Despite his appearance as a human, Zhong, whose visage could never be clearly seen, held the God-Sealing Map in his hand, and said indifferently to Chief Judge Qi, "He is dead, but those he cared about are still here, so I must stay alive."

Chief Judge Qi looked at Zhong expressionlessly and said, "Even when he was around, he couldn’t stop me. Now there’s only you left with a level of talent. Do you think you can stop me?"

"No, in terms of combat strength, I am far inferior to you. Even if he were resurrected, he might not be able to defeat you," Zhong said lightly. "But you can’t kill me, and that is enough."

Chief Judge Qi’s face turned a bit sour. He understood what Zhong meant and why he was left behind even after that person had died.

"Being the master of the Ancestral Court, bullying the weak is hardly a dignified action. Before he ascends to the Ninth Awakening, I’ll keep this God-Sealing Map for safekeeping. After he reaches the Ninth Awakening, I will personally return the God-Sealing Map to the Feng Family," Zhong said as he turned to leave.

"Do you really think without the God-Sealing Map, I can’t kill him?" Chief Judge Qi’s eyes were fierce. He went through so much trouble to capture Chen Guan; how could he just let him live?

"You can kill, but if he dies, I can assure you, the Ancestral Court will never again have anyone ascend to the Great Cave Heaven," Zhong said, pausing in his steps.

Chief Judge Qi’s eyes were deep. He knew Zhong could achieve this, as only Zhong could traverse all the Secret Realms with his unique existence.

"By doing this, you’re not only destroying me and the Ancestral Court but also destroying that person’s dream."

Zhong chuckled, "That person’s dream was never such an Ancestral Court. Even if it were, frankly, I find the Ancestral Court distasteful. Destroy it if I must, what does it matter?"

With that said, Zhong shattered the void and left, leaving only a voice behind: "Before the Ninth Awakening, anyone who touches Chen Guan and Ji Nanhong, I’ll destroy their entire family. I can’t defeat you, but can I not take on your disciples, offspring, and wives? When they reach the Ninth Awakening, I won’t interfere, and you can kill them after that."

Chief Judge Qi did not attempt to stop him. Zhong was far from being his opponent, yet Zhong’s ability meant he couldn’t be killed or detained, making any action futile.

"Do you insist on opposing me? Even in death, making such a move to disgust me. How did we end up here?" Chief Judge Qi’s gaze darkened as he looked at Chen Guan within the Celestial Destiny Star flag.

Chen Guan’s Creation World had also ceased. Without the support of the World’s End when switching Heroic Spirit Unsheathed, Creation World could no longer continue and naturally broke off.

However, a large amount of energy absorbed earlier remained undigested within his body.

Chen Guan was now at level 68, and the remaining undigested energy was likely enough to push him to the pinnacle of level 70 and even further.

Ascending the Eighth Awakening was merely a matter of time. The current issue was how to escape from Chief Judge Qi.

He was now considered qualified to sit at the table, but he held too few cards, and even if he joined the table, he would only be oppressed.

Especially against a formidable entity like Chief Judge Qi, virtually the most powerful under the Celestial King, with unimaginable accumulations, Chen Guan’s current hand was insufficient to contend against him. The best approach was to evade for now.

Chen Guan had not yet altered his Secret Law, and the force trying to extract his soul vanished. The Celestial Destiny Star was quiet, and even Chief Judge Qi’s voice was gone.

He knew something must have happened, but he didn’t know what it was.

"Did someone step in to intervene?" Chen Guan pondered, but other than this possibility, he could not imagine what else could have made Chief Judge Qi stop attacking him.

As Chen Guan was pondering this, suddenly, a force like a soul hammer struck directly into his celestial cap.

Without the protection of Heroic Spirit Unsheathed, this blow seemed to shatter his soul like tempered glass smashed by a hammer.

Chen Guan fell headlong down, and where he landed was no longer the starry sky but endless yellow sand.

The illusory body of Chief Judge Qi’s Moon in the Water looked at Chen Guan convulsing on the ground and said coldly, "Since he won’t let me kill you, I will not kill you but merely damage your soul. Your life shall remain."

With that, the illusory body of Chief Judge Qi’s Moon in the Water vanished as well.

Chief Judge Qi used the soul-refining power of the Secret Collection to shatter Chen Guan’s soul with the Soul-Honing Hammer, breaking it apart but not dispersing it.

It did not take Chen Guan’s life, nor would it turn his soul into a living dead, but the soul was full of cracks, nearly breaking apart. Such a fragile soul can hardly undergo intense exertion anymore.

The soul and body are complementary existences. With the soul becoming so fragile, the body has almost no chance to advance further.

This kind of soul couldn’t even exert the current capabilities of the body.

And the soul damage is extremely difficult to repair, let alone being wounded by the power of the Soul-Honing Hammer, almost impossible to repair, and so severely damaged.

Chen Guan lay still on the ground for a long time, until Ghost Eye floated over by itself, using its dragon claw to lift Chen Guan’s body and flew towards the distance, seemingly trying to escape this desert.

Ghost Eye flew in the sky for an unknown time, when Chen Guan suddenly opened his eyes, patted Ghost Eye, signaling it to release its claw.

Ghost Eye was overjoyed, loosened its claw, and let Chen Guan stand on its claw.

"It seems no one is spying on me anymore." Chen Guan’s spirit appeared completely normal, showing no signs of his soul being shattered.

He reached to the back of his head and took out a small paperman.

"Thanks to the paperman, otherwise this would have been really dangerous," when Heroic Spirit Unsheathed was breached, he quietly called out the paperman, having it hide behind him to prevent serious damage to his soul.

The paperman possessed the Celestial Destiny Star of the Netherworld Emperor and the Netherworld Emperor Seal as the Celestial Destiny Secret Treasure.

In terms of soul control, it was an extremely powerful existence.

But its level was indeed too low, much like Chen Guan’s current predicament.

If exposed, who knows what further means Chief Judge Qi might have waiting for them.

Now that Chief Judge Qi assumed Chen Guan’s soul was destroyed, making any further accomplishments difficult for Chen Guan was naturally the best outcome for him.

Although he didn’t know what power had struck his soul, it was certainly of a Ninth Awakening caliber. That the paperman could restore his shattered soul was ability enough to please Chen Guan.

"When both the paperman and I reach the Ninth Awakening, I shall repay this enmity tenfold," Chen Guan put away the paperman, found a secluded place to thoroughly refine the World Power absorbed into his body, and then plan his next move.

Chen Guan absorbed a massive amount of starlight and eight celestial bodies. This tremendous energy quickly pushed his level to 70.

With some energy still unused, Chen Guan channeled it into Yellow Mud Island.

The abundant World Power on Yellow Mud Island transformed into clouds, enveloping the small island, greatly benefiting Zhao Cai, Little Tiger, and the Warring States residing there, and gradually raising their levels.