Outside the chamber, Sha Fu, Jiao Shan, Jiao Hai, and the other juniors stood guard, ensuring he would not be disturbed.

His every acupoint contracted and expanded erratically; his divine body would sometimes **convulse, and other times relax into serenity. Suspended above his head was his Primeval Realm, radiant as the stars, twinkling with the light of the sun, moon, and stars, streaked by fleeting meteors—a galaxy containing some mysterious, ultimate principle of heaven and earth.

Waves of profound, mysterious fluctuations emanated from his Primeval Realm, spreading through the stone chamber like **ripples on water.

“Still not right…”

He frowned, murmuring softly, opening his eyes with a look of confusion, deeply pondering.

The reason he had won the battle against Heige was the crucial moment he unleashed the Devouring Profundity, using the black hole of his Primeval Realm as its core to instantly absorb the negative energies from his body's acupoints, allowing the black hole’s devouring profundity to detach from the Primeval Realm, to separate from the space he occupied, and swallow the meteor that had transformed from the Planet of Gold.

That meteor now floated within his Primeval Realm as a star, saturated with his aura. The instant that star entered the black hole, all of Heige's imprints were wiped clean.

The Devouring Profundity was the true primary profundity of the Bloodthirsty lineage, the core profundity that reigned above the Eight Great Inheritances.

As the inheritor of the Bloodthirsty lineage, if he could not achieve a deep understanding of the Devouring Profundity, how could he inherit the mantle of Bloodthirsty, and how could he earn the sincere loyalty of his Eight Vassals?

This battle, which he ultimately won through the marvelous application of the Devouring Profundity, was also the first time he realized the immense depth and subtlety of this profound mystery, recognizing it as the rarest wonder in the world. Only then did he finally understand why Devouring was the secret not passed down by the Master of Bloodthirst.

An profundity capable of devouring what was nurtured within an opponent’s Primeval Realm—had he not experienced it firsthand in this battle, he might never have even conceived of it in his wildest dreams.

It was only then that he suddenly realized he was sitting on a treasure trove without knowing it, and because he lacked a deeper perception of this Devouring Profundity, he had not given it the attention it deserved, leaving him utterly bewildered by many of its nuances.

For instance, he now wished to recreate the subtlety he displayed earlier, to draw the black hole from the profundity layer into his Primeval Realm, connecting the Primeval Realm with every acupoint in his body...

After trying repeatedly, he simply could not succeed. The profundity he had executed before seemed a mere flash in the pan, and now, desperately seeking it, he was only met with a sense of helpless frustration.

All of this stemmed from the fact that he had immersed himself too little time in the Devouring Profundity. He had relentlessly cultivated the profundities of Space, Life and Death, and the Stars, with every breakthrough in realm relying on his deep comprehension of those three. The Devouring Profundity, however, had no discernible effect on his realm breakthroughs.

This was precisely why he had always found it strange and had never truly taken this profundity to heart.

If any one of the Space, Life and Death, or Star profundities stalled, his realm advancement would not proceed smoothly.

The Devouring Profundity was different; he expended virtually no effort on it. This profundity required no contemplation or breakthrough; his realm would advance as scheduled. It did not bind his progress, nor did it cause stagnation.

Therefore, he had gradually neglected the Devouring Profundity in the past, mistakenly believing it was only used to consume the Soul Altar, unaware of the far greater subtleties it contained.

Until today...

Today, he suddenly understood that the marvel of the Devouring Profundity was far more than simply consuming altars. For this profundity to be the secret of the Bloodthirsty lineage, it absolutely had to possess the world’s most miraculous transformations.

He resolved to delve into its study here.

Thoughts flashed through his mind as he continuously simulated, attempting to perform the previous transformation over and over, only to find that his Primeval Realm could never fully connect with his body’s acupoints.

“There must be something I haven't fully grasped in certain aspects…”

Shi Yan muttered, frowning, lost in deep thought.

He sank into memory...

In the beginning, when he descended into the cave in the Gloomy Forest, he was submerged in the blood pool’s waters, forming a blood cocoon around his body while accepting the Bloodthirsty Inheritance.

At that time, his body was completely remade; the dross within his **body was purged, and a trace of Origin Power began to wander inside. Subsequently, through that battle and the deaths of those Mo Family martial artists, his body’s acupoints automatically absorbed the essence of death, refining and purifying it within the acupoints to form a new strength that augmented his Origin Power.

It could be said that everything he possessed today, his current realm and strength, owed its existence to the transformation of his acupoints.

He had initially assumed that the acupoints' ability to absorb the essence of death was a manifestation of the Death Profundity—the very profundity that Xuan He, the master of death, meticulously cultivated.

But now, having witnessed the more profound subtleties of the Devouring Profundity, he was beginning to harbor a new perspective: the method of absorbing the essence of death was not at all within the scope of the Death Profundity, but rather a branch, a specialized manifestation of the Devouring Profundity!

In other words, when he accepted the blood water that tempered his physical body, he had already received the inheritance of the Devouring Profundity!

His body's acupoints were formed by the Devouring Profundity—this was the Devouring Profundity, not some Death Profundity!

The Devouring Profundity could devour the essence of death, it could devour the Soul Altar, and it could even devour things nurtured within an opponent’s Primeval Realm. What could the Devouring Profundity not devour?

He shuddered violently, a current flashing through his mind. The mists seemed instantly blown away. His spiritual platform became instantaneously lucid and clear, and the confusion in his heart vanished.

It turned out that ever since that stone cave, he had inherited the Devouring Profundity.

It was laughable that he himself was unaware, taking the absorption of the essence of death by his acupoints as merely one expression of death energy, thereby ignoring the very essence of the Devouring Profundity.

The reason he achieved what he had today was entirely due to the marvelous nature of his acupoints, which allowed him, in the early stages of cultivation, to bypass the slow process of refining power through the sun and moon. By solely relying on the acupoints’ absorption of the essence of death, he rapidly broke through, miraculously advancing through successive new realms.

The Devouring Profundity was the fundamental reason for the miracle that was him, yet after the black hole formed in his mind and the deeper manifestations of the Devouring Profundity appeared, he had failed to penetrate its logic and had not pursued this profundity further.

He had truly overlooked a supreme treasure.

Having broken through this layer of mystery and realized that the transformation of his acupoints was a form of the Devouring Profundity, the fog covering his mind cleared.

He smiled faintly and once again engaged with his Profundities.

His Primeval Realm materialized above his head. He shifted his divine sense and thought, causing the black hole to slowly emerge within the Primeval Realm. Then, a divine light flashed, like heavenly thunder igniting subterranean fire, triggering the change in his acupoints!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The twenty or so acupoints began to swirl within each one, instantly establishing contact with the Primeval Realm and forming a marvelous resonance with the black hole.

The black hole then floated directly out of his Primeval Realm again, exuding boundless mystery and power, forming an intense sucking force, as if intending to draw everything born from spirit, soul, and consciousness in heaven and earth into itself. Simultaneously, his entire body’s acupoints felt a sharp, tingly soreness, also emanating a suction force.

The surrounding life magnetic field, vitality, spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the power of Divine Crystals, even the hidden energy within divine weapons and arrays, all began to tremble and sway, seemingly on the verge of being drawn into his acupoints.

The black hole devoured souls and spirits, while the acupoints absorbed matter imbued with energy—these were both manifestations of the Devouring Profundity, simply different forms of expression.

Shi Yan chuckled.

He suddenly circulated his divine power; the acupoints in his **body transmitted a sharp ache as that suction force surged dramatically.

The people from the Thousand Illusions Sect, Shattered Palace, Heavenly Water Palace, Mu Wei, and Jiao Tu in the manor suddenly felt dizzy in their life magnetic fields. Their main souls seemed on the verge of detaching from their altars, about to float out of their minds. Even their flesh and blood vitality experienced tremors that sent chills down their spines.

“This... this feeling…” Gu Lian’s expression shifted in horror, her spirit greatly shaken.

Xing Ming also turned pale, staring intensely toward a certain area, his expression suddenly becoming extremely grave. He took a deep breath and shouted, “This, could this be the true Profundity of Bloodthirst?”

He looked uncertainly at Laina.

Laina’s face was filled with bitterness; she shook her head. “Those who were qualified to strike against that person back then are either dead or have disappeared for countless years. I certainly wasn't qualified, and naturally, I don't know what the real Devouring Profundity entails.”

Gu Lian, Xing Ming, Laina, and the other faction leaders were not sufficiently advanced in their cultivation ten thousand years ago to participate in the battles against the Bloodthirsty lineage.

They only knew of the Bloodthirsty lineage’s terrifying power through the narrations of their predecessors and masters; they had no deep personal experience, so they did not know what the true Devouring Profundity was like, only that it was incredibly powerful and recognized across the Star Sea as the most tyrannical and evil profundity.

The recognized number one—no race, living being, or faction raised any objection!

In a corner of the manor.

Jilata of the Nether Emperor Race gave a violent shudder, his face dramatically changing. He abruptly looked toward Shi Yan’s direction and roared, “Do you feel it?”

Audrey was already standing, her pretty face covered in horror. “That aura seems intent on devouring every spirit, soul, and every substance imbued with energy, transforming it into his strength. This, could this be the real Devouring Profundity?”

Jilata nodded gravely, taking a deep breath, and said, “That kid… is gradually touching the threshold of the Devouring Profundity. He is advancing step by step. To be able to emit this kind of imposing aura means that in terms of the Devouring Profundity, he has only just now truly entered the hall.”

“How terrifying is the Devouring Profundity?” Audrey cried out in shock.

“You only need to know that nearly ninety percent of the peak powerhouses from ten thousand years ago, who besieged the Bloodthirsty lineage together, ended up dead to understand why this profundity is universally recognized as number one,” Jilata said with a bitter smile.

His eyes held a deep-seated fear. “Many of the gravestones you saw in your clan’s sacred grounds... the majority were created by the Bloodthirsty lineage.”

Upon hearing this, Audrey’s face instantly turned ashen.

In the sacred grounds of the Nether Emperor Race stood the memorial tablets of their ancestors. Only the most powerful clan members who had made significant contributions to the Nether Emperor Race were qualified to be enshrined there for subsequent generations to worship. Those tablet-honored figures were almost all once dominant powerhouses, each immensely formidable.

The realization that the majority of them had died at the hands of the Bloodthirsty lineage, massacred by the Devouring Profundity, left Audrey profoundly shaken.

“No wonder my Nether Emperor Race couldn't rise in that era; their powerhouses were all killed by him, so naturally, no new leaders could emerge,” Audrey sighed deeply, her beautiful eyes glimmering with thoughtful light.