A thunderous roar, like an explosion, descended from the deepest reaches of the heavens, shaking every living creature in the Cloud Realm into a state of panic, as if the very cosmos was on the verge of collapse.

At the starry void barrier of the Cloud Realm, Xiluo, Hantian, Mandis, and the others wore expressions of extreme gravity, each exerting their full power to resist the onslaught.

Hantian reached out and grasped the core magma flames rising from the continent below, drawing them into his palms and pressing them against a segment of the starry barrier. The intense heat energy radiating from these colossal fire dragons infused the crystalline wall with potent flame essence. Under the continuous assault, Hantian’s soul altar was forced into full rotation to maintain the defense.

He transformed into a figure wreathed entirely in thick, searing fire, seated amidst a sea of flames, using waves of fire to counter the barrier's impact.

Mandis and Meiji stood not far apart. Mandis had reverted to her child form, weaving a temporal barrier to meticulously slow the passage of time. Her goal was that should the barrier shatter, time's reversal would restore it to its immediate preceding state, using this method to firmly stabilize one section.

Xiluo, Judy, Guy, Dracula, and the rest were positioned across various points, each channeling their profound core powers to erect different seals, preventing the void barrier from fracturing.

They understood clearly that if the crystal wall were to tear open, the Cloud Realm would be left defenseless, allowing Huang’s soul consciousness and all his strength to permeate effortlessly.

Ziyao bore the heaviest burden among them!

She seemed to embody a source of light itself; billions of rays of multi-colored splendor streamed from her graceful form, weaving into a mysterious net of light that locked down the firmament, holding the celestial barrier in place.

Whenever a section of the crystal wall showed signs of cracking under impact, she would instantly rush over, condensing divine power to mend and restore the void crystal.

Minghao, Xuanhe, and the others gathered in one area, looking upward at Shi Yan, who was manifesting his Primordial Body, appearing as a giant. He tightly gripped the stones surging with energy from the Divine Grace Continent, their expressions solemn.

Their cultivation realms were low, making it difficult for them to truly aid Shi Yan. Furthermore, as they all originated from the Desolate Domain, the innate mark of Huang resided within their souls; revealing themselves too overtly might be counterproductive, risking invasion by Huang’s soul consciousness.

Gathering the elites from the Profound Heaven Clan, the White Bone Clan, and the Phantom Race, they—along with Ziyao—sealed the heavens. They endured Huang’s soul consciousness slamming against them, barrage after relentless barrage. Though it felt as if any corner might fracture at any moment, astonishingly, this starry barrier held firm.

Naturally, none of Hantian’s group found this easy. Some were drenched in sweat; others were deathly pale; still others saw their physical bodies shrivel from excessive expenditure of divine power. Some had even suffered grievous wounds from the impacts.

Shi Yan, appearing in his Primordial Body, clenched the blazing continent in his hands. Moons and stars wheeled within his eyes as surging energy was injected into it. Gradually, the primordial celestial fire covering the continent’s surface abruptly transformed into streams of flame, which then flowed directly into the continent’s core.

Soon, all the fire on the continent vanished, and a powerful wave of primordial fluctuation erupted from deep within.

Inside the internal dimension, fire rained down from the sky, gathering beneath Shi Yan’s secondary soul body. At this moment, Shi Yan’s secondary soul stood barefoot on a sea of primordial fire, an esoteric rune tower hovering over his head, his eyes reflecting the mountain-sized avatar before him.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Countless sparks coalesced into a massive, fiery hand, branded with primordial consciousness. In the center of that palm materialized the likeness of Shi Yan’s soul, which lunged fiercely toward one section of Huang’s avatar.

The world within this continent suddenly collapsed, shattering like a broken mirror, creating countless distorted lines of light.

"Rumble!"

A destructive wave of immense power surged out from the continent’s interior. For a time, the surface of the entire Divine Grace Continent was wracked by an extreme earthquake; countless mountains crumbled, and many rivers and oceans sank into the deep earth.

Dense, almost tangible, world energy transformed into plumes of milky-white smoke, seeping from every corner of the continent into the subterranean depths, infiltrating the strangely collapsing space.

Xuanhe, Minghao, and the others felt the world undergoing massive change and looked toward the continent with horror.

Most bizarrely, the continent began to shrink, as if a colossal balloon were slowly leaking air, gradually contracting and diminishing in size.

The Divine Grace Continent was slowly vanishing!

This marked the true refining process for Shi Yan—using the life force of his soul to engulf the continent, thereby completely smelting the avatar of Huang contained within!

Across an immeasurable spatial distance, Huang seemed to feel that the true smelting had begun.

The collisions at the Cloud Realm’s various crystal barriers intensified. The sky-shattering sonic booms that assaulted the eardrums caused the minds of many low-level cultivators on the continents to break; numerous individuals bled from all seven orifices, their very souls violently scattered.

The Dragon Lizard Ancestor, Xiluo, Guy, and many others had their divine bodies injured, blood staining the corners of their mouths, their spirits utterly exhausted.

Their hearts were filled with immense terror.

They had not anticipated that, separated by boundless distances, Huang—who was using Shi Yan as a coordinate point to channel soul energy—could deliver such a devastating blow to them. It became clear that if Huang’s main body were to arrive, he could undoubtedly wipe the entire Cloud Realm flat in a short time!

They finally understood: the God of War Huang from the Primordial Era was indeed worthy of his title as the unrivaled existence of that age; Yuan Zu truly fell short in comparison.

Yuan Zu could never generate the terrifying pressure that made one’s soul tremble to the core.

"How are you?" Audrey cried out as she watched the Dragon Lizard Ancestor shift into his true form, crisscrossing wounds appearing over his body, blood raining down from him.

The Dragon Lizard Ancestor, manifesting his true self, rolled about in the magma, opening his maw to spew forth a violent torrent of energy into the crystal barrier. That section of the barrier turned crimson red, saturated with his scorching energy.

However, every time the crimson crystal wall was struck, it was as if he himself had taken a heavy blow, causing new wounds to burst open across his body.

"It's fine, I can hold on a while longer. That fellow... he is terrifying," the Dragon Lizard Ancestor gasped, his deep voice rumbling. Rolling within the magma helped to dissolve the blood flowing from him, preventing it from dripping down toward the lower reaches of the realm.

"Come out!"

Ziyao’s command echoed from the deepest reaches of the void. A tiny purple dot above her head magnified rapidly, soon transforming into a world of dazzling splendor.

Her true form, consisting of twelve Celestial Snakes, burst forth from that divine light world. In an instant, they separated, becoming twelve colossal serpents that swam toward the twelve cardinal directions of the Cloud Realm.

All cultivators and mortals in the Cloud Realm saw twelve immense, multi-hued celestial snakes suddenly appear in the depths of the sky. These snakes resembled continuous dragons tens of thousands of miles long, striding across the sea of clouds, separating from one location and vanishing at the edge of the heavens.

Simultaneously, a sacred and vast aura, accompanied by billions of rainbow lights, exploded across the sky, reaching the zenith of brilliance.

This scene would undoubtedly be branded into their very souls, an sight they could never forget.

Ziyao had finally revealed her true form. Her twelve-headed Celestial Snake body split apart to buoy up the nearly collapsing realm, physically bracing it to prevent it from exploding apart.

Seeing that even Ziyao was exerting her utmost, everyone else resolutely condensed their power, unleashing their most refined profound arts.

For a time, many powerhouses in the Cloud Realm sensed world-shaking auras emanating from the depths of the void, as if the mightiest beings in the star sea had descended to battle within their realm.

During this process, the Divine Grace Continent being refined by Shi Yan steadily shrank; its volume was already less than a third of its original size.

"Soon, it should be soon..."

Audrey whispered under her breath, clutching the corner of her robe, her expression uneasy and visibly tense.

"Sssshhh! Sssshhh! Sssshhh!"

Streams of profound art light seeped through the nearby crystal barrier. Suddenly, one stream drifted toward Audrey’s left shoulder, and a jolt of electricity pierced directly into her mind.

Audrey’s eyes instantly dimmed, losing all brilliance, her face devoid of expression.

This strange state lasted only a few seconds.

After those few seconds, Audrey’s expression turned sharply cold and severe, a dense, chilling aura enveloping her. She suddenly walked step by step toward the Dragon Lizard Ancestor, fixing her gaze on the intensely hot magma region.

In the depths of her eyes, a cold, ruthless emptiness appeared, as if a terrifying, unfamiliar powerhouse had taken possession of her.

The Soul Refining Cauldron, obtained from Naptun, suddenly shot out. The Primordial Runes on the cauldron writhed, and countless evil spirit ghosts rushed madly toward the Dragon Lizard Ancestor in an assault.

The Dragon Lizard Ancestor was fully occupied resisting the impact on the barrier and never anticipated Audrey’s attack. By the time he reacted, the multitude of evil ghosts and vengeful spirits had already poured into the fissures on his body, infiltrating his flesh and blood.

A bone-chilling cold instantly spread throughout the Dragon Lizard Ancestor’s entire being, causing him to roar and scream in agony.

In the void, Ziyao immediately noticed this activity. Merely glancing at Audrey once, Ziyao shook violently, her face changing drastically as she turned into a stream of light and flew over, exclaiming, "I still underestimated you!"

Audrey had once fused with the source power of the Divine Grace Continent. Although her core soul essence had been stripped away, a faint residual aura still remained.

For Huang, entering anyone's soul mind and crossing the stellar barrier was not an easy feat, but Audrey was the exception.

Because no matter how Audrey changed, she could not thoroughly purge every trace of that original essence.

Following that familiar faint scent, a sliver of Huang’s soul consciousness miraculously permeated through, easily seizing autonomous control of Audrey's soul. This constituted a partial manifestation of a soul layer onto Audrey’s body.

At this moment, Audrey had become a small extension of Huang; he occupied her frame and commanded her power, seizing control of her soul altar.

"How many years has it been? We finally meet again. You are as irritating as ever!" Seeing Ziyao arrive, Huang, who now spoke through Audrey, said calmly, "In our era, if you and Shi had not fought me desperately, I would have already broken through the Primordial Gate and entered without any key. It was your interference that caused me not only to fail to open the gate but also to split and fall into slumber."

...RQ