C1595 Beilstein
The Devil Soul quivered at the mention of the Great Demon God Beilstein by Green Incubus, an emissary from the Outland Devaputra Race. He had endured a crushing defeat in the vast expanses and was subsequently imprisoned in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area for many years. His return to the Outer Battlefield was facilitated by the emergence of Taishi, alongside a bronze coffin.
Green Incubus had chosen to pledge allegiance to Taishi, thus joining the Divine Soul Sect, which signified a betrayal of his own Devaputra Race. Now, he was the one escorting Yu Yuan to an audience with the Great Demon God Beilstein...
The thought of the formidable old chieftain, who might still be observing from the remnants of this battlefield, filled Green Incubus with unbearable shame and a chill that crept up his spine.
"I haven't been granted permission to remain here, so..."
With a deep sigh, Green Incubus, having guided Yu Yuan thus far, turned and walked towards the rock wall behind them. A massive, dark green, sinister flower materialized on the polished, mirror-like surface, its petals undulating with the force of another dimension.
As Green Incubus stepped into the flower's bud, the dark green apparition that had emerged so stealthily vanished just as abruptly. His departure left the world in utter silence.
The ruins of grand palaces and the eroded bones around them silently recounted to Yu Yuan the sheer brutality of the war that had ravaged this place years ago.
"How odd..."
Yu Yuan murmured, suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu on this ancient Outer Battlefield. Memories long buried in his mind stirred to life.
To his left lay the remains of a Djinn Clan warrior, his head shattered, towering over a hundred feet tall in his gleaming silver armor, seated amidst a pile of stones. Yu Yuan recalled the memory of the warrior's head being crushed by a thrown hammer.
Directly ahead, the fragmented bones of six or seven Silver Scale Clan warriors lay strewn about. Another memory sparked in Yu Yuan's mind...
It was as if he had unleashed a burst of spiritual light among those Silver Scale Clan warriors tens of thousands of years ago, obliterating them in an instant.
Behind him, about a hundred meters away, lay an elder of the Star Race, clothed in a robe dusted with a pattern of stars, with a hole that pierced straight through his forehead to his brain. It seemed that with just one glance, Yu Yuan had formed a Soul Blade that had cleaved through the elder's mind.
Next to the Star Race elder lay a Platinum Asura, who appeared to have been slain while fleeing, his natural armor rent by a lethal blade, his heart pulverized.
Surveying his surroundings, Yu Yuan observed the remnants of alien warriors whose energy had been sapped away by the ravages of time, many of whom had fallen by his hand. The memories were clear in his mind.
"This ancient battlefield appears to be where I first rose to prominence in the Outland Star River. It was here that the formidable beings of various races began to take notice of me," Yu Yuan pondered, stroking his chin.
Then, an eerie spectacle unfolded.
A Djinn Clan warrior, whose head had been shattered, rose from his seated position as if resurrected.
An elder of the Star Race, long dead for tens of thousands of years, dusted off his robe and a serene smile graced his mummified face.
Members of the Silver Scale Clan, their skeletons incomplete, seemed to have been hastily reassembled as they supported one another to their feet.
Creatures that had been stripped of all flesh and vitality began to stir, their bones creaking as they lumbered to their feet, their vast, hollow eye sockets webbed with cobwebs.
Farther afield, the more diminutive members of the Crypt Clan, Fire Lizard Tribe, Winged Race, and Dark Elfkind, as well as the skeletal remains of humans, seemed to flicker with newfound sentience.
With a whoosh, Yu Yuan took to the skies, hovering over the ancient battlefield, his gaze sweeping across the horizon.
The long-deceased beings from various races appeared to have been reanimated, as if their corpses had been inhabited by spirits and transformed into demonic vessels. A cacophony of voices erupted from them, each race conversing in their unique tongue. The sounds emanating from their tongueless, fleshless mouths were unnervingly strange, sending shivers down one's spine.
Yu Yuan watched the ghostly scene before him with a grave expression, feeling as though he had been abruptly transported back to a bygone era.
Once, this place teemed with life from diverse races, serving as a hub for interstellar trade. Beings from various groups converged at the Galaxy Crossing, each bringing forth goods from their respective Starfields in search of treasures to enhance their bloodlines.
They bartered energetically and exchanged tales of cosmic wonders, discussing the latest weather patterns and celestial storms.
Then, without warning, disaster struck.
The Human Race and the vast Demon Army discovered this location and descended from the heavens, igniting an intense and bloody conflict.
Yu Yuan gazed upon the fallen cultivators of the Human Race, their grayish-brown bodies on the verge of collapse, moving in a stiff and comical fashion as they clashed with the foreign warriors in this realm.
The Human Race spoke their own tongue, the Demon Race bellowed fiercely, and warriors of various races shouted at the top of their lungs.
A history long vanished was now gruesomely replayed after tens of thousands of years, as if a host of specters had returned to the mortal plane.
Yu Yuan fell silent.
He realized that the Great Demon God Beilstein had descended, fragmenting into tens of thousands of Devil Souls, inhabiting the corpses of the fallen from various races to reenact those bygone days.
Each of the tens of thousands from the foreign races seemed to possess a distinct self, each with a unique soul.
These corpses spoke different languages and engaged in various activities.
In that moment, Yu Yuan had the sudden impression that if the Great Demon God Beilstein chose to intervene, he could single-handedly alter the course of the battle.
With a mere thought, the Great Demon God could possess the bodies of tens of thousands of combatants, either seizing direct control or influencing them with his mental prowess.
Perhaps, he could even affect wars occurring elsewhere at the very same time.
The Yang God, human cultivators at the Unrestrained Stage, Eighth and Ninth Level demons, Demon Gods, Platinum Asuras, and Star Race warriors like Beru, along with other elite members of various races, would likely be unable to evade Beilstein's soul corruption.
Even the exalted Primordial Spirits might not be spared...
The incessant skirmishes between the races beyond the heavens, and the brutal bloodshed between the races and the vast expanse—if he truly wished to intervene, could he not effortlessly alter the outcomes?
He ought to have the capacity, with his individual might, to dominate every battle he was aware of!
If so, what gave the Human and Demon Races of the vast expanse the right to dominate the Outland Star River?
With this thought, Yu Yuan suddenly felt a sense of oppression.
From minor details, he had come to recognize the horror of the Great Demon God Beilstein. He sensed that the Great Demon God needed no allies to upend everything in the vast expanse.
Beilstein's presence was summarized in twelve words: all-knowing, ever-present, and all-powerful.
If such a being as Beilstein existed beyond the vast expanse, then...
Yu Yuan felt a twinge of bitterness in his heart. He soberly recognized that the esteemed position of the Vast Ocean might solely be due to the Great Demon God Beilstein, who, in reality, had been content to watch from the sidelines.
It was he who had permitted the rise of Hao Xing!
But why?
As this question surfaced in his mind, Yu Yuan spotted an old man with a tall, dense, and luxuriant red beard that nearly covered most of his cheeks, amidst the ongoing war in the Outer Battlefield. The old man's red beard was not natural; from a distance, it resembled a blazing flame.
His eyes, too, were a deep red, as if he had suffered from many sleepless nights, now threaded with red veins.
Yet, his demeanor was vibrant, exuding an aura of keen intelligence and boundless vitality.
"Xiao Qi, welcome back."
His voice was deep and soothing, yet resonated with strength.
It seemed as though nothing in the world, the cosmos, or among all living beings could disturb his composure or incite fear in him.
For he was Beilstein.
His utterance of "Xiao Qi" sent a jolt through Yu Yuan, prompting him to rub his eyes subconsciously and gaze intently at the figure before him.
"You, you..."
Yu Yuan's words faltered.
The master from his memories, shrouded in obscurity, had reappeared on the Outer Battlefield after many years, now standing before him with a smile.
But wasn't it the Great Demon God Beilstein who had agreed to meet him here?
Had his master's body been taken over by Beilstein, or perhaps transformed into a demonic form?
His gaze darkened sharply.
"Don't be consumed by conjecture. If you have any questions or uncertainties, feel free to ask me directly."
The towering old man with the red beard looked upon Yu Yuan with an expression of appreciation and satisfaction, then spoke softly, "Not just as Hong Qi, but also in your first life, I was your guide. The secret arts you've mastered, your access to the Soul Sea beneath the Boundless Underground, and your successful ascension to divinity—all were possible because I am your master."
At these words, Yu Yuan was utterly dumbfounded.
In his first life, as the Lunar Divine King, the Great Demon God Beilstein had been his guide as well?
How could that be?
"Is it through me that you seek entry to the Soul Sea of the Boundless Underground?" Yu Yuan demanded.
"Through you?" The Great Demon God Beilstein shook his head, chuckling in disbelief. "Foolish boy, it was you who had to pass through me to gain access to the Sea of Souls. I, Beilstein, was the first to receive its favor. You are merely the second."
"And as for why I would indulge the Boundless Underground, well..."
He looked at Yu Yuan with a smile and posed the question, "What is the most crucial step for the humans of the Boundless Underground to reach their zenith and secure a divine throne?"
Yu Yuan appeared perplexed. "Is it the transformation of the main soul into the Primordial Spirit?"
"Who am I? And from which Devaputra clan do I hail?"
"You are the chieftain of the Outland Devaputra and the Elemental Devil Clan."
"God and Demon, the difference is just a single word. Do you truly believe there's an essential distinction?" Beilstein inquired.
Yu Yuan was taken aback.
"The secret for the human race to ascend to the ultimate form of the Primordial Spirit was revealed by me to you, and then from you to others. In the vast expanse of the cosmos, aside from the Starry Behemoth, only we, the Outland Devaputra, and your human race's Primordial Spirits can achieve immortality. When a human's main soul evolves into the Primordial Spirit, gaining eternal life, it becomes part of my kin."
"The Primordial Spirit is, in essence, the Primordial Devil."
"Every time a supreme being from the Boundless Underground is born, and his main soul morphs into the Primordial Spirit, our Elemental Devil Clan gains a new member."
"Why, then, would I seek to suppress my own people?"
