C1493 After All They Were Senior and Junior Brothers!
The Defiled World beneath the surface was saturated with an abundance of malevolent thoughts and shadow energy, which constituted a significant portion of its essence.
This shadow energy, once shunned and cast aside from the Root of the Lunar Meridian, was now at the disposal of White Bone, who had ascended to wield the power of the supreme God of Ghosts.
Yuan Qingxi looked up, and with a careful sensing, he could tell that the disordered shadow energy had engulfed the heavens of this realm.
The shadow energy, tainted with all manner of impurities, was drawn by a purely cold Yin will and solidified into a formidable wall, effectively shielding this world from any external scrutiny.
Neither the primordial spirit nor the Dark Deity could penetrate this barrier with their gaze, leaving them oblivious to the underground happenings.
In this world, only a being like White Bone, a God of Ghosts, could manipulate shadow energy to such an extent that it obscured the probing eyes of the highest powers.
Zhong Chichen, well-versed in the Cosmic Order of the Defiled World, was privy to its deepest secrets.
Thus, he understood that the one using the power of the supreme God of Ghosts to conceal such a fearsome disturbance below was none other than White Bone, whose silence and inscrutable thoughts had long puzzled all.
"Is it him? How is he aiding the Terra Fiend?" Loong Jie, transformed into a streak of golden lightning, was unaware of White Bone's history. Stirred by Zhong Chichen's revelation and Yuan Qingxi's evident agitation—and with no rebuttal from White Bone—he couldn't help but express his astonishment.
Deep in the void, Chen Liangquan, no longer the focus of Rovi's aggression, clutched a shattered crystal orb, his hands bleeding. He, too, was taken aback as he turned his gaze toward White Bone.
If White Bone was compromised...
The thought was too harrowing for Chen Liangquan to entertain.
"With the Terra Fiend race revealing two of their former Demon Gods, how could the Bloodbrawlers remain uninvolved?" Zhong Chichen mused, a slight curl to his lips as he disclosed White Bone's true identity. "Youyu, surely you remember me. After tens of thousands of years, I'm curious to know where you stand now."
White Bone, his expression impassive, maintained his silence.
He furrowed his brow slightly, seemingly annoyed by Zhong Chichen's verbosity.
"Youyu!"
Loong Jie's face drained of color in alarm. As the last surviving old dragon of the Nagas, he had encountered this name in numerous ancient texts.
Youyu, one of the leaders of the Bloodbrawlers!
He was also a human who had first advanced to become a primordial spirit, a formidable pioneer in the resistance against the Nagas.
It was White Bone all along!
"It seems you folks, skulking underground, have long been aware of this truth."
Seeing nothing amiss from Huangyin, the Headless Horseman, and the specter within the wooden tombstone, Zhong Chichen couldn't help but flash a wide grin. "No wonder you've been so elusive, daring to conspire beneath the earth and plot against the Dragon Slaying Stage!"
Realizing that no one was shocked by the revelation of Youyu's identity, Loong Jie, who had been brought low, suddenly understood everything.
Chen Liangquan and Loong Jie also abruptly remembered when Canli, using her Fallen Star Eyes to spy beneath the surface, recoiled in pain upon glimpsing White Bone.
Subsequently, White Bone vanished from the view of the Fallen Star Eyes.
The two men instantly grasped the implications.
"This is bad..."
Both Loong Jie and Chen Liangquan were filled with a bitter sense of foreboding as the same thought struck them.
They realized that if White Bone was indeed Youyu, once a primordial spirit of the Bloodbrawlers, what hope did they have of triumphing in the battle raging in the Defiled World below?
Rovi alone could annihilate everyone present, with only the Seven-Colored Dragon offering some semblance of resistance.
But with Rovi and White Bone together, and without the intervention of other supreme beings from the Everlands, their chances were utterly dashed.
"I always knew you, Master, would eventually join our cause!"
Yuan Qingxi looked up, his spirits lifted.
Huangyin and the graceful specter in the wooden tombstone also displayed visible delight.
"Youyu, we welcome your return!"
The specter within the tombstone bowed to White Bone as if it had been anticipating this moment for millennia!
With Rovi and White Bone on their side, they were confident of victory, even with the unexpected arrival of Zhong Chichen.
After all, Zhong Chichen had not yet ascended to the ranks of the gods and had not achieved supreme status!
No matter how formidable the Chronowyrm was, without its full strength restored, it would be impossible to turn the tide!
"Thank goodness, thank goodness!"
Yuan Qingxi and Huangyin's tension completely dissipated.
The words of Zhong Chichen had echoed their greatest fears.
They were concerned that Rovi, in revealing his full power, would draw the attention of the various supreme beings of the Everlands. Then, the majority of these exalted beings, many of whom were nearby, would converge here due to Rovi's emergence!
Should that occur, the battle would be over in the blink of an eye.
Rovi would have no choice but to flee to the extraterrestrial realms.
If he stayed, he would meet his end in the Everlands.
And if they themselves failed to escape swiftly, they would be eradicated by the supreme beings. The prospect of ascending to Demon God would be the least of their worries; they might not even retain a shred of their essence.
What they had been hoping for, what they desired, was to be obscured from detection by White Bone!
The only entity they could think of that could conceal their presence in the underground Defiled World from the supreme beings of the Everlands was White Bone.
Now that White Bone had granted their wish, how could they contain their excitement?
"White Bone..."
Yu Yuan, exerting his full might, frantically unleashed all the power within him in the confined space, attempting to blast open the sealed little world and escape at all costs.
Yet, he caught the words Zhong Chichen had intentionally allowed him to hear...
The sky had been obscured by White Bone!
The supreme beings of the Everlands had not sensed Rovi's presence or descended upon this place because White Bone, who had attained the stature of the God of Ghosts, had lent a hand to the Terra Fiend and the Bloodbrawlers.
Thus, his hopes were dashed!
Rovi, his senior brother Zhong Chichen, and the God of Ghosts, White Bone...
Yu Yuan felt utterly powerless. Even as the Baneblade's sword light repeatedly shattered the space around him, it did little to ease his mind.
He had truly experienced the overwhelming force of Rovi when he regained control of his body and struck with the might of a peak warrior from the extraterrestrial Star River.
"I am still not there yet, still not at the ultimate threshold."
He was acutely aware that even with the combat prowess of the Unbound, his Solar Spirit Body was no match for Rovi.
Frustratingly, the oppressive layers of space prevented communication between his remnant soul, Yu Yiyi's, and the Dragon Slaying Stage.
If only he could retract to the Dragon Slaying Stage...
"Youyu, do you wish for his death?"
Zhong Chichen, having bathed in the Seven-Colored Lake, finally emerged, radiating with divine light.
Whoosh!
In a flash, he stood upon the Dragon Slaying Stage, nearly face-to-face with Yu Yuan, ensnared by the spatial layers.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
Countless beams of seven-colored light erupted between them.
The bloodline mysteries within him surged from the Dragon Slaying Stage, striking out like lightning.
Whether he liked it or not, his presence here, even just within this realm, meant an inevitable clash with Rovi's space magic.
He was the first in the Everlands to master space magic and attain its ultimate form.
The entire Voidweaver race, including the colorful butterfly, had seen him as an adversary since his awakening to spiritual wisdom.
This enmity had remained unchanged through the ages!
"Chronowyrm!"
Rovi surged forward.
A series of spatial blades, each thousands of meters long, streaked toward the Dragon Slaying Stage, resembling his gleaming silver wings.
To Yuan Qingxi, Huangyin, and the others, Rovi appeared as a colossal butterfly in that moment, his wings forged from luminous spatial blades.
"My dear junior brother, you've called me 'senior brother' for a century. If I don't help you, should I assist a stranger instead?"
Zhong Chichen shook his head and sighed in resignation.
With a flick of his wrist, a golden skeleton appeared in his hand. With it, he sliced through the layers of space encasing Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan was freed in an instant.
"I..."
Overwhelmed by the presence of the Dragon Slaying Stage, warmth flooded Yu Yuan's heart. He had so much to express, yet words failed him.
"I know, I know you're confused. You can't grasp it all just yet. Don't worry, you have an entire lifetime ahead to slowly understand."
Zhong Chichen blinked, his smile radiating with splendor as countless streams of rainbow light burst forth from within him and the Dragon Slaying Stage.
"Rovi!" he called out with a gentle whistle.
The visible Warp Gates, fractured by Rovi's actions, began to shatter one by one.
