C1505 Frost Queen's Discovery

With a mere thought, Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit gracefully entered the Crucible of Evil. Within the cauldron's own universe, a dense array of Terra Fiends, ghosts, and otherworldly spirits could be seen occupying the recesses of the lower staircases.

Yu Yiyi weaved through the layers of stairs, meticulously selecting the right Banes. As the cauldron spirit, she could gauge the potential of the Terra Fiends, ghosts, and spirits as they were transformed into Banes. She knew which newly formed Banes possessed the potential to ascend to the highest echelons of strength.

Whenever she spotted a Bane with immense potential and clear room for growth, she would channel her power to accelerate its development. On the tenth floor, apart from the Frost Queen, the Shadowfox had coalesced into a purple civet. After being marked with the slave seal, the purple glow of dark fire in the Shadowfox's eyes dimmed, and it seemed much more submissive to Yu Yuan. When Yu Yuan's gaze fell upon it, the Shadowfox averted its eyes, not daring to meet his stare.

The ninth floor revealed a crimson flag and a pitch-black spirit snake. The Bloodleech, already among the mightiest of Banes, was directly refined to the ninth level upon its arrival. The black spirit snake, once clinging to a thundersnake, was ultimately shattered by Yu Yiyi, who then captured its devil soul.

Chebus, Armor Crusher, Grimlantern, and Silver Chain stood proudly on the ninth floor, each with the potential to rise in power. "Master, the Bloodleech and the Coiled Snake started at an exceedingly high level. Upon their arrival, they were already at the ninth level. With further refinement, they'll soon ascend to the tenth level and regain their spiritual wisdom," Yu Yiyi explained with infectious enthusiasm, floating beside his Lunar Spirit.

Her journey through the Defiled World below had been the most fruitful. She had collected tens of thousands of soul items, each capable of being refined into a lower-tier Bane. Chebus, Armor Crusher, Grimlantern, and Silver Chain had all grown stronger. Meanwhile, the Bloodleech and the Coiled Snake were poised for another rapid advancement, poised to reawaken their spiritual wisdom and recover memories that had been temporarily obscured, just like the Frost Queen and the Shadowfox.

She sensed that Chebus might have the potential to ascend to the tenth level in a short time. Consequently, the power of the Crucible of Evil had significantly increased.

Listening to her account, Yu Yuan nodded in understanding, "I didn't come to discuss this. What do you know about Xuanying and Huangyin from the Terra Fiend Clan, and Xuanli from the Bloodbrawlers?"

Yu Yiyi had once been his servant in ancient times, and with the reawakening of the Crucible of Evil, her memories were slowly returning. Yu Yuan was eager to clarify a few things.

His exchange with Youyu had been too brief, leaving many questions unanswered.

He was also curious about the striking similarities between the Seven-Colored Lake and the Defiled World, and the Rainbow Ocean.

"I've only heard of their names..." Yu Yiyi said, her head bowed as she explained.

She recounted to Yu Yuan that she wasn't yet the servant of the one who, along with the Terra Fiend Clan, the Bloodbrawlers, and other oppressed factions from the Everlands, had overthrown the Naga's dominion.

By the time she was fortunate enough to join the Boulderdawn and serve that individual, they had already become the supreme ruler of the Everlands.

That person's conflicts with the Terra Fiend Clan and the Bloodbrawlers had occurred long ago.

She hadn't been involved and only knew from the conversations among some Boulderdawn members that the two progenitors of the Terra Fiend Clan and the two leaders of the Bloodbrawlers had been slain by that individual.

Her knowledge of the Terra Fiend and the underground Defiled World was limited because, during her time, the numerous Terra Fiends below, including the survivors of the Bloodbrawlers, dared not reveal themselves, wishing they could remain hidden forever.

Yu Yuan, unable to extract any useful information, appeared somewhat disappointed. He shook his head, ready to depart.

"Master..." At that moment, the Frost Queen, present on the tenth level, unexpectedly spoke up.

Yu Yuan, Yu Yiyi, and even Shadowfox turned to her in astonishment. In the cauldron, only a few retained their spiritual wisdom.

"What do you have to say?" Yu Yuan inquired with curiosity.

The Frost Queen, whose form alternated between shimmering ice armor and razor-sharp ice blades, bore numerous cracks on her cold, white, translucent body. She had been graced with gifts from Chen Qinghuang and the snow bear, marking her as truly exceptional. Yet, now she was gravely wounded.

"I'm unable to heal swiftly within the Crucible of Evil. My wounds require the nourishment of ice's power, not the mending of my soul," the Frost Queen stated with serene acceptance.

Yu Yiyi let out a soft sigh. The Frost Queen had been her greatest ally in the previous battle. Without her, Yu Yiyi would have sustained grave injuries; her finely honed demonform and her soul would have endured intense assaults. Thanks to the Frost Queen's protection, which had absorbed much of the damage, Yu Yiyi's injuries were minimal.

"It's straightforward," Yu Yuan said, nodding lightly. The presence of his Lunar Spirit enveloped the Frost Queen and established a connection with the Dragon Slaying Stage.

With a swift motion, his Lunar Spirit completed its teleportation within his acupoint. He had also brought the Frost Queen along to the Dragon Slaying Stage, to the resting place of the frost wyrm's corpse.

In the heavens, a luminous moon was suspended, with a silhouette inside it, refining. That was the lineage of the Dire Bear...

The Silvery Land, draped in moonlight, cradled the Wintermaw, resembling a colossal stairwell. Inside the well's walls, a soft radiance spilled forth, capturing Yu Yuan's gaze.

Upon reflection, he beheld the Silvery Land where the Chronowyrm lay. The seven segments of the Chronowyrm's corpse shimmered with a faint light, especially at the severed parts, which glowed most intensely. Beneath the serpentine length of the dragon's remains was a seven-colored marsh, its origins a mystery.

Within the marsh's iridescent waters swirled various essences and the breath of time itself. The aura emanating from the fragmented dragon corpse struck a chord of familiarity with Yu Yuan.

Then, in his dominion, at the site of the unique Chronowyrm, he called out with a command: "Trace back!"

Time and space convulsed wildly as the river of time within this realm began to flow backward. Suddenly, Yu Yuan witnessed Rovi's lifeblood. After the Dragon Slaying Stage had healed, the surplus from the dragon's remains, drawn by the forces of this dimension, transformed into a cascade of multicolored raindrops.

The remains of the Chronowyrm scattered across the landscape, seamlessly integrating with the world around it. Yu Yuan observed that the seven segments of the dragon's corpse, previously distant and sprawling like mountain ranges, were inching closer together. It seemed they sought to unite as the Dragon Slaying Stage once had.

"My dear senior brother, your greed knows no bounds!" Yu Yuan remarked with a cold snort.

Without a second thought, he knew that in the waning moments of the Chronospatial Lock, his senior brother Zhong Chichen had awakened. While conversing with Youyu, Zhong Chichen had siphoned some of Rovi's lifeblood and deliberately scattered it across the seven segments of the dragon's remains.

What was his endgame? To make the segmented dragon's corpse heal as the Dragon Slaying Stage would? Had he not been concerned about the scrutiny of the Everlands, he would have shattered Youyu's veil of secrecy and bought more time for the dragon's remains to reap greater benefits.

He was laying the groundwork for his future, intending to infuse the Solar Spirit into the intact dragon's corpse or perhaps something else entirely. Everything he did was calculated for his own benefit.

"Master..." The Frost Queen, seated on the frigid earth, her body crystalline as she absorbed the ice force, spoke up, "Master, there's a reason you brought me here. I have something to say. The Crucible of Evil is teeming with Terra Fiends. Should they regain their spiritual wisdom, they might recall my words."

Her preamble weighed heavily on Yu Yuan, prompting a grave look. "What is it you wish to say?"

"Down in the Defiled World, I fought alongside her. I encountered Huangyin's power, witnessed more Terra Fiends, and beheld the peculiar Seven-Colored Lake," the Frost Queen recounted with a somber tone, clearly having given her words considerable thought.

"I have a sense that Huangyin, the entity within the tombstone, and Xuanying, the progenitor of the Earth Fiends taken by Rovi, share our fundamental nature."

She paused, allowing Yu Yuan a moment to process her revelation.

Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit stirred subtly, the undulations of his soul echoing the tremors of his emotions. "Are you suggesting that the ancient Terra Fiends you've encountered share the same essence as you?"

The Frost Queen nodded earnestly. "That's my feeling as well."

"But you," Yu Yuan exclaimed, "are a Sky Fiend from beyond the Everlands."

"Don't you see that they are Sky Fiends too? At birth, they possessed nothing but a devil soul and a spirited body. They, too, must either attach to or refine a body. They are Demon Gods, Great Demon Gods—there's a hierarchy to it."

"Furthermore, isn't the Seven-Colored Lake in the Defiled World beneath us essentially a Blood Altar?"

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