The miniature world condensed by the Phantom Stone collapsed, instantly shattering the physical bodies of the four members of the Earth Ghost Clan, their souls fragmenting into long, earthworm-like strands.

However, due to the unique profundities cultivated by the Earth Ghost Clan, even with the Soul Altar pulverized, the soul could still escape and re-condense outside, rendering the soul immortal.

Balago possessed the most consummate cultivation realm. His physical body and altar were destroyed, his soul dispersing into wisps, yet before fleeing, he did not forget to spout malicious words, his venomous soul-will lingering throughout the stone cavern.

The collapse of the miniature world caused the stone cavern’s main entrance to cave in as well, stones blocking more than half of the opening.

The alien clansmen outside could no longer discern the movements around Shiyan’s location; even the Tu Shiqi couple couldn't see what was happening inside the cavern with their naked eyes.

“Trying to flee? Do you think you can escape!”

Shi Yan’s face was grim as he let out a cold, sinister chuckle. He extended a finger, pointing toward the center of his brow, from which the mysterious and unfathomable black hole floated out of his altar’s interior.

It resembled a gloomy, terrifying maw of a demon.

The Devouring Profundity circulated, and a potent soul-sucking force emanated from the black hole. Centered on him, everyone in the stone cavern felt a bizarre sensation of their souls being pulled, their altars on the verge of being yanked out.

In the cavern, soul strands, like swaying seaweed, had initially been fleeing toward the entrance.

Upon the appearance of his black hole, all soul filaments and will fragments, like iron filings drawn to a super-magnet, instantly plunged into the black hole condensed by his Devouring Profundity.

“Devouring Profundity! The lost profound art of the Devourer Clan! Impossible! How could this be possible?!”

Before Balago’s last wisp of soul merged into the black hole, his soul-consciousness drifted out, filled with terror and unease, expressing a hysterical shock.

All the soul filaments and will fragments in the stone cavern vanished. Due to the miniature world's collapse, the bloody energy dispersed from the four Earth Ghost Clan members also transformed into a fine essence, invisible to the naked eye, and flowed into Shiyan’s acupuncture points one by one.

Shi Yan remained motionless, sensing inwardly, noting that perhaps because his physical body had undergone a transformation via Hui’s peculiar power, his acupuncture points absorbed the essence of the four Earth Ghost Clan members without any feeling of bloating.

The capacity of his acupuncture points seemed to have been forcibly raised by a significant margin, fully capable of withstanding the infusion of greater power.

The soul energy of the four Earth Ghost Clan members was purified within the black hole-like Devouring Profundity, and soon, wisps of strange vital energy scattered out like a profound spring, nourishing his altar and strengthening the power within his Sea of Consciousness. The dark energy in his Sea of Consciousness also noticeably amplified.

This dark energy intermingled with his Divine Sense, granting the Divine Sense a peculiar power surpassing Divine Force; attacks could be formless yet carry immense destructive weight, capable of instantly permeating the opponent’s Sea of Consciousness and endowing astonishing spiritual intuition. The fusion of dark energy and Divine Sense gave his Divine Sense boundless miraculous utility.

Squinting, he carefully sensed that the dark energy was fluctuating within his Sea of Consciousness, seemingly infiltrating his Soul Altar strand by strand, subtly influencing and even altering his Soul Altar in an extremely slow manner.

This was clearly a beneficial change for him. Under the influence of that energy, his intellect sharpened, and his comprehension of Profound Arts deepened, as if the potential of his soul had been unlocked, making the fusion of Profound Arts much easier.

He acquired this dark energy by absorbing, digesting, and integrating the corrosion inflicted upon Hui’s main body by Vidson, utilizing the Devouring Profundity. Hidden deep within his Sea of Consciousness, it first merged with his Divine Sense, granting it marvelous properties, and was now slowly altering his altar.

Sensing inwardly, he suddenly felt that the dark energy could integrate with any energy within his body and could even transform his physique. Thinking this, he circulated the dark energy in his Sea of Consciousness to the center of his divine body, allowing it to flow through his meridians, bones, flesh, and blood.

He suddenly discovered that he had disappeared, as if concealed.

In the eyes of Evelyn, Audrey, and the others, he indeed became suddenly illusory, growing transparent, gradually vanishing, but a fluctuation, waxing and waning in intensity, emanated from his location, causing intense palpitations and unease.

It was as if, corresponding to the changes within him, the surrounding space and domain might collapse as well.

“Shi Yan!” Audrey murmured for a long moment before suddenly crying out sharply.

Snapping out of his wondrous realization, Shiyan withdrew the dark energy from within his body and reintroduced it to his Sea of Consciousness. His physique reappeared, and he smiled strangely at the three people—Evelyn and the others—saying, “The Earth Ghost Clan isn't that hard to deal with. Don't worry, everyone who came is dead.”

“We saw,” Evelyn’s expression was very strange, a look of suppressed astonishment and confusion on her face.

“Shi Yan,” Audrey’s eyes brightened, “Before Balago’s last wisp of soul vanished, did you hear his last conscious words? He said that your soul-collecting… attack was the lost profound art of the Devourer Clan!”

Shi Yan suddenly understood and froze, “He did indeed say that…”

The Devouring Profundity was the core inheritance of the Bloodthirsty lineage. In the Desolate Domain, only the Bloodthirsty understood the true essence of the Profundity. His Devouring Profundity was obtained from the Bloodthirsty inheritance; how could it be related to the Devourer Clan? He looked at the Celestial Eye Clan members, instantly becoming guarded, and feigned naturalness, “The Devourer Clan? What’s the situation?”

Evelyn took a deep breath. “Among the Seven Great Races, the Devourer Clan is the most peculiar. Legend says they originated from the Primordial Being, ‘Devourer,’ a new race forged from its own flesh and blood. Supposedly, they cultivate the Eight Great Evil Forces: Soul Command, Death, Corrosion, Darkness, Chaos, Destruction, Despair, and Corpse Power. Their unspeakable secret is the Devouring Profundity. Those Profound Arts were reportedly taught to them by the Primordial Being, Devourer. However, by today, the Devourer Clan’s Devouring Profundity has been lost, and even many of the Eight Great Evil Forces are gone. Despite this, the Devourer Clan remains one of the Seven Great Races, and perhaps the most mysterious one, whom few dare to provoke lightly.”

“The Primordial Being ‘Devourer’… disappeared a very, very long time ago. Only the members of the Devourer Clan know the stories about it. Rumor has it that Devourer was the source of evil, wielding an evil divine artifact, terrifying beyond measure.”

Pausing slightly, Evelyn looked at Shiyan. “Your method of swallowing the soul filaments and will fragments of the Soul Clan members resembles the lost profound art of the Devourer Clan mentioned in legends—Devour! This Profundity, even the Devourer Clan members today cannot grasp its essence. How could you cultivate and comprehend it?”

Audrey stared blankly, looking deeply at Shiyan. “Could it be that the Bloodthirsty are…”

“No,” Shiyan shook his head.

He recalled the words conveyed through Hui by Tianxie: the Bloodthirsty were created by the Desolate One, originally intended to fulfill its physical reunification and merge the Four Ancient Continents back into the Desolate One.

Unfortunately, the Desolate One's plan was invaded mid-way by the Devourer, which in turn passed on the Devouring Profundity and the Eight Great Evil Forces, intending to use the Bloodthirsty to destroy the Desolate Domain, severely wounding the Desolate One so it could never truly recover.

This was a struggle between the Desolate One and the Devourer.

According to what Hui said, the sacred land of the Bloodthirsty lineage, the Abyss of Darkness, was the Devourer.

Ming Hao had also mentioned that the Bloodthirsty had once been defeated by a Primordial Being. He initially thought that Primordial Being was Hui, but upon later reflection, he suspected the one the Bloodthirsty lost to was the Devourer—that Primordial Being which had constantly tried to influence him.

The Devourer was defeated by the Bloodthirsty, perhaps falling into dormancy or perishing. Just as the Bloodthirsty thought they could break free from manipulation, the Desolate One acted once more, secretly facilitating the Divine Lord obtaining the Origin Fruit, leading the Divine Lord Brian, along with powerful allies, to defeat the Bloodthirsty. The Bloodthirsty did not die at Brian’s hands, but were annihilated by the Desolate One.

The fundamental reason was that the Bloodthirsty were created by the Desolate One, their fate constrained by the Desolate One, subject to the rules of the Desolate Domain.

If the Bloodthirsty had not first defeated the Devourer and suffered severe damage, perhaps they could have refined the Desolate One, replacing it, roaming the heavens and earth, becoming the Lord of the Desolate Domain, and a top-tier existence even in the Void Sea of Domains.

The Devourer Clan was created by the Devourer using its own essence and blood. The Devourer passed on everything to them—Profundities, its own essence blood, and power. This should have been a fallback plan it set before its battle with the Desolate One, after which the Devourer likely left the Devourer Clan to seek out the Desolate One. As the Devourer Clan developed over long periods, their Profound Arts gradually became incomplete with the passing of their strong cultivators.

The Devourer was severely wounded fighting the Desolate One, unable to return to the Void Sea of Domains, and was later defeated by the Bloodthirsty—perhaps gravely injured and dormant, or perhaps annihilated—resulting in the Devourer Clan losing their Profound Arts…

A string of thoughts flashed through Shiyan’s mind. Through this journey into the Void Sea of Domains, he gained an increasingly clear understanding of the conflict between the Desolate One and the Devourer, the emergence and demise of the Bloodthirsty, and was able to vaguely surmise what had transpired back then.

The fact that the Bloodthirsty managed to defeat the Primordial Being Devourer filled him with increasing awe.

It was a pity that the generation's overlord, constrained by its fate tied to the Desolate One, lost control to the Desolate One, who used the Divine Lord Brian to kill it, resulting in a crushing defeat. It failed to truly break free of everything and soar through the Void Sea of Domains, failing to forge a dazzling legend there.

It failed, but through Laomo, it selected him—a successor who was not inherently bound to the Desolate Domain, possessing a congenital advantage over it!

Shi Yan’s expression was unusually solemn. He silently vowed in his heart: Your failure stemmed from the tragedy of your birth and destiny. Since you chose me, I will not betray your expectations; I will realize what you could not achieve!

“That is not the Devouring Profundity; it was achieved by relying on a secret treasure, an application of dark energy,” Shiyan said after a long silence, smiling faintly at the three Celestial Eye Clan members. “You all read too much into it. I hope you won't misunderstand, or the Devourer Clan might just flay me alive.”

Evelyn and the other two looked confused and paused, saying no more.

Even they themselves didn't entirely believe Balago’s words, because the Devouring Profundity was lost even within the Devourer Clan. Only the Devourer Clan spoke of the profound mystery and terror of the Devouring Profundity; they took it as self-aggrandizement. Moreover, Shiyan was clearly from the Desolate Domain, and they knew his origins clearly.

The Desolate Domain could not possibly be connected to the lost profound art of the Devourer Clan; the matters simply did not align.

Therefore, they chose to believe Shiyan’s explanation—that it was a miraculous effect similar to the Devouring Profundity, achieved through dark energy and a strange supreme treasure.

Only Audrey understood Shiyan's concerns. The Devouring Profundity was a matter of utmost importance. Since it was lost even to the Devourer Clan, its preciousness was evident.

If news of this leaked out and reached the Devourer Clan, how could either of them survive?

ps Three chapters are up, weakly requesting votes to give me motivation to continue!