C1286 Deep into the Heart of the Land
Whoosh!
A brilliant crimson sword rainbow burst forth from the sheath, effortlessly slicing through the faceted crystal sphere.
The nine beams of icy light that Lin Zhuyun had unleashed were relentlessly pursued by Yu Yuan's crimson sword light, each being shattered in the blink of an eye.
The sword light, with its terrifying lethality, launched forth several more times, shattering the ice ball-like crystal and sending shards flying. In the same motion, it pierced Lin Zhuyun's chest.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Three bloody holes, each the width of a finger, appeared instantly on Lin Zhuyun's peculiar icy body as the sword light emerged from her back.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Yu Yuan's ethereal spirited bodies easily coalesced amidst the exploding ice fragments, forming his Lunar Spirit.
At that moment, the eyes of Yu Yuan's real body were clear, no longer showing any trace of vacancy or void.
Wraithbinding was among his most formidable techniques. Could any sect rival Boulderdawn's method of soul refinement?
Lin Zhuyun had crafted nine ice spheres, each modeled after one of the nine Frozen Worlds.
She believed her arcane mastery of ice had surreptitiously separated Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit and sealed it within various Extreme Cold Otherworlds, thinking this would incapacitate Yu Yuan and leave him unconscious.
But it lasted only an instant.
Yu Yuan's bewilderment was fleeting. The dominant soul within him and the fragmented Lunar Spirits within the nine ice spheres instantly reestablished their connection!
Moreover, he could feel that his divided Lunar Spirits were still seamlessly communicating with his consciousness across the nine distinct ice-cold Otherworlds.
The Lunar Spirit, wrought from Wraithbinding, was enigmatic and beyond Lin Zhuyun's ability to gauge.
Crackle!
Beams of ice light and sparks erupted from the wounds in Lin Zhuyun's chest, as a torrent of abundant vitality poured forth from her little world.
This vitality struck Yu Yuan as oddly familiar.
With a mere flicker of thought, he was reminded of the Abyssal Leviathan and the Altar of Rebirth he had created using the Sunsorrow of the giant beast before its transformation into a Solar Spirit.
It too was brimming with life force, capable of mending injuries swiftly.
Yu Yuan could even sense that the Solar Spirit Body Lin Zhuyun had tempered with the aid of the Abyssal Leviathan was present within her own reservoir of vitality.
Yu Yuan didn't believe that Lin Zhuyun's Solar Spirit Body was a match for his own. The vitality she used to mend her wounds seemed impure to him, containing scant traces of the Secrets of Life. This suggested that the Abyssal Leviathan hadn't employed the Sunsorrow from the giant beast in constructing Lin Zhuyun's Solar Spirit Body.
"An injury of this caliber hardly affects me," he remarked.
After sustaining the injury, Lin Zhuyun swiftly distanced herself from him. As she stitched the gaping wound on her chest, her palms conjured a dense cold fog, crackling with the faint sounds of thunder and flashes of light. Flecks of crimson light flickered intermittently within the fog, revealing a more ferocious and sinister vital energy.
Yu Yuan looked on in astonishment. He detected the distinctive bloodline of the Abyssal Leviathan within the cold fog and even sensed the Blood Fiend Clan's secretive bloodthirsty arts.
"She's significantly more powerful than most eighth-level Blood Warriors of the Otherkin," he acknowledged, nodding in approval. "Considering the totem poles of the evilkind and that rare stone behind you, it's no surprise you roam freely across this renowned extraterritorial battlefield. However..."
He deliberately let his voice trail off.
"However, what?" Lin Zhuyun retorted with a cold laugh.
"Some things, some entities, remain beyond your grasp," Yu Yuan said, his mouth curving into a mischievous smile. "Even the Abyssal Leviathan might not have free rein in the Brugeth Astral Domain, let alone you."
With a swift motion, his Lunar Spirit darted towards the rare stone concealed behind Lin Zhuyun, the very stone that had just engulfed the Dragon Slaying Stage, severing his spiritual connection. He was uncertain whether the young Titan Spinosaurus within had bared its teeth.
Previously, he had been reluctant to leave his Lunar Spirit in the Dragon Slaying Stage, fearing Lin Zhuyun might detect it and endanger Yuan Lianyao. Now that Yuan Lianyao was unharmed, he reminisced about the last time his Lunar Spirit had soared like a sovereign deity through the two little worlds of the Dragon Slaying Stage, bolstering his confidence.
He intended to use his Lunar Spirit to penetrate the inner realm of the Dragon Slaying Stage, joining forces with the growing young beast inside to extract the stage itself!
"So that was your game," Lin Zhuyun said with a twist of her lips. "It seems your Lunar Spirit is quite unique. You allowed my ice ball to displace you on purpose, all to infiltrate the stone platform behind me with your Lunar Spirit, right? I suspect there's a remarkable resonance between your Lunar Spirit and the Dragon Slaying Stage, isn't there?"
"But did you really think you could just waltz into the rare stone behind me whenever you wished?"
"What makes you think you can enter if I don't grant you access?"
Yu Yuan gazed at the nondescript rare stone, now enveloped in a shimmering halo, and a wave of frustration washed over him. His Lunar Spirit seemed incapable of breaching the radiant barrier to reach the stone.
Then, with a slash, beams of brilliant light materialized near the halo.
The sword light, sharp as a chisel and imbued with space magic, easily sliced through the watery glow.
The fluttering of the Voidweaver's wings echoed once again!
"Space magic!"
Lin Zhuyun and the Ghoul King exclaimed in shock.
They were too late to react as Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit surged through the fissure in the halo and darted toward the rare stone.
In a flash, he was inside.
He found himself in a familiar expanse—a vast, azure ocean under a deep blue sky.
Chess piece-like islands dotted the sea, unmistakably arranged as they were in the Embers Sea of old.
Yu Yuan could even identify which islands belonged to the Devil Palace and which to the Shadow's Keep.
The Dragon Slaying Stage, now enlarged a hundredfold, spanned the sky above the ocean.
Bathed in a divine luminescence, the stage was bombarded by jets of seawater but remained steadfast and unyielding.
For the moment, the little world within the rare stone, fashioned after the Embers Sea, seemed powerless against the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Lin Zhuyun and the Ghoul King were not perturbed, likely because the totem-poles had not been brought in and the Abyssal Leviathan had yet to return.
Lin Zhuyun's goal was simply to confine the Dragon Slaying Stage, ensuring it could not escape.
Once their business in the outside world was settled and the thirty-six totem poles were restored, they would activate the Starborne Ritual of Primeval Demons. Upon the return of the Abyssal Leviathan, they would then refine the Dragon Slaying Stage and extract the lingering might from the dragon remains within.
"Wishful thinking."
Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit grumbled internally, and in the next instant, he entered the inner space of the Dragon Slaying Stage.
"Ah, you've arrived. I've been waiting for you."
A joyful message emanated from the young Titan Spinosaurus within the violet gold dragon egg.
Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit hovered above the egg, sensing the affinity with the inner world of the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Observing the dragon whelp within the radiant egg, complete with dragon wings and a body of violet gold, he expressed his astonishment, "I didn't expect you to take on a full form so swiftly."
Though his vision was not entirely clear, the Titan Spinosaurus had shed its embryonic state.
Now, it appeared fleshed out, with dragon bones and a Dragon Soul, albeit slightly smaller in size.
Having entered the Dragon Slaying Stage and drawn upon the residual energy of the dragon corpses, it had clearly undergone rapid growth.
Compared to its time under the care of the Demon God Grec, nourished by the heart of a Lunarphite, it was now truly thriving.
"A fierce battle awaits us soon. I may require your assistance."
Yu Yuan gazed down at the enormous purple dragon egg, and as he spoke, the whole world thundered.
Within the Dragon Slaying Stage, his every utterance was divine, each word resonating with the psionic power, invoking wondrous transformations.
"Oh."
The young creature responded obediently.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One by one, the awe-inspiring totem poles of the evilkind, akin to the Holy Mountain where deities dwell, returned from the outside world.
The thirty-six totem poles, now within the realm of the rare stone, loomed even more imposingly, each soaring into the heavens, their majesty enough to make hearts quiver.
Lin Zhuyun and the Ghoul King, their faces etched with panic, made their hasty return.
Yu Yuan's laughter boomed within the Dragon Slaying Stage.
"I'll be at the Embers Sea, a place both you and I know well. In the domain you command, I will battle the two of you!"