C1321 The Divine Thing
The Spirit World was on the brink of collapse!
This was all because Yu Yuan had summoned the Dragon Slaying Stage, using its murky radiance to shine upon the land corrupted by the Origin Realm.
Other than Chen Qinghuang, no one could have anticipated the profound impact Yu Yuan would have upon his arrival. Merely by invoking the Dragon Slaying Stage, he managed to shatter the cosmic order deep within the Spirit World's foundations.
Before the Domain could fracture, the cosmic order was already crumbling!
Beneath Leo's feet, the meteorite began to glow with an intense light. Narrowing his eyes, he observed that the nearest branch of the Uxthar Tree, which was previously suffused with a mysterious flowing light, now appeared fragmented, as if severed by numerous invisible blades, hindering its ability to rotate smoothly.
"Bloodline, Star Search!"
He quietly invoked his theurgy and focused intently to inspect the anomaly. To his astonishment, he discovered that the branch could no longer draw the diverse psionic powers from the void.
A tremor ran through Leo's heart, and he turned to Beru, his expression filled with awe.
The Great Sage, who had already perceived the change, nodded solemnly, sharing Leo's sense of shock. "It's not just your perception. From the Spirit World's newly sprouted malevolent Uxthar Tree, every branch reaching into the Star River has ceased absorbing cosmic energy. This means..."
Beru paused, then continued, "The growth of the tree has been temporarily suspended."
"Ah!?"
Denise, standing closest to them, her eyes as luminous as the stars and moon, sparkled with an enchanting light. Her exquisite face glowed with the luster of pale jade. "Is it Yu Yuan? Did his descent into the Spirit World cause the malevolent Uxthar Tree to stop growing?"
Her voice was brimming with delight.
It was only after their separation in the Zekrica World that Denise learned of Yu Yuan's true identity and his connection to Elena.
She had also benefited from Yu Yuan's medicinal concoction, which elevated her bloodline to the eighth level, endearing him further to her.
During their time in the Kuvrepros, Yu Yuan had stood alongside her father, Gheirat, the Great Sage Beru, and Leo, naturally fostering a deeper bond.
Yet, she still found it unbelievable that Yu Yuan's miracles would continue to grow more astonishing after their departure from the Zekrica World.
"It's the Dragon Slaying Stage!"
At the other end, within the depths of the thunder vortex, Xu Jingyao showed no change in expression at the news of Chu Yao's death. However, when Yu Yuan summoned the Dragon Slaying Stage and the Spirit World began to fissure, he couldn't help but cry out in astonishment.
Xu Jingyao's face was a picture of undisguised envy.
He had only recently become aware of the legends surrounding the Dragon Slaying Stage. Before that, not only was the Dragon Slaying Stage itself a mystery, but even the rise and fall of the Boulderdawn had been intentionally obscured by the five supreme forces.
With Lee Tianxin gone and as he prepared to break free from the Everlands, the Sunlit Order finally disclosed the truth.
Thus, Xu Jingyao discovered that before the dominance of the five great forces, the Boulderdawn had once reigned supreme, and he learned of the various rumors surrounding the Dragon Slaying Stage.
"It's truly unexpected. No wonder..."
Wei Zhuo, with a complex look in his eyes, gazed upon Chen Qinghuang atop the Magic Tree and Yu Yuan below. "No wonder she and Yu Yuan have been companions for so long. The sheer terror unleashed by just those two pieces of the Dragon Slaying Stage was enough to shatter the cosmic order of the Spirit World and rend the rules etched by the Voidweaver and the Shadowkin Ancestral Tree."
While speaking, Wei Zhuo couldn't help but envision the Dragon Slaying Stage from the Everlands merging with the one in Yu Yuan's possession.
"Boulderdawn..."
Wei Zhuo murmured softly, his face etched with gravity.
Beneath the lush Magic Tree, Brie, the leader of his clan and the seventh-ranked power in the extraterrestrial Star River, looked on in horror at Yu Yuan, who held the Dragon Slaying Stage in his hands.
The chieftain of the Shadowkin was profoundly shaken!
In that moment, he finally grasped why even the figure from a hundred thousand years ago had chosen to keep company with someone like Yu Yuan for so long.
In certain ways, they were a perfect match.
Having wielded the Azurewood Sceptre for many years, Brie now acutely sensed that as Yu Yuan called forth the Dragon Slaying Stage, overpowering the already fragmented cosmic order of the Spirit World, Chen Qinghuang on the tree was also quietly drawing upon a newfound divine strength.
From beneath the rooted expanse of the Magic Tree, numerous minuscule green specks brimming with plant essence hastened their approach.
The essence of the flora that should have sustained the growth of the Uxthar Tree was at play here!
The vibrant green sprites, twinkling like stars, first merged with the Magic Tree formed by the Azurewood Sceptre, then streamed into the body of Her Majesty the Empress, bolstering her power with a surge.
Beyond destruction and death, the profound meaning of regeneration she had grasped was now being fervently replenished.
Moreover, it was being replenished with the Spirit World's plant essence, which was meant to merge with the Ancestral Tree, using it to nourish herself.
This enabled her to continuously unleash the dreadful waves of destruction and death across an even broader expanse of the Domain.
"So..."
Brie bowed his head slightly, not daring to meet the gaze of Chen Qinghuang, who now stood with an air of untouchable majesty. Yet, in his heart, he recognized that in the earliest days of chaos, this Divine Bird nesting in the Uxthar Tree could harvest the infinite plant essence concealed within the Divine Tree, transforming it into its regenerative power.
The Shadowkin's original Divine Tree and the secular bird revered by the Wingkind were mutually enhancing.
Brie had come to a full understanding.
Yu Yuan's arrival and the revelation of the Dragon Slaying Stage had shattered the incomplete cosmic order, weakening the grip of the newly born Filthy Divine Tree and the Voidweaver over the Spirit World.
This provided Chen Qinghuang with the chance to harness the relics of the original Divine Tree, drawing upon the plant essence with the power of regeneration.
She would grow increasingly powerful, while the Filthy Divine Tree would slowly wither.
The one puzzle Brie couldn't solve was how Yu Yuan, with his modest level of power, wielding the Dragon Slaying Stage, could cause the Spirit World, forged by the combined efforts of the Filthy Divine Tree and the Voidweaver, to fracture and the hidden cosmic order to crumble.
Was it solely due to the might of the Dragon Slaying Stage?
How could the Dragon Slaying Stage counterbalance the corrupt divine tree and cause the intricate web of space rules inscribed by the Voidweaver beneath the earth to shatter?
He was at a loss, no matter how hard he thought about it.
Yu Yuan's mind was serene, and as he grasped the Dragon Slaying Stage with both hands, he didn't need to release the Lunar Spirit to experience an extraordinary sensation.
The Dragon Slaying Stage seemed to have become an extension of his being, a muscle, an arm, an organ within his viscera, even part of his brain.
The remnant soul, vitality, and pure spiritual energy surged into the Dragon Slaying Stage, coursing through his veins as if part of his own flesh and blood.
There was no blockage, no discomfort whatsoever.
The murky radiance emitted by the Dragon Slaying Stage appeared to him as twisted lightning, dragon-shaped runes, and even as the complete Way of Heaven. Among them shone a pure golden divine light, akin to a sword cleaving the starry heavens.
This murky light contained a myriad of marvels, discernible only to those at the pinnacle of existence.
The dispersal of this light was ravaging the cosmic order of the Spirit World, undermining its foundational structure.
Yu Yuan sensed a deficiency in the shadows...
The Dragon Slaying Stage was incomplete.
Still located in the Moonfall Sanctuary, where it suppressed the Everlands Dragon Clan and housed a golden dragon, if combined with the piece he held, the activation of the Dragon Slaying Stage would obliterate the laws and order of the Spirit World in a single breath!
The Voidweaver and the Ancestral Tree would suffer catastrophic damage in mere moments!
Yet now, they could still resist, enduring the onslaught of Chen Qinghuang's deathly power of destruction, patching up their defenses in a desperate struggle.
The empress's feat of withstanding the assault of two ancient beings on her own left others in awe.
Yu Yuan looked up, his gaze fixed on the towering Magic Tree, its branches standing proud and resplendent as if they had been so since their inception.
"Be cautious of Diggs."
Chen Qinghuang's voice echoed in his mind, as if in response to his attention.
Yu Yuan immediately reined in his wandering thoughts.
He diverted a sliver of his focus to the elder Shadowkin warrior, confirming the absence of his presence.
Assuming the guise of Benin, the Voidweaver perched on a leaf of the sinister Ancestral Tree, her ethereal eyes now reflecting solemnity.
Behind her, two resplendent butterfly wings began to exude an enigmatic force.
From behind those wings, an ancient, immeasurable presence poured forth.
The butterfly wings, known as the "Origin Gate," were the conduit for the malevolent will of the Origin Deity, a medium through which it could reach the Star River.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Colored, grayish-brown, and pitch-black ripples emerged abruptly near the verdant Magic Tree, crackling as they interwove with the ashen lightning emanating from Chen Qinghuang.
Yu Yuan's face contorted with shock.
Brie's head snapped up as he sensed an incredibly foreign and terrifying presence.
In a flash, his luminescent green eyes seemed to be coated with a layer of grayish-brown fuel.
"Lean against the Azurewood Sceptre."
Chen Qinghuang's low growl echoed in Brie's mind and deep within his heart simultaneously.
Brie moved toward the verdant Magic Tree with a stiff, mechanical gait.
The moment he made contact, he jolted as if struck by lightning.
He could feel a gray shadow being expelled from the depths of his soul!
For a split second, he felt as though he was plunging into the fabled "Maw of Oblivion," his soul being tugged toward the enigmatic "Origin Realm," on the verge of losing his self-awareness.
He was on the brink of succumbing to the so-called taint.
Like their ancestors, the Voidweaver, and Pei Yuling.
Hiss, hiss!
The emaciated man from the Moonlit Wanderers, possessed by the fiend Qiyan, contorted in bizarre ways. The venomous streams Qiyan had refined intertwined chaotically, as if an unseen mystical hand was weaving them together inside the man's body.
Qiyan was unable to utter a scream or a cry for help.
The flames in his eye sockets flickered out like candles snuffed by a gale.
Yu Yuan's temples pulsed furiously. Clutching the Dragon Slaying Stage with both hands, he refrained from touching the Azurewood Sceptre. Although he too sensed the ancient and unknown psionic power encroaching, he remained unaffected.
He had a clear view of Brie and Qiyan's plight and understood exactly what was unfolding.
Yet, he was acutely aware that his true imperative was to keep a firm grip on the Dragon Slaying Stage and not let go!
He continued to sustain the intimate link between his spiritual energy, remnant soul, vitality, and the artifact. With the Dragon Slaying Stage's divine power, he aimed to obliterate the cosmic order concealed within the Spirit World.
"Boy."
Diggs arrived as anticipated.
The gaunt elder of the Shadowkin, a High Priest from a bygone era and contemporary of Beru, was adept in numerous blood magic techniques of his people, privy to more secrets than Brie could fathom.
At this moment, Diggs, with his frail body hunched over, was actually seated upon a pair of resplendent butterfly wings.
Yu Yuan turned to look and indeed noticed that behind Benin, only a single butterfly wing remained.
One of the two "Origin Gates" was unfurled beneath Diggs, resembling a mat woven from shimmering light.
In that instant, Yu Yuan could distinctly sense the "Origin Gate" beneath Diggs radiating a distant, ancient, and immeasurable unknown psionic power.
Simultaneously, the Voidweaver, having taken the form of Benin, was drawing in the other "Origin Gate" behind its butterfly wings.
It was absorbing the special psionic power that was beneficial to the Origin Realm, emanating from the depths of the Spirit World and the surrounding area.
A cycle of absorption and release was taking place, seemingly exchanging psionic power to achieve a mysterious equilibrium.
"Hand it over."
Diggs, wearing a smile, extended his hand and gestured towards the Dragon Slaying Stage that Yu Yuan was clutching firmly.
From his stance, it was clear he was waiting for Yu Yuan to willingly offer up the Dragon Slaying Stage, to then directly feed it into the Origin Gate beneath him as a sacrifice to the enigmatic Origin Deity, in exchange for the pinnacle of the tenth level bloodline and everlasting life.
