C1706 The Punishment

The Secular Bird Queen drew back the beaded curtain that veiled her face and watched with serene eyes as the Seven-Colored Dragon wailed in despair. She observed the thick Divine Thunder that tightly ensnared the cunning Chronowyrm.

"He's still the one who must tame you," Chen Qinghuang said, her lips curling into a mocking, graceful arc.

The surging cosmic energy, as if seized by a deity's hand, was thrust towards her standing position. The toxic rule of the Chaos Serpent, embedded in her heart through the Bloodline Revelation, merged with her own essence, causing a sudden acceleration.

Surprise flickered in her deep gaze. She was astonished that the young beast's dominion over this world and its influence on the divine force of the Ashlands could be stripped away.

The Uxthar Tree, rooted in the Phoenix Ashes, had braced itself for destruction, to be broken and devoured by the voracious young beast. It was well aware of the ferocity of the Titan Spinosaurus, the tyrant of a bygone era.

Yet, it had not foreseen this twist of fate, this reversal of a seemingly hopeless situation. Who could be responsible?

A spectral wisp emerged from the verdant trunk of the tree, its soulful essence gazing curiously at the bloodied Seven-Colored Dragon. The golden dragon, now a statue, was adorned with resplendent golden scales, each engraved with the natural rule of gold, and was shackled by numerous unidentifiable chains. Each chain exuded an aura designed to imprison the Nagas, as if they were forged with this sole purpose from their inception.

Despite the chains, the golden dragon's body remained intact. Yet, the agony in its sun-like golden eyes spoke of a pain that tore at its very soul.

With a whoosh, a tall figure emerged atop the violently thrashing head of the Seven-Colored Dragon, composed and unruffled. The sight of this figure seemed to trigger a flood of memories in the pain-wracked Seven-Colored Dragon, recalling countless years of subjugation and humiliation.

The vibrant Chronowyrm, its body a conduit of time and space, came to a standstill as it sensed the resurgence of the formidable power that had long oppressed the dragons of the Everlands. In its presence, the beast grew unexpectedly docile.

At that moment, he lacked the strength to revert to his normal state, the iridescent form of a human being.

"He truly harbors a well of malevolent schemes."

Yu Yuan stood atop the head of the Seven-Colored Dragon, observing the Chronowyrm as it gradually settled down. He watched the persistent burst of seven-colored blood light and the continuing fracture of dragon scales.

Yu Yuan's hands suddenly stretched out to either side, pressing against two objects—two seven-colored dragon horns. These horns, resembling pillars of rainbow crystal, one concealing the power of space and the other the power of time, were the quintessence of the Way of Heaven that Zhong Chichen had spent eons comprehending.

Yet, as Yu Yuan's hands, like crazed vines, touched the dragon horns, Zhong Chichen felt as though he had been struck a heavy blow. The seven-colored crystal-like horns, now akin to a totem-pole of the Nagas, bore bloodline chains and deep secrets of the Way of Heaven that seemed on the verge of being forcibly extracted.

A tremendous fear welled up inside Zhong Chichen. Even a dragon slayer of tens of thousands of years could only shatter his dragon horns, not destroy his foundational connection to the Way of Heaven.

As long as he could awaken and exist in any form, his cosmic order, the very essence that was his, could be reclaimed and restored to its former splendor.

But now, with the transformative cleansing of Primal Blood, the enigmatic Solar Spirit within Yu Yuan's chest had the power to strip away his cosmic order.

Yu Yuan didn't need to shatter the dragon horns; he could simply extract the profound meanings of space and time within them and melt away the bloodline chain in his heart.

"Oh, and you," Yu Yuan said, turning his head to look at Loong Jie with a wry smile.

With a whoosh, his Lunar Spirit flew out, entering Loong Jie's soul sea through the center of his two dragon horns, atop the golden dragon's forehead, and took its place within a massive Dragon Amulet.

Within the Dragon Amulet, Loong Jie's golden Dragon Soul was tightly constricted by a sharp, intricate net. The Dragon Soul transformed into a golden fluid, meticulously divided into numerous streams.

Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit had just materialized within the golden Dragon Soul. The Dragon Amulet, ceaselessly drawing power from the Dragon Soul and capable of infinite growth, was now under the command of his Lunar Spirit when it was employed to bind Loong Jie's own amulet.

Loong Jie let out a defiant howl, yet he refused to kneel or plead for Yu Yuan's mercy.

His draconic roars echoed repeatedly, affirming his and the Nagas' eternal allegiance to the young beast, not to Yu Yuan, who hailed from the Everlands.

"Very well, both of you are quite defiant, answering only to it," Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit, residing within Loong Jie's soul, nodded with a cold chuckle. "Watch closely!"

With a whoosh, another figure emerged from his real body—this time, it was his Solar Spirit. This radiant, crystal-clear entity appeared directly within the space rift, gazing upon the two violet gold orbs as large as the blazing sun.

The young beast, previously concealed in another realm and now larger than both the Seven-Colored Dragon and the golden dragon, was at last compelled to show itself. The murky greys and dense fogs that shrouded its background swiftly dissipated.

Covered in violet gold scales, the young beast's body was as sturdy as Sunsilver, yet it pulsed with overwhelming vital energy. It boasted a pair of wings as broad and sharp as those of a secular bird—a distinctive trait of the Titan Spinosaurus, absent in both the Chronowyrm and the golden dragon.

Atop its expansive wings, divine light illuminated the intricate blood patterns, the legacy of blood magic from an ancient Spinosaurus. Within these patterns, starshards seemed to intermingle, bursting forth with blinding brilliance.

However, Yu Yuan let out a soft laugh. "You owe your hatching, your survival, and your journey to the Ashlands to me. Hehe, did you seek my consent before striving for absolute freedom in the Ashlands, willing to grow at any cost?"

"I haven't given my approval yet, and you dare to act so brazenly? Well, I'll make sure you understand the consequences of your actions."

Boom!

Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit assumed the form of a stalactite at the mouth of the space rift. Within each descending crystal, numerous Divine Thunders of bloodlines and arcane theurgy emerged, encapsulating a multitude of otherkin's theurgies and exuding the essence of life's origin. His unique Solar Spirit exerted a natural suppression over the intricate bloodlines etched across the dragon whelp's wings.

"The heart of your ancient ancestor, the giant beast, once shared the form of my Solar Spirit, embodying the complete Secrets of Life. But you, you only received a fraction of that," Yu Yuan said with a smile.

In a realm unseen by others, the Cosmic Order that had soared from the Dragon Slaying Stage, originating from the ancient times of the Everlands, sought out the young dragon's hiding place on its primary planet. This planet, the largest treasure bequeathed by the Old Titan Spinosaurus, was also his dragon's lair within the Ashlands. This fabled, enigmatic planet was also a critical component of the "Building the New Everlands" initiative.

With a ferocious roar, the young beast's vast violet-gold eyes betrayed its madness and struggle. The bloodlines on its expansive wings, along with the starshards and dragon blood that had just unleashed a terrifying surge of vital energy, were swiftly subdued by Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit, reminiscent of a stalactite.

As its blood magic neared full manifestation, it would inexplicably shatter. In the presence of Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit, the creature, which should have been more formidable than Zhong Chichen and Loong Jie, was subjected to an inherent balancing force.

Though it could escape the Draconic Soul Shackle, it could not elude Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit. For its ability to ignite the flame of life within the dragon egg, and its subsequent achievements, were reliant on Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit. In the hierarchy of life power, Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit was its progenitor, its very source. In a sense, it could be considered another Taixu.

"So you're saying... you're aware that the New Everlands will be located in the Ashlands? And that you knew I would eventually come here, destined to consume the Ashlands and strip away everything your ancestor left?" Yu Yuan's real body, both his Lunar Spirit and Solar Spirit, seemed to be simultaneously observing the young beast from their respective dimensions.

The young beast admitted as much with a mournful howl.

"You have another kin. Even though I must forge the New Everlands, which necessitates a death, I could spare you. Your frantic leaping and summoning of the Nagas to create chaos—do you really believe the Dark Phoenix can overcome me?"

Yu Yuan's expression was solemn. With each word he uttered, the resonant Voice of the Heavens thundered in accompaniment.

The Ashlands appeared to be corrupted by the realm within the Dragon Slaying Stage, as though they were on the verge of becoming his own Divine Domain.

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