The light of the myriad twinkling stars began to rain down, converging upon the single, iridescent crystal lodged in the heart of the stone statue.

At this moment, pinpricks of starlight within the crystal flowed along some celestial trajectory, dazzling the eye and radiating mesmerizing colors.

The crystal slowly ascended, drifting toward the shadowy, massive hand conjured from Yin energy, and willingly settled within its dark grasp.

Shi Yan’s face lit up with joy. He urgently directed his spiritual sense toward the crystal, carefully guiding it toward himself.

Pulled by the dark energy hand, the crystal finally lifted out of the deep pit, drawing ever nearer to Shi Yan.

“Rumble! Rumble!”

A world-shaking roar erupted from the depths of the pit. As the crystal departed, the crystal walls shattered piece by piece, shooting forth brilliant, dazzling light.

The brilliance of the massive stars filling the sky was utterly overshadowed in that instant.

The pit collapsed, and the bizarre stellar pattern above the heavens began to shift slowly, gradually fading into unreality. The Yin energy, the toxic miasma, and the clusters of fiery clouds overhead started dissipating rapidly.

Looking down from above, one could see that the stone statue, vast and magnificent as a continuous mountain range, was beginning to show deep fissures across its hard body; it, too, was slowly being dismantled.

At the same time.

Chi Xiao, Bei Mingshang, and the others trapped beneath the statue’s heel clearly sensed the spatial anomalies, realizing that the power binding them was incrementally weakening.

Bei Mingshang and Chi Xiao exchanged a look of shock and immediately redoubled their efforts, pushing their physical strength to the limit, attempting to wrench free from the restraint.

They had been trapped for so long, struggling countless times, each attempt ending in failure, causing them all to eventually fall quiet.

But seeing this peculiar space on the verge of collapse and the binding power diminishing, they naturally had to struggle once more.

The statue’s legs were also cracking, and the terrifying crushing pressure at the heel was lessening, bit by bit…

The pressure emanating from the statue grew weaker, and the struggles of Chi Xiao, Bei Mingshang, and the others gradually showed effect; the stones beneath the statue's heel began to explode outward.

At this rate, it wouldn't take long before they managed to emerge from under the statue’s heel.

At the statue's heart.

The deep pit collapsed, the crystal walls detonated, and strange light beams emanating from those walls transformed into multicolored radiance before vanishing from this singular space.

Both the crystal walls and the beams seemed to exist solely to maintain that one piece of crystal; their purpose was fulfilled the moment it flew free of the pit.

The dark energy hand gently supported the crystal as it slowly moved over, bursting with brilliant starlight directly above Shi Yan’s head.

This crystal seemed to be the refined essence of an extraterrestrial meteor, harboring an arcane stellar power and exuding a mysterious aura.

Gazing upward at the crystal, Shi Yan frowned in deep thought.

How was he supposed to collect it?

Frowning deeply, Shi Yan pondered. After a long silence, he reasoned that since the Yin Pearl resonated with this crystal, he should be able to touch it.

With this thought, Shi Yan instinctively reached out and grasped directly for the crystal suspended above his head.

“Bang!”

The crystal abruptly shattered, exploding into billowing clouds of starlight. Billions of these stellar lights converged and suddenly surged into Shi Yan’s body.

Threads of cool starlight, carrying mysterious stellar power, poured in through Shi Yan’s pores, all converging within his heart.

“Thump! Thump! Thump!”

A muffled, drum-like sound emanated from Shi Yan’s heart. Under the convergence of countless stars, his heart underwent a bizarre transformation.

Billions of points of starlight rooted themselves like budding seeds within Shi Yan’s heart, becoming an integral part of it.

In an instant, Shi Yan’s heart seemed to transform into that very crystal—initially blazing with starlight, erupting in dazzling radiance.

However, this lasted only a short while. Shi Yan’s heart returned to normal, but the stellar points of light fused deeply with his heart, continuously emitting a cool energy.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

A terrifying explosion echoed from the statue’s heel. Several Heaven-rank experts exerted their strength in unison, finally shattering the statue’s foot completely and breaking free from the binding.

The Heaven-rank experts soared into the sky, eager to see what had occurred.

The peculiar space fractured like a mirror, and a pillar of light suddenly shot down from the mysterious stellar pattern in the sky.

The light beam descended from above, striking Shi Yan with pinpoint accuracy.

Shi Yan, standing at the periphery of the pit, vanished into thin air.

“Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!”

This strange space began to slowly crumble, resembling a shattered mirror.

The magnificent stone statue, now devoid of the crystal in its heart, also disintegrated piece by piece, slowly dissolving into nothingness.

Amidst the deafening roar, the surrounding scenery constantly shifted. Chi Xiao and the others felt as if they were walking out of a broken mirror; through the fissures of the collapsing space, they could glimpse the scene of Absolute Yin Valley.

Absolute Yin Valley.

In the mid-air above the valley, numerous spatial fissures tore open, emitting electrical sparks that flashed with bizarre, multicolored brilliance. Some of these fissures shone with dazzling light, as if a river of stars was descending from heaven.

Xia Xinyan’s expression was indifferent. She murmured, "Seven days. The results are finally in."

“Miss, do you think that man’s Martial Soul Source Seal might be inside?”

“When Shi Yan emerges, one glance will tell us everything,” Xia Xinyan replied with a detached look, devoid of joy or sorrow. “However, I doubt he will appear in Absolute Yin Valley.”

“Why?”

“The old man calculated everything; he surely arranged a contingency plan for Shi Yan. If the old man still possessed his magic power, he might have sent Shi Yan directly to the Boundless Sea. But judging by how this space is collapsing, whatever he constructed must have exhausted all his strength. I estimate he could only manage to send Shi Yan somewhere on the outskirts of the Dead Silent Marsh, ensuring Shi Yan a brief respite.”

“What do we do?”

“Let’s go. We’ll leave Absolute Yin Valley and try our luck near the Dead Silent Marsh outskirts.”

“If we really find him, Miss, should we kill him?”

“We’ll decide when we see him.”

Xia Xinyan and her two companions witnessed the changes in Absolute Yin Valley. Seemingly having grasped the general outcome, they left quietly without alerting Zuo Shi or the others.

Half an hour after Xia Xinyan’s departure, several figures shot out from one of the spatial fissures in the mid-air above Absolute Yin Valley.

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

Those below the Heaven-rank realm fell heavily from the air, left dizzy and disoriented.

Mu Yudie and Di Yalan, being of lower cultivation, even coughed up blood, appearing utterly wretched.

Han Feng and Ku Long stood up, faces grim, and immediately shouted, “Young Master! Young Master!”

Bei Mingshang, Chi Xiao, Zhua Qi, and the Nether Lord, possessing Heaven-rank cultivation, hovered in the air, looking down in confusion before slowly descending.

“Ce’er!” Bei Mingshang roared, glaring at Yin Kui and Jushan. “Where is Ce’er?”

Yin Kui and Jushan had also been suppressed beneath the statue’s feet, but they were not with Bei Mingshang, so Bei Mingshang had not seen the two in that strange space.

“The Young Master went in too; we don’t know where he ended up,” Yin Kui said, his face gloomy and slightly unsettled. “The moment we entered, we were suppressed by the statue. We only seized the chance to break free when that strange space collapsed.”

“Ce’er! Ce’er!” Bei Mingshang bellowed toward the sky, urgently crying out, “Where are you?”

“Mu Hui!” The Nether Lord of Dark Nether, Zou Zihe, noticed Mu Hui had not appeared, his expression also shifting slightly. He joined Bei Mingshang in shouting aloud.

The cries of these two echoed across the entire Absolute Yin Plain. If Bei Mingshang Ce and Mu Hui were still on the plain, they would undoubtedly hear these calls.

Alas, there was no response.

“Ce’er is still inside!” Bei Mingshang’s face changed drastically. He looked up at the firmament, only to find that the torn spatial fissures had completely healed without him noticing.

The space had utterly shattered.

With just one glance, Bei Mingshang grasped the cruel reality. His expression darkened to a terrifying degree; like an enraged monstrous beast, extreme cold ice-flames slowly emanated from his eyes, his features becoming utterly savage.

“Xiao Die, where is Ce’er?” Bei Mingshang turned his fierce gaze, burning with ice-flames, upon Mu Yudie.

“I—I…” Mu Yudie froze, her body stiff under Bei Mingshang’s terrifying stare, unable to complete her sentence.

Bei Mingshang grew impatient. A strange light flickered in his eyes, and he reached out remotely toward Mu Yudie. A ball of blue light flew out and struck directly into her body.

“Where is Ce’er?” Bei Mingshang demanded again.

Struck by the blue light from Bei Mingshang’s hand, Mu Yudie’s lovely face became vacant. Her self-awareness gone, she mumbled, “Shi Yan killed him.”

Di Yalan’s face changed, and she almost screamed, but catching sight of Mu Yudie’s state, she ultimately kept silent.

“Shi Yan!” Bei Mingshang roared toward the heavens, veins bulging across his body, his expression reaching the pinnacle of ferocity.

Bei Mingshang Ce, possessing twin Martial Souls, had been groomed as the family’s hope for revitalization since childhood. Now that he was dead, the usually calm Bei Mingshang finally erupted in fury.

Clusters of extreme cold ice-flames flew out like clouds, violently engulfing Han Feng and Ku Long.

Ku Long, being closer, was immediately submerged by the Extreme Cold Ice-Flame Martial Soul, instantly frozen into an ice statue, which then abruptly shattered.

Han Feng’s expression changed, his figure flickering as he ghost-like moved aside.

“I will exterminate your entire Shi family!” Bei Mingshang roared like a savage beast and charged wildly toward Han Feng.

“Master!” Zuo Shi cried out in alarm.

Chi Xiao frowned, sighing inwardly. He reluctantly took action, condensing thick swirls of mist to wrap around the Extreme Cold Ice-Flame Martial Soul of Bei Mingshang, saying, “Bei Mingshang, show mercy where mercy can be shown.”

He knew fighting Bei Mingshang in this state could lead to an unending feud.

Hesitating for a moment, he enveloped the Martial Soul and suddenly commanded, “Han Feng, go!”

Han Feng dared not hesitate for an instant, moving ghost-like and rapidly toward the outer edge of the Absolute Yin Plain.

At this moment, he knew Bei Mingshang would not cease his rage easily; he could only flee as fast as possible, hoping to return to the Shi family alive to deliver the news before the entire clan was massacred.

“Chi Xiao! How dare you block me!” Bei Mingshang howled madly. “Whoever stands in my way today, I will fight them until death!”

“Girl from the Mu family, have you seen my disciple Mu Hui?” the Nether Lord of Dark Nether asked Mu Yudie using a strange sonic wave.

“He was also killed by Shi Yan. They are all dead, all dead…” Mu Yudie remained in her dazed state, utterly unaware of what she was saying.

Zou Zihe’s expression suddenly turned cold. Nine Nether rage-flames ignited within his eyes as he shot toward the outskirts of the Dead Silent Marsh.

A vast divine sense suddenly radiated from him, extending in all directions across the Dead Silent Marsh.

—He vaguely intuited Shi Yan’s whereabouts.

Simultaneously, in a remote corner of Absolute Yin Valley, a dense patch of darkness abruptly stirred and quickly departed the valley…