Mei Ji froze, astonishment etched on her face, and she cried out, "Why go back? The battle between the Sea Shark Emperor and Feirel was meant to draw attention so we could slip away. Why are you going back?"

"I've just broken through to the second level of the Immortal Realm," Shi Yan explained.

"So what?" Mei Ji was puzzled.

"Generally, every time I break through a new realm, it's as if a pond has been dug much deeper—oh, no, that's how everyone is," Shi Yan touched the corner of his mouth, speaking coldly. "At this stage, I need the accumulation of divine power. In our Immortal Realm, accumulating divine power is a long and agonizing process."

Mei Ji nodded gently.

She understood this deeply and could fully sympathize, having walked the path herself. The time it took her to accumulate and condense divine power to break through from the second level of the Immortal Realm to the third level alone took a millennium.

And that didn't even account for the comprehension of profound Mysteries!

Divine power condensation would eventually reach a tipping point. Grasping the level of profound Mystery depended entirely on one's personal encounters and fate; it wasn't something achievable through mere ascetic cultivation.

"If I don't take aggressive measures, accumulating divine power step-by-step from the second level of the Immortal Realm would take at least several hundred years to reach the threshold strength required to break through to the third level of the Immortal Realm…"

Shi Yan's eyes sharpened, and he shook his head, letting out a low cry, "I don't like endless ascetic cultivation—especially when I know there’s a shortcut. If taking risks can greatly shorten this time, I’m willing to stake my life on it!"

Mei Ji suddenly understood, then realized, "You mean by devouring Profound Mysteries?"

Shi Yan smiled, "Exactly. Devouring Profound Mysteries can drastically shorten this process of divine power condensation. The battle zone of the Sea Shark Emperor and Feirel will draw countless strong cultivators from the Sea of Destruction near. If chaos erupts there, and hundreds of cultivators at the Immortal Realm perish, that power… will be enough for me to reach the level required to break through to the third level of the Immortal Realm!"

Mei Ji's bright eyes shimmered.

Along their journey, she had secretly observed and enjoyed the benefits derived from Shi Yan's devouring of Profound Mysteries. She naturally knew the mysterious and esoteric nature of this evil Mystery.

She completely believed what Shi Yan said.

If hundreds of Immortal Realm experts perished, the resulting Death Essence, after Shi Yan purified and condensed it, would make his Divine Power Ancient Tree incredibly abundant.

It truly wouldn't require a long time of arduous cultivation!

"They are all looking for you. If you go back, it's walking right into a trap. It would also negate the Sea Shark Emperor's good intentions," Mei Ji's expression shifted, and she asked doubtfully, "Do you have confidence you can retreat unharmed?"

She knew Shi Yan wasn't foolish and wouldn't fight a battle he wasn't sure of, hence her question.

"After breaking through to the second level of the Immortal Realm, I'm confident that even in this seabed, I can calmly escape by utilizing Space Profound Mystery," Shi Yan grinned confidently. "Ming Hao may have a higher realm, but he’s only a wisp of soul form, making it hard for him to exert his power to the extreme. Moreover, he can't endure the backlash force as well as I can. Therefore, what he cannot accomplish, I can."

A Phantom Realm Stone flickered into existence in his palm. After infusing it with divine power, the stone inflated like a balloon, and after ten breaths, the Phantom Realm Stone formed a world unto itself.

It was a vast, misty world, cleverly integrated within a nearby piece of star fragment. It was invisible to ordinary people.

That misty world was filled with Shi Yan's spatial consciousness, as if another subsidiary soul of Shi Yan was hidden within, operating the profound mechanisms inside.

"This misty world condensed by the Phantom Realm Stone is propelled by my Spatial Divine Power. It contains my soul imprint. The misty world can remain undissipated for a period, and within that time, I can easily slip into it from the seabed by relying on the connection between our souls."

Shi Yan smiled, glanced at Mei Ji, pulled with a finger, and a spatial rift flickered open. He grabbed Mei Ji’s arm and shot into the rift.

In a flash, he and Mei Ji appeared inside that misty world, within the star fragment.

Standing amidst the vast, boundless mist, Mei Ji’s robes fluttered, making her look like a fairy from the Moon Palace. She covered her mouth with her jade hand and exclaimed softly, "That easy?"

Shi Yan smiled, a spatial current flashed, and he and Mei Ji returned outside the stone. "Within a certain range of this Sea of Destruction, I can enter this misty world with a single thought. Even experts like the Sea Shark Emperor and Feirel couldn't anticipate it if caught off guard."

Mei Ji smiled sweetly, admitting he had a point. "The escape route is secured, but how can you fish in troubled waters and ensure there’s that slim gap for escape? If someone of Naputon's level were to instantly deliver a killing blow, could you withstand it?"

"Originally, no, but now… it should be fine."

"How so?"

"I'll let you see."

Shi Yan chuckled proudly, shooting upwards like a sword, reaching the apex of this star fragment area.

Suddenly, his body emitted starlight that filled the air. His divine body shone brilliantly like a star, and within his eyes flowed myriad mysterious scenes of star formation and annihilation.

Streaks of meteors flew from his ten fingers, like rivers of stars, piercing through this star fragment zone and landing on strange rocks.

"Rumble! Rumble!"

Miraculously, those mountain-like massive stones slowly levitated, rising into the sky under the circulation of the star rivers in his eyes.

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of stones floated up one by one, like colossal peaks towering above the seabed, magnificent and spectacular.

As Shi Yan shifted his profound Mysteries, those giant stones slowly rotated, emitting peculiar starlight.

At a glance, it seemed like tens of thousands of stars were revolving, displaying the profound mysteries of the celestial river, an awe-inspiring sight for all ages.

"These star fragments come from dozens of complete stars. Although shattered, they were originally one before the ancient times; there is a connection between them. Stars… also have spirits. They were refined, and that spiritual essence is different from mine; ordinary people cannot perceive it, but I… can vaguely feel a fraction of it," Shi Yan explained softly, standing among the rotating stone masses, his face etched with contemplation.

"Stars that have perished, from this day forward, serve me! I grant you a pure land!"

A dazzling sea of stars manifested above Shi Yan's head. It was a vast and profound cosmos, like a brand-new universe, with the rotation of suns and moons, limitless space, dense vitality upon the stars, and the obsession of death!

This was his Primordial World!

Because of the presence of Dark Energy, this Primordial World was gradually transforming into a Domain Realm!

The many massive star stones here contained faint spiritual imprints of stars. After Shi Yan revealed his boundless, star-sea-like Primordial World, the connections between these stones gradually prompted them to draw closer. Slowly, the tens of thousands of massive star stones stacked together, gradually forming dozens of brilliant stars.

One by one, the brilliant stars fell into Shi Yan's Primordial World, becoming specks of cold light within it.

A look of mixed surprise and joy appeared on Shi Yan's face. He pressed one hand to his chest and the other to his forehead, taking an oath: "When I break through to the Ancestor Realm and cause the Primordial World to truly become a Domain Realm, I shall carve out a river of stars for you to establish yourselves, to breed life upon you, and restore your glory from billions of years ago."

The dozens of stars responded with an extremely faint echo, a resonance that only those cultivating Star Profound Mystery could vaguely perceive.

Mei Ji stared upwards in shock, watching Shi Yan, like the master of all heavenly stars, pulling the tens of thousands of mountain-sized stones to float and integrate one by one into the star-river-like Primordial World. Watching him take an oath and establish a subtle connection with the stars, the horror in her heart was beyond description.

After closing his eyes and sensing for a long time, Shi Yan descended leisurely. Only one massive star stone remained beside Mei Ji; the Phantom Realm Stone was inside that stone…

This was the only retreat path Shi Yan had left for himself. He paused thoughtfully and said, "Billions of years ago, many shattered stars floated above the surface of the Sea of Destruction. Those stars were later refined by a cultivator of Star Profound Mystery, who injected them with the Mystery to fight enemies, causing tens of thousands of shattered stars to fall into the seabed."

"Those star fragments possess a weak spiritual consciousness; without cultivating Star Profound Mystery, one simply cannot perceive it. I didn't know this before either. It was only when I stabilized my realm after breaking through to the second level of the Immortal Realm that I slightly detected it. I finally understand that in the vast sea of stars, all stars possess spiritual consciousness, though some are strong and some are infinitesimally small and obscure."

"The Sea of Destruction truly lives up to its name; this seabed is indeed full of rare treasures, but not everyone can discover them. Sometimes, the treasure is right beside you, yet you cannot see it. These star fragments here are even more formidable than complete stars elsewhere. They have existed for an extremely long time, perhaps condensing during the Primordial Era. They know some secrets of the heavens and earth, and they have been tempering their celestial bodies in their own way. Because their celestial bodies are so special, they were coveted by that expert cultivating Star Profound Mystery, who refined them once more, turning them into a divine weapon…" Shi Yan explained pensively.

Mei Ji listened, half-understanding, and interrupted midway, "You don't need to explain in detail. Since I don't cultivate Star Profound Mystery, it's hard for me to fully grasp it. I only need to know one thing: by taking these star fragments into your Primordial World, has your strength increased? Are you like someone who has captured a divine weapon, daring to contend against the attacks of an Ancestor Realm expert?"

Shi Yan gave a knowing smile, "What you said is completely correct."

"Then that settles it." Mei Ji was resolute, linking her arm through his. "I’ll go back with you. I'll accompany you into the dragon's den and tiger's lair!"

Shi Yan felt a warmth in his heart and couldn't help but grip her hand tighter, a trace of complexity flickering in his eyes. "Actually, all this time, my feelings for you weren't truly…"

"Don't say it." Mei Ji reached out and placed her fingertip on his lips, her beautiful eyes filled with bitterness, shaking her head. "There are some things I don't want to hear. Promise me, never say hurtful things to me. As for sweet words, even if they are lies, I am happy to listen…"

Shi Yan was dumbfounded.

Mei Ji lowered her head. "I don't know what's wrong with me. This might be a common trait among the women of our Shadow Phantom Clan: we rarely fall in love easily, but once we do, we become like moths flying into a flame—determined and without regret even knowing certain death awaits. As for the future… who knows? It might be hard for me to return to the Barren Domain alive with you. At least when I am with you, I hope you can coax me, or even deceive me, anything is fine, just don't let me be sad and hurt."

Shi Yan was left speechless.

...(To be continued)RQ