Napton's eyes gleamed with avarice. Their objective was the physical body of the Primal Being. With the 'Yuan' and Shi Yan locked in combat, leaving them unattended, this was a once-in-a-millennium opportunity.

"No movement even now; they must have been severely injured in the preceding fight," Xiao Lie chuckled with excitement.

A sphere of crimson flame coalesced in Xiao Lie's palm, a mass of fire forged from the Profundity of Flames, the size of a millstone, burning fiercely within, manipulated by Xiao Lie's soul-palm as he lunged toward one of the Heavenly Serpent's bodies.

"Boom!"

The fire-sphere suddenly exploded. The scarlet flames, seemingly sentient, ignited upon one of the Heavenly Serpent's coils.

"Crackling, crackling, crackling!"

The oily residue on the serpent's skin instantly caught fire. Soon, the flames engulfed a small segment of that Heavenly Serpent's body, the scorching heat rapidly charring the flesh.

Everyone watched with rapt attention, noting that the Heavenly Serpent remained still, making no move to writhe or exert power to quell the burning.

Their eyes suddenly lit up.

Without another word, several of them snickered, suddenly scattering to charge toward the myriad avatars of the 'Hui,' intending to cleave the bodies apart opportunistically and drain the Primal Blood within.

Napton shrieked, materializing fierce souls that transformed into the most savage beasts, which then pounced upon a massive serpent body.

Though these fierce souls were mountain-sized, they remained minuscule compared to a section of the Heavenly Serpent's coil.

A mere segment of the serpent's body was like continuous mountain ranges, capable of accommodating the tearing of dozens of fierce souls. Napton circulated his Profundity, licking his lips, greedily enhancing his strength, striving to breach the serpent body's natural armor.

As a Primal Being, the 'Hui' possessed incomparably robust physical strength. Even if the soul was compromised, its inherent bodily defense alone was not something ordinary cultivators could shatter.

Ripples formed of divine light gradually materialized across the 'Hui's' serpentine body, continually neutralizing Napton's power. The gnawing force of the fierce souls felt like biting into rubber—unable to tear through immediately to reach the core of the Heavenly Serpent's divine flesh and draw out its true essence.

Similarly, Xiao Lie, Jia Ni, and the others were executing their Profound Arts, yet none could pierce the serpent's flesh quickly enough to infiltrate the Heavenly Serpent's interior.

Anxious, they each intensified their power, struggling desperately to break through.

Deep within the 'Hui's' soul matrix...

Miniature spirit-serpents weaved through a dazzling realm of light, all shooting toward Ziyuan.

Ziyuan manifested in a human-faced, serpentine form, having become the true master of this sea of divine consciousness. She swam gracefully, countless vibrant lights intertwining, transforming into myriad wondrous hand seals, facial sigils, and body markings. These seals were condensed from seven-colored light, harboring profound mystery.

"Yield the main soul! I grant you autonomy!"

The soul-voice of the eleven 'Hui' avatars resonated simultaneously, transforming into pure soul energy that assaulted Ziyuan's spiritual will.

"I am you, and you are me. What master is there to speak of?" Having refined the Hui's primary soul, Ziyuan’s confidence soared, as if she had completely metamorphosed into a human—becoming incomparably beautiful and captivating. She smiled radiantly, waving her hand gracefully, pointing at the spirit-serpents. "You are all merely streams of my soul consciousness. In my domain, your struggles are utterly futile."

The eleven spirit-serpents were about to speak further when they suddenly felt their physical bodies being attacked.

It was precisely at this moment that Napton, Xiao Lie, and Jia Ni began shattering their physical forms, attempting to invade the flesh and drain the Primal Essence Blood.

This sent them into a state of utter terror. They roared at Ziyuan, demanding she halt the dispute and allow them to return to their bodies to slaughter those who dared assail their physical shells.

"Hmph! Once you enter, don't even think of leaving. At least my main body remains untouched!"

Ziyuan pulled her hands apart, condensing innumerable profound seals and Primal runes within this brilliant sea of light, sealing the eleven Heavenly Serpent souls.

The group of Napton and the others wisely avoided the main body, fearing the 'Hui's' desperate counterattack.

Since Ziyuan's primary form remained undamaged, she had no concern. "Do not fear. Even if you are individually destroyed, as long as I persist, you can be restored. Heh, but by then, you will be far more wretched than you are now. You might as well obey and allow me to absorb and refine you. We shall remain one entity..."

"No!"

The eleven spirit-serpents screamed in unison, struggling desperately.

At that instant, Xiao Lie of the Heavenly Craft Clan finally melted away the shimmering barrier on a coil segment using his scorching flame power. He drew forth a long spear glowing with golden light and thrust it forward!

"Pfft!"

That segment of the serpent body was pierced, and the flesh and blood within were exposed.

Xiao Lie's eyes blazed; he let out a loud, bizarre laugh, intending to surge into the serpent body's interior.

Simultaneously, one of the eleven spirit-serpents became utterly terrified, rapidly withering.

Ziyuan immediately shifted her seals. Countless mystical sigils and runes rained down like droplets toward that single spirit-serpent, wrapping around it and yanking it instantly into her own serpentine form.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

A strange sound of dissolution emanated from within her body. With the reintegration of one sub-soul, Ziyuan's power strengthened once more. She continuously applied her seal power, seizing another Heavenly Serpent.

She was pulling the sub-souls back one by one, merging the very spirits.

Upon sensing the grave turn of events, the spirit-serpents shifted from aggression to a frantic scattering, fleeing. They understood that as Ziyuan grew stronger, the situation would no longer be under their control.

Regrettably, Ziyuan was now powerful enough that escape was impossible for them.

One by one, the spirit-serpents dissolved. Ziyuan erased their independent consciousness, imbuing them anew with her own spiritual thoughts.

—Her unique soul consciousness!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

The consciousness of each spirit-serpent was refined and subdued, becoming a part of Ziyuan.

Soon, the eleven refined spirit-serpents actually surged out from within her body once more. At this point, the aura of those Heavenly Serpents was entirely Ziyuan's own; she had branded them with her spiritual soul to the utmost degree.

From this day forward, the 'Hui' vanished. Ziyuan was the Primal Being, she was the original Hui; she had claimed everything that once belonged to the 'Hui'!

The twelve motionless Heavenly Serpents suddenly roared toward the heavens. The scattered individuals suddenly moved, their tails linking up one after another.

The twelve tails merged into one, and the twelve heads reared high, their massive forms dominating every corner of the continent.

At the main head location of the Heavenly Serpent, Ziyuan's humanoid form opened her eyes, an astonishing, seductive light blossoming on her face. Looking down from on high, she glanced toward Napton and the others from a distance, and suddenly sneered.

"Knowing no better than to court death."

Beams of icy, piercing light, like brilliant shards of ice, descended instantly from above her head, striking the locations of the avatars.

"Boom!"

Xiao Lie, who had infiltrated a segment of the serpent body, bore the brunt of the attack. He was struck by wave after wave of chilling divine light; his entire expanse of flames was extinguished, and his body trembled with frost.

"Spit them out for me!"

Ziyuan's face hardened as she pointed at Xiao Lie. The vials and jars upon his person, containing collected lumps of blood and vital essence, suddenly exploded, shattering their containers. The blood and flesh fragments seemed imbued with life, returning to the wounds on the serpent segment.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

Ziyuan, in her towering rage, drove her main body's power. The twelve serpent heads roared in unison, spewing out a cascade of seven-colored rainbow light.

The rainbow light poured down like a waterfall, slamming into Napton, Xiao Lie, Jia Ni, and the others. They were instantly engulfed in the sea of light and vanished without a trace.

Napton, Xiao Lie, and Jia Ni, who had reached the Domain Ancestor realm, were directly absorbed into Ziyuan's inner domain and completely imprisoned.

Then, Ziyuan's gaze shifted to the 'Yuan' and Shi Yan fighting nearby. Her main body let out a low growl and coiled its body, charging toward the 'Yuan.' Her human divine body added sweetly, "Yuan, one of my men is enough to fight you. If you add me, do you think you can still escape?"

The tortoise-formed 'Yuan' had its shell covered in cracks, clearly injured.

Shi Yan, likewise, had his scales ruptured and blood splattering from his body. In this battle, the two had fought earth-shatteringly, crushing many surrounding planets; the fight was deadlocked.

As Ziyuan's sweet laughter rang out, Shi Yan shuddered, overcome with ecstatic joy. He knew that through his arduous efforts, Ziyuan had finally awakened and completely replaced Hui, becoming an existence like him, perhaps even surpassing him in power!

The 'Yuan,' which had intended to continue fighting, instantly understood what had transpired upon hearing Ziyuan's voice.

It roared, fighting while retreating, bobbing and weaving in the black ocean, attempting to flee.

"Yan, let's join forces and kill this despicable fellow," Ziyuan said softly, standing high atop the Heavenly Serpent's head, her eyes filled with deep affection as she gazed at Shi Yan.

"Naturally," Shi Yan laughed up at the heavens.

The 'Yuan' felt a surge of terror, realizing that alone, it could not stand against Shi Yan and Ziyuan. It was fleeing rapidly!

Just then, the colossal dragon tattoo coiled on Shi Yan's body suddenly faded, and an endless, inexhaustible power began rapidly draining away.

In Shi Yan's soul-pool within his Sea of Consciousness, Gui Liao reappeared, saying indifferently, "I do not wish for you to die by the hands of the Yuan, but neither do I wish for you and Hui to join forces to kill the Yuan. If Hui recovers its full strength, I will also have a headache. You just wait for me. When I find you, I will fully integrate you into my flesh and blood! By then, no one in this era will be able to halt my advance!"

Gui Liao's figure faded, and the massive dragon condensed from dark energy also vanished from the soul-pool.

Shi Yan's terrifying main body instantly shrank considerably as the power of the Wild was drawn away, and his strength diminished drastically.

The 'Yuan' seized the opportunity to withdraw calmly, transforming into a stream that swiftly moved away within the domain. Soon it became a bead of water and abruptly disappeared; not even a ripple of its aura remained in the entire domain.

"How did you let it escape?"

Ziyuan sat upon the Heavenly Serpent's head, moving to Shi Yan's side, and asked, perplexed.

"I wasn't that strong to begin with..."

Shi Yan shook his head, smiling wryly with helplessness. He knew the Wild would not grant him such a benefit for free—allowing him and Ziyuan to slay the Yuan and thereby substantially increase their energy.

...RQ