Gan Fu’s body suddenly withered, as if shrinking into a dwarf, her vital essence, spirit, and vigor greatly diminished.

Conversely, the blood erupting from her mouth carried a purity of corrosive power that reached an extremely terrifying level!

The God Lord felt a rare, profound unease for the first time, recognizing that Gan Fu was clearly employing some sinister secret art at the cost of her lifeblood. This technique drained Gan Fu's massive fleshly essence, possibly even damaging her soul, yet the resulting corrosive force was far superior to anything before.

Woven within that corrosive power was a peculiar scent—a scent the God Lord knew intimately!

—It was Dark Energy!

“Hiss, hiss!”

The spring of blood, condensed from her vital essence, sprayed onto the brilliant Golden Star. The star’s luster was instantly veiled, and it began to shrink rapidly, corroding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A trace of unhealthy paleness crept across the God Lord’s handsome face, his eyes dimmed, and he coldly snorted, “Greed can ignite potential, but it can also cost a life. You venomous woman apparently doesn't even want your life for the Obscure Rune Pagoda.”

“You don’t understand, you outsider will never understand!” Gan Fu laughed tragically. “Once I possess this Obscure Rune Pagoda, I will find your Barren Domain, refine a Corrosive Primal Source Rune from your billions of lives there, comprehend the ultimate divine ability of Corrosive Profundity, and master the power of the Corrosion Rule! You won't live to see that day, but I’ll tell you now: your wicked land deserves annihilation, and we, the Devouring Clan, will surely bring it about!”

Gan Fu’s body continued to shrink, gradually becoming desiccated, as if all the blood had been drained from within her.

What she performed was a secret technique akin to a berserk state. Naturally, this technique was far inferior to the Berserk State unleashed by Shi Yan. Shi Yan’s technique activated the negative power within his acupoints, causing no harm to his Divine Body.

Gan Fu’s evil secret art stimulated the power of flesh and blood, maximizing the enhancement of the Corrosive Profundity. The consequence was her own gradual putrefaction, potentially even the loss of her body.

However, in Gan Fu’s estimation, the value of the Obscure Rune Pagoda far exceeded the worth of her single body. She was willing to pay any price to obtain it.

“Hiss, hiss!”

The green, viscous blood transformed into a small lake, eerily glowing with a faint green hue. Gan Fu’s shriveled body nestled atop this green lake, continuously spitting blood while charging toward the God Lord.

All the lights along the path, upon contact with the small green lake, seemed tainted, becoming impure and instantly losing their sacred power.

The God Lord wore an expression of disgust. Seeing the green lake about to break free of his containment field, he layered on light barrier after light barrier. Unfortunately, the barriers could not hold. Upon impact with the green lake, they rapidly dissolved, creating gaps.

Gan Fu burst through instantly.

Almost simultaneously, Ye Bole, Telega, and Fallonie also shot into the sky, all rushing toward Shi Yan’s position.

Telega sneered, unleashing seven Lightning Crystal Dragons from his eyes. Scales rattled as thunderous explosions erupted from their bodies as they struck first toward Shi Yan’s Soul Altar.

“Boom, boom, boom!”

The lightning dragons pierced into the Sea of Consciousness. Vast, surging waves whipped up in Shi Yan’s mind, shaking his divine sense until it scattered like shattered stars. Observers noted that both Shi Yan’s main soul and sub-soul grew blurry, appearing on the verge of dissipation.

Telega roared with laughter, “No one is guarding you while you merge the Primal Source Rune; this is your weakest moment. Let’s see how you survive!”

Fallonie showed no mercy either. Strange lights flickered in her eyes, and clusters of hedgehog-like light orbs rolled toward Shi Yan’s Sea of Consciousness.

The moment the orbs landed, they exploded, unleashing countless spinning barbs that ravaged the consciousness sea like sharp blades.

Shi Yan’s main and sub-souls flickered like candles in the wind, growing increasingly indistinct, as if they could extinguish at any moment.

Because the Sea of Consciousness was under attack, the process of merging the Primal Source Rune was momentarily halted, as if affected by the disruption.

All the Primal Runes had been integrated, save for the top three layers—only a few dozen symbols remained until full merger. At this moment, those symbols merely drifted, maintaining their current state instead of continuing to fuse.

“My Lord, what should we do?” a member of the Profound Heaven Clan asked, looking toward Ling Mei beside him. “Elder Tu Shiqi once instructed us to maintain the best possible relationship with this person and try to bring him into our Profound Heaven Clan.”

Ling Mei, who had not yet attacked, had a cold glint in her bright eyes. Frowning, she stated, “He also added one more thing: if conflict becomes unavoidable, we must strike with full force to kill him completely, leaving absolutely no future trouble!”

Upon hearing this, the Profound Heaven Clan members started, showing looks of astonishment.

Ling Mei took a deep breath, glanced at Mei Ji, who was struggling with her choice, and said calmly, “He has clearly refused us; he will definitely not become an esteemed guest of our Profound Heaven Clan. At best, we have some rapport, but that rapport is far less valuable than the Obscure Rune Pagoda.”

After a pause, Ling Mei finally made up her mind. “We absolutely cannot abandon the Obscure Rune Pagoda! The choice is simple then: attack with everything we have! Even if it costs you self-destruction, you must secure the Obscure Rune Pagoda for the clan!”

She looked at one member, a clansman whose cultivation was only at the first level of the Immortal realm—the lowest among them. “Your cultivation is the lowest. For the clan, for the glory of the entire race, you should know what to do, right?”

That Profound Heaven Clan member hesitated almost not at all. Like a fanatic religious zealot, he let out a wild cry and charged toward Shi Yan’s Sea of Consciousness recklessly.

Mid-air, raging flames erupted from his body, and his Soul Altar manifested—a boundless ocean of fire. He had dedicated his cultivation to the Profundity of Fire; now, his Soul Altar became a sea of burning fire. This was a lethal strike achieved by burning his life force, aiming for self-destruction.

If his Soul Altar shattered within Shi Yan’s Sea of Consciousness, Shi Yan would have virtually no means of escape and would truly die!

“You dare!”

Just then, Mei Ji shrieked. Her entire body erupted with ice shards like swords; instantly, thousands of shards shot out, streaking toward that man.

After unleashing this attack, she herself felt a flicker of disorientation, unable to fully believe what she had done.

She found it unimaginable that she would actually attack, that she would help Shi Yan. Seeing that man about to destroy Shi Yan, an overwhelming panic seized her heart. Without a second thought, all her previous hesitation vanished, and she acted purely on impulse.

“I knew you were unreliable!” Ling Mei said flatly. She pointed into the distance. Circles of water curtains condensed, using softness to overcome hardness, intercepting every ice shard.

Ling Mei cultivated the Profundity of Water; Water and Ice shared the same origin, yet their characteristics were diametrically opposed. She and Mei Ji had been rivals for years, evenly matched, but today, Ling Mei clearly held the upper hand.

“Water Lock!” Ling Mei shouted.

All the ice shards were enveloped, halted in their tracks. The shards carried Mei Ji’s mental energy, and in the struggle to break free, they violently jammed, causing Mei Ji’s delicate body to tremble, forcing her to spit out a mouthful of crimson blood.

Her severe injuries had not yet healed, and now suffering this heavy blow, she could no longer suppress it.

A frightening pallor spread across Mei Ji’s alluring face, her large, watery eyes clouded over with a grayish haze, her expression pitiful.

“Mei Ji, you truly are inferior to me,” Ling Mei said coldly, refraining from further attack. “Ever since you failed to seize the split soul of the Primal Life Form from Shi Yan, I knew something was amiss. I don’t know what you experienced, but I can confirm you developed feelings. Otherwise, you wouldn't have failed. Women of your Shadow Race rarely feel affection; once they do, they throw themselves into the fire regardless of the consequences. I know your kind, so I have been secretly guarding against you. You certainly haven't disappointed me.”

Mei Ji’s pretty face grew increasingly mortified; she bit her lip silently, unable to offer a defense.

She looked up at the sky again and saw that the Profound Heaven Clan’s death warrior had already bypassed Fallonie and Telega. Fallonie and the others, seeing this man was determined to use self-destruction to stop Shi Yan from merging the Primal Source Rune, were naturally happy to let him pass, actively making way for him.

Mei Ji suddenly felt an emptiness, as if something that belonged to her was about to be shattered.

She watched the sky blankly, her gaze distant.

“If you want to die, then go ahead and die!” Suddenly, a cold voice came from the woman who was least regarded by others.

This voice belonged to Audrey, the only Original God present. She spoke lightly while looking at the sky, her demeanor relaxed and natural.

A bat-like aberration suddenly flashed, instantly expanding to become a ferocious demonic soul. It opened its maw and swallowed the surrounding vengeful souls, transforming from spectral to tangible, rising another hundred meters high, grinning like a giant demon. Its claws extended like iron anchors, grabbing toward the ball of flame that intended to deliver a fatal blow to Shi Yan through self-sacrifice.

“Go to hell!” Ming Hong roared violently from the void.

“Smack, smack, smack!”

The fiery body suddenly exploded, scattering embers. Amidst the flames fell fragments of flesh and blood, entrails and organs, plummeting from the sky.

One piece of charred intestine happened to land around Telega’s neck like a dark, sticky collar, causing him to scream in sudden revulsion.

“A mere Original God, even Xin Ge’s vengeful soul, how much trouble can it truly stir up, given the weakness of its true body?” Ling Mei frowned. Once this woman decided to stop Shi Yan from merging the Primal Source Rune, she became a completely different person, calmly directing the assault, which posed the greatest threat to Shi Yan. She pointed toward Audrey and stated indifferently, “Send someone to kill her. Without the protection of vengeful souls, she is as fragile as paper.”

A burly Profound Heaven Clan man clad in black armor moved at her command, wielding a sharp serrated blade, radiating a fierce aura of slaughter.

Ming Hong, suspended in the void, was fearsome only after absorbing the other vengeful souls. When he devoured them, Audrey was naturally left without any truly powerful protector nearby. Seeing Ling Mei order Audrey’s death, Ming Hong didn’t hesitate; he immediately descended from the sky, intent on fully shielding Audrey.

“Telega, Fallonie, Ye Bole! What are you waiting for!” Ling Mei commanded calmly.

Telega grinned, “Ling Mei is indeed Ling Mei; your methods are extraordinary. Today I see that you are indeed a cut above Mei Ji. A sentimental member of the Shadow Race is not worthy of comparison with you.”

Smiling, he attacked again, reforming the lightning dragons and blasting into Shi Yan’s Sea of Consciousness once more.

Shi Yan’s Sea of Consciousness fractured again, churning up more massive waves, causing his main and sub-souls to show signs of imminent dissipation.

The stalled Primal Runes not only ceased merging but also began to split apart again. Those that had fused threatened to revert to their original state, ready to fall back to the lower levels of the pagoda.

Listening to Telega’s praise, Ling Ming’s expression remained placid, showing no outward reaction. She merely looked toward the sky, toward the peak of the colossal tower, toward Shi Yan…

Suddenly, she seemed to discover something, and a deep terror and unease instantly replaced the composure on her face. “No! Shi Yan might not actually be wounded! He—he actually masters the Devouring Profundity lost to the Devouring Clan! Perhaps your attacks on his Sea of Consciousness are entirely useless!”

“The Devouring Profundity! The supreme Devouring Profundity of our Clan!” Gan Fu, who had been blocked again by Ming Hao after charging a distance, screamed hysterically, as if seeing a ghost in broad daylight.