Above the meteorite-shaped Fire Crystal Cloud Ship, Evelyn and Adams’ third eyes released green and blue halos, enveloping Marisa’s body like the essence of life, nurturing her vital magnetic field. Marisa’s slowly beating heart gradually grew steady and powerful again.
During this time, Shi Yan branded the blood-colored cloud seal onto Evelyn and Adams’ chests, settling deep within their hearts.
The two felt it clearly, yet were powerless to resist; they dared not contemplate any further until Marisa had recovered.
Not far away, Audrey’s expression eased slightly when she saw Shi Yan hadn’t immediately moved to kill. Hearing Shi Yan’s invitation, she frowned and asked, “What is to be done about my meteorite?”
The core of the meteorite beneath her was a mysterious three-legged ancient cauldron, inscribed with numerous primordial runes that contained ineffable mysteries. Both she and Shi Yan wished to unravel the enigma of that tripod, so naturally, neither wanted the jade cauldron drifting out of sight into an area beyond their control.
As she spoke, Shi Yan’s expression also stiffened for a moment, then he said, “That is simple enough.”
No sooner had the words fallen than a surging stellar power, like numerous chains, tethered the Fire Crystal Meteorite. Under the strain of his condensed divine power, the Fire Crystal Cloud Ship suddenly whistled and flew toward Audrey’s position.
Adams, Evelyn, and Marisa—the three owners of the Cloud Ship—were too preoccupied to intervene, forced to watch helplessly as he forcibly altered their direction with divine might.
Boom!
The Fire Crystal Meteorite landed squarely upon the meteorite where Audrey stood. This Fire Crystal material vessel was not large, occupying only about a quarter of the space atop the meteorite whose core was the three-legged ancient cauldron.
The Fire Crystal Meteorite settled, and Audrey’s beautiful eyes brightened as she gracefully danced over. Soon she stood beside Shi Yan, her gaze fixed coldly upon the three figures before her.
Evelyn and Adams continued to release energy, infusing it into their junior sister Marisa’s body. Marisa’s aura gradually surged, and her failing vital magnetic field began to fill up once more.
“The Celestial Eye Clan is truly peculiar; their soul energies can actually communicate and supplement each other through the third eye. What a mysterious race of beings,” Audrey observed, studying them intently for a while. Her eyes shone with wonder, and she looked at the trio with growing curiosity.
Her soul profoundness was marvelous, granting her a keen intuition regarding soul fluctuations. She perceived how Evelyn and Adams were channeling energy belonging to their main soul through their third eyes, permeating Marisa’s body and enhancing her life fluctuations, thus rekindling her vitality.
This seemed to be a unique divine ability belonging exclusively to the Celestial Eye Clan, achievable only via the third eye. Despite the fact that the three were clearly not masters of life profundity, they achieved an effect similar to it through the third eye—truly remarkable.
“This might be a unique racial talent,” Shi Yan nodded.
Different races of beings possessed different characteristics and subtleties. For example, the Divine Race, the Underworld Emperor Race, and the Heavenly Demon Race each had their own specializations, excelling in physical bodies or souls, respectively, across the vast stellar sea. With countless sentient beings in the cosmos, naturally not everyone would be the same, nor would their insights into power and miracles be universally shared.
He conversed calmly with Audrey, silently observing the actions of the three before them. After a long pause, Evelyn and Adams remained still, but Marisa awoke. She opened her eyes, which were filled with cold hostility, and cried out sharply, “What have you done to my two senior brothers?”
In order to restore her completely, Evelyn and Adams, already heavily wounded, had expended more of their essence, compounding their injuries. Consequently, their condition at that moment was worse than hers. Thus, she awoke first while the two needed time to stabilize their minds and calm the fluctuations within the sacrificial platform.
“Truly touching,” Shi Yan drawled, a bitter smile playing on his lips. “Your two senior brothers, though ruthless and utterly disregarding rules, decency, and morality, are certainly sincere when dealing with you. Heh heh. To save your life, they disregarded their own safety to transfer vitality to you, worsening their injuries. Even I, a mere bystander, am moved by it.”
Had it not been to protect Marisa, Adams and Evelyn could have easily evaded Shi Yan’s imprint lodged in their hearts; they could have slipped away. But due to Marisa’s life hanging in the balance, they chose to risk everything to preserve her life, neglecting themselves entirely.
“I admit, my two senior brothers were excessive, but they did not truly harm you, and they even provided you with a detailed primer on common knowledge of the star seas. What more do you want?” Marisa took a deep breath, her gaze suddenly turning sharp. “Do not push me too far, or I swear I will take us all down with me by self-destruction!”
“Shi Yan…” Audrey raised an eyebrow, suddenly interjecting, “Let me handle this.”
Shi Yan shrugged, dismissing it casually. “Very well. Perhaps conversations between women will be more convenient.”
“Your two senior brothers were willing to risk everything for you. I wonder, are you willing to consider their lives as well?” Audrey said coldly and proudly. “At this moment, the lives of your two senior brothers are clenched in our hands. If we so wish, we can kill them both instantly!”
Marisa’s face shifted, and she clenched her jaw, glaring fiercely at Audrey.
Audrey’s expression remained unchanged as she spoke indifferently, “We do not intend to annihilate you entirely. We only require your knowledge and your cooperation. If you diligently answer our questions and comply with our requests, I guarantee you all will survive well.”
She turned her head toward Shi Yan. “Right?”
Shi Yan spread his hands and declaredly, “You are absolutely correct.”
Audrey, as the princess of the Underworld Emperor Race, had worked alongside Shi Yan in the Barren Lands. Before Shi Yan rose to prominence, Audrey had been a prominent leader among the stellar domains. Her wisdom and insight were exceptional, so Shi Yan was quite confident that Audrey’s approach was the most correct one for them.
If he had truly intended to kill the trio, he would have acted already. What he desired was precisely what Audrey was doing now: extracting more knowledge about the star seas, ideally finding a way back to the Barren Domain, and learning the profound mysteries of this Void Sea to map out his future journey.
Evidently, Audrey also understood what they currently lacked the most. She remained unhurried, her demeanor detached. “Killing you brings us no benefit; we want your cooperation!”
Upon hearing this, Marisa’s hostility lessened slightly. She pondered for a moment and then said, “Wait until my two senior brothers wake up first.”
“No problem. Here, we have plenty of time,” Audrey replied with composure.
After a long interval.
Evelyn opened his eyes, his face dark. His gaze, filled with resentment, focused intensely on Shi Yan. Baring his teeth, he looked like a trapped beast, his emotions highly unstable.
Shi Yan grinned, and with a slight mental impulse, activated a strand of power.
Evelyn’s heart felt as if struck by a giant hammer; his entire body jolted, and his face immediately paled as he bent over, clutching his chest.
“You!”
Marisa shrieked, like a maddened beast ready to pounce on Shi Yan in a desperate fight.
“Calm down. Do you want your two senior brothers to live or not? It was your senior brothers who provoked first. I think you should talk to them and make them face reality; stop assuming everything is still under their control!”
Audrey’s eyes turned cold, and she suddenly barked, the sound imbued with soul power that shot directly into Marisa’s Sea of Consciousness.
Marisa shuddered as if drenched in ice water, instantly regaining her composure. She quickly urged, “Senior Brothers, they don’t intend to kill us; they just… they just want our cooperation.”
At this moment, Adams also woke up. He sighed mournfully, “Junior Sister, you are too naive. They will not let us live. Once they have extracted what they want to know, they will kill us anyway. Rather than that, it’s better to fight desperately; we senior brothers can strike a heavy blow against them upon death, and you might still escape.”
Being inherently malicious himself, he assumed everyone else viewed others with the worst possible intent. He utterly refused to believe Audrey’s promises and assurances.
Evelyn shared the same mindset and exhibited the same non-cooperative attitude.
Audrey frowned; the malicious speculation from the other side was giving her a headache. If they refused to believe them and insisted on mutual destruction, the situation would indeed be difficult.
She couldn’t help but look toward Shi Yan.
Shi Yan’s expression was complex. In truth, he did harbor ill intentions. In his eyes, characters like Evelyn and Adams deserved to be killed and devoured once their usefulness expired, thereby augmenting his own strength. He hadn't expected the two to be so resolute, prepared for mutual annihilation rather than cooperating.
He stroked his chin, sighing internally. This offered him a renewed understanding of the ruthlessness of these alien races, realizing that if this matter wasn't handled properly, he might only end up with three corpses, obtaining none of the knowledge he sought.
“You win this round!”
He snorted coldly. With a shift of his consciousness, the imprints within Evelyn and Adams’ hearts were retracted by him. Only then did he speak, “Now you are all free. Even if we fight again, killing you will be immensely difficult. Well now, I assume you won't mistake us for soft persimmons that can be easily eliminated, will you?”
Letting go when necessary, demonstrating such firm decisiveness for the sake of one’s goals, was a prerequisite for those aiming for greatness.
Audrey’s bright eyes lit up, showing undisguised admiration. She nodded and gave him a slight smile before calmly stating, “Now, can we discuss things properly?”
“Probably not,” Marisa said, her expression shifting as she glanced at a flashing halo on her wrist bracelet. “The Dragon Lizard clansmen are right ahead; we are about to encounter them. It seems we are not far from the Dragon Lizard territory. We will have to pass an inspection point.”
“Are you playing us?!” Shi Yan’s face grew cold!
Adams and Evelyn, whose heart restraints had just been released, grunted and moved closer to Marisa with hostile expressions, ready to resume hostilities at any moment.
“I only just noticed the situation; I didn’t intentionally delay this. Let’s discuss after we clear the checkpoint,” Marisa stated with a cold face, then softened her expression. “Two Senior Brothers, leave this matter to me. Don’t be so aggressive; if you had listened to me earlier, you wouldn't have been so badly hurt.”
Adams and Evelyn hesitated for a moment, sighed inwardly, and both nodded simultaneously.