C1523 The Chosen One
Yu Zhu materialized at the Seven-Colored Lake, her face etched with bewilderment...
Above, Yu Yuan stood suspended in the skies of the Rainbow Ocean, trembling with a sudden jolt.
In that instant, Yu Yuan, clutching the Dragon Slaying Stage, felt his senses expand infinitely. He was intently monitoring any anomalies within a ten-million-mile radius.
He feared any oversight.
Silently, he sought the target that Youyu held dear in his heart, his thoughts tirelessly churning.
Yet, even with the Dragon Slaying Stage in his grasp, his perception and investigative awareness could not pierce the earth to reveal the Seven-Colored Lake's tableau.
—Until Yu Zhu's arrival!
A mystical soul bond linked him to Yu Zhu. This bond, originating from their spirits and amplified by the Dragon Slaying Stage, fused instantly with Yu Zhu's presence.
Thus, in his perception, Yu Zhu became a beacon of light!
He had been blind to the Seven-Colored Lake, the roiling Terra Fiend, and the diminutive Heaven's Dais that Qiyan had become.
Yu Zhu's emergence granted him an eye within the Seven-Colored Lake of the Defiled World!
Yu Zhu was his eye, illuminating the Seven-Colored Lake for him!
Through Yu Zhu, he saw everything!
"Have you... discovered anything?"
Ghost King Tian Zang, standing nearby, keenly sensed the emotional tumult within Yu Yuan and inquired softly, then added, "Huangyin's path has ended, and he is not the one in Youyu's heart."
"If not him, who could it be?" Liu Ying wondered aloud.
Jiang Miaojie's gaze darted about, her bright eyes finally settling on a peach tree.
She watched as Hu Caiyun, fraught with urgency yet powerless, crouched beside Huangyin's blazing demonform.
Huangyin's devil soul was being consumed by the body, now aflame with colorful Serpentflame.
Hu Caiyun, a disciple of Han Miaoyuan, understood the profound and fearsome nature of her master's Way of Heaven. Powerless, she watched her beloved consumed by flames, unable to intervene.
The devil soul belonged to Huangyin, but the body, once the love of her life, was now engulfed in the inferno.
Hu Caiyun had never been so filled with regret and disappointment. With her head bowed, she sobbed quietly while speaking.
She wondered if Huangyin could still hear her...
"What a cursed fate!"
Jiang Miaojie, who had been eavesdropping for some time, still had the inclination to gossip at such a moment.
"Yu, Yu Yuan?"
Liu Ying approached and, seeing Yu Yuan silent for so long, gently shook his arm.
"Give me a moment to think."
Yu Yuan's focus remained on the Seven-Colored Lake.
He could attend to Tian Zang and Liu Ying's conversation without missing a beat, his ability to split thousands of remnant souls allowing him to listen in despite his distraction.
His silence stemmed from his own immense shock and bewilderment.
The reality before him seemed too incredible when juxtaposed with Youyu's decision.
No matter how he considered it, Yu Zhu seemed too hasty and unqualified to assume such a divine position.
Yu Zhu had only recently evolved into a ninth level Monster Lord in the Dark Star of the extraterrestrial Star River. How much time had passed since then?
Had she fully mastered the power of the Monster Lord?
If Youyu had truly chosen her, could there have been some mistake?
No, Youyu does not err!
If there was no mistake, if Youyu's original choice was indeed Yu Zhu...
Yu Yuan followed this line of thought to reorganize his ideas.
Chaos, disarray, and contradiction were the very essence of the Root of the Lunar Meridian, and they also represented the most fitting state for the sacred way.
Yu Zhu was the eight-legged spider of Shadow's Keep, a fusion with the fiend Qiyan.
The union of demon and fiend was unparalleled in the world!
From her birth, she perfectly embodied the murky path of the Way of Heaven, a confluence of chaos, disorder, and contradiction!
She had been cultivated with great care for the future, discovered and nurtured to become a formidable ally.
But her emergence, his finding her and bringing her to the marshes of the Serpent Spine Mountains—had the Bloodbrawlers been manipulating events from behind the scenes?
After all, by that point, he had already descended into demonhood, with his sanity teetering on the brink of collapse.
Yuan Qingxi had been silently observing him from the shadows all along. Behind him lay the Chronicle of the Shadows, within which Youyu was trapped, unable to leave or grow, existing only as an intelligent life form comprised of pure will.
Yet, that was Youyu nonetheless!
Was it possible that the union of Qiyan and the eight-legged spider, and even the emergence of Yu Zhu, had been a calculated move by Youyu and the Bloodbrawlers? Or, delving deeper, was it a decision made by the Root of the Lunar Meridian itself?
From the very moment of her existence, Yu Zhu, a singular being born of demon and devil, was destined for a divine seat. She was born for that very purpose! That's why she possessed such inconceivable strength and limitless potential—because her divine seat was almost preordained from birth!
Her compatibility with the Forgotten Ruins was due to the eight-legged spider. Had she ventured to the Rainbow Ocean or the Defiled World, the "defiled" aspect within her would have allowed her to act with unrestrained abandon. In a way, she was another Youyu, equally unique and extraordinary.
Huangyin and Xuanying had sensed something special, prompting them to send the gray fox to offer her a divine seat. Perhaps it was Yuan Qingxi who had alerted these two Terra Fiend ancestors to Yu Zhu's uniqueness.
Huangyin even hoped that Yu Yuan would be the one to persuade her...
Yu Yuan scoffed internally, then it dawned on him that Yu Zhu's rapid advancement to the ninth level and her ascension to Monster Lord status among her evilkind was due, in part, to her victory over the Demon God Grec. She had claimed one of the three blood crystals for herself!
The Solar Meridian and the Lunar Meridian are inherently opposed. The blood crystal she obtained catalyzed the transformation of her demon blood, awakening her to her true nature. Her innate affinity for the Way of Heaven's murkier path granted her a deeper understanding of the Blood Fiend. In the future, whether she faced the Great Demon God Grec or the Solar Meridian, she would possess the insight to know her foe intimately.
The fusion of demon and devil, the refinement of a blood crystal—these had elevated her to the status of Monster Lord within the sacred Dark Star Domain of the Blood Fiend lineage.
In the world, it would be a challenge to find another who embodies the Way of Heaven as she does.
It's no surprise that even Xuanli had to yield.
"It's Yu Zhu."
Once Yu Yuan found the answer within himself, he inhaled deeply and revealed the truth to Tian Zang, Liu Ying, and Jiang Miaojie.
"Yu Zhu?!"
Tian Zang was stunned.
"How could it be her?" Liu Ying pondered, picturing a small, dark-haired, thin girl who looked like a country lass. "Is she truly qualified? And does she possess the capacity to hold such a divine position? This isn't something you can force!"
"Those unable to bear it will perish, both in flesh and spirit," murmured Jiang Miaojie.
"I believe she should be capable," Yu Yuan admitted, though he felt uneasy.
Despite Yu Zhu's perfect alignment with the Way of Heaven, even born of it, his concern lingered.
He worried that Yu Zhu might not be strong enough...
"Moments ago, seven peculiar forces flashed into existence before vanishing abruptly," Tian Zang regained his composure and asked Yu Yuan with a grave tone, "What was that?"
"That was Qiyan. He's another fragment of Yu Zhu's soul, seemingly linked to the Seven-Colored Lake. Oh, I nearly forgot you're also Youqian, the Sky Fiend, keeper of the Tears of the Azurefiend. Help me make sense of this."
Yu Yuan swiftly shared his theories about the Seven-Colored Lake and the enigmatic bond between Qiyan and the lake.
He even described how Qiyan, the so-called father, materialized a small Heaven's Dais for Yu Zhu to be seated upon.
Tian Zang, Jiang Miaojie, and Liu Ying were left in awe at his account.
Meanwhile, the clear, colorless river flowing toward the Rainbow Ocean seemed unhurried.
It moved languidly, as if waiting for something.
As if it awaited Yu Zhu's self-reacquaintance, her readiness for what was to come.
"The Seven-Colored Lake must be a Blood Altar of a higher order than the Tears of the Azurefiend!"
After a moment of silence, Tian Zang delivered his verdict: "It must have been here before my time, either having fallen or been seized by the Everlands. I'm not sure how it got here, but it's unmistakably a Blood Altar of the Star-Spawned Terror!"
"The only difference is, this Blood Altar seems to have what you refer to as an... artifact soul?"
Tian Zang's expression was peculiar to the extreme.
"Yu Yuan, Jiang Miaojie, you're aware that the artifacts of intelligent life from the extraterrestrial realms, including the most revered holy weapons, don't possess artifact souls, aren't you?"
Jiang Miaojie nodded in agreement, "Indeed, that's the case."
Yu Yuan, too, was taken aback. Upon reflection, he realized that none of the artifacts wielded by the powerful Otherkin he had encountered, including those of the Shura like Alonso and Beru, contained artifact souls. It seemed that artifact souls were exclusive to the most elite artifacts of the Everlands.
"What are you implying?" Yu Yuan pressed.
"I'm not entirely sure what transpired, and it's beyond my comprehension. Yet, it appears that the Blood Altar at the Seven-Colored Lake has birthed an artifact soul in the Defiled World below."
"The Sky Fiend's holy weapon has developed an artifact soul within the Everlands, resulting in the emergence of Qiyan."
"Without Qiyan's return, the Seven-Colored Lake remains incomplete. It's Qiyan's creation that endowed the Seven-Colored Lake with the miraculous ability to nurture new Sky Fiends—an ability my Tears of the Azurefiend lacks."
"Clearly, the Seven-Colored Lake is of a higher caliber and rank than my Tears of the Azurefiend."
"With Huangyin and Xuanying present, Qiyan was reluctant to return, choosing instead to drift in the Rainbow Ocean or roam abroad. His return would likely have resulted in servitude to Huangyin and Xuanying."
"Now, his unique artifact soul has come back to the Seven-Colored Lake for Yu Zhu, transforming into the Heaven's Dais in anticipation of her arrival. He is actively laying down the sacred way for Yu Zhu!"
"In an instant, Yu Zhu has acquired a Divine Artifact on par with the Dark Court!"
"Her union with the Seven-Colored Lake has sent her devil soul soaring, and her demonform, through repeated cleansing with the tainted essence, has swiftly ascended to an entirely new echelon of power."
"Because she is the epitome of the Way of Heaven!"
"She is the chosen one!"
