Nine Astra Skies

The Ghost Bat Daemon King felt something abnormal in Ji Lei's Psyche. The color drained from his face when he suddenly realized something.

Ye Chen was touched when he saw Ji Lei's actions. He began to evoke the Celestial Chi in his body where a powerful aura rose into the air above as he belted, "Heaven Rumbling Cauldron, go!"

When Ye Chen gestured with his right hand, the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron shot outward. It kept spinning continuously and gradually enlarged until it turned into a three to four meters tall gigantic cauldron. The cauldron engulfed in scorching flames made a distinct appearance in the skies above. It rapidly charged toward the Ghost Bat Daemon King.

"Die!" There was a chilling glare in Ye Chen's eyes.

"What in the world is this?" The Ghost Bat Daemon King was baffled when he saw the gigantic Heaven Rumbling Cauldron headed toward his direction. He was caught between Ji Lei's Psyche that was about to implode on one side and the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron on the other. The Ghost Bat Daemon King sent the gigantic bat materialized from his Psyche toward the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron. He tried to use his claws to pry away the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron. "Get out of my way!"

"Just in time!" Ye Chen smirked. He was well-versed with the uses of the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron. One of its uses was transmuting Psyche. When the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron ingested Psyche, it would unleash enormous flames. Regular Psyche that was not powerful would be instantly immolated and turned into ashes.

The reason Ye Chen was so familiar with it was because his Astral Body was nearly immolated by the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron. If not for his internal Astral Energy rejuvenation, he would not be able to withstand it either.

Ever since Ye Chen became the owner of the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron, he became more familiar with its uses.

"Clang!" When the Ghost Bat Daemon King's Psyche came in contact with the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron, an enormous torrent was formed around the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron. It violently sucked in the Ghost Bat Daemon King's Psyche.

"Watch how I take care of your Psyche! Heaven Rumbling Cauldron, ingest!" Ye Chen grunted and evoked the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron with his Astral Body.

The flames on the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron became increasingly hot. The gigantic bat in the air was twisted into strange shapes and was being pulled into the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron.

"What is this thing? Impossible, my Psyche!" The Ghost Bat Daemon King shrieked miserably. The Heaven Rumbling Cauldron kept scorching the Ghost Bat Daemon King's Psyche. Eventually, the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron devoured all of the Ghost Bat Daemon King's Psyche. The Ghost Bat Daemon King fell from the sky like a kite with a torn string.

"Ingest!" Under Ye Chen's control, the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron flew under the Ghost Bat Daemon King; the raging flames of the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron wholly devoured the Ghost Bat Daemon King's body.

Ye Chen could sense that it would take the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron a significant amount of time to fully transmute the Ghost Bat Daemon King's Psyche and body.

"You'll need three hours to completely transmute him. It isn't because the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron isn't strong enough. The reason is that your Psyche which was used to invoke the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron isn't strong enough!" Master Lion's voice came from within the Heavenly Astra Seal.

"Retract!" Ye Chen motioned with his right hand and the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron shrunk and returned to his hand.

Ji Lei who was preparing to cast the Psyche Self-destruct Technique gasped when he witnessed what had happened. He immediately canceled the Psyche Self-destruct Technique and retracted his Psyche. He coughed out a mouth full of blood in the process of interrupting the technique. Even though the Psyche Self-destruct Technique was interrupted, he still felt the recoil of the technique. Despite sustaining heavy injuries, he managed to preserve his life.

The forces of both sides were dumbfounded when they witnessed the scene. The Ghost Bat Daemon King was a Daemon King Rank master. Despite being a beginner Daemon King Rank, he was still a powerful being. How could a mere cauldron finish him off?

They looked at the tiny cauldron on Ye Chen's right palm. What sort of item was the cauldron?

Ji Lei, Qing Yu, Ming Yi, Fei Yin, and Ye Qiu were speechless as well. They had witnessed the strength of the Ghost Bat Daemon King firsthand. The powerful Ghost Bat Daemon King fell to the hands of Ye Chen just like that. Just what sort of item was the cauldron?

A silence swept across the battlefield. Ye Chen stood there silently with his eyes closed, feeling the movement within the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron.

Even the Daemon King battling above noticed what had happened. They felt a chill from deep within their hearts. Just what sort of dreadful object was the cauldron to be able to consume a Daemon King? The threat of the cauldron sent a great chill down their spines.

The Blood Wolf Daemon King flew back a considerable distance and glared at Tong Tian the Leo King. There were three of them against the Leo King and they firmly held the upper ground. His Psyche dove into the Daemon Wolf Manic Blade.

"Great Ancestor, what exactly is that cauldron? It can consume a Daemon King!" The Blood Wolf Daemon King was terrified. What if the cauldron suddenly jumped at him and devoured him while he was occupied with Tong Tian the Leo King?

"Ancient divine artifact Heaven Rumbling Cauldron, it's specifically crafted by powerful human beings in the past to deal with us Celestial Beasts. It can consume the Psyche of Celestial Beasts and transmute them into soul pills for their consumption. This artifact is incredibly powerful, you cannot let your Psyche come in contact with it. But there's no need to fear. The brat using it doesn't have what it takes to fully unleash the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron's full potential. As long as you don't touch the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron and kill the brat first, there shouldn't be any issue!" the Demon Wolf Great Ancestor said grimly, "you must claim the artifact. Don't let it fall into the hands of human Godly Venerable Rank or Peerless Power fighters!"

"Yes, Great Ancestor!" The Blood Wolf Daemon King abruptly turned around and leaped toward Ye Chen's direction.

From faraway, Tong Tian the Leo King raised his mighty hammer and slammed it downward. Bolts of thunder filled the skies above in the shape of a cobweb and made their way toward the Blood Wolf Daemon King.

"Blood Wolf, why not stay here and fight for three hundred more rounds?" Although Tong Tian the Leo King was already gravely injured and his body was covered in cuts, he quickly stopped the Blood Wolf Daemon King when he saw what he was trying to do.

"Tong Tian, if you want to die that badly, I'll grant your wish!" the Blood Wolf Daemon King was enraged. He lifted the demonic blade and enveloped himself in a cloud of blood-red mist. He gripped the blood-red sword energy inside the mist and slashed at Tong Tian the Leo King.

Inside the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron, the Ghost Bat Daemon King was stubbornly resisting as his Psyche was desperately trying to escape.

"Let me out!" The Ghost Bat Daemon King repeatedly slammed himself at the restrictive spell inside the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron like a madman.

Ye Chen kept using his Astral Body to evoke the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron to prevent the Ghost Bat Daemon King from escaping. The Ghost Bat Daemon King was shrieking hysterically under the flames of the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron.

"You dare think about escaping after coming in?" Ye Chen grumbled. He continued to use his Astral Body to suppress his captive. He repeatedly channeled the Celestial Chi in his body and released waves of Astral Energy.

Ye Chen was standing still when he suddenly felt a murderous aura coming from behind him. Master Lion called out urgently, "Little brat Ye Chen, watch out!"

Just as Ye Chen was going to summon the Purple Demon Iron Armor, he felt another palm force approaching from behind. Following a loud "thump", he was blasted forward. The impact was so volatile it felt like his organs were jolted around in his body. Even after taking a direct hit, Ye Chen continued to use his Astral body to suppress the Psyche of the Ghost Bat Daemon King locked in the Heaven Rumbling Cauldron.

It was Hei Ming who had used some sort of a secret technique to pull a sneak attack. It was extremely quick and left no time for Ye Chen to react.

Ye Chen fell onto the ground as he had sustained heavy injuries. He grasped at his chest and tried to get up before realizing that his meridian channels were greatly damaged. He felt a cold air surging into his body and could not find the strength to get up at all. When he lifted his head, he noticed Hei Ming grinning deviously as he slowly walked toward his direction.

"Hei Ming, why did you do that?" Ji Lei burst out when he saw Hei Ming suddenly striking Ye Chen. However, he could not do anything due to his injuries.

On the other side of the battlefield, Qing Yu and the others noticed what had happened too. They anxiously tried to make their way over there to help Ye Chen but were held off by several Mystique Venerable Rank fighters of the Wolven Kingdom. They were already greatly wounded in the first place, the situation quickly became very dire.

"Why did I do this?" Hei Ming laughed as he looked at Ji Lei standing far away. "My cultivation base is no weaker than yours. I should at the very least be a candidate for being elected as an elder in the Leo King's Palace by now. The problem is that as one of the Nether Snake clan, I've always been slighted in the Leo King's Palace. Even the Leo King himself has always been extra cautious of me because the last Leo King had slain one of the three elders of the Nether Snake Clan. He knew that the Leo King's Palace has made themselves a mortal enemy of the Nether Snake Clan!"

"That is all in the past. I've always treated you like my brother. Even the Leo King himself invested a great amount of superb medicinal pills to help you become stronger. Is this how you intend to repay his kindness?" Ji Lei's cheeks became flushed red with anger. His heart was full of remorse when he saw Ye Chen who was wounded collapsed on the ground. If not for the Leo King's Palace, Ye Chen would not find himself in such a predicament.

"I deserved those superb medicinal pills in the first place. Spare me your nonsense, brothers? My *ss! Among all of us, you only treat Qing Yu and Ming Yi as your own brothers. You've never seen me as your equal! I've already been spying for the Wolven King for several years without your knowledge. I've waited so long for this day. Today is the day you'll meet your end. Even the Leo King cannot save you now." Hei Ming looked at Fei Yin who was a long distance away. Fei Yin greeted his gaze with a hateful, piercing look. Hei Ming chuckled in response. 'No matter how much you hate me, you'll be my woman in a few days!'

Hei Ming's gaze landed on Ye Chen and a cunning smile appeared on his face. "Don't you feel like it was all for nothing? You didn't have to come all this way but here you are, and today you'll die here!" Despite Hei Ming's mockery, he was fearful and cautious of Ye Chen's Heaven Rumbling Cauldron. As he approached Ye Chen, he prepared to kill Ye Chen at any moment. "You must be in great pain now. I poisoned you with the nether poison of our Nether Snake Clan. The poison will soon corrode your entire body. By the end of the poison's cycle, your entire body will turn to nothing but a puddle of blood. Even if I don't finish you myself, you'll die very soon!"

Ye Chen calmly stared at Hei Ming while silently channeling the Celestial Chi within his body. His Celestial Chi had wrapped themselves around Hei Ming's nether poison. Even though the nether poison was ferocious, they could not withstand Ye Chen's pure Celestial Chi. His Celestial Chi rapidly neutralized the nether poison.

"Why don't I see any fear in your eyes? You're going to die soon. Have you ever tasted death?" Hei Ming unsheathed a Tier Six spirit artifact longsword and kept it close to him as he approached Ye Chen. He was unsettled by Ye Chen's tranquil expression.