C1512 Disloyal!

Yu Yuan shared everything he knew without reservation, along with some of his conjectures.

Hu Caiyun was completely unaware of these matters.

Once Yu Yuan finished, Hu Caiyun seemed to lose her spirit, her once lively eyes now frequently cast downward, filled with resentment and ferocity.

Her emotions were in turmoil, the news shaking her to the core and causing her to tremble uncontrollably.

In her quest for answers, she had even spawned an inner demon and strayed into a path of wickedness.

From a respected potential member of the Ebon Star, she had become the Peach Madam of this extraterrestrial place.

Her deep-seated grudge against her master, Han Miaoyuan of the Ebon Star, remained unresolved.

Now, she finally understood the truth.

She realized why her master, Han Miaoyuan, had sacrificed her beloved partner and sent him to the Star River of the extraterrestrial realm shortly after he had ascended to a primordial spirit, only for him to perish like a fleeting blossom.

Hu Caiyun had long suspected that Han Miaoyuan had orchestrated this deliberately, and now it seemed her suspicions were confirmed.

The current patriarch of the Ebon Star had indeed intended to sacrifice her beloved, though not without reason. However, Han Miaoyuan never offered her an explanation afterward.

"I... I need time to process this."

A dispirited Hu Caiyun left these words behind as she forlornly departed from the edge of the Shadowflame Blight Array, her head hung low, muttering to herself as she made her way to the forbidden area where she once diligently practiced.

There, a pathway led underground, from which miasma seeped out.

Huangyin, in the Defiled World, occasionally looked up at her, deliberately directing the thick, toxic miasma to nurture the peach tree and smooth her path of cultivation.

"She really is quite unfortunate."

Yan Qiling expressed his amazement with a click of his tongue, clearly hearing of this for the first time.

"How sad it is..."

Only when Hu Caiyun's figure had become distant and she paid no mind to him or Yan Qiling did Yu Yuan speak in a complex tone, "There are a few things I held back, fearing she couldn't handle them. But I've hinted at them, hoping she'll come to understand on her own."

"What?" Yan Qiling asked, surprised.

"Han Miaoyuan wasn't wrong. Everything her master did was for the sake of the Everlands. Afterwards, Han Miaoyuan offered no explanations, letting her fall into darkness, indifferent to her actions in the Rainbow Ocean. It's quite possible that Han Miaoyuan had foreseen the true nature of events all along," Yu Yuan analyzed earnestly.

"You actually dared to call that person by their real name?" Yan Qiling was astounded.

"It's okay. I have a feeling that they wouldn't bother coming to check on me just because I used their real name," Yu Yuan reassured with a smile, signaling Yan Qiling to relax. He continued, "Initially, Peach Madam and her partner might have simply been fond of each other."

"Just fond?" Yan Qiling couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"As I said, that was only at first," Yu Yuan urged him to be patient. "I believe that what truly made Hu Caiyun fall deeply in love, what rooted her affection so deeply, was actually... Huangyin!"

Yan Qiling's mouth fell open in surprise.

"The one she truly loves is likely Huangyin, yet she's unaware of it. From what I've gathered, it was when Huangyin replaced that person in their romantic exchanges that she felt the happiest and most moved. Huangyin, it seems, gradually came to realize this as well. That's why Huangyin feigned a sudden epiphany and imparted to her the arcane technique to purify the toxic miasma."

"Moreover, after she stepped into the Rainbow Ocean and became the Peach Madam, Huangyin has been there all along, watching over her from the shadows, silently protecting her."

"Han Miaoyuan, as the Sect Master of Ebon Star, must have seen through this a long time ago. He knows his disciple is hopelessly entangled in Huangyin's web of love, past the point of no return."

"With things as they are, Han Miaoyuan has chosen to step back."

"Therefore, her resentment towards Han Miaoyuan is completely unnecessary. Since the one she truly loves is Huangyin, and Huangyin is still among the living, why should she harbor any hatred towards Han Miaoyuan?"

Yu Yuan laid out his deduction.

"Spectacular! Absolutely spectacular!"

Ann Wen of the Colddeath applauded, making a grand entrance from above.

As Yan Qiling and Yu Yuan looked up at him disapprovingly, Ann Wen laughed heartily and explained, "I noticed Peach Madam had departed and assumed your discussion was over, so I decided to come down for a closer look. Little did I expect that the one she's been deeply in love with is the founder of the Terra Fiend, Huangyin. She's been mistaken from the start, never truly understanding her own heart."

"The mind of a woman is truly the most enigmatic thing in the world," Ann Wen mused, shaking his head with a look of profound understanding. He then abruptly gestured toward the Shadowflame Blight Array and fixed Yu Yuan with a stern gaze. "You need to come up with a solution quickly. Simply restricting her won't address the root of the problem. Yu Yuan, you know she's my only treasure."

"I understand," Yu Yuan replied with a resigned sigh.

Yan Qiling turned, his brow furrowed in confusion, and surveyed the area enveloped by the Shadowflame Blight Array. His keen sense of spatial dynamics allowed him to detect the subtle fluctuations within. "Hierarch Ann, has something happened to her?"

"Her situation is something only Yu Yuan can resolve," Ann Wen replied, his expression darkening.

Yan Qiling nodded, paused thoughtfully, then addressed Yu Yuan, "The one overseeing Moonfall Sanctuary right now hasn't given a clear response to your proposal."

"Which proposal?" Yu Yuan inquired.

"The one concerning the Bloodbrawlers and Youyu."

As Yan Qiling spoke, his gaze involuntarily drifted toward the Land of Terror, a shadow of concern lurking in his eyes.

Yu Yuan's expression chilled. "And what of Gui Xu?"

"The God-King Gui Xu reached the Everlands and seems to be searching for something. I haven't seen him myself," Yan Qiling explained, careful with his words in Ann Wen's presence. "Well, I must visit the Merchant Union headquarters."

With that, he vanished in an instant.

"I have a thought regarding Ling Yuan," Yu Yuan announced, clearing his throat. The Solar Spirit, concealed within the little world of vitality, emerged once more and entered the Shadowflame Blight Array.

Inside the rune circle, the Solar Spirit underwent a dramatic transformation, assuming the flesh and blood form of its true self. Ann Ziqing, caught in a maelstrom of time and space, had eyes of crimson fury. Her overwhelming desire for destruction eclipsed her sanity. Upon spotting Yu Yuan, she lunged at him ferociously.

Blood-red spears and soul-piercing purple lightning wove together into an inescapable web. The Solar Spirit, capable of countless transformations, adopted a convincingly human guise, allowing the spears and lightning to ravage its form and shatter the sea of the soul.

Yu Yuan was riddled with wounds and burst apart, his flesh and blood flying in all directions.

The souls scattered like wisps of smoke.

Outside the rune circle.

His torn flesh and the vanishing souls, like smoke, regrouped before Ann Wen's eyes, rising from the ground and the miasma.

"Yes, I'm dead."

After the Solar Spirit sank back into his real body, Yu Yuan shrugged.

"Is that even possible?"

Ann Wen was stunned.

His daughter's two inner demons were clear to him: they would either completely possess Yu Yuan or utterly destroy him.

Yu Yuan, having transformed his Solar Spirit into his real body within the rune circle, allowed his daughter to unleash her fury, appeasing the destructive inner demon.

But it was all a ruse...

"I know this is just a band-aid solution. But for now, it's the best I can come up with. And it seems she has indeed regained her clarity."

While speaking, Yu Yuan, through the view from the Dragon Slaying Stage, saw Ann Ziqing standing lost and bewildered outside the grass hut.

The light of spiritual wisdom in Ann Ziqing's eyes began to coalesce after "his" death.

Shortly after, Ann Ziqing, realizing much of her fair skin was exposed, quickly adjusted her clothing and began to rant with a furious expression.

"Yu Yuan, where have you gone off to die?"

Having come to her senses, she knew that someone of Yu Yuan's cultivation level wouldn't die so easily.

The destructive inner demon within her stirred once more.

Yet, Yu Yuan's feigned death had vented the uncontrollable inner demon, which could now be repressed with her spiritual wisdom.

Until the new inner demon grew too strong, she would not lose control again.

"Let's have a word."

Ignoring Ann Ziqing's outbursts, Yu Yuan pondered for a moment before speaking, "The Hon, I have a suggestion, or rather, a direction for you."

"Speak," Ann Wen said, listening intently.

"Take her with you to the Extraterrestrial Star River and seek out the Abyssal Leviathan. The Root of the Solar Meridian yearns for the Secrets of Life that were once severed by the Abyssal Leviathan. If you and Ann Ziqing can find the Abyssal Leviathan and restore those Secrets of Life, I believe..."

"Ling Yuan, she could become another Grec! She wouldn't need the fortunes of the Everlands to undergo her transformation. With it, Ling Yuan has the potential to ascend as a great Demon God!"

"If you're willing, all humans who practice the Colddeath teachings can fundamentally change the essence of their lives. They can become like Grec, Blood Fiends, and completely free themselves from the constraints of the Divine Positions in the Everlands."

Yu Yuan paused.

Ann Wen was completely taken aback.

"Let's face it, the Everlands have too few divine positions. Currently, Loong Jie, my senior brother Zhong Chichen, President Lyi, the wielder of the Stardust Blade, and your rival for divinity all have a significant edge over you. There's no right or wrong in the Way of Heaven or the Ultimate Path. Give it some serious thought," Yu Yuan earnestly advised.

His advice was nothing short of heretical, even directly opposing the policies of the Everlands.

He was tempting Ann Wen and Ann Ziqing to undergo a transformation into Blood Fiends, to utterly cast off the shackles of the Everlands' divine hierarchy.

"I..."

Ann Wen stared at him as if he were a demon, words trapped in his throat, unable to speak.

Yu Yuan's radical ideas and philosophy had utterly astounded him, leaving him in awe.

Ann Wen believed Yu Yuan to be the very source of wickedness, the embodiment of sin itself.

He was actually urging him to willingly draw near to the Root of the Solar Meridian, to seek the path to godhood through the creator of the Blood Fiend race.

Wasn't this a betrayal of the entire Everlands?

How could this young man conceive such thoughts, let alone voice them?

"Things are just as they were before; you really haven't changed. You're still you."

A voice so secretive that no one else could perceive it whispered from within Yu Yuan, "I will support you."

"Who?!" Yu Yuan exclaimed in surprise.

"Kid, you're jumping at shadows. What are you talking about?" Ann Wen inquired, puzzled.

Yu Yuan hesitated for a moment before regaining his composure. With a smile, he said, "It's nothing."

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