C1627 The Change of Times

"No wonder you're so terrified of the Secular Bird Queen."

Yu Yuan allowed himself a wry smile, considering how brutal encounters in the Starry Sky Forbidden Zone could be. Should the Abyssal Leviathan come face to face with the queen without his intervention, it would likely not escape its fate.

During the last battle with Chen Qinghuang, Taishi, and the Kylin, Yu Yuan had witnessed Chen Qinghuang's combat strength surge dramatically.

Having returned to the Wingkind and sought solace in the Shadowkin's sacred lands, Qinghuang had slowly regained her former power.

Death, destruction, and rebirth – the queen had seamlessly merged these aspects with the now-absent Titan Spinosaurus, establishing herself as one of the preeminent cosmic giant beasts of this era.

Aside from the enigmatic Dark Phoenix, the giant beasts of the Star River would probably succumb to the Secular Bird Queen.

The grievously wounded Abyssal Leviathan was certainly not an exception.

"Without your presence and your promise, knowing she was in the Ashlands, I would never have dared to enter," the Abyssal Leviathan admitted candidly, not feeling any shame in acknowledging its inferiority to the Secular Bird Queen.

"In the age when cosmic giant beasts reigned supreme across the heavens, she was a top contender. Had the Dark Phoenix not conspired against her, she might have become the mightiest giant beast following the death of the Titan Spinosaurus."

Yu Yuan was taken aback. "Was she really that powerful?"

The Abyssal Leviathan, having consumed a ninth-level Demon God and a platinum Shura, appeared somewhat rejuvenated as it spoke, "Had she lived, the ultimate rules she wielded would have extended beyond death, destruction, and rebirth. Alas, the Great Demon God Bertain symbolizes the new generation of intelligent life."

"The Dark Phoenix, too, is a fortunate entity among the myriad alien beasts of the Star River."

"It was their combined efforts, these remarkable products of a new era, that brought an end to our giant beasts' era of splendor. Otherwise, we wouldn't be confined to the Ashlands; we should be reigning over the Star River, making all creatures bow before us," the Abyssal Leviathan reflected with a sense of nostalgia.

It was a time when their kind had ruled the cosmos, and all life had been insignificant in their shadow.

"Although I hold a grudge against the Dark Phoenix and maintain a good rapport with the Secular Bird Queen, your kind is truly a blight upon the cosmos," Yu Yuan said, fixing his gaze on the creature before him. Memories of Chen Qinghuang's frenzied rampage through the Star Rivers flashed in his mind, each one decimated by the death force she unleashed.

He then considered the Abyssal Leviathan's brutal treatment of the current intelligent lifeforms. To the giant beasts, these beings were once insignificant ants, beneath their notice, fueling their inherent sense of superiority. They once regarded the denizens of the Star River as deities would regard slaves—a mindset deeply ingrained in their blood and souls, nearly impossible to reverse.

Without the Demon God Bertain and the Dark Phoenix of the Everlands, the giant beasts would have continued their celestial onslaught. In a few tens of thousands of years, the majority of the Astral Domain would have turned into a desolate wasteland, with the burgeoning civilizations of the Otherkin reduced to cinders.

"Discussing this now is pointless," the Abyssal Leviathan said, his eyes seething with barely concealed malice and resentment. "All I want is to live without being hunted by the top warriors of various races, to avoid being butchered for my flesh and blood, or imprisoned by the likes of the Dark Phoenix, who would treat my remains as spoils of war."

Recalling his harrowing past filled him with a mix of frustration and sorrow.

"You do seem to have had a stroke of bad luck," Yu Yuan acknowledged with a slight nod, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the cosmic giant beast's plight. The Abyssal Leviathan had not been fortunate enough to thrive in better times; his rise to power coincided with the end of the giant beasts' era at Bertain's hands. Subsequently, they were hunted down by the combined forces of various races, becoming prey across the world.

After much struggle, he discovered the Primal Blood Continent, hoping to rejuvenate the Giant Beast Clan like the Titan Spinosaurus had done. But fate, it seemed, had played a cruel joke on him.

With a brief pause to collect themselves, the man and the giant beast ventured deeper into the Ashlands. Yu Yuan refrained from deploying his remnant soul or invoking the power of the Dragon Slaying Stage. Instead, he embraced a sense of serenity, letting the Abyssal Leviathan guide the way.

As he traveled, he didn't encounter a complete celestial realm but rather fragments: remnants of colossal warships and the skeletal remains of alien beasts and Otherkin.

Many of the alien beasts and Otherkin were entities he had never even heard of.

For instance...

A member of the Fire Lizard clan, with three hollow eye sockets, was dragging its lengthy tail. Its skeleton was sheathed in a layer of skin, and it was impossible to tell how many years it had lain dead. A Bone Spear had impaled its chest, pinning it to a large wooden section of a warship's deck.

"The Three-Eyed Spiritual Lizard Race, as ancient as the Star-Spawned Terror, has now been extinguished."

The Abyssal Leviathan cast a glance in its direction, speaking in an unfluctuating tone, "This race lived near the Dawnbringers. Before the Nagas of the Everlands emerged, they vied with the nascent Dawnbringers for dominion over the cosmos. Eventually, the entire race was decimated by the Dawnbringers. It's likely that some of the Three-Eyed Spiritual Lizards fled to the Ashlands while being pursued by the Dawnbringers."

"And there, they met their end in the Ashlands."

The Abyssal Leviathan, an eternal being, had been adrift in the cosmos even before Yu Yuan's first lifetime, privy to many secrets.

"I know of over a dozen races like the Three-Eyed Spiritual Lizard Race that have been eradicated, all of which were quite formidable. The ones I don't recall are surely more numerous. In the grand scheme of the Star River's history, the extinction of a race is hardly significant."

He casually mentioned several Otherkin that Yu Yuan had never encountered.

"These Otherkin were once mightier than the Starborn, the Shadowkin, the enchantress, and even the Shura. Before Bertain ascended to become a Demon God, the Star-Spawned Terror was not the preeminent race. Among those now extinct were some that surpassed the Star-Spawned Terror in strength. But what of them now?"

"They have all been erased from history! Meanwhile, the once feeble Starborn and enchantress have risen to power."

"If we speak of anomalies, the humans of the Everlands are the universe's greatest oddity! The humans, starting from the lowest echelon, were propelled to the pinnacle of cosmic dominance because of the Titan Spinosaurus's fall and the presence of the Primal Soul in the Everlands, even managing to suppress the Star-Spawned Terror."

"When compared to the extinct Otherkin, what was the human race at the outset?"

The Abyssal Leviathan, having broken its silence, had been confined in the Embers Sea for countless years, quietly observing the evolution of humanity and its gradual ascent to power. The Leviathan grew increasingly contemplative when comparing humans to the extraterrestrial races.

Whoosh!

Out of nowhere, a temple ablaze drifted closer from the distance. Charred tiles were still shedding from its structure, revealing a surprising presence of living flesh and blood amidst the blackened debris. The temple's windows were alive with the flow of molten lava, bursting Sunshards, and the processed Cometfire.

The fusion of the earth's core lava, Sunshards, and divine extraterrestrial fire within the temple created a bizarre spectacle. The two open windows of the temple, facing Yu Yuan and the Abyssal Leviathan, seemed to gaze back like the eyes of a sentient being.

"Divine Visage?"

Yu Yuan was taken aback. His Solar Spirit, concealed within his little world of vitality, could distinctly sense the presence of souls, vitality, and spiritual energy within the temple's tiles, windows, and the assorted flames.

This amalgamation of elements formed an oddity known as the Divine Visage in the Everlands, which could manifest as a human, a majestic mountain, or even a temple.

"A cultivator from the Unbound Realm of the Ruby Hand. I recall he once trained here in the Embers Sea. His name was... Zhang Jinbo?" The Abyssal Leviathan seemed uncertain, the memory perhaps too distant. "This person hasn't returned to the Everlands in centuries. According to the sect's records, he is honored as a martyr who perished in the extraterrestrial realms."

"Someone actually remembers my name."

A peculiar, wheezing voice emanated from the burning temple. "The sect presumed me dead and honored me as a martyr, which isn't entirely incorrect. But it's been over a thousand years since I've been able to leave the Ashlands, so it's no surprise they believed I was gone."

"Zhang Guanyu, Zhang Jinbo..." Yu Yuan's expression shifted as he inquired, "Do you recognize someone named Zhang Guanyu?"

"Has he... also fallen in battle?"

The fiery temple came to a halt before Yu Yuan. Within its two windows, one revealed remnants of a fierce sun while the other was filled with a cascade of fiery meteors.

The Ruby Hand cultivator, who hadn't visited the Everlands in over a millennium and had remained within the Ashlands just as long, appeared somewhat melancholic.

"He's still alive and has reached the Unbound Realm," Yu Yuan responded.

"Hehe, as long as he's alive, I'm not without offspring!" The man burst into joyful laughter, and a shower of sparks erupted from the window. "You two... No, wait!"

His gaze fixed on the Abyssal Leviathan. "You're not human! Your aura and the cosmic energy flowing into you reveal that you're certainly not of human origin!"

"Kid, you've used a spiritual energy barrier to shield yourself. You must be one of my kind. Why are you accompanying this alien creature?"

"Were you taken captive by him and forced to come to the Ashlands against your will? Just like me, when I was hunted down and had no choice but to flee here?"

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