The old woman's expression was charged with emotion. She returned to the cave entrance, pondered for a few seconds, and then a surge of immensely powerful profound meaning fluctuations erupted from her divine body. These profound meanings were all different, encompassing lightning, wind and frost, extreme cold, and flame, with various distinct profound meanings forming a complex and subtle array of protective barriers that spread toward the entrance like layers of a spider’s web.

Shi Yan concentrated and saw that thirteen strange barriers materialized at the cave mouth. These barriers were invisible to the naked eye and could only be perceived through soul consciousness.

An extremely sharp aura emanated from these barriers. He had no doubt that even if Evelyn, Adams, and Marisa had tried to force their way in together, they would have been brutally killed on the spot by the barriers' counterattack.

"That's not right!" Shi Yan's face shifted, his eyes wide with horror. He boomed, "You are definitely not merely at the first layer of the Immortal realm!"

The power contained within those barriers was astonishing. Forget the first layer of the Immortal realm; even someone at the second layer of the Immortal realm would likely face certain death trying to step inside.

The power the old woman instantly displayed far surpassed her perceived cultivation level. It was clear she had concealed her true strength.

Audrey’s delicate face turned cold, and anxiety tightened her chest. She quietly condensed divine power throughout her body, ready to strike the moment things turned sour.

"Don't!" Shi Yan’s heart jolted, and he quickly tried to placate her, forcing a wry smile. "If she wanted to kill you, a mere thought would suffice. Even if you unleashed your full power, you wouldn't be able to shake her in the slightest!"

The old woman chuckled, casting an approving glance at Shi Yan, and said, "Young man, your insight is sharp. Rest assured, I mean you no harm. If you can unlock the Spatial Lock, not only will I hand over the seven Illusion Realm Stones, but there will certainly be other gifts—I guarantee you will be satisfied."

She then looked at Audrey, frowning slightly, and suddenly remarked, "Your soul profound meaning bears some resemblance to that of the Soul Clan. You aren't somehow connected to them, are you?"

As she spoke, her eyes shifted unpredictably, giving off an unsettling feeling.

"The Soul Clan?" Audrey shook her head. "I am a member of the Nether Emperor Clan. It is true that the profound meanings I cultivate are related to the soul, but I have absolutely no connection whatsoever to the members of the Soul Clan."

"That’s for the best," the old woman nodded with a snort. "I don't have the slightest favorable feeling toward any member of the Soul Clan!"

With that, her palm brightened, revealing three perfectly round elixirs. The pills were crystalline and translucent, pulsing with intensely strong energy fluctuations within. She handed them to Shi Yan. "These are Divine Focus Pills, unique to the Profound Heaven Clan. The divine power within a single Divine Focus Pill is equivalent to the total energy held by an ordinary cultivator at the third layer of the Origin God realm, and they absorb quickly, instantly restoring divine power. Use them to break the Spatial Lock. Whether you succeed or fail, these three pills are yours; you won't be blamed for using them up."

Shi Yan was deeply moved. "These are extraordinary things!"

Elixirs that could instantly restore divine power were extremely rare. During combat, if one’s divine power flagged, swallowing such a pill instantly restored vigor—a massive advantage. The absorption and condensation of power from Divine Crystals, conversely, was a very slow process; the speed of recovery was countless times slower, incomparable to these pills.

"What is your identity?" Audrey was very astute. She looked deeply at the old woman. "With your level of cultivation and formidable personal strength, you should be frequenting better trading zones, where perhaps stronger Spatial Profound Meaning experts reside. Why choose this place?"

"You two juniors ask too many questions," the old woman frowned in annoyance, her attitude turning cold again. "Ask fewer questions that you shouldn't. I’ve given you the Divine Focus Pills; start working on unlocking the Spatial Lock now. This area is sealed; no one can intrude, so you can act with confidence."

With that, she sat down cross-legged right where she was and closed her eyes again, clearly unwilling to discuss anything further.

Shi Yan was tactful enough to understand. He shrugged and said, "Understood." He looked at Audrey and asked her to guard him, fulfilling the gesture of due diligence.

He didn't know the old woman’s true identity, but he was certain she cared deeply about unlocking the Spatial Lock. Therefore, until the lock was broken, the old woman would absolutely help him with all her might—a hint of this could be seen in the fact that he received three Divine Focus Pills without even lifting a finger.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and looked at the strange Spatial Lock before him, his hand already gripping the three Divine Focus Pills.

After a while, he grinned and, quite directly, swallowed one of the pills first. As the elixir entered his stomach, a warm current dispersed into countless streams, radiating through his meridians. A surge of dense, powerful divine energy was stimulated, instantly filling him with extreme vitality, creating a sensation of explosive power that he felt compelled to release.

"Such abundant energy!" He couldn't help but roar, his voice like thunder, shaking the stone cave with booming echoes.

The old woman also took that moment to open her eyes, staring at him with surprise. She snorted and pouted, "The young man is quite cautious. You thought I might use the elixir to harm you, waiting until you had fully recovered your divine power to cause your divine body to collapse with the pill's effect. Hmm, it seems your years of cultivation were not in vain; you know how to guard against deceitful hearts."

As she suggested, the reason Shi Yan hadn't acted first before consuming a pill was precisely out of caution. If he consumed the Divine Focus Pill while his divine power was already at its peak, even if the pill had a hidden issue, he would have the energy to cope. If the pill truly contained malice, and he was unable to resist it, the old woman would still intervene to save his life before the Spatial Lock was broken.

Being in the unfamiliar Outer Void Domain, he needed to be a bit careful; prudence was not a failing.

Once he confirmed the Divine Focus Pill was clean and indeed surging his divine power, he grinned, and his spiritual consciousness instantly coalesced. Immediately, strange spatial fluctuations emanated from within his body, layer upon layer of spatial ripples spreading throughout the cave.

With the Divine Focus Pill merging with the pure energy within him, the aura he projected at this moment soared to an incredibly terrifying height!

Astonishment glittered in Audrey's eyes. Only now did she realize the true extent of Shi Yan's power, sighing inwardly as she finally recognized the gap between them.

The old woman's eyes blazed, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Shi Yan. She nodded silently, her anticipation growing stronger.

—The aura and power Shi Yan currently displayed actually surpassed that of ordinary cultivators at the first layer of the Immortal realm and could rival many of the geniuses within that realm! Although aided by the effect of the Divine Focus Pill, reaching this level suggested that Shi Yan’s inherent power was astounding.

"Very good, truly very good. He is even more outstanding than some of the younger members of the Clan. This is unexpected. Where did this lad come from? He doesn't seem like a member of the Seven Great Clans. Strange…"

Staring at Shi Yan, she mused internally, her eyes filled with increasing wonder and confusion.

At this moment, Shi Yan deliberately masked his dark energy signature, allowing his soul consciousness to merge with the Spatial Lock in a normal state.

Upon entering the Spatial Lock, he found himself in a vast, boundless sky covered with countless complex and subtle apertures. Each aperture contained a peculiar spatial array that required spatial divine power and a deep understanding of spatial profound meaning to slowly decipher. Only when all the spatial arrays were broken could the Spatial Lock be undone, revealing the sealed inner world!

His soul consciousness, infused with divine power, flowed like countless scattered rivers into each distinct aperture, navigating within the various spatial arrays. He used his years of insight into spatial profound meaning to gradually discern the intricacies of those formations.

Many of these spatial arrays were complex interweavings of spatial nodes, while others were like tangled messes of scattered threads that needed to be painstakingly pulled apart and straightened. It was like untangling a knot of fishing line—the hundreds of spatial arrays were hundreds of complex and convoluted puzzles, and they were interconnected, requiring him to break them all in one go, lest they influence each other and breed further complications.

As he deciphered them, his divine power rapidly depleted, and his consciousness, rooted in spatial profound meaning, became deeply immersed in each array. Using multi-tasking, he moved within different spatial arrays as if he had manifested countless clones.

Some of these marvelous spatial arrays were familiar to him and easy to crack. Others existed in the memories of Bellot from years ago and could also be easily solved. But the majority of the arrays were entirely new to him, ones that had never appeared before—they were profoundly mysterious. During the deciphering process, they offered him an entirely new understanding of spatial profound meaning.

Each time he cracked a new type of array barrier, his comprehension of spatial profound meaning would reach a new height. The process of breaking this Spatial Lock was a test of his understanding of spatial profound meaning accumulated over many years, serving as a gateway to a deeper, more thorough comprehension.

He had a premonition that deciphering this Spatial Lock would lead to a profound learning experience regarding his spatial profound meaning. Those unknown, mysterious arrays were opening different doors of spatial profound meaning for him, leading him into a broader realm of insight, causing his understanding of spatial profound meaning to ascend to new levels.

"Not only is his divine power refined, giving him the strength to challenge those above his level, but his comprehension is also extraordinary. This lad..." She looked toward Shi Yan, her eyes suddenly opening wide, filled with shock. "The surprises he brings are growing larger and larger! Only the outstanding members of the Seven Great Clans could achieve this. He clearly isn't from one of the Seven Clans, yet he is so peculiar. Bizarre, truly bizarre. He must possess some profound mystery about him."

Lost in thought, her heart stirred, and she casually questioned Audrey beside her, "Which domain realm do you two hail from?"

"The Barren Domain," Audrey replied casually.

"The Barren Domain!" She suddenly cried out, losing her composure for the first time. Her aged, withered body trembled violently.