C1285 Nine Ice Balls
The Golden Rock Beast King, having narrowly escaped the lethal traps of the Secular Bird, met its end in such a manner.
Its death was particularly gruesome.
It was clear that Lim Zhuyun was taking out her frustrations on Jin Lih.
After his massive demonic form was shattered by the totem pillars, those three peculiar totem pillars continued to greedily seize his demonic blood, bones, and soul.
In that moment, the totem pillars seemed to transform into ancient, bloodthirsty demons, consuming the Ninth Level Demon King until nothing was left.
Soon after, not even the remnants of Jin Lih's bones remained.
The sight was so brutally bloody that it sent chills down the spines of all the Yang cultivators present.
Faang Yao, pinned under a totem pillar and immobilized due to his severe injuries, suddenly realized how fortunate he was to still be alive.
Chu Yao, known as the Little Medicine God, trembled in a corner.
Ill-suited for combat and naturally timid, he had ventured to the Outland Star River to refine his Yang God body with the celestial wonders, hoping to perfect it.
He had never anticipated encountering so many unforeseen dangers on this celestial journey.
Chu Yao was on the verge of tears.
"Don't worry. Your Yang God bodies are of no use to the totem pillars. There's no profit in killing you," Lim Zhuyun said with chilling indifference. She regarded Chu Yao and the others as if they were disposable trash, too filthy to approach.
Yu Yuan, standing atop the Demon Phoenix totem pillar, breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Yuan Lianyao successfully break free and enter the Evil Cauldron.
"Because Jin Lih is from the Demon Palace, a Ninth Level Great Demon..."
He was well aware that the Chaos Roc bore a deep-seated hatred for both the Demon Palace and the Devil Palace, as they had been instrumental in its suppression within the Ember Waters.
The supreme being of the Demon Palace, the instigator, had used the thirty-six totem pillars to create the Ancient Fey Formation, which had impaled his true form and condemned him to an eternity in the Ember Waters.
The Chaos Roc's loathing for the Demon Palace ran deep, and Jin Lih, as a high-ranking demon of the Demon Palace, was inevitably marked for retribution.
Moreover, Jin Li's Demon Blood, Demon Bone, and Demon Soul could enhance the might of the Totem Pillars, thereby strengthening the Ancient Fey Formation even further.
Why wouldn't she?
Yu Yuan, holding his breath and concentrating, clutched the sword sheath but dared not summon the Demon Blade known as "Blood Prison" at such a critical moment.
He feared that the numerous blood-colored glimmers and the seven blood souls within Blood Prison might become targets for the Totem Pillars.
Grasping the sheath, a whisper of his intent echoed within the Evil Cauldron, "Ice Concubine, take her and escape with the Evil Cauldron now!"
"Master?" Ice Concubine looked up sharply, her gaze piercing through to the real world outside the cauldron, "She's unharmed. What will become of you if I leave?"
"Yu Yuan!"
Yuan Lianyao, now freely moving within the cauldron, also looked up and called out.
She was no stranger to the miniature world inside the Evil Cauldron, having entered it before.
Surrounded by the familiar setting, she observed the Ice Concubine, the Yellow Light Demon, and the eerie, armor-breaking black crone. She realized that after many years, the Evil Cauldron had been fully restored.
The fact that Ice Concubine could speak and possessed complete spiritual intelligence signified her transformation into a formidable Evil Demon.
Suddenly, Yuan Lianyao recognized her own deficiencies, feeling a twinge of self-compassion.
"Let's save any discussions for after we've left this place and met again," Yu Yuan, as the master of the Evil Cauldron, could hear her voice and observe the subtle expressions on her face, even perceiving her innermost thoughts and complex emotions. "Don't worry about me. Lim Zhuyun has her formidable aspects, and I have my own resources to rely on!"
Before Yuan Lianyao could respond, Yu Yuan commanded once more, "Take her away!"
"Understood!"
Ice Concubine, not daring to go against his wishes, nodded in response and activated the array within the cauldron.
The Evil Cauldron began to roar to life once again.
The Yang cultivators, some grievously wounded and others pinned beneath the Demon Palace's Totem Pillars, could only watch as the dark cauldron spirited Yuan Lianyao away.
Throughout this ordeal, Lim Zhuyun truly honored her word, refraining from interference and abstaining from any superfluous actions.
Perhaps in her heart, the flawed Yang God Body and Yuan Lianyao, who was not treated as a Demonic Seed by the Red Devil Sect, were no longer of any consequence.
She found it pointless to dwell on such matters or to remain vigilant against them night and day.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As Lim Zhuyun's thoughts shifted, the massive Totem Pillars moved away from the space between her and Yu Yuan.
Each stood atop a Totem Pillar, and all the surrounding meteors were pulverized into dust.
The space between them opened up immensely, with no obstructions left.
Lim Zhuyun, with her mastery over the Totem Pillars, carved out a vast battlefield within the fragmented starry sea.
"You've truly let me down. After venturing into the Outer Star River for so long, you still haven't ascended to the Yang God Stage."
Lim Zhuyun shook her head, having already discerned that Yu Yuan's true form was not a melding of Yang God and flesh.
At best, he was at the pinnacle of the Soul Wandering Stage. She felt a twinge of regret, "Someone like you isn't even worth the effort of using those Demon Totem Pillars. It would just be too dull."
Wisps of extreme cold flame swirled up from beneath Lim Zhuyun's feet.
She stepped off the extreme cold flames, leaving the Demon Totem Pillar behind. Without relying on the formidable might of the Ancient Fey Formation, she floated towards Yu Yuan.
Rip!
From the depths of her icy gaze, beams of stark white cold light burst forth. Although hundreds of meters apart, her pale and elegant hand effortlessly shaped an ice ball.
Suspended in the air, the ice ball was sliced, transforming into a multifaceted crystal.
Whoosh!
The multifaceted ice ball flew towards Yu Yuan, coming to a gradual halt before him.
Yu Yuan naturally turned his attention to it and observed the crystal's many facets, each revealing a different spectacle.
As the crystal spun...
One facet depicted a legion of Freezing Devaputras, their scorpion-bodied figures worshiping in a frigid world of ice and frost, as if beseeching the grace of the divine.
The crystal rotated once more.
The enigmatic vista of the Nether Abyss was laid bare, with numerous icy chasms at its deepest point, seemingly leading to the fabled "Cold Abyss Entrance."
The crystal spun once more.
Mighty serpents of ice, resembling the Frost Dragons he had encountered before, coiled around towering icebergs, locked in combat as if vying for dominion over the frosty realm and its rules.
The multifaceted ice crystal rotated over and over, revealing to Yu Yuan a multitude of wondrous worlds within the cold.
Through the tiny crystal, Yu Yuan glimpsed various frigid civilizations scattered across the vast expanse of the galaxy.
The Freezing Devaputra was merely one among them.
Gradually...
Yu Yuan found himself sinking deeper into the crystal's many facets. His Yin God, soul power, and conscious thought were unwittingly drawn into disparate realms of freezing climes, lingering there, unable to regroup.
By the time he became aware, he was terrified to discover that even a single thought had become a struggle.
"Without advancing to the Yang God Stage, it's all too easy to become lost in the Soul Wandering Stage. Then, one's soul is ensnared, unable to refocus."
Lim Zhuyun watched the nine distinct frigid worlds within the crystal, where Yu Yuan's spectral soul flitted about. She gently shook her head, "Far too easy. The strands of soul consciousness are effortlessly drawn out and enticed. Without the Evil Cauldron, your soul is far too vulnerable."
Treading upon flames of ice, she soared to the crystal orb, cradling it delicately in her hand.
Before her, Yu Yuan stood upon the Demon Race's Totem Pillar, his gaze hollow and vacant, as if bereft of his soul.
"Farewell."
From her palm, nine streaks of icy light burst forth.
The beams penetrated the crystal orb swiftly, seeking to sever Yu Yuan's nine strands of soul consciousness.
"How dare you approach me?"
Yu Yuan's physical eyes remained empty, but the hand gripping his sword's sheath suddenly jerked upward.
