Ming Hao, Xuan He, and Phillip stood in a triangular formation before Shi Yan, eyes closed in deep concentration, their minds fully open.

A blood-red mark manifested on the center of each of their foreheads, initially hazy, gradually deepening to a vivid scarlet.

Shi Yan remained unconscious, his internal energy fluctuations terrifyingly unstable. Deep within his mind, waves of soul-twisting aura pulsed, raising fears that his consciousness would shatter at any moment.

"What is happening?" Dicarlo looked toward Ming Hong from a distance, hoping for an explanation.

Adela also wore a look of surprise and deep worry as she watched Ming Hao and Xuan He.

Ming Hao was her older brother, and Xuan He, her beloved. Naturally, she could not bear to see anything happen to either of them, so she turned to Ming Hong and asked, "What is your assessment?"

Nearby, Dicarlo, Reddy, and Azure Dragon focused their gazes, awaiting Ming Hong’s words.

"In the battle beneath the Ruin Sea floor, several dozen Immortal Realm experts perished. Shi Yan stealthily absorbed the essence left by their deaths, and their soul altars were also consumed. The divine power and altars of those individuals held astonishing energy. I believe the prolonged coma Shi Yan is in is due to the sheer effort required for digestion."

Ming Hong paused for a few seconds, then continued, "After this much time, his Devouring Profundity should have reactivated, releasing an unimaginable torrent of energy. Shi Yan’s single body cannot withstand it all, so it must be gifted to those who also cultivate the Eight Great Evil Powers. Given the foundational realms of Ming Hao, Xuan He, and Phillip, helping him bear this load should grant them all enormous benefits."

At this point, Ming Hong stopped speaking and turned a vigilant gaze toward the Divine Lord.

He needed no further words. Adela, Dicarlo, Reddy, Azure Dragon, and the others understood his implication immediately, their expressions growing solemn.

The Divine Lord, Brian, opened his eyes, his face icy. "Do you think I would seize this opportunity to strike? You did not try to kill me while I lay in slumber; do you truly believe I would?"

He let out a cold snort. "I have commanded this life, slaying countless foes and razing stars, yet I have never stooped to such despicable acts. When I killed Bloodthirst, I was unaware he was already gravely wounded. Though my existence is saturated with bloodlust and lawlessness, my actions have always been forthright. I disdain pettiness!"

"I trust he knows the gravity of the situation," Dicarlo twitched his lips. "With the current uncertainty in the Desolate Domain, and the God Clan aligning with Hui and Heavenly Evil, he... needs our strength."

"Hmph!" The Divine Lord's expression turned hostile, mockery glinting in his eyes, as if deriding their ingrained suspicion.

The tension among the others eased slightly, yet they remained cautiously surrounding Shi Yan and the others, ready to counter any move the Divine Lord might make.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Streams of hazy, gray energy flowed out from Shi Yan's acupoints and the center of his brow. Hundreds of these ethereal torrents divided into three, plunging into the forehead marks of Ming Hao, Xuan He, and Phillip, respectively.

The trio trembled slightly, their faces involuntarily flashing with expressions of extreme delight and excitement as they prepared to accept the pure influx of power.

Xuan He focused intently as he felt the energy...

The streams flowing from Shi Yan’s acupoints immediately transformed into rivers upon entering the mark on his brow. They dispersed through his meridians, guided along his channels toward his Divine Power Ancient Tree.

Examining his spiritual consciousness, he could clearly see the branches of the Ancient Tree turning crystalline, like jade. Every fork was saturated with refined divine power. The tree, resembling polished stone, shimmered brilliantly within his Dantian—magnificent, miraculous, and overwhelmingly potent!

The gray currents flowing from Shi Yan’s brow surged into his mark and rushed into his mind, acting as a mystical soul nourishment. They warmed and nurtured his soul altar, strengthening the consciousness in his sea of knowledge, helping his primary soul scour away dross and impurities, leaving his altar bright and clear.

Phillip experienced the exact same sensations.

The energy emanating from Shi Yan simultaneously fortified their Divine Power Ancient Trees, nurtured their soul altars, and seemed to temper their physical bodies, rebuilding their altars in a mysterious, indescribable manner.

Ming Hao’s entire body vibrated; his experience was even more wondrous.

Ming Hao focused primarily on cultivating his soul altar. The sea of consciousness within his altar was vast and boundless. A single thread of divine sense connected to a distinct avatar, and within his sea, countless soul thoughts floated like swimming fish.

The soul energy originating from Shi Yan, after circulating through his mark, suddenly flooded into his sea of consciousness. His soul altar, refined through thousands of trials, his primary soul that had endured tens of thousands of years of harsh cultivation, suddenly thrummed with life. The energy entering his sea contained true soul power, refined to the utmost purity, instantly merging into one with his consciousness!

Ming Hao observed closely, recalling Napton’s past discourse on divine power, dark energy, positive energy, and negative energy. Suddenly, enlightenment struck!

Dark energy was the purest distillation of soul energy!

The energy in his sea of consciousness, having undergone his unique condensation and refinement process, was becoming increasingly transparent, gradually imbued with a mysterious and potent energetic fluctuation!

"So that's it!"

Ming Hao’s expression became animated, and a rare, genuine smile touched his lips.

Dark energy was soul energy! True Soul Energy! Formed through the condensation and refinement of original soul power and consciousness—a brand new form of soul power!

It was analogous to the situation before a realm breakthrough: the power circulating within the body was Primordial Force, the strength of low-level martial artists. Only by piercing into profound realms, undergoing the transformation and cleansing of Profound Meanings and Divine Bodies, could one comprehend the subtlety of Primordial Force transforming into Divine Power.

Divine Power was essentially Primordial Force condensed and refined hundreds of times over!

Divine Power originated from and surpassed Primordial Force. Similarly, Dark Energy originated from soul power and consciousness, yet it surpassed them both—Dark Energy was the genuine soul power!

His sudden grasp of this truth was due not only to his own realm having reached the deepest pinnacle but also to Napton’s explanation about Dark Energy at the time. Furthermore, the energy gifted by Shi Yan contained the aura of Dark Energy, allowing him a more direct, tangible comprehension.

Xuan He and Phillip were only at the second level of the Immortal Realm; their physical bodies and altars had not yet reached the necessary stage to fully internalize Dark Energy. They knew nothing of its profound mysteries, thus unable to seize this opportunity, as Ming Hao did, to comprehend the mystery of Dark Energy.

Time drifted by. The streams of energy continued to flow from Shi Yan’s acupoints and brow, persisting for several days.

Adela and the others vigilantly monitored the Divine Lord’s every move, covertly maintaining their guard against any unforeseen incident.

Then, one day, the Divine Lord, who had remained with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His pupils shone brilliantly.

Adela, Reddy, and the others visibly stiffened, turning to him with heightened alertness.

Brian looked at Ming Hao with a strange expression, then suddenly grinned, "As expected of Ming Hao. Only half a step behind my own pace, yet you have successfully grasped the profound mystery of Dark Energy. Truly worthy of being the foremost among the Eight Great Leaders. It seems a breakthrough to the Domain Ancestor is in sight. You are indeed my life's rival."

Upon hearing this, Reddy, Azure Dragon, Dicarlo, and the others were deeply astonished, quickly followed by envy and jealousy, sighing inwardly.

They exchanged glances and noticed the complex emotions in each other’s eyes, their gazes toward Shi Yan, Ming Hao, and Xuan He becoming subtly strange.

Years ago, in the vast Desolate Domain, Bloodthirst was the only known entity to comprehend the mysteries of Dark Energy, which is why he became the foremost figure in the Star Sea, universally recognized as the strongest!

After his demise, his remains fragmented and scattered across various locales. The Divine Lord, Ling Xiang, Xizer, Lorrain, and others painstakingly pursued the secrets of Dark Energy using his bones, yet none could grasp the true meaning.

Ling Xiang, Xizer, and Lorrain were only at the first level of the Immortal Realm; their Divine Bodies and souls were far from reaching the level required for true understanding—their efforts were in vain.

Brian, Ming Hao, and the others, knowing nothing of Dark Energy, could not find the key relying solely on Bloodthirst’s fragmented remains—they groped like blind men touching an elephant, achieving nothing concrete.

Conversely, Shi Yan, through an accidental convergence, became the first after Bloodthirst to possess the profound mystery of Dark Energy via the Devouring Profundity. Brian and Ming Hao, having traveled to the Void Sea and witnessed the sheer scale of the world and spoken with Domain Ancestors who discussed the subtleties of Dark Energy, both naturally gifted geniuses, had faintly touched upon the crucial point following Napton's subsequent explanation.

Now, driven by Shi Yan's Dark Energy activation and his Desolate Avatar, these two had finally cleared the fog and seen into a higher dimension.

After Shi Yan, Brian and Ming Hao successfully possessed Dark Energy. At their cultivation level of the third stage of the Immortal Realm, once they internalized this energy, they were only a single step away from breaking through to the Domain Ancestor realm.

"Chhh-chhh-chhh!"

A strange sound emanated from Shi Yan’s acupoints and brow as the outgoing energy streams abruptly ceased. Xuan He, Phillip, and Ming Hao immediately focused their minds, carefully absorbing the remaining essence.

Simultaneously, as the excess energy dissipated, Shi Yan’s acupoints and the Devouring Black Hole, like precision instruments previously clogged, began operating at extreme speed. His consciousness, finally, began to awaken.

Through his seven hundred and twenty acupoints, purified streams of power flowed, connecting via his link to the First Realm, entering it one by one.

A miraculous panorama slowly unfolded within his First Realm, which shone as brightly as the stars...

The ascending currents from his acupoints drifted like mist throughout his realm, gradually expanding its territory and scope...

These misty streams, akin to elemental energies of heaven and earth, sometimes gathered into clusters, forming a state of chaos. Within this chaos, subtle changes occurred. The pure, elemental energy gradually condensed, transforming into brilliant stars, giving rise to mountains, rivers, and lakes, fostering the forms of trees and living creatures...

Shi Yan convulsed, as if witnessing the scene of the world’s genesis, so moved he was close to tears.

The world’s primal energy within the First Realm existed as clusters of flowing currents. When spread out, they extended the void territory; when gathered, they formed chaos. Within this chaos, stars and mountains evolved, lakes, trees, and land appeared, and vaguely, the shapes of beasts and spirits began to coalesce.

However, everything was lifeless. Be it the stars, the mountains, or the beast forms, they were mere inanimate objects, like tables, chairs, stones, or benches...

It was only when the refined Dark Energy, purged from the depths of his Devouring Black Hole, released its essence, that this mystical soul aura infused the First Realm. Suddenly, some of the stars within that realm seemed to ignite their soul-fire, possessing a faint, nascent consciousness!

And his primary soul, like a creator deity, could feel the innocent bewilderment and timidity of those nascent stellar consciousnesses—the helplessness of wisdom just beginning to dawn...(To be continued)RQ