As per Ming Hao’s explanation, Xuan Shan had indeed succeeded in stealing the Origin Essence from the ancestral star of the God Clan, summoning an Outer Domain Soul. Unfortunately, something went awry; that Outer Domain Soul devoured the Ring Spirit’s memories and ended up killing Xuan Shan himself.

When everyone looked again at the Blood-Patterned Ring, their expressions turned frigid, filled with a silent dread.

Xuan He, hearing Ming Hao’s explanation, showed a slight softening in his demeanor, though his brow remained furrowed in silent contemplation.

Ming Hao glanced to his side, a faint ghostly ripple stirring within his eyes, broadcasting a voice into the Sea of Consciousness of many present: “All extraneous personnel, leave this place immediately!”

Lianna’s restraints dissolved. She first bowed respectfully to Shi Yan in thanks, then turned her gaze toward Tore.

Shi Yan knew that what Ming Hao was about to say next would likely be of even greater consequence. He nodded, subtly channeling one-tenth of his Star Power to gently lift Tore and carry him over to Lianna’s side.

Lianna and Tore quickly departed.

Simultaneously, Randolph also moved away at Ming Hao’s signal. Before leaving, he cast a sidelong glance at Shi Yan, seemingly curious about Shi Yan’s identity and standing.

This was because Shi Yan had not moved.

Soon after, the martial artists from the surrounding factions dispersed and retreated. Ming Hao blinked once, and a stream of soul energy permeated down toward the sealed island beneath them. A section of the island’s flesh-membrane barrier suddenly retracted, and Ming Hao pierced straight through it, entering the island below.

Xuan He, Philet, and Shi Yan followed without ceremony, descending shortly after. The island’s flesh-membrane barrier immediately sealed shut again, isolating the four of them from the outside world.

“Allow me to temporarily seal this thing.”

Ming Hao suddenly sat down. Beside him, an endless sea of bleached white bones swayed like a forest in the wind, emitting a strange, whistling sound.

Shi Yan, Xuan He, and Philet watched him in silence.

Suddenly, streams of indistinct specters flashed into existence from the boundless void, passing through the dark barrier and descending directly toward the crown of Ming Hao’s head.

Shi Yan’s expression changed drastically; his spirit shook, revealing a look of sheer terror.

Those indistinct specters seemed to manifest as Ming Hao’s own bizarre soul forms; each possessed Ming Hao’s life magnetic field and fluctuations of profound mystery, bearing a parallel similarity to the Blood River Xuan He had condensed. These ghostly streams were countless, numbering perhaps in the billions.

Each specter was chillingly cold and possessed an autonomous consciousness. They filled the firmament above the Dark Island, creating a scene of awe-inspiring grandeur.

Every specter was a Ming Hao, an embodiment of his essence spirit, each possessing the exquisite mysteries of Soul Command. Billions of specters gathered, blotting out the sky and earth, their surging soul fluctuations akin to the deepest reaches of the Nine Netherworld, like a forbidden realm absorbing living souls.

The billions of specters converged, gradually evolving and condensing, piling up to form a Soul Altar.

The physical body Ming Hao had temporarily possessed now showed signs of its life force receding to an extreme low, serving merely as a mouthpiece for Ming Hao to project his voice.

Ming Hao quickly took shape upon the altar built from billions of specters. An aura of a vast and profound ocean of souls permeated from within his structure.

His altar seemed to be the ultimate resting place for the souls of countless stars—profound and utterly unique, exerting a powerful attraction on all souls.

His altar was a single, integrated entity, slightly indistinct, making it as impossible to clearly discern as his main soul.

Suddenly, myriad subtle symbols, condensed from pure soul energy, drifted out from his altar. These symbols, like irregular soul threads, subtly wove together into intricate and complex diagrams of heaven and earth, containing the ultimate truth of profound mystery. They gave Shi Yan the illusion of being immersed at the very origin point of all universal truths.

Each complex diagram carried the essence of Ming Hao’s life and soul, appearing as if woven purely from Ming Hao’s own consciousness—boundless in their mystery.

All these diagrams descended toward the Blood-Patterned Ring, like countless fine nets, wrapping around it layer after layer.

Focusing intently, one could see that on the face of the Blood-Patterned Ring, the blood patterns were eerily wriggling, forming a grim, indistinct little face—the Ring Spirit transformed and manifested.

It sensed Ming Hao’s sealing efforts. It roared soundlessly, struggling violently, attempting to break free from the Blood-Patterned Ring to fight Ming Hao.

That grim, indistinct little face, formed by the writhing blood patterns, was profoundly bizarre and evil. A mere glance sent a tremor through Shi Yan’s spirit, bringing a chilling sense of unease.

It felt as though that little face belonged to an extremely malevolent entity bent on destroying and consuming everything in existence.

The Ming Hao Soul Altar emanated waves of subtle fluctuations, and layer upon layer of complex diagrams drifted forth, enveloping the Blood-Patterned Ring, causing the struggling little face of the Ring Spirit to gradually weaken.

The sealing process, which lasted half an hour, gradually concluded. Ming Hao had imposed tens of thousands of different types of diagrammatic seals upon the Blood-Patterned Ring, finally binding the Ring Spirit so tightly that it could not stir even an inch.

The faint connection between the Ring Spirit and Shi Yan was completely severed; he could no longer perceive the slightest trace of the Ring Spirit’s existence.

The Soul Altar visibly shrank after Ming Hao imposed tens of thousands of seal barriers. The altar shifted slightly, and like black clouds scattered by a hurricane, it suddenly dissolved into countless wisps of black smoke, dispersing back into various star domains, resuming command over the powers that secretly governed those regions.

The martial artist whose body Ming Hao had temporarily seized suddenly regained vitality, though the ghostly specters still lingered in his eyes.

Ming Hao did not depart immediately.

“This soul, summoned by Xuan Shan, its origin remains unknown. It killed Xuan Shan and created Hassan of the Chatris family. It was originally prepared to seize Hassan’s divine body, and it was secretly making preparations. It wasn't until the Desolation Era that it was merged with the Blood-Patterned Ring by Shi Yan. It continued to devour the original Ring Spirit, replacing it. Discovering that Shi Yan had already inherited the Devouring Profound Mystery, it abandoned Hassan and set its sights on Shi Yan as its new target…”

“It is clearly an entity whose greed knows no bounds. While it was secretly observing and preparing to seize Shi Yan at some point—Booknet www.shushuw.cn - First release—it encountered a segment of the Master’s bone. It completely integrated the Ring Spirit, and it now knows many of the Master’s secrets even better than we do. It is forming new ambitions; it wishes to gather the Master’s remains and directly inhabit the Master’s body, bypassing the long intervening process to reach a terrifying height instantly.”

Ming Hao resumed his narration.

“Why are you not satisfied with it? It swallowed the Ring Spirit’s memories. If it can successfully utilize the Bloodthirsty Relic Bone to truly exist in a physical form, given its understanding of the Bloodthirsty Profound Mystery, it… would be an excellent successor. Viewed this way, Xuan Shan truly succeeded; he found an outstanding successor for Bloodthirsty. This successor devoured the Ring Spirit, killed Xuan Shan, attempts to seize my body, and now desires the Bloodthirsty Relic Bone. This successor seems even more suitable than I am. Do you not agree?”

Shi Yan’s expression shifted slightly, and he followed Ming Hao’s line of thought, his eyes holding a strange look.

“If it hadn't killed Xuan Shan, and hadn't swallowed the original Ring Spirit, but instead directly replaced Hassan, I would have allowed it to proceed according to our prior arrangements, settling the position of Sovereign through a battle with you. But now, that is absolutely impossible!” Ming Hao exclaimed.

He looked toward Xuan He and Philet, suddenly stating, “Xuan Shan was my sworn brother, and the original Ring Spirit within the Master’s ring was formed by an ancestor of my Nether Emperor Clan! How could I permit it to act as it pleases!”

Xuan He and Philet’s eyes changed, and they said in unison, “Your ancestor?”

Shi Yan was also stunned.

“Ten thousand years ago, the strongest figures of the first generation of the Heavenly Demon Clan, the Undying Demon Clan, the Nether Emperor Clan, and the God Clan entered the Desolation Era side by side. You all generally know this. An ancestor of my Nether Emperor Clan was also buried within the Desolation Era. The ice-blue light barrier currently surrounding the outer edge of the Desolation Era was formed by the evolution of my ancestor’s Origin World and Soul Altar,” Ming Hao stated.

“That light barrier wasn’t condensed from the souls of your Nether Emperor Clan ancestors? That… that being told me that the Divine Mountain was formed from the skeletal remains of an Undying Demon Clan ancestor, and that this Blood Sword was refined from that same Undying Demon Clan ancestor’s spine,” Shi Yan interjected abruptly.

Ming Hao looked at him. “My ancestor’s Origin World and Soul Altar became the light barrier, but the main soul lost its memory and transformed into the artifact spirit, merging into the Blood-Patterned Ring. That Divine Mountain and that Blood Sword—it did not lie; they were indeed formed from the bones of an Undying Demon Clan ancestor.”

Xuan He, Philet, and Shi Yan all wore intensely grave expressions. The conversation had reached a critical juncture where an issue that had perplexed them for many years could no longer be avoided.

Where did Bloodthirsty truly come from?

He possessed the Blood Sword and the Blood-Patterned Ring. The Blood Sword was refined from the skeletal remains of an Undying Demon Clan ancestor, and the Ring Spirit within the Blood-Patterned Ring was formed from the main soul of a Nether Emperor Clan ancestor. From this, it could be inferred that Bloodthirsty had been to the Desolation Era and must have gained immense harvests there.

However, the Desolation Era only opened once every ten thousand years, and members of the Four Great Clans traveled there each time. The secret records of the Four Clans documented the details of several openings of the Desolation Era, yet none mentioned Bloodthirsty.

This implied that Bloodthirsty was absent during every ten-thousand-year opening.

So how did he enter the Desolation Era, obtain the remains of an Undying Demon Clan ancestor within it, and refine the main soul of a Nether Emperor Clan ancestor to become the artifact spirit of the Blood-Patterned Ring?

This remained an unsolvable mystery.

“In the ten thousand years following the Master’s demise, I utilized every resource at my disposal to secretly investigate this matter, seeking to uncover the Master’s origin. Now, I have made an astonishing discovery, a bold conjecture,” Ming Hao stated ominously.

Shi Yan and the other two jolted, focusing all their attention and listening with their entire beings.

The origin and identity of Bloodthirsty had perplexed the major clans and various factions for ten millennia; no one had yet provided a reasonable explanation. Every powerful figure in existence harbored a fervent curiosity regarding this unsolvable riddle.

No one was an exception.

“What astonishing discovery? What conjecture?” Seeing Ming Hao pause to organize his thoughts, Philet lost patience and exclaimed.

“Ten thousand years ago, we all pledged allegiance under the Master’s banner. Aside from the Master’s own mysterious power and the strange Profound Mystery inheritance he bestowed upon us, there was another crucial point that cannot be ignored: we all sensed a profoundly familiar aura from the Master. That aura was indescribable. I inquired with Gru of the God Clan, Jado of the Heavenly Demon Clan, and you yourself, Xuan He; you all confirmed having the same feeling as me. Do you still recall?” Ming Hao looked at Xuan He.

Xuan He nodded. “I remember. I indeed discussed this matter with others. Back then, Xuan Shan and I even communicated about it; we both confirmed sensing a familiar aura from the Master. That aura naturally drew us to him, made us feel close to him, assured us he would not harm us, and made him feel trustworthy—that feeling… is difficult to articulate.”

Recalling the past, he affirmed Ming Hao’s words.