C1524 The Banner of Duality

Atop the Seven-Colored Lake, Yu Zhu sat with a slight frown on the small Heaven's Dais that Qiyan had formed. Her expression was one of deep confusion.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Mysterious psionic powers from the lake coursed through the Heaven's Dais beneath her, infusing her body, purifying her demonic form, and bolstering her unique demon soul.

Her heart, brimming with demon energy, felt the impact of these powers, which shattered many tiny blood particles within her. These particles were the residue left in her body after refining the blood crystal for the resurrection ceremony.

She had an inkling that these remnants were detrimental to her demon body and soul. Thus, since her return from the extraterrestrial, she had been diligently working to eliminate this threat on the mid-lake island.

Even with her formidable abilities and the techniques from the Forgotten Ruins, melting away these remnants proved challenging.

But now...

The mysterious psionic power from the lake below, refined by the Heaven's Dais, flowed into her with ease, erasing the last traces of the blood crystal.

She felt an immediate sense of relief.

Simultaneously, the Heaven's Dais beneath her began to impart the intricacies of the devil soul and the myriad wonders of the Seven-Colored Lake.

"Blood Altar, artifact soul, favored by the heavens..." Yu Zhu whispered to herself.

She paid no mind to the myriad monsters and goasts in her vicinity.

She sensed that all the alien souls and Terra Fiends before her were at her command. Whomever she willed to die would perish.

Numerous venerable Terra Fiends congregated around the wooden tombstone, gazing eagerly at the graceful specter.

Xuanying had been taken to the extraterrestrial Star River by Zhong Chichen, alongside Rovi. Huangyin, intent on achieving divinity, had recently burst from the subterranean world and was now traversing the Rainbow Ocean.

Now, the specter from within the wooden tombstone had risen to be the most influential being in the underground.

"I..." The elegant specter emerged from the tombstone and ascended to its peak, hesitating as if she had more to say.

Yu Zhu, who had emerged so suddenly, knew full well what Qiyan, now the Heaven's Dais, symbolized. Yet, what puzzled her was Qiyan's current demeanor.

At this pivotal juncture, shouldn't Qiyan be fully supporting Huangyin's ascension to godhood?

Why, upon her return, did she bring this girl along?

Furthermore...

How can this plain, skinny country girl be so... terrifying?

The sophisticated specter scrutinized Yu Zhu and felt a silent awe.

Her specter began to undulate, mirroring her inner turmoil.

When Youyu, still not fully awakened, arrived, he felt like kin to Huangyin and Xuanying.

Like them, Youyu was attuned to the Defiled World and adept with its psionic powers.

Their reverence stemmed from Youyu's immunity to the Defiled World's oppression and her inherent superiority over them, over Xuanying and Huangyin.

Fundamentally, Youyu was one of their own.

Yet this girl, seemingly straight out of the countryside, appeared at the Seven-Colored Lake and immediately captivated all the Terra Fiends and goasts, sending a shiver through each monster's soul.

It wasn't just the Seven-Colored Lake; the entire Defiled World seemed revitalized by her presence!

The miraculous transformation of the Defiled World didn't feel like the arrival of a family member, but rather... the return of the master.

"Yu Zhu, the girl Mr. Yuan spoke of, the outsider whom Huangyin and Xuanying were so eager to summon!"

The refined Terra Fiend's soul quivered with a sudden insight.

She moved past all the other Terra Fiends to approach Yu Zhu on the Heaven's Dais. The dark will she had harbored was hastily snuffed out as she drew near, vanishing like smoke.

Deep within her devil soul, within her own perception, she embellished her image of Yu Zhu...

In her mind, Yu Zhu transformed into a woman with porcelain skin, stunning features, and an air of elegance and nobility – the epitome of feminine perfection.

It was as if she feared Yu Zhu might detect her earlier irreverence.

"My name is Bai Ying."

With utmost respect, she greeted Yu Zhu using an intricate and ancient ritual, her demeanor beyond reproach. "What brings you here so unexpectedly?" she inquired, deliberately using formal language.

Yu Zhu appeared somewhat bewildered.

She was still assimilating the profound knowledge that had flooded into her from the Heaven's Dais. Her demon soul was evolving, coalescing into a thick seven-colored cloud, strikingly reminiscent of the Seven-Colored Lake.

Zhong Chichen's journey towards demonization spanned decades, yet he never quite completed it smoothly.

However, deep within her demon soul, there was already a mark of the demon.

In a brief period, she intensified this demonic mark and drew upon the power of the Seven-Colored Lake. With Qiyan's guidance and assistance, she effortlessly allowed the devil soul to consume her original demon soul.

Her transformation into a demon was astonishingly swift and seamless.

"Bai Ying! You worthless thing, can't you see that she's come to claim the divine throne?"

Qiyan's chilling voice echoed from the Heaven's Dais.

He seemed to have countless eyes fixed on Bai Ying and all the Terra Fiends gathered there. "Your existence is thanks to the Seven-Colored Lake, and most of you were even born directly from its waters! Now, the deity that is rightfully yours is about to emerge. You should be bowing in reverence and rejoicing in celebration!"

"A deity?"

"Our own deity?"

"Is she going to contend with Huangyin for the divine throne?"

The demons were thrown into a frenzy.

"Huangyin?" Qiyan scoffed. "What can he possibly wield against Han Miaoyuan? I supported him wholeheartedly once, even aiding Xuanying, but what was the outcome? Utter defeat!"

"The truth is, Huangyin and Xuanying, these failures, are utterly incapable of restoring the Terra Fiends' former glory!"

"From this moment on, your hopes and future hinge on her!"

"Prepare yourselves for the advent of a new deity!"

Qiyan's voice boomed with domineering confidence.

...

An eerie pressure that weighed heavily on the little world of the Golden Sanctum suddenly surged through the Rainbow Ocean.

Yu Yuan's spirit wavered, sensing an external force meddling with the spiritual energy he had honed for years within his little world.

It was as if a power was at play, capable of influencing his Golden Sanctum and distorting his realm of spiritual energy.

Below, the sea of clouds, saturated with tainted essence, contained divine force that seemed to be drawn magnetically, converging in one direction.

"Uh!"

Jiang Miaojie's delicate hand gently rested on her flat belly, her stunning face betraying a flash of alarm.

Liu Ying's long lashes fluttered as she employed her Fallen Star Eyes once more, scanning her surroundings in search of the anomaly's origin.

Tian Zang offered a bitter smile and remarked, "What is destined to come will always find its way."

"Who?"

Yu Yuan demanded.

Tian Zang didn't immediately respond. Instead, he extended a finger, pointing towards where Hu Caiyun and Huangyin were engulfed in flames.

Out of nowhere, a dark yellow flag had appeared amidst the void of the peach tree.

The flag hung silently in the air, its fabric pulsing with strands of spiritual energy.

Its presence seemed to perpetually influence the divine force within the Rainbow Ocean, the little worlds of the Golden Sanctum, and even the spiritual energy within the Solar Spirit.

Any aspect of the Everlands connected to spiritual energy was, to some extent, under its sway.

Huangyin, one of the original Terra Fiends, whose demonform had been seized and refined, found his Golden Sanctum suddenly full of holes, his spiritual energy dissipated, leading his shattered Solar Spirit to explode as if it too were under its influence.

It was as though it could dictate the flow of divine force throughout the entire Everlands!

"The Banner of Duality!"

Hu Caiyun abruptly looked up at the dark yellow flag that had silently emerged. Watching the spiritual energy coursing through it, her body shook uncontrollably.

She bit her lip lightly, staring at the flag with a look of horror.

Yet, even as Huangyin burned, inching closer to death, and even though she knew the identity of the instigator, she dared not rebel.

For the master of the Banner of Duality was her mentor, Han Miaoyuan.

The current patriarch of the Ebon Star had succeeded Xuanli in ancient times to ascend to godhood.

In the ages that followed, one after another, the human race's most formidable beings perished: in the dragon wars, in the fall of Boulderdawn, in battles in the extraterrestrial realms...

Only Han Miaoyuan endured through the ages!

The Sword Sect and Sunlit Order had once fought alongside him, their primordial spirits perishing and rising anew across generations.

Yet he remained unvanquished.

Both the Sword Sect Master and the Sunlit Order Master had received his assistance in their quests to forge their divine thrones.

He might not have been the strongest, but he was the bedrock of the Euwrea Continent and the sage counselor to the three upper sects.

As the crystalline river symbolizing the Divine Throne neared the Rainbow Ocean, the Banner of Duality made an unexpected appearance.

The arrival of the Banner of Duality heralded his presence.

"He seems intent on shattering the river that symbolizes the Divine Throne, allowing it to merge back into the vastness of the Everlands."

The voice of the Ghost King, Tian Zang, was noticeably subdued in the wake of the Banner's emergence.

Without a word, Tian Zang summoned his Tears of the Azurefiend. Standing amidst them as he spoke, he adopted a posture of vigilant defense.

"Shatter the Divine Throne?"

Yu Yuan's expression grew grim.

"Banner of Duality!"

"Han Miaoyuan!"

At the Skyreach Consortium, within the grand teleportation circle, President Lyi, Zhongli Dapan, Green Willow, Jun Chen, Yan Qiling, and others all exclaimed in alarm.

"Old fool, he never intended to cede the Divine Throne to you!" Jun Chen spat out the words without regard for decorum.

"It's clear now; he wants the Divine Throne to vanish into the essence of the Everlands. The three great upper sects lack a suitable candidate, or more accurately, Han Miaoyuan lacks one! He'd rather see the Divine Throne shattered and gone than to offer it to you!" Jun Chen was visibly agitated.

"Han Miaoyuan owes me!"

President Lyi was unable to contain his rage, his demeanor slipping. The First Peak of the Everlands had transformed into a suit of golden armor that now clad his form.

Through Yan Qiling, he had secured the silent consent of Tianqi, Gui Xu, Zu Ann, and the Untamed.

These four exalted beings had struck a pact to assist him in claiming the divine seat.

"My first journey on the Path to Godhood was thwarted by him!" President Lyi disclosed the past betrayal. "Back then, he simply declared that a merchant could not ascend to godhood, and that was enough to derail my sacred way! I was led to believe, when he sent Cao Jiaze's message, that he intended to restore the divine seat I had once fought so hard to earn!"

"To think, he has used me once more, exploiting me to sever Xuanli's path of return!"

With the Banner of Duality's emergence and sensing Han Miaoyuan's motives, President Lyi's inner powder keg was lit. He erupted, "Mr. Yan, I implore you to enlist the aid of those four on my behalf!"

He made his request with solemnity.

Yan Qiling quickly accepted.

At that moment, everyone at the teleportation circle was taken aback as the Dragon Slaying Stage ascended into the sky, expanding rapidly!

Above the Dragon Slaying Stage, the figure of Yu Yuan became incredibly distinct.

It seemed he was deliberately harnessing the stage's power to ensure that every witness present, as well as all beings of significance throughout the Everlands, could see him.

He ascended slowly, like a radiant sun, casting light across the heavens and earth!

"It's Yu Yuan!"

"What does he intend to do?"

None could see the Seven-Colored Lake beneath the Rainbow Ocean, oblivious to the great changes unfolding below.

They couldn't see Yu Zhu and were unaware of the events transpiring within the Defiled World.

Confusion reigned; they couldn't fathom why, with Huangyin on the brink of death, Yu Yuan would choose this moment to emerge under the Banner of Duality, making sure he was seen by all the mighty.

The Sunlit Order, Sword Sect, Dragon Island, Starmoon Sect, Shadow's Keep, Moonfall Sanctuary, Skyreach Peak, Godsblight Marsh...

A multitude of eyes and remnant souls converged upon the Dragon Slaying Stage, fixated on the figure who was deliberately dazzling them.

All eyes were on him as he, in a flash, stood shoulder to shoulder with Youyu.

Together, they appeared poised to escort the divine throne.

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