Duller stood before the stone hall, his expression grim and shifting, flanked by numerous Saurian guards whose cultivation levels were mostly not weak.

"Sacrifice life essence to mask the aura of this place, ensuring Xinge remains unaware of any activity here!" After a long pause, Duller roared.

Meanwhile, Xinge was wandering through the area designated for the Saurians to receive outsiders, using his soul-searching Heavenly Eye technique to probe for any trace of the Celestial Eye Clan, determined to drag out whoever killed the Earth Ghost Clan members.

Duller knew that the Saurian Ancestor was currently exerting all his power to break free from the threat of the Soul Clan’s Soul Refining Cauldron and was temporarily unable to intervene personally.

They had to ensure that Shi Yan, Audrey, and the others remained safe during this period. The moment he sensed Xinge becoming suspicious and launching a large-scale search, Duller rushed over, intending to send Shi Yan and Audrey away from the Saurian Star for the time being.

But at that moment, Evelyn leaped out, claiming that Shi Yan and Audrey were both deep in cultivation, right at the most perilous point of breakthrough, and absolutely could not be disturbed.

A cascade of problems piled up, giving Duller a splitting headache. With no other choice, he shouted for several kinsmen of the same rank to join him.

"Duller, I hear the Ancestor is finally making a move against Xinge?" Tifeng, also at the Immortal Second Heaven realm, displayed a look of bloodthirsty ferocity. "I've tolerated those miserable Earth Ghost remnants for too long. If the Ancestor is truly resolute, I'll be the first to charge in!"

"Enough chatter, focus on the main task! Xinge absolutely cannot discover this location, or we won't be able to explain ourselves to the Ancestor!" Duller snapped.

Tifeng glanced dismissively towards the stone hall behind him. "Will the Ancestor truly be troubled by a few members of the Celestial Eye Clan and two junior Primordial Gods?"

"One of them possesses Dark Energy. And the one conversing with the Ancestor explicitly stated that this individual must not die!" Duller commanded. "Stop dawdling and hurry up. It will be disastrous if Xinge finds this place."

Possessing Dark Energy?

The few Saurian experts at the Immortal realm were stunned into silence when Duller said this, turning back toward the stone hall with expressions of shock. Gazing at the spot where Shi Yan and Audrey were cultivating, they all felt a deep tremor in their hearts.

Immediately afterward, the faces of these Immortal realm experts grew solemn. Waves of life essence, visible like thick mist, slowly emanated from them, shrouding the stone hall like a celestial curtain.

Duller and the others were paying with their own life auras to form this membrane, a barrier to prevent Xinge’s soul-searching.

The reason for this extreme measure was that their cultivation was insufficient. To stop Xinge’s soul exploration at the Immortal Second Heaven realm, such a price had to be paid.

Having completed this, they all appeared visibly fatigued and weak, sitting silently before the stone hall. The remaining Saurian tribesmen stood guard with solemn respect, carefully watching over these elders, fearing any mishap.

At this time, Xinge, accompanied by members of the Soul Clan, was prowling through various gathering points for alien races on the Saurian Star, issuing threats, using his Immortal Third Heaven cultivation base to scan for any disturbance, searching for the Celestial Eye Clan members to clarify the situation.

Xinge’s primary objective was not revenge for Balago, but rather the Eye of Divine Bewilderment, anticipating the possible arrival of Tu Shiqi and the other member of the Profound Heaven Clan.

Inside the stone hall.

Evelyn, Adams, and Mahisha, three members of the Celestial Eye Clan, sat in a triangular formation before the training grounds of Shi Yan and Audrey, equally alert and vigilant, terrified that the two might be disturbed during their crucial breakthrough.

The Training Ground.

Audrey was enveloped by swirling soul power, wisps of grey mist hovering around her, reflecting countless strange and illusory phenomena upon her form.

A stream of pure soul power coursed through her body, slowly merging into her Altar.

Her state of mind gradually stabilized, and the Divine Power Ancient Tree swelled with surging energy. Then, streams of faint luminescence spread across her entire body, making her silhouette gradually ethereal.

Shi Yan, situated across the training ground from her, flickered between light and shadow. Bursts of violent fluctuation erupted from him as he pushed toward the Immortal realm. The negative fluctuations within his acupoints seemed unable to bear the burden and were being violently purged to maintain the purity of his divine body. These scattered negative forces drifted around the training ground.

As Audrey cultivated her profound mysteries, her wisps of soul flickered, sensing the ownerless negative emotions. They grew agitated and began to devour those negative forces.

The ghostly shades and fierce specters, nourished by the negative energy flowing out of Shi Yan's body, became even more sinister and brutal. Affected by this, even Audrey’s soul altar seemed tainted by Shi Yan’s aura, forging a deeper connection between them.

Time sped by.

Within Shi Yan’s mind, the Heavenly Fires—excluding the Chaos Holy Fire—were gradually fusing, transforming into a boundless ocean of fire.

Moments of scorching intensity, bone-chilling cold, and bolts of raging lightning manifested sequentially upon Shi Yan's divine body, making it appear as if he had mastered numerous distinct profound martial arts.

The instant the Heavenly Fires coalesced, a pillar of blazing heat shot up from Shi Yan’s celestial crown.

The physical dome of the training ground instantly dissolved into molten fluid. That Heavenly Fire continued its ascent, burning a hole straight through the barrier woven by Duller and his group using life essence. The fire persisted, piercing upward, carving a hole through the stone wall, projecting directly skyward.

The Aquatic Clan settlement.

At their lake, a sudden pillar of scorching fire erupted, rising from the depths of the water.

Yuan Mo’s expression changed drastically. The many Aquatic tribesmen surrounding him were equally stunned and gathered around, unsure of what had transpired.

The enchantingly graceful, masked woman of the Phantom Clan ghosted into existence above the lake, her gaze fixed intently on the blazing pillar of light. "Such potent Source Fire condensation! Only Primal Beings command Source Fire—what is happening? Has the Saurian Ancestor undergone some strange transformation?"

She pondered for a moment, then shook her head, muttering softly, "That's not right. That lizard never cultivated Source Fire back then, and Source Fire cannot be inherited. How could he possibly possess it?"

Thinking this, a look of horror crossed her face as a possibility struck her. "Could it be that a Primal Being exists below?"

Astonishment flashed in her beautiful eyes. She suddenly announced, "You all stay here. I need to descend and check the situation. This is highly unusual!"

Yuan Mo nodded in assent.

Simultaneously, Xinge, having fruitlessly searched for the Celestial Eye Clan members for a long time, was growing increasingly irritable. The moment the pillar of Heavenly Fire broke through the barrier and struck the Aquatic Clan lake, Xinge’s eyes flashed brightly within the cloud mass formed by his soul. He let out a strange, cold laugh.

He charged directly toward the stone hall.

The Underground Magma Pool.

The Saurian Ancestor and the couple Tu Shiqi and Yanyun all sensed the fluctuation. Tu Shiqi closed his eyes to sense it, his face filled with shock. "This... this aura originates from that kid. But this aura... it is clearly the Source Fire of a Primal Being!"

"How is that possible?" Yanyun exclaimed. "Did he manage to refine the Desolate One?"

"I don't know either," Tu Shiqi replied with a wry smile, momentarily stumped.

Though the Saurian Ancestor knew little about Dark Energy, being a descendant of the Lizard Clan, his understanding of Primal Beings was deeper than Tu Shiqi or Yanyun’s. After thinking it over, he stated with certainty, "It is a wisp of a Primal Being's fragmented soul, fused with his soul imprint, condensing into his Second Soul, granting that Second Soul a portion of the Primal Being's mysteries!"

"I imagine that with such a massive disturbance, the powerhouses across the Saurian Star must have sensed it by now. Xinge will certainly be heading there too. What should we do?" Yanyun inquired.

"Are you alright?" Tu Shiqi looked towards the Saurian Ancestor.

The Saurian Ancestor suddenly burst into roaring laughter. "It is time to hold the grand ceremony; this is the perfect moment. Watch as I twist and reshape the Saurian Star!"

As he spoke, earth-shattering roars emanated from the magma pool.

If viewed from the outside, the Saurian Star appeared to vibrate like a giant heart. Numerous asteroids and stellar fragments shifted positions, and the entire planet seemed to contort and deform like a gigantic Rubik's Cube, with one specific region forcibly extruded as if pulled by immense force.

The massive craters housing the alien races across the Saurian Star—the gathering spots for the second and third-tier alien tribes—which were originally vast, intact meteorites or shattered stars, now saw those areas slowly detach from the Saurian Star. The planet seemed to be disassembling itself.

Viewed from the Void Sea, the Saurian Star looked like a sphere whose surface components were separating, gradually transforming into a flat continent—a continent composed of countless asteroids and star fragments!

The tribesmen gathered in different regions were now all clearly visible across the flat continent, gazing toward a palace at its center.

The pillar of Source Fire light was emanating from that very palace. Duller and his group were still clustered at the entrance of the stone hall, but their expressions were universally hideous.

"The Ancestor choosing this moment for the grand ceremony... I don't know what he was thinking. Once the Saurian Star becomes a continent, there will be no cover left. Everyone is exposed, and Xinge will arrive quickly," Duller lamented bitterly.

He knew the Saurian Star was never a true celestial body, but merely an accretion of countless meteorites and star shards. Once the Saurian Ancestor made a major move, the entire planet would be turned upside down. By moving those stellar fragments and meteorites to transform the Saurian Star into the Saurian Continent, revealing everyone from their hidden positions, it was time to pay homage to their ancestors.

However, the timing seemed incredibly poor, because now the second and third-tier tribes, having witnessed the Source Fire pillar, were flocking over. Sensing the aura of a Primal Being from the Source Fire, they became hyper-energized, swarming like locusts, eager to discover what was about to unfold at the center.

The Phantom Clan woman, who had been about to descend into the lake to investigate, after the stellar transformation, returned with the Aquatic tribesmen to the stone hall, a look of strangeness in her eyes.

"The aura of a Primal Being! Hahaha, the aura of a Primal Being!" Xinge howled, suspended above the mountain formed by his soul-mass. He swept through like a raging tempest, tossing aside the second and third-tier tribesmen in his path, arrogantly charging forward.

"The Celestial Eye Clan members are right here! Perfect! Let’s see how you try to hide now!"

He arrived before Duller and his group, his face instantly turning ice-cold. He looked down toward the earth and roared, "Old friend Saurian, everything has been upturned. It's time to come out and meet me, isn't it? Hmm, I wonder, do you still consider me a friend?"

"Friend? Hahahaha, you are truly a good friend!"

The Saurian Ancestor's thunderous roar resonated from beneath the earth. Then, his avatar flashed into existence, his face flushed crimson, terrifying fluctuations emanating from his body.

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