Li Chen and Zhi Xuan finally pierced through the brink of the abyss, shooting out from the hole in the earth like two falling stars reversing their path toward the heavens. Without pausing for a second, they veered toward the barren limestone mountain ranges on the eastern horizon.

  The ground beneath them turned into a silent, white expanse, far from the glittering lights of Dragon Lotus City, which now appeared only as a speck of light in the distance.

  As they arrived at a dead valley surrounded by giant limestone pillars, Li Chen abruptly halted in mid-air. He spun his body, his jade fan snapping open to radiate a blue light that illuminated the dark valley like broad daylight.

  "This is where our flight ends, Brother Gu," Li Chen said in a tone that was now entirely cold, his eyes fixed on the four clumps of black smoke landing simultaneously before them.

  Zhi Xuan landed gracefully, his feet barely kicking up dust on the fragile limestone ground. He stood with his hands folded inside his sleeves, staring at the four Shadow Union cultivators who had now surrounded them in the Four Directions Blind Dragon Formation.

  "This place is quiet enough to become your grave," Zhi Xuan said, his voice carrying a lethal echo among the limestone cliffs.

  The white-haired leader stepped out of his black mist, his pale face now looking ferocious under the moonlight. "Your arrogance is your headstone, young man. In the Soul Transformation realm, a difference of even one minor stage is the difference between heaven and earth. The four of us are at the early stage, nearing the mid-stage, while you... you are but an unstable mid-stage cultivator!"

  Zhi Xuan did not return the provocation with words. Instead, he slowly unfolded his arms. The air at Dead Limestone Peak suddenly became incredibly heavy, as if the pressure in that place had doubled in an instant. The dusky grey glow, once as thin as a thread, now overflowed from his skin, forming the silhouette of a coiled dragon behind his back.

  "One minor stage, you say?" Zhi Xuan whispered. His voice was not loud, but every syllable felt like a sledgehammer blow to the minds of his pursuers. "You speak of heaven and earth, yet you do not even know where your feet are planted at this moment."

  The white-haired leader felt a sharp premonition of dread, but greed had blinded his survival instincts. "Attack! Destroy his Divine Spirit, reclaim his storage bags!"

  "Brother Li, I will take two of these Soul Transformation experts; the rest depends on you!" Zhi Xuan declared, before surging forward to face two of them.

  Zhi Xuan moved like a shadow cleaving the curtain of night, leaving a trail of grey essence that froze the air in its path. Without using any weapon, he simply extended his right hand, where ancient silver patterns began to glow with an intensity that pained the eyes.

  "How dare you!" the white-haired leader roared, stomping his foot. The limestone beneath him cracked, releasing a pitch-black mist that formed dozens of demonic hands reaching for Zhi Xuan’s body.

  Beside him, a companion in grey robes with eyes covered in bandages let out a shrill scream, triggering a sound wave capable of shattering eardrums and chaoticizing the Sea of Consciousness.

  Zhi Xuan did not waver. Within him, the Heavenly Samsara Wheel spun clockwise, neutralizing the mental attack from the blind cultivator in an instant. As the demonic hands nearly touched his robe, Zhi Xuan rotated his hands, forming a Taiji symbol before his chest.

  Suddenly, six dragons of white and black emerged from the Taiji, roaring low as they sharply entangled the demonic hands, causing a bone-shaking explosion. The blast of essence triggered by the six black-and-white dragons created a blinding storm of limestone dust.

  In the midst of the dust vortex, Zhi Xuan stepped calmly as if walking in his private garden. "Early-stage Soul Transformation is not something worthy of barking in my presence!"

  "Seeking death!" the white-haired leader screamed. He raised both hands, forming a mudra in the air that summoned three demonic skulls.

  The three skulls hovered, growing in size until each was as tall as a small hill. From their eye sockets, emerald-green soul fire erupted, smelling of rot and radiating a Law of Death capable of withering all forms of life nearby.

  "Soul-Devouring Skulls, feast!" the leader roared, his face becoming more wrinkled as he forced his blood essence to trigger this forbidden attack.

  Zhi Xuan looked flatly at the three terrifying entities rushing toward him. His Heavenly Eyes clearly saw that these skulls were formed from the hatred of thousands of forcibly imprisoned lives. To an ordinary cultivator, this attack was certain death, but to someone who had purified the Demon Seed, this was no more than coarse food.

  "Truly ignorant of your own standing," Zhi Xuan hissed. He pulled back momentarily and spun in the air. "Then I shall provide an understanding of just how far the distance is between us!"

  Zhi Xuan clapped his hands together with a sharp boom. From behind him, his Divine Soul manifested, spanning dozens of zhang. Two wings of darkness with eclipse patterns spread across its back, radiating a pressure unlike any ordinary Soul Transformation Divine Soul.

  The appearance of the majestic figure behind Zhi Xuan made the atmosphere at Dead Limestone Peak feel as if it were being sucked into a hollow vortex. This Divine Soul did not radiate a holy golden light; instead, it emitted a dusky grey glow carrying ancient authority, as if it were a ruler standing on the boundary between the end of an era and the beginning of the void. The vast wings of darkness blotted out the moonlight, casting a heavy shadow of death over the pale faces of the pursuers.

  "What... what kind of Divine Soul is that?!" The white-haired leader trembled violently. He had seen the Divine Souls of mid-stage Soul Transformation elders, but none possessed a pressure this cruel and dense.

  "Don't be deceived!" the blind cultivator warned. "He is only bluffing; his cultivation is not yet stable!"

  The blind cultivator raised both hands, and a massive crow phantom appeared in the air, carrying blackish flames intended to burn Zhi Xuan’s Divine Soul. This was a soul attack capable of wounding even a mid-stage Soul Transformation expert.

  Zhi Xuan gave no answer and only snorted sharply; instead, he performed an action that would etch eternal horror into the memories of those who remained. The Divine Soul behind him slowly opened its eyes, the pupils of which were replicas of Zhi Xuan’s own Heavenly Eyes, radiating a golden light that pierced through the black demonic mist.

  "Unstable? You are wrong," Zhi Xuan hissed. He stomped his foot, causing the two wings of his Divine Soul to spread, forming a storm vortex that crushed the surrounding limestone pillars to dust. "Even though I have just reached the mid-stage, this Divine Soul is not something Soul Transformation experts like you can possess!"

  Zhi Xuan’s Divine Soul moved its arms in rhythm with his physical body. As the dark wings flapped, a storm of dusky grey essence roared, obliterating the blind cultivator’s black-flamed crow before the creature could even get close.

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  The soul attack, deemed lethal, was shattered into pieces like glass hit by a giant hammer, leaving a backlash of energy that caused the blind cultivator to vomit fresh blood and collapse onto the limestone ground.

  "Eat your own hatred," Zhi Xuan said in a chillingly flat tone.

  He extended his left hand, filled with silver patterns, toward the three hovering giant skulls. Instead of dodging, Zhi Xuan commanded his Divine Soul to perform a crushing motion. In an instant, the giant palms of the Divine Soul expanded, cleaving through the void and catching the three soul-devouring skulls as if they were mere marbles.

  KREK! KREK!

  The sound of bones cracking in the air did not come from Zhi Xuan’s body, but from the three giant skulls now struggling within the grip of his Divine Soul. The emerald-green fire, once fierce, now flickered out, seemingly terrified of the grey essence creeping into the pores of the ancient bone.

  "Explode!" the white-haired leader roared, eyes turning blood-red as he performed a suicidal mudra by piercing his own chest’s pressure points. "If we cannot have it, then perish with me!"

  DUAAAMMM!

  The three skulls exploded simultaneously, releasing a shockwave consisting of millions of vengeful spirits and extremely compressed Yin energy. The blast not only pulverized the surrounding limestone pillars but also created spatial tears that spewed the chilling air of the deepest hell.

  Zhi Xuan, at the center of the explosion, felt a tremendous spiritual impact. Although his Divine Soul protected his body, the density of the energy from the blood-sacrifice explosion of two Soul Transformation cultivators still managed to pierce his essence defenses.

  Zhi Xuan’s body was blown back dozens of zhang, his black-and-white robes fluttering wildly while his feet dragged across the limestone ground, creating a long, deep trench. He came to a halt only after his back smashed through a limestone hill, shattering it to pieces.

  "Cough!" Zhi Xuan coughed slightly, a drop of deep red blood with a silver glow trickling from the corner of his cold lips. His sapphire eyes now glinted with a calm yet lethal fury.

  "Brother Gu!" Li Chen shouted from a distance, currently busy trapping two other opponents in a roaring blue water vortex. He was shocked to see Zhi Xuan being repelled, showing that the Shadow Union's suicide attacks were not to be taken lightly.

  Zhi Xuan slowly stood up, wiping the blood from his lips. "Do not interfere, Brother Li. Finish your business."

  He stared ahead, where the black smoke and limestone dust were thinning. The white-haired leader looked haggard, his body now as thin and dry as a living skeleton from draining all his blood essence. Beside him, the blind cultivator had lost both arms to the explosion's backlash, yet he still stood with an increasingly crazed aura.

  "Hahaha! Look! He is wounded! This is your end!" the white-haired leader’s laugh was raspy and pathetic.

  Zhi Xuan did not reply. He slowly raised his left hand toward the sky. "You speak of wounds... yet you do not know that my blood is the seal-breaker for your true destruction."

  "Eternal Star: Heaven Swallower!" Zhi Xuan’s voice thundered, resonating with the vibration of his Divine Soul, which now stood tall again with an even more oppressive aura.

  From Zhi Xuan’s palm, a black hole emerged and immediately expanded in the air, forming a pressure capable of crushing a hill. The massive boulders around him instantly disintegrated as the technique's pressure formed a spiritual wave sweeping the surroundings.

  The white-haired leader felt his soul being forcibly pulled from his body. He roared, forcing the last remnants of his Divine Spirit to form a shield from thousands of spinning bones. "Don't you hope! Forbidden Bone Formation: Nine Hells Shield!"

  Meanwhile, the armless blind cultivator spat out the last of his life energy through a mental roar. His body suddenly swelled, his veins blackening and bursting, turning him into a flesh bomb carrying high-level corrosive poison. He shot straight toward Zhi Xuan at a suicidal speed.

  "Perish with us, Young Devil!" the blind man screamed in desperation.

  Zhi Xuan did not budge. His sapphire eyes were now completely obscured by the golden glow of his Heavenly Eyes. With one jolt, he released the black hole orb. "The void is home for those without a path."

  WHUUUUMMMM!

  The black orb shot forward, striking the blind cultivator mid-air. There was no explosion of flesh; instead, the Soul Transformation realm cultivator’s body was sucked into the black hole like dust in the wind, vanishing without leaving a single drop of blood. However, the energy from the blind man’s self-sacrifice was so dense it caused the black hole to vibrate violently and explode before reaching the white-haired leader.

  DUAAAR—!

  A second shockwave hit the limestone valley. Zhi Xuan was again forced to cross his arms before his chest as the spiritual wave carrying corrosive poison residue surged over him. The pressure was so great that his divine body emitted a creaking sound, and he was once again thrown back, hitting a cliff wall and being buried under a heap of giant rocks.

  Li Chen, who had just managed to decapitate one of his opponents with his jade fan, yelled loudly, "Brother Gu! Don't force yourself to swallow all that energy alone!"

  However, from beneath the limestone rubble, a pillar of dusky grey light shot into the sky, obliterating the rocks burying Zhi Xuan. The youth reappeared, this time with his black hair flowing wildly and an aura no longer restrained. Part of his white robe was torn, revealing dark skin adorned with Slaughter Seals that now glowed a silvery hue.

  "Enough," Zhi Xuan hissed. His voice no longer carried human emotion, only the coldness of inevitable natural law. He stomped his foot, and instantly, the ground of the entire limestone valley turned into a boiling sea of silver. "Heavenly Blood Physique!"

  The white-haired leader, now nearly out of breath, tried to fly away, but he realized the space around him had frozen. Every time he tried to move his spiritual essence, that energy was instead absorbed by the silver sea beneath him.

  Zhi Xuan floated slowly, approaching his helpless opponent. Behind him, the giant Divine Soul now gripped an illusory sword formed from the purified remnants of the previous explosion.

  "You spoke of the difference between heaven and earth," Zhi Xuan said, raising his hand. "Now, look at the true heavens before you become part of this earth."

  Zhi Xuan gave no further chance. He swung his hand, and simultaneously, his Divine Soul’s illusory sword slashed down. The strike not only cleaved the white-haired leader’s body but also severed the threads of fate and pulverized his Divine Spirit into particles of pure essence.

  CRAAAK!

  The leader of the Dragon Shadow Union vanished in silence, leaving behind a chilling stillness at Dead Limestone Peak. Zhi Xuan landed slowly, his breath slightly heavy, and he coughed again, spitting out blood now mixed with a thicker silver essence.

  Zhi Xuan stood like a statue amidst the settling limestone dust, his hand still raised as the remnants of energy from the Divine Soul’s illusory sword faded into specks of grey light. Silence. Only the hiss of the night wind passing through the newly split cliff crevices remained, carrying the scent of blood and the burnt aroma of exploded spiritual essence.

  "Cough..." Zhi Xuan coughed again, the paleness of his face now more evident. The silver blood dripping from his lips fell onto the limestone ground, instantly scorching the white surface and forming a small hole that emitted hot steam.

  Li Chen zoomed over, his sea-blue robes slightly tattered, but he looked much better than Zhi Xuan. He looked at the spot where the leader had vanished, then at Zhi Xuan with an expression that was hard to read—a mixture of horror, respect, and deep concern.

  "Brother Gu... you really are a monster," Li Chen whispered, waving his fan to clear the remaining toxic mist. "Facing two early-stage Soul Transformation experts performing a simultaneous blood sacrifice... if that were me, my Divine Spirit might have cracked into a thousand pieces."

  Zhi Xuan did not immediately answer. He closed his eyes, focusing all his inner senses into his Sea of Consciousness. There, the Heavenly Samsara Wheel was still spinning rapidly, trying to process the remnants of corrosive energy that had entered his meridians. The giant Divine Soul behind him slowly shrank, returning to his physical body, leaving a creeping exhaustion in every joint.

  "They were not weak opponents," Zhi Xuan finally replied, his voice raspy. He regulated his unstable breathing, letting the essence of the five hundred Heavenly Jades in his storage bag begin to radiate a pure air that calmed the turmoil in his chest. "The Dragon Shadow Union... their techniques are filthy, yet efficient in self-destruction."

  Li Chen nodded in agreement, picking up the two remaining storage bags from the fallen pursuers. "I’ve taken care of the other two Soul Transformation experts as well. Though they weren't as ferocious as your opponents, they were still troublesome dogs."

  Zhi Xuan slowly opened his eyes; his sapphire pupils had regained their calm, though the golden glint at the edges still glowed dimly. He looked at his slightly trembling palm. "I underestimated the energy density of their life sacrifice. My Divine Soul has just formed at the mid-stage; its foundation has not yet fully hardened like marble."

  "That’s exactly why you need those Heavenly Jades right now," Li Chen said seriously. He glanced toward the western horizon, where the first light of dawn was peeking behind the mountains. "Master Taixuan’s expedition starts in two days. If you enter the Ancient Demon Lands with wounded meridians like this, you’ll just be handing your life to the demonic mists there."