A few rare spirits possess inherently mighty physiques, born with formidable innate divine power. With minimal cultivation, they could traverse the Three Realms unchecked.

Yet, the Heavenly Dao is impartial. Because these primordial beings are so powerful, their path—whether through innate conception or later cultivation—is a myriad of times harder than that of ordinary creatures. The world Gu Xiechen inhabits is vast beyond measure, its celestial bodies numbering in the trillions. But since the dawn of the Primordial Chaos, the number of stellar bodies that have successfully broken their shells, manifested form, and achieved cultivation is merely eighty-four thousand—precisely the Eight-and-Forty Thousand Star Lords of the Heavenly Court.

Other innate entities were fortunate enough to borrow a strand of Primordial Spirit Qi to condense a nascent spirit, allowing their true bodies to gestate within the primordial matrix. However, due to ill fortune, they could not break free into the world for eons. The Solar True God of old was one such case. Though an innate entity, his fundamental nature was too robust, and constrained by the rules of the Heavenly Dao, he slumbered within his matrix for countless kalpas, still unable to emerge.

This raises the question: Under the Heavenly Dao, how could the Art of Reversing the Innate to Manifest an Incarnation exist?

Any innate spirit blessed with fortune and destiny, whose physical body is so overwhelmingly powerful that they remain trapped in deep slumber, unable to fully manifest, could execute this divine ability. This technique allows them to separate a portion of their vital essence from the matrix and manifest an incarnation outside of it, cultivating insights into the Heavenly Dao while weakening the main body. This method hastens the moment they can break free. Once the physical body manifests, the released essence is reabsorbed. Although approximately half the essence is lost, this greatly accelerates the time to materialization. For beings as powerful as these innate spirits, recovering this lost essence takes merely tens of thousands of years of cultivation—a negligible sacrifice for entities who sleep across entire kalpas.

The Black Dragon before them had clearly comprehended this divine technique during its gestation and deployed it without hesitation. This is what birthed the immense belt of stardust surrounding them. Each speck of dust is formed from its vital essence. Should it reclaim this stardust, its cultivation would surely soar to a level that Gu Xiechen and the others could not possibly handle.

Considering its true form is a Black Dragon—the sovereign of scaled creatures in the cosmos, a divine artifact of Heaven and Earth—its physical body and divine powers surpass ordinary innate spirits by a hundredfold. One only needs to observe how the later generations of the Dragon Clan govern the four seas and serve as major ministers in the Heavenly Court to grasp their might. This primordial divine dragon is exponentially more formidable. Its matrix has a diameter of about a hundred kilometers, suggesting its true length should be at least a hundred li. Yet, it is currently only three zhang long, illustrating how much vital essence it has dispersed.

Estimating based on this Black Dragon’s current length, had it not been in a hurry to break free, but instead waited for the opportune moment for natural gestation, it would have emerged with the cultivation level of a Golden Immortal!

Even though it has now employed a forbidden art to weaken itself, if it reabsorbs all this surrounding stardust, it can instantly restore half of its vital energy! Half the strength of a Golden Immortal is at least equivalent to a Fifth-Rank Heavenly Immortal. Gu Xiechen and the others tied together wouldn't even be enough for it to waste saliva upon.

As it began to reverse the divine technique, absorbing the surrounding stardust and heavenly fire, the Black Dragon’s colossal aura made the Seven Daoists and the Four Monks, along with Chi Long Lieyan, tremble uncontrollably. The weakest Daoists even spat blood. If it were allowed to reclaim all the stardust and heavenly fire, it could likely kill everyone present merely by breathing upon them.

No longer daring to conceal his full strength, Gu Xiechen unleashed the True Magnetic Two Energies Light-Dividing Sword and began a frenzy of slashing attacks against the Black Dragon. The sword light was so fast that Chi Long Lieyan and the others could not track it; they only saw streaks of sharpness carving countless bloody springs, large and small, across the Black Dragon’s body, sending scales flying everywhere. The Five Waters Dragon Whisker Fan was also wielded repeatedly, summoning waves of Sky-Dripping Water that crashed down upon the Black Dragon, simultaneously forming a colossal water curtain ten thousand zhang thick around it, desperately blocking the influx of surrounding stardust.

The Azure Lotus Ring shrank to the size of five zhang in diameter, emitting a blinding azure light that pinned itself onto the Black Dragon, attempting to forcibly sweep it into the Ring’s spatial dimension. Once deployed, the Ring’s immense spatial power trapped the Black Dragon’s body; despite its struggles, it could not move. Seizing this moment, the Three Taiyin Needles wickedly transformed into faint, cold glints, slipping into the gaps of the Black Dragon’s inverted scales and stabbing fiercely toward its heart.

Gu Xiechen unleashed all his magical artifacts, causing the Black Dragon to roar in pain. His hands wove complex seals, sending wave after wave of Taiyin Talismans, accompanied by towering water surges and countless lightning strikes, crashing down upon the dragon. The water surged with bone-chilling coldness; wherever it passed, the fire-breathing stardust was instantly frozen solid, losing all vitality. Vast swathes of lightning bombarded the Black Dragon, blasting its scales to fragments, causing large chunks of flesh and blood to spray out continuously. The Taiyin Qi contained within the lightning congealed into a vast net, tightly binding the Black Dragon’s physical form and then seeping inward, targeting its nascent spirit.

The Black Dragon thrashed wildly. Its Dragon Orb spun rapidly in the air, constantly crashing against the vast expanse of water summoned by Gu Xiechen. The impact made the five-colored waves churn and roar loudly. Occasionally, the Dragon Orb would break through the water barrier and contact the external stardust, immediately and frantically absorbing the stardust and heavenly fire. With every unit of stardust and heavenly fire absorbed, the Black Dragon’s body strengthened slightly, and the skeleton that was nearly exposed began to repair itself rapidly. Simultaneously, it continually unleashed its divine powers to vie with Gu Xiechen for control over the Five-Colored True Water, causing the waves to dance chaotically.

Although the Black Dragon was fire-attributed, the Dragon is ordained by the Heavenly Dao as the deity responsible for summoning clouds and rain; this Black Dragon possessed a formidable control over the water elemental power of Heaven and Earth. When its innate divine power manifested, it caused the vast, colorful water waves to shake erratically, nearly turning the Five-Colored True Water summoned by Gu Xiechen into a tool for its own command.

Fortunately, Gu Xiechen cultivated the Taiyin True Scripture; the Taiyin Qi is the root of all water elemental power in the cosmos. The Black Dragon’s innate divine power, no matter how potent, was merely borrowing the force of water. Unlike Gu Xiechen, who was inherently of the water lineage and wielded the Five-Colored True Water as if it were his own limb, the dragon was barely able to suppress him.

The five-colored waves rolled and twisted, continuously enveloping the Dragon Orb which was darting wildly throughout the void. Huge icebergs formed within the waves and smashed down upon the Dragon Orb, shaking it repeatedly into the watery depths, causing the Black Dragon’s body to spasm with each impact. Often, once the water waves enveloped the Dragon Orb, the Black Dragon could no longer absorb the external stardust and heavenly fire. It shrieked frantically toward the heavens, spurring its divine powers even harder to fight Gu Xiechen.

Before long, the Black Dragon suddenly wailed in agony. It spewed out thick, corrupted essence blood from all seven of its orifices. The Three Taiyin Needles had pierced its inverted scales, traveling along its meridians directly to its heart meridian, where they painfully jabbed its heart several times. The bone-chilling Taiyin Qi had almost frozen the Black Dragon’s heart into a block of ice. The pain caused large, thick tears—viscous red fluid, almost identical to magma—to stream from its eyes.

Had the Black Dragon’s core body not been so immensely powerful, and its heart—the convergence point of its entire essence blood—not maintained a terrifyingly high temperature, further guarded by a ring of Solar Blazing Flame, the sneak attack from the Three Taiyin Needles would have killed it outright. Even so, the Black Dragon’s vitality was severely damaged; its newly elevated magic power and divine abilities instantly plummeted by a full realm, awkwardly returning to the level of a Grand Sovereign Heaven Realm practitioner. The Black Dragon cried out in desperation, summoning all its strength to violently crash its head against the azure light emanating from the Azure Lotus Ring.

With a deafening crash, one of the Black Dragon’s horns broke off cleanly at the base, and a massive crack suddenly appeared on the Azure Lotus Ring. The expelled azure light was shattered by the force of the impact.

The one-horned Black Dragon’s eyes turned blood-red. It let out a frenzied roar, and its body suddenly transformed into streaks of fierce lightning—

Several Taiyin Talismans on the Taiyin Robe flared to life, wrapping Gu Xiechen’s body in a ring of white water waves. The Black Dragon’s single horn rammed violently into the wave barrier. A streak of bloody light erupted from the horn, shattering the water waves. The dragon’s horn also suffered extensive cracking from the counter-recoil force, yet the Black Dragon’s massive head continued its desperate assault, slamming into Gu Xiechen’s chest.

With a tremendous sound, Gu Xiechen spat out a torrent of blood. Countless ash-gray water droplets erupted from every pore on his body—even his life essence was forcefully ejected. The Dragon Clan is the most physically powerful lineage in the cosmos, let alone a primordial divine dragon. How could Gu Xiechen’s current physical body possibly contend with a manifested divine dragon?

Spitting blood mouthful after mouthful, Gu Xiechen’s eyes rolled back as he retreated rapidly, covering several hundred li in the blink of an eye. Countless hairline fractures webbed the ribs near his chest. If his Taiyin True Body had not already achieved a small measure of mastery—its bones as hard as ten-thousand-year-old black ice, and pliable as flowing spring water—this single blow would have pulverized his ribs.

Caught between shock and anger, the Black Dragon charged at Gu Xiechen again, locking onto the figure that had inflicted the most damage. Relying on its brute strength, it slammed into him once more.

In that instant, a flash of black and yellow light shimmered over Gu Xiechen’s body. The injured flesh instantly restored itself, even becoming marginally sturdier than before. The initial efficacy of the Mysterious Yellow Indestructible Body began to show: as long as the Mysterious Yellow Qi remains, physical damage can be repaired at the fastest possible rate, and with each restoration, the body is strengthened slightly, relative to the severity of the damage sustained. The more severe the injury, the longer the recovery time, but the greater the physical reinforcement gained!

Gu Xiechen rejoiced inwardly. Disregarding the danger, he roared and executed the Taiyin Great Seizing technique. His hands swept up a wave of white water covering several acres, coalescing into two massive arms that grabbed downward toward the Black Dragon from several hundred zhang away. The hands formed from Taiyin Qi savagely grasped the Black Dragon’s body, and a large sheet of profound ice adhered to its exterior. However, the Black Dragon merely twisted its body, shattering the two gigantic arms, and then slammed into Gu Xiechen again.

This time, it struck Gu Xiechen’s two arms held defensively in front of him, smashing them into a bloody pulp. The bones in his arms snapped into more than a dozen pieces.

The black and yellow light flashed again. Gu Xiechen’s arms instantly recovered, not only returning to normal but clearly possessing several hundred jin more strength, becoming noticeably more agile and nimble. Gu Xiechen was overjoyed. He promptly summoned a gigantic war-hammer, the kind used by those Golden Armored Puppets, and brought it down upon the Black Dragon’s head with a single mighty swing.

With a pained howl, the Black Dragon saw stars; the single horn on its head developed faint fissures. The Black Dragon’s temperament was inherently the most tyrannical. After suffering successive heavy blows from Gu Xiechen, an innate, malevolent fire surged to its brain. It completely forgot that its Dragon Orb was outside, laboriously absorbing stardust and heavenly fire. It summoned all its power and engaged Gu Xiechen in a brute-force physical confrontation. For a time, only a black light wrapped in a white mist was visible, clanging like metal striking metal as they fought in a chaotic entanglement.

The Black Dragon’s physical body was undeniably tough, absolutely robust. Its head, claws, body, and tail all contained immense power.

A light blow from the Black Dragon left large patches of bloody, mangled wounds on Gu Xiechen, often breaking his bones and even jarring his internal organs. But as soon as the black and yellow energy flashed, Gu Xiechen’s body would revert to its pristine state, only to become slightly tougher than before.

In merely two or three breaths, the Black Dragon had inflicted thousands of injuries of varying severity upon Gu Xiechen, like a sudden storm. Yet, protected by the cheat-like cultivation method of the Mysterious Yellow Indestructible Body, Gu Xiechen’s body suffered no lasting damage, instead growing stronger. Apart from the unbearable agony, his physical form was constantly reinforced.

Although the cultivation of the Mysterious Yellow Indestructible Body had only just achieved its foundation, this nascent stage was not to be underestimated. As long as the Mysterious Yellow Qi was not instantly depleted by an overwhelming blow, it would continuously repair Gu Xiechen’s physical form. In battle, this provided Gu Xiechen with an enormous advantage. He was essentially using the Black Dragon’s fierce attacks to temper his own body; there could not be a more ideal sparring partner than this Black Dragon!

The bewildered Black Dragon forgot its own divine powers and spells. Its eyes red with fury, it lunged and bit wildly at Gu Xiechen, wishing only to chew him into shreds and pass him out as waste. Dragons possess inverted scales; touching them invites death. Gu Xiechen had not only touched its inverted scale, but the Three Taiyin Needles were also stabbing near its heart! This piercing agony made the Black Dragon hate Gu Xiechen to the core; it naturally focused all its attacks on him.

All this, though described slowly, transpired in only three to five breaths. Nearby, Chi Long Lieyan and the others hastily produced uniquely shaped high-pressure syringes. They brutally jabbed the needles into their own necks, injecting the pale purple fluid within. The group took a deep breath, feeling boundless strength surge from within, and they regrouped to charge toward the Black Dragon. Leading the vanguard was the large and corpulent Monk Sixi, who cultivated the Joyful Zen technique.

At this moment, Monk Sixi’s expression was solemn. They joined their palms and shot forward like a rainbow toward the fray. Still ten li away from Gu Xiechen, the four great monks suddenly curled their bodies inward, stealthily maneuvering like thieves toward the conflict zone. Taking advantage of the Black Dragon’s inattention, the four monks simultaneously chanted the Six-Syllable Mantra of Esoteric Buddhism and stealthily aimed their hands—with extreme vulgarity—at the Black Dragon’s lower vital area. Their eight hands landed simultaneously near the Black Dragon’s genitals. The fat on the monks’ bodies suddenly trembled violently.

Eight bizarre streams of power—appearing like Buddhist Zen energy yet laced with a demonic aura—blasted into the Black Dragon’s body. It was like a single spark dropped into an ocean of crude oil; the Black Dragon’s body shuddered. Its pure Yang vital essence suddenly boiled over, surging outward like an opened floodgate.

The four great monks grinned maniacally, clinging tightly to the Black Dragon’s body. A rapidly spinning, pale pink Inverse Myriad Buddha Seal formed in their palms. They desperately extracted the Black Dragon’s thick, pure Yang vital essence, converting it into their own vital energy. The technique they practiced was perverse yet overwhelmingly dominant. In just a few breaths, the Black Dragon’s previously dark, lustrous scales shed a layer, gradually turning grey-white and desiccated, resembling the hair of an eighty or ninety-year-old man.

Chi Long Lieyan cursed as he bounded over from behind. He pointed at the four monks and berated them, mainly mocking them for not even sparing a male Black Dragon.

The four monks, however, were utterly shameless. They laughed in unison, stating that not even sparing a male Black Dragon perfectly represented their "universal love."

While Chi Long Lieyan and the four monks bickered, the Seven Star Daoists arrived. They hovered above the Black Dragon and once again arranged themselves according to the Big Dipper constellation. A hazy starlight descended, and the Daoists simultaneously produced thumb-sized silver seals and tossed them toward the sky. Seven beams of starlight shot down from the depths of the distant Celestial River, precisely striking these talismans.

The seals, initially the size of a thumb, rapidly expanded. Instantly, silver talismans the size of bushels materialized, each sealing one of the natal essence charms of the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, bearing the true likenesses of the Seven Star Lords. Starlight spiraled and danced around the seals, drawing down the seven distinct lights from the heavens, which then coalesced in the air into a pale golden great seal the size of a water vat. The Seven Star Daoists shouted in unison; a silver light shot out from the center of their brows, and the seven nascent spirits emerged, transforming into small, fist-sized silver beads embedded upon the great seal.

Immediately afterward, the physical bodies of the Seven Star Daoists transformed into streaks of silver light and flew up, shrinking continuously until they became small figures about a chi high, standing atop the great seal. Each Daoist held a Seven Star Pine-Patterned Staff, performing the Demon Subduing Hand Seals of the Seven Stars, guiding the seven beams of starlight entering the great seal.

As the Four Sixi Monks continuously drained its natal essence, the Black Dragon, which had been gradually swelling, began to shrink and wither. Even its Dragon Orb, which had been struggling within the five-colored water waves, dimmed its radiance. Conversely, the Four Sixi Monks grew visibly fatter and taller, their layers of blubber swelling. In a short time, they grew so obese they resembled spheres.

The Black Dragon roared in fury. It abruptly cast aside Gu Xiechen, who was entangled with it, and lashed out with its four massive claws toward the Four Sixi Monks.

Amidst muffled cries of pain, the Four Sixi Monks were blasted backward, bathed in blood. The Black Dragon’s claws ripped off at least three to four hundred jin of fat from their bodies. These chunks of white, quivering flesh instantly dissolved into dense spiritual energy the moment they separated from their bodies, drifting away only to be immediately swallowed back down by the Four Sixi Monks.

The Black Dragon’s blood-red eyes glared, and just as it was about to pounce on the Four Sixi Monks, the great seal above its head—which had condensed the entire cultivation, essence, spirit, and vigor of the Seven Star Daoists—pulled upon the power of the Big Dipper. It descended like a mountain of knives forged from countless sharp blades, emitting a faint hum as it struck the Black Dragon’s head.

Caught completely off guard, the Black Dragon was struck head-on by the great seal. The immense pressure blasted countless sharp star-forces into its head, shattering its solitary horn, scattering scales and flesh everywhere. Even its solid cranial plate cracked with numerous fissures, large and small. The seven physical bodies of the Seven Star Daoists, suspended above the great seal, simultaneously swung their small right-hand swords downward. Seven streaks of silver sword energy, only as wide as chive leaves but several li long, erupted and pierced directly into the Black Dragon’s seven orifices.

With a long cry, the Black Dragon spat out a mouthful of purple blood upward, striking the great seal. The Seven Star Daoists spat blood and retreated; their nascent spirits dove back into their physical forms. The seven backed away several hundred li, sitting cross-legged in the void, drenched in sweat and their legs trembling violently. They hastily circulated their techniques to regulate their breath. That single strike had exhausted the Seven Star Daoists’ natal essence, even shaking their nascent spirits, nearly causing their cultivation to revert to the peak level of the Void Realm. The one-tenth portion of Immortal Spirit Qi they had managed to cultivate was entirely consumed, not a trace remaining.

However, the Seven Star Demon-Slaying Sword Qi they unleashed was profoundly mysterious. The seven beams of sword energy sealed the Black Dragon’s seven orifices, locking down its nascent spirit. The Black Dragon’s spirit was abruptly confined within its sea of consciousness, temporarily losing control over its body. The seven sword lights danced and intertwined within its sea of consciousness, tightly binding its spirit and occasionally piercing through it, wantonly damaging its soul origin.

The Black Dragon’s body froze in mid-air; even its Dragon Orb ceased absorbing stardust and heavenly fire. Until its nascent spirit could break through the seal and reclaim control of its physical form, the creature was utterly immobilized. The vile Four Sixi Monks immediately seized the opportunity, pouncing forward. Their eight hands sordidly gripped the Black Dragon’s lower body, continuously using secret methods to dissolve the Black Dragon’s pure Yang vital essence for their own use. In the blink of an eye, the Black Dragon’s body had shrunk by more than half, leaving only a desiccated strip of flesh less than a zhang long.

Gu Xiechen let out a joyful laugh and rose into the air. He summoned the True Magnetic Two Energies Light-Dividing Sword from the spatial barrier with a gesture of his right hand. It transformed into a black and white waterfall of light that powerfully swept down, fiercely cleaving toward the Black Dragon’s neck. With a crack, the sword light penetrated only an inch deep before it could not advance further—the Black Dragon’s physical toughness exceeded imagination. Gu Xiechen hardened his heart, quickly formed a sword incantation, and the black and white light waterfall began to spin rapidly around the Black Dragon’s neck like a windmill, cutting away. Amidst a harsh cracking sound, the Black Dragon’s head was finally severed by the sword light.

A great gush of purple vital blood sprayed forth, and the waiting Chi Long Lie Yan cheered and rushed forward, hastily using a red jar to collect every last drop of the vital blood. This innate pure Yang vital blood, brimming with powerful life essence, was enough for him to completely recast his physical body. Moreover, the reconstructed body would be even more robust than his original form, allowing him to re-cultivate the Three Heads Eighteen Arms Demon-Subduing Golden Body divine ability and elevate his Dao cultivation and magical power to an entirely new height.

Monk Si Xi roared with laughter and quickly released the hand gripping the Black Dragon, allowing Chi Long Lie Yan to take the dragon’s carcass as well. This Black Dragon was treasure from head to tail; even though a significant portion of its vitality was damaged, it was still immensely useful to cultivators.

The Black Dragon’s primordial spirit, its head severed and its vital blood plundered, let out a mournful shriek. It sensed that the physical body it had painstakingly cultivated for countless eons, finally achieving manifestation, had been destroyed. All the painstaking effort it had undertaken across innumerable kalpas incubating within its mother body was utterly wasted. Furthermore, the vast majority of its power was still scattered externally; if it could recall all that Stardust Heavenly Fire, the ones dying today would surely be Gu Xie Chen and the others, not itself!

A torrent of resentment, intoxicating as wine, spewed from the severed dragon head, instantly shattering the seven streams of sword energy sealing the Black Dragon’s primordial spirit. A serpentine primordial spirit, trailing billowing blood-light, burst forth from the pulverized head.

The Black Dragon’s primordial spirit let out a venomous howl audible only to souls, and it fiercely exerted its will, opening its maw to swallow its own Dragon Core, which was hovering motionlessly hundreds of miles away as a speck of black light. In the blink of an eye, the Black Dragon’s primordial spirit rapidly expanded to encompass a radius of a hundred miles, then violently contracted inward, shrinking down to a mass the size of a thumb.

Gu Xie Chen was horrified and suddenly shrieked, "This fiend is going to self-destruct its primordial spirit to fight us to the death!"

How arduous it was for innate beings to emerge into the world. How immense their pride, standing far above the myriad common beings. They were the favored children of Heaven and Earth, the crystallization of the universe’s essence. If nothing untoward had happened, this Black Dragon, in this current age where the Heavenly Court has faded into obscurity, should absolutely have become a monumental figure in the Three Realms, capable of stirring the clouds and summoning the rain with a mere turn of thought. But upon finally emerging through sheer effort, what awaited it was a group of utterly villainous bandits who not only seized the mother body that nurtured it but also snatched away its very foundation—its physical form.

Stripped of its body, how was this Black Dragon any different from ordinary acquired beings? In this era where the Dragon Clan was extinct throughout the Three Realms, at best it could find a common grass snake to possess, and who knew how many kalpas it would take to reform a dragon body—and even then, it would be far inferior to its original innate dragon form! What a deplorable situation!

This Black Dragon was driven to madness by rage; it decided to cast aside all restraint and blow up its Dragon Core and primordial spirit, dragging Gu Xie Chen and the others down with it!

Gu Xie Chen reacted the fastest, flashing backward several thousand miles. Closely following him was Chi Long Lie Yan; although the body of an Earthly Immortal possessed much less defense, the Earthly Immortal body was constructed of pure energy, giving it the utmost advantage in flight. Sensing the situation turning grim, he immediately began burning his natal vital essence, transforming into a streak of red light that fled backward even faster than Gu Xie Chen. Just as Gu Xie Chen retreated several thousand miles, Chi Long Lie Yan, regardless of the cost, fled out a distance...

However, after escaping a short distance, Chi Long Lie Yan abruptly turned and charged back toward the original battlefield. He flapped his claws and wings, shrieking, "Ya ya!" rolling himself into a ball and rushing toward the Seven Stars, who were currently fully focused on adjusting their vital energy. He summoned the Four Directions Great Cauldron, a fixture two zhang tall spewing intense flames, and then raised a fist-sized, smooth, crystalline golden Sarira above his head, signaling the seven old Daoists to retreat outwards.

The Seven Stars Daoists had completely exhausted their vital energy in their previous full-power strike. Seeing Chi Long Lie Yan flee far ahead, only to return to rescue them, they simultaneously erupted in curses, sending greetings to all eighteen generations of Chi Long Lie Yan’s ancestors, urging him to flee for his own life and not be implicated by them here!

But not only did Chi Long Lie Yan refuse to flee, Monk Si Xi also charged over, his pot-belly shaking and swelling into a large sphere. They arranged themselves according to the four cardinal directions to shield the weakened Seven Stars Daoists, simultaneously forming hand seals, burning their natal essence to secretly summon the manifested forms of the Four Great Wisdom Kings, projections of the Secret Esoteric Sect’s Great Sun Tathagata, erecting a barrier of seven-colored glazed light, and wrapping another layer of shield around Chi Long Lie Yan’s Four Directions Great Cauldron and the golden Sarira.

Gu Xie Chen, who had flashed several thousand miles away, paused in astonishment. He looked back at Chi Long Lie Yan, who was slowly flying outward with the seven old Daoists. He shook his head helplessly.

"Your entire family is truly ill-suited to be emperors."

After a pause, Gu Xie Chen twisted and transformed into dozens of afterimages, darting toward Chi Long Lie Yan and the others. He muttered under his breath, "But then again, I’m not destined to be an emperor either!"

He expelled a breath of true qi, and Gu Xie Chen instantly appeared beside Chi Long Lie Yan and the others. Without a word, he unleashed a vast, surging tide that enveloped them, then repeatedly formed hand seals, releasing the Yin energy to condense the flood into an immense, ten-thousand-zhang block of profound ice protecting their surroundings.

Chi Long Lie Yan’s cultivation was far inferior to Gu Xie Chen’s, so he lacked the ability to drag them through the spatial barrier. They also managed to erect their defensive barriers, and the Tai Yin Profound Pearl could not be hastily absorbed into the Yin space. Now, they could only fight desperately!

The Seven Stars Daoists were utterly depleted. The speed at which the group flew outward with them was agonizingly slow. After two breaths, the party had barely managed to travel over three hundred miles, while the tyrannical Dragon Soul had compressed into a dazzling ball of light the size of a mung bean. The terrifying fluctuations of power erupting from it were twisting the surrounding void into shattered mirrors. The spatial disturbances hindered their progress, slowing their flight even further—it was equivalent to a mortal walking on foot.

Chi Long Lie Yan shot Gu Xie Chen a glare and spat curses, "I came to save my brothers, why did you come running? Are we going to die together?"

Gu Xie Chen rolled his eyes at Chi Long Lie Yan and snorted coldly, "I came to save my friends. You have a problem with that?"

Chi Long Lie Yan froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter and slammed a punch into Gu Xie Chen’s chest: "Good! From now on, you are our brother!"

The Seven Stars Daoists, immobilized, showed traces of smiles on their ashen faces and vigorously nodded at Gu Xie Chen. Monk Si Xi’s eight hands habitually patted Gu Xie Chen’s waist and abdomen area, and his four distorted, fat faces also revealed joyful smiles. Gu Xie Chen felt a chill creep up his spine from the touching and almost drew his sword to blast them away.

A tremendously powerful mental shockwave erupted from the Dragon Soul, and a clear will invaded everyone’s Sea of Consciousness: Having survived immense tribulations to miraculously manifest, to perish in a single day—this hatred shall never extinguish in all eternity!

An intensely potent aura of malevolence rushed toward them. The aggregated energy of the Dragon Soul and the Dragon Core finally exploded. Unmatched energy violently erupted in all directions. Perhaps because the Dragon Soul hated Gu Xie Chen and the others to the core, ninety-nine percent of the energy from its self-detonated primordial spirit transformed into a purple-black column of light, a hundred li thick, rushing directly toward them.

In terms of energy level alone, this strike approached the power of the Heavenly Profound Embryo Nurturing Heaven Pivotal Peak strike—that is, the peak of a Fourth Grade Celestial Immortal. The energy contained in this blow was more than thirty times the energy emanating from the fire crow hovering near Gu Xie Chen, and it was a desperate, all-out strike with zero reservation, releasing all its energy instantaneously.

Gu Xie Chen frantically waved the Five Water Dragon Whisker Fan, constantly generating monstrous wolves around him. The bitter cold energy froze the five-colored water waves into thick profound ice covering their periphery. Before the explosion hit, this thick profound ice was ten li deep, its five-colored profound ice glistening, the hardness of this layer astonishing—at least equivalent to the standard of innate refined materials.

The pillar of light exploding from the Dragon Soul’s self-detonation slammed into them. The ten-li-thick profound ice barely touched the light pillar before it shattered into countless ice fragments scattering everywhere. Gu Xie Chen felt his internal organs shudder; the Five Water Dragon Whisker Fan suddenly developed several fine cracks, his vision filled with sparks, and jets of blood spurted from all seven apertures simultaneously.

Immediately following, the light pillar struck the Four Great Wisdom Kings Dharma Bodies condensed by Monk Si Xi. With only a light touch, Monk Si Xi wailed, spewing great torrents of blood from every orifice capable of bleeding. Their round, swollen bodies suddenly shrank, instantly becoming as thin as bamboo poles. The Four Great Wisdom Kings Dharma Bodies emitted streams of dazzling golden light and black essence, but they were blown to dust after enduring for less than one-tenth of a finger snap within the light pillar.

Chi Long Lie Yan let out a long cry. The Four Directions Great Cauldron he summoned spewed forth vast waves of fire. The boundless fire waves condensed into a wall of fire a hundred li thick before them, which then rapidly compressed inward, forming a wall barely three zhang thick but solid as crystal. He positioned the main body of the Four Directions Great Cauldron behind the wall of fire, continuously spewing his natal vital essence into the cauldron, spurring more fire waves to surge skyward.

The light pillar struck the wall of fire, and the materialized fire wall shattered instantly, scattering countless fire rains in all directions. The light pillar then slammed onto the Four Directions Great Cauldron. The cauldron was knocked flying with a dull roar, then transformed into a stream of light and retreated into Chi Long Lie Yan’s body, indicating that the cauldron's main body had suffered grievous damage. One of Chi Long Lie Yan’s arms was completely blasted away, and the backlash from the cauldron inflicted horrific damage upon his physical body.

Chi Long Lie Yan, who was bleeding from nearly every inch of his body, shouted and raised the golden Sarira hovering above his head to block the impact. As the golden Sarira barely moved, it met the light pillar head-on.

The figure of a handsome and ethereal white-robed monk materialized above the golden Sarira. This white monk pressed his palms together, gently striking and pushing against the light pillar.

The surging light pillar was instantly weakened by thirty percent, but that was all. The radiance on the golden Sarira abruptly dimmed, the white-robed monk’s figure suddenly exploded, and a fissure thinner than a strand of hair split open on the Sarira. It wobbled, transformed into a dim white light, and fled back into Chi Long Lie Yan’s body.

Chi Long Lie Yan cursed angrily, "Damn it, we’re dead! This thing is my great-grandfather’s most cherished possession; if I ruin it, I’m finished!"

Before the wail had ended, the light pillar approached with an aura of absolute destruction, about to crash into them.

Gu Xie Chen waved his hand, and the True Magnetic Two Energies Light-Splitting Sword transformed into a black and white luminous curtain, a hundred li wide, blocking their path. The black and white energies flowed rapidly, evolving into a spatial barrier in front of them, only as thin as a strand of hair yet possessing the divine ability of "Though Near, Yet Miles Apart."

Immense energy continuously poured into the black and white luminous curtain. Countless huge, pitch-black plasma bubbles suddenly split open in the surrounding void. Each bubble exploded with power comparable to the full-force strike of a peak Void Realm cultivator burning his entire being. Gradually, the density of the plasma bubble explosions increased, shattering the surrounding void into tatters.

Gu Xie Chen was using the True Magnetic Two Energies Light-Splitting Sword to temporarily carve open a spatial barrier before them, diverting a small portion of the massive energy into the barrier. This diverted energy immediately erupted in both positive and negative space outside the unstable barrier, triggering a vast spatial chaos.

However, as energy continued to flood the spatial barrier, Gu Xie Chen’s strength gradually depleted. His internal true essence was rapidly devoured by the True Magnetic Two Energies Light-Splitting Sword. If the Tai Yin Profound Pearl were not forcefully supporting him, this immense consumption would have drained him into a withered husk in the time it takes to snap one finger.

After all, he was forcefully prying open a temporary passage a hundred li wide between positive space and the spatial barrier, and allowing energy thousands of times stronger than his own cultivation to churn through this passage. The scale of his consumption was unimaginable!

Even if Gu Xie Chen could slip into the spatial barrier and fly within it, swimming in a river is not the same as forcibly carving a new estuary to accommodate a massive volume of river water flowing toward the sea.

He held on for only three finger-snaps. Even the Tai Yin energy surging from the Tai Yin Profound Pearl could not replenish Gu Xie Chen’s massive expenditure. He spat out a mouthful of blood and reluctantly retracted the True Magnetic Two Energies Light-Splitting Sword. At this point, he was empty inside, just like the Seven Stars Daoists, not a single drop of true qi remaining. And the destructive light pillar generated by the Black Dragon's self-detonation still retained approximately forty percent of its power!

Gu Xie Chen chuckled, "Heh heh," and began retreating with Chi Long Lie Yan and the others. Under the monstrous gazes of Chi Long Lie Yan’s group, Gu Xie Chen tossed out one small-scale super-spaceship after another. As soon as each spaceship appeared, it rapidly activated its energy shield and slammed headlong into the light pillar ahead. The light pillar relentlessly pursued them. One after another, the super-spaceships’ energy shields were pierced, and their hulls were pulverized into dust within the blinding light column.

After thirty super-spaceships were destroyed, the light pillar’s energy was reduced to less than thirty percent remaining.

Gu Xie Chen then hurled out dozens of Immortal Artifacts, detonating them without the slightest hesitation. The continuous explosions further weakened the light pillar’s energy by another ten percent.

Finally, a streak of red light shot toward the sky. The Qilin Seal transformed into a red light mass spanning a li in circumference and resolutely met the purple-black light pillar. A crisp Qilin cry erupted from the great seal, and a Qilin phantom charged out from within the seal. It opened its mouth and swallowed over ten percent of the purple-black light pillar before wobbling back to Gu Xie Chen’s hand as a ball of red light.

Facing the final remnant of the purple-black light, now only several dozen zhang thick, Gu Xie Chen spread his arms and charged forward, rolling his body into the beam. Black flames spewed from his left eye, frantically drawing in the last vestiges of energy essence from the Black Dragon’s self-destructed primordial spirit. His Solar Scorching Flame inside his body surged rapidly, gradually able to contend with the Tai Yin Profound Flame.

"Crack, crack," Gu Xie Chen’s flesh split open, and his bones fractured continuously. However, the light pillar, now at its absolute limit, could no longer inflict fatal damage upon Gu Xie Chen. Although his body writhed and convulsed under the intense light, his bones constantly shattered, twisting his form into all sorts of grotesque shapes. The inherent flexibility of the Tai Yin True Body was displayed perfectly here; the degree to which Gu Xie Chen’s body contorted would shame the so-called yoga masters of the Earth Federation into committing suicide.

Under the horrified gaze of Chi Long Lie Yan and the others, streams of black and yellow light constantly emerged from within Gu Xie Chen’s body, rapidly repairing his physical form.

Breaking only to be mended, breaking again only to be remade—this was how the Profound Yellow Indestructible Body continuously enhanced Gu Xie Chen’s physical strength.

Finally, under Gu Xie Chen’s almost cheating perseverance, the light pillar generated by the Black Dragon's self-detonation was completely exhausted.

Gu Xie Chen took a deep breath, slowly straightened his waist, which had been bent backward to a 180-degree angle from the impact, and forcefully twisted his body.

The countless exploding plasma bubbles in the surrounding void gradually subsided, and the void became clear.

Where the Black Dragon’s primordial spirit had been, there were now over a dozen drops of white liquid shimmering with seven-colored divine light trickling down. Gu Xie Chen flew over and took out more than ten jade bottles, collecting each drop of the liquid.

Innate beings are categorized as heavenly gods recognized by the Heavenly Dao. When a heavenly god is slain, the phenomenon of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man occurs; one of these declines is the tears shed by the heavenly god. Although these tears dripped from the eye sockets, they were actually the condensed essence of the innate spirit of the soon-to-perish heavenly god, and every drop was a supreme elixir for fostering the soul and greatly nourishing spiritual consciousness.

Since the Black Dragon's innate body was powerful, the Tears of the Heavenly God left after its death and spiritual annihilation numbered eighteen. The soul power contained within each Tear of the Heavenly God was equivalent to the total soul power possessed by a First Grade Celestial Immortal of the Tai Huang Primordial Heaven.

Flying back to Chi Long Lie Yan and the others with eighteen jade bottles, Gu Xie Chen had just handed the bottles over when Chi Long Lie Yan curtly waved his hand: "We are brothers, no need for pleasantries. I already said that everything except that beast's vital blood belongs to you! We don't know what this stuff is, and you don’t need to tell us, lest we start obsessing over it uncomfortably. If you truly regard us as friends and brothers, just take this stuff and play with it."

The Seven Stars Daoists and Monk Si Xi nodded and smiled simultaneously. They could see clearly that if Gu Xie Chen hadn't risked his life, they would have been in a terrible predicament today, and none would have survived. Moreover, Gu Xie Chen was merely a retainer of the Blazing Dragon Empire; he had absolutely no need to fight so desperately. But since he turned back to save them, it proved he was a good brother and friend worth associating with—so why quibble?

Gu Xie Chen looked at Chi Long Lie Yan’s group, and they looked back at him. After a long silence, the group suddenly burst into laughter, and Chi Long Lie Yan and Monk Si Xi seized Gu Xie Chen in tight embraces, wildly patting and pounding him.

While they were joyfully embracing, a faint black light flashed in the distant void, and a bizarre creature, nearly twenty thousand li long and shaped like an octopus from a distance, rapidly swam toward them. When it first appeared, the massive creature was tens of thousands of li away, but within a few breaths, it rapidly closed the distance, reaching within ten thousand li in the blink of an eye. Everyone present was a cultivator of considerable attainment and could clearly see the creature’s ferocious visage from afar.

Chi Long Lie Yan's expression changed; he hastily covered his face and led the group in turning back to flee. The Seven Stars Daoists had recovered some vital energy, and without a sound, they hurriedly traveled by qi, moving away from the giant creature at their fastest possible speed.

Without the obstruction of the stardust, the group soon returned to the flagship they had arrived on with Chi Long Lie Yan and Gu Xie Chen. Chi Long Lie Yan quickly manipulated the flagship to escape into subspace, haphazardly selecting the nearest spatial jump point and fleeing in disarray.

Only after jumping through more than ten successive spatial jump points, confirming that the giant octopus could not track their whereabouts, did Gu Xie Chen curiously ask what that thing was.

Chi Long Lie Yan grumbled irritably, cursing angrily.

That giant octopus-shaped creature was the eyes and ears that the Elder Council had deployed around the periphery of the Six-Star Civilization—an extremely tenacious type of organism.

Everyone in the Six-Star Civilizations aware of these creatures secretly referred to it as the "Nightmare"!

Gu Xie Chen nodded inwardly, noting the name.