C1091 Ancient Battlefield
In the vicinity of Ionodios, there lay a Star River.
Two towering landmasses stood erect, like mountains, creating an unusual "valley" between them.
This "valley" served as a gateway to a surging sea of golden light.
Golden bolts of lightning darted through the "valley," tracing the trajectory of metal magic and unveiling the intricacies of the rule.
On either side of the "valley," two resplendent golden towers stood, their vertical pupils casting an indifferent gaze upon the "valley" below.
Before the "valley," gray, withered trees of colossal height swayed like enormous feathers in the breeze.
Perched upon the branches were an assortment of experts, dire beasts, and Warpbeasts.
A scent of decay, desolation, and antiquity wafted from this forest and the sea of Warpbeasts.
Boom!
The gray withered trees, like immense fans, struck the golden light within the "valley," causing sparks to scatter.
Many Warpbeasts clinging to the trees were pierced by the golden lightning, their oozing, putrid flesh instantly perforated, yet they managed to heal rapidly.
The Star River in front of the "valley" brimmed with an unprecedented level of corrupt energy, seemingly providing endless support to the Warpbeasts.
Indeed, nine days had passed...
Nine days prior, President Lyi had arrived, manipulating the Way of Heaven to draw the two landmasses together, thus constructing the "valley."
A barrier of golden light was formed to halt the advance of the gray withered trees and the multitude of Warpbeasts.
The vile psionic power flanking the "valley" was extracted, absorbed into the two landmasses.
Consequently, a Land of Nothingness emerged, a place so alien that the Warpbeasts instinctively resisted and even feared it.
This left the Warpbeasts with a stark choice: either breach the barrier of the golden light within the "valley" or retreat and exit the Annihilation Nebula entirely.
There was no alternative path.
Thus, the countless Warpbeasts relentlessly and repeatedly charged at the "valley" and the golden light, attempting to break through.
Not one Warpbeast nor a single withered tree turned back.
On the tenth day, a Titan warrior, draped in ancient armor and emanating a decaying, gray aura, emerged from the route previously taken by the Warpbeasts and mutated beasts.
This Titan warrior had become a demon, his form twisted by the corrupt energies from beyond our world. His face was mostly decayed, with dark brown eyes that emitted a light of distortion and chaos. Towering at thirty meters, he dwarfed most of his kin from the Titan Clan. Upon his arrival, the desiccated trees parted as if by their own volition, clearing a path for him. The Warpbeasts perched upon these trees fell eerily silent, as though anticipating something.
Whoosh!
The corrupted Titan warrior surged forward, making his way toward the "valley."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless murky, gray currents of air escaped from the branches of the withered trees, funneling into the robust and towering Titan. The mutated warrior seemed invigorated with boundless combat strength, the patterns on his ancient, tattered armor glowing with renewed vigor, as if reawakened.
Boom!
Enveloped in fearsome power, he, along with his armor, surged like a gray torrent into the golden sea of light within the "valley." In an instant, he was engulfed by the golden light, bombarded by relentless bolts of electricity.
The golden ocean began to expand outward, and within it, he was entwined by countless golden electric snakes. In silence, he struggled against the electrified grip, tearing through the lightning in a desperate bid for freedom.
Meanwhile, in Ionodios...
President Lyi, who was vigilantly overseeing the Divine Artifact, was abruptly roused from his watch.
...
On the third floor of the building that the Chamber of Commerce had specifically constructed for Yu Yuan, Tong Laoqian placed the Jade Tower cabinet, which housed the Baneblade known as Bloodhell.
Yu Yuan passed a batch of freshly crafted pills to Tong Laoqian, briefly detailing their potent effects and the price they could fetch in the Everlands. Tong Laoqian, no stranger to this task, had become quite adept at selling these pills.
After receiving the pills, he posed a few questions about aspects he was less familiar with. Once Yu Yuan gestured a farewell, Tong Laoqian took his leave.
Ann Ziqing, along with Luo Yue and Wen Lu, had not accompanied Yu Yuan on his return. Luo Yue, with Wen Lu in tow, ventured to a different hall to assess the pills and to procure materials necessary for their alchemical endeavors.
Ann Ziqing set out to sell the remains of dire beasts and archdemons, aiming to purchase items that would bolster her vitality.
In the training room on the third floor, Yu Yuan stood alone, his gaze fixed on the counter before him and the Baneblade named Bloodhell within it. As he hesitated...
The regal Songbird Queen, adorned in a dragon robe and phoenix crown, materialized before him like a specter. Her voice was gentle yet carried an air of authority as she spoke, "Yu Yuan, I will take you elsewhere to attempt the refinement of Bloodhell."
Yu Yuan instinctively felt at ease with her, despite not knowing why. Moreover, he had disregarded the advice of others and purchased the Baneblade for the steep price of 30,000 Soul Crystals, influenced by a secret impulse she had sent him just before descending the stairs.
"Alright," he agreed, enveloping the counter with beams of spiritual energy.
"Brace yourself; we are going to travel quite a distance," she warned without removing her phoenix crown. Approaching Yu Yuan, she offered her hand, "Take my hand."
Without a second thought, Yu Yuan clasped her hand, which was as white and cool as carved jade, its touch soothingly smooth. As their hands gripped firmly, he sensed the accelerated heartbeat of the most powerful empress in history.
Suddenly, a psionic power burst forth, halting his heartbeat and nearly choking him with the sensation of destruction and rebirth. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he felt consumed by twin infinite vortices, his blood, flesh, soul, and all thoughts and consciousness plunging into their depths.
"There's nothing to worry about. We are headed to the location of the Nest of Perdition," Chen Qinghuang's soothing voice echoed from deep within Yu Yuan's soul, calming him and preventing any rash reactions as he submitted to her guidance.
Soon after, Yu Yuan's head spun, and he lost all sense of time and place.
...
Billions of miles away, the scene was no longer that of the Star River in the Annihilation Nebula. The stars above twinkled like scattered diamonds.
Beneath the luminous Star River, a rift tore through the wall, revealing a land brimming with corrupt energy.
Across the land flowed a dark red river, with scorched mountains and countless deep ravines dotting the landscape. Signs of battle from terrifyingly powerful beings were everywhere, making this world seem like an ancient battlefield where the mightiest of the Star River had once fought to their deaths.
With a whoosh, Yu Yuan and the Songbird Queen materialized within a massive bird nest suspended in the heavens. Upon their arrival, the nest, which exuded a breath of ruin, transformed back into the Songbird. It chirped joyfully at Yu Yuan and Chen Qinghuang before soaring back into the Infinite Galaxy.
"It's returning to the Everlands. I can teleport back here anytime," she said, effortlessly slipping Yu Yuan's hand off hers. She removed her phoenix crown, allowing her cascading black hair to fall naturally down her elegant back, unveiling her perfect, breathtaking visage. Her beauty was beyond words, ethereal and almost too otherworldly to be real.
"Yu Yuan, you can try here," she suggested, gesturing to a relatively flat stretch of the shattered earth. "Legend has it that many years ago, Nie Qingtian brandished the Titanblade here, decimating the Otherkin's Allied Army that was encamped. This Domain's Heaven and Earth were destroyed as a result, with the wall and the earth itself cleaved by the sword light."
Yu Yuan was astonished. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the ravines, stretching tens of thousands of meters, were indeed carved by the sword light.
Just then, a familiar, resplendent peacock emerged in the starry sky where the Songbird had departed. Amid the dazzling starlight, the immense, colorful peacock was both strikingly beautiful and exceedingly cautious.
"Peacock Queen!" Yu Yuan exclaimed, his complexion draining as he hastily retreated several steps, maintaining a distance from Chen Qinghuang.
The appearance of the Peacock Queen could only mean one thing: the archdemon of the evilkind was also orchestrating its schemes from beyond. What could Chen Qinghuang's intentions be in bringing him here?
