"Boom!!!"

The earth-shattering explosion echoed through the sky, unleashing waves of blood-red energy. Countless malevolent shadows surged from the blast, charging straight at Xu Hei, the very same fifty million strands of malicious energy he had refined.

The Rock Crystal Guardian wall at the forefront was directly shattered, and Xu Hei's insect control formation was thrown into disarray.

"What incredible destructive power!"

"Such might, it seems they've detonated tens of millions of strands of malicious energy. The Blood Refining Sect truly has some extraordinary means after annihilating a star!"

Two onlookers nearby wore expressions of shock. Even if they faced such an explosion themselves, it would be difficult to withstand.

After all, this was a desperate strike from a Divine Transformation cultivator. Forcing a cultivator at the Divine Transformation Stage to such an extent was a feat few could achieve among their peers.

But what happened next left them even more astonished.

The overwhelming malevolent energy seemed to be devoured, disappearing into thin air as it neared the swarm of insects. Xu Hei didn't even take a step back.

Another elder of the Blood Refining Sect, Beiming Lei, was left dumbstruck.

Over the years, the malicious energy he had refined and absorbed was on par with Xue Fengzi's, yet such a detonation failed to harm Xu Hei in the slightest. Even a mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivator couldn't dismiss it so lightly!

Fortunately, taking advantage of Xue Fengzi's delay, he had already rushed to the front of the divine sense formation.

Without hesitation, he summoned a copper bell over his head and charged headlong into the formation. This was the Quieting Bell he had prepared in advance, specifically targeting the divine sense formation.

Upon entering the formation, his primordial spirit was pierced with pain, waves of dizziness washing over him. Just as he was about to press forward, a sudden pain struck from behind.

Two flying swords pierced his back, running him through.

They were the Star-Moon Sword and the Wutong Wood Sword.

Spirit-Eating Ants crawled over the sword blades, gnawing at his flesh.

The copper bell above his head was also crawling with Spirit-Eating Ants.

"How... is this possible..."

Despair filled Beiming Lei's eyes. He burned his primordial spirit, attempting to self-detonate, but the two flying swords continuously sliced him, dividing his physical body into countless pieces. Surrounded by the Lunar Mystic Fire, the icy chill penetrated his body, suppressing the violent force within him entirely.

In just two breaths, Beiming Lei's physical body was annihilated, and his primordial spirit was absorbed by Xu Hei.

He couldn't even manage to self-detonate.

The two onlookers in the distance were left dumbfounded, petrified in an instant.

To force a Divine Transformation Stage cultivator to the point where self-detonation was impossible, what level of cultivation did Xu Hei possess? Could it be that he had already reached the mid-stage of Divine Transformation?

No! Even a mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivator couldn't achieve this so easily!

Once at the Divine Transformation Stage, burning the primordial spirit could cause one's spiritual power to surge several times over in a short period, making Divine Transformation cultivators notoriously difficult to kill.

Even if they were to flee with all their might, it would be challenging to kill them, even if their strength was a notch lower. If the opponent self-detonated, it could instead result in severe injury.

Xu Hei faced one person's self-detonation without a scratch and intercepted another, preventing them from even self-detonating.

This only indicated that Xu Hei's strength far surpassed these two, reaching a level of overwhelming dominance.

"Could it be that his strength is already comparable to Li Changge and the Flame Demon Ancestor?"

"No, that's impossible!"

The two quickly reconsidered, relieved that they hadn't rashly agreed to join forces.

With the methods Xu Hei had just displayed, even if the four of them worked together, it would be difficult to escape unscathed, and they might end up dead and gone.

Xu Hei collected the storage bags of the two, counted them, and smiled slightly.

His Supreme Spirit Stones had long been exhausted, not only for his own cultivation but also for raising insects, which was a significant drain. These two had resolved his urgent needs.

Xue Fengzi, who had guarded this place for a year, had few spirit stones on him, only thirteen Supreme ones.

Beiming Lei, on the other hand, had quite a few more, with a total of twenty-eight Supreme Spirit Stones, along with many pills beneficial for cultivation and breaking through bottlenecks, likely intended to help him advance to the mid-stage of Divine Transformation.

The copper bell above his head was also a decent fifth-tier magical treasure, capable of blocking divine sense attacks, specifically prepared for this divine sense formation.

With the combined efforts of several others, spending more time, passing through this formation was not impossible.

Xu Hei stored all the treasures of the two, then turned his gaze to the remaining two.

The two, a man and a woman, were a black-dressed woman from the Tianhen Sword Sect, Black Butterfly, and a young man in a Taoist robe from the Yan Dao Sect, Yaoguang Zhenren.

Seeing Xu Hei's gaze, both of them trembled and quickly cupped their fists, saying, "Greetings, Senior Xu!"

"Senior?" Xu Hei raised an eyebrow.

"In the world of cultivators, the strong are revered. With such divine abilities, Brother Xu is worthy of being called a senior," Yaoguang Zhenren said, lowering his stance.

Black Butterfly quickly added, "We only joined forces with Beiming Lei to break through the formation, and we mean no harm to you, Senior."

Xu Hei said nothing.

Though he was highly suspicious that if he had fallen into a disadvantage or a stalemate earlier, these two might have joined forces with the Blood Refining Sect against him.

But he was not unreasonable and saw no need to be ruthless and make enemies everywhere.

"No need to be nervous, I am not a bloodthirsty person. As long as you harbor no ill intentions towards me, I will not trouble you," Xu Hei said.

The two immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Could you tell me what has happened over the past year?" Xu Hei asked.

The two dared not hide anything and immediately recounted the events of the past year.

After Xu Hei went into seclusion, the group ahead took two months to pass through the divine sense attack formation and reach an ancient medicine garden, where many spirit medicines and spiritual herbs were planted, along with numerous ancient pill rooms.

At that time, a fierce battle erupted over a single Divine Fusion Pill.

"Elder Huang of my sect transmitted a small amount of information back through a sect secret technique, but we don't know the specifics," Yaoguang Zhenren said.

Xu Hei nodded slightly and said, "Let's go."

With a wave of his hand, Xu Hei released an External Incarnation to guard the place, then proceeded towards the divine sense formation.

Seeing this, the two could only smile wryly and follow behind.

The divine sense formation was a test set up by ancient cultivators, allowing only those with sufficient divine sense to reach the next area.

However, after being damaged by five Superior Immortals in the past, the formation's power was reduced to a tenth, giving later generations a chance to exploit it.

The broken magical treasures on either side were remnants of the battle from back then.

Xu Hei took out a talisman and placed it on his forehead. As soon as he stepped into the formation, a divine sense attack came at him, but upon touching the talisman, the attack quickly retreated.

This talisman was the Divine Extinguishing Talisman Xu Hei had crafted using the five-colored mushroom!