In an unfamiliar realm, on an alien planet, two colossal entities engaged in ferocious combat, the terrifying energy shockwaves causing the continent to shake as if enduring an unending earthquake; myriad towering peaks crumbled into dust, and entire oceans and rivers were leveled.

Fortunately, the planet was desolate and uninhabited, otherwise mortals would have stood little chance of escape, inevitably caught in the repercussions of the Primordial Beings’ conflict, leading to widespread annihilation.

A remote corner of the continent.

Amidst the deafening roar of earth-shattering explosions, Shi Yan slowly awoke, the first thing he saw being the wary, guarded old face of the Dragon Lizard Ancestor.

The Dragon Lizard Ancestor’s face was a deep crimson, heavily wrinkled across the cheeks; at a glance, it resembled cracked, ancient tree bark, utterly devoid of aesthetic appeal.

This aged visage was currently etched with profound seriousness. The moment he saw Shi Yan’s eyes open, delight flashed in his gaze. “You’ve finally woken up.”

Shi Yan managed a smile, pushing himself up. “How long has it been? What is the current situation?”

“Not long, only a few days. I don’t know the exact situation, as I haven’t dared to leave this spot.” The Dragon Lizard Ancestor visibly relaxed. “Thankfully, no one else arrived during this time; otherwise, I wouldn't have been so comfortable.”

Shi Yan didn't answer immediately. He secretly scrutinized the condition of his Divine Body and Soul Altar, a deep, unfathomable gleam appearing in his pupils…

Within his Divine Body, the Divine Power ancient tree was sinewy and robust, its every branch crystal clear, pure divine power flowing through them. However, near the apex of the ancient tree, many smaller branches were misty, having not yet condensed into tangible crystal substance—a sign that the divine power was not yet fully abundant.

The perspective shifted as he turned his mind’s eye toward the Sea of Consciousness, toward the Soul Pond within.

In the vast, rippling Sea of Consciousness, the area occupied by the Soul Pond had noticeably expanded. Though it was insignificant compared to the entire Sea of Consciousness, he understood clearly in his heart: having absorbed Ferrel’s Soul Altar, the dark energy that surged into his Soul Pond had greatly augmented the pure Soul Energy within.

The Domain Ancestor Realm truly lived up to its name as a peak state!

He inwardly marveled, a genuine expression of satisfaction naturally surfacing on his face. The total energy he had harvested from slaying so many Cloud Clan powerhouses in the Yunmeng Domain Realm probably wouldn't equal what Ferrel alone produced!

The power generated by Ferrel alone was more abundant than that of dozens of lower-tier Immortals, and significantly more potent than the combined energy of hundreds or thousands of Progenitor Gods!

Yet, his Divine Power ancient tree and Soul Pond had not reached the critical threshold for breakthrough. After careful sensation, he realized that although Ferrel’s power was immense, since he himself had also broken through to the Domain Ancestor level, the total energy required for him to advance to the Second Heaven Realm was an astronomical figure.

Ferrel alone was far from sufficient to reach the breaking limit. Perhaps another three to five powerhouses on Ferrel’s level would need to be absorbed, devoured, and refined entirely by him, their energy integrated into the Divine Power ancient tree and Soul Pond, before the critical point might be reached.

The breakthrough of the Domain Ancestor Realm differed significantly from previous stages. It required not only the ample saturation of the Divine Power ancient tree and the comprehension of profound Mysteries but also the profound richness of the Soul Energy within the Soul Pond!

Soul Energy, at the Domain Ancestor Realm, was also one of the key elements for advancement. Only when the Divine Power ancient tree and the Soul Pond had both condensed and strengthened to a certain degree, coupled with a clear comprehension of the Mysteries, could one break through.

This explained why there were many Domain Ancestor First Heaven practitioners, yet Second Heaven practitioners were exceedingly rare: the process of Domain Ancestor advancement was extraordinarily protracted!

For a normal Domain Ancestor, the mere condensation of the Divine Power ancient tree demanded accumulations spanning tens of thousands of years just to reach the breakthrough threshold!

“Ferrel… was completely refined by you?” The Dragon Lizard Ancestor, seeing his silence, watched his eyes glitter. Suddenly realizing something, he questioned in a peculiar tone, “Did you completely refine him?”

Grinning widely, Shi Yan nodded. “Ferrel is utterly gone.”

“Shall we observe the battle between them?” The Dragon Lizard Ancestor tentatively suggested.

The combat shaking the continent had caused deep fissures in the earth, triggered volcanic eruptions, and collapsed mountains. That overwhelming, tidal wave of power was something the Dragon Lizard Ancestor felt every moment. For the past few days, guarding Shi Yan, he had been constantly guessing the spectacle of the Primordial Beings’ fight based on the tremors, and he was now growing impatient, eager to know how magnificent the war had been.

“Good!”

A stunning divine light shot from Shi Yan’s eyes.

The next instant, countless starlights flickered across his Divine Body, and he shot upward like a meteor, instantly reaching the heavens.

In the high void, Shi Yan focused his mind to look down, his expression abruptly turning grave.

The continent was scarred with countless abyssal pits, vast and bottomless. Looking as far as the eye could see, mountains had fallen, and oceans had been filled in. He observed the true forms of Zi Yao’s twelve Celestial Serpents, occasionally coalescing, their tails linking together, twelve serpent heads spewing twelve distinct colors of divine light. As these lights emerged, they transformed in the sky into rivers formed from condensed, exotic energy!

These celestial rivers of divine light crisscrossed the firmament like threads, filling the entire vault of heaven.

The serpentine bodies, where the tails were joined, would sometimes shift and split, becoming individual Celestial Serpents, each one tens of thousands of miles long, winding across the continent like serpentine mountain ranges.

Wherever the Celestial Snakes passed, deep ravines appeared on the land, turning into crisscrossing lines of texture.

In the center of the twelve Celestial Serpents lay a colossal being resembling a giant turtle, bearing a thick shell upon which lay hard, mysterious (tortoise patterns). This turtle-like entity was Yuan Zu’s true form, one of the Primordial Beings—the ‘Yuan.’

The Xuanwu, the Sacred Beast of the Celestial Demon Race, was a creature created by Huang based on the prototype of the ‘Yuan,’ but compared to the true form of the ‘Yuan,’ the Sacred Beast Xuanwu was an insignificant speck, not operating on the same level whatsoever.

Beneath the ‘Yuan’ flowed a surging ocean, formed and condensed by his divine power. The seawater was pitch-black, like ink, exceedingly mysterious.

Even any single one of the twelve Celestial Serpents was smaller than the giant turtle; only when all twelve combined into the flesh-mountain-like massive shape could they compare to the giant turtle.

Gazing from the sky, Shi Yan gauged that the ‘Yuan’s’ body occupied almost half of the continent. At a glance, it looked like a turtle resting on a ping-pong paddle, astonishing even Shi Yan, who sighed inwardly at how truly tyrannical the Primordial Beings were; the sheer magnitude of their physical bodies was legendary.

By comparison, he realized that even after transforming into a Primordial Being himself, he was still slightly smaller than the ‘Yuan’ and the ‘Hui.’

As for the true form of the Dragon Lizard Ancestor, the disparity was even greater. After all, the Dragon Lizard Ancestor was merely the second generation of the ‘Lizard,’ and the Primordial Blood was not pure enough, meaning the brute strength of his flesh did not reach the level of a genuine Primordial Being.

At this moment, the two Primordial Beings, ‘Hui’ and ‘Yuan,’ were locked in combat using their true forms, turning the continent upside down. Beams of rainbow light pierced through the air, instantly adding bottomless abysses to the earth; wherever the ‘Hui’s’ true form weaved, the ground gained fresh ravines.

The ‘Yuan’s’ Mystery was Water. When his power was unleashed, it manifested as vast oceans. Gradually, the landmass of the continent was nearly submerged by the waters, yet the ‘Yuan’s’ body floated within this boundless sea, surprisingly quick and agile.

“This continent is about to be destroyed by you. Are you planning to erase this entire realm as well?” Yuan Zu’s voice resonated from his ‘Yuan’ true body, booming like thunder.

The serpent head of one Celestial Serpent morphed, and Zi Yao’s graceful human form materialized. Her face was frozen with frost, and she spoke coldly, “Forget destroying this continent; I wouldn't even care if the entire realm were annihilated. Whoever dares impede my progress will be rendered immobile forever!”

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

The massive net of divine light filling the heavens suddenly pressed down like a cage, attempting to bind Yuan Zu’s true form.

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!”

The giant net woven from rivers of divine light suddenly crackled with intense electrical currents, streams of energy capable of incinerating the heavens and obliterating the will of the soul gathering upon it. The lines of the net abruptly transformed into long, continuous Celestial Serpents, each one agile and mysterious, emitting pure Soul Power.

The Soul Power was intense and infinitely varied; some manifested as crystal, some as lightning, others as flame, combining into an intricate and wondrous Primordial Array.

“You are actually willing to suffer massive power depletion just to seal me!” Yuan Zu roared. His giant turtle body twisted, and the pitch-black ocean beneath him suddenly became turbulent, the seawater rapidly swelling and surging toward the heavens at an astonishing pace.

Simultaneously, a giant droplet of water, shimmering with a dark, eerie luster, was spat from Yuan Zu’s mouth. Within that droplet, turbulent currents suggested the most exquisite manifestation of the Water Mystery.

Suddenly, countless streams of water—like black ribbons—instantly connected to the droplet. Faintly visible at the center of the droplet was the ethereal form of the ‘Yuan’s’ soul. A tidal wave capable of drowning the firmament erupted from the water sphere, as if the oceans of the entire starry sea had suddenly surged forth from that single drop. The continent was instantly submerged!

The seawater rose at a speed visible to the naked eye, engulfing not just the land but also the sky, drowning even Zi Yao’s net of divine light!

Shi Yan and the Dragon Lizard Ancestor were no exception; both were swallowed by the endless water, finding themselves submerged in the deep sea, black as ink, where nothing could be seen.

A glimmer of light suddenly appeared before his eyes. Yuan Zu’s human form strangely materialized. His expression was grave as he suddenly spoke, “Shi Yan, is it? Do you wish to reclaim Zi Yao—the Zi Yao you know?”

Shi Yan was stunned.

“I can help you, but you must help me in return. I have a method to cause Zi Yao’s soul to counter-attack, stripping away all of Hui’s soul memories, allowing the clone to replace the main body. Upon success, the original Zi Yao will return, and the Hui of the Primordial Era will be relegated to Zi Yao’s soul memory.” Yuan Zu proposed seriously.

“How can I trust you?” Shi Yan narrowed his eyes and sneered.

“You don’t have to trust me. You only need to trust the true Zi Yao. I will create an opportunity, a chance for you to speak with her alone. And you need to persuade her—to make her struggle, to use the will of the clone to influence the decisions and Mystery condensation of the main body.”