C1317 The Butterfly Shadow
The once fragmented Deep Starfield had become a battleground for mighty warriors of various races, all vying to defile the sprouting Hannya Divine Tree.
Who would have ever believed it?
Who could have imagined it?
The revelations made by Chen Qinghuang left everyone in utter shock.
Yet, not a soul dared question the veracity of her words.
After all, she was the Secular Bird.
In many ways, she embodied authority, having penetrated the myriad secrets of the cosmos.
Despite a silence that spanned a hundred thousand years, upon awakening, she effortlessly bridged the past and present, tracing invisible threads and unraveling the truth.
With a swift whoosh, her flawless form materialized in the Lissom Realm!
Spectators gasped, their eyes darting about, not wanting to overlook a single detail.
They watched as she descended upon an extraordinary tree, birthed from the Mighty Truncheon.
A surge of black, destructive flames erupted, spreading like a vast, dark carpet beneath the tree, sealing off the corrupt energies emerging from the depths of the Lissom Realm.
The empress stood upon a verdant branch, her demeanor cool and detached.
She appeared every bit the deity surveying her domain, as if it were the most natural act in the world.
The dark brown particles within the tainted tree crackled and popped, seemingly purified by her divine might.
This dark energy, reminiscent of the Origin Realm's pollution, threatened to once again drag the Hannya Divine Tree into the abyss, to be sullied alongside the will of the Origin Realm God.
Her Majesty's arrival, her feet upon the branches, her presence enveloping the tree in a shroud of destruction and death, prevented history from repeating itself.
The once modest tree flourished anew, its verdant leaves shimmering with astonishing brilliance.
In that moment, Chen Qinghuang, standing atop the tree, radiated light, harmonizing with her surroundings as if she had been there since the dawn of the cosmos.
Her essence, poured into the untainted tree, breathed new life into it.
Brie, clinging to the trunk as if on the brink of death, slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness returning from the haze.
Upon witnessing a figure materialize atop the lush Hannya Divine Tree, Brie was struck by the aura emanating from the apparition.
With a quiver in his voice, Brie exclaimed, "I knew it! I knew you wouldn't stand idly by!"
Recently, he had clashed with Chen Qinghuang in a different sector of the Deep Starfield over a gray swallow.
As he wielded the Mighty Truncheon to confront Chen Qinghuang, Brie sensed the truncheon's reluctance.
This relic, a sacred artifact handed down through the Dark Elfkind, was the most generous gift from the unblemished ancestral tree!
The truncheon's resistance to becoming enemies with Chen Qinghuang evoked a sense of familiarity in Brie, allowing him to glimpse a wondrous vision.
Amidst the murky expanse of the void stood an ancient divine tree, bridging the heavens and the abyss.
Nestled within the divine tree's lush foliage, which veiled the cosmos, a mystical bird had made its nest, returning to it whenever weariness took hold.
Throughout the eons, the bird and the ancient divine tree existed in perfect harmony.
This very image, etched into Brie's mind, was what brought an abrupt halt to his skirmish with Chen Qinghuang.
Later, before stepping into the Lissom Realm, Brie cast a profound look at Her Majesty the Empress.
He recognized that, regardless of her past actions, she would forever remain a trusted ally of the original divine tree—before it was sullied by the Origin Realm.
Rip! Rip!
New branches of the Hannya Divine Tree, reaching out, were obliterated by the relentless gray-white lightning.
The flames of destruction incinerated the malice rising from the earth's depths, reducing it to ash.
Brie, demoted to the Ninth Level, did not perish from this ordeal. He stepped away from the vibrant tree and stood beneath it, gazing up at Chen Qinghuang with awe.
He harbored no more doubts about the veracity of Chen Qinghuang's words.
A millennium ago, before the Secular Bird's downfall, the Dark Elfkind sought refuge with the Winged Race, enjoying their protection.
When the Secular Bird fell, the Dark Elfkind opportunistically welcomed the Winged Race, reversing their roles. The Dark Elfkind then assumed the solemn duty of protecting the Winged Race.
As the chieftain of Dark Elfkind, Brie knew the rule when he received the Mighty Truncheon. At the time, however, he didn't fully grasp it. Seeing the Winged Race as too feeble, he regarded them as mere vassals, feeling a sense of superiority. Only now did he come to understand the unique bond between the Winged Race and Dark Elfkind—a bond where strength on one side meant care for the other, an unchanging principle etched deep within the lineage of both races. This was rooted in the time when the Divine Bird built its nest on the Hannya Divine Tree, and the two lived side by side for countless years.
"It's good that you're alive."
Chen Qinghuang didn't spare Brie a glance, responding coldly as her attention remained fixed on the thriving Hannya Divine Tree. Her expression grew complex, as if lost in memories of bygone days.
"Your Majesty!"
Yan Qiling, Denise, Moore, and the others cried out in alarm above the lunar meteorite. With Chen Qinghuang's departure, they were at a loss. Would they soon face the same fate as Zhu Huan and the Deep Sea Basilisk, overcome by illusions and cast into the Lissom Realm to become sustenance for the nascent, malevolent ancestral tree?
"Come to me!"
Yu Yuan, perched on the shoulder of the Cold Domain Bear, called out suddenly. He hadn't anticipated Chen Qinghuang's silent entry into the Lissom Realm, nor her aid in Brie's narrow escape. Observing the solitary grey swallow's plaintive cries, Yu Yuan realized the depth of Chen Qinghuang's anger upon discovering Brie's coercion of the bird. Chen Qinghuang had always been aware that her allegiance lay with Dark Elfkind. She may have appeared inactive, even complicit in wrongdoing, but she was biding her time for Brie. Her insistence that Yan Qiling reach the Lissom Realm ahead of Brie was to prepare the ground for intervention, just as she was doing now. Her loyalty to the true divine tree meant she would invariably support Brie, despite his misguided attempt to leverage the grey swallow. She had never forgotten the divine tree, steadfastly honoring the timeless principle she held sacred.
The divine tree had been corrupted by the Origin Realm, and many profound marks failed to be fully passed down, leading to a grave misunderstanding by Brie and his subsequent unforgivable actions.
"No need," Chen Qinghuang uttered coldly from atop a verdant, wondrous tree within the Lissom Realm.
In an instant, the shattered cosmos turned on its head! The omnipresent, colorful ripples vanished in a flash, the illusion crafted by the Void Spirit Succubus collapsed at her simple command, "No need."
Brie was correct; she could indeed shatter the Divine Butterfly's hallucinatory magic at will!
"Wake up," Chen Qinghuang commanded once more.
The vibrant ripples surged like a magnificent wave deep within the Lissom Realm, converging towards the Origin Realm Gate. The slumbering Divine Butterfly seemed to be jolted awake by her call!
The infinite ripples coalesced and refined into an elegant silhouette.
With a whoosh, another feminine figure materialized atop the malevolent tree tainted by the Origin Realm, her form slender and seemingly fragile.
Behind her, the Origin Realm Gates shimmered like butterfly wings, casting a radiant glow.
"Benin..." Yu Yuan's voice was laced with difficulty as he licked his lips, his face a tapestry of complex emotions.
It wasn't a mere illusion after all... The Benin he had glimpsed in his dazed state had reappeared.
The delicate Benin, with her exquisite features and a gentle smile, bore the stunning "butterfly wings" on her back, her presence exuding the dominion over space.
Who else could it be, if not the Void Spirit Succubus?
"It has been revived; shouldn't you be pleased?" The "Benin" who now stood unhidden and boldly before them paid no mind to the onlookers of the Lissom Realm. She gazed intently at Chen Qinghuang and spoke in an ethereal, melodious tone, "You were besieged by those of the Tenth Level. You should despise them all. Why oppose us?"
"Shouldn't you delight in what we aim to achieve, what we are about to do?" "Benin" posed gracefully on a leaf of the sinister giant tree, her demeanor tender, the very picture of refined nobility.
Yuan Lianyao and Denise watched her, as if beholding the embodiment of the ideal woman.
She couldn't hold a candle to Chen Qinghuang's stunning beauty, yet Chen Qinghuang's arrogance was off-putting. Her sharp demeanor seemed as though she could extinguish the lives of all creatures in an instant, making her unapproachable and hard to like.
But she was different.
Even knowing she was a Void Spirit Succubus, and that the person before them might not be her true self, women like Yuan Lianyao and Denise found her far more approachable, even feeling an urge to mimic her every move.
"The entity that wishes to be revived is not what it once was."
Chen Qinghuang, with an icy expression, gazed upon the newly sprouted Hannya Divine Tree, its branches gently swaying. She was repulsed by the aura emanating from each leaf. "You are truly pitiable, having degraded to such a level, just like the current you."
"Degraded?"
Benin's lips curled into a light smile as she shook her head subtly. "I disagree. Beings like you, me, and it are meant to stand eternally at the pinnacle of the gods. The ants, the flies, the lowly insects of life should perpetually serve us, maintaining their humility."
"Especially the Boundless Human Race. They should be eradicated. They are the scourge of the starry heavens!"
