Suspended in the void clouds above the Divine Grace Continent, Shi Yan’s expression was calm. Today, having stepped into the peak of the Immortal realm and merged with a portion of Audrey’s origin, he felt his soul undergoing another metamorphosis, as if he could quickly approach the comprehension of a Domain Ancestor. Now, he wasn't afraid of Zi Yao making trouble.

He possessed enough confidence to advance or retreat with ease!

One figure after another emerged beside him—these were Xiluo and Mantis, the true powerhouses of the Bone Race and the Phantom Race, the pinnacle existences within the vast star river, two of the Ten Great Domain Ancestors.

This formation even moved Zi Yao. She understood that with Xiluo and Mantis anchoring the situation, it would be difficult for her to genuinely threaten Shi Yan.

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

Several more figures popped up in succession: the Dracula couple, Meiji, and Guy—all Domain Ancestor level powerhouses!

Zi Yao’s bright eyes flickered slightly, and she was inwardly alarmed, gazing deeply at Shi Yan, feeling a sense of headache approaching.

"When did this fellow gather so many powerhouses?" she mused in secret astonishment. She understood that beings at the Domain Ancestor level had comprehended the profound mysteries of true dark energy and could genuinely harm her. Domain Ancestors were the true peak of this era, their life levels and profound principles having reached an extremely high degree.

Perhaps in certain profound aspects, they might not understand as thoroughly as beings like her, the Primordial life forms, but in an actual battle, those individuals might not be significantly inferior.

"We can kill her…"

Suddenly, Xiluo let out a low, icy snarl, his face thick with killing intent.

Mantis’s delicate face shone with an astonishing, strange light, and she chuckled coquettishly, "The Primordial beings possess countless marvels and a treasure trove of rare artifacts. If we could hunt one, it would greatly benefit all of us!"

Zi Yao’s face stiffened.

Looking at Xiluo, Mantis, and the others, she suddenly realized the deficiency in their foundation compared to Shi or the Devourer Race.

The Devourer Race had Domain Ancestors like Ejja and Rabbitt. The Devourer Race was one of the Seven Great Races in the Void Sea of Nothingness, and they had developed to an extremely formidable state, capable of providing immense support to Shi.

She only had Tian Xie and the others beside her…

None of those individuals had managed to step into the Domain Ancestor realm. In other words, Tian Xie and the rest could not offer her any meaningful aid in a Domain Ancestor level battle.

Gazing at Xiluo, Mantis, Guy, Meiji, and the Dracula couple, Zi Yao’s eyes turned grim. She finally realized that they posed a genuine threat to her.

She fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a charming giggle, her startling allure washing over the minds of all the warriors like waves in the soul.

Amidst the laughter, her true form writhed, drawing the meteorite closer. Zi Yao made a beckoning gesture, and Cecilia suddenly appeared beside her. "This girl has deep affection for you. You wouldn't wish to see her die tragically, would you? Look, on her brow, there is a mark I branded..."

She pulled several others over. Cecilia’s master, Lena, Gu Lian and Gu Ling of the Thousand Illusions Sect, and several other warriors familiar to Shi Yan, Adela, and Ming Hao were all casually dragged forward. Each bore a dark green, serpentine brand on their foreheads—they were all bound by her soul shackles.

With just a single thought from her, Cecilia and the others would be unable to resist and their souls would instantly dissipate.

The people she dragged up afterward shared some connection with Xuan He, Ming Hao, Adela, and Di Kaluo. All of them wore expressions of gray despair and helplessness.

Shi Yan looked deeply at Cecilia.

Cecilia hung her head, her face etched with sorrowful anguish, remaining silent, simply standing there blankly.

Shi Yan suddenly felt an overwhelming ache in his heart.

"Furthermore, this is the Void Turbulence Domain. This is not my native realm, but I can alter the environment here," Zi Yao smiled faintly, waving her gracefully poised hand. Immediately, everyone saw the heavens darken, the outer void currents surging, the astral winds turning into blades, and ice storms pouring down like floods.

"I have survived here for hundreds of thousands of years; I am familiar with everything here. I have refined some of the minor spaces within this domain long ago. Fighting me here, I doubt you will easily escape unharmed."

Watching the chaotic changes in the wind and clouds, observing the bizarre fluctuations from outside the domain, even Xiluo and Mantis felt their hearts sink, their previous bravado fading.

"If a fight truly breaks out, neither side will escape unscathed. Let's pause for now," Shi Yan said coldly, letting out a huff. "Since that's the case, why did you come here? You can’t kill me anyway; what purpose does blocking our path serve?"

"Did you obtain that Profound Glyph Pagoda?" Zi Yao pouted slightly.

"It is in my hands," Shi Yan replied.

Confirming the answer, Zi Yao was immensely enraged inwardly, bitterly cursing Shi. If Shi hadn't forcibly intervened and refined her soul imprint, she would have acquired the Profound Glyph Pagoda long ago; how could it have ended up benefiting Shi for nothing?

However, she knew anger served no purpose now. "Do you know what secrets the Profound Glyph Pagoda contains?" she suddenly asked.

"It is the key to opening the Gate of Primordial Origin," Shi Yan stated casually.

At these words, Zi Yao’s expression drastically changed. She couldn't help but cry out in shock, "You—how do you know? Right, you merged with another of its souls! Damn it!" Her true form, with its twelve massive serpent heads, shook and writhed violently at this moment, as if thrown into a frenzy.

"If you dare to fight, then we will attempt to kill a Primordial being!" Shi Yan suddenly roared out.

This thunderous shout brought Zi Yao back to her senses. She dared not escalate the situation, struggling fiercely within herself.

"If you dare to obstruct us again, it will be a fight to the death!"

Shi Yan’s attitude was utterly uncompromising. He then used his consciousness to drive the Divine Grace Continent. The continent beneath him surged forward, cutting through the astral winds, speeding toward the direction of the Domain Gate.

"Mistress!" Tian Xie watched Shi Yan and his group depart, angrily reminding her with his voice, but Zi Yao never gave the order to attack.

"Shi Yan is not as isolated as before. He has several Domain Ancestors by his side—those individuals can genuinely harm me. Once a battle commences, even if I could win by relying on my familiarity with the Void Turbulence Domain, I would certainly suffer heavy damage, perhaps even worse than my injuries from years ago. Therefore, I cannot act rashly."

After Shi Yan and his party left, Zi Yao calmed down. She pondered for a long time and concluded, "I must recover as quickly as possible. If I cannot do it by refining the Desolate Clone, I must rely on other methods. It seems I need to go to the Void Sea of Nothingness. As long as I can recover quickly, I can take down both Shi and the Desolate One. Now, it's a race of who recovers first!"

"Your subordinate understands." Tian Xie bowed his head.

Zi Yao looked at him, showing a hint of disappointment. Tian Xie was cultivated entirely by her, but unfortunately, due to the peculiar circumstances within the Desolate Domain, his realm had been suppressed, preventing him from reaching the Domain Ancestor stage.

Without being a Domain Ancestor, he would be of little help to her in the coming battles.

She calculated inwardly, contemplating the future war with a hint of worry.

...

The Divine Grace Continent quietly traversed the Void Turbulence Domain.

Freed from Zi Yao’s harassment, and sheltered by the energy barriers created by warriors of Xiluo and Mantis’s caliber, the continent was unaffected by the turbulent energies of the void. The beings on the continent could rely on the ambient Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to cultivate; everything was moving toward an ideal state.

Shi Yan also relaxed temporarily, enjoying a brief period of tranquility before reaching the Domain Gate.

On the various islands of the Boundless Sea of the Divine Grace Continent, under the arrangements of the Yang family members, spaces had been allocated to the warriors hailing from various major stars—for the people of the Shang family, Wu family, Jiao family, and the Gu God Cult. These groups had originally been overlords in their respective star territories.

Because the situation had been so urgent at the time, they couldn't bring their entire retinues; they had only managed to bring their closest relatives, whom Shi Yan had transported to the Divine Grace Continent.

On one island, members of the Shang, Wu, Jiao, and Gu God Cults, along with Yu Shan’s group from the Misty Illusions Star Domain, gathered together. They gazed up at the sky devoid of stars, suns, or moons. Anliya, Yu Shan, and Shang Chen looked downcast, sighing softly.

"Why did Shi Yan ask us to gather here? What does he want to tell us?" Sha Gou toyed with a Gu insect, shaking his head helplessly. "To be forced to leave our homes like this, without knowing where the future lies... ugh, this feeling... it’s so disheartening."

"Is our homeland truly devastated?" Anliya still held a sliver of hope. "Is it really impossible to go back?"

"If Shi Yan didn't deceive us, the Desolate Domain... is no longer suitable for our survival. Those who return will never be able to leave; they will all be erased by the Desolate One," Yu Shan stated.

While the others were talking, Shi Yan gradually materialized among them like a phantom. Looking at the familiar faces of Yu Shan, Shang Chen, and Shang Yingyue, Shi Yan also felt the sensation of things having changed while people remained. These individuals had unhesitatingly come to support him when the Divine Race invaded the Maya Star Domain back then.

He had always harbored a sense of guilt toward them. That was why, upon learning of the impending doom in the Desolate Domain, he had expended immense effort to gather them.

However, from their conversation, Shi Yan realized they hadn't truly given up hope for the Desolate Domain.

"Let me show you some scenes. These are what I witnessed through the origin I merged from Audrey—this is the current state of the Desolate Domain..."

Star energy gathered and transformed into a clear image above Shi Yan's head. In that scene, as the Ancient Continent passed by, numerous familiar stars of Shang Chen and the others exploded instantly; their soul altars shattered like gunpowder. Many experts they recognized were directly annihilated without even a chance to resist!

The three star domains merged to form the true Desolate Domain, but many of the most brilliant life-bearing stars there were now ravaged by slaughter, with top experts dying suddenly.

Conversely, the planets inhabited by mortals seemed unaffected by this catastrophe.

As Shang Chen and the others watched the life stars they once traversed, watching martial artists they were acquainted with have their divine bodies burst and soul altars collapse in an instant, their complexions gradually paled, and they suddenly felt their breathing grow heavy.

At that moment, they realized that if they hadn't left, they might have been the main characters in the tragedies unfolding in those images!

They harbored not a shred of resentment or distrust toward Shi Yan anymore. They knew Shi Yan had forcibly dragged them back from the brink of death.

"Shi Yan, thank you. We understand now, we truly understand," Anliya said, her emotions heavy.

Everyone thanked Shi Yan for his rescue. Many elders, such as those from the Wu and Bai families, finally grasped how wise it had been to send troops to the Maya Star Domain years ago.

They knew that without that timely assistance, they would all have had their souls scattered, with no possibility of existence remaining... Two chapters are being updated normally. I suddenly realized the Spring Festival is quietly approaching, and various matters are piling up. During the Spring Festival period, it will be difficult to catch up on missed updates. I will try to maintain a normal update schedule and slowly make up for the deficit after the holiday. I believe everyone can understand during this time; the Spring Festival comes once a year, involving visiting relatives, being visited, and gatherings—mundane affairs that cannot be avoided. Therefore, I won't ask for monthly tickets this month, as the update consistency during the New Year cannot be guaranteed. I sincerely hope everyone can be understanding~~~RQ