C1462 I will Give You a Chance to Live!
Yu Yuan was taken aback.
Could it be that Hu Caiyun's beloved was the very demonform standing before him, refined by Huangyin?
Was it possible that Huangyin, an original Terra Fiend, had once romanced Hu Caiyun in this very body?
What exactly was happening here?
Yu Yuan distinctly recalled Hu Caiyun mentioning that her partner hailed from the Ebon Star, just like her.
This individual had even briefly ascended to the status of a primordial spirit, a journey that was tragic from the outset.
He had been commanded by the upper sects to engage in battle in the extraterrestrial realms, where he valiantly clashed with a peak extraterrestrial adversary.
According to her, the upper sects had other plans for the Supreme God seat and had only allowed him to occupy it temporarily.
Yet, the cost of this temporary seat was the complete annihilation of his body and spirit!
Hu Caiyun's departure from the Ebon Star to become the Peach Madam of the Rainbow Ocean was driven by her conviction that the upper sects had sacrificed her cherished partner, leading to his abrupt demise.
She harbored resentment towards Han Miaoyuan, the sect master of the Ebon Star and her former mentor, for this betrayal.
After years of being tormented by an inner demon, her relentless efforts led her to join the Boulderdawn.
All her actions were motivated by the desire to one day confront Han Miaoyuan and demand an explanation for his treatment of her man.
She had always been searching for answers.
Now, with the secrets Huangyin had disclosed, Yu Yuan was beginning to piece together the answer.
"The Terra Fiends of the Everlands rank alongside the Star-Spawned Terrors. But for me to ascend as a Great Demon God, the process is unique. I believe that to evolve into a tenth level Great Demon God, I must consume a supreme primordial spirit, harnessing its essence and magic power as nourishment for my transformation."
Huangyin watched the Dragon Slaying Stage with a smile and continued, "Naturally, this also requires relocating a piece of the Dragon Slaying Stage from the Moonfall Sanctuary."
"My approach is similar to that of Ann Jieshan from the Colddeath Sect. I selected a prodigy from the Ebon Star long ago, nurturing his growth and gradually elevating his realm. Throughout this time, my devil soul and his three souls have seamlessly fused, becoming indistinguishable from one another."
"Even Han Miaoyuan was unable to discern any clues at first."
"I integrated with him, seduced him, and subtly influenced him. Eventually... he would fulfill my purpose."
"I directed him to enter the Moonfall Sanctuary and to displace the two Dragon Slaying Stages that suppressed the ghosts and Terra Fiends, thereby shattering the cosmic order that prevented them from ascending to godhood."
"Any other ghosts or alien souls that are slightly stronger would be immediately sensed by the Most Highs of the five major forces upon nearing the Moonfall Sanctuary. They would swiftly eliminate any threat in its infancy."
"I, however, concealed myself within him, orchestrating these actions from the shadows. I was confident in my plan, never anticipating any complications."
"After all, he had only recently ascended to the status of a primordial spirit..."
"Who would harbor suspicions against a newly advanced primordial spirit of the Ebon Star? Who would doubt him?"
"Once he removed the two Dragon Slaying Stages and broke the seal, I was poised to consume his primordial spirit and ascend to become the mightiest in the Everlands!"
Huangyin's voice trailed off as the purple dark fire within his eye sockets began to churn tumultuously.
"I gravely underestimated Han Miaoyuan..."
He exhaled a sigh tinged with regret. "Right when I was about to act, Han Miaoyuan appeared, claiming there was an urgent situation. He ordered me to the Extraterrestrial Star River to aid in a battle. As the sect master of the Ebon Star, his commands were unchallengeable. I thought I could return to move the Dragon Slaying Stages after resolving the conflict in the extraterrestrial, so I went."
"And there, I met my end in the extraterrestrial."
A wry smile crept across Huangyin's face.
He shook his head, his voice laden with a wealth of sentiment, "True to form, Han Miaoyuan is incredibly shrewd. He must have sensed my presence early on and, unable to completely extricate or purge me, issued that order. He ensured that the one I had merged with would meet his demise in the extraterrestrial."
"All my years of plotting and careful arrangements came to naught."
Speaking to both Yu Yuan and White Bone, Huangyin, one of the progenitors of the Terra Fiends, lamented, "Had I succeeded, I would have risen to become the Demon God of the Terra Fiends before you."
He always held White Bone in high esteem because he remained merely a Demon God, not a tenth-level one.
There was a time when he and White Bone were equals, but now, with White Bone's ascension to a God of Ghosts, he had surpassed him.
"It seems Peach Madam has misunderstood her master," Yu Yuan mused.
Han Miaoyuan detected that something was amiss with Hu Caiyun's beloved. Without compromising the Ebon Star Sect's reputation, he orchestrated a secret plot to eliminate a peak extraterrestrial warrior.
Han Miaoyuan ruthlessly dismantled Huangyin's painstaking arrangements, emerging victorious.
But why, afterward, did Han Miaoyuan withhold the truth from Hu Caiyun?
Why didn't he reveal that her beloved had become one with the Terra Fiend Ancestor, to the point where they were inseparable and beyond salvation?
"Mrs. Hu harbored a lifelong grudge against her master for this."
Yu Yuan hesitated, then inquired further, "Why didn't Han Miaoyuan offer an explanation?"
"Haha."
Huangyin let out a soft chuckle, his lips curving into a sharp smile. "Because Caiyun and I were in love. I secretly taught her how to refine the toxic miasma to enhance her combat abilities. She was unaware that the spell she used originated from me."
"She believed it was an epiphany she had while her beloved wandered the Rainbow Ocean."
"Perhaps Han Miaoyuan thought she too had been seduced and poisoned by me. When she became utterly disillusioned with the Ebon Star and modified her cultivation with the spell I had given her, transforming into the so-called Peach Madam, Han Miaoyuan's suspicions only grew."
"By not personally slaying his disciple turned Terra Fiend puppet, Han Miaoyuan showed a measure of mercy."
Huangyin elaborated on the reasons behind these events.
Yu Yuan now fully grasped the situation. Hu Caiyun's ability to refine the miasma and smoke, integrating various poisons to empower herself, was the result of practicing the mystique taught by the progenitor of the Terra Fiend.
Her name was Hu Caiyun, and she possessed a vibrant peach tree.
Her name bore a resemblance to the Seven-Colored Lake where Huangyin was born. It's possible that the peach tree's roots were nestled right above the surface of the Seven-Colored Lake.
Huangyin concealed himself in the Defiled World beneath the earth. While submerged in the Seven-Colored Lake to enhance his cultivation, he would sometimes gaze upward.
He would gaze at the peculiar peach tree.
Whoosh!
A gray fox clad in human garb emerged abruptly from the mist behind the Seven-Colored Lake.
The dark fire blazing within the eyes of the gray fox revealed its true nature as a Terra Fiend.
"Master, the individual from the Forgotten Ruins did not provide a definitive answer. She simply stated that she requires more time to deliberate," the gray fox reported with deference.
"Yu Zhu!"
Yu Yuan was taken aback once more.
"To consider is an encouraging sign. I am quite pleased with this development," Huangyin said with a soft laugh, casting a glance at the Crucible of Evil. "Do you wish to see all the Banes within transformed into my lieutenants? Yu Yuan, I offer you a lifeline."
"If you can persuade Yu Zhu to sever her ties with Shadow's Keep immediately, to allow her lake to merge with the waters of the Seven-Colored Lake, transforming the Forgotten Ruins into another Rainbow Ocean..."
"I will return the cauldron to you and grant you safe passage from the underworld."
"How does that sound?"