The essence of creation flows from the world's vital energy manifesting as stars and all things, while the dark energy catalyzes the genesis of spiritual life—this is the Way of Creation!

Now, within Shi Yan’s Primordial Realm, the very path of creation is unfolding. The Heaven and Earth energy surging in from the acupoints expands the realm’s boundaries, nurturing clouds of chaotic energy, condensing mountains and stars. The dark energy, birthed from the Devouring Black Hole, acts as the wellspring of souls, bestowing a nascent, faint consciousness upon the celestial bodies.

Shi Yan, the master of this world, felt his consciousness extend everywhere, allowing him to perceive every minute change in every corner of the Primordial Realm.

He watched everything in silence...

Gradually, the realization deep inside him deepened. He finally grasped the source and profound mysteries of Divine Power and Dark Energy. Divine Power resided deep within a martial artist's Dantian, condensed from absorbed Heaven and Earth vital energy and refined into Divine Crystals.

The essence of death he absorbed through his acupoints was also a form of Heaven and Earth vital energy, drawn from martial artists before their Divine Power dissipated upon death. Once refined and purified within his acupoints, this death essence transformed back into the purest form of Heaven and Earth energy—the fundamental substance from which all things are formed, which he could now reshape into myriad things within his Primordial Realm.

What the Devouring Black Hole swallowed was the Soul Altar and Soul Energy. After being refined and condensed by the Black Hole, it became pure Dark Energy—the truly refined Soul Energy.

Dark Energy originated from the martial artist's soul, spirit, and divine sense. Upon flowing into the Primordial Realm, it introduced a magnetic soul field, imparting an aura to the realm's stars.

He felt and observed the changes within the Primordial Realm. He discovered that perhaps his realm was insufficient, or his understanding of Dark Energy was still too shallow. The Dark Energy pouring into the domain merely gave the clusters of stars an extremely vague, juvenile consciousness, but it failed to truly awaken the instincts of the mere physical demonic beasts, allowing them to form intelligent races with flesh, blood, and souls.

Suddenly, he understood: if life were to truly emerge within the Primordial Realm, it would be the critical turning point for the realm to metamorphose into a Domain Realm.

That would signify the Domain Ancestor.

Alas, he remained merely at the Second Heaven of Immortality. A distance, neither short nor long, separated him from breaking through to the Domain Ancestor realm.

Sensing the changes in his Divine Body, soul, and the Primordial Realm, his consciousness converged in his Sea of Consciousness. He discovered a pool had abruptly appeared there—a pool dark as ink, only the size of a millstone, occupying less than one-ten-billionth of his Sea of Consciousness. Within that pool flowed pure Dark Energy, the genuine Soul Energy!

This tiny Soul Pool occupied a small area within the Sea of Consciousness, yet it was its core!

Above the Soul Pool spun the Devouring Black Hole, occasionally dripping energy like raindrops—that too was purified, refined Dark Energy!

The Soul Altars of many Immortality Realm experts swallowed by the Devouring Black Hole were being transformed over a long period. The soul power not yet converted into Dark Energy drifted towards Ming Hao, Xuan He, and Philip.

But the truly concentrated Dark Energy, condensed and refined by hundreds of times, saw a portion flow into the Primordial Realm, while drips fell into the nascent Soul Pool, becoming Shi Yan’s personal Dark Energy.

Retracting his divine sense, he observed that the Divine Power Ancient Tree in his Dantian was once again surging with crystal-clear Divine Power; every branch and twig shone brilliantly.

A thought stirred, and he immediately realized he had reached the absolute zenith of the Second Heaven of Immortality's Divine Power. The Divine Power Ancient Tree was completely overflowing, and even his physical body had been tempered once more without his notice; every piece of flesh, every minute fiber, pulsed with vigorous life!

He had not reached the Third Heaven of Immortality, lacking the comprehension of a new profound insight for that boundary. But looking at the Divine Power Ancient Tree in his Dantian and the Dark Energy Soul Pool in his Sea of Consciousness, he felt deeply satisfied.

He suddenly recognized that the Soul Pool in his Sea of Consciousness was the key to his future ascension to the Domain Ancestor realm. That Dark Energy could grant the souls to the beings in his Primordial Realm, allowing him to truly become the lord of a domain, evolving his own universe.

He sat there quietly, continuing to feel himself, savoring the subtle shifts within his Divine Body.

Time rushed by.

In the long river of existence devoid of day or night, Adela, Reddy, and Azure Dragon were consumed by anxiety; every day dragged on like a year.

The Divine Lord, Xuan He, Philip, Ming Hao, and Audrey were all tranquil. The four were at a crucial juncture of rapid advancement in their realms, thus not rushed to return to the Desolate Domain.

Audrey had just stepped into Immortality, having just obtained the Soul Refining Cauldron, learning to master it and comprehending the profound secrets of the Soul Race. She frequently experienced new epiphanies, often lost in joy.

The Divine Lord and Ming Hao had just grasped the profound nature of Dark Energy, eager to devote every ounce of their energy to feeling the presence of this new power, determined to excavate every subtlety of its mystery.

Xuan He and Philip were even more astonishing. After absorbing the gifts of soul and divine power from Shi Yan, they gained new insights into profound principles, forcefully leaping a whole boundary from the Second Heaven of Immortality to formally step into the Third Heaven of Immortality. This filled Xuan He and Philip with ecstatic joy, driving them to focus even more intently on grasping the marvels of their new realm.

Shi Yan remained like a steadfast boulder, unmoving in his seated posture. No one knew of the earth-shattering changes happening within him.

After a very long time, Audrey, the Divine Lord, and Ming Hao awoke. After conferring, they waited a while longer until Xuan He and Philip gradually awoke as well.

"How long has it been since Shi Yan bestowed power upon us, until our breakthrough to the Third Heaven of Immortality, and now until our realms stabilized?" Xuan He opened his eyes, realizing much time had passed. With a calm smile, he looked toward Adela.

Adela’s eyes were dim, a bitter curve on her lips. "Almost thirty years have passed."

"Thirty years..."

Xuan He murmured, then rose and laughed freely. "It's not long. Including the time we were originally trapped, it’s only been a century—a brief span."

"It was indeed brief before, but with the uncertain situation in the Desolate Domain, and since we couldn't cultivate like you all, these thirty years... have been truly difficult to endure," Adela replied with a wry smile.

"What can be done?" Xuan He shrugged, pointing at Shi Yan. "If he hasn't woken, who among us can return to the Desolate Domain?"

Everyone fell silent.

Among them, only Shi Yan mastered the profound secrets of spatial movement necessary for fusing the origin. They could only place their hope in him.

They continued to wait. Three more years passed before Shi Yan finally opened his eyes for the first time. Within his pupils, two stellar rivers seemed to revolve, and his entire being exuded an unfathomable, profound mystery.

Decades of silent, arduous cultivation, observing the marvelous dawn evolution of heaven and earth within the Primordial Realm, made Shi Yan feel as if time had flowed like hundreds of thousands of years; he felt as if he had lived through the evolution of an entire era.

Upon waking, he felt a weariness in body and spirit—the kind of fatigue only aged martial artists possess, a state of mind born from weathering myriad tribulations of heaven and earth, witnessing countless cycles of cosmic ebb and flow.

When Xuan He and the others looked at Shi Yan, they were momentarily stunned. They sensed an ancient, desolate aura radiating from him. Previously, they all perceived Shi Yan as young; now, it seemed as if he were older than them, possessed by the bizarre feeling of having experienced countless ages.

Even the oldest among them, the Sacred Beast Azure Dragon, stared blankly for a long time, shook his head, and said doubtfully, "Why does it feel like he has lived longer than me? I haven't seen him in a century, yet his temperament has changed so drastically."

"This wasn't his temperament before he fell unconscious. It seems the changes that occurred during this slumber are far more miraculous than we imagined..." the Divine Lord mused, then suddenly asked, "Shi Yan, what did you gain?"

Audrey attained the Soul Refining Cauldron and the Immortality Realm with the help of his Desert Clone. He had pierced the mystery of Dark Energy. He was certain Shi Yan's harvest must have been greater!

"What did I gain?" Shi Yan’s eyes held a trace of bewilderment. "I am still in the Immortality Realm; it seems not much has changed. If I truly gained anything, perhaps..."

He did not elaborate further.

Everyone was intensely curious, staring at him fixedly, looking as if they could devour him.

"Perhaps I vaguely glimpsed the rules of the Great Dao, glimpsed the initial changes of heaven and earth, and experienced the rise and fall of an era..." Shi Yan himself wasn't certain.

The others didn't fully comprehend what he meant.

"Feelings, profound insights, rules, the sensation of the world evolving! These are the gains that cannot be measured! Those things are the most precious wealth in the world! They will have unimaginable benefits for your future realm, insights, and Divine Body! They will manifest slowly over time," Dicarro suddenly stated.

Upon hearing this, the others considered it carefully, grasped something, and revealed expressions of frantic jealousy.

"Brian and Ming Hao have comprehended Dark Energy, Xuan He and Philip have entered the Third Heaven of Immortality, and Audrey has entered the Immortality Realm. Life is truly marvelous, very interesting," Shi Yan looked at everyone, smiled freely, and nodded. "You are all waiting for me to open a door so we can step into the Desolate Domain, right?"

A strange feeling washed over the group, and they secretly nodded.

"Yes, then let us return. There is indeed a connection between me and the Divine Grace Continent," Shi Yan grinned, and without waiting for further words, he condensed a gate of light with spatial power right before their eyes, stepping through first.

Everyone else froze.

Watching him condense the light gate and step through, Adela, Reddy, and the others, who had waited anxiously for so long, hesitated at the threshold.

"Over a hundred years have passed. I wonder what the Desolate Domain has become now. I... I am almost afraid to face it, terrified it has completely become the meal of the Serpent Demon," Reddy said timidly.

It wasn't just him; even the Divine Lord and Ming Hao felt a tinge of fear. Now that the door was truly open, they understood terror.

It was the fear of the unknown.

"We have come this far, what good is fear? I wasn't afraid when my Four Heavenly Kings betrayed me, why should you be afraid?" the Divine Lord scoffed, and as the others hesitated, he stepped through the gate second.

Then came Audrey and Ming Hao.

Xuan He, Philip, and the others, trapped here for years, had worried and contemplated too much. Having never seen those Domain Ancestor experts in the Void Sea of Chaos, nor glimpsed a wider world, they felt insecure and timid, thus delaying their action.

"This gate has a time limit! If you don't go in soon, the gate... will close!" Dicarro’s eyelid twitched, his face changing, and he couldn't help but cry out.

He resolutely charged through.

When Xuan He, Philip, Adela, and the others heard him say that, they dared not hesitate any longer, rushing into the closing gate instantly.

The gate slowly healed, finally dissolving into scattered light.

...(To be continued)RQ