Staying in the sect, controlling beasts and cultivating immortals

The winds of the Shattered Star Wasteland, carrying the chill of stardust and the decaying aura of ancient corpses, swept across the craggy, glassy rocks, emitting a mournful wail.

Yu Changsheng and his six companions were thrown out as if by an invisible giant hand, crashing heavily onto a patch of glazed rock covered with cracks.

The immense impact caused Mo Heng, who was already in a weakened state, to groan, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Gui Yinzi's vision went black, and he almost fainted.

Wang Cheng then plunged his Chaos Bone Arm into the rock layer to stabilize himself, causing the luster flowing on his dark gold scales to dim slightly.

"What domineering spatial turbulence! If it weren't for the Emperor and the Sword of Annihilation anchoring the passage, we would probably have been torn to shreds."

Mo Heng gasped for breath, his withered fingers rapidly sketching several miniature Returning Void Array patterns in the void, attempting to organize the chaotic energy around him.

A flash of divine light appeared on Chen Xueqing's fingertip, and a gentle life force swept over everyone, relieving the shock to their souls and the burning pain in their meridians caused by the transmigration.

Ling Wuying's figure vanished the moment he landed, like ink dripping into a shadow. Gui Yinzi also mustered his strength, made a hand seal, and disappeared into the shadows of a rock.

This is instinct, but also a caution ingrained in one's very bones—this unfamiliar, desolate place is far more dangerous than one might perceive.

Yu Changsheng slowly straightened his body. The purple-gold cracks on his imperial body stung slightly under the dense spiritual pressure, but they were also frantically absorbing the pure spiritual energy in the air, which far surpassed that of the lower realm. The flow of the Chaos Emperor Blood carried a greedy quality, like a parched land finally finding sweetness.

The imperial seal between his brows flickered, his profound gaze sweeping across this desolate, dead zone: in the inky blue, almost black sky, enormous stars resembled the eyes of dying beasts, some riddled with jagged cracks, others radiating an ominous, withered, deathly light. The spiritual energy in the air, though abundant, was mixed with countless fine, dust-like "stardust miasma," containing stellar radiation and inert death energy, like invisible poisonous thorns, slowly eroding the meridians of cultivators attempting to absorb spiritual energy.

"The spiritual energy here is mixed and contains 'stardust miasma.' Do not easily draw this energy into your body without refining it," Yu Changsheng warned in a deep voice, his voice penetrating and resonating in the minds of each of his companions.

A flash of purple-gold light appeared at his fingertips, and a wisp of Chaos Emperor Blood overflowed, forming a tiny vortex in front of him. It forcibly absorbed the spiritual energy mixed with stardust miasma from the surrounding area. The hazy dust rapidly decomposed and annihilated in the purple-gold light, leaving only pure chaotic energy for him to absorb. "Chaos Emperor Blood can refine this miasma."

Upon hearing this, Wang Cheng's Chaotic Bone Arm trembled, and dark golden light flowed around it. He cautiously tried to absorb a trace of spiritual energy, and sure enough, he felt the Chaotic Blood Qi within his Bone Arm rise slightly. However, the process was far less smooth than that of the Emperor's Blood, and he needed to distract himself to resist the erosion of the miasma.

Mo Heng immediately stopped his deductions, his expression grave: "The environment here is treacherous, and the spiritual energy is like poison, making recovery difficult. We need to find a safe place or a pure spiritual source as soon as possible."

At this moment, a sudden change occurred!
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several sharp whooshing sounds tore through the silence! They weren't arrows, but several fist-sized, jet-black skulls burning with a ghastly green phosphorescent flame! Like living creatures, they emitted mournful shrieks, trailing corrosive green flames, and shot towards Yu Changsheng, Wang Cheng, and Mo Heng, who had just landed and were still breathing heavily!

"Enemy attack!" Wang Cheng reacted the fastest, roaring like thunder! His newly formed chaotic bone arm instantly expanded, transforming into a dark gold giant shield covered with ferocious bone spikes, blocking in front of him!
"Boom! Boom!"

Two phosphorescent skulls slammed into the bone shield, exploding into a large ball of ghastly green poisonous fire. The flames clung to the bone shield, burning wildly and emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound. Wang Cheng grunted, and the bone shield trembled violently. Its dark golden light flickered, and it was even slightly blackened by the eerie phosphorescent fire!
At the same time, several other skulls seemed to have eyes, bypassing Wang Cheng and heading straight for Mo Heng and Yu Changsheng!
A fierce glint flashed across Mo Heng's withered face as he slammed his hands down: "Return to the Void - Vortex Shield!" The glazed ground beneath his feet instantly twisted, forming a rapidly spinning miniature Return to the Void vortex that forcibly deflected and swallowed the skeleton that was shooting at him! However, the skeleton contained extremely high energy, causing the vortex to vibrate violently and almost dissipate.

The skull that was shot at Yu Changsheng was the most insidious and the fastest, almost skimming along the ground in a blind spot! Yu Changsheng, however, merely snorted coldly, not even glancing at it, and flicked his finger!
"laugh!"

A single, highly condensed point of purple-gold light arrived first, striking the skull precisely between the eyebrows. There was no explosion; the purple-gold light, like a red-hot iron piercing through ice, instantly penetrated it! The phosphorescent flame on the skull let out a mournful cry, extinguished abruptly like a extinguished candle, and the entire skull silently turned to dust, dissipating in the wind.

"Hmph! This is a tough one! Especially that one in the tattered robe!" A hoarse, greedy voice rang out from behind a jagged hill of skeletons on the right.

Immediately afterwards, more than ten figures appeared like ghosts, subtly surrounding Yu Changsheng and his group of six.

The leader was a hunched old man draped in a worn-out animal-skin robe, his face covered by a grotesque mask crafted from some kind of pale animal bone, revealing only two eyes that gleamed with greed and cruelty. His aura was cold and sinister, clearly indicating that he was at the peak of the Void Refinement stage! In his hand he held a white bone staff with a dark green crystal inlaid at its tip; the phosphorescent skull from earlier was the one he had unleashed.

Behind him stood more than ten people, their clothes disheveled, their auras fierce. The lowest among them was the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and the highest was the early-stage of the Void Refinement realm! Their eyes were like those of hungry wolves, staring intently at Yu Changsheng and the others, as if they were fat meat being offered to their mouths. The weapons in their hands were varied, including bone knives burning with green flames, bone claws bound with chains, and bone banners exuding a foul aura.

"Oh ho, there are even two young ladies? Although they look a bit weak, they have delicate skin and tender flesh, just right to help the brothers relieve their fatigue!" A burly man in the early stage of the Void Refinement realm, holding two bone blades and with a scar on his face, licked his lips, his lewd gaze sweeping unscrupulously over Chen Xueqing and Gui Yinzi, who was hiding in the shadows.

"Boss, judging from their appearance, they look like fat sheep that just crossed the 'Abandoned Star Abyss'! They must have something good on them!" a thin, monkey-like late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator shrieked.

"The Abandoned Star Abyss?" Yu Changsheng's heart stirred, instantly grasping this key place name. It seemed that this place was connected to the broken ascension passage and was called "The Abandoned Star Abyss" by the people of the Spirit Realm.

"Heh heh, not bad! I am the leader of the 'Bone Shattering Hunting Gang,' Bone Owl!" The masked elder, Bone Owl, cackled, pointing his bone staff at Yu Changsheng. "If you know what's good for you, hand over all your spatial artifacts, spiritual materials and medicines, and that broken sword! Let these two girls keep us company for a few more days, and maybe we'll spare your worthless lives! Otherwise... heh heh, this Shattered Star Wasteland will be your eternal graveyard! Perfect for turning into bone puppets for me!"

Wang Cheng's rage soared, the dark golden light on his Chaos Bone Arm surging with fury: "You bastards! You're courting death!" He took a step forward, his Bloodthirst Domain erupting with a deafening roar. Crimson-gold chaotic blood energy surged like a raging torrent, forcing the approaching Nascent Soul stage bandits to retreat repeatedly, their blood churning. "Hmph! You're courting death!" Bone Owl's eyes flashed with green light, and he slammed his white bone staff heavily on the ground!

"Om-!"

Centered on him, countless pale green bone spikes burst forth from the glazed ground, growing and spreading wildly like living things, carrying a strong aura of filth and curse, instantly forming a huge bone spike cage covering hundreds of feet, enveloping Yu Changsheng and his six companions along with the rest of the hunting party!
"Prison of Ten Thousand Bones - Soul-Corroding Poison Domain!" Bone Owl roared. Green light flowed across the bone spikes, emitting a viscous poisonous mist that could not only corrode spiritual energy shields but also erode the soul!

"A mere trick!" Yu Changsheng's eyes were as cold as ice. He didn't draw his sword, but instead spread his right hand with five fingers and suddenly clenched it in the air in front of him!
"Chaos - The Emperor Holds the Universe!"

Boom!

A domineering and unparalleled will, capable of ruling over heaven and earth, suddenly descended! The entire space within the bone spike cage seemed to be gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand! The wildly growing bone spikes, like insects frozen in amber, instantly solidified and stiffened! The green light poisonous mist flowing on them was forcibly compressed and solidified, emitting a "crunching" sound as they struggled under the weight!

Bone Owl's expression changed drastically. He felt his domain power being forcibly suppressed and distorted by a higher-level force! "What kind of power is this?!"

"Break!" Yu Changsheng closed his five fingers!

Snap! Boom!

The enormous cage of bone spikes, along with the solidified poisonous mist above it, shattered like fragile glass, exploding with a deafening roar! A violent surge of energy swept through, sending several Nascent Soul stage bandits flying, their bones broken and tendons snapped!

"Attack!" Yu Changsheng shouted coldly, his killing intent as sharp as a blade!

The moment he broke through the domain, Wang Cheng was already poised to strike!

"Bloodthirsty Tyrant - Star-Splittering!" He roared like thunder, and his chaotic bone arm instantly transformed into a ferocious giant blade burning with crimson gold and chaotic gray light. With a violent will that could split the heavens and earth and shatter stars, it tore through the still-dissipating energy turbulence and slashed straight at the Bone Owl, whose expression had changed drastically! This strike condensed all his understanding of the Bloodthirsty Tyrant Path after breaking through to the peak of the Void Refinement Realm, and its power was overwhelming!

The Bone Owl was terrified and hastily raised its bone staff to block, the eerie green crystal at the tip of the staff bursting out with a blinding light!

"clang--!!!"

A deafening clang, like metal clashing against metal, resounded! The crimson-gold blade slammed into the bone staff! Bone Owl felt an irresistible, terrifying force surge through him; his arms trembled violently, his tiger's mouth split open, and a deep crack appeared on the white bone staff! He was sent flying backward like a cannonball, as if struck by a meteorite, crashing heavily into the bone hill behind him, sending debris flying!

"Kill!" Mo Heng's eyes flashed with a sharp light. In the instant the Bone Owl was cleaved away, his withered fingers had already drawn dozens of mysterious trajectories in the void.

"Return to the Void: Binding Spirit Chains!"

Wow!
Several energy chains, condensed from pure Void Returning Power and shimmering with gray starlight, appeared out of thin air and instantly coiled around two early-stage Void Refinement bandits who were trying to pounce on Chen Xueqing, like venomous snakes! The powerful binding and spiritual energy devouring power attached to the chains instantly stiffened the two men, causing their spiritual energy to drain away wildly!
Chen Xueqing moved with light steps, her jade-like hand gently waving: "Purifying the World - Azure Lotus!"

A condensed jade lotus bloomed in her palm, not as an attack, but as a soft, verdant light screen that instantly enveloped the two bound by Mo Heng's chains. The purifying power was all-pervasive, not only preventing them from absorbing impure spiritual energy, but also like hot oil poured into cold water, violently stimulating the impure spiritual foundation within their bodies! The two immediately let out shrill screams, as if thrown into a vat of boiling oil, their bodies billowing acrid black smoke, their aura visibly weakening!

"Shadow Erosion - Severed Meridians!" From the shadows, Ling Wuying's icy voice was like the whisper of death. Like a top-tier assassin, he appeared precisely behind a Nascent Soul peak bandit whose aura was unstable due to the shattered bone prison. His Void Metal prosthetic limb gleamed with a ghostly light, silently striking the bandit's vital point in the back. Not a piercing strike, but rather an extremely cold, annihilating finger force specifically designed to disrupt the flow of spiritual energy, penetrating the body!

The robber's body stiffened abruptly, the life force in his eyes vanished instantly, and the nodes of his spiritual energy circulation were completely frozen and collapsed. He fell straight down, outwardly unharmed, but inwardly his pulse was severed and his dantian was frozen solid!
"Ten Thousand Puppet Guidance - Yin Sha Backlash!" Ghost Yinzi emerged from the shadows, his face still pale, but his eyes flashing with ruthlessness. He formed hand seals and chanted incantations. Suddenly, wisps of black Yin Sha energy emerged from the wounds of the bandits who had been sent flying by Wang Cheng, their bones broken and tendons ruptured! This Yin Sha energy seemed to possess sentience, instantly rushing towards the two Nascent Soul stage bandits closest to them, who were frantically dealing with Wang Cheng's Bloodthirst Domain!

This Yin Sha backlash was Ghost Yinzi's trump card, a dark technique that used the resentment and remnant soul of the dead as a trigger to unleash the latent Yin Sha within them. Caught off guard, the two robbers were struck by the Yin Sha, immediately letting out inhuman screams, bleeding from their seven orifices, and strange black patterns appearing on their skin. Their movements instantly became sluggish and stiff, and they were easily shattered into pieces by two casually delivered blows of Wang Cheng's Overlord Blood Fist!

The battle erupted in the blink of an eye and ended within a few breaths!
Yu Changsheng's "Emperor Grasp the Universe" technique broke through the domain and suppressed the entire situation. Wang Chengba's Blood Rift Star severely injured the leader, Bone Owl. Mo Heng's Return to the Void Chains, together with Chen Xueqing's Green Lotus Purification, crippled two Void Refinement cultivators. Ling Wuying's Shadow Meridian Severance instantly killed one person. Gui Yinzi's Yin Sha backlash disrupted the enemy formation and finished off two more.

Of the dozen or so ruthless members of the Shattered Bone Hunting Gang, only Bone Owl, severely wounded and sent flying by Wang Cheng, and two Void Refinement prisoners bound by Mo Heng's chains and being tortured to the point of wishing for death by the purifying power of the Azure Lotus, remained in the blink of an eye. The rest of the Nascent Soul cultivators had all turned into cold corpses on the ground.

Bone Owl struggled to his feet from the rubble, half his body shattered by Wang Cheng's blade, blood staining his tattered beast robe. He looked at his instantly annihilated subordinates, at Wang Cheng standing like a war god, at Chen Xueqing, shrouded in emerald light, both holy and deadly, at Ling Wuying and Gui Yinzi appearing and disappearing in the shadows, and finally, his gaze locked onto the green-robed figure who had only made one move from beginning to end, yet seemed to control everything.

Fear, like a cold, venomous snake, instantly gripped his heart. He violently crushed a bone talisman at his waist, screaming hysterically, "No! You can't kill me! I'm from 'Black Star Fortress'! The Fortress Master is a Nascent Soul stage expert! If you kill me, you'll find it impossible to move an inch in the Shattered Star Wasteland!"

"The Integration Stage?" Yu Changsheng's eyes remained unwavering. With a single step, he appeared before Bone Owl like a ghost. The ability to shrink the distance between bodies caused Bone Owl's pupils to shrink drastically. (End of Chapter)