C1045 Poor Guy
In the starlit heavens, the priestess of the Moonlit Wanderers, Bertha, the mistress of the waning moon, set aside her Lunar Wand. Her face was etched with sorrow as she bowed her head, resigning herself to Gull's possession.
Gull, who had dwelled within her for years, knew her intimately. With her unresisting, he could swiftly merge with her essence and attain true Divine Level power. The ancient Moonfiend, a ninth level Demon God with a Moonlit Wanderer's body, was beyond comparison to the likes of Rosny of the Shadowkin or Calves, the rogue of the Moonlit Wanderers. The Sky Fiend, after all, was the mightiest race at the first level of the extraterrestrial hierarchy.
"You!" Gull's gaze was a tumult of love and resentment as he stared at her. His towering specter shook but he held back from taking action.
Yu Yuan let out a mocking laugh, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Who would have thought that you, a scion of the Moonfiend, could fall for a Moonlit Wanderer woman? Tsk tsk, so much for the rumors. Who would dare claim now that the ancient Moonfiend only ever saw the men and women of the Moonlit Wanderers as mere cattle and lambs?"
The look Gull gave Bertha was brimming with deep affection. This was not paternal or sympathetic love, but rather the profound emotions of a man for a woman, laced with a desire to possess. Had it not been for his profound love, Gull, the ancient Demon God of the Moonfiend, would have seized the chance to possess and refine Bertha long ago. He would have used her Moonlit Wanderer lineage to further perfect the Moonfiend arcane arts and harvest the purest moon energy from the remnants of the moon, using the Moonfiend methods to temper both soul and body. Such a path would have not only restored Gull's power but made him even stronger, potentially laying the groundwork for his rise to the status of a great Demon God.
"Silence!" Gull roared in rage.
Shadows emerged from his spirited body, unfurling like the vast tentacles of a monstrous creature, reaching out into the darkness around them.
The many lights of Ashen Hollow seemed to flicker and change, almost as if reacting to Gull's shifting emotions.
Bertha from the Moonlit Wanderers, however, remained silent, her head bowed, unaffected by Yu Yuan's mockery. It was clear she was well aware of Gull's deep affection for her, and she harbored no fear that the demon within her would one day consume her, allowing her to traverse the world in her own form.
"How touching," remarked Peach Madam, her smile irritatingly smug. She glanced between Bertha and Gull, then cast a malicious look at Yue Fei and the Silvermoon Queen. "Lee Yupan, better watch out. These ancient Moonfiends from the extraterrestrial realms seem off. The one inside you might have feelings for you too. Oh! Both of you are women, how revolting!" She waved her hand dismissively, as if to brush away filth from her sight.
At her words, the Silvermoon Queen's face turned icy and rigid, while Yue Fei's gaze briefly became vacant.
"You're the one who provoked him; you handle it," Yu Yuan said with a forced chuckle, turning to see streams of moon energy shooting across Ashen Hollow like shooting stars.
The sheer power of the moon energy within those 'meteors' sent a shiver through him. He realized that if these beams of refined lunar brilliance were to bombard Ashen Hollow, the King of Bandits' abode would be obliterated.
Even if he could seize the opportunity to escape, the loss of Ashen Hollow would significantly delay his journey to the Annihilation Nebula.
"Gull, you take out Yu Yuan. I'll handle that foul-mouthed woman," Yue Fei called out sharply, as a figure suddenly soared from the distant land.
The dashing King of Bandits, Calves, made his entrance. Sharing the bloodline of the Moonlit Wanderers and aided by the Silvermoon Queen, he had used a concealed pathway and arrived just in time.
"Who killed Lambing?" Calves demanded as he drew near, and the mechanisms within the shattered Golden Trident began to whir back to life.
The Golden Trident flared with brilliance once more before its light receded again. It had been summoned to break free from the Ashen Hollow and return to Calves' grasp, but the severe damage it had sustained made this nearly impossible.
"It's me."
Yu Yuan flashed a grin, eyeing the King of Bandits, a figure whose reputation preceded him. He then glanced at Yue Fei and could sense the unfolding of events. "Poor guy."
"Lee Yupan! Hmm? Who are you?"
Calves had yet to step into the Ashen Hollow when he caught sight of the Silvermoon Queen and then Yue Fei, clad in her floor-length gown. A wave of fear and trembling arose from the depths of his lineage, alerting him to the presence of his destined adversary.
The Moonlit Wanderers had been subjugated by the ancient Moonfiend for eons, their bloodline etched with a seed of fear that would erupt uncontrollably upon confrontation.
"Moon, Moonfiend! Two of them?!"
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Calves didn't dare linger on the thought, not even the death of his son Lambing. He spun around, intent on fleeing with all haste.
But he found the Moonlit Wanderers' blood coursing through him utterly subdued.
He stood motionless, suspended in the void.
Yue Fei rose gracefully, her gown trailing behind her as she ascended. Her crescent-shaped eyes sparkled, casting forth a myriad of enigmatic moon symbols.
These luminous moon symbols descended upon Calves like chains intent on ensnaring his soul. They infiltrated his being, his soul, his bloodline, as if forcibly switching allegiance to a new master, leaving him without any say.
Only after did Yue Fei take her place at his brow, seizing control of his soul and commandeering his body.
Moments later, Calves' eyes morphed into an odd crescent shape, and he twisted his lips into a strained, uncanny smile.
Even as a ninth level bloodline expert from the Moonlit Wanderers, the King of Bandits stood powerless against Yue Fei.
In mere moments, she had possessed his soul and begun the process of usurpation.
With a whoosh, Yue Fei, now inhabiting Calves' body, made her return to the Ashen Hollow. She gave Lee Yupan a nod, assuring her there was no need for concern, before gently gliding toward the Rainbow Ocean where Peach Madam awaited.
During the transformation, Calves's bloodline hissed as subtle changes occurred throughout his body. His skin, bones, internal organs, and hair all began to alter.
He was gradually taking on the appearance of Yue Fei...
Calves's masculine features vanished in moments, replaced by a fuller chest, a slender waist, and a face that grew smoother, with longer eyelashes.
The eerie transformation left Yu Yuan and Peach Madam stunned and slightly horrified.
Calves, who had just been a man, was rapidly changing as Yue Fei's spirit took residence. He was metamorphosing from male to a woman with pronounced feminine traits.
"Is this the ultimate refinement, the true usurpation?"
Yu Yuan furrowed his brow, glancing involuntarily at Bertha, who was looking down. He wondered, if Gull were to possess Bertha...
Would Bertha turn from an old woman into an old man?
"Die!"
Gull's fierce cry unleashed innumerable blades of light, forged from pure moon energy and Soul Power, raining down in a torrent.
The ancient Moonfiend Demon God transformed into a wisp of ghostly light, darting towards Yu Yuan's Mindscape, intent on shattering Yu Yuan's spirit with his most adept technique.
"No! Don't enter his mind!"
In that instant, Yue Fei, having entered the Rainbow Ocean, seemed to suddenly recall a dreadful memory. She urgently cautioned Gull, "Do not enter his mind with your own spirit!"
Back in the Forgotten Ruins, she and the Silvermoon Queen had ventured into the little world within the platinum Shura's gaze.
She vividly remembered seeing a colossal phantom emerge from Yu Yuan's spirit.
To this day, she couldn't fathom the nature of that immense phantom, why it resided within Yu Yuan, or the extent of its power.
Yet, whenever she revisited that memory, she felt a profound sense of helplessness.
She didn't want Gull to fall into the same trap she had.
