The former master of Ming Hao was, naturally, the Bloodthirsty Lord, the greatest unsolved mystery in the star seas for tens of thousands of years, and universally acknowledged as the strongest.
Dicalo and Leidi’s complexions shifted slightly, and even Xuanhe and Phillete froze, exclaiming in astonishment, “How could we never have known of this matter?”
“Otherwise, why am I the head of the Eight Retainers, and not one of you two?” Ming Hao glanced at them, stating calmly.
Xuanhe and Phillete both let out cold snorts simultaneously.
“Bloodthirsty, truly fought against the Primordial Beings? And… actually won?” Dicalo was utterly shocked, demanding in a deep voice.
Ming Hao nodded affirmatively. “This is absolutely true! The power he later mastered came from that very event. That power, by my estimation, was acquired from the Primordial Being he defeated.”
A collective gasp rippled through the onlookers.
Shi Yan’s expression also changed drastically, filled with profound awe. The Bloodthirsty Lord possessed an unknown energy, rumored to be understood only by him in its intricate depths. For millennia, the God Clan, the Thousand Illusions Sect, the Shattered Palace, and the Heavenly Water Palace—many top-tier factions holding fragments of his remains—had all tried to crack its secret and ascertain the energy's origin.
Unfortunately, to this day, no one could articulate a coherent explanation, unable to grasp the profound nature of that energy.
In Shi Yan’s estimation, that power was undeniably terrifying; it was likely the true core force behind the Bloodthirsty Lord’s reign over heaven and earth. In their pursuit to obtain this strength, the God Clan united with major powers to slay the Bloodthirsty Lord, yet they still failed to uncover the truth of that power.
For ages, no one knew where the Bloodthirsty Lord originated, nor where his comprehension of Devouring and the Eight Great Evil Forces came from. Before the Bloodthirsty Lord manifested, the Devouring and the Eight Great Profound Laws had never appeared; they only spread because of his emergence.
But what truly unsettled the strongest martial artists was another type of power wielded by the Bloodthirsty Lord—the source of this power was even more mysterious.
Hearing Ming Hao speak, everyone present was stunned into silence, utterly shaken.
Anyone familiar with Ming Hao knew he did not speak without substance; the conclusions he drew were usually the result of many years of observation and deep contemplation. When he affirmed something, it was absolutely the closest thing to the truth.
That power… actually came from a Primordial Being!
Leidi and Dicalo, along with Xuanhe and Ming Hao, had dazzling light erupting from their eyes, and as they looked again at the giant insect, their spirits seemed to surge wildly.
But in an instant, their expressions shifted to shock and horror!
Because the heavily restrained giant insect began to writhe violently again. As it moved, it emitted bursts of indistinct murmurs—a soul-based language never before heard in the star seas, a seemingly ancient whisper that actually pierced through the seals imposed by Ming Hao and Dicalo and drifted outward.
Like a soul’s summons!
“Pfft!”
Dicalo could not help but spew a mouthful of blood, his face turning ashen as he shrieked in horror, “It, it’s calling, summoning others like itself!”
Ming Hao, in his ghostly form, flickered and twisted as if severely wounded, shouting, “Xuanhe, Phillete, strike together and seal it!”
“Agreed!”
Xuanhe and Phillete nodded decisively, a hidden excitement flashing in their eyes as they instantly unleashed their power.
An ocean of blood suddenly surged forth from Xuanhe’s Primal Realm. The sea was boundless and endless, thick and crimson, enveloped by an aura of absolute, desolate coldness, yet within its depths, vibrant life stirred, emitting terrifying energy fluctuations. This sea of blood, like a layer of sanguine flesh membrane, covered toward the giant insect.
Phillete grinned with a low, eerie chuckle.
Streams of pale white corpse energy coalesced, spreading like thick white mist. In the center of this mist, millions of pale white tombstones could vaguely be seen emerging. These tombstones stood like colossal, icy mountains, like demons petrified over eons. The stones permeated the mist woven by corpse power, forging an ancient, world-destroying grand array.
The million tombstones settled within the chilling white fog, pinning down the giant insect like mountain ranges, intending to bind it for eternity.
Simultaneously, Leidi let out a deafening dragon roar. He opened his mouth and spat forth tens of thousands of lightning bolts, which transformed into smaller thunder dragons, wrapping around the giant insect like brilliant, fierce electric ropes layer upon layer.
Dicalo, Ming Hao, Xuanhe, Phillete, and Leidi—five Immortal existences acting in concert—there were virtually no opponents in the heavens and earth capable of matching them. This combined force, if directed at a star domain, could annihilate it in an instant, causing countless living stars to explode and trillions of beings to perish immediately.
Under the impact of this terrifying, world-ending power, Shi Yan, who was only at the second heaven of the Initial God realm, bore the brunt of it. Even merely observing from the side, his Soul Altar felt on the verge of collapse, struck by the sheer dread of being pulverized by the aftershocks.
He instantly shifted into his Undying Form, transforming his Blood Shield into full-body armor, condensing his physical divine strength, creating layer upon layer of protection for himself, appearing like a mass of bloody rock to withstand any potential stray impact.
He focused his gaze on the giant insect, a strong sense of foreboding rising in his heart. He felt intensely that something was wrong…
In the vast, limitless chaos of the void currents, extending to infinity, far away from Shi Yan and the others, bizarre changes suddenly began occurring in many distant turbulent voids.
In the depths of one such void current, similar to the current location, clusters of pitch-black clouds were scattered, and within each cloud was a grotesque, disgusting ball of flesh.
When the giant insect emitted its faint murmurs, the hundreds of thousands of cloud clusters here suddenly writhed and gathered together, merging rapidly to form another giant insect, equally vast as a planet.
This phenomenon was not isolated to this single location.
Likewise, at the edges of more void currents, ten more giant insects appeared, making a total of twelve. All were immense, all formed from coalesced clusters of dark clouds, occupying different regions of the turbulent void.
While one giant insect was being assailed by the combined might of Dicalo, Leidi, Ming Hao, and the others, the remaining eleven insects emitted strangely discordant whispers, their tones gradually sharpening, like enraged beasts.
Far off in other regions, ripples suddenly swept across the surfaces of the giant insects. The ripples overlapped like marvelous spatial waves, and beams of sentient, extraterrestrial divine light shot out from within them, forming bridges like multicolored rainbows that materialized beside them.
Then, the eleven giant insects slowly moved, writhing into the center of these rainbows and gradually vanishing.
Ancient God Continent.
Deep within the mountain belly of Heavenly God Peak, the Divine Lord, who had possessed Heg’s physical body, floated in a sea of vital flesh and blood. In this sea, the corpses of countless experts from various star domains floated—Human, Demon, Monster, Netherworld, Dark Spirit, Ice Clan, and others. Every one of these individuals had been at least at the Source God realm in life.
The dense mass of bodies, perhaps numbering several hundred thousand, were now ash-gray, devoid of any vitality.
The Divine Lord floated upon this sea of vital blood and flesh, his pores wide open, absorbing the surging tides of sanguine essence, fully engaged in restoring his energy.
At this moment, his tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open, his gaze swirling with the imagery of suns, moons, and stars, dazzlingly bright.
“Master.” Beside him, the Bright King knelt on one knee, suddenly looking up with a look of surprise, “Why have you awakened so suddenly?”
The Divine Lord glanced at him with a cold expression and stated flatly, “Summon Xiaoyao, the God King, and Zizai. They must arrive immediately. This sea of stars is about to undergo a colossal transformation!”
The Bright King asked no further questions, immediately commanding solemnly with his spirit, sending his thought to envelop every corner of the Ancient God Star Domain.
In a corner of the Ancient God Star Domain, on a frigid moon-star, Xiaoyao was explaining the true meaning of profound mysteries to Ouyang Luoshuang while holding a Moon Crystal Core. He suddenly shuddered and declared, “You cultivate here alone for now; I have an urgent matter that requires my immediate departure.”
Without offering Ouyang Luoshuang any further explanation, he instantly vanished.
On a life-bearing star controlled by the Balamos Family of the Ancient God Star Domain, in a common pleasure district of a city, a strikingly handsome man, holding fine wine and embracing two scantily clad, beautiful women, was enjoying himself with a smile. Suddenly, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
The next moment, he vanished into thin air, as if he had never been there.
In a secret chamber of the Chatris Family of the God Clan, the current family head, Chalint, along with several family elders, respectfully listened to a burly man explaining the subtleties of profound mysteries, detailing the breakthrough and peculiarities of the Immortal Realm. The speaker’s expression was hard as ice, his aura sharp and razor-like.
Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he said gravely, “The Master has summoned us.”
As the words fell, he too suddenly disappeared, leaving the numerous members of the Chatris Family in the secret chamber horrified, utterly unaware of what had transpired.
Xiaoyao, Zizai, and Shenwu—the three Heavenly Kings of the God Clan—upon receiving Guangming’s soul summons, immediately set aside all their affairs and rushed toward the Ancient God Continent at maximum speed.
Like three beams of light separating from the star seas, traveling hundreds of millions of miles in a single breath, crossing past shimmering stars.
Not long after, the three Heavenly Kings descended upon the Ancient God Continent one after another, gathering in the mountain belly of Heavenly God Peak, kneeling before the Divine Lord.
They kept their heads bowed, asking no questions, waiting like the most devout servants for their Master’s commands.
“Ten thousand years ago, we joined numerous experts to slay the Bloodthirsty Lord, ultimately destroying him. Before his death, he only uttered one sentence to me privately. That sentence troubled me for years and remains unforgettable throughout my life,” the Divine Lord said, his eyes shifting with complex, indecipherable waves, his tone indifferent.
The four Heavenly Kings gently raised their heads, looking at him with confusion, awaiting further explanation.
“We all know that those who reach the Void God realm have a Void Realm within their Soul Altar. Upon stepping into Initial God, the Void Realm transforms into the Primal Realm, an independent space capable of holding glaciers and rivers, and more marvelously, manifesting star systems. Upon reaching the Immortal realm, the Primal Realm changes again, becoming almost indistinguishable from true reality. Even if we perish, the Primal Realm continues to exist independently. It is said that surpassing the Immortal realm causes the Primal Realm to evolve further, capable of nurturing life itself…”
The Divine Lord looked at his subordinates, “True life—living beings—advanced beings just like us, can be created within the Primal Realm after surpassing the Immortal boundary!”
The Four Heavenly Kings displayed expressions of bewilderment.
The Divine Lord deliberately paused, a hint of bitterness touching the corner of his mouth. “Have you ever considered, have you dared to consider… that perhaps we—the God Clan, the Sky-Demon Clan, the Netherworld Emperor Clan, the Undying Demon Clan, and all the races here—have actually always been living within someone else’s Primal Realm! Before he died, the Bloodthirsty Lord told me I was pitiable, merely lambs being raised by another, living our entire lives within someone else’s pen. Our only difference from others is that we are the tallest sheep who can see farthest, but ultimately, we are still sheep, fundamentally no different from the rest.”