C1252 After Fear

The Frostfiend, also referred to as the Icefiend or Scorpion Tail Fiend, is a branch of the extraterrestrial Star-Spawned Terrors. At the height of their power, they boasted a tenth-level Demon God among their ranks. However, the Frostfiend clan has long since lost its former splendor, with no Demon God emerging for an extended period.

In comparison to the nearly extinct Moonfiend clan, the Frostfiend fared much better, but still fell short when measured against the thriving Blood Fiend clan. In fact, they were even less formidable than the Frostfiend group that allied with the Blood Fiend.

A ninth-level Demon God was a figure of considerable stature among the Frostfiend, yet here one was, concealed within this chilly, shadowy cavern, having dispersed their devil soul and merged it with the rock walls, the Frost Vein, and the underground cavities. This revelation took Yu Yuan by surprise. Shouldn't a Demon God return to their kin and lead the Frostfiend to prosperity?

"I'm gravely injured. Only a small portion of my devil soul remains, and it's too weak..." Chen Qinghuang, her fingers as pale as white jade, clutched the Ice Shard. Her eyes, a pale green, seemed to brim with boundless vitality. Her demeanor was calm, yet her gaze, filled with curiosity, remained fixed on the devil soul within the Ice Shard.

Yu Yuan, acquainted with the Frost Queen through the Crucible of Evil, contemplated briefly before speaking. "This meteorite, infused with a Frost Vein, must be this Frostfiend's sanctuary for healing. And you..." He turned to Yan Ziyang, whose expression was rigid, "have been unwittingly influenced by his dark will. Your slaying of Winter's Bite and Sunlit Order cultivators has inadvertently aided him. Those who perished here, their Solar Spirits shattered, dispersing their souls across the Frozen Abyss."

"As you're aware, the souls of human cultivators are a prized feast for Sky Fiends."

"Their deaths here, assimilated into the Frozen Abyss, allowed the Sky Fiend to covertly consume their souls, aiding in his recovery. It's also likely that he subtly assisted you during your battles."

Yu Yuan delivered his insights deliberately.

Yan Ziyang felt a chill that wasn't from the cold. Upon reflection, he began to recognize the accuracy of Yu Yuan's deductions, likely close to the mark.

After discovering the Frozen Abyss, his resentment toward the Sunlit Order grew stronger with each passing day, until he finally took action. In his skirmishes with the cultivators from the Sunlit Order and Winter's Bite, their strongest members would inexplicably lose control of their souls at critical moments, as if their minds were invaded by a malevolent chill, leaving their consciousness frozen. Thus, even those of equal cultivation were swiftly slain by him in those moments.

He had once believed that his victories were due to his resonance with the Frozen Abyss, using a pseudo-merge technique to influence his opponents' consciousness with the harsh laws of this place. Now, it seemed likely that the Frostfiend had been covertly assisting him, securing his ultimate triumph.

With the enemy vanquished and their soul scattered throughout the cavern, the Frostfiend seized the chance to consume the remnants and regain its strength. The image of this possibility surfaced in Yan Ziyang's mind: the day when the Frostfiend, with his aid, would fully restore its lost power, then either consume his soul or take over his body.

"Who is this person?"

Yan Ziyang inhaled deeply, his face etched with anxiety as he turned to Chen Qinghuang, his eyes brimming with questions. A grievously wounded ninth-level Demon God had been concealed in this cave for untold years, and he had been completely oblivious. How could the exquisite woman Yu Yuan was carrying discern this truth? And how did she so effortlessly gather the dispersed dark will of the Frostfiend into a crystallized form for containment?

"She's my sister," Yu Yuan said with a smile.

Chen Qinghuang shot him a quick look, then flicked the Ice Shard in her hand, sending a gleaming trail of frosty light spiraling toward Yan Ziyang. Caught off guard, Yan Ziyang scrambled to erect a magic circle. Soul Power and ice energy surged from his palms, coalescing into an enigmatic field at his chest where cold fog swirled, his remnant soul condensing into clusters of Frost Spirits.

"The Wraithcult certainly has some tricks up its sleeve," Yu Yuan remarked quietly.

Yan Ziyang's invoked spells and mystique bore the essence of commanding ghostly spirits, with his soul remnants forming the densest clusters of frost-bound spirits.

Within him, there remained a fragment of a soul that was not his own. This alien soul, trapped and refined within the Solar Spirit Body, could merge with his own strength during battle, transforming into a weapon against his foes.

"I won't lie to you; knowing you hail from the Terror Claws made me feel a natural affinity toward you," Yan Ziyang confessed. As he spoke, a crystal imprisoning a Frostfiend descended into the thick white mist enveloping his chest, while a sycophantic smile spread across his face. "The Wraithcult fell after the Terror Claws, and I'm well aware that before the Terror Claws vanished, our Wraithcult..."

"Uh, was a vassal to the Terror Claws."

Sizzle sizzle!

Deep within the cold fog, clusters of souls stirred, and one could discern the delicate shimmer of ice in the void.

Yu Yuan's eyes widened in astonishment.

The area around Yan Ziyang's chest, crafted from cold spiritual energy and interwoven with clusters of Frost Spirits, exuded a cold fog that subtly shared the same essence as the "Soul Shatter" rune circle formed by the Bane.

"The Wraithcult, too, understands the art of commanding ghosts and spirits," Yan Ziyang muttered to himself.

Yu Yuan pondered deeply. If he were to take Yan Ziyang's words at face value, he might suspect that Yan Ziyang was merely trying to ingratiate himself by fabricating a connection between the Wraithcult and the Terror Claws.

However, the arrangement of the Frost Spirits and the aura emanating from the cold fog in Yan Ziyang's chest suggested that he wasn't fabricating the truth. The Wraithcult, destroyed by the Sunlit Order, likely had profound ties to the Terror Claws!

This newfound understanding of their connection caused Yu Yuan to view Yan Ziyang in a much more favorable light.

"Focus on that Ice Shard for now. If you can't handle the Frostfiend inside, I'll find a way to assist you. Also, try to activate that meteorite shrouded in cold energy and guide it toward the Astral Domain of the Wingkind," Yu Yuan instructed.

"The Astral Domain of the Wingkind?" Yan Ziyang furrowed his brow. "Yu Yuan, this meteorite remains still, and by silencing the strange howls, it goes unnoticed. But once it starts moving, it will draw immediate attention. The Otherkin and cultivators roaming the Brugeth Astral Domain might set their sights on it."

"It's fine," Yu Yuan said with composure.

"Alright then," Yan Ziyang replied, steeling himself.

Yu Yuan had moved on from Yan Ziyang and was now standing shoulder to shoulder with Chen Qinghuang. "How much do you remember?"

The empress before him appeared much younger than when they first met, seemingly in her late teens, radiating the essence of youth. Yet to Yu Yuan, she seemed ethereal, as if she were a mere illusion.

There was no trace of a remnant soul, vitality, or spiritual energy.

She was right there before him, yet she emitted no aura that one would expect from a living being—like a feather, a stone, or even the void of air itself.

He was convinced that even the ninth-level Otherkin cultivators or the Unbound realm cultivators, upon extending their senses, would only detect Yan Ziyang and himself, completely oblivious to the empress's presence. To the powerful beings of the outside world, the empress was an absence, a void.

"I recall a few things," Chen Qinghuang stated, her voice as steady as a still pond.

The enigma surrounding her deepened in Yu Yuan's perception, becoming more impenetrable.

"Shall I escort you to the Wingkind's Astral Domain?" Yu Yuan ventured.

Chen Qinghuang gave a slight nod but remained silent.

Yu Yuan noticed her gaze fixated on the Frost Vein within the river, her attention seemingly captured by some arcane and elusive problem.

With her disinclined to converse, Yu Yuan resigned himself to sharing in her silence.

Time passed indeterminately until she abruptly remarked, "The Lin family's girl is also in this fragmented Star River."

"Lin Zhuyun?!" Yu Yuan was taken aback.

Chen Qinghuang nodded once more.

A sudden tension gripped Yu Yuan's heart.

His anxiety stemmed not from his nominal fiancée, who had often been bested by him, but from the Abyssal Leviathan!

If Lin Zhuyun, who had been claimed by the Abyssal Leviathan in Brugeth, was now in the same domain, then it was possible that the Abyssal Leviathan was there as well.

In the expanse of the Infinite Galaxy, the entity Yu Yuan feared most was the cosmic giant beast that had once been subdued in the Embers Sea.

The thought of that vicious brute entering the extraterritorial battlefield gave him an uneasy feeling that something was amiss.

"Could they be targeting you?" Yu Yuan suddenly asked.

"..."