C1030 This Was too Much!!

In the Ashen Hollow's inaugural territory, Yu Yuan reclined leisurely on a chaise lounge adorned with white fur atop the balcony of a tower once owned by Lambing. He plucked a cluster of luminescent green grapes from a silver tray before him, savoring each one with evident pleasure. Flanking him were two diminutive female inner demon slaves, their faces painted with obsequious smiles. These witches, previously in Lambing's service, now attended to Yu Yuan's every whim—one held a tray laden with exotic fruits from various seasons, while the other presented a crystal goblet filled with a dark red wine that swirled gently, its aroma wafting through the air.

In this moment, Yu Yuan was the picture of contentment. Elena, of the Shura lineage, conversed with him cheerfully, sharing tales of the King of Bandits. She warned that Lambing's father, Calves, bore the ninth-level bloodline of the Moonlit Wanderers and was not to be underestimated. Yu Yuan, after discarding a grape skin, raised his crystal cup, took a sip of the exquisite wine, and smiled in agreement, urging her to "Continue."

Following Lambing's demise, Yu Yiyi had wielded the formidable power of the Crucible of Evil, compelling Pattinson and Elena to surrender. Pattinson, too, had sensed the dread instrument's might and abandoned any further schemes. Observing Yu Yuan's restraint from further bloodshed, Pattinson prudently opted against retaliation.

For Yu Yuan, his journey's end lay within the Domain now under the Skyreach Consortium's control. He sought to glean insights into the Boulderdawn's status and track down Yan Qiling's whereabouts through this domain. Additionally, he was curious about any earth-shattering developments that might have occurred in the Everlands during his absence.

The fate of the Ashen Hollow's bandits was inconsequential to him; whether they lived or perished was of no consequence. After all, it was Lambing of the Moonlit Wanderers who had proposed the affront against him, and with Lambing now dead—alongside many of his cohorts—Elena and Pattinson had resigned themselves to their fate and capitulated. Yu Yuan saw no point in further pursuit.

Annihilating these bandits held no significance; he had no desire to dominate the Ashen Hollow. To traverse the Star River in his corporeal form would be not only slow but fraught with unnecessary risks. Thus, he chose to let matters rest, at least for the time being.

At that moment, Pattinson stood at the location of the Golden Trident, his gaze fixed on the reemerging Luminescent Barrier and the two tracts of land that had been restored to order.

Bitterness pervaded Pattinson's heart.

It was all Lambing's own doing!

Eventually, he attributed the root of the damage to the deceased Lambing.

Had Lambing not suggested dismantling the Luminescent Barrier and ambushed the Lunar Spirit that had separated from Yu Yuan, they could have coexisted peacefully with Yu Yuan and proceeded towards the Domain designated by the Skyreach Consortium.

Instead, they were left with numerous casualties among their ranks, and Lambing himself had been slain by Yu Yuan.

With these thoughts, Pattinson looked up at Elena, who was engaging in lively conversation with Yu Yuan on the tower's balcony. He frowned slightly, musing, "I hope you can keep yourself out of trouble, young lady. Don't stir up mischief and throw your life away for nothing."

He understood Elena all too well.

He knew that this Shura girl had been involved in countless bloody conflicts since her youth, standing by her father's side as they quelled numerous Domain uprisings. Despite her ever-present smile, she harbored a heart of ice.

Elena was as reckless as Lambing; given the slightest confidence or opportunity, she would not hesitate to take a gamble.

"Hehe."

Out of the blue, Peach Madam glided through the sky, descending gently upon a cloud of iridescent mist.

Pattinson, who had just begun to relax, tensed up once more. "What brings you to this land?"

"The other two continents hold no allure; too many have perished, and the stench is unbearable," Peach Madam said, fanning the air near her nose as if to scatter the scent of blood. "Don't be alarmed. I'm aligned with Yu Yuan, and since he has refrained from further aggression against you, I have no intention of causing trouble."

Despite her previous stance of distancing herself from Yu Yuan and rallying everyone to strike him down, she now claimed alliance?

Pattinson inwardly scoffed, instinctively stepping back, wary of the possibility that she might unleash a lethal miasma cloud and engulf him.

"This Trident is quite formidable," Hu Caiyun remarked as she gracefully stepped forward. Her hand, its veins shimmering with a rainbow-like glow beneath her flawless skin, gently rested on the handle of the Golden Trident. Spiritual energy surged from her palm like lightning.

Yet the Golden Trident remained unchanged, devoid of the extraordinary psionic power it had siphoned from the lands behind it when Lambing activated it. There wasn't even the slightest glimmer of gold. Hu Caiyun's brow furrowed in mild frustration.

"This artifact was left by Lambing's father, Calves, and only the aura of Lambing's bloodline can awaken it," Pattinson explained with a courteous air.

"Remarkable," Hu Caiyun acknowledged, nodding in appreciation. She tightened her grip on the trident, channeling a torrent of psionic power, akin to a myriad of crystalline peach branches, mingled with her signature toxic miasma. The force surged into the trident's core, ravaging the intricate patterns that resonated with the Moonlit Wanderers' bloodline, effectively dismantling the weapon of doom that Calves had commissioned at great expense.

"If it cannot serve me, it's safer destroyed," Hu Caiyun declared with a sly smile, glancing up at Yu Yuan. "No need for thanks. It's simply what allies do for each other, especially when they share a common goal."

Yu Yuan set down his crystal glass, chuckling softly. "The Trident's fearsome power must have felt like a threat to you, didn't it? Are you concerned that Calves' return could see the King of Bandits, with his ninth-level bloodline, reactivate the Trident and deal you a severe blow?"

"Let's not dwell on the obvious," Hu Caiyun replied with a playful smile, turning away from the now useless Trident. "The treasures of this land are surely superior to those of the others. I shall seek them out myself, sparing you the trouble of joining me."

Her words were directed at Pattinson, who could only respond with a resigned smile. They had grown all too familiar with Hu Caiyun's assertive demeanor, reminiscent of their own conquests in foreign domains, where they plundered weaker forces and races. Hu Caiyun had made it clear she was now the one doing the plundering.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Wisps of colorful smoke, imbued with Hu Caiyun's consciousness, burst from her sleeves, soaring toward the tower on this land and the area laden with numerous resources.

"Yu Yuan, you're really crossing the line now!"

As one wisp of smoke snaked into the first tower, she spotted a Bane being directed by Chebus, who had been solidified into a physical form, wandering about. In the other towers, Grimlanterns, Armor Crushers, and Silver Chains were also commanding the Banes to conduct thorough searches.

Atop a lofty platform, a dark cauldron hung silently in the air. Yu Yiyi dangled her long, slender legs, holding a large fruit plate and mimicking Yu Yuan. She munched on fruits while instructing the Banes to collect materials that she and Yu Yuan deemed useful for enhancing themselves.

Hu Caiyun, eager to claim her share of the bounty, was clearly displeased.

"This land was won by my fierce battles, and naturally, I should have first pick of the valuable materials," Yu Yuan said with a composed demeanor, gesturing to the two other lands behind him. "You should stay back there. Rest assured, if there's anything truly powerful and rare, I won't compete with you for it."

"There's not much of value back there," Hu Caiyun grumbled.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Yu Yuan replied with a smile.

Elena watched Yu Yuan, who was vying with Peach Madam for territory, and felt a sense of oddity. They were the true masters of the Ashen Hollow, the King of Bandits traversing the narrow margins. Why then, did Yu Yuan and Hu Caiyun exhibit the behavior of robbers upon seizing the higher ground?

"What an intriguing fellow," Elena said with a smile.

A dark golden sand bottle was reverently presented to Yu Yiyi by Chebus, who was wrapped in black and murmuring incessantly. Chebus bowed her head, seemingly too timid to meet Yu Yiyi's gaze.

Yu Yiyi accepted the bottle with a gentle nod.

Chebus withdrew with respect, continuing to direct the simple-minded Banes to seek out wonders in the other towers.

Whoosh!

Specks of dark golden light, bearing a weightless and ethereal vitality, cascaded onto Yu Yiyi like grains of sand.

Her form suddenly glowed, as if draped in a dark golden mist, and she stood up elegantly. Looking toward Yu Yuan on the balcony, she inquired with her spirit, "This land holds many magic items of relative rarity that could aid in the consolidation of my body."

"The real body, not just a spectral one!" Yu Yiyi clarified.

Yu Yuan gave a slight nod and telepathically responded, "Go ahead!"

He was aware that Yu Yiyi had already begun to form a physical body, though it had not yet undergone thorough purification and refinement, lacking significant breakthroughs and enhancements.

Much like himself, he possessed a flesh-and-blood body but had not subjected it to the rigors of the Evil Body Refining Technique for repeated fortification.

The Ashen Hollow, being the stronghold of the King of Bandits, was replete with many rare materials, some of which were exceedingly difficult to procure in the Everlands.

Yu Yiyi had undoubtedly targeted and secured numerous magic items that would benefit and bolster her strength. Hence her resolve.

Yu Yuan readily consented.

"Thank you, Master!"

Yu Yiyi's lips curled into a smile before her form receded back into the miniature cosmos within the cauldron.

The cauldron abruptly ascended from the platform and drifted towards the tower where the Grimlantern resided, to smelt those novel magic items and exotic crystals.

The Crucible of Evil, having sustained severe damage and the demise of formidable Banes, had reduced her once meticulously tempered physique to dust.

Years later, with a new master, she began to reconstruct her body anew amidst the remote reaches of the Star River.

"Is she the artifact soul of that cauldron?"

Elena watched Yu Yiyi maneuver the Crucible of Evil away, her expression a mix of surprise and contemplation. "It's like the Star-Spawned Terrors, who upon reaching a certain level, select or condense a body for themselves. Is that what she's doing?"

Yu Yuan snapped out of his reverie and fixed his gaze on Elena, who was visibly astonished. He playfully placed a finger under her slightly pointed chin and teased, "The souls of your Shura kind are so subtle they're nearly imperceptible. But tell me, do you really have the urge to kill me?"

He straightened up and leaned in closer, locking eyes with the fiery Shura girl. He inhaled deeply, savoring the unique woody scent emanating from her, and noticed a faint glimmer in the depths of Elena's eyes, betraying the latent intent to kill lurking within.

"Why do you say that?"

Elena, far from showing the typical shyness of most women when pressed against his chin, leaned in closer to him, her ample chest nearly touching his. "I told you before you even set foot on this land that I had taken quite a liking to you. In the vast expanses of the Everlands, there aren't many humans as intriguing as you, and most of them are quite old!"

"I have no interest in the elderly!"

Elena's eyes narrowed into a smile, her allure surpassing even that of the two witches from the inner demon clan nearby.

Human cultivators who managed to escape the Everlands were almost always over a hundred years old, often possessing peculiar Solar Spirit Bodies.

Those who had attained the Unbound Realm could be hundreds or even thousands of years old, so her referring to them as old timers was to be expected.

Yet, the Otherkin from the Star River in the extraterrestrial realms lived much longer than the humans of the Everlands, with lifespans stretching into the hundreds or thousands of years, making them merely youthful prodigies by comparison.

Yu Yuan felt an odd sensation when she mentioned her distaste for the aged.

Suddenly, Yu Yuan sensed something amiss. He gestured for the two witches to leave, then seized Elena by the neck and hoisted her into the air, dragging her back into the tower.

Thin wisps of purple light, fine as hair strands, were expelled from his nostrils.

The delicate purple light hissed in the air, and upon closer inspection, one could see it was actually a long Alien Bug resembling a Ruby Parasite.

Elena's face took on a slight change as she forcefully pried Yu Yuan's grip from her neck.

Standing tall inside the tower, she watched as the purple light was extinguished by tiny crimson sword lights. "The man I esteem cannot be a weakling; I was merely testing you," she said provocatively, tilting her head at Yu Yuan. She began to limber up her joints. "Let's spar and see the true extent of your strength."

A fierce and robust vitality burst forth from her fiery physique, transforming her in an instant into a raging dragoness.

Her knees, elbows, and shoulders sprouted natural spines, their sharpness reminiscent of the tip of a Grand Sword Immortal's blade.

"Alright," Lambing agreed with a nod. "I'll accompany you to the Ashen Hollow."

As they discussed their strategy, they couldn't help but think of the Star River and the Golden Trident, a legendary Luminescent Barrier that once protected the Everlands.