled groan before his body was flung hundreds of meters forward like a discarded hide.

Boom! As his body slammed heavily onto the ground, Divine Venerable Leshan faintly glimpsed a white shadow separating itself from the spatial barrier behind the palm strike—a figure whose appearance was startlingly familiar.

Nie Kong! Divine Venerable Leshan was utterly astonished.

Seeing the white shadow drifting toward him, he reacted with almost no hesitation; his form melted into the yellow sand, fleeing rapidly toward the edge of the Forbidden Zone, causing the previously flat ground to continually surge upward. "Revenge is never served cold!

Old man, you hit me with a sneak attack, so I’ll return one in kind," a burst of exhilarating laughter echoed from behind. Divine Venerable Leshan dared not pause, burrowing frantically beneath the yellow sand like an earth dragon, moving at an absolute extreme speed.

In the blink of an eye, he entered the narrow passage of the Forbidden Zone. "Nie Kong, why aren't you pursuing?" Deep within the Forbidden Zone, the jovial Gourd was greatly confused when Nie Kong halted his steps.

Tai Yan was also quite perplexed. The huā ornament on Nie Kong’s chest swayed a few times: "Yes, Brother, the old bastard is severely injured.

We can kill him easily if we just catch up." Nie Kong shook his head. "Divine Venerable Leshan is an Earth Spirit God.

Here in the desert, he is like a fish in water. Even severely injured, his speed won't be significantly affected for a short time.

Catching him will take at least half an hour. While fleeing, he might contact Ziwei, Dantian, and the others.

By the time we catch up, they will likely have arrived. There's no need for us to waste more time; at least injuring him has let off some steam." "He got off too easily," Tai Yan grumbled, still feeling indignant.

"Exactly! That kind of old scoundrel should be refined!" The Gourd puckered its chubby little face, looking eager for chaos to erupt.

"There will be plenty of opportunities later." Nie Kong laughed heartily and turned back toward the spatial barrier. "However, it is indeed a pity.

My injuries haven't fully healed yet; otherwise, that sneak attack just now might have been enough to keep Divine Venerable Leshan here." As he spoke, Nie Kong’s figure was already dissolving into the spatial barrier hundreds of miles away. The earth dragon that had been burrowing forward madly finally stopped.

"Poof!" Yellow sand exploded outward. Divine Venerable Leshan burst from underground, landing heavily on the sand.

A sickly, flushed red appeared on his pale face; the combination of severe injury and desperate flight had worsened his condition. "Nie Kong, I never thought this old man would fall like this...

cough, cough, cough..." Divine Venerable Leshan muttered to himself, then could no longer suppress it. Clutching his chest, he coughed violently, his voice hoarse, like a ruptured bellows.

He spat out blood mouthful after mouthful. Looking at the fragments of internal organs mixed in the gore, Divine Venerable Leshan’s face was etched with a bitter, self-mocking smile mixed with relief.

Among the Five Great Divine Venerables and Six Ninth-Grade Star Gods who entered the Tai Shi Grotto-Heaven, he had been one of the most outstanding "hunters." Once, that prey had been within his grasp. But he never expected retribution to arrive so quickly.

He had successfully ambushed Nie Kong on the fourth level of the Grotto-Heaven, and now, on the fifth level, Nie Kong had immediately returned the favor with a sneak attack. Although his physical body was incredibly resilient due to cultivating Earth Divine Power, it simply couldn't compare to the damage sustained by the "Crimson Star War Body." His injuries were at least twice as severe as Nie Kong's.

If Nie Kong’s own injuries weren't still lingering, he might have followed in the footsteps of Divine Venerable Anyè. It was only then that Divine Venerable Leshan sadly realized that in the eyes of his "prey," Nie Kong, he was merely another "hunter" himself.

"Brother Leshan." A graceful figure sped toward him from the distance—it was Divine Venerable Ziwei. Seeing Divine Venerable Leshan slumped on the ground, her expression shifted, and she exclaimed in shock, "What happened to you?" "Don't mention it, this old man...

cough, cough..." Divine Venerable Leshan coughed up another mouthful of visceral matter, his heart filled with extreme bitterness. However, he finally allowed himself to relax.

Among the Five Great Divine Venerables, his relationship with Divine Venerable Ziwei was the deepest. With her here, he no longer had to worry about Nie Kong pursuing him further.

The Shén Tiān Forbidden Zone. "So much 'Chaos Immortal Qi'..." Nie Kong felt an inexplicable surge of excitement in his chest.

The spatial barriers in other parts of this "Tai Shi Grotto-Heaven" were utterly impregnable; even all the Grand Venerables working together could barely breach them. Because of this, Chongxu and Pangu were convinced there was a layer of the "Tai Yi" Realm above the Grand Venerable Realm.

Only those who surpassed the Grand Venerable level could create independent spaces like the "Tai Shi Grotto-Heaven" and the incredibly resilient spatial barriers within them. However, the spatial barrier deep within this "Shén Tiān Forbidden Zone" was vastly different from elsewhere.

The barrier here was a true dead end; once inside, one would lose all sense of direction and be swept into spatial rifts. Pánshén Tiān, who discovered this Forbidden Zone back then, met his end this way.

During the next Grotto-Heaven opening, Grand Venerable Chongxu and Grand Venerable Pangu personally entered the Forbidden Zone to investigate. Afterward, they warned all Ninth-Grade Spirit Gods and Ninth-Grade Star Gods not to enter the spatial barrier within the zone.

In such a place, even super-strong experts like them had to proceed with extreme caution, treading as if on thin ice. Nie Kong could enter and exit this spatial barrier thanks to the guidance of the "Chaos Immortal Qi." Upon entering this Forbidden Zone, he discovered that the spatial barrier here was infused with the aura of "Chaos Immortal Qi." While Divine Venerable Leshan was in his element in the desert, Nie Kong was equally in his element within the spatial barrier, having no fear of getting lost or stumbling into a spatial rift.

Still, Nie Kong maintained sufficient vigilance, advancing slowly. The further forward he went, the denser the aura of Immortal Qi became.

Perhaps several hours, or perhaps several days later, Nie Kong's vision suddenly opened up. The previously milky-white spatial barrier seemed to have completely vanished, and his field of vision became exceptionally clear.

Within this void, a massive cloud of mist hovered, threaded and crisscrossed by drifting "Chaos Immortal Qi." Their numbers were immense—over three hundred streams, more than ten times the amount in the "Seven-Colored Immortal Domain." Nie Kong now truly understood why the Seven-Colored Grand Venerable had repeatedly warned him not to seek the "Tai Shi Divine Crystal" but rather to absorb as much "Chaos Immortal Qi" as possible. Compared to the illusory "Tai Shi Divine Crystal," the "Chaos Immortal Qi" was indeed far more important.

"Brother, is this the Chaos Immortal Qi?" Tai Yan looked around curiously. "Nie Kong, absorbing thirty-three streams of 'Chaos Immortal Qi' in the 'Seven-Colored Immortal Domain' took such a long time...

The 'Tai Shi Grotto-Heaven' only opens for three months. Who knows how much time has passed already?

I estimate we’ll be forcibly sent out before we can refine many streams," the Gourd mumbled. "With the 'Great Sun Chaos True Fire,' the refining speed will be incredibly fast." Nie Kong laughed heartily, pinching the Gourd's cheek.

The Seven-Colored Grand Venerable created the "Great Sun Chaos True Fire" precisely for this purpose. If not for the fact that this technique required prior refinement of Immortal Qi before it could be successfully cultivated, the Seven-Colored Grand Venerable would have passed it to Nie Kong long ago, saving him the long effort in the "Seven-Colored Immortal Domain."