Shi Yan had initially been uncertain, but upon mentioning it to the Azure Dragon Holy Beast, the realization struck him abruptly. —It was indeed the Ghost Fanged!
The ferocious beast that had suddenly appeared was clearly a monstrous magnification of the original Ghost Fanged, retaining the exact same savage, icy aura. Why could the Ghost Fanged tear through space to arrive here?
Why could it move about so freely? And why did it devour Putai’s flesh and blood?
Countless questions surged in his mind, making him desperate to capture the Ghost Fanged for thorough interrogation. Its sudden emergence sent shivers through many observers.
Because the aura emanating from the Ghost Fanged now was terrifyingly potent! Even martial artists of the level of Ming Hao or Xuan He might struggle to contend with the Ghost Fanged in its current state; that level of life force was surely comparable to those Domain Ancestor powerhouses!
“Thump-thump!” “Thump-thump!” Resounding, rolling roars suddenly emanated from within the Ancient Demon Continent. The seismic sound was profoundly mysterious, entirely imperceptible to ordinary people.
Only Shi Yan and Audrey keenly detected it, compelled to gaze intently towards the Ancient Demon Continent. “Shhhla!” A blazing fissure, like the gaping maw of a colossal monster, tore open beneath the Ancient Demon Continent.
The Ancient Demon Continent abruptly sank, plunging directly into the rift, vanishing without a trace. The situation was eerily similar to what had just happened with the Ghost Fanged!
The Ghost Fanged had slain Cang Yun, merged with the origin of the Ancient Demon Continent, and shared a mysterious resonance with it. Now, as the Ghost Fanged and the Ancient Demon Continent departed this star field together, the assembled combatants watched with expressions of wonder.
“Hmm?” Mandice focused her gaze and looked utterly stunned. She noticed that the Ancient Demon Continent had suddenly erupted with life, as if a slumbering entity had awakened, unleashing an ancient, surging current of vitality.
“Star Wheel Stagnation!” The vast expanse of stars and suns instantly paused their motion, freezing behind Shi Yan. Countless stars hung suspended in the void like massive pebbles.
Shi Yan sat cross-legged upon a greyish-white meteor fragment. The Devouring Black Hole gradually contracted, sinking into his Soul Altar.
A profound, esoteric sensation rippled forth from the depths of his soul. Memory currents detailing the societal structures and martial distribution of the Devouring Race flashed through his mind.
In a mere few dozen seconds, he had uncovered many of the Devouring Race’s secrets. He knew those memories originated from Putai, the Devouring Race’s young chieftain, and the architect of the plan that had drawn him in.
“Hoo-hoo-hoo!” His Devouring Black Hole spun, meticulously stripping away memories from Putai’s Soul Altar, cleansing it of Putai’s soul imprint, and purifying every magnetic field belonging to Putai. A look of brilliance appeared on Shi Yan’s face, his eyes shining with pleasant surprise.
He discovered that the absorption and refinement of Putai by the Devouring Black Hole were proceeding far, far faster than anticipated! Perhaps due to their shared origin.
As soon as the memories belonging to Putai were stripped from the sea of consciousness within the Soul Altar, it was like a celestial river bursting its banks—memories flowed out of the Devouring Black Hole and streamed into Shi Yan’s own sea of consciousness, causing it to ceaselessly expand and stretch. Putai’s painstakingly cultivated Soul Pond, filled with pure soul power, also descended, merging into Shi Yan’s Soul Pond.
In that single instant, Shi Yan’s sea of consciousness doubled in size, and the amplification of Dark Energy was even greater! Eight crystal-clear spheres of profound truth, corresponding to the eight Great Profound Truths, also spun out of the Devouring Black Hole, settling into Shi Yan’s Profound Truth Layer.
The Profound Truths of Soul Command, Death, Corrosion, Darkness, Chaos, Destruction, Despair, and Corpse Power—the Death Profound Truth fused with Shi Yan’s original one, while the remaining seven condensed into an octagonal formation, enshrining the Devouring Black Hole at the center, with the Devouring Profound Truth as the core. Torrents of profound truth, carrying memories, insights, and superb experiences, flowed into Shi Yan’s soul one by one.
He felt Putai’s deep understanding of the eight Profound Truths. He swiftly grasped the mysteries of Soul Command, Death, Corrosion, Darkness, Chaos, Destruction, Despair, and Corpse Power, transforming them into his very being.
Putai’s Profound Truths, memories, and soul power were rapidly absorbed and integrated by the Devouring Profound Truth, becoming a part of Shi Yan himself. Shi Yan experienced a marvelous sensation, as if only now was he complete, only now had he truly inherited the legacy of the Bloodthirsty One!
He suddenly understood. Within the Blood Pattern Ring, there must have been eight Great Evil Inheritances.
Putai had absorbed the Ring Spirits one by one, intercepting the eight Great Evil Forces without fully passing them on, which is why Shi Yan only mastered the profound truths of Devouring and Death, failing to receive the rest. Devouring and the Eight Great Evil Forces were intrinsically one and inseparable; only when merged into a single entity could their greatest power be unleashed.
As he absorbed everything of Putai and contemplated the subtleties of the Eight Great Profound Truths, his soul gradually sublimated, and the Divine Power Ancient Tree underwent a sudden transformation, rapidly expanding once more! “Immortal Third Heaven!” Shi Yan roared with laughter.
He looked up at the countless stars, then at Mandice and Xiluo in the dark abyss behind him, and then turned to look back at Xuan He, Ming Hao, and the others. A feeling of soaring exhilaration washed over him.
Today, he was the undisputed Bloodthirsty Venerable, having fused Devouring with the Eight Great Evil Forces, truly inheriting the mantle of the former Bloodthirsty One. Indeed, he was even stronger than the Bloodthirsty One of the past, possessing greater potential!
Because he was also versed in the Profound Truths of Stars, Space, and Life—three powers capable of overturning heaven and earth, shaking the Desolate Domain to its core! “I need to stabilize my realm for a moment.” He moved, instantly positioning himself beside Xuan He and Philete.
He casually closed his eyes in a seated posture and commanded naturally, “Guard me.” “Yes.” Xuan He and Philete responded instinctively, agreeing without hesitation. Then, Xuan He and Philete exchanged a look, both recognizing the strange feeling that had just washed over them—it was as if their former master, the Bloodthirsty One, was issuing them an order, compelling their instinctual submission… They stared at Shi Yan in shock.
“By consuming Putai, he has truly inherited the Master’s entirety; perhaps… he will be even stronger than the Master in the future.” Ming Hao’s spectral figure wavered, a faint reverence flickering in his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly knelt respectfully, “Ming Hao pays respects to the New Venerable!” Today, he truly acknowledged Shi Yan’s position as Venerable, lowering his arrogant head.
Xuan He and Philete froze, then reacted, kneeling before Shi Yan like Ming Hao and proclaiming in unison, “We greet the New Venerable!” From this moment on, they would follow Shi Yan, regarding him as the new master of the Bloodthirsty lineage, and their new master. Because Shi Yan, with his current realm, strength, and Profound Truths, had proven himself, demonstrating that he genuinely possessed this qualification!
Qualification was built upon a foundation of power; currently, Shi Yan’s strength was sufficient to uphold his claim! “All of you, rise.” Shi Yan remained seated, slowly closing his eyes, concentrating his spirit and will to re-integrate the recently acquired Profound Truth concepts and stabilize his breakthrough.
By slaying and consuming Putai, he had directly advanced a realm, entering the Immortal Third Heaven, while also gaining the seven Profound Truths of Soul Command, Corrosion, Darkness, Chaos, Destruction, Despair, and Corpse Power. He needed time to digest and thoroughly contemplate them.
He couldn’t even spare much attention for the Devourer for the time being, hoping only that Xiluo and Mandice could slay or refine the Devourer. “Xiluo!
Get ready!” Mandice activated her power, and within the surging torrent of time behind her, more power of reversal surged forth. After the Ancient Demon Continent vanished, the Devourer, which had transformed into a dark abyss, was continuously shrinking.
Now, only a very small patch remained, as if it were slowly solidifying, preparing to slumber. In the eyes of Xuan He and Philete, the dark abyss slowly reverted to the shape they were familiar with, appearing once again like an inanimate object… Inside the dark abyss, the boundless sea of blood began to boil, releasing crimson bubbles.
Each bubble resembled a soul thought. These crimson bubbles floated up from the sea of blood, gradually merging above the surface, as if trying to connect a crimson void.
Suddenly, a profound and mysterious low whisper echoed from the depths of the blood river, flowing towards one particularly large crimson bubble. A ball of scarlet light burst forth from within that massive blood bubble.
The blood light was dazzlingly bright. Deep within the Void Sea Domain, in the ancestral land of the Devouring Race, an elderly Devouring Race member who had immersed his body in a pool of blood watched the floating blood bubbles in the pool form an identical large blood bubble before him.
His scarlet eyes flashed with an eerie, horrifying rage: “How dare someone act against the Progenitor!” He transformed into a droplet of crimson blood, falling into the blood bubble. The bubble instantly ruptured, and he vanished.
The next moment. Above the sea of blood inside the Devouring entity on the Ancient Demon Star Field, within that blood bubble, a single drop of scarlet blood appeared.
The blood droplet writhed and gradually morphed into the form of a Devouring Race man. This man appeared to be around thirty years old; his expression was grim, and an extremely dense aura of bloodlust and malice, like rising smoke, shot skyward from above his head.
A streak of bloody light shot out from the dark abyss, a light that seemed capable of penetrating everything. The dense crimson color spread out, enveloping the entire area.
Mandice’s Time Profound Truth was interfered with, halting its progression. The torrent of time behind her was unusually tinged with scarlet!
Mandice’s face changed drastically, and she shouted to Xiluo, “Ega! Ega has arrived!” Xiluo gasped in horror, then dared not hesitate, rushing into the dense sea of blood to search for Ega’s trace.
“Mandice! Xiluo!
You dare strike against my Devouring Race Progenitor? You dare seek death in the Desolate Domain!” Ega’s furious roar echoed throughout heaven and earth.
“Lord Ega, Putai is dead! The Young Chieftain is dead!” Rabbit screamed.
“My son is dead? How could my son die!” Ega shrieked hysterically, like a maddened fierce beast, his roar shattering space as if it were glass, causing several nearby stars to explode.
Stepping across the surging, overwhelming flood of blood, Ega emerged, dripping gore, and roared, “Who? Who killed my son?” Ega was now the Clan Chief of the Devouring Race, one of the Ten Great Domain Ancestors of the Void Sea Domain, and Putai was his biological son!