C1255 Fearful
"She's still alive, just in a different way."
Upon realizing that the Sky Fiend indeed recognized the Frost Queen, Yu Yuan's demeanor became noticeably more relaxed.
As he spoke, his Lunar Spirit form continued to quietly probe the frigid and peculiar surroundings.
His remnant soul reached out, suddenly encountering numerous bloodlines infused with ice force. Slender beams of silver-white light filled the visible ice, rocks, and frozen rivers.
The Sky Fiend's bloodline and remnant soul had become one with the land, indistinguishable from each other.
Yet...
Yu Yuan sensed that the bloodline laws marked with the mysteries of extreme cold were disjointed and inconsistent.
Another force penetrated deep into the ice rock and the solidified rivers, fragmenting the Way of Frost and causing the once smoothly flowing river of laws to become muddled with an excess of psionic powers.
The presence of destruction and death aura was covert yet omnipresent.
Yu Yuan understood the situation.
The empress had extracted the Sky Fiend's physique, infusing it with her own mastered powers.
With the upper half of the Sky Fiend's body, she crafted a translucent prison, solidifying it into an Ice Shard, effectively trapping the Sky Fiend within, unable to break free from his own form.
"I should have realized..."
The Sky Fiend, half-illusory and half-real, wore a face of sorrow, "I am to blame, for my failure and incompetence in protecting the two young ladies."
He not only knew the Frost Queen but also seemed to bear a duty of protection if he was telling the truth.
"I am certain to meet her. From what you're implying, you... once guarded them?" Yu Yuan asked, surprised.
The ones who had ventured into the Everlands were a pair of sisters.
The Frost Queen, as the younger sister, was confined in the Embers Sea, destined to be transformed into a Bane.
The other had lingered in the depths of the Frozen Hellscape, only secretly arriving just before the emergence of the Abyssal Leviathan.
She had possessed Lin Zhuyun, using her as a vessel, and had her moment in the spotlight.
But as the Abyssal Leviathan's intentions shifted, she became Lin Zhuyun's bridal gown, subdued by Lin Zhuyun, who harnessed her power and devil soul to continuously grow in strength and status.
Her younger sister had become one of the mightiest Bane within the Crucible of Evil.
Her older sister had made sacrifices for Lin Zhuyun.
"Our chieftain was slain by the Dark Phoenix of Shadow's Keep, plunging our clan into turmoil. It was the same old story. The clan's original elders demanded certain heirlooms, leading to a clash with the two young ladies. I helped them flee, sustaining grave injuries that left me in this state."
"The ladies, having learned that the holy weapon of our clan was taken as a trophy by the Dark Phoenix, were hell-bent on infiltrating the Everlands to retrieve it."
"They opted to traverse a hidden Wintermaw, leveraging the Frostfiend's power to stealthily penetrate the Everlands."
The Sky Fiend, overcome with pessimism and a sense of helplessness, sighed and shook his head.
Yu Yuan had already been aware of these events, having heard them from the Lunarphite.
An ancestor of the Frost Queen, alongside the chieftain of the Star-Spawned Terror and the venerable patriarch of the Blood Fiend, had banded together to defeat the Lunarphite, feasting on the flesh and soul of the Dark Deity.
In retaliation, the Dark Phoenix of Shadow's Keep executed the Demon God of the Frostfiend.
Subsequently, the Frostfiend never recovered.
"Their plans were wildly optimistic, unaware of the risks. After my last injury, realizing I could no longer protect them, I drew the pursuers away to the Brugeth. This is what I've become. Yet, I later heard that they somehow managed to make it into the Everlands."
"But what of it? They're either dead or captives now. What other fate could await them?"
He paused, his gaze turning icy, "Who has them imprisoned? Is living in such a state more agonizing than death?"
The biting cold was his own ice force, struggling to escape the empress's seal, eager to transform his rage into an ice tempest and exact a toll on Yu Yuan.
But as he attempted to harness his power, his lower half, resembling a scorpion's tail, suddenly burst apart.
The Sky Fiend instantly regained his composure.
"Let's do this: I'll find you a different place to heal. Once she... and I are reunited, I'll have her visit you," Yu Yuan offered with a smile.
The Sky Fiend was taken aback.
Within the cavern, Yu Yuan's real body called forth the Dragon Slaying Stage from the acupoint's little world. The elongated platform, resembling a piece of jade shrouded in murky clouds, radiated an extraordinary mystical light. Yet, its interior seemed to be enshrouded in mist, concealing its wonders from view. Nonetheless, it was clear to anyone who saw it that this was no ordinary object.
"This thing?" Yan Ziyang was astonished.
Yu Yuan responded with a nonchalant smile, "Clearly, you have much to learn about me."
Yan Ziyang's ignorance of the Dragon Slaying Stage indicated that his information on Yu Yuan was severely outdated. Perhaps his involvement with the Crucible of Evil and the Terror Claws sect had drawn Yan Ziyang's attention, but he was unaware of Yu Yuan's actions or what he had taken with him upon departing from the Everlands.
"There's no need to rush the refinement process. This Frostfiend and I share a certain connection; I'll handle it."
Without further explanation, Yu Yuan, clutching the Dragon Slaying Stage, cast a sidelong glance at Chen Qinghuang, inwardly hoping that the empress wouldn't suddenly awaken and devour the platform.
Chen Qinghuang's breathing was even, showing no signs of disturbance.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Yu Yuan facilitated a connection between his Lunar Spirit and real body. Extending his hand, he grasped the Ice Shard and established contact with the Lunar Spirit within.
Then, holding the Ice Shard, he located the precise direction and pressed it into the opposite side of the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Effortlessly, the Ice Shard, containing his Lunar Spirit, reached the burial site of the Frost Wyrm within the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The palm-sized Ice Shard, once the domain of the Frost Queen and instrumental in her ascension, instantly formed numerous visible fissures.
From within the Ice Shard, Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit vividly observed the collapse of the icy mountains and the rupture of the terrain in the frigid microcosm.
Innumerable ice rocks, solid ice, and ice spheres shattered explosively.
The Demon God-level Sky Fiend watched in terror as the psionic power that bound and constrained him was obliterated by the overwhelming force of the Cosmic Orders, instilling an innate fear in the devil soul.
The ordeal was over in a flash.
The diminutive Ice Shard was obliterated by the rules of another little world within the Dragon Slaying Stage.
As the ice shards and debris descended to the earth, the Sky Fiend, shivering with trepidation, attempted to reassemble them.
Throughout this ordeal, he kept a vigilant eye on Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit for any sign of a response.
Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit beamed with a smile full of encouragement.
With that, his worries subsided.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, Yu Yuan, clutching the Dragon Slaying Stage and sensing the tumultuous changes within, was equally anxious as he monitored Chen Qinghuang's every action.
The force that had once resided in the Dragon Slaying Stage inevitably clashed with the empress's power as it shattered the Ice Shard.
He was aware that Chen Qinghuang must have felt it in her slumber.
His fear stemmed from his own curiosity to test whether the empress could maintain control when confronted with the Dragon Slaying Stage leaving his acupoint and the tantalizing divine pill. Would she truly transform into the secular bird and consume the power within the Dragon Slaying Stage?
The empress's long eyelashes quivered faintly, as though sensing something imminent.
Yu Yuan held his breath in anticipation.
After a tense wait, prepared to flee at a moment's notice, he noticed the empress gradually returning to tranquility, continuing her deep sleep without any inclination to awaken.
It felt like an eternity had elapsed before Yu Yuan truly exhaled in relief and once more placed the Dragon Slaying Stage within his acupoint.
