Zhong Anqi knelt on the ground, breathing rapidly, both hands covering his neck. His ruptured flesh splattered blood across the ground. Ye Fengming once again activated the Celestial Wall Guardian, but it was shattered just as it was forming. He was struck by the invisible Circulating Qi and sent flying, landing beside Zhou Yi and spitting blood uncontrollably.

Ye Yiyi couldn’t bear to watch. She broke free from Shen Star’s restraint and Shadow Flashed to Ye Fengming’s side, mobilizing all her Star Meridian power to block the natural Circulating Qi of Birth Destruction.

“Senior Brother! You should at least apologize to Bei Dou!” Ye Yiyi said with difficulty.

From the corner of her eye, she reluctantly looked at Zhong Anqi’s miserable state. He was now a bloody mess, clutching his throat, unable even to let out a scream.

Ming Li, however, saw through Ye Yiyi’s intentions.

“Apologizing now is useless,” Ming Li said calmly. “From what he just said, I don’t think this person feels any remorse. All I can see in him is cowardice and weakness.”

Ye Yiyi was continuously forced back by Birth Destruction. The rapid circulation and consumption of star power left her face pale, with sweat dripping constantly, and her skin seemingly cut by star lines, oozing blood.

Zhou Yi also couldn’t bear to see Ye Yiyi die within Birth Destruction. Clutching his chest and coughing, he said, “He’s not dead… Chen Zhou isn’t dead.”

Zhong Anqi shifted his eyes toward him in shock.

“He’s still alive in the sky pit,” Zhou Yi said, supporting himself on his knees as he stood up shakily, looking at Ming Li with complex emotions. “Perhaps he’s still waiting for Bei Dou’s people to save him.”

Black Fox Mask landed behind Ming Li, bringing Dou Lanmin with him. Dou Lanmin raised his hand and said, “Senior Sister Ming! I know! I know where the person is!”

Ming Li turned around. Before Dou Lanmin could continue speaking, Black Fox Mask touched Ming Li’s eyes, transmitting the memory map to her.

Dou Lanmin was so angry that he reached out to pinch the Black Fox Mask.

Ming Li memorized the route to the sky pit and withdrew Birth Destruction. Although she had forcibly elevated herself to the Boundary Fulfillment of Eight Meridians with the Sacred Pilgrim’s flame, she still had one fatal weakness: using spiritual techniques required double the star power, and her star power consumption was always faster than others.

Having forcibly connected her dual Star Meridians through the Sacred Pilgrim’s flame, her skin was already so hot it felt burned.

Black Fox Mask explained briefly, “Ye Yuanqing went to the sky pit. Fu Yuan went ahead first. Something must have happened inside.”

Ming Li didn’t hesitate much and said, “Let’s find Senior Brother first.”

Black Fox Mask originally wanted to ask how she had broken through the boundary in a single night, but then felt it unnecessary. After all, she had previously broken through suddenly one night without any warning.

As Ming Li was about to leave, she suddenly turned back to look at Ye Yiyi and Ye Fengming, saying in a tone that brooked no refusal, “Come with us.”

No one dared to refuse. Even the remaining three Tai Yi Stars didn’t dare to rashly step forward at this point. They could only support Ye Yiyi and Ye Fengming, placing their hopes on Ye Yuanqing, who was still in the sky pit, to turn the situation around.

As Ming Li headed toward the sky pit, countless continental cultivators watched from hiding places. Having witnessed the special-grade spiritual technique Birth Destruction earlier, Tai Yi’s disciples were particularly on edge, not daring to act rashly, only daring to follow quietly behind.

Dou Lanmin waved to those behind him and said to Zhou Xiang, who was vigilantly watching their surroundings, “Don’t worry, our Bei Dou cultivators in the west are also following. We don’t need to panic about numbers.”

“Besides, you just saw that my Senior Sister’s realm, although there was no celestial phenomenon for her breakthrough, has returned to peak state! No need to fear being captured by Ye Yuanqing again.”

After speaking, he looked around, puzzled, and asked, “But why are you the only one on this trip? Where’s Cheng Jingbai?”

Zhou Xiang wiped her tears and said, “In the sky pit.”

After hearing this, Dou Lanmin froze: “That’s unfortunate for him.”

*

The unfortunate Cheng Jingbai returned to the cave after releasing the sound transmission talisman.

The chaos inside the sky pit had gradually been brought under control. The earth ghosts who had escaped were blocked at the other end of the passage, and the guards and overseers who had survived by luck were fighting them in a chaotic battle.

Chen Zhou came to the entrance of the rock wall and hung the iron chains binding Wang Geng on the cliff face. Below his dangling feet was a bottomless abyss thousands of feet deep. Wang Geng’s calves trembled as he dared not look down, constantly stretching his neck to look up at Chen Zhou standing on the edge: “Chen Zhou, think carefully, I… the pig slave is still useful! Useful to you! Let the pig slave talk to Sacred Ye, the pig slave can persuade Sacred Ye to let us leave!”

“How disgusting,” Chen Zhou stared at him with complete disdain.

Lin Xiao wiped the blood from his hands, looked into the cave, and asked Li Bushuo beside him, “Where did you get that bag? Is it dirty?”

Li Bushuo shook his head.

Lin Xiao said, “Don’t come over here, it’s filthy.”

Li Bushuo looked at him through the two holes in his paper bag, silently indicating: I’m not coming over anyway.

Cheng Jingbai ran back, gasping for breath. Leaning against the wall with both hands on his knees, he panted, “Let’s prepare! Do we have a plan? Tell me the plan again.”

Chen Zhou turned to look at him, then nodded toward Gu San and Wen Su: “After Ye Yuanqing comes in, you two leave first.”

Wen Su hesitated and asked, “Then what about you?”

“I want to kill him here,” Chen Zhou looked back at Wang Geng hanging on the cliff face. “Run outside while he’s trapped in the sky pit. Don’t look back.”

Wen Su grabbed her sleeve and nodded.

She knew staying behind would be of no use; she could only do as Chen Zhou said.

Cheng Jingbai said, “Xu Liangzhi said he wouldn’t enter the Xian Chi area. At most, he would only come to the rock wall entrance. In the past, it was always Wang Geng and Xu Liangzhi who came here to meet him.”

Gu San interjected, “Can’t we use star power? If he comes in, we have an absolute advantage.”

Chen Zhou, however, shook his head slightly. “Ye Yuanqing isn’t the type of person who doesn’t leave himself an escape route. You mentioned before that he always carries the Star Fragment Tablet with him wherever he goes.”

He looked toward Lin Xiao and asked, “The earth ghosts want the Star Fragment Tablet. Is it also related to star power?”

Lin Xiao and Cheng Jingbai exchanged glances. Cheng Jingbai smiled bitterly and said, “You’d have to ask your junior brother about that. He never mentioned the specific function of the Star Fragment Tablet.”

Chen Zhou frowned: “He’s not that kind of person.”

Cheng Jingbai shook his head, lowering his gaze and saying, “What he’s thinking now, no one knows, and he won’t actively explain to anyone. Zixi is no longer the obedient junior brother you remember.”

The matter of Zhou Zixi certainly couldn’t be explained in a short time. Chen Zhou also had a bad feeling, but there wasn’t much time to question him now.

“Ye Yuanqing is well aware of the threat that the sky pit devours star power and prevents the use of Star Meridian power. For someone like him, he would never allow himself to lose star power, so he brings the Star Fragment Tablet wherever he goes. The Star Fragment Tablet can likely counteract the sky pit, allowing him to use Star Meridian power.”

Chen Zhou’s speculation silenced the others.

Gu San instantly felt their chances of victory were halved.

Cheng Jingbai immediately said, “Then we’d better get out.”

At least outside, if they couldn’t win, they could still escape. If in the sky pit, only Ye Yuanqing could use Star Meridian power while they couldn’t, then they truly had only one path—death.

“Don’t panic, think carefully. If Ye Yuanqing could use Star Meridian power, there’s no reason for him to be so cautious, entering the sky pit only as far as the rock wall and not into Xian Chi, and rarely setting foot in the sky pit,” Lin Xiao analyzed calmly. “For someone with such a strong desire for control, he would never allow power in the sky pit to be concentrated in Wang Geng’s hands. He would make the slaves in the sky pit fear him, not Wang Geng.”

But the fact was, the slaves in the sky pit, with extremely few exceptions, all feared Wang Geng and Xu Liangzhi.

Chen Zhou walked toward the rock wall entrance and looked into the dark depths of the passage: “You’re right. Perhaps the Star Fragment Tablet allows Ye Yuanqing to retain some Star Meridian power, or maybe the Star Fragment Tablet, like the fire jade, can store some star power, which happens to let him use it in the sky pit.”

Gu San worked his brain to follow their train of thought: “So you’re saying Ye Yuanqing might be able to use Star Meridian power, but might be limited to using only fifty percent?”

Cheng Jingbai gave him a thumbs-up. “You’re much smarter than my dummy at home. He never wants to use his brain.”

Gu San asked, “Who’s the dummy?”

Cheng Jingbai spread his hands and tilted his head toward Li Bushuo, who was leaning against the wall with folded arms, saying, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Thirty percent,” Chen Zhou said. “If it were fifty percent, it would be enough for him to confidently enter the Xian Chi building, but Ye Yuanqing doesn’t dare. He only stays at the rock wall position.”

Setting aside Ye Yuanqing’s cautious nature, his vigilance toward the sky pit indicated that the threat it posed to him still existed and was not to be underestimated.

“Then we still have to take a gamble,” Cheng Jingbai finally decided. “Gamble that he can only use thirty percent of his star power in the sky pit.”

“To be safe, it’s best to have someone outside to provide support,” Lin Xiao also said. “We’ll act first. Zhou Xiang might not be able to find this place. When the time comes, you go outside and act according to the situation.”

Cheng Jingbai looked at Chen Zhou and said, “If things don’t look right, retreat. Leave when you should.”

Chen Zhou couldn’t exactly describe what he was feeling now. He could only say he was calmer than he had imagined, and he had to remain calm. It wasn’t that he had no negative emotions; those that once surged and roared had settled during thousands of days and nights. Now he had to decide to completely calm his heart.

*

Ye Yuanqing arrived quickly. When he arrived, he saw the unguarded cave entrance. The bodies had already been cleared away. The other side was blatantly challenging him, and the night wind seemed to silently question him on behalf of those inside the cave: Do you dare to enter?

He stood at the entrance briefly, his expression indifferent. The situation before him was clear—people in the sky pit had seized an opportunity to cause trouble, probably the ice desert earth ghosts connected to Zhou Zixi.

Ye Yuanqing didn’t linger long before stepping forward, fearlessly walking toward the sky pit.

The cave was wide with a high ceiling, and lanterns hung on both sides of the stone walls for illumination. He walked as if strolling in a garden, but his eyes were sharp, constantly attentive to all changes in his surroundings.

But all the way through, there were no changes until Ye Yuanqing saw from a distance a floating light coming from the cave entrance. The light flickered. As he particularly looked at it, it exploded in brightness, forcing Ye Yuanqing to turn his face away and close his eyes.

Gu San strictly followed Chen Zhou’s instructions. In the instant Ye Yuanqing closed his eyes, he pulled Wen Su and passed by him, running toward the outside.

Cheng Jingbai protected the two as they ran outward together.

The fireflies that were originally in the Xian Chi flower bed had been brought to the cave by Chen Zhou. The flickering light points flying in the cave were enhanced by Chen Zhou with illusory manifestations, transformed into huge, blindingly bright halos like suns, disrupting Ye Yuanqing’s vision.

Like daylight invading the underground, in that instant, it devoured all darkness and deprived humans of their vision. Li Bushuo and Lin Xiao acted simultaneously.

Li Bushuo tried to loop an iron chain around Ye Yuanqing’s neck, but saw him flash within the white light and appear behind Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao reacted with lightning speed, raising his hand to throw an iron chain over his shoulder to strike. The white light flashed again, and Ye Yuanqing’s footwork was bizarre, evading once more.

After one failed attempt, the two earth ghosts didn’t give up. Under the cover of the illusory manifestation, they changed positions. The lanterns hanging on the walls had shattered and gone out during the previous fighting.

This section of the cave became dim and lightless. The white light of the illusory manifestation flashed, making people unable to resist closing their eyes and unable to look directly.

Ye Yuanqing wasn’t surprised by the earth ghosts’ ambush, but he was surprised that someone could use Star Meridian power in the sky pit. His gaze grew cold. While using Flying Flower Returning Intent to avoid the earth ghosts’ attacks, he found the true form of the illusory manifestation and killed all the fireflies flying and flashing in the cave, breaking Chen Zhou’s illusory manifestation spiritual technique.

After Ye Yuanqing broke the illusory manifestation, Lin Xiao and Li Bushuo once again concealed themselves in the darkness, inwardly marveling that Ye Yuanqing’s Flying Flower Returning Intent footwork truly lived up to its reputation. In a situation where they couldn’t use Star Meridian power, they had no way to deal with him at all.

They had calculated that Ye Yuanqing might have thirty percent of his Star Meridian power, but had failed to calculate that with Flying Flower Returning Intent, even with just thirty percent power, he could outmaneuver them for days and nights.

They still had to place their hopes on Chen Zhou, who could use spiritual techniques.

When the cave fell into momentary silence, Ye Yuanqing heard Wang Geng, who was hanging on the rock wall, shout, “Sacred Ye! It’s Chen Zhou! Chen Zhou can somehow use star power!”

Ye Yuanqing suppressed his frown, now clearly seeing the figure standing at the cave entrance. He thought the person looked somewhat familiar: dirty all over, thin, with visible scars everywhere, far from the elegant appearance of years ago when he stood beside Dong Yeshou in Bei Dou, dressed in fine clothes.

He had heard the name Chen Zhou several times tonight and couldn’t forget it.

However, the owner of this name should have died long ago. Yet not only had he not died, but in this hell-like sky pit, he had found a way to sense star power, becoming tonight’s variable.

Ye Yuanqing stared at Chen Zhou, who slowly raised his head to look at him. When their eyes met—those cold, calm eyes—the scene overlapped with the moment years ago when he had seen him beside Dong Yeshou.

It seemed both changed and unchanged.

“You are very brave,” Ye Yuanqing said, drawing his sword and pointing it at Chen Zhou. “But this is as far as you go.”

He didn’t ask much; there was no need to ask, only to kill.

When Ye Yuanqing Shadow Flashed to Chen Zhou’s front, he spared a glance at the chaos in the sky pit below, and the killing intent in his eyes grew several-fold.

Just a young boy and two or three sewer rats, yet they had damaged his sky pit to this extent. Unforgivable!

Chen Zhou held his sword to receive this strike. As he had guessed, if Ye Yuanqing were at full strength, he absolutely couldn’t have received it; he might even have been seriously injured by the sword wind before receiving the attack.

But now he could steadily receive this sword strike and counterattack.

Although Chen Zhou didn’t use spiritual techniques, he had pushed his Body Techniques, Thunderous Roar, and Heavy Eyes meridians to their limits, which allowed him to cope with Ye Yuanqing’s Flying Flower Returning Intent footwork.

Though he didn’t often use a sword, he had practiced hundreds of times every year with Fu Yuan, Black Fox Mask, and others. Even though he had been confined in the sky pit for five years, the memories etched deep in his soul had never been erased.

The two fought with their swords in the cave. Lin Xiao and Li Bushuo would seize opportunities to attack but had only managed to force Ye Yuanqing back half a step without injuring him in the slightest.

When Ye Yuanqing was evading the earth ghosts, Chen Zhou’s sword pressed his blade against the wall. The sword hummed melodiously as he looked at Ye Yuanqing and said, “What do you have to be angry about?”

The killing intent in Ye Yuanqing’s eyes increased again, but this only made Chen Zhou laugh, a laugh full of mockery.

“Do you think you can defeat me here?” Ye Yuanqing’s footwork shifted, and suddenly several star lines flashed in the dimly lit cave.

Li Bushuo and Lin Xiao retreated rapidly, but saw the star lines wrap around Chen Zhou’s hands.

Low-level Eight Meridians Formation—Clever Binding.

Just as they had expected, Ye Yuanqing could only use thirty percent of his power in the sky pit.

Ye Yuanqing held his sword and moved to kill Chen Zhou, who could no longer use his hands, but heard him say, “What’s the point of defeating you? What I want to see is kicking you down into the sky pit.”

The star lines shattered. The star power surrounding Chen Zhou concentrated in his fists. When Ye Yuanqing finally cut through his weapon with the Divine Martial Sword in his hand, Chen Zhou closed in and threw a punch.

Li Bushuo excelled at concealing his presence. His low profile in battle was often the key to a fatal strike. His speed was very fast. When Ye Yuanqing was focused on targeting Chen Zhou, he wrapped an iron chain around his sword hand and pulled back, forcing the Divine Martial Sword out of his grip.

Chen Zhou’s mountain punch landed on Ye Yuanqing’s face. Ye Yuanqing grunted; this mountain punch nearly broke through his protection, almost knocking out his teeth and making him spit blood. At the moment, he only felt a burning pain on his face.

Ye Yuanqing had never been punched in the face before. Never.

Lin Xiao seized the opportunity to wrap an iron chain around Ye Yuanqing’s neck and pulled back. Chen Zhou’s second punch was already on its way. There was obvious anger in Ye Yuanqing’s eyes as he uttered, “Wind Breaking.”

The sudden gravity instantly pressed the three down and knocked them away from Ye Yuanqing. He kicked the Divine Martial Sword back into his hand and slashed at Chen Zhou, whom he despised the most. The sword tip ripped open his already sparse and flimsy clothes, leaving a deep and long mark on his left shoulder.

The blade, stained with blood, grew more bloodthirsty.

Ye Yuanqing said, “Maintaining Body Techniques, Thunderous Roar, and Heavy Eyes simultaneously to contend with my Flying Flower Returning Intent, how much longer can your star power last?”

It couldn’t last much longer.

Lin Xiao made a swift decision: “Let’s go!”

They couldn’t wait until Chen Zhou had exhausted all his star power before getting out.

The three fled toward the cave exit without lingering to fight. Naturally, Ye Yuanqing wouldn’t let them out. He Shadow Flashed to catch up. Chen Zhou guarded the rear, coordinating with Li Bushuo to repel Ye Yuanqing several times.

The closer they got to the exit, the brighter the lanterns on both sides of the rock wall became. Star lines pursued from behind, trying to bind those running along the wall, thus shattering many lanterns. The light gradually became faint, with every indication of returning to darkness.

The star lines capturing the three were broken by Chen Zhou, who turned back using his last bit of star power. The Divine Martial Sword flew and slashed, striking his injured left shoulder. Chen Zhou’s form trembled as he half-knelt on the ground. Just as he was about to raise his head, he heard Ye Yuanqing say, “Mountain Fixation.”

The pressure of the high-level Circulating Qi incantation of a Sacred Pilgrim followed. Chen Zhou could no longer raise his head; his eyes only saw droplets of blood falling to the ground.

Ye Yuanqing laughed coldly at the three who couldn’t move, but as he Shadow Flashed to Chen Zhou’s front, he was forced back by a Celestial Wall rising from the ground. He looked up toward the dark rear of the cave in disbelief. Before seeing anyone, he heard a familiar voice coldly say, “Birth Destruction.”

The fierce attack of Birth Destruction’s Circulating Qi, targeting Ye Yuanqing alone, made his face change instantly as he rapidly retreated.

Countless fire lines suddenly appeared on both sides of the rock wall, illuminating the darkness. A blood-stained figure walked past Chen Zhou’s side, a delicate hand lightly pressing on his shoulder, releasing him from Ye Yuanqing’s Mountain Fixation.

The slender figure full of killing intent stood before him without turning back.

Chen Zhou looked up. The surrounding firelight was brilliant but did not overshadow the reflection in his eyes.

In this moment, it seemed as if everything had been put down. He smiled, releasing everything and lazily lying down on the ground, letting out a light sigh of relief, his eyelashes trembling slightly.

Finally, he didn’t have to be so tired anymore.

Chen Zhou blinked, thinking, this time when he returned to Bei Dou, there would be so many things to tell his master.

While rapidly retreating, Ye Yuanqing looked in disbelief at Ming Li, who stood in front of Chen Zhou. Birth Destruction? Why did she know Birth Destruction? And why could she use Star Meridian power within the range of the sky pit!?

At this moment, Ye Yuanqing shouldn’t be wondering why Ming Li knew Birth Destruction, but rather, guessing how angry she was.