The cold stone, Audrey’s long lashes occasionally trembling, her eyes displaying immense agony, as if being tortured within a dream.

Adela watched, her heart aching and her face filled with sorrow. She tightly gripped Audrey’s small hand, whispering, "It will get better, everything will turn around. I will find a way to wake you..."

"It's becoming increasingly difficult," Ming Hong's face was grim as he looked deeply at Shi Yan. "Its power is still growing. Even I can vaguely sense its magnitude. Audrey is growing weaker. If you can't find a solution, the fire of her soul might extinguish in a short time."

Ming Hong’s gaze dimmed. He understood perfectly that once Audrey perished, he, as her soul slave, would cease to exist as well.

Adela, Jiladata, and the others were so anxious they felt like smashing their heads against the wall, desperate to find a way to revive Audrey. Even the Sacred Beast Azure Dragon frowned deeply, muttering, "If Audrey perishes, the Origin she merged with will naturally merge into it. It will recall three of its avatars, and the next target to act upon will be you." He looked at Shi Yan.

"I'll give it a try," Shi Yan sighed inwardly, circulating the profound truth of Life. He attempted to envelop Audrey's soul with life energy.

A milky-white stream surged into Audrey’s mind, seeking to nurture her soul altar. However, in an instant, Shi Yan realized something was wrong. Audrey was being affected in her very soul; the decline of her soul was not something his profound truth of Life could restore. This method was clearly flawed.

If Audrey’s physical body had sustained grievous injury, his life force could aid her recovery—like those two elders of the Bone Race whose deep slumber resulted from critically weakened vitality, which subsequently affected their souls.

Audrey was different. The life fluctuation in her divine body was very strong; the issue lay with her soul altar, the main soul!

Shi Yan was momentarily without a solution to the predicament.

In the distance, Xiluo, Mandis, and the others saw him awaken. They approached him in a combined group.

Among the leaders were the two elders of the Bone Race. They had not fully recovered, but their movements were no longer hindered. Guided by the Little Skeleton, they came to meet Shi Yan. The two Bone Race elders expressed their gratitude before Shi Yan with the most revered etiquette of their race, thankful that he had awakened them.

"Thank you for your assistance," Dracula said sincerely.

He was the biological father of the Little Skeleton. He was at the second heaven of the Domain Ancestor realm, as powerful as Xiluo, but currently nowhere near recovered.

"You are welcome."

"I see you've encountered a difficulty," Dracula said. His bones shone like white crystal, and faint starlight could be seen within his skeletal structure, appearing almost transparent like a divine body—extremely peculiar. His eyes, like emeralds, were serene and clear, creating a comfortable feeling. After approaching, he bowed his head to look at Audrey and stated, "She is currently having her Origin power drawn out by the Primordial Being..."

The eyes of the assembled group brightened, and they all looked toward the ancient Bone Race elder, harboring silent expectations.

Shi Yan’s heart stirred as well. "You have existed for countless eons and possess extraordinary insight. Do you know how she can be saved?"

"A portion of the Primordial Being's Origin is within her soul. As it gradually grows stronger, it can absorb the Origin essence by tracing the aura of the soul imprint," Dracula explained frankly. "I can state this clearly: the avatars of the Primordial Being must either separate, or once they begin fusing, only one can remain in the end. Alternatively, she must become strong enough to devour the other avatars, or she will be consumed by another avatar and ultimately fuse. This is inevitable; it is the characteristic of the Primordial Being..."

Adela was nearing despair and said painfully, "Do you mean that either she becomes strong enough to devour Huang, or she will be assimilated by Huang? Is there no other way?"

"There is no other way," Dracula’s gaze was calm. "The Origin she merged with will dissipate along with her soul. Without intervention, she will completely vanish."

The members of the Nether Emperor Clan all darkened their expressions and froze upon hearing this.

"Of course, if you only wish to preserve her life, there is one method," Dracula added.

"What method?" Shi Yan and Audrey, along with the others, demanded simultaneously.

"Her current condition has reached the worst possible state. The fate of her assimilation by Huang can no longer be changed." Dracula suddenly looked at Shi Yan and said seriously, "Do not forget, you too are part of Huang! You can also merge with her. If you are willing, and she is willing to cooperate, you can take only the Origin essence while sacrificing her soul..."

"Me?" Shi Yan was greatly shocked.

"This is the only way," Ming Hao suddenly walked over. "This senior is correct. At this point, Audrey only has a path to survival if she relinquishes the Origin. Her Origin will either be fused by Huang or fused by Shi Yan. If fused by Huang, her soul will be utterly annihilated, truly ceasing to exist. But if it is Shi Yan, she only loses the Origin essence; her realm, soul, and physical body should remain largely unaffected."

He looked toward Dracula, seeking confirmation with his eyes.

Dracula nodded. "Correct. If both Shi Yan and she are willing, and she actively cooperates, then she will merely lose the Origin essence, losing a part of Huang’s soul consciousness, without completely losing herself. In other words, she merely discards what does not belong to her soul; she remains herself."

"Let's do it!" Ming Hao commanded sternly and decisively. "Shi Yan! Begin immediately and integrate Audrey's Origin essence into your secondary soul. This way, you will possess two-fifths of Huang’s soul consciousness. An incomplete Huang cannot truly rule the Desolate Domain, and we still have a chance!"

"What chance?" Adela and the others were confused.

"When Shi Yan becomes powerful enough someday, reaching the Domain Ancestor realm, he can contend with it! He might even refine it!" Ming Hao’s expression turned cold. "Only Shi Yan, who is completely unaffected by the rules of the Desolate Domain, can successfully turn against it in the future!"

Few knew that Shi Yan was a soul from beyond the domain, but Ming Hao, as the leader of Soul Command, saw the matter clearly in his heart.

Ming Hao finally understood the true reason for Greedy Blood’s painstaking efforts to lure the soul from beyond the domain. It turned out that Greedy Blood had prepared for this very day from the beginning. Greedy Blood's failure back then stemmed from the fact that his physical body was refined by Huang, and his soul was born within the Desolate Domain.

This was the fundamental cause of his tragedy!

To ensure the successor did not repeat the mistake, the command he issued to Xuan Shan, Xuan He, and Lao Ruo back then was to draw in a soul from outside the domain!

"Big Brother, are you absolutely sure about this?" Adela still hesitated.

"If you want to watch Audrey die, you can continue to wait. If this only opportunity is missed, not only will Audrey die, but Huang will absorb another portion of Origin. Just how powerful it will become is unpredictable. By then, Shi Yan might truly have no chance whatsoever," Ming Hao snorted coldly.

At these words, many warriors from the Desolate Domain could no longer sit still; they recognized the cruelty of the reality and began urging Shi Yan to act.

"You... you go ahead. Please, you must ensure Audrey’s soul is not extinguished!" Adela finally agreed powerlessly.

She was the current chief of the Nether Emperor Clan and Audrey’s birth mother. Her nod meant there would be no further opposition to the matter.

"How can I ensure her soul remains undying and her realm unaffected after absorbing the Origin essence?" Shi Yan gritted his teeth and no longer hesitated. He looked at Dracula one last time. "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics."

"You need to send your soul deep into her soul altar and establish contact with her main soul, getting her main soul to cooperate in actively shedding the Origin. Once her Origin is stripped away, you must fuse it immediately, or Huang will seize it, so you must also be careful," Dracula warned.

Shi Yan felt some tension. He pondered for a moment, and seeing Audrey growing ever weaker, her soul on the verge of shattering and dissipating, amidst everyone's anxious urging, he abruptly turned toward Audrey.

"Hoo!"

A wisp of his soul, condensed from flame, flew out from his pupils. Like a tiny spirit, it fluttered gracefully and slipped into the depths of Audrey’s soul through the corner of her eye.

In a sea of consciousness, Audrey’s altar sat enthroned. Audrey's layer of profound truth resembled a nether purgatory, where numerous fierce and malevolent souls gathered in the center of the sea of consciousness and the profound truth layer. Upon seeing Shi Yan's secondary soul appear, these fierce souls rushed forward like mosquitoes smelling blood, suddenly becoming violently savage, intent on tearing Shi Yan’s secondary soul to shreds.

"Assist me!"

Ming Hong’s vast, rolling roar echoed through Audrey’s sea of consciousness. At the sound of his roar, all those fierce souls and yin spirits immediately quieted down.

Ming Hong was originally the largest and fiercest among these fierce souls. He shared a spiritual connection with Audrey and helped her suppress and rule these spirits. As the chieftain of the fierce souls, his deterrence made the savage ghosts and yin spirits halt, daring not to attack Shi Yan further.

Because of this, Shi Yan's soul could continue advancing upward, past the millions of fierce and malevolent souls, toward the level above Audrey's profound truth layer.

Above the profound truth layer was Audrey's Primordial Realm. This realm was vast, desolate, grey, and chilling, its internal mysteries blurred. Vaguely visible was a massive cauldron rotating within the realm, with many Primordial Runes flickering. This cauldron was the Soul Refining Cauldron, fused with Audrey’s soul!

The moment Shi Yan’s soul appeared near the edge of the Primordial Realm, a terrifying fluctuation erupted from the Soul Refining Cauldron.

That fluctuation was clearly aimed at Shi Yan. Then, glittering with billions of symbols, it transformed into hordes of ancient evil gods that charged toward Shi Yan’s secondary soul.

This was the instinctual protection mechanism of a Primordial artifact.

Shi Yan, in his soul form, watched as the demonic gods approached, feeling on the verge of being completely drowned. He abruptly shifted his soul aura, and blazing flames emerged, possessing the essence of life, like little flame spirits confronting the ferocious, monstrous demons.

At the same moment, Shi Yan sent out a thought, like a streak of light, cutting through this dim and gloomy world.

"I am Shi Yan!" he projected his message toward Audrey.

"Hoo..."

A vague response drifted back from an unfathomable distance. This reply did not come from Audrey, but strangely, from the Profound Truth Pagoda!

Shi Yan was stunned... For the final moment, please vote with monthly tickets!! I beg you! RQ