Ricardo's primary soul rose slowly from his domain, like a fiery deity unleashing a shower of flames. These flames, vibrant in color, scorching hot, wild, powerful, and radiant with Yang energy, billowed outward, causing the Sea Shark Emperor's watery curtain to crackle and snap.

A wisp of fire-soul shifted within that fiery domain, scattering like rain composed of consciousness mixed with dark energy.

The downpour of fire was violent, as if the Sea of Destruction was being consumed by flame. The resulting fiery-water essence guided itself downward, surging into the Sea Shark Emperor's domain.

"While his mind is muddled, let his life-field decay!"

Ferrell sneered, sending countless thunder-orbs, mountainous in appearance, rolling forth, emanating waves of annihilation, shattering, and explosion.

Neptune snorted coldly. His three fierce souls, like primeval demon gods, roared, tearing at the water curtain, rending the Sea Shark Emperor's water domain to pieces.

The Sea Shark Emperor spat blood, his spirit immediately flagging. Shen Ren, beside him, shrieked, trying to intervene.

"The battle of Domain Ancestors—you dare meddle? Begone!" Ferrell chuckled coldly, waving a hand to squeeze, his fist moving, causing the heavens to rumble with thunder that crashed down.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!"

Shen Ren was blasted into a bloody pulp by the rolling thunder and flung out of the Sea Shark Emperor's domain, the light in his eyes completely extinguished.

"No!"

The Sea Shark Emperor cried out tragically, his roar echoing throughout the entire Sea of Destruction. Single drops of crystal-clear water fell from the corners of his eyes like tears. These drops, like jewels, merged one by one into the seawater, causing the deep-sea pressure at the bottom of the Sea of Destruction to abruptly intensify several dozenfold.

"Fwoosh! Fwoosh!"

Many of those with lower cultivation realms could not withstand the terrifying water pressure and burst open on the spot.

One after another, Soul Altars drifted out from the divine bodies. The souls upon these altars displayed fear and grief, watching their mangled bodies and emitting harrowing shrieks, like the low moans of hungry ghosts. It was utterly chilling.

Most of these people were in the first layer of the Immortal realm, or perhaps merely new arrivals whose immortal boundaries were unstable.

"Go!"

Ming Hong transformed into a fierce soul, enveloping Audrey's body to prevent her physical form from collapsing, dragging her away from the scene.

"Brian!" Ming Hao also screamed.

Amidst the shrieks, twelve of Ming Hao's clones vanished, all annihilated by the Old Ancestor of the Earth Ghosts and Qi Mo.

Not far away, the Divine Lord watched with a cold expression, observing the battle without immediately intervening.

At this moment, at Ming Hao's desperate call, the Divine Lord showed reluctance. He reluctantly shifted his gaze from the battle involving the Sea Shark Emperor, Ferrell, Neptune, and Ricardo. He closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, strands of sacred, brilliant divine light suddenly burst forth from the depths of his pupils.

The Divine Lord appeared like the bright moon in the starry sky, his radiance dazzling. He stepped onto a road of light, his five fingers reaching out to grasp Qi Mo.

The five elemental powers—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—transformed into five sacred light screens, enveloping Qi Mo within them. The Divine Lord's expression was stern as he spoke flatly, "The power of Chaos. Heh, Gru also cultivated the power of Chaos, and he met a miserable end just the same. You are inferior to Gru; if Gru were alive today, he would be stronger than you."

Gru was the leader of Chaos, the inheritor of Cato’s profound truths. He was bound for many years in the Land of Fallen Gods and finally perished battling the Four Heavenly Kings.

Gru, though an Immortal back then, possessed a lower realm than Qi Mo, yet Gru’s strength was formidable, and his potential infinite. Had the Divine Lord not secretly interfered, Gru might not have perished...

Because Gru himself was a member of the Divine Clan, and the Divine Lord, who possessed the origin of the Ancient God Continent, held a degree of suppression over Gru. It was due to the Divine Lord's methods that Gru was ultimately slain by the Four Heavenly Kings.

"Clang!"

Qi Mo, at the peak of the Immortal realm, found his Chaos magnetic field shattered by the wrapping of the five light screens.

"Another expert from the Desolate Domain!"

"Why are the martial artists of the Desolate Domain all so terrifying? Heavens, have we done something wrong?"

"This person is also in the Immortal realm, proficient in the five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and he primarily cultivates the power of Light. Truly a figure of astonishing genius."

"Incredible!"

The Divine Lord Brian's display drew fresh waves of discussion, showing them just how formidable the martial artists of the Desolate Domain were.

They did not know that both Ming Hao and Brian were at the very apex of the Desolate Domain, two of the strongest figures in the entire region. Their immediate emergence had shaken everyone, proving the immense hardship and effort they had invested over tens of thousands of years to accumulate their power and reach their current levels.

With the Chaos magnetic field pulverized, Qi Mo was horrified. He redirected his focus with his Devouring Clan kin, turning all their efforts toward dealing with the Divine Lord.

Ming Hao immediately eased up; he now only needed to contend with the Old Ancestor of the Earth Ghosts, Badi, and Neptune's two fierce souls. This shift allowed him to stabilize the situation significantly.

As for the Sea Shark Emperor over there, besieged by the three Domain Ancestors, defeat was becoming apparent. Because of the Sea Shark Emperor's frenzy, he had failed to break free, and he was growing increasingly exhausted...

"Martial artists of the Desolate Domain, interesting. It seems they require some 'attention,'" Ferrell sneered. From his Thunder Domain above his head, a continent of lightning flew out. This continent shot out arcs of lightning, forming an interwoven net of thunderous power that descended directly overhead, showing no regard for either Qi Mo or Badi.

Badi and Qi Mo instantly recognized the danger and withdrew, as the lightning net’s target was not them, yet it continued to bind them steadily.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Ming Hao's Soul Control clones dissipated upon impact with the lightning from the electric net.

Even the Divine Lord Brian's expression shifted for the first time. After being enveloped by the massive lightning net, the light covering his entire body was suppressed. His power seemed to lose its foundation, and the electrical currents jolted his Soul Altar, causing it to rumble fiercely, while his divine sense in his sea of consciousness rapidly vanished.

"Cough, cough!"

The Divine Lord coughed violently, blood streaking down his pale lips. "Ming Hao, you and I, after all, failed to break through to the Domain Ancestor level. Otherwise, here in the Sea of Destruction, we could roam freely! What a pity, what a pity that until the final moment, we never glimpsed the threshold of the Domain Ancestor realm. I am not reconciled!"

"Nor am I!" Ming Hao's scattered clones re-coalesced into a wisp of ghostly shadow. "Even if this soul scatters, I must show them the ferocity of those of us from the Desolate Domain."

"You plan to use that forbidden power of Space?" The Divine Lord was startled, then said bitterly, "Your soul will scatter! This seabed is unlike other places. The backlash from the water pressure and the impact of spatial power alone is enough to shatter your Altar. You... cannot endure it."

"I must try," Ming Hao replied mournfully.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Spatial rifts spreading across the seabed twisted and turned like snakes, and a bizarre aura emanated from Ming Hao's body.

"Aooo!"

Ming Hao shrieked toward the sky. His body, like a ghost, fragmented like a shattered mirror, reflecting worlds of pulverized space within its shards.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The spatial rifts on the seabed ruptured like open wounds, slowly tearing apart. Streams of outside-domain torrents flashed within, like fierce demons baring their fangs, ready to devour everything.

This change caused even Neptune's expression to shift. After glancing back, he roared, "A spatial adept of the third layer of the Immortal realm!"

A fierce soul, like an ancient demon god, with a green face and bared fangs, its body like the shadow of a massive mountain, its two hands like colossal pillars holding up the sky, smashed violently toward Ming Hao.

Ming Hao’s body, like broken glass, cracked and groaned. Struck by the giant pillars, it simply could not withstand the force and instantly collapsed. Ming Hao’s life-field was also rapidly fading.

"A mere wisp of a ghost dares to use forbidden spatial arts on the seabed. Simply courting death. Hmph. Can your phantom soul withstand the spatial backlash?" Neptune scoffed.

"Ming Hao!" Brian shouted, a complex, inscrutable expression flickering in his eyes. "I don't know if this ghost is your true form. If it is, then you are about to..."

He was about to say the word "die" when a strange look flashed in his eyes. He stared blankly at Ming Hao’s remnant soul, which should have collapsed and vanished. The remnant soul writhed like a severed earthworm, and under the influence of some force, it slowly began to re-coalesce. In a short while, Ming Hao's figure crookedly reformed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A surge of intensely powerful life fluctuation resonated within Ming Hao's ghost. A wave of life energy reignited his collapsing soul-field!

Simultaneously, dozens of brilliant stellar bodies appeared above the area where everyone was fighting. These stars were rhomboid, conical, elliptical, and square, colored in hues of grayish-brown, silver, and earthy yellow. These stars rotated steadily, like a swaying galaxy, shooting down streams of meteors.

Each meteor was like a sharp sword imbued with conscious awareness,seeking out life auras to attack.

The forbidden spatial art triggered by Ming Hao miraculously paused temporarily, failing to spread further. The spatial areas on the verge of breaking miraculously solidified into enormous, revolving blades of space, grinding like millstones, reaping lives.

A luminous shield, sparkling with starlight, was exceptionally conspicuous among the celestial bodies above. Everyone looked up at the sky and cried out in shock.

"That person!"

"The one the Five Clans are looking for!"

"Shi Yan!"

"It's actually Shi Yan!"

"He actually dared to return!"

The crowd erupted in excitement!

Ming Hao's eyes widened with uncontrollable joy. A torrent of life energy replenished his soul magnetic field, injecting vitality back into his nearly shattered spiritual core.

As he reformed, he looked up at Shi Yan, his expression shaken. In a daze, he felt as if he saw the bloodthirstiness of the past...

"The Sea Shark Emperor’s condition is very poor. Judging by his appearance, if he cannot sober up, he might not leave alive," Mei Ji reminded.

Inside the light shield, Shi Yan concentrated his gaze. He immediately spotted the blood-soaked Sea Shark Emperor and blinked in surprise. The Emperor's current state was clearly the aftereffect of using the Berserk Art. Because the Sea Shark Emperor did not understand the Devouring Art and his orifices held no stored negative energy, he was burning his own life potential, igniting the violence within his own heart.

Therefore, his condition would be even harder to recover from.

Gazing deeply at the Sea Shark Emperor, then at the Divine Lord and Ming Hao, Shi Yan spoke no words, continuing to circulate his Starry Sky Art.

The dozens of stars beside him revolved like Stars of Life, slowly forming the shape of a giant bear. The bear looked down below, opened its massive maw, and roared out a breath—a breath formed by the convergence of all the meteors from the stars. The aura was as cool as a spring stream, reaching directly above the Sea Shark Emperor’s head.

"Boom!"

When struck by the meteor spring water, the Sea Shark Emperor sank to the seabed, but the fervor in his eyes gradually receded, and a clear consciousness strangely appeared.

...(To be continued)RQ