C1456 Panicked
Yuan Qingxi knelt on the ground, his posture the epitome of humility.
As a being, he was among the mightiest beneath the Everlands.
Yet, in the presence of White Bone, he seemed to be venerating a deity he had revered for eons, executing his obeisance with meticulous precision.
The ritual carried an eerie and sinister aura.
The scroll he offered, unopened, exuded a thick shadow energy.
But as he lifted it, the surrounding ghosts and Terra Fiends recoiled, as though too terrified to draw near again.
White Bone, as a God of Ghosts, accomplished what had previously been impossible.
At that moment, the Dragon Slaying Stage beneath Yu Yuan's feet burst into radiant white light. Beneath the Chronowyrm, countless beams of light, hidden for millennia, coalesced into Chains of Order.
Yu Yuan sensed the pure white chains, like ropes of light, attempting to ensnare the scroll, as if to prevent its unveiling.
His expression shifted subtly as he realized the Dragon Slaying Stage indeed harbored a covert check on ghosts and their spirits.
The Bloodbrawlers' elder, Yuan Qingxi, was visibly shaken by the Dragon Slaying Stage's activity and the stirred cosmic order. His form, prostrate before White Bone, quivered faintly.
Yu Yuan observed closely and saw pure white flashes of cosmic order strike his back like divine lashes.
Though flesh and blood, and a bona fide practitioner of the Bloodbrawlers, unlike the spectral form of White Bone, he was not immune to its effects.
With a swift motion, White Bone severed the cosmic order's luminous chains binding Yuan Qingxi.
The treasured scroll of the Bloodbrawlers, held aloft by Yuan Qingxi, seemed to seek a new master, drifting towards White Bone.
The scroll, still furled, came to a gentle halt before White Bone, who, with eyes alight with intrigue, replaced Yuan Qingxi's grip with his own, a sense of recognition stirring within him.
It seemed as though the object that had wandered the starry expanse of the Extraterrestrial for countless years had finally found its way back into his grasp. The painting, now in his hands, felt as though it had come home.
"This..." White Bone was puzzled.
As he clutched the painting, Yu Yuan's face turned ashen, and a wave of unease swept over him. The tall and striking White Bone, holding the painting, exuded an aura of perfect harmony and naturalness, as if the painting had belonged in his hands for millennia.
The two appeared to have been united since time immemorial.
The Divine Artifact of the Bloodbrawlers, now tame and submissive in White Bone's hands, what could this signify?
"Raise your head."
With the painting in his grip, a peculiar sensation began to stir within White Bone, growing more intense by the moment. It was as though myriad voices were urging him to unveil the painting.
Yet, he resisted. He quelled the burgeoning desire that screamed from his subconscious, choosing not to open the painting. Instead, he watched calmly as Yuan Qingxi slowly lifted his gaze.
"You..." Yuan Qingxi began, his voice breaking into sobs, his body shaking uncontrollably.
"I have obeyed your commands. Should you not ascend to godhood, I vowed never to show myself to you. My existence is to deliver this painting to you once you become a god, leaving the choice to open it in your hands."
"However you wish to exist is your prerogative. I respect your decision."
The venerable ancestor of the Bloodbrawlers, overwhelmed with raw emotion, took even Yu Yuan by surprise.
His profound feelings for White Bone—the dependency and yearning that had endured for eons—suddenly burst forth, utterly genuine.
"Have I opened this before?" White Bone asked, his expression distant.
"When you were the Evil King Yu Xi, I found you deep within the Star River of the Extraterrestrial. By then, you had already achieved godhood. I did as you instructed, bringing the painting to you. You opened it, learned its secrets, and then..."
Yuan Qingxi's face twisted into a grotesque snarl, as if a horde of malevolent spirits were clawing beneath his skin, desperate to burst forth and annihilate all life.
"You were ambushed by two mighty Demon Gods and three chieftains of the Otherkin! The traitor who divulged your whereabouts must have been Zhu Zhenlin from the Devil Palace; he deduced your true identity. You are the lord I have devoted my life to serving—how could I ever betray you? I have secretly encountered your disciple, Yun Hao, but alas, Yun Hao had long since allied with Zhu Zhenlin."
Yuan Qingxi was in tears as he spoke, his words punctuated by the thud of his forehead hitting the ground in a gesture of deep self-reproach. He blamed himself for not having made better preparations in the past, which led to White Bone falling victim to a traitor in a previous life. Yu Yuan watched, his face a mask of shock.
Beside White Bone, Yu Yuan silently retracted his Lunar Spirit into the Dragon Slaying Stage. With his thoughts, he controlled the stage and created a distance between himself and White Bone. It was only within the confines of the Dragon Slaying Stage that he felt a semblance of safety. When he looked at White Bone again, his entire perspective had shifted.
Who exactly was White Bone? Before becoming White Bone, he was the Evil King, Yu Xi. And before that, he was Youling, the Ghost King of the Land of Terror. How had Youling died, and how had he become a ghost? Yu Yuan couldn't help but delve into these thoughts, his mood growing increasingly somber.
"I am your master? I only remember my life as Youling, and I have no recollection of who I was before that. Moreover, I don't remember ever meeting you when I was Yu Xi," White Bone expressed, his voice heavy with confusion. Despite the oddity, the sensation of holding the painting felt as if it inherently belonged to him.
He might not remember Yuan Qingxi, but the things Yuan Qingxi spoke of, and Yuan Qingxi himself, felt strangely familiar. "Simply open this painting, and you will rediscover yourself. Your life before Youling, your forgotten memories of me, everything is sealed within this painting. It is an integral part of you. If you wish to awaken, just open it, and all will become clear," Yuan Qingxi explained with reverence.
A bitter taste filled Yu Yuan's mouth. He had never imagined that White Bone, who had journeyed with him into the Defiled World, was such an esteemed figure that even the elders of the Bloodbrawlers would kneel in veneration.
Was he now in the presence of his own master, in the master's home, aiding in his awakening? "Filth gathers the soul, and in degradation, one finds freedom. Awaken now, and unleash the boundless evil power that slumbers within you..." Yuan Qingxi bowed his head, hands pressed against his chest, chanting an ancient spell as if to guide White Bone in his decision, to awaken his true essence.
Yu Yuan, due to his incantation, suddenly found himself cut off from his real body.
He was unable to sense his real body, aware only that it, along with Loong Jie and Yin Xueqi, had just entered the Order of Healing.
The last thing he saw was a crowd of herbalists and counselors from the Order of Healing staring at him in horror.
He had been ready to call forth his main body, channeling all the power of the Dragon Slaying Stage to confront Yuan Qingxi and the true White Bone, but his rhythm was disrupted.
"No," White Bone said, shaking his head slightly.
He held the painting, and with a single word, all of Yuan Qingxi's efforts were erased.
The painting, attempting to blend into his palm like water, was halted by his command.
Yuan Qingxi looked up, bewildered, "What's wrong? Don't you wish to awaken?"
"Bring the Crucible of Evil here," White Bone commanded abruptly.
Yu Yuan, ready to wield the residual power of the Chronowyrm, was taken aback by White Bone's demand.
"The Crucible of Evil?" Yuan Qingxi echoed in surprise.
"Bring it to me," White Bone insisted.
Yuan Qingxi's face showed his dilemma, "That object is under the control of several Terra Fiends. It's not within my power to limit it."
"Then take me to it," White Bone instructed once more.
Yuan Qingxi, clearly perplexed, admitted, "I don't understand..."
"You don't need to understand!" White Bone barked.
"Oh, alright," Yuan Qingxi conceded, steeling himself.
White Bone turned his gaze back to Yu Yuan, "We continue."
Yu Yuan, even more bewildered and unsure whether to go or stay, steeled himself as well and replied, "Okay, okay."
