Hearing the voice behind him, Nan Ji turned around.
Before him stood a red monstrous bird!
The monster bird had nine heads, its eighteen eyes glaring fiercely at Nan Ji.
"So I overlooked you! Hehehe..."
The voice seemed to come from all nine bird heads, making Nan Ji shudder.
"It's you..."
No matter how unwilling he was to believe it, seeing the bloodstains and wounds on the monster bird, Nan Ji had no choice but to accept the truth before him.
Nan Ji trembled, his voice hoarse as he asked, "X-Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao?"
"You mean those two cultivators?"
"They've already entered my belly. I have to say, their souls were truly delicious. Hehehe..."
The monster bird's voice sounded both male and female, making the already enraged Nan Ji feel even worse.
Seemingly unconcerned with Nan Ji's feelings, the monster bird continued, "But don't be afraid. Why not become my Ghost Chariot's..."
Before Ghost Chariot could finish, Nan Ji suddenly pulled out his Soul Slaying Staff!
"Become your mother's leg!" With that, Nan Ji raised the Soul Slaying Staff and smashed it at Ghost Chariot.
"Heh!"
Ghost Chariot looked at the furious Nan Ji before her and sneered disdainfully.
The demon race placed the greatest importance on tempering the flesh.
Although she could tell that Nan Ji, like herself, was in the early Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, in the Great Desolation, having a master or lacking one made for a world of difference in strength.
As for Ghost Chariot, she had received guidance in cultivation from the Eastern Emperor and Tai Yi of the demon race.
They were guests of the Violet Firmament Palace. Thus, Ghost Chariot did not dodge Nan Ji's furious attack, choosing instead to take it head-on.
When Nan Ji's Soul Slaying Staff struck Ghost Chariot, not a single one of her fiery-red feathers fell. She could not help but mock him, "That little strength... Aah..."
Though it had not injured her flesh, as the Soul Slaying Staff rose again, Ghost Chariot felt an exceptionally pure yet filthy force invade her primordial spirit.
"Not painful, is it?!"
"Just a little strength, is it?!"
Nan Ji vented loudly as he repeatedly battered Ghost Chariot with his Soul Slaying Staff.
As the Soul Slaying Staff fell again and again, the piercing pain from her primordial spirit made Ghost Chariot unable to straighten herself.
From afar, Nan Ji, several times smaller than Ghost Chariot, could be seen jumping up and down, continuously striking with a slender Soul Slaying Staff.
Meanwhile, Ghost Chariot's enormous bird body was beaten until her nine heads spun wildly, her wings flapping violently against the ground as countless red feathers drifted through the air.
"You... you!"
Enduring the agonizing pain, Ghost Chariot's entire body suddenly burst into green flames.
"Netherworld Fiend Fire!"
Though Nan Ji had cultivated for only a short time, the Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture bestowed by the Three Pure Ones had filled in much of what he had not known.
For example, this Netherworld Fiend Fire was extraordinarily powerful and could even burn the primordial spirit of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
"Heh! Good that you recognize it. I advise you... Aah!"
Ghost Chariot had intended to use the Netherworld Fiend Fire to burn away the filthy force clinging to her primordial spirit like maggots to bone.
But when the flames touched that filthy force, it was like pouring hot oil onto a fire, making Ghost Chariot suffer even more.
As her primordial spirit became contaminated, Ghost Chariot's cultivation actually began to decline, about to fall into the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
Naturally, Nan Ji believed the Soul Slaying Staff in his hand was no ordinary item. After all, the Three Pure Ones had been destined for greatness ever since taking form.
How could the filth refined by beings born from Pangu's primordial spirit possibly be destroyed by flames like these?
Although the Soul Slaying Staff was completely unaffected upon touching the flames, Nan Ji himself was only an ordinary Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
Thus, Nan Ji immediately brought out the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, covering himself beneath it.
As surging Mysterious Yellow Qi descended from the pagoda, even the Netherworld Fiend Fire could not harm Nan Ji in the slightest.
"Die!"
Looking at the wretched Ghost Chariot before him, Nan Ji showed no mercy, smashing down with all his strength again and again.
"No, don't!"
Though Ghost Chariot was arrogant, she had seen Nan Ji enter what was like a golden protective barrier.
In the current Great Desolation, there were only so many supreme treasures. Nan Ji's pagoda was clearly the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda of Laozi, the Supreme Pure One among the Three Pure Ones.
Ghost Chariot wailed as she continuously begged for mercy.
Inside, she regretted it so deeply her guts were nearly turning green.
She had originally thought Nan Ji was merely a cultivator like the independent cultivators of Wuyi Mountain from before. Even at the same realm, Ghost Chariot had not feared him at all.
Who would have thought that this brat before her had ties to the Three Pure Ones!
Driven by the instinct to survive, Ghost Chariot opened one of her beaks and spat out a storage pouch.
Her other eight heads all opened their mouths to beg, "Aah... I-I was blind... I didn't recognize, recognize that you were a cultivator from Kunlun Mountain. These are the treasures of those two cultivators... Please, spare me!"
No matter how many independent cultivators she killed, Ghost Chariot had never feared the consequences.
At worst, she could fly to the Sun Star. Surely Di Jun and Tai Yi would not stand idly by.
But... the Three Pure Ones...
They were not easy to provoke, nor could they be provoked!
How could a cultivator able to carry the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda be an ordinary person at the Three Pure Ones' side?
Bang!
Seeing that his Soul Slaying Staff could only contaminate her primordial spirit, Nan Ji simply flew into the air to avoid the Netherworld Fiend Fire and smashed Ghost Chariot with the pagoda.
Thus, under Nan Ji's rage-filled attack, one of Ghost Chariot's bird heads was smashed until only half remained.
Yet at the same time, his gaze fell upon that storage pouch.
Was this... the last thing left behind by Brother Xiao and Cao Bao?
Nan Ji hurriedly drew it over, staring blankly at it in his palm as waves of bitterness rose in his heart.
Ghost Chariot saw this and ignored everything else, hastily fleeing into the sky.
Feeling the violent winds stirred up around him by Ghost Chariot's flapping wings, Nan Ji came back to his senses. Before he could inspect the storage pouch's contents, he grabbed his Soul Slaying Staff and gave chase.
Blood streamed from Ghost Chariot's bird heads, but she did not dare slow down in the slightest, desperately beating her wings.
Nan Ji pursued her with all his might, shouting as he chased, "Wretch, where do you think you're running?!"
No one knew how long the two flew, but they drew ever closer to the Sun Star. Enduring the scorching True Sun Fire, Ghost Chariot stopped and cried out, "Demon Emperor, save me!"
"Heh!"
Nan Ji did not waste words. Raising the Soul Slaying Staff, he was about to smash it down upon Ghost Chariot.
Yet when the blow fell, it did not strike Ghost Chariot. Instead, a faint red barrier appeared around her.
The previously unstoppable Soul Slaying Staff now felt as though it had struck a ball of cotton, its attack neutralized.
Then a deep voice rang out, neither pleased nor angered. "Little friend, stop."
Next, the flames of the Sun Star churned, and two men dressed in golden robes appeared before Nan Ji.
"You two..."
Though Nan Ji had already guessed their identities, Ghost Chariot was simply too hateful, so he spoke up to ask.
"I am Di Jun!"
"Tai Yi!"
The two answered one after the other. Then Di Jun asked, "May I ask which disciple of the Three Pure Ones of Kunlun Mountain you are..."
Though Nan Ji was gritting his teeth in hatred, he did not believe he could defeat Di Jun and Tai Yi.
So Nan Ji forced himself to calm down and answered, "My master is Jade Pure Yuanshi!"
"This woman killed my two friends. Are you two martial uncles simply going to let her humiliate the first disciple of the Three Pure Ones like this?"
As he spoke, Nan Ji's eyes reddened, but with Di Jun and Tai Yi blocking his path, there was nothing he could do.
Hearing this, Di Jun looked as though he had known all along and said, "So you are the disciple of the Three Pure Ones!"
Before you continue