The Jade Spore Skyworm didn’t take long to return with a stone the size of a tennis ball.

The stone was unremarkable, covered with numerous air holes, somewhat resembling Maifan stone from the Earth Realm, but it was actually high-grade Void Stone material.

Earlier, when the three-zhang tall tree trunk shattered, hundreds of these large stones rushed swiftly into the distance. Everyone avoided them, so who would notice a small anomaly?

Elder Yi Jue stepped forward and scanned with her Divine Sense, instantly understanding. She disdainfully remarked, "Who would have thought that even the dignified Elder Tiegu would pretend to be dead inside a stone? Is it amusing?"

"This one’s got a mouth that never knows when to stop," the Big Boss grumbled, "Feng Jun, you should really say something to her!"

Tiegu was indeed playing dead, with no reaction from within the Void Stone.

Qing Ji’s perceptive abilities weren’t lacking either. She scanned with her Divine Sense, "Yi Jue, how do you plan to deal with his Remnant Soul?"

Of course, it was to kill him! Yi Jue was about to respond when Feng Jun spoke up, "What does Elder Qing Ji think?"

Qing Ji, as expected, had her own plans, "I want to take him back and make Wan Qing happy."

She had no intention of killing the opponent, considering the Nascent Soul State was quite good. The Lingmu Sect had given Jinwu a Pure Nascent Soul, and Jinwu wouldn’t mind returning one.

"This doesn’t seem quite appropriate," Yi Jue disagreed, responding solemnly, "I was the one in a life-and-death battle with him. If Jinwu takes away the Nascent Soul, it won’t be easy to deal with Lingmu Sect."

"It shouldn’t be a big problem," Qing Ji, the True Immortal, replied confidently. She believed she had the authority to speak on this matter, "Among the three of you ambushed, only Wan Qing suffered significant losses. You two are doing it for a sense of justice, but Jinwu wants to cleanse the shame!"

"But right now we’re only deducing from logic. There’s no concrete evidence that he did it," Elder Yi Jue continued seriously, "Therefore, the Lingmu Sect may not allow us to take away the Nascent Soul... If I’m not mistaken, the True Sage Zi Ji is already here and is currently being held back by my family’s True Sage."

"Did the True Sage make an appearance?" Qing Ji’s face turned pale. She didn’t think the news was outlandish; on the contrary, she believed it was highly possible.

She then turned to Feng Jun, "Perhaps...we should teleport somewhere else and not return to the battlefield. Can you do that?"

"That’s impossible," Yi Jue immediately objected, "So many people who care about us are still waiting for us to return, and besides, I won the life-and-death battle and must walk with dignity."

Feng Jun let out a wry smile at these words, "Whether or not it’s possible is another matter. My secret of the void has already been seen quite a bit by him... If Elder Qing Ji sees it, I don’t really mind, but I don’t want others spreading it around."

"This..." Qing Ji hesitated briefly, but ultimately her desire to solely ’enjoy the secret’ got the better of her, and she nodded, "Alright, you two have convinced me. Let’s kill him."

At this moment, a wave of Soul fluctuation finally emanated from the Void Stone. Although it couldn’t precisely convey intent, one could feel the deep sense of pleading.

True Immortal Yi Jue sneered disdainfully, "Now you remember to plead? The world is inherently fair. The fact that I didn’t perform Soul Search on you is already a sign of respect."

"Let me," Feng Jun volunteered, "My Qi Imprisonment Form should be quite effective against him; it can obliterate void substances, and besides...the remnants of a Nascent Soul are likely quite afraid of Thunder." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Yi Jue glanced at him and then shook her head, "Forget it, do you really think you have too little Immortal Luminance on you? If you kill a couple more, any passing Nascent Soul might come after you one day!"

Feng Jun had no further words. Typically, Immortal Luminance would last about a year, but if it accumulates, it might be indefinite. In any case, for now, he couldn’t escape the related ominous aura.

"Let’s return to the Big Stone first," Elder Qing Ji proposed, "Our Spiritual Energy has almost been depleted. Once out of the void, Lingmu Sect might not be so accommodating... It’s never a bad idea to stock up on more Spiritual Energy."

The four people and one worm returned to the Big Stone, spending four days replenishing their Spiritual Energy to full.

Then Yi Jue took out the Void Stone again, borrowing Qing Ji’s True Immortal Blue Flame Firepan to forcibly refine Tiegu’s Remnant Soul into nothingness. The entire process took nearly twenty hours.

Within the bright blue flames, Tiegu’s phantom could be faintly seen. His body twisted incessantly, and even his enlarged face was visible, sometimes appearing to howl, other times to wail.

From the phantom, various mixed emotions could be felt: anger, regret, fear, remorse...

During the refinement of the Remnant Soul, Yi Jue’s face remained emotionless, suggesting that this was not her first time doing so.

The Big Boss, however, unintentionally sighed, leaving one to wonder if it was a case of sorrow for the loss of a comrade.

After refining the Remnant Soul, the group wasn’t in a hurry to leave the void. Instead, they went back to the battlefield to hunt down the Transpatial Vine.

The Transpatial Vine had been in the void for almost twenty days and had surprisingly not suffered much harm. What was particularly perplexing was that its Soul appeared clearer than when it came in.

Seeing Yi Jue and Qing Ji charging towards it with the worm, its tendrils coiled in an attempt to escape. However, its nemesis, the Jade Spore Skyworm, could blink even within the void; where could it possibly run?

In the end, it begged bitterly for mercy, but was still killed.

Then it was time to distribute the remnants of the Transpatial Vine. Yi Jue took a relatively intact side branch, and Qing Ji followed suit, taking one as well. The Sky Worm finally negotiated with Feng Jun, "If you can tell me who my parents are, you can take eighty percent."

Feng Jun straightforwardly stated, "It’s not that I’m not telling you, but I truly don’t know... I don’t want eighty percent, I want it all!"

"That’s not possible," the Jade Spore Skyworm clearly opposed, "How about you help me divine the items needed for future evolution, and I can agree to eighty percent."

"How could this be possible?" Feng Jun was halfway through speaking when Yi Jue spoke up, "The Sky Worm is quite direct; Mountain Master Feng, don’t take it to heart. Regarding the divination, I’ll talk to you later; don’t discuss it with him. I need to consult with the Dao Master."

Since she had stepped in, Feng Jun was too lazy to say anything further. Ultimately, he was giving face to Yi Jue; if she asked for his help with divination, he couldn’t refuse.

Yi Jue took on the responsibility and then turned to the Jade Spore Skyworm, "You don’t want the remaining twenty percent either, okay?"

"That’s not acceptable," the Sky Worm truly had a character, refusing her decisively, even though she held the power over its life and death, "I must at least attempt to consume it, otherwise I wouldn’t be satisfied."

"Mountain Master Feng’s words are generally not wrong, besides, Lingmu Sect has more than one Transpatial Vine," Yi Jue persuaded for a long time, but it still wouldn’t listen. She wanted to punish it, but it had just contributed in the recent void battle.

After some thought, she spoke solemnly, "I’ll add two extra Thoughts of Life to you."

The Jade Spore Skyworm was stunned, and after a while, it replied, "Twenty times!"

"Alright, I’m done with dealing with you," Yi Jue shrugged it off. She had seen bargaining before, but never like this; she was truly annoyed, "I’m not dealing with the divination either, is that fine?"

Upon hearing this, the Jade Spore Skyworm was genuinely conflicted. To be honest, it was also confused about its development direction. Even asking Feng Jun about its parents wasn’t mainly for reunion, but rather to plan its future development.

And "Life" Thoughts were quite beneficial to it as well.

It thought for a long time before speaking, "You could have haggled; why be so insincere?"

"Do you think Thoughts of Dao are weeds by the roadside?" Yi Jue snorted coldly, "In a life-and-death battle, I only used two Thoughts of Dao. Do you think... that twenty percent of the Transpatial Vine is worth ten of my lives?"

This statement was somewhat shifting concepts, but also not without reason. After calculating, the Jade Spore Skyworm sighed in frustration, "Fine, two times then."

It changed its mind, but Yi Jue refused to agree, "No, by insulting others and belittling my sincerity, I’ve changed my mind... only one Life Thought!"

She reversed her stance, and the Jade Spore Skyworm became anxious, "Yi Jue, I conjured so many fungal threads out of thin air, which depletes my essence. I didn’t say anything, yet we cultivators of the Spirit Plant Dao quarrel over trivialities; doesn’t it make us a laughingstock for outsiders?"

Yi Jue remained haughty, "Keep talking, and there’ll be none at all!"

"Two times!" The Jade Spore Skyworm persisted, "If you don’t agree, you’re ignoring my essence depletion."

Yi Jue rolled her eyes, then waved her hand irritably, "Alright, alright, stop causing a scene in front of outsiders!"

The Jade Spore Skyworm wouldn’t let go, "Then say it clearly, do you agree or not?"

Yi Jue gave it a sidelong glance, "Isn’t this just nonsense? I already said ’alright,’ what more do you want?"

On the Celestial Star Abyss, the number of people spectating hadn’t decreased much. Yi Jue, Tiegu, and the Transpatial Vine had entered the void for two whole days without any news, and it seemed uncertain how long it would last.

Some people couldn’t wait any longer and wanted to leave, but immediately someone else urged, saying that after Yi Jue had left, Qing Ji had taken a male cultivator after her. It was rumored that this man might be able to exit the void, so we could wait a bit more to see if there’s any result.

The ability to exit the void was incredibly astonishing. Even those at the Emergence Stage struggle to achieve it, not to mention a mere Small Golden Core.

Because of this, many didn’t really believe it, so someone swore that waiting a few more days would see Yi Jue’s return — if that Small Golden Core can enter with them, he can bring them out.

In the Earth Realm, there’s a saying: "Those who know don’t talk, and those who don’t know talk nonsense." Because the Tianqin Plane emphasizes information monopoly, this situation becomes even more severe. Those with partial knowledge were convinced that Feng Jun would bring people back from the Celestial Star Abyss.

However, no one corrected this rumor — those who knew would know, and why educate others for free?

Truly, those with some understanding of Feng Jun’s abilities were also half believing and half doubting.

Thus, as two days passed, the number of people at the Celestial Star Abyss increased rather than decreased.

(Updated to summon guaranteed monthly tickets.)