C1494 He Saw an Egg
Zhong Chichen extended his arms, his face alight with a welcoming smile as if to greet Rovi's arrival. His gesture set off a cascade of billions of dazzling rays, emanating from the Seven-Colored Lake, the Dragon Slaying Stage, and within himself. The radiant lights swirled with enchanting colors, each hue imbued with endless profound meanings.
In that moment, every creature surrounding the Seven-Colored Lake sensed something profound: the world seemed to have been revitalized, stirring from a deep slumber into vibrant life. Huangyin and the Terra Fiend within the wooden tombstone felt this most acutely. These ancient beings gazed upon Zhong Chichen with a mixture of deep-seated fear and reverence, as if he were the most formidable anomaly in the cosmos.
Simultaneously, the Warp Gates that Rovi had discovered and manifested in this realm began to fracture. Accompanying his descent, the Rift Cutters that targeted Zhong Chichen and the Dragon Slaying Stage exploded like silver knives, their shards glinting in the air. A tapestry of infinite silver sparkles wove through the colorful light, painting a majestic and vibrant mural across the heavens.
Below, onlookers gazed skyward, their minds shaken, their perceptions and thoughts seemingly fragmented. Zhong Chichen, with his mastery of space magic, had not only shattered Rovi's Warp Gates but also tapped into the hidden profundities of the Defiled World, leveraging its rules to counter the foreign intruder. He stood as a deity, wielding the authority of this realm.
Yuan Qingxi, Huangyin, and the other fiends could keenly sense that the cosmic order and laws of the Defiled World had become extensions of Zhong Chichen's will, marshaled to intercept Rovi and obliterate the luminous Rift Cutters. Even Rovi's approach, swift as lightning, was curiously slowed, as if mired in temporal muck.
Yu Yuan, positioned closest to Zhong Chichen, experienced a peculiar dissonance. In his awareness, Rovi, a master of space magic, should have arrived in the blink of an eye.
Zhong Chichen, well-versed in space magic and standing atop the Dragon Slaying Stage, dared not act rashly.
Instead, he tapped into the bloodline talent of the Voidweaver, moving with swift and agile speed to reach his destination.
Rovi, too, was incredibly fast, covering vast distances in an instant...
Yet, he simply could not land upon the Dragon Slaying Stage, nor could he make contact with Zhong Chichen.
Time seemed to crawl at a snail's pace for Rovi.
Yu Yuan caught glimpses of silver-white grains of sand, exuding the essence of time, drifting from Rovi's fleeting form.
The radiant light emanating from the Dragon Slaying Stage carried the time-infused sand, a product of the Chronowyrm's comprehension, originating from the dragon corpse that Zhong Chichen had concealed within the stage.
As the sand mingled with the light, obliterating the luminous space blades, it also settled upon Rovi, subjecting him to the constraints of temporal forces.
"Zhong Chichen!"
"Chronowyrm!"
Below the heavens, Chen Liangquan, Yuan Qingxi, Huangyin, and the remaining demons watched with a mix of astonishment and gravity.
They had not anticipated that the Chronowyrm, transformed into human form and purified by the psionic power of the Seven-Colored Lake, could stand against Rovi.
What level of existence was Rovi?
How could Zhong Chichen, who had not ascended to the Supreme God and remained in the Unbound state, impose limitations on Rovi?
"You've been overlooking the fact that he is known as the Chronowyrm, not the Space Wyrm. Space magic is merely one of the rules he has mastered," White Bone interjected, holding the scroll, his face impassive.
Yuan Qingxi was visibly shaken. "Time, the power of time! With the Dragon Slaying Stage beneath him and his dragon corpse within, once he receives Yu Yuan's permission to wield his inherent powers, the force of time comes into play!"
"In this world, aside from myself, he is the one most capable of unleashing his battle prowess," White Bone declared.
"Yes..." Yuan Qingxi agreed, his voice strained.
Following his purification in the Seven-Colored Lake, Zhong Chichen soared to the pinnacle of the Unbound Realm, his Solar Spirit forged into a Seven-Colored Dragon.
Subsequently, having aided Yu Yuan in breaking free from spatial constraints, he earned Yu Yuan's complete trust, granting him access to his innate strength.
Time, space, and his penetrating insight into the Defiled World, coupled with his presence in the Everlands...
It could be said that he had it all: the perfect moment, the ideal location, and the right person.
In such a state, with his full firepower unleashed, he was able to restrain some of Rovi's power, which wasn't entirely earth-shattering.
"Senior Brother!"
Yu Yuan's eyes sparkled, inspired by Zhong Chichen's current display of strength.
"Help me. I can only hold him back, but I can't drive him away."
Zhong Chichen's voice, as if speaking directly to the soul, miraculously emanated from within Yu Yuan's heart, causing him a moment of astonishment.
"The first dragon's breath that was mine emerged from the Dragon Slaying Stage. As it entered my body, I glimpsed something..."
Zhong Chichen's voice, now soft and deep, resonated within Yu Yuan's heart.
"I saw that egg..."
Yu Yuan felt a tremor.
"I sensed its presence. The dragon's breath that returned to me revealed all that you have done for it. Since you are the one who incubated it and have been aiding its growth... Regardless of your past actions, you are now an ally of the Nagas."
"Loong Jie, he was willing to follow your commands because he too saw it, didn't he?"
"..."
Yu Yuan experienced a flash of enlightenment.
When he had to decide whether to hatch the young Titan Spinosaurus, he had hesitated, carefully considering the implications.
As a dragon slayer in his first life, wasn't hatching a young Titan Spinosaurus like planting a seed of trouble for himself?
Yet, he had inexplicably chosen to hatch the Titan Spinosaurus!
And within his Altar of Rebirth lay another fragment of psionic power from the Root of the Solar Meridian, which just so happened to be the essential nourishment the young creature needed to thrive!
He had taken the leap.
Then, upon his return to the Everlands with the Dragon Slaying Stage, the cosmic order that had once kept the Nagas in check was instantly shattered.
He had sought out Loong Jie again, who, upon detecting the scent of the young beast, defected from the grand alliance of the five supreme forces.
From then on, the Nagas, regardless of their original factions, recognized only him.
Zhong Chichen, upon fully awakening, had ample reasons to oppose him. He could have remained a passive observer or even kicked him while he was down. Yet, he unhesitatingly chose to stand by his side, assisting him in breaking free from the spatial constraints.
This choice stemmed from his earlier decision to incubate the Titan Spinosaurus hatchling, a decision that now granted him a form of repayment.
"How can I assist you?" he pondered, thoughts racing through his mind as he concentrated on his heart, confident that Zhong Chichen would hear him.
Rip! Rip!
Fine cracks began to form on Zhong Chichen's chest, from which a burst of seven-colored light emerged, swiftly draining his grand and refined vitality and life force. Anticipating this, his smile was tinged with a hint of bitterness.
When the subject of the Titan Spinosaurus was not on the table, he spoke openly, "The cosmic order I currently cannot sustain has led to this outcome. Whether it's the power of time that was once mine within my dragon corpse or the sword of the Way of Heaven that contends with the Defiled World..."
He shook his head, "This human form is far too fragile."
The Seven-Colored Dragon, had it not been dismembered, could naturally endure the cosmic order and divine power he had mastered, wielding the forces of space and time.
Zhong Chichen, now in human form, had not practiced the body-forging arcane of the Forgeroses, nor did he possess the overwhelming fortune of Yu Yuan. His Solar Spirit was forged from the Altar of Rebirth and the blood crystals of the Demon God, amalgamating the lifeblood of various races.
Despite the purification from the Seven-Colored Lake, Zhong Chichen's physical foundation remained inadequate to carry his original divine power and cosmic order.
Considering the current predicament, he might manage to contain Rovi temporarily, but at the cost of the utter destruction of his body and Solar Spirit.
"I'll help you hold him back. You, take this and drive it through Rovi's heart!" Zhong Chichen, with a smile, handed over the golden skeleton he had retrieved from the Seven-Colored Lake, the very one that had shattered the spatial bindings around Yu Yuan.
"What's this?"
Yu Yuan reached out to receive it, a look of bewilderment on his face. As the golden skeleton touched his hand, the confusion and doubt that had clouded his mind were instantly dispelled. He nodded emphatically and replied, "Alright!"
