136: Star remains serve as a stepping stone to destiny.

In the boundless starry Void, Liu Qingtian was performing short-distance Void shuttles. His Demonic Consciousness spread out like an invisible spiderweb in all directions, searching for the next suitable "hunting ground." Within the myriad willow leaf grotto-heavens inside him, the forbidden experiment involving Karma, resentment, and Demonic Essence was still ongoing. Most of the grotto-heavens were either dead silent or chaotic, with only a few maintaining that dangerous balance, emitting unsettling and strange fluctuations.

Suddenly, his shuttling figure abruptly paused, manifesting from the Void. His dark red Demonic Pupils contracted sharply as he looked towards a seemingly empty asteroid belt ahead.

An extremely subtle yet grand and inviolable spatial fluctuation emanated from deep within that asteroid belt. This fluctuation was not unfamiliar to him—it belonged to a Cultivator from the Tianhua Great World! Moreover, its aura was condensed and profound, far surpassing the Fuhai Realm Cultivators he had encountered before. It was clearly a Profound Void Realm existence, just like him!

"A Profound Void Realm Cultivator from the Tianhua Realm... dares to venture so deep into this desolate Star Domain alone?" Several thoughts flashed through Liu Qingtian's mind. Was it a coincidence? Or were they coming for him? Had Luo Jiuxuan's pawns finally tracked him down by scent?

Almost at the same time he discovered the other party, the other party evidently also sensed his undisguised monstrous Devilish Qi.

"Devil Head! How dare you spy!"

A clear and sharp cold shout exploded from the asteroid belt, like Nine Heavens thunder, shattering the surrounding small asteroids. The next moment, a dazzling green light shot into the sky, dispelling the surrounding darkness. Within the light, a middle-aged Cultivator wearing the standard green robe of the Tianhua Realm, with an ancient face and eyes as sharp as an eagle, stepped out of the Void. Daorhyme flowed around his body, subtly aligning with the surrounding Heaven and Earth Law, which was a manifestation of a Profound Void Realm Cultivator's ability to communicate with Heaven and Earth and form their own Domain.

His gaze, like lightning, instantly locked onto Liu Qingtian. Especially upon sensing the dense and inseparable Karma and the wails of vengeful spirits emanating from Liu Qingtian, his killing intent surged: "Karma-ridden, accompanied by vengeful spirits! Such a demonic evil, poisoning all living beings, deserves to be executed!"

Without any unnecessary words, for orthodox Cultivators of the Tianhua Realm, eradicating such Devil Heads was a duty and instinct etched into their bones. The green-robed Cultivator pointed two fingers like a sword and slashed through the air.

"Azure Nether Rend Void Slash!"

Rip!

A green Sword Qi spanning thousands of miles appeared out of thin air. At the edge of the Sword Qi, space was easily torn apart like cloth, revealing the pitch-black Void behind it. This sword strike contained extreme sharpness and spatial cutting power, locking onto all of Liu Qingtian's Qi mechanisms, intending to sever him along with this entire space!

"Good timing!"

Liu Qingtian was not surprised but rather delighted, demonic flames burning fiercely in his eyes. He was just worried about not finding a suitable opponent to test his own strength, especially the nascent paradoxical power within him! A Tianhua Realm Cultivator of the same Realm was the best whetstone!

He did not use the vengeful spirit willow, but instead punched out fiercely!

The Myriad Skeleton Demonic Body was pushed to its limit. The countless illusory figures of Prodigy skeletons branded on his torso roared silently in unison. The immense force crushed the Void, and at the tip of his fist, the Concept of desolation, decay, and the illusionary destruction of stars condensed, which was the power of the Wither and Flourish Star Annihilation Domain concentrated into a single point!

Boom!!!

The fist force and sword force collided fiercely!

There was no imagined energy explosion. At the core of the collision, space shattered inch by inch like glazed glass, forming a brief, small black hole that frantically devoured all surrounding light and matter. A terrifying shockwave spread out in a ring, completely clearing the asteroid belt within a radius of ten thousand miles, turning it into dust!

Liu Qingtian's figure swayed slightly, taking half a step back. A shallow white mark appeared on his fist, which was then repaired by the surging Demonic Essence. The green-robed Cultivator, however, grunted, his figure flying back hundreds of feet. His sword-wielding fingers trembled slightly, and for the first time, a look of solemnity and disbelief appeared on his face.

"What a powerful Demonic Body! What a strange Domain power!" He was horrified. The opponent was clearly only in the Early Stage of the Profound Void Realm, and his Demonic Essence didn't seem to be at its Peak, yet this Physical Body strength and the Domain containing the Concept of life, death, and annihilation were so difficult to deal with!

"Is this all a Profound Void Realm Cultivator from the Tianhua Realm is capable of?" Liu Qingtian sneered, pressing his advantage. His figure transformed into a dark red stream of light, actively pouncing forward. The dark red Myriad World Roots around his body danced like a horde of devils, piercing through the Void, coiling and thrusting from various tricky angles. At the same time, the Wither and Flourish Star Annihilation Domain fully unfolded, its gloomy Domain force field enveloping all directions, continuously eroding and weakening the opponent's green Dao Domain.

The green-robed Cultivator roared repeatedly, his sword techniques changing. Countless green lotus flowers emerged within his green Dao Domain, each blooming with a pure Holy Light that purified evil, attempting to resist the invasion of the roots and the erosion of the Annihilation Domain. At the same time, his movement technique was like lightning, constantly flickering within the Domain, avoiding the main attacks of the roots. The magic sword in his hand unleashed a sky full of sword shadows, engaging in a fierce counterattack against Liu Qingtian.

For a time, this dead silent Star Domain became dazzling and deadly. Green Dao lotuses and dark red roots intertwined and collided, the gray light of annihilation and the pure light of purification annihilated each other, space constantly shattered and re-formed, and the Laws were in chaos.

However, as the battle continued, the shock in the green-robed Cultivator's heart grew stronger. This Devil Head not only possessed a powerful Physical Body and strange Divine Abilities, but what was more terrifying was his battle style, which carried a reckless madness and an extremely precise predatory nature. His Dao Domain was constantly being compressed, his magic power consumption far exceeded expectations, yet the opponent's Demonic Essence seemed inexhaustible, growing stronger with each passing moment!

"I cannot prolong this battle!" The green-robed Cultivator felt the urge to retreat. He had to bring the news of discovering this fiend back to the Tianhua Realm!

He suddenly bit the tip of his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of vital blood onto his magic sword. The sword's green light surged, and a terrifying Sword Intent, far exceeding what came before, began to condense!

"Azure Nether Nine Tribulations—Void Break!"

This was his life-risking killing move, intended to tear apart Liu Qingtian's Domain and open an escape route.

But just as his sword move was about to be unleashed, a fierce glint flashed in Liu Qingtian's eyes.

"I've been waiting for you to let your guard down!"

The vengeful spirit willow, which had been hidden, suddenly appeared in his hand, striking out silently like a poisonous Dragon! It did not attack the Cultivator's body directly, but instead pointed directly at the life-bound magic sword that had condensed his vital blood and most of his Divine Soul!

Buzz!

The wails of countless vengeful spirits condensed into one point. A terrifying surge of resentment and Soul impact, like a bursting flood, crashed into his Sea of Consciousness through the connection between the magic sword and the Cultivator's Divine Soul!

"Ah—!"

The green-robed Cultivator was caught off guard. His Sea of Consciousness felt as if it had been pierced by billions of poisonous needles. Under the intense pain, the condensed sword momentum instantly disintegrated, his body trembled violently, and faint golden blood seeped from all seven orifices!

Now!

Liu Qingtian's body moved with his thought, activating Profound Void Space Control, instantly appearing before the opponent. A demonic claw, covered in dark red demonic patterns and wreathed in Annihilation Qi, had already gripped the green-robed Cultivator's neck! Countless fine roots, like blood vessels, pierced into his body, instantly sealing his Purple Mansion Nascent Soul and locking his major acupoints!

"Soul Search!"

Liu Qingtian did not hesitate in the slightest. His Demonic Consciousness transformed into the most violent torrent, forcibly rushing into the opponent's undefended Sea of Consciousness, plundering his memory fragments!

The green-robed Cultivator let out a shrill scream. His Divine Soul trembled violently under the impact of the Demonic Consciousness, and his memories were forcibly flipped through like a shattered scroll.

A large amount of information flooded into Liu Qingtian's mind—the internal structure of the Tianhua Realm, some secret Cultivation Technique rumors, the mission he was currently undertaking... He quickly skimmed through these. Until, a name, and information related to it, seared into his Divine Soul like a red-hot branding iron!

Luo Jiuxuan!

In the memory fragments, an instruction labeled "Top Secret · Observation" issued by the highest authority appeared, which the green-robed Cultivator received before leaving the Tianhua Realm. The core content of the instruction froze Liu Qingtian's Demonic Soul:

"Target 'Venerable Jiuxuan' has reached a critical moment in his seclusion and is about to impact the Star Shattering Realm. All patrol envoys are ordered to closely monitor anomalies in the heavens and strictly prevent any variables from interfering with the Venerable's Breakthrough..."

Star Shattering Realm!

Liu Qingtian's Demonic Pupils suddenly contracted to pinprick size! Although he had long known that Luo Jiuxuan's Realm was unfathomable, far surpassing Profound Void, hearing this precise term, especially the four words "about to impact," still sent a bone-chilling coldness from the depths of his Demonic Soul, almost freezing the demonic flames around him!

Star Shattering Realm! As the name suggests, it is the supreme Realm where one can crush stars with one's own mighty power! In this Realm, the disparity in strength is also vast; the weak may be able to collapse planets, while Peak powerhouses are said to be able to crush black holes that devour all things with their bare hands! With Luo Jiuxuan's Aptitude that suppressed all ages, and his terrifying destiny of "past, present, and future all being in the Eighth Realm," if he breaks through to the Star Shattering Realm, he will undoubtedly directly step into the Peak of this Realm, becoming a supreme existence capable of crushing black holes!

By then, he, Liu Qingtian, a mere Profound Void Realm Devil Head, would probably be even less than an ant in front of him! The other party might only need a single thought, across endless star rivers, to make him perish!

A sense of crisis! An unprecedented sense of crisis, like billions of primeval demonic mountains, crashed down upon his heart! The faint glimmer of hope and the spirit of exploration that had arisen from slaughtering Lesser Western Heaven and discovering the Karma paradox were almost completely shattered by this cold reality at this moment!

Time! What he lacked most was time!

Luo Jiuxuan would not give him time to slowly grow and slowly experiment with that paradoxical path!

"Ugh... Devil Head... you... don't... even think... about it..." The green-robed Cultivator in his hand was on the verge of his Divine Soul dissipating, yet he still transmitted intermittent thoughts filled with hatred and resolve.

Liu Qingtian recovered from the immense shock, and all emotions in his Demonic Pupils were instantly replaced by extreme coldness and madness. His five fingers tightened sharply!

Crack!

The green-robed Cultivator's neck, along with his Nascent Soul Divine Soul within, was forcefully crushed! The pure xuanxu realm origin and remnant Souls were mercilessly absorbed into his body, becoming nourishment for his Demonic Body.

Casually tossing the shriveled corpse into the Void, Liu Qingtian stood in the cold starry sky, surrounded by spatial cracks and energy turbulence left over from the battle.

He lowered his head, looking at his hands, which were wreathed in demonic flames, then raised his head, gazing at Luo Jiuxuan's secluded cultivation place, which was somewhere unknown in the darkness, yet hung over him like the Sword of Damocles.

"Star Shattering Realm... crushing black holes..." He repeated these two words in a low, hoarse, and chilling voice.

The pressure did not crush him; instead, it pushed the nascent madness to its extreme.

"It seems that systematic plundering... is too slow."

His gaze turned towards the depths of the star sea, to those more dangerous places that might also contain greater Opportunities. Perhaps, certain ancient Forbidden Grounds? Perhaps certain death zones where even the Tianhua Realm dared not easily tread?

Conventional paths could no longer grant him the power to contend before Luo Jiuxuan's Breakthrough. He had to take an unconventional path, a path of certain death!

Within the willow leaf grotto-heavens in his body, the golden and black interwoven paradoxical energy seemed to sense his resolute will, stirring slightly.

The path ahead was cut off; only through paradox and madness could he carve out a bloody path!