A maelstrom of gray fog swirled, memories and intents pouring in, one by one, drawn by the suction of the Devouring Black Hole.
The divine consciousness from the Primordial Era flowed into the black hole he devoured, broadcasting countless confused memories and thoughts, an infinite, vast expanse of ideas—the experiences of countless beings, serving as the foundational nourishment to forge new souls!
Inside Shi Yan’s Soul Altar.
The Primordial Divine Consciousness permeated, refined and purified by the Devouring Black Hole. A surge of soul power erupted from his Soul Pool; the two merged, transforming into a mysterious, pure chaotic energy that infused his vast Domain.
Deep within his Domain, brilliant as the stars, on many remote Life Stars, a ball of chaotic energy fell into the ocean, planted as a seed of life. Soon, a nascent, weak life form would emerge—the progenitor of an entirely new race…
As his absorption of the Primordial Sea of Consciousness progressed, as the Devouring Black Hole refined, and as the soul power of the Soul Pool converged, more life races were born across the starscape of his Domain, settling in the most remote and desolate reaches. Even some dead, silent stars seemed implanted with soul factors, gaining simple, blurred thoughts and wisdom.
He was using the Primordial Divine Consciousness as the base to cleave open his own Universe Window, creating life races uniquely his own!
During this process, the Desolate God (Huang) hung suspended in the void, his eyes bewildered, struggling in anguish between the choice to fight or not to fight.
Gradually, as the consciousness of the Primordial Sea of Consciousness was swallowed by the black hole, the sliver of intent and will that the Primordials had just awakened began to rapidly wane. His heaven-encompassing spiritual fluctuations were clearly unable to encompass the cosmos.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, the mental impact previously exerted upon Shi Yan’s mind gathered all the residual intent and spirit of the Primordial Era, surging like a cosmic cannon toward the Desolate God’s (Huang’s) mind, plunging into his Soul Altar.
The Desolate God, caught in a state of confusion, suddenly lost his mental defenses, his eyes flashing with terror and disquiet.
“Whoosh, whoosh!”
In the layer of Profound Mysteries within the void, wondrous and esoteric fundamental origins of Profound Mysteries—some like blazing fireballs, others like scouring gales or cold lightning, some like thick, looming storm clouds, others like lush, thriving forests—suddenly descended from above, transforming into streams of light that poured entirely into the Desolate God’s Altar, sinking deep into his Sea of Consciousness.
These were fundamental origins of Profound Mysteries of varying attributes, the divine kernels of the laws governing the Profound Mysteries of Heaven and Earth. They were core imprints that had been drifting, latent within the layer of Profound Mysteries, unrefined or absorbed by anyone. Now, they plummeted like falling stars onto the Desolate God’s layer of Profound Mysteries.
They coalesced into the Desolate God’s core Profound Mysteries, amplifying his cognition and comprehension of different mysteries, causing his realm’s mystique to climb yet another stage.
Along with the cascade of fundamental origins of Profound Mysteries, pure soul power from the Primordial Soul Pool also descended, the soul power flowing like a stream into the Desolate God’s mind, immersing itself into his Soul Pool…
A pain that tore at the soul ripped through the Desolate God’s mind, causing him to howl in agony, emitting a world-shattering scream.
Having seen through fate, knowing that whether he pressed forward or retreated would lead to a dead end, the Desolate God was filled with boundless despair and infinite sorrow…
He understood that even if he managed to kill Shi Yan, the Primordial Era would ultimately awaken, causing him to utterly lose himself. This was why he was lost, why his mental state, previously flawless, now bore cracks, allowing the Primordial Era to exploit his vulnerability!
Within the Desolate God’s vast Sea of Consciousness and pure Soul Pool, a phantom figure, formed from purely bright and clear soul energy, slowly materialized.
The phantom figure grew tall and imposing, radiating a tyrannical and savage aura. Once materialized, he floated high above the Desolate God’s Soul Pool and Sea of Consciousness, and suddenly let out a resounding roar!
The Desolate God’s colossal dragon body writhed violently. His cry intensified, a sound so piercing it induced terror, like a species facing extinction.
Within the Desolate Domain, which the Desolate God considered his core foundation, tendrils of strange, bloody light emerged from various remote star seas. These lights escaped the Desolate Domain and plunged into the Desolate God’s Sea of Consciousness, solidifying upon that phantom figure.
The phantom figure gradually grew clearer!
It was a towering, majestic man with an ancient and formidable appearance. His long hair was like blood, his eyes crimson and bloodthirsty. After taking shape above the Desolate God’s Sea of Consciousness and Soul Pool, he let out a sinister chuckle: “So, it is so, it is so…”
“Bloodthirsty!”
Upon seeing the man solidify, the Desolate God was struck with horror, letting out a terrified roar.
In the next instant, the Desolate God realized the truth, shouting: “So it is so! No wonder you could inherit all of Devour’s Profound Mysteries, severely wound Devour, and send him into slumber once more! No wonder you could break through the Domain Ancestor realm even within my Domain, almost successfully counter-devouring me! You are him! The new soul forged in the instant he awakened! If you had succeeded in killing Devour back then and refined me, you would have fully awakened already!”
“Indeed, it is a pity. A pity that the shackles on my soul have only truly broken now. Otherwise, how could you have extinguished me once? Had I recovered my consciousness earlier, had I known who I was, you all should have condensed into my form to help me truly recover. Because of your entanglement with Devour, I was forced into an additional tens of thousands of years of slumber…”
“Fortunately, fortunately, the seed I planted when my soul shattered and my flesh perished has sprouted, now growing into a towering tree capable of obscuring even your brilliance. I never expected this little sprout, originating from another universe, to grow so troublesome over the vast, endless passage of time, acquiring a fearsome power capable of threatening me.”
The giant demonic form of Bloodthirsty materialized substantially within the Desolate God’s Sea of Consciousness, speaking indifferently: “You are profoundly unlucky, unlucky enough to penetrate my Sea of Consciousness. My true awakening is your greatest misfortune…” As he spoke, Bloodthirsty shot upward, crossing the layer of the Desolate God’s Sea of Consciousness, the layer of Profound Mysteries, and the Desolate Domain, heading straight for the Desolate God’s main soul.
Bloodthirsty reached out from a distance. A phantom hand, condensed from the Profound Mysteries of the Sun, Moon, stars, metal, wood, water, fire, earth, lightning, gravity, and space, suddenly clenched the Desolate God’s Dragon Soul and violently dragged it into his own mouth, swallowing it whole.
Almost simultaneously.
The Desolate God’s colossal dragon body, spanning billions of miles, suddenly began to wither. It was as if his essence, spirit, bloodline, flesh, and bone were being stripped away. The Desolate God’s supremely surging life force, like an ancient tree aging over eons, gradually depleted its vitality, nearing the end of its existence. Another terrifying aura, one that made the soul tremble, emanated from the rapidly shriveling body of the Desolate God, an aura so mysterious and dreadful that even Shi Yan, who was absorbing the Primordial Sea of Consciousness nearby, was aghast with terror.
“What is happening?”
He couldn't help but look toward the Desolate God, his face shifting drastically as an acutely dangerous sensation suddenly flooded his heart.
In an instant, Shi Yan realized the crisis. His massive body—a fusion of his main body and his Evil Avatar—suddenly emitted world-destroying fluctuations.
He charged toward the Desolate God, unleashing Spatial, Star, Life, Devour, and all Eight Great Evil Powers simultaneously. Countless spatial blades shot out, a giant star net descended, a colossal life hand tore forth, infinite negative energy erupted, and eight gruesome, bloody islands of bone flew out. His main body lunged to tear at the Desolate Dragon Body.
“My eyes… Ah…” A mysterious, vast, ancient voice resonated from the rapidly desiccating dragon body of the Desolate God. Shi Yan’s heavy attacks hammered down, but the dragon body seemed to become nothing more than dragon hide; the flesh, blood, veins, and essence within had entirely vanished!
Just as Shi Yan sensed things going terribly wrong, the Tower of Profound Mystery Runes he had integrated suddenly shattered. Countless Primordial Runes flew out like butterflies, drifting toward the dragon head. After the Profound Mystery Tower exploded, one of the giant eyeballs also materialized and flew toward the Desolate God’s head.
“Rumble! Rumble!”
The Desolate God’s dragon head suddenly burst apart, the surrounding void cracking open violently. A ferocious giant demon, equally immense as Shi Yan’s main body and bearing a striking resemblance to him, suddenly manifested amidst the explosion in the hazy vortex of Primordial Divine Consciousness.
This ferocious giant demon was exceptionally sturdy and tyrannical. His body appeared condensed from individual planets, covered in ancient traces of time. The eyeball that erupted from the shattered Tower of Profound Mystery Runes suddenly landed on the giant demon’s forehead, transforming into his third eye. The vast, boundless aura emanating from this demon was a full measure stronger than that of the Desolate God before him!
“It seems… I have seen this somewhere before…” Looking at the being that suddenly emerged from the Desolate God’s body, Shi Yan felt a wave of familiarity. He recalled entering the Blood Patterned Ring in the past, breaking through barriers—he vaguely seemed to glimpse the domineering image of this giant demon, though the demon in his memory lacked the third eye.
“Bloodthirsty! Bloodthirsty!”
A flash of insight struck Shi Yan’s mind, and he couldn't help but scream out, his expression becoming utterly strange.
This demon that tore itself free from the Desolate God’s body was precisely the appearance of the Bloodthirsty from years ago, differing only by the addition of the third eye; otherwise, they were almost indistinguishable!
“Still can’t see through it?”
Bloodthirsty grinned sinisterly and strode toward Shi Yan. The infinite divine consciousness in this layer of the Sea of Consciousness disappeared rapidly into his pores like wisps of smoke. Even the Primordial Soul Pool actively flew out, entering his mind through the third eye on his brow.
“So you are him—” Shi Yan finally understood, instantly calming down. All the mysteries in his heart became instantly clear.
Why was Bloodthirsty so powerful? Why could he severely wound and suppress Devour? Why did Hui not dare provoke him easily? Why could the ring he bestowed allow his soul to pierce the barriers of infinite stars and land in the Gloomy Forest?
All the unclear points became obvious now that Bloodthirsty was revealed to be of the Primordial Era.
Bloodthirsty advanced, rapidly dissolving the divine consciousness in the Sea of Consciousness. All the fundamental origins from the layer of Profound Mysteries were also absorbed into his mind. He was rapidly regaining strength—
“Billions of billions of years ago, I awoke from Chaos, carving out heaven and earth, condensing all living things. During the exploration of this realm, I discovered the universe you inhabit… It was a new universe entirely different from my own. However, between different universes lie unimaginably terrifying barriers. I attempted to invade your universe, expending infinite power in the effort to open that barrier—” Bloodthirsty spoke as he walked.
“Alas, when I finally opened the barrier between the two universes, because I had expended too much energy carving out the heavens and condensing the myriad things in the star seas, and the massive energy drain from opening the inter-universal barrier caused me to suffer a backlash, my flesh and soul gradually split apart. Before my consciousness completely dissipated, I managed to make a strenuous effort, pulling something from your universe—I dragged a soul in; that soul was you—” “If I hadn't suffered a backlash and split, and if my fragmented flesh and residual soul hadn't transformed into the beings of the Primordial Era, I could have pulled you directly into my universe. But by the time I brought you over, I was already critically weak, unable to attend to you. Subsequently, I completely fragmented and lost myself… This is why your soul traversed across time, traveling from your universe to mine, spanning two eras, consuming aeons of time.”
“Before my soul consciousness completely vanished, I prepared some means for my awakening. That legend from the Primordial Era was my first method. As long as the beings of the Primordial Era were exterminated, the array that activated my Sea of Consciousness upon awakening would meet its condition. My soul would recondense. As long as Huang, Devour, Hui, Yuan, and Li fought each other until the very last survivor, my physical body would also be resurrected.”
“Whether soul or body, the awakening of even one meant my true awakening.”
“Regrettably, fate plays tricks. Huang and Devour were both grievously wounded and fell into slumber simultaneously. Yuan and Li did not participate in that battle, so the physical body did not awaken, and the soul remained in deep slumber.”
“My Sea of Consciousness continued to operate. The residual soul intents and memories of the Primordial Era beings collided and merged with the pure soul power, forming entirely new life races, ushering in a new age. This age, because of the continuous struggles between Devour and Huang, and because Huang sought to condense a new life form, I experienced a brief awakening at the very instant the Bloodthirsty body formed… Hence, the unparalleled dominance of Bloodthirsty.”
“But this avatar of mine, until its demise, never knew who it was, never truly awoke. Otherwise, so many subsequent events would not have transpired.”
“Within the soul imprint of this avatar, there is my core memory. Knowing that the Lord of the Domain controls everything within the Domain, it instinctively resisted. Before death, it sought to break free from everything, using a secret technique to draw upon the Desolate God’s soul origin and pull in a soul from beyond the Domain. By a strange twist of fate, after traversing the long ages, your soul was dragged into the Desolate Domain…” “One can only say that even I cannot control everything; at least, I could not control your soul…”
“That’s why I allowed you to integrate the Devour Profound Mystery. And because of the uniqueness of your soul, the power and souls you devoured were all retained by you, unable to flow back into my Sea of Consciousness. This ultimately forged your rise, even granting you a power capable of threatening me.”
The Primordial advanced. By the time he finished speaking, all the divine consciousness within this Sea of Consciousness had merged into him, and the Soul Pool was also taken by him.
The layer of Profound Mysteries in the Primordial’s domain was now devoid of any fundamental origin; the layer of the Sea of Consciousness held not a single wisp of divine consciousness, becoming utterly dark and empty.
“It is time for this to end,” the Primordial stated calmly and coldly, looking at Shi Yan. “I will kill you, merge the energy you stole from me, and restore my full strength. Then, I will invade your universe, consume your universe, and use your universe as a springboard to move from one universe to the next…”
Shi Yan’s spirit was shaken; every mystery was finally resolved!
“You think you’ve won for sure?” Instantly regaining clarity, starlight shot through his mind, severing the confusion and panic within. Shi Yan regained his composure and smiled lightly. “You are not complete now; you lack many things!” Such as the origin of Life, the origin of Space, the origin of Stars… and the Evil Heart condensed from your inner malevolent thoughts! And at least half of your vital blood essence!”
He had merged the bodies of Devour, Yuan, and part of the Desolate God’s bloodline. This current body possessed nearly half of the Primordial’s vital blood essence and colossal life energy! Coupled with the Profound Mystery origin of Devour and the Evil Heart, his true power now was in no way inferior to the current Primordial Era being!
“Even incomplete, I am sufficient to destroy you and then use you to restore my completeness,” the Primordial said dismissively.
As he spoke, above the void, the Endless Abyss collapsed. The boundless universe floating above the Endless Abyss, the infinite starscape of countless domains and stellar rivers, suddenly pressed down like a world-ending canopy.
The deterrent pressure of an entire universe threatened to crush and drown Shi Yan, scattering his soul to the winds!
That was not the Desolate Domain; it was the real universe!
It was the vast sea of stars formed by the Void Sea, the Desolate Domain, the Lan Yi Star Domain, the Yun Meng Domain, and countless other domains! The majestic aura of that universe contained the Five Elements forces of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, along with the myriad aspects of stars, living beings, gravity, gales, lightning, and Profound Mysteries!
“Crack, crack, crack!”
The void sounded like stone being crushed into dust. Neither substantial nor illusory existence could resist that overwhelming deterrence; all marks of existence were about to be wiped clean.
“Aooo!”
Shi Yan roared toward the heavens. His massive body seemed pierced by ten thousand swords, revealing countless bloody rents. Even his Soul Altar appeared sliced by billions of sharp blades, showing signs of disintegration and cracking.
“Only you can’t do this!”
Amidst his furious roar, Shi Yan pointed a finger toward the heavens, and the universe within his altar suddenly manifested.
The vast cosmos, brilliant as a river of stars, condensed in the void like a colossal projection, yet it was not an illusion but something truly substantial!
That universe held countless planets, countless mountains and lakes, boundless frontiers, nascent life races, and everything a real universe should possess!
Two universes—one above, one below—one pressing down, one rising up!
They suddenly slammed into each other with a tremendous collision!
“Boom! Crackle! Snap! Thud!”
Innumerable sounds of explosion echoed, interspersed with the perishing of life, the shattering of suns and moons, the breaking of space, and the blowing up of domains, reverberating in a world-shaking manner.
Both Shi Yan’s universe and the Primordial’s universe were violently shattering. The life within them was dragged into a tide of doomsday, helplessly and despairingly moving toward death.
“Fall!”
The Primordial’s expression was cold. The strange land within his universe—the Void Sea inhabited by the seven great races and countless beings—suddenly descended upon Shi Yan’s universe, as if intending to bring the void, the dead silence, the coldness, and the eternal desolation into Shi Yan’s cosmos, causing it to collapse into ruin…
The domains within the Primordial’s universe transformed into various fundamental origins, the initial sparks of power, manifesting as countless flames, ice peaks, violent thunder, colossal lightning dragons, and seas of dying stars, violently bombarding Shi Yan’s universe.
Shi Yan’s nascent universe was being submerged by the world-destroying offensives from the Primordial’s cosmos. Many peripheral regions of his universe were exploding; the universe seemed to be contracting, about to collapse into a single point, about to vanish into the void—
“Hiss! Hiss!”
Even his Soul Altar was assaulted again by his mental will. Terrifying waves surged within his Sea of Consciousness, and the once perfectly calm Soul Pool became turbulent and restless, the soul water threatening to splash out.
His resilient body cracked; his internal organs were shaken out of place. Blood sprayed forth like a violent storm. He was struck so severely that his soul nearly collapsed.
He felt his Domain, soul, Sea of Consciousness, and body being bombarded relentlessly, as if hammered by mountain-sized mallets! The force caused agonizing pain to his soul and flesh that was almost unbearable!
It felt as though in the next moment, he would collapse, and every trace of his existence would be erased!
“You possess half my power, you hold the source of my evil, but do you truly think you can defeat me?” The Primordial’s will impacted, his terrifying voice rolling like thunder that shattered the heavens, roaring incessantly in Shi Yan’s mind.
“Half—half of your power. If you can hold half, then I can hold it too!”
Just as his soul was about to be annihilated, Shi Yan gritted his teeth, threw his head back, and roared toward the sky, a sound that seemed to tear through the very barriers of heaven and earth, piercing through layers of cosmic space.
“Your universe! It has a part of me! But my universe—you shall not touch!”
A tenacious will, imbued with unimaginable obsession, echoed in Shi Yan’s mind, transforming into a terrifying gale that suddenly surged into the Primordial’s universe.
His soul-will suddenly acted like a colossal spider web, instantly spreading across every corner of the Primordial’s universe, seizing it in a grip.
“Melt for me!”
Suddenly, Shi Yan’s vast universe underwent a radical transformation, morphing into a black hole vortex of unimaginable size, spinning wildly.
The Void Sea and the various domains that had rushed into Shi Yan’s universe to bombard his heavens were instantly swallowed by that black hole.
Simultaneously, the life spring in Shi Yan’s heart pounded with colossal force, unleashing an unparalleled surge of vital energy!
This surging vitality rapidly healed his grievously wounded body. All the sprayed blood suddenly transformed into bloody threads and instantly retracted into his body.
Shi Yan’s universe evolved into a Devouring Black Hole vortex, consuming the Void Sea and the domains that fell into it!
His main body roared, frantically lunging at the Bloodthirsty form of the Primordial! As his dual claw blades moved, the void burst forth with spatial blades stretching for billions of miles, slicing the Bloodthirsty body’s chest until it was a bloody mess!
Shi Yan was frenzied, his aura of evil, ferocity, and brutality erupting as he pounced upon the Bloodthirsty’s chest. He opened his massive, jagged maw, biting recklessly at the flesh, tearing off chunks of meat, mixing them with blood, and swallowing them down whole!
“No! Impossible! How can you bind my universe!” The Primordial’s voice, vibrating through the annihilated void, rolled out, filled with shock and terror.
“My physical body and soul are half derived from you; the other half is your evil demonic thoughts! That is why I can control your cosmos! But you never obtained even a shred of my soul, so you cannot control me in the slightest. Therefore, you will weave your own cocoon, and destruction is your destiny!”
Shi Yan roared wildly, tearing and grappling with Taichu. That ghastly, massive maw remained fixed on Taichu’s chest, its serrated teeth gnawing away flesh, swallowing chunk after chunk. Through the transformative absorption of his seven hundred and twenty acupoints, his physical strength constantly swelled!
He had seized Taichu’s Evil Origin of Devouring, merged with the Heart of Malice, and thus mastered the ultimate profound mystery of Devouring!
In the midst of battle, he used the profound laws of Devouring to swallow Taichu’s flesh and blood, growing ever stronger the longer the fight raged!
Conversely, as his flesh was consumed, Taichu grew increasingly withered and weak.
His universe, too, was being tightly constricted by Shi Yan’s soul, slowly, piece by piece—domain by domain, planet by planet, continent by continent, ocean and mountain range by ocean and mountain range—integrating into Shi Yan's own cosmos.
With the consumption of flesh and the assimilation of Taichu’s universe, the nascent cosmos beneath Shi Yan’s colossal Devouring Black Hole expanded at a rate visible to the naked eye, stretching out furiously!
Curiously, as Shi Yan shifted his focus, the domains and continents he paid specific attention to did not entirely dissipate upon merging into the Devouring Black Hole.
For instance, the Tianyan Continent, the Yunmeng Domain, and the territories of the Xuantian Clan, Meibi Clan, and White Bone Clan all passed cleanly through the vortex, settling into the expanding universe below, becoming integrated parts of this new cosmos. All living beings upon them remained alive and well.
They were simply adrift, unaware of their new location…
However, any hostile domains, continents, or life-bearing stars unrelated to Shi Yan, the moment they entered the Devouring Vortex—that instant—would completely shatter. All beings within would instantly vaporize into smoke, drawn into his Sea of Consciousness to await future integration into the soul power within his Soul Pool, forming entirely new species.
Time sped on.
An immeasurable period passed. Taichu’s immense body had long ceased its struggle. Shi Yan had absorbed every drop of his vital essence, refining the purest blood within the meridians to forge his own surging energy.
“The physical body, the soul, the husk, the hair—everything will be the cornerstone for nurturing my new life. The memories and intentions of Hantian, Mandis, Xiluo, the Sea Shark Emperor, Dracula—I will extract them, awakening and resurrecting them separately—” Saying this, Shi Yan exerted force—and flung Taichu’s desiccated, colossal corpse into the immeasurable Devouring Black Hole.
Those who had perished, like Hantian and his comrades, would have their memories and thoughts extracted by him, granted new life through his soul energy, and awakened within his new universe.
As Taichu’s universe vanished entirely into the black hole, and as Taichu’s remains were tossed in after it, Shi Yan found himself gradually situated in a realm of absolute nothingness.
No sky, no earth, no sun, moon, or stars, no mountains or lakes—only eternal gloom, infinite void—…
“My universe”—the universe I came from—where is it now? Having traversed eons of soul travel, does that cosmos still exist? Has it perished? Perhaps only after I have fully merged and refined all his power, soul, thoughts, and flesh can I attempt to explore it…—”
“That must be an age—a very, very distant age—”
In the absolute void, Shi Yan sat cross-legged, like a god whose existence spanned from eternity.
Above his head was the brand-new universe. He set his power into motion to perfect this new world, beginning the creation of entirely new life forms, bestowing souls and vitality upon all things, becoming the progenitor of all sentient life, eternally immortal.
(The End of the Book)