Susanoo struggled frantically within the altar, never expecting that he himself would be the one to fall into it!
"Release me quickly!"
Susanoo thrashed, but numerous translucent tentacles emerged around the altar, coiling around him tightly and fixing him immovably upon it.
Ye Ling slowly descended before Susanoo, tossing the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal in his hand, which hovered before Susanoo.
The Soul Returning Spirit Crystal emitted a faint blue light, shining upon Susanoo. A thin crystalline film formed on Susanoo's body, preparing to erode his soul.
Susanoo felt the sensation of losing consciousness from his neck down. The fear in his eyes grew increasingly intense as he asked Ye Ling in a startled voice, "What exactly have you done to me? What is going on?"
Ye Ling chuckled, "You're a strange fellow. You were the one who activated the Soul Returning Domain, and now you're asking me what I'm doing?"
"What do you think will happen when you're fixed on the altar?"
Hearing Ye Ling's retort, Susanoo's pupils contracted sharply, his expression gradually twisting, "No, don't... please..."
Bound to the altar... other than being sacrificed, Susanoo could not imagine any other fate for himself!
Ye Ling smiled at Susanoo, "Don't worry too much. I've just figured out the structure of this Soul Returning Domain and know what can be summoned through sacrifice. What if you don't die?"
Upon hearing Ye Ling's words, Susanoo felt an urge to curse him out loud.
What did he mean, "What if you don't die?"
When they spoke of sacrifice, could the offering possibly survive?
However, Susanoo dared not retort to Ye Ling at that moment. Just as he was about to beg for mercy, Ye Ling had already initiated the sacrifice ritual.
The altar glowed with blue light, and the translucent tentacles burrowed into Susanoo's soul, siphoning his soul power.
Before Susanoo could even resist, he felt a wave of intense drowsiness wash over him, and he quickly lost consciousness!
Ye Ling, standing on the altar, saw Susanoo's body from the neck down rapidly etherealize and disappear, leaving only his head on the altar.
The power drained from Susanoo was entirely channeled into the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal.
In fact, when Susanoo had attacked Ye Ling earlier, he had intended to use the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal to seize all of Ye Ling's power and then absorb the power from the crystal himself.
At this point, if Ye Ling had directly taken the power from the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal, Susanoo would have been doomed, and the Soul Returning Domain would have collapsed, ending everything.
However, as Ye Ling swept his divine soul across the Soul Returning Domain, he sensed that the domain was connected to a being in an extremely distant location.
And that being could also descend to Earth through this Soul Returning Domain!
Ye Ling surmised that Izanagi's original intention was to summon that unknown being. It was just that Ye Ling had been killed by Susanoo, and Susanoo, having only a superficial understanding of the Soul Returning Domain, only wanted to use it to break through to the Emperor Realm.
"A creature that requires the sacrifice of a Saint to summon... its strength is at least at the Emperor Realm, or even above it. Such a figure, even on the East Xuan Continent, would be at the pinnacle of the pyramid, holding the lives of billions in their hands."
"I must figure out why they are targeting Earth. Otherwise, even if we avoid this, they might use someone else to descend to Earth, and things will become even more troublesome."
Ye Ling looked at the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal hovering before him, his gaze slightly narrowing.
He did not believe that with Izanagi's strength, it would take ten thousand years to create a divine artifact like the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal. There must be a deeper secret hidden behind this!
Ye Ling did not absorb the power within the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal. Instead, he moved Susanoo's head aside and placed the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal into the sunken pit in the center of the altar.
The Soul Returning Spirit Crystal merged perfectly with the altar.
*Boom!*
The moment Ye Ling placed the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal into the altar, a blue light shot out from the altar and surged into the sky.
A massive teleportation array manifested in the air!
"They're here!"
Ye Ling looked at the enormous teleportation array in the sky and became serious.
He had a premonition that the being emerging from this teleportation array would be the strongest enemy he had encountered on Earth so far!
Bathed in the light of the teleportation array, the unconscious Susanoo slowly awoke, just in time to sense the immense pressure emanating from the teleportation array in the sky!
"What... what is that?"
Susanoo, with only his head remaining, felt that terrifying pressure and exclaimed in fear.
He had never felt such a terrifying pressure before!
Susanoo wanted to escape, but all his strength was sealed within the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal, and with only his head, he was completely immobile. He could only watch as waves of powerful energy buffeted his face!
"Izanagi, you have done very well! It was not in vain that I have cultivated you for so many years."
From within the array, an extremely sinister voice echoed, followed by the spread of a vast amount of dark energy, dyeing the entire immense array black!
"What is this power?" Ye Ling's eyes changed slightly as he saw the dark energy encroaching upon the teleportation array.
He had encountered this power at the Shadow Hall...
This was the power of an extraterrestrial expert!
This so-called Soul Returning Domain was actually a place to summon extraterrestrial experts?
As Ye Ling realized this, a tempestuous wave of shock surged through his heart!
He had always thought that extraterrestrial experts were merely using the Shadow Hall to search for the inheritance of the Creator God on Earth and could not directly affect the planet.
But from the current situation... it was clear that extraterrestrial experts had been trying to bypass the cosmic barriers and descend to Earth!
Seeing the dense dark energy, Ye Ling's expression turned grave, and he muttered to himself, "This has gotten a bit too big..."
Previously, extraterrestrial experts had caused chaos on Earth using only the Shadow Hall and the Red Dust Pavilion to seize the power of the Creator God.
Now that an extraterrestrial expert had personally descended, Ye Ling could not imagine what kind of turmoil this being would cause on Earth!
If this extraterrestrial expert only possessed the cultivation of the Emperor Realm or Supreme Realm, Ye Ling could still handle it with ease. But if the arrival was at the Dao Sovereign, or even above the Dao Sovereign, things would be difficult to manage...
After absorbing the inner demon, Ye Ling's cultivation was close to the limit of the Dao Sovereign Realm, making him a peak combatant throughout the universe, unmatched.
But the extraterrestrial realm was different.
That was an unknown world that Ye Ling had never explored. Outside the cosmic barriers, any kind of expert could exist!
Although Ye Ling had messed up by letting an extraterrestrial expert in this time, who could have imagined that a mere Saint's tinkering with the Soul Returning Spirit Crystal could create such a thing?
Ye Ling was also quite speechless about this.
However, Ye Ling was also somewhat fortunate that it was he who let the extraterrestrial expert in.
He knew clearly that even if he hadn't let this extraterrestrial expert in, they would have eventually broken into Earth through someone else.
Now, at least he was standing at the forefront to protect Earth. If another being had let the extraterrestrial expert in, Ye Ling guessed that Earth would have been nearly destroyed the moment it was sensed.
"This Sovereign has long coveted this legendary land... I never expected it to be so weak..."
The sinister voice echoed again, and then a dark figure, enveloped in lightning, descended from the teleportation array.
The aura of a peak Dao Sovereign erupted from within him!
The worst-case scenario!
Ye Ling's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw that the arrival's cultivation was no less than his own. Time laws surged around him.
He needed to drag this extraterrestrial expert into the river of time!
Otherwise, if they fought here, a collision between Dao Sovereigns would likely annihilate not just Earth... but the entire solar system in an instant!
"Fine... since I wanted to avenge Xiao You and the inner demon anyway, let's have a serious fight." Ye Ling became serious, demonic energy swirling around him, his aura completely unleashed.
The pressure between Dao Sovereigns collided abruptly!