C1322 A Void
Yu Yuan was utterly bewildered.
He couldn't fathom why the aged Shadowkin priest had the audacity and self-assurance to demand the Dragon Slaying Stage from him.
Moreover, the priest's demeanor suggested it was his rightful claim...
Setting aside his own status, not to mention Diggs as Her Majesty the Queen and Brie, were they presumed dead?
As this thought crossed his mind, the fabric of space around him shifted dramatically. The Spirit World he knew, the ground beneath his feet, and the vast expanse of the Star River Domain all transformed into something unrecognizable.
In the blink of an eye, he felt as though he had been yanked into an entirely different realm!
Chen Qinghuang, Brie, Yan Qiling, and Beru had all vanished without a trace.
What was even more alarming was that he had lost connection with Yu Yiyi and the Crucible of Evil.
Beneath him and Diggs, there were only expanding circles of colorful ripples, each one seeming to reach into alternate dimensions and timelines.
Yu Yuan's complexion drained of color in alarm.
The fact that his sudden disappearance went unchecked by Chen Qinghuang indicated that the situation was gravely serious!
Subsequently, he perceived the entire world as a void of desolation, a frigid and shadowy abyss.
The colorful ripples emanated from beneath Diggs' feet, positioning him as the epicenter of this universe, the immovable anchor.
Below them, the ripples seemed to plunge into an abyss of endless darkness.
In the murky depths, a presence of unfathomable magnitude lurked, as if a colossal entity was thrashing against the ripples, desperate to break through.
The Spirit World was gone, the Brugeth Astral Domain no more; he found himself adrift in an alien cosmos.
Yu Yuan's soul quivered.
Not far from him, Diggs radiated an aura of distant antiquity and inscrutable mystery, as if emerging from the depths of the colorful ripples.
Yet, this strange and unknown essence was not entirely unfamiliar to Yu Yuan...
He inhaled deeply, discovering that in this bizarre place—perhaps merely an illusion or a projection—there was no air to fill his lungs.
This action was a mere attempt to temper the tumultuous emotions and preserve the purity of his spiritual wisdom.
"Origin Realm, Maw of Oblivion..."
He whispered to himself, feeling as though he stood at the threshold of the Maw of Oblivion.
Diggs, who had been graced with the will of the Origin Deity, appeared to be a mysterious entity from the dark, unknown lands beneath the colorful ripples.
Could the infinite darkness beneath these ripples be the Abyss, the so-called "Origin Realm"?
Legend has it that living creatures cannot enter the Origin Realm; they must forsake their flesh and soar over as spirits.
But what about me?
Yu Yuan clung to his heart, keeping a tight bond with both his body and the Dragon Slaying Stage.
His Lunar Spirit never ventured from the Mindscape, neither leaving his body nor descending toward the Dragon Slaying Stage.
He feared...
He feared that if his soul were to leave his body, it would be swept into the mysterious realm beneath the colorful ripples.
That place was far from a tranquil haven.
"Bring it to me."
Diggs commanded once more.
Boom!
A wave of psionic power, capable of manipulating thoughts and consciousness, suddenly engulfed Yu Yuan, compelling him to willingly surrender the Dragon Slaying Stage.
And Yu Yuan did begin to approach Diggs, the so-called Heart of the World.
Yet, the primal self, buried deep within his Dominant Soul, seemed stirred by that enigmatic presence.
Then, a colossal phantom within the depths of his Dominant Soul began to unfurl its vast spectral wings, slowly awakening from dormancy.
Yu Yuan, mid-stride, abruptly came to a standstill, as though he had become an alternate epicenter of the universe.
Rooted in his own being, with the Dragon Slaying Stage as the fulcrum, he stood in defiance of the sovereign of this realm.
Diggs fell into a sudden silence.
At that moment, Yu Yuan deeply sensed that the immense phantom within his Dominant Soul was merely a soul mark imprinted with the essence of his original spirit.
Yet the emergence of this soul mark caused the Dragon Slaying Stage he held to radiate an infinite glow, magnitudes more intense than the murky light previously released in the Spirit World.
Crack! Crack!
A crisp resonance emanated from the world centered around Diggs, which began to rotate around him.
With each revolution, a fragment of the world crumbled away.
The colorful ripples where Yu Yuan and Diggs stood, once emanating from the immovable point occupied by Diggs, now spiraled and flowed toward the point beneath his feet.
Beneath the kaleidoscope of ripples, a colossal creature from the depths of the Abyss Sea was exerting all its might to support Diggs' feet.
Though Diggs' feet were immobile, his body swayed with intense violence.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The fragmented cosmos, twisted light and shadow, the void and the gloom, everything tangible and intangible plummeted together.
After descending through the vibrant ripples, they vanished in an instant, seemingly all flowing into the Abyss and the darkness.
Suddenly, Yu Yuan snapped out of his daze, breaking free from that bizarre world, only to find himself standing on a meteorite no larger than a grinding stone, clutching the Dragon Slaying Stage.
The Spirit World was no more!
On a smaller meteorite nearby, the lush Magic Tree stood firmly rooted, with Chen Qinghuang perched upon it, her aura slightly diminished and dim, yet she remained steadfast and unyielding.
The chieftain of the Shadowkin had suffered another fall, from the ninth to the eighth level Blood Warrior.
In this moment, he appeared even more aged than Diggs had before.
Yu Yuan's heart raced with unease. He hastened his search and soon laid eyes on the largest meteorite, at the base of which stood the tainted Uxthar Tree.
The once towering Ancestral Tree, which had blotted out the sky, was now a mere hundred meters tall.
Yet, its foliage was dense, radiating an overwhelmingly potent and malevolent vitality!
Beneath the tree stood the Voidweaver in its Benin form, alongside a Diggs who appeared decades younger!
The rejuvenated Diggs, with his striking features and an air of easy nonchalance, seemed to be laboriously chewing and swallowing some fruit. Yet, the look of utter contentment and pleasure on his face was unmistakable.
Yu Yuan was jolted to his core.
He cast his gaze further afield and to his horror, he saw that the shattered Brugeth had been reduced to dust, vanishing without a trace.
Void, desolation, and a chilling darkness pervaded the entire starry expanse.
A profound silence reigned...
It was an exact replica of the peculiar world he had just entered while holding the Dragon Slaying Stage.
This desolate void was unlike anything he had ever experienced, not within the Everlands nor across the desolate star rivers of the extraterrestrial realms, where a myriad of complex Star River psionic powers existed.
Whether rich or subtle, they were always present.
Yu Yuan could no longer sense any energy flowing around him. There was no wind, no corrupt power, not even a glimmer of light. The world was shrouded in darkness.
"How could this be?" Yu Yuan whispered to himself, still trying to grasp what had happened.
If it weren't for Chen Qinghuang's appearance, Brie's aging, and the presence of the Voidweaver and the diminished Uxthar Tree, he would have doubted his escape from the predicament.
What exactly had transpired in that fleeting moment?
"Yu Yuan, you've finally returned. Unfortunately, it's too late," Brie said from beneath the verdant Magic Tree, his face a tapestry of complex emotions, his voice heavy with weariness and sorrow.
"Too late?" Yu Yuan was bewildered.
"The Shattered Star Region is no more. The psionic powers concealed within the meteorites have been drained. It has successfully blossomed and fruited. The tainted fruit has granted Diggs eternal life. What's more, Diggs will soon ascend to a tenth-level Blood Warrior and take my place among the Shadowkin," Brie explained the grim reality.
Yu Yuan stood there, stunned.
In just a moment, Brugeth had turned into a land of silence, its psionic powers swallowed by the Uxthar Tree, which had even produced fruit.
He couldn't fathom it!
And what of Yan Qiling, Beru, Yuan Lianyao, and Wei Zhuo? Where were all the Observers from before? Could they all be dead?
"They're not dead. They're simply too far away for you to sense," the empress sighed, a note of resignation in her voice.
Her eyes, cold as mirrors, gazed upon the fully matured Blightwood and she shook her head gently. "At least I've managed to preserve a sliver of life for you, and kept this one alive."
Brie could only respond with a wry smile, at a loss for words.
With a whoosh, Pei Yuling activated the Mirror of the Infinite atop the now fully grown divine tree, opening a resplendent spatial passage. He bowed slightly, assuming a posture of respect, and gestured, "Please."
The Blightwood, the Voidweaver, and Diggs successively stepped into the passage.
