The High Priest Auquinn of the Yun Clan stared tensely at Shi Yan, demanding an answer. He had sought out several Spatial Adepts to try and break the seal here.

Under his instruction, each of them exerted their utmost effort, but alas, none succeeded. Worse still, one failed catastrophically and died accidentally.

That individual had been the one with the highest cultivation level among them, and this incident had left a shadow in Auquinn's heart, filling him with deep anxiety.

Vandler and Dalsa’s group arrived behind Shi Yan and the others. Seeing the bizarre location, layered like ripples in water, their eyes suddenly lit up.

In truth, Dalsa and Culan had also been secretly searching for clues, expending considerable effort and time. They had believed themselves very close to the secret of the Fallen Star River. Now, upon seeing the place Auquinn had found, they instantly realized their leads were far inferior to Auquinn's discovery.

"Have you tried assaulting it with brute force?" Shi Yan asked, avoiding a direct answer.

"We tried, and the result was terrible..." Auquinn's expression was bitter. "Not only did we fail to blast it open, but the recoil force severely injured the divine body. That person was at the level of Immortal Triple Heaven, and he nearly lost his physical form."

"I can attempt to break it using spatial power, but I first need to measure the thickness of this natural spatial barrier. I require someone to strike the barrier with divine power—the higher the cultivation, the better." He glanced pointedly at Vandler, saying calmly, "Senior Auquinn, you provided the location of the Fallen Star River's appearance, and I am proficient in Spatial Mysticism. Both our sides have contributed, yet there is a third party doing nothing at all..."

Following his gaze, Auquinn also looked towards Vandler. Vandler had just attempted a fatal strike, almost annihilating Auquinn and the members of the priestly order. To say he held no resentment was impossible. Thus, after Shi Yan's prompt, Auquinn looked to Vandler and asked, "What do you say?"

"Fine!" Vandler agreed crisply. With a sweep of his robe, he shot towards the spatial barrier like a beam of starlight.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Countless brilliant, sparkling light points emerged, condensing above Vandler's head into a long spear of starlight. The spear was dazzling silver, woven from countless dots of stars. Suddenly, it stabbed downward toward the spatial barrier below, resembling a cascade pouring down.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

The spatial barrier, layered like sheets of paper, suddenly sputtered star-light. Ripples spread outward, vaguely forming natural spatial patterns.

A dull aura of spatial confinement emanated from the barrier. The onlookers concentrated their gaze and saw the layered space erupt in brilliance, shooting out numerous light blades like shattering mirror fragments, attacking in all directions.

"Thwack! Crackle!"

Martial artists closer to the site were hit instantly. Many divine bodies were pierced by the light blades, their chests exploding.

Because Vandler was the caster, he could not spare the energy to protect his subordinates. Many Yun Clan martial artists and Phantom Race members who followed him were bombarded by the light blades, their forms blasting apart.

Before Vandler acted, Shi Yan, with the foresight of a Spatial Adept, anticipated trouble and secretly signaled the Sea Shark Emperor.

As the light blades exploded, the Sea Shark Emperor and Shi Yan both struck, weaving layers of protective barriers to impede the blades' onslaught.

None of the people Shi Yan brought were injured; they coldly sneered at Dalsa and the others.

"Smack, smack, smack!"

The majority of the light blades struck Vandler. His body, like a colossal star, emitted radiant starlight, shattering all the blades.

He looked somewhat dishevelled, ceased his attack on the spatial barrier, and backed away with a grim face, glaring at Shi Yan: "Satisfied now?"

"Satisfied," Shi Yan replied, ignoring him. After Vandler moved aside, Shi Yan took his place before the spatial barrier.

The Sea Shark Emperor, Ming Hao, and the others from Xuan He immediately crowded over, temporarily pushing aside Auquinn’s priestly group. Their expressions were solemn, secretly prepared to strike immediately should Vandler and his group make any move.

Many of the Yun Clan members brought by Dalsa were screaming in agony. The bodies of three martial artists who had reached Immortal First Heaven had completely exploded, their Soul Altars flying out, which they quickly preserved in specialized vessels to prevent accidents.

Auquinn also retreated with his people, watching Shi Yan quietly, hoping Shi Yan could break the seal.

Shi Yan stood above the natural spatial barrier. He settled his mind, silently circulating his Spatial Mysticism. Soon, a multifaceted prism flew out from his brow. As the prism appeared, everyone felt a marvelous sensation of spatial distortion, as if they were existing in different dimensions simultaneously.

This multifaceted prism was the condensation of Shi Yan’s spatial mysticism from his Adept Layer. The prism refracted different spaces, existing between the real and the illusory. If Shi Yan did not condense power, those illusory spaces would remain fake; but if Shi Yan infused them with divine power, those illusory spaces would solidify into reality.

Reality and illusion were subject to Shi Yan's single thought.

The multifaceted prism projected various phantom images of the void. Under the guidance of his soul consciousness, it suddenly descended upon the natural spatial barrier and instantly merged into the first layer of the barrier.

An incomparably wondrous sensation surged into Shi Yan's mind. He suddenly discovered that after the multifaceted prism entered the spatial barrier, his soul consciousness had pierced through it, falling layer by layer toward the sea of clouds below...

"Hoo!"

As his soul consciousness permeated, his entire Soul Altar manifested: the Sea of Consciousness Layer, the Adept Layer, the Heavenly Fire Layer, the Primordial Realm Layer, the Main Soul, and the Secondary Soul Layer—stacked one upon the other. The Soul Altar, constructed like a tiered pagoda, looked like a perfect piece of art when viewed at a glance, shimmering with illusory, unreal splendor.

Vandler and the numerous Yun Clan members stared in shock, looking horrified at the Soul Altar.

They had never seen such a peculiar Soul Altar!

Even Ming Hao, Xuan He, and Audrey and the others looked amazed, all stunned by the Soul Altar Shi Yan had displayed.

What a profoundly strange and mysterious altar this was!

The Sea of Consciousness was like a vast, deep ocean, formed by stacked layers of divine sense, with a pool of condensed Dark Energy at its center—deep, jade-green, and holding infinite soul energy.

In the Adept Layer, stars flowed like a river, life resembled spheres, divine Runes surged with profound mystery, there was a desolate Death Zone, a pitch-black cavern, and strange islands formed by the Eight Great Mysticism...

The Primordial Realm was like a boundless universe, where stars twinkled, revealing mountains, rivers, and ancient trees atop those stars, showcasing the infinite territory of the Primordial Realm.

The Primordial Realm seemed like a miniature universe, so magical and bizarre.

The Main Soul and Secondary Soul rested above the Primordial Realm, like two deities overseeing heaven and earth, looking down upon all beings, possessing an inherent, eternal, and indestructible divine majesty.

Everyone gazed at this marvelous Soul Altar, murmuring in awe, then compared it to their own Soul Altars and suddenly felt theirs appeared incomparably ugly, so plain and ordinary.

While they were still in stunned disbelief, Shi Yan's physical body remained motionless, but his entire Soul Altar sank into the spatial barrier, vanishing instantly like a fish entering the deep sea.

"What is this?" Culan exclaimed in shock after a moment of stunned silence. "Did he abandon us and go down to explore alone?"

At these words, Auquinn and the others reacted. They glared furiously at the Sea Shark Emperor, Ming Hao, Frielte, and the others, demanding an explanation.

"I say you were trying to ambush Shi Yan!" Audrey’s pretty face was angry, her gaze icy cold. "Shi Yan’s main body is trapped here, yet his Soul Altar was pulled away by the spatial barrier below. Did you plan this all along?"

"The detachment of his Soul Altar does not seem intentional; it must be that this spatial barrier hides a profound mechanism!" The Sea Shark Emperor agreed with Audrey’s speculation and roared, "Protect Shi Yan’s body first! This matter is too bizarre; we might have been fooled by the Yun Clan. Both their sides are working together, deliberately staging a show to deceive us and lure Shi Yan into danger!"

The martial artists hailing from the Divine Grace Continent instantly changed expression, turning icy cold toward Vandler and Auquinn, demanding an account from Auquinn.

A great battle was imminent.

"How could this happen? How could this happen?" Auquinn was bewildered; the turn of events was far beyond his expectations. His original intention was for Shi Yan to break the seal, then incite Vandler and Shi Yan to fight over the Fallen Star River, resulting in both sides being wounded, allowing him to reap the rewards.

He had concealed many secrets regarding this place, holding back trump cards that would ensure his profit at the critical moment.

But now, all his arrangements had failed. The wondrous place that the successive generations of High Priests of the Yun Clan had spent countless efforts searching for was penetrated directly by Shi Yan’s Soul Altar. They were left outside, able only to watch. This left Auquinn with the sense of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the bait.

Similarly, Vandler was deeply frustrated. He simply assumed Shi Yan had cast them aside to explore the Fallen Star River alone.

"Hand over Shi Yan's physical body! I will use his body to force him to return!" Vandler roared.

At Vandler's shout, the Yun Clan members surrounded the Sea Shark Emperor’s group. Auquinn, at this moment, placated his priestly members while desperately racking his brain for a countermeasure.

"I demand an explanation from you!" The Sea Shark Emperor said coldly. He was deeply grateful to Shi Yan for bestowing upon him a Primal Source Rune—a Source Rune of Water Mysticism—which clearly gave him a significant advantage in breaking through to the Domain Ancestor Second Heaven realm. It was for this reason that he had resolutely come to the Endless Sea to stand with Shi Yan.

As for Vandler, although he was also at the Domain Ancestor First Heaven realm, because his advancement was recent, the Sea Shark Emperor did not truly regard him as a major threat.

"Determine the truth!" Audrey ordered her group to protect Shi Yan’s body, her face hardening as she prepared for a bloody battle with the Yun Clan.

"Boom!"

Ten thousand fierce souls and malevolent spirits surged out, and amidst the countless phantoms, the Soul Refining Cauldron floated. Primal Runes swam across the cauldron’s surface, releasing an aura that was sinister, cold, and terrifying.

"Kill!" The Sea Shark Emperor roared, charging straight toward Vandler. The Primal Source Rune in his Adept Layer shone brilliantly, allowing the subtleties of Water Mysticism to flow out, augmenting the might of his power.

...RQ