C1265 Fearful
The newcomer wore a faint smile as she arrived.
Dressed in a floral maxi dress, she touched down and immediately reprimanded the Tar-Backed Bull before mentioning Shadow's Keep's previous amicability toward Yu Yuan.
Noticing Yu Yuan's expression grow stern, she wisely fell silent.
She then nonchalantly moved next to the towering, dark-skinned man, crouched down, and peered intently into a hole that led underground.
The Tar-Backed Bull, seemingly uncomfortable with her proximity, awkwardly backed away, maintaining a deliberate distance.
This subtle behavior caught Yu Yuan off guard and put him on alert.
Memories of his history with Shadow's Keep and its members flooded his mind, stirring a mix of emotions.
He vividly recalled his journey into the Godsblight Marsh at the invitation of the Python Queen, Xu Zixi, a gesture he knew represented the intentions of Shadow's Keep.
His acceptance by the sword spirit of the Titanblade within the Moonfall Sanctuary was a significant event.
Shadow's Keep had always shown him kindness, possibly due to Yu Zhu. Both Zixi and the esteemed Golden Elephant God had extended offers of alliance, all of which he had declined.
Later, when the Yu family faced adversity, with the Ethereal Void Sect and the Devil Palace leading the charge against them, it was Shadow's Keep that maneuvered on their behalf.
At first glance, Shadow's Keep appeared to have been good to him.
Yet...
Images of the colossal eight-legged spider being slain by the purple phoenix in the extraterrestrial realm, and the recent vision of the Peacock Queen impaled by a purple feather, involuntarily surfaced in Yu Yuan's mind.
If the supreme leader of Shadow's Keep could personally dispatch the eight-legged spider, how could he be oblivious to Yu Zhu's lineage?
Why then did he take such pleasure in nurturing Yu Zhu?
Furthermore, why was Shadow's Keep increasingly open to embracing and recruiting human prodigies?
By imparting the dark arts, talents like Xu Zixi, Zhan Tianxiang, and Zhao Yafu were integrated into Shadow's Keep. What deeper purpose did this serve?
The dark arts they practiced, akin to those of the Forgeroses and the Terror Claws, also emphasized physical fortitude.
Zhan Tianxiang possessed the demonic Elephant God Mark within him, as well as the Elephant God's power. Python Queen Xu Zixi had mastered countless pythons, bending them to her will. Zhao Yafu, a disciple of the Moonfang Tiger, rapidly advanced in her cultivation journey.
Those who joined Shadow's Keep practiced unique dark arts, yet adhered to the traditional cultivation system of the Everlands' human race.
They were no different from the cultivators of the upper sects, the Devil Palace, and the lower sects.
The archdemons of Shadow's Keep were not categorized into levels from one to ten based on their lineage.
It seemed as though Shadow's Keep had intentionally crafted new dark arts specifically for humans.
For instance, when the cultivators from Boulderdawn ventured into the extraterrestrial realms, they adopted a completely new cultivation method, enabling Otherkin with special bloodlines to practice using the human spiritual energy system.
Yu Yuan's mind was awash with thoughts.
Having escaped the Everlands and encountered numerous Otherkin, he uncovered many secrets. Through the Altar of Rebirth and the lifeblood of various powerful beings, he amassed a wealth of knowledge. This led to his unique perspective on the power and bloodlines of all creatures, altering the way he viewed the world.
He intuitively felt that Shadow's Keep had been evolving with the times, becoming increasingly powerful.
He recalled that initially, Shadow's Keep did not welcome humans.
At some point, Shadow's Keep began to seek out talented individuals from Aetherius, inducting them and imparting the dark arts.
Children, young men, and women could embark on a path of cultivation through the dark arts of Shadow's Keep, much like those from the three upper sects and the Devil Palace.
Yet, to date, no human cultivator of the dark arts has ever risen to the esteemed ranks of the Shadow's Keep's Dark Deities.
The Unbound represented the pinnacle for those human practitioners of the dark arts.
Yu Yuan stroked his chin, his gaze flickering thoughtfully. Viewing the matter from a different perspective, he sensed that the changes within Shadow's Keep and its recruitment of human cultivators undoubtedly held a deeper significance.
However, he couldn't grasp it just yet.
The Tar-Backed Bull and the newly arrived female archdemon exchanged a few words and became significantly more patient, refraining from rushing underground.
They thought calmly about Chen Qinghuang's predicament and communicated through their mystique.
The female archdemon remained crouched, not questioning Yu Yuan, seemingly oblivious to the Baneblade known as Bloodhell, which had conjured a sea of blood. She appeared not to notice the Sky-Shaking Ape, once a member of Shadow's Keep, now grown massive.
After a short time.
"Lord Green Willow, was it because of you that you were freed?"
The woman, whose original form was a fish, suddenly looked up, her eyes shimmering with a curious light, as she abruptly posed the question.
"This is hardly a secret," Yu Yuan replied coolly.
"Commander, your status in the depths of the Star River in the extraterrestrial realms far surpassed that of the Sky-Shaking Ape."
The woman finally glanced at the Bloodwraith of the Sky-Shaking Ape, which had suffered from the Baneblade's backlash.
Her lips curled in disdain, "I find it regrettable for the commander. He is the leader of the Everlands' aquatic evilkind. He should have ascended to Dark Deity before Lord Astral Tiger."
"Mind your words!" barked the Tar-Backed Bull.
"What can't be said?" the woman retorted with a huff, her eyes filling with resentment, "Consider this: our Shadow's Keep could have had four Dark Deities! The Great Commander is confined in the Sword Prison, surely due to human interference. Were it not for them, our evilkind would boast five great Dark Deities."
"And that includes the one from the Marsh!"
The mysterious woman openly defended Green Willow in front of Yu Yuan.
Her demeanor showed great reverence for Green Willow, who, imprisoned in the Sword Prison for years, seemed to be the pride of the Everlands' aquatic evilkind in her eyes.
Regarding Astral Tiger, she showed little respect, her attitude nonchalant.
Yu Yuan's thoughts shifted, and he suddenly recalled Green Willow, harboring his own deep-seated grievances against Shadow's Keep.
Green Willow harbored a great deal of resentment and confusion, all seemingly rooted in the Dark Phoenix.
He was confined within the Sword Prison, unlike the eight-legged spider or the Peacock Queen who met their ends in the alien Star River. It was unclear whether the Dark Phoenix had shown mercy or if she was simply too formidable. Killing her might lead to complications far outweighing any potential gains.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One by one, the frenzied Golden Rock Beasts continued to arrive from all directions, gradually making their presence known.
Upon seeing the Golden Rock Beasts, the woman's face lit up with schadenfreude. She gestured to the Tar-Backed Bull and remarked, "Ogeus would be heartbroken to know that so many of his kin perished here."
The Tar-Backed Bull snickered maliciously, "I have no ties to Ogeus."
"Neither do I," the woman said with a bizarre laugh.
They both noted that this batch of eighth-level Golden Rock Beasts had lost their spiritual wisdom before even reaching the meteorite, regressing from evilkind to mere Fellbeasts.
Neither archdemon had a good relationship with Ogeus; had it been another archdemon, they might have intervened. But since it was the Golden Rock Beasts, they immediately adopted a stance of disinterest.
The Baneblade, Bloodhell, conjured a crimson sea, and the Sky-Shaking Ape's roars diminished as it shrank, while the other six Bloodwraiths swelled in size.
"Go!"
Yu Yuan, with a mere thought, propelled the sea of blood towards the first Golden Rock Beast.
He smirked and let out a cold laugh at the woman and the Tar-Backed Bull, then with a stomp, he soared towards the second Golden Rock Beast.
"Aren't you afraid I'll dive down?" the woman asked, her voice laced with mirth.
Yu Yuan offered no reply.
"If you're not worried, that actually makes me concerned."
The mysterious female archdemon flung her long sleeves toward the hole she had previously approached, and a stream of vibrant, nimble fish poured into the depths.
Her actions suggested she was biding her time, waiting for the moment Yu Yuan would be unable to respond.
