Ye Liuyun silently thanked the book-spirit again and again

He guessed the spirit inside the volume wasn’t weak; the book-spirit had acted precisely so he wouldn’t get hurt. But that one strike had cost it dearly—now it could atop even speak without strain

Still, Ye Liuyun was curious why it urged him to learn a new technique. His current arts were already set; why bother with something new

He reached out; the book flew into his palm

“Supreme Divine Origin!”

Only those four words adorned the cover

“What does that mean?”

Puzzled, he opened it at once. The instant his eyes touched the first line, every character dissolved. The vanished text streamed into his sea of consciousness as pure knowledge, while the volume itself crumbled into dust that scattered on the wind

The entire contents were now etched into his mind—readable, yet impossible to transmit

“Must be a restriction to keep me from passing it on.”

He didn’t mind; he immediately began studying this “Supreme Divine Origin.”

After one complete perusal he understood why the book-spirit had said the art suited him: it was still a foundational qi-cultivation method, but the true-essence it refined fused both mystic-origin energy and heaven-and-earth force. The concept was simple enough—he only needed to reroute a few meridian pathways—and after refinement his mystic-origin would transform into “divine-origin.” This new power wasn’t merely additive; it produced a qualitative leap, forming a unified force far better suited for breaking through to the Taixu realm

It dawned on him why his cultivation had slowed: his old Mystic-Origin Breathing Formula could no longer keep pace with his current level 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“If the book-spirit says it fits me, that’s good enough!”

He resolved to begin practicing as soon as he left this place. With nothing more to claim here, he turned back, planning to make full use of whatever lingering potency remained in that spirit-pill by training along way way out.. He deployed spatial power and arrived at entrance in moments.. The door was still shut,, bearing triangular recess—the same keyhole pattern.. Inside triangle sat trident sigil;; Ye Liuyun knew own key would open,, yet chose instead exercise command over heaven-earth forces rather than produce token key.. He slammed door repeatedly with raw worldly might until booming crashes rang out then single palm strike sent both gate surrounding reef collapsing into ruin.. He burst through amid rising dust behind him island began crumble away starting from doorway itself... No sooner emerged than three cultivators surrounded him: elder leaning dragon-head cane front,, demonic cultivator left,, elegant young lord waving folding fan right... "Leader vice-leader Dragon-Head Bandit Band?" Ye Liuyun recognized them from Zhan Kong Wu Ying’s descriptions—alive against all odds...

Just then, Leng Qingxiao and Leng Qingyao tore through the starry sky and landed beside him.

“Master, when these people arrived we couldn’t reach you at all!” Leng Qingxiao sent a hurried mental message, afraid Ye Liuyun would blame them for not reporting in time.

Leng Qingyao added silently, “Master, there are more than these three nearby—plany other powerhouses are lurking.”

“Hahaha! Who’d have thought Chang Yuxing would lose his life here after all that effort, only for the treasure to end up in the hands of his own subordinate!”

The old man facing Ye Liuyun was Feng Yulong, leader of the First-Star Bandit Group. Staring at Ye Liuyun, he suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Clever kid. Hand over whatever treasure you picked up and we’ll let you join our Dragon-Head Bandits. We’ll keep you safe. Otherwise, you’ll never walk out of this Desolate Sea alone.”

Young Master Piaoyao flicked his folding fan and chimed in with the same temptation offer.

The demon cultivator Ghost King, meanwhile, kept his eyes on Leng Qingxiao and Leng Qingyao, poised to strike at any moment.

“Seniors of the Leng family—are you here to fight us for the boy?” Feng Yulong shifted his gaze from Ye Liuyun and called toward the two newcomers.

Ye Liuyun wasted no words. He slammed a palm toward Feng Yulong while sending the Sealing Demon Stele in his sea of consciousness crashing down on the demon cultivator; simultaneously both of his divine souls shot into Young Master Piaoyao’s mind.

With one move he had attacked all three experts at once.

At the same instant, four divine souls from his two clones surged into his own sea of consciousness, ready to assist in a second strike.

The folding fan in Young Master Piaoyao’s hand began to exude suction—but a beat too late: Ye Liuyun’s souls were already inside his head before he could activate it.

As soon as the four clone-souls entered, they felt an enormous pull from the fan trying to drag Ye Liuyun himself inside.

Just as panic set in, the Myriad-God Token blazed with golden light that wrapped around Ye Liuyun and blocked the fan’s suction.

A moment later that suction faded until it vanished completely.

By now Ye Liuyun’s two souls had obliterated Young Master Piaoyao’s. The young master had condensed a soul-shield for defense—but one of Ye Liuyun’s souls morphed into a soul-blade that cleaved the shield apart and killed its wielder outright; his other soul borrowed heaven-and-earth momentum and punched the remaining soul into nothingness.

“Not bad—works like a charm.”

It had been a spur-of-the-moment experiment: using divine souls to channel worldly force against an opponent’s soul. Piaoyao’s spirit had no counter; one punch from Ye Liuyun’s soul blew it apart.

Immediately afterward both souls withdrew to their own sea of consciousness while Ye Liuyun beckoned; with a flick of will he stowed the folding fan inside his spatial world.

A boom rang out as his palm strike landed on Feng Yulong. The bandit chief hadn’t expected such power; knowing he couldn’t block bare-handed he triggered a light-shield from his dragon-head cane. The shield held—but he still staggered back several steps, blood trickling from his lips.

Ghost King threw a fist straight at the descending Sealing Demon Stele and then lunged toward Ye Liuyun—yet that punch left no mark on the stele whatsoever; its crushing downward force never slackened.