The battles that had transpired before—Ailing Mei’s sudden targeting, Teleka’s vicious strike, Mei Ji’s abnormal actions—all played out before his eyes.
Opening his eyes, Shi Yan appeared somewhat lost. He secured the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda into the Primordial Realm space, his brow suddenly furrowing deeply.
The Life Origin Rune integrated within the Profound Mystery pulsed with immense information. At this moment, it felt as if billions of electrical currents surged through him, currents initiated by the Primal Origin Rune, piercing through his flesh, meridians, bones, and soul!
Inspecting internally with his divine sense, he discovered countless Primal Runes coming alive, floating out of the Life Sphere like fireflies, embedding themselves into his bones and flesh, into his mind and soul, into his meridians and organs. A violent wave of life energy erupted throughout his body, as if he had transformed into an ocean of life!
In the Profound Mystery Layer, the black hole churned like a massive mouth, continuing its digestion—the complete assimilation of Gan Fu!
Gan Fu’s corrosive essence, life magnetic field, and soul altar sank into the consuming black hole, being slowly purified. During this process, various scenes surfaced in Shi Yan’s mind: snapshots of Gan Fu’s life experiences, segments of memory, gradually revealing everything from his birth, growth, and cultivation.
To devour the Profound Mystery and absorb and digest its power could actually strip away memories!
Of course, Shi Yan held no interest in Gan Fu’s life history. He concentrated his spirit within the Life Sphere, where he could see the Primal Origin Rune beating like a massive heart, radiating vigorous vitality. He then focused intently on comprehending it, and his soul abruptly shuddered!
An ultimate divine ability, like a life imprint, suddenly sharpened from the vague to the profound, integrating itself as part of his Profound Mystery. That ability was named: Surging Life!
Accompanying the Surging Life ability was a warm current, a stream originating from the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda, from within his Primordial Realm!
At this instant, within his starlit Primordial Realm, the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda rested upon the surface of a desolate star. From the peak of the Pagoda, a thread of warm energy flowed down, reaching directly into Shi Yan’s mind.
To be precise, it poured into Shi Yan’s Secondary Soul!
A set of vague memories, long sealed away for hundreds of millions of years, morphed into disordered arrays of mysterious symbols. Shi Yan clearly sensed he knew something, yet when he tried to grasp it, he found himself unable to articulate it.
However, an implicit connection had been established between him and the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda.
The Pagoda seemed intimately connected to his soul, those hazy memories seeping into the deepest recesses of his spirit. His Secondary Soul, which had merged with the Arid Fragment Soul, formed a deep bond with the Pagoda. These vague memories seemed contingent upon him fully activating the Fragment Soul of the Primal Life—that is, completely fusing all the Heavenly Fires—before they could be truly unlocked.
“You would even take the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda? Truly insatiable!” Lord Brahma’s voice was cold and stiff, just like his distorted face. “Boy, must you hoard all the advantages?”
Ming Hao also frowned. He had been interested in the Pagoda, fully prepared to fight Lord Brahma for it. He hadn’t anticipated Shi Yan waking up and immediately drawing the Pagoda into the center of his Primordial Realm, which left Ming Hao feeling conflicted.
“It's useless in your hands. I can use it to break this place open. That Pagoda is the key to shattering this confinement, and since I possess the Primal Origin Rune, it must rightfully remain with me,” Shi Yan stated plainly.
“Nonsense!” Lord Brahma scoffed, completely unconvinced.
Ming Hao continued to frown, his expression flickering uncertainly.
Shi Yan gazed deeply at Lord Brahma, then at Ming Hao. Suddenly, he grinned, “Fine, if you don’t believe me, it’s simple. I’ll let you try to wield this Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda and see if you can unlock its secrets or break free of this place?”
Saying this, his eyes changed, and the Pagoda rose above his head, hovering before Lord Brahma and Ming Hao. Shi Yan maintained a calm exterior, though he secretly chuckled. The Pagoda now held a link with his Secondary Soul; no matter how formidable the means of Lord Brahma and Ming Hao, they would find it impossible to glean any true mystery from it.
Ignoring the two as they swiftly executed magical seals and projected their soul consciousness toward the Pagoda, Shi Yan moved swiftly, landing next to Mei Ji.
Mei Ji’s enchanting face was ghastly pale, her graceful form marred by streaks of blood, especially around her chest where the crimson stains were horrifyingly apparent. She lay collapsed weakly on a shard of rock, her gaze slightly unfocused, her life force gradually ebbing away.
Typically, only those whose Divine Bodies suffered severe trauma experienced a gradual depletion of life force. Once the vitality was gone, the physical body would perish, retaining not a single trace of power. For instance, the parents of that little skeleton lost their luster because their life force dried up; if not for the Bone Clan’s arduous cultivation of skeletal structures, their remains would have decayed, crumbling at a touch.
If Mei Ji’s life was allowed to wither, her divine power would suddenly vanish, and her physical body’s demise might take the Life Magnetic Field with it. This field, the wellspring of the Main Soul, meant that its exhaustion signified absolute death, precluding any chance of rebirth. Even Shi Yan, were his Life Magnetic Field to deplete, would truly die.
“Why?” Shi Yan remained silent for a few seconds, then softly murmured, his feelings complex.
He had never considered Mei Ji a friend he could truly trust. Their relationship was fraught with complications; they had fought deadly battles, and he had deeply humiliated her. He fully expected Mei Ji to despise him with bone-deep hatred. When he was targeted by Teleka and betrayed by Ailing Mei, he assumed Mei Ji would inevitably stand alongside Ailing Mei and the others. After all, the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda held an incomparable attraction for the Yin Charm Clan. Ailing Mei had been willing to discard the trust placed in her by Tu Shiqi and his wife, capable of dealing a killing blow because of it; how could Mei Ji be an exception?
He could not fathom that Mei Ji would actually help him.
“Don’t ask me, I don’t know why myself. I just felt that if you were to die, it should be by my hand, not by someone else’s! Especially not Ailing Mei!” Mei Ji’s voice was weak, yet her tone remained resolute, tinged with an indefinable anger—it was unclear whom she was truly incensed at.
“Then I shall wait for you to kill me later.” Shi Yan was quiet for a long moment.
Innumerable Primal Runes, like joyful life sprites, surged from his palm, miraculously entering Mei Ji’s delicate body. These runes pulsed, bringing an extreme abundance of vigorous life energy, nourishing Mei Ji’s Life Magnetic Field and bolstering her failing vitality.
This was the divine ability imprinted by the Primal Origin Rune—Surging Life!
Mei Ji’s skin magically regained its luster; her pale complexion gradually filled with healthy color, and her lips became full, radiating an unparalleled allure capable of captivating all living things. Soon, Mei Ji stood straight, enveloped in a dense ocean of life, feeling indescribably warm and comfortable, every strain in her brow smoothed away.
It was at this moment that Shi Yan withdrew his hand. The Primal Runes lingering within Mei Ji’s body returned to his palm, flowing back like tiny fish into the Primal Origin Rune within the Profound Mystery Sphere.
“I won’t thank you, because my injuries were all caused by you!” Mei Ji huffed, her gaze complicated.
Shi Yan smiled brightly. “I don’t need your thanks. I hope you hate me, continue to hate me, hate me fiercely! I like it when women hate me!”
“Pervert!” Mei Ji chastised him playfully.
“Connection cannot be established!”
“That brat must have tampered with it!”
Suddenly, Lord Brahma and Ming Hao cursed in defeat and frustration. They gave up their attempts to seize the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda. Countless symbols of magical seals retracted from the Pagoda’s perimeter, sprinkling over Lord Brahma and Ming Hao like starlight. They had tried numerous lost techniques, projecting vast quantities of divine sense and soul intent, attempting to find the key, to feel even the slightest link with the Pagoda.
Alas, they were disappointed. The Pagoda remained like a dead city, utterly unresponsive. They could neither draw it into their palms nor their Void Rings. They naturally assumed Shi Yan had played a trick.
And indeed, he had.
“I told you that you couldn’t do it.” Shi Yan chuckled softly. He raised his hand in a beckoning gesture. The vague memories from his Secondary Soul rippled like seawater, immediately achieving contact with the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda.
The Pagoda, which Lord Brahma and Ming Hao couldn't claim, descended like a hat onto Shi Yan’s head and vanished once more into the back of his skull.
“Hurry up and unravel this curtain. We need to leave this place as soon as possible. We’ve been trapped too long; I don’t know the situation in the Arid Domain,” Ming Hao urged.
“No need to rush. Once this restraint is broken, some fish will take the chance to slip away,” Shi Yan sneered. He looked toward the direction where Batum and the others had fled, touched his lips, and said grimly, “I am just as unaware as you about how precious the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda is. But the tribesmen of the Seven Clans of the Void Sea know. If they learn we have obtained it, it will attract endless trouble.”
He said no more. Lord Brahma and Ming Hao grasped his meaning, though they didn't necessarily agree. Lord Brahma grunted, “So what if they know? The Pagoda is in your hands, not ours. They will only trouble you! Furthermore, once you can break this confinement, we will immediately return to the Arid Domain at top speed. What can they do to us?”
“The people of the Seven Clans have been searching for our Arid Domain for a long time,” Ming Hong, perched on Audrey’s shoulder, suddenly interjected. “There are things you don't know, how intensely zealous and greedy they are for a severely wounded Primal Life being. Shi Yan is right; if those people are alive and pass on the news, their elders will pursue us at all costs just for the Profound Mystery Rune Pagoda! We might be intercepted or even killed before we reach the Domain Gate!”
“What are you suggesting?” Lord Brahma frowned.
“Leave no witnesses alive,” Shi Yan stated seriously.
“Then what about her?” Lord Brahma sneered, glancing toward Mei Ji, who was standing nearby with a visibly unnatural expression. “She isn't from our Arid Domain either. Are you preparing to execute her too? Do you need my help?”
A chill went down Mei Ji’s heart.
“She is my woman. Naturally, she is excluded. I will personally keep her in strict check; you need not worry about it,” Shi Yan said calmly.
Mei Ji’s enchanting face suddenly flushed with an alluring crimson hue upon hearing this. Her expression held a touch of anger, but more so bashfulness, making her look even more uneasy.