Liang Yifei's gaze lingered on the massive egg before him, his eyes filled with unconcealed anticipation and desire.
This was no ordinary spirit beast egg.
It belonged to an ancient and primordial race that had once existed in the Devil Realm — the Infernal Void Serpents, a mysterious lineage said to surpass even ordinary true dragons in power and potential.
Yet this particular egg was completely devoid of life force.
The creature that once lay within it had already perished long ago.
Had it still been alive, it would never have fallen into Liang's hands.
With a simple flick of his fingers, a single drop of crimson blood appeared above his palm.
It fell onto the egg's surface.
At once, the ancient runes carved across the shell began to stir, glowing faintly as they awakened under the influence of the blood.
A satisfied smile appeared on Liang's face.
This drop of blood essence came from a Dark Phoenix — a legendary race from the deepest regions of the Devil Realm, beings capable of endless rebirth through their unique Infernal Flames.
Though only a tiny amount remained, it still carried a trace of that terrifying vitality.
As it soaked into the shell, a faint flicker of life began to appear within the egg.
Next, Liang took out the Reincarnation Dao Crystal.
He allowed his own blood essence to drip onto it until the crystal turned completely crimson, then carefully placed it atop the egg.
The moment the crystal touched the shell, the two began to merge.
The crystal slowly dissolved, sinking into the egg as a new set of intricate symbols and ancient runes emerged to replace it.
Liang's smile widened.
Excitement surged within him.
He picked up the Heavenly Soul Grass and slowly absorbed its essence until not a trace remained.
Then he began forming complex seals with both hands, chanting ancient incantations in a low, steady voice.
Each seal pulsed with immense power.
Gradually, his physical body began to dissolve.
His skin, flesh, blood, and bones disintegrated into streams of energy until only his radiant Nascent Soul remained, floating within the chamber.
Even that did not last long.
The Nascent Soul gradually dispersed into countless particles of light until only a single translucent sphere remained.
That sphere was Liang Yifei's pure consciousness.
Drawn by an irresistible force, his consciousness drifted toward the egg.
Slowly, it merged into the shell.
Everything fell silent.
The air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Then suddenly—
A blinding light erupted from the egg.
It surged outward violently, illuminating the entire chamber before stabilizing into a steady, pulsating glow.
When the light finally subsided, an entirely new aura filled the surroundings.
It was deeper, older, and far more terrifying than anything before.
At that very moment, the heavens responded.
Dark clouds gathered rapidly across the skies of the entire world.
The air became charged with violent energy as Heavenly Tribulation descended.
Bolts of catastrophic lightning began striking without restraint, incinerating everything in their path — cities, mountains, cultivators, and mortals alike.
The destruction was absolute.
Gradually, the focus of the tribulation shifted.
The lightning began converging toward the ten great cities built upon the Dragon Earth Vein.
Even peak cultivators and terrifying devils were unable to resist its overwhelming power.
Yet amid the chaos, no one noticed a small, hidden location being struck by an especially concentrated bolt of lightning.
Its destructive power far exceeded anything else.
Liang had long anticipated this outcome.
He knew that merging with the egg would trigger an unprecedented Heavenly Punishment — a tribulation not seen for thousands of years.
Yet he had never hesitated.
For him, the pursuit of power and immortality outweighed any risk.
His soul had already been completely destroyed.
By all standards, Liang Yifei was dead.
Only the essence of the Heavenly Soul Grass preserved his consciousness, allowing him to maintain a fragile existence.
Normally, the Reincarnation Dao Crystal would have allowed him to enter the cycle of rebirth while retaining his memories.
But when the crystal fused with the egg and his blood essence, something entirely unprecedented occurred.
A new bond formed.
Instead of undergoing ordinary reincarnation, Liang was reborn directly within the body of the dead creature inside the egg.
In other words, he had accomplished something never before attempted in history —
He had resurrected a dead primordial being using his own soul.
As if the heavens finally discovered their true target, the tribulation's fury intensified.
All the lightning in the sky converged toward Blood Moon City.
The air crackled violently as a colossal mass of tribulation lightning gathered above it.
With a deafening explosion, it descended.
In a single instant, Blood Moon City — one of the ten great cities — was completely obliterated.
Its millions of inhabitants vanished without leaving a single trace.
Even its ruins were reduced to dust.
Amid the worldwide chaos and war, almost no one noticed.
Those who did could not afford to care.
When death loomed at every moment, nothing else mattered.
Long ago, when Liang realized he could not break through to the Spirit Severing Realm and later discovered the Reincarnation Dao Crystal, he had already begun planning this outcome.
He understood that his rebirth could never remain hidden under normal circumstances.
Only a catastrophe on a global scale could conceal it.
That was why he had sought out the devils.
After years of searching, negotiation, and preparation, he finally set everything into motion.
As the war escalated, countless billions perished.
The Heavenly Tribulation alone claimed an unimaginable number of lives, erasing even the remains of powerful cultivators.
No accurate record of the dead could ever exist.
Meanwhile, the battle between the Spirit Severing Realm ancestors and the Five Devil Kings raged without end.
Five additional peak cultivators from the remaining cities soon joined the battlefield, each confronting one of the Devil Kings in desperate combat.
Then suddenly, something unexpected happened.
The summoning formation that had brought the Devil Kings into this world reversed.
An overwhelming suction force appeared.
It began dragging the Devil Kings' souls back toward the Devil Realm.
They struggled violently, their expressions filled with disbelief and fury.
Their enraged roars echoed across the battlefield.
"LIANG YIFEI!"