Cook and Jeremy, their divine power severely depleted, found their Soul Altars significantly weakened. The combined strike they had labored to condense was ripped into the void and vanished, a devastating blow to their spirits.

They suddenly drew back, their gazes flickering with a nascent new consideration.

Both were distinguished members of the Bradley clan, holding high status. Their mission to the Leixiao Star Domain was solely to support Laiteka and stabilize the situation. Seeing the tide turn against them, they resolved to abandon Laiteka and extricate themselves from the ensuing trouble.

Their eyes shifting furtively, they exchanged a subtle glance toward Laiteka.

Laiteka and Lei Dong both cultivated the profound mysteries of lightning, but the Divine Race possessed innate advantages in physical toughness, vital essence, and innate talent. Laiteka met the challenge with the Indestructible Divine Body, unleashing the subtleties of lightning comprehension in a display that clearly surpassed Lei Dong’s mastery.

Both were at the Second Heaven of the Origin God realm, yet Lei Dong was steadily pushed back, even suffering backlash from his own lightning—coils of thunder-serpents entwined around him, leaving him utterly disheveled.

Seeing Laiteka gaining the upper hand, a thought struck Cook and Jeremy. Cook spoke first, their voices chiming together: "Laiteka, this kid is troublesome. You handle him for a while; that other one... we’ll take him off your hands."

As they spoke, Cook and Jeremy moved to switch opponents with Laiteka, intending to hand the thorny problem of Shi Yan over to him.

Laiteka froze, then turned, his face instantly clouding over. "The two of you together couldn't handle him? Have you forgotten the instructions from the clan?"

He assumed Cook and Jeremy had not exerted their full effort.

Cook and Jeremy exchanged a bitter internal smile, dissolving into threads of fire and ice light as they positioned themselves beside Laiteka.

Surprisingly, Shi Yan made no move to stop them.

He hovered above the Heavenly Pool, a divine light flashing in his eyes as he stared intently at the gradually healing rift in the void.

He knew someone had intervened covertly, disrupting his projection of the void rift and guiding Cook and Jeremy’s fusion of ice and fire into another dimension. That person, he surmised, was the terrifying entity who had brought him here and sealed off the Leixiao Star Domain.

Uncertain of this entity's intent, he focused and projected a spiritual message as Cook and Jeremy attempted to slip away: "Senior, what is your meaning?"

He sensed the entity was nearby.

Unfortunately, there was no reply. The spatial rift he had created sealed itself, and the star riverscape smoothed over once more.

Within the chaotic void turbulence.

Dicalo, amidst the convergence of radiant beams, wove intricate hand seals. From these seals, the expanding sphere of energy condensed from Cook and Jeremy’s ice-fire power suddenly manifested. Dicalo subjected it to immense magical force, compressing the swelling orb in a very short time until it shrank to the size of a crystal the length of a fist, within which fire and ice flames swirled in marvelous harmony.

"No small amount of energy. To detonate it would be a waste," Dicalo mused, turning the crystal over in his hand with a satisfied smile. Then, a blade of light flashed across his eyes, slicing open space as he glanced toward Shi Yan. "You possess the Profound Mystery of Devouring; you lack for no energy. I won't be giving this to you."

With a casual toss, the crystal spun away, traversing layer upon layer of space before plummeting toward a distant region.

On an island in the Endless Sea, on the Continent of Divine Grace.

Xia Xinyan sat as an ethereal figure on a seaside reef, gazing at the azure ocean, profound longing etched in her beautiful eyes.

Scenarios shifted within her mind, images of her and Shi Yan spanning over two hundred years flashing past like a sped-up, then rewound, river of time—a truly miraculous spectacle. It was as if she held a sharp tool capable of traversing time, constantly retreating, her soul journeying through different temporal segments, tracing the past.

A crystal suddenly descended from the heavens, coincidentally landing pat upon the pin holding her elaborate coiffure, then dissolving like a drop of liquid into her mind.

Her entire body shuddered violently, and she instinctively looked up, her beautiful eyes wide with astonished incomprehension.

A pure, abundant torrent of power suddenly erupted from within her, instantly causing her cultivation realm to shift.

Inside the chaotic void, Dicalo's gaze seemed to pierce through countless barriers, resting upon her. His eyes revealed an expression of extreme complexity as he murmured something softly under his breath: "Space, time..."

At that moment, he registered Shi Yan's spiritual query, but he merely offered a faint smile and provided no response.

Back in the Leixiao Star Domain.

Shi Yan severed the expectation in his heart, his expression regaining its cold composure. He turned his gaze toward the trio of Laiteka, Cook, and Jeremy, baring a chilling, wide grin.

He harbored no worry that Cook and Jeremy could escape. The Leixiao Star Domain was now sealed, a hermetically closed cage; no one could enter, and no one could leave.

In such an environment, who could evade his pursuit, he who mastered the Profound Mystery of Space?

"Lord, please remember your promise!"

Just then, Lei Dong suddenly let out a fierce roar. His Soul Altar erupted like a volcano, divine power surging rapidly through his physical body.

From a distance, Ji Feng and Harmon's expressions twisted, and they simultaneously shrieked: "No!"

Shi Yan was equally shocked and acted decisively.

He moved in an instant, traversing the spatial distance to materialize directly behind Lei Dong. "You have done enough for the Leixiao Star Domain. I do not need your sacrifice to eliminate them."

He placed his hand on the back of Lei Dong’s heart, and the terrifying fluctuations emanating from Lei Dong abruptly stabilized.

"Lord!" Lei Dong exclaimed in a low shout.

"Go and exterminate the remaining ones here for me. As for Laiteka and the other two, I am sufficient to send them back to the Abyss." Shi Yan chuckled darkly, casually waving his Blood Sword. A scarlet heavenly rainbow unfurled across the sea of stars, and Shi Yan vanished into it like a trace of blood.

"Old Lei, let him handle it; he can manage!" Ji Feng called out urgently.

Harmon also pleaded repeatedly, "A drawn-out life is better than a quick death. You don't need to sacrifice yourself; you’ve given too much for the Leixiao Star Domain over the years!"

Lei Dong froze, gazing deeply at that streak of crimson shadow. An unusual light sparked in his eyes. After a long moment of thought, he nodded slightly, murmuring in his own voice, "Then I shall keep this life, for the Leixiao Star Domain, and for you as well..."

He turned, his expression hardening with unwavering resolve, and joined Harmon and Ji Feng in hunting down the fleeing members of the Divine Race.

Those Divine Race members were all subordinates of Laiteka, their cultivation levels clearly insufficient to withstand the onslaught. Amidst cries of agony, one by one, their divine bodies exploded, their souls scattering like smoke.

They were entirely unaware that the demise of each Divine Race member was the greatest aid to Shi Yan.

The bodies and remains of those slain were subtly absorbed by Shi Yan, dragged into the scarlet heavenly rainbow, transforming into the Blood Soul Sea. All manner of negative emotions and fluctuating energies—fear, despair, brutality, and venom—roiled within the Blood Soul Sea, deepening its malevolence.

Shi Yan contentedly absorbed the energy, skillfully manipulating the Power of Death within the blood sea, shaping it into streams of scarlet rivulets, like blood-red ribbons extending toward the direction of Laiteka, Cook, and Jeremy.

The three felt as if mired in a swamp. As the scarlet streams spread, they found their bodies constrained everywhere, feeling as though their divine power was shackled, even their Altars operating sluggishly. Many exquisite profound mysteries could not be unleashed.

Unbeknownst to them, Shi Yan's Blood Soul Sea began to influence their minds, seeping into their very souls.

"Thunderous Heaven Splitting!"

Laiteka roared with fury. Coils of lightning broke free from his palms, hissing and shrieking as they ravaged the blood sea, attempting to shatter the world of blood Shi Yan had manifested.

Cook and Jeremy also urged their divine power forth; oceans of flame surged from their Origin Realms, and peaks of ice shot out, joining Laiteka in a combined effort to pulverize Shi Yan's materialized world of blood and thus slay him.

Alas, Shi Yan, now operating at full capacity and bolstered by the power released from the dying Divine Race members, was at his absolute peak. The power he could wield now greatly surpassed that of the trio. The Blood Soul Sea, like a writhing, bloody tumor, engulfed Laiteka and the others, continually surging with increasing power.

The unending supply of negative energy—terrifying beyond measure—clung tenaciously to their Altars. "Spatial Great Transformation!"

Shi Yan bellowed from within the blood sea. The sea suddenly detonated, shattering like pulverized glass into countless fragments shimmering with sanguine light.

Laiteka and the two trapped within the blood sea felt their divine bodies explode, their bones shattering, their forms saturated with blood.

Amidst the fragments of the shattered blood sea, Shi Yan grinned. His divine body seemed to multiply into myriad forms, existing within different blood-colored shards, appearing beside Cook, Laiteka, and Jeremy as if reflected in various mirrors, flickering between reality and illusion.

This was an exquisite application of the Profound Mystery of Space—Spatial Refraction—a concept he had grasped while enlightened in the Illusionary Domain.

The numerous Shi Yans shifted positions, surging toward Laiteka like locusts. Yet, these apparitions possessed living fluctuations, proving they were no mere illusions. These fluctuations, condensed from death, resentment, fear, and brutality, specialized in corroding the mind and permeating the bodies of the three.

With their physical bodies grievously wounded, Laiteka and the others wore expressions of bewildered incomprehension amidst the shattering scarlet fragments.

This expression was the last to be fixed upon their faces.

The three could no longer move; their Soul Altars had fallen, relinquishing control over their divine bodies.

The myriad Shi Yans, initially condensed from negative energy, gradually blurred from clarity and vanished inside the three figures.

The robust divine bodies of the trio withered at a visible rate, as if blood and flesh were being sucked out by a pump, losing all vital essence and life fluctuation, finally disintegrating into ash at a breath of wind, vanishing completely.

Their Soul Altars disappeared along with them.

Immediately afterward, the many vanished Shi Yans reappeared one by one, integrating like separate avatars merging until only a single figure remained.

This Shi Yan narrowed his eyes, licking his scarlet lips like a ferocious beast gorged on flesh, letting out a satisfied, low chuckle.

He knew that with the conclusion of this battle, the great situation in the Leixiao Star Domain would be settled, and he himself would break through to the Second Heaven of the Origin God realm, taking another step toward immortality.

Beside him, Lei Dong and the other two continued their pursuit of the fleeing Divine Race warriors. Whenever a warrior died, their essence turned into a beam of blood-light under his divine domain and flowed directly into his body, augmenting his power.

Only now was the true profundity of the Profound Mystery of Devouring beginning to be truly unveiled by him.

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