C1081

Several days later, near the desolate land Lin Zhuyun had departed from, a massive Songbird radiating the breath of ruin approached silently. On the verge of reaching this forgotten realm, the majestic Songbird transformed into a large nest.

Within the nest, space magic vibrated, intertwining the breath of ruin with the death aura. Beams of divine light wove through the void, opening a peculiar gateway that seemed to bridge the ancient and modern worlds.

A shadowy green figure emerged from the gateway, quickly assessed the direction, and then streaked down as a bolt of lightning into the world once inhabited by the Titan.

The nest reverted to the Songbird, which soared through the cosmos at a velocity rivaling the swiftest Voidfarer.

The Songbird Queen stood amidst the towering palace complex, her phoenix coronet withdrawn to reveal her flawless, enchanting visage.

With the power of merge, she could instantaneously reach any secular bird nest. At this moment, she had swiftly traveled from another region to the Everlands through the Nest of Perdition she had first refined.

The Songbird Queen, having merged with two secular bird nests, could return in an instant to those refined nests of death and ruin from anywhere in the starry expanse.

Now, she could descend upon Ionodios at will, and once the Nest of Perdition fell into the Godsblight Marsh, she could return to the vast Everlands in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Invisible to the naked eye, grey mists perceptible only to the souls of the most powerful beings, wafted from the bodies of the Titan dead for a hundred thousand years.

These mists, thick with death aura, carried the potent, undiminished death force, which now integrated seamlessly into the Songbird Queen's being.

The Titan corpses, uncorrupted and intact after eons, crumbled to dust as the grey mists departed from them. In moments, every Titan who had perished from the onslaught of death force was reduced to ash.

Xi Quan, who had been honing the Withered Sword, and Bai He, who had mastered the death force, had once visited this place. They could sense the residual death force within the remains and unlock its secrets, yet they lacked the ability to gather and refine it.

As Chen Qinghuang arrived, the death force lingering in the corpses surged into her like swallows homing to their nest.

Moments later, she stamped her foot gently.

The ground shook as towering stone columns, which would take a dozen people to encircle, shed their dusty veneer.

The cobwebs, splotched bloodstains, and dust on the vast castle's surface seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye.

The engravings on the castle walls, atop the stone columns, came into view.

Fierce and terrifying giant dragons with anchor-like claws and sinuous bodies were perched atop the columns, etched into the castle's rocky walls and the fissured stone floors.

"Dragons..." Chen Qinghuang whispered under her breath.

She observed that the dragons of this world bore a striking resemblance to those of the Everlands—there was little difference in their bodies, claws, or heads.

The most significant distinction was that the dragons depicted on the columns, walls, and floors had broad wings.

Winged giant dragons...

Lost in thought, Chen Qinghuang recalled the legendary Titan Spinosaurus, the cosmic giant beast revered by the Titan Clan.

The Titan Spinosaurus was among the most formidable lifeforms to emerge in the boundless expanse of the cosmos.

This cosmic giant beast was a legend passed down through the ages by all intelligent life.

The Titan legends spoke of their role as guardians of the Titan Spinosaurus, which had granted them infinite divine strength and bloodline gifts.

They claimed that before the Titan Spinosaurus vanished, they were the earliest of the intelligent species.

"The secular bird deliberately chose the Annihilation Nebula as her final battleground. And it's the Titan Clan that inhabits the Annihilation Nebula, venerating the Titan Spinosaurus. Her arrival turned the domains of the Titan Clan into realms of death," the Songbird Queen said, her brow furrowed.

"Skyreach Consortium and Boulderdawn have set up here. What could they be plotting? Surely, the Abyssal Leviathan didn't travel billions of miles without purpose."

This thought left Chen Qinghuang with a sense of unease.

...

In Ionodios, Yu Yuan, deeply engrossed in his cultivation, was jolted awake by a searing sensation in his arm bone. With a heavy heart, he attempted to reach out to the sword spirit.

The sword spirit sent a message: The presence of the Titanblade had briefly manifested.

Yu Yuan was startled, and he promptly rose from his meditation to communicate with Yu Yiyi via the cauldron spirit.

As the Silvermoon Queen had described, the Titanblade was abandoned in the Shura's enigmatic Dark Realm, suppressed by them, making its natural departure an impossibility.

The sword spirit, being part of the Divine Sword, had detected the Titanblade's presence for just an instant... What could this signify?

"The Shura..."

With a grave look, Yu Yuan departed from the hall.

Before long, he encountered Elena, with whom he had scarcely interacted since his arrival in Ionodios.

Also present were Fernand and Pattinson from the Shadowkin, who had both arrived in Ionodios.

The Ashen Hollow remained outside, and they, with their bandit origins, had been settled in a respectable area by the Skyreach Consortium, out of respect for Yu Yuan.

"Hey, what brings you here?"

Elena's delight was unmistakable, her eyes crinkling with a smile. "I know you must be incredibly busy, being the God of Medicine and all! I've been refining my bloodline lately. Imagine, me—an eighth-level warrior so young! If I were still with the Shura, I'd be gearing up to venture into the Dark Realm!"

She pumped her fists with pride.

Fernand, once a Shura General, seemed somewhat ill at ease. He and Pattinson had noticed that the locals, whether Kennard of the Shadowkin, Beru of the Starborn, or influential figures like Canli, were not the most welcoming.

Before his expulsion by the Shura, Fernand's own status and influence paled in comparison to theirs.

And now, reduced to a bandit?

The dignitaries in the nearby VIP area barely acknowledged them, their gazes laden with scorn and disdain, causing considerable discomfort.

Pattinson had attempted to ingratiate himself with these elites, only to be met with icy mockery.

The Shadowkin's Children of the Forest and their entourage were particularly harsh, their words as cutting as they were cruel, leaving Pattinson disheartened and no longer daring to make idle conversation.

Gradually, they came to terms with their identity and abandoned any unrealistic expectations.

"Yu Yuan, what brings you here?"

As Beru of the Starborn passed by the building, he caught a glimpse of Yu Yuan conversing with Elena and couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

"Just discussing some matters."

Yu Yuan responded with a smile and an apologetic gesture, signaling his desire to speak privately with Elena and the others.

Beru looked on with suspicion, eager to join in, but upon seeing the refusal in Yu Yuan's eyes, he reluctantly left.

Whoosh!

The Crucible of Evil was suddenly released, descending slowly.

"Let's continue inside."

Yu Yuan gestured to Elena and Fernand to follow. Noticing Pattinson hesitantly backing away, he reassured, "Come on in, there's nothing to worry about."

Pattinson, overcome with surprise, stepped closer.

Once the cauldron had settled, enveloping everyone, Yu Yuan was confident that not even President Lyi could eavesdrop on their conversation. He then began to describe the wonders of the sword spirit within his arm bone.

"The Dark Realm is a mysterious domain of the Shura. Are you aware of the current situation there?" Yu Yuan inquired earnestly.

Fernand, imposing and muscular, fell silent for a moment, pondering the question.

After some thought, he spoke with conviction and gravity, "If the Titanblade truly resides in the Dark Realm, and your sword spirit sensed it, then... it's likely that a Frost Well has appeared in the Annihilation Nebula. It's been opened, allowing access to the Dark Realm."

Yu Yuan, puzzled, asked, "And what does that imply?"

"It implies that the most intense darkness and ice energy from the Dark Realm could be unleashed," Fernand explained, shivering. "To put it in perspective, if a Frost Well connected Ionodios and the Dark Realm, all beings except for the eighth-level Shura, the Unbound, and ninth-level powerhouses would likely perish."

Yu Yuan was struck by a realization, recalling the scheme the platinum Shura had intended to execute in the Forgotten Ruins.

Could it be that some Shura elites were secretly orchestrating a similar plot?

"Our Shura race is naturally adapted to the frigid cold and darkness of the Dark Realm. Should the psionic power of the Dark Realm truly invade, Elena and I will not be significantly affected. However, your combat strength will be greatly diminished and suppressed by the Dark Realm's psionic power, reducing you to a level of combat effectiveness akin to a fallen state."

Fernand spoke with evident inner turmoil.

"Imagine, just imagine, if the Ionodios were to be overwhelmed by the Dark Realm's psionic power, and numerous Shura from the Dark Realm descended through the Frost Well, including the Blood King of my race..."

He paused, allowing Yu Yuan time to process the implications.

Finally, he added, "Under such circumstances, even the arrival of a God-King from Boulderdawn would be futile."

Shadowkin Pattinson gave a slight nod. "The Blood King is nearly invincible in the Dark Realm, or any place overwhelmed by its psionic power."

"I think I'm beginning to understand," Yu Yuan said, his mood growing somber. He fully grasped Fernand's point.

The Blood King in the Dark Realm, or any territory it has corrupted, is akin to the Untamed in the marshland, perhaps even more formidable. With the advantage of time, location, and unity, the peak power of a tenth-level bloodline causes the Dark Realm's psionic power to resonate with him. Not even the God-King of Boulderdawn or the arrival of the Abyssal Leviathan could necessarily stand against the Blood King.

Then, an image of the secular bird's nest flashed in his mind.

If the Nest of Perdition, in the form of the secular bird, were to fall into the Godsblight Marsh and Ionodios succumbed, with Chen Qinghuang perishing, could a vast wave of the Dark Realm's psionic power be channeled through the secular bird's nest into the Everlands?

The thought sent a chill through Yu Yuan.

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