C1851 The Curtain of Blood!
The transformation came without any forewarning.
Zu Ann, Qin Luo, and the rest could never have anticipated that Yu Yuan would still choose to engage in the conflict, despite the Dark Phoenix's explicit command to stay out of it and the threat to the lives of the Everlands' inhabitants.
The Dragon Slaying Stage materialized out of nowhere, shielding Loong Jie from a potentially lethal spear thrust.
Yu Yuan alighted on the vast forehead of the Seven-Colored Dragon, infusing the Nest of Perdition with an enigmatic vital energy that was beyond anyone's ability to gauge, astonishingly prompting Zhong Chichen to retract some of the dragon blood.
"Everlands, humanity, the common folk of all the empires!"
The cultivators, who had assembled around the Skyreach Consortium's teleportation circle, including Ho Zhan, now reduced to mere Lunar and Solar Spirits without flesh and blood, gazed at Yu Yuan on the Dragon Slaying Stage and his presence atop the Seven-Colored Dragon. Far from being uplifted, they were desperate to pull Yu Yuan down.
"Why would you do this?"
"The Nagas were notoriously savage and murderous in ancient times, treating all creatures with utter disdain! Both the Seven-Colored Dragon and Loong Jie are inherently debauched and vicious. Why save them?"
"If they live, the humans of Everlands have no future!"
"Yu Yuan, how can you be so blind?!"
Visible Lunar Spirits and crystalline Solar Spirits berated Yu Yuan.
They seemed to envision their descendants and families being drained of vital energy and perishing at the hands of the Dark Phoenix, no matter where they were.
They could almost see the empires of Aetherius, with countless lives, facing extinction.
In Euwrea and the Land of Quiescence, many cultivators and sects without a Lunar Spirit would soon find themselves devoid of life force due to the Dark Phoenix.
"Yu Yuan?"
Zu Ann, adorned with a crest, looked on in bewilderment.
"I have a solution!"
With a serene gaze, Yu Yuan pointed towards the Dragon Slaying Stage and instructed Zu Ann, Mo Baichuan, and Qin Luo, "You will take down the Dark Phoenix, while I will seal off the entire Marsh, preventing her blood magic from reaching the outside world and affecting the people of Everlands!"
Boom!
The Dragon Slaying Stage, once pierced by a violet gold spear, abruptly transformed into a blood-red hue and ascended into the sky like a dome.
Beneath a multitude of astonished stares, the renowned Dragon Slaying Stage, which had once intimidated the gods of the extraterrestrial realms, condensed into a small, blood-colored barrier.
It resembled an overturned bowl, securely enveloping the vast Godsblight Marsh.
The sky above the marsh shifted to a blood-red color.
Numerous splendid rays of light and flames emitted mysterious blood-colored principles, evolving into glyphs and luminescence reminiscent of those on the Primal Blood Continent's barrier.
At that moment, any formidable being entering the bloody barrier of the marsh would find a world within, brimming with life principles capable of embracing all creatures.
With the vital energy of the Solar Spirit infused, the Dragon Slaying Stage had become a blood-colored canopy more arcane and wondrous than the Primal Blood Continent's barrier.
This canopy shielded the marsh, preventing even the massive Blood Rune refined by the Dark Phoenix from dispersing its energy. It could not trigger her mastery over bloodline magic to extract the blood and flesh of living beings.
The Dark Phoenix's influence was now confined within the marsh.
Roar!
The colossal golden dragon in the midair abruptly swung its tail, stirring the sunsilver artifacts hidden throughout the marsh.
Divine Swords, heavenly blades, platinum hammers, and massive battle-axes all soared towards the Dark Phoenix.
All were influenced by Loong Jie's blood magic, whether they were the cultivators' or the fallen archdemons' evil weapons.
Mo Baichuan was momentarily taken aback.
His normally expressionless face flushed red from Yu Yuan's words and the sky's transformation, as if he were inebriated.
Whoosh!
He summoned the Serpentflame furnace and, after a brief contemplation, addressed Yu Yuan, "The furnace you acquired from me was originally named Serpentflame. I renamed it not long ago, and I trust you won't object."
"Oh, wait, that's incorrect. It rightfully belongs to me."
Mo Baichuan mumbled to himself, "It absorbed President Lyi's soul, making it the artifact soul. And so, upon Earthfire's counsel, I have christened it the Earthfire Crucible."
The Earthfire Crucible gently ascended, and atop its lid, a figure reminiscent of a Flame Spirit took shape.
It bore a striking resemblance to President Lyi.
With a whoosh, President Lyi, now the artifact soul of the Earthfire Crucible, cast a glance at the soaring sunsilver weapons, which were immediately infused with intense flames.
Beneath the crimson sky, the Dark Phoenix's violet gold Celestial Plumes shattered numerous metal tools.
Yet, the fierce flames on the sunsilver items did not go out; they clung to her expansive violet gold feathers.
The Dark Phoenix let out a piercing shriek, darting through the blood-red heavens like a bolt of arc light, evading Loong Jie's ferocious bite.
Tiny flames persisted in burning her phoenix feathers, continuously inflicting damage.
"Earthfire, the most supreme of flames!"
Qin Luo from the Ruby Hand watched the furnace named Earthfire Crucible by Mo Baichuan, and the flames added by its artifact soul, his expression growing increasingly solemn.
"With Mo Baichuan, the Sunlit Order will reclaim its place among the upper sects!"
A cultivator of the Solar Spirit from the Skyreach Consortium was also stunned by the spectacle, the thought involuntarily rising within him.
Following the deaths of Lee Tianxin and Yuwen Hao, the Sunlit Order had plummeted from the upper to the lower sects, their influence in the Everlands waning drastically.
But now, Mo Baichuan had emerged from the Fireheart Mountains, ascending to supreme status.
His mastery of the Earthfire Sacred Way was unparalleled!
The Sunlit Order was destined to ascend once more, surpassing the Ruby Hand and becoming the legitimate embodiment of the Everlands' fiery might!
"Way to go, Baibai!" Yu Yuan exclaimed, his laughter filled with admiration.
His real body, currently holding a branch, sensed the forces of destruction, death, and rebirth, as well as the essence of space and time.
Nonetheless, the primary force of destruction, along with the original powers of death and rebirth from the nest, were ensnared by strands of purple lightning.
In the same vein, Zhong Chichen's space and time dragon's breath was confined by the purple lightning.
Bundles of purple lightning constrained the powers of the Secular Bird Queen and the Chronowyrm, siphoning their exquisite essence while eroding their vital energy.
When his scarlet vital energy transformed into billions of blood-colored lightning bolts and clashed with the purple lightning, the Secular Bird Queen and the Chronowyrm's sealed powers were partially liberated.
Upon their release, the Secular Bird Queen and the Chronowyrm immediately allied with his power. Within the Nest of Perdition, under the Dark Phoenix's control, the power infused with Primal Blood from the Abyssal Gate in the extraterrestrial realm enabled them to unite with the Secular Bird Queen and the Chronowyrm.
Consequently, the Nest of Perdition, with its branches embedded in Zhong Chichen's dragon form, became an extraordinary battlefield. The ownership of the nest was in constant flux. One moment, the Secular Bird Queen would reclaim her dominion over the nest; the next, it would be overtaken by the Dark Phoenix's purple lightning. At times, Yu Yuan would seize the initiative, briefly gaining control of the nest.
The result was a continual shift in the color and emanating aura of the Nest of Perdition. Zhong Chichen, impaled by the branches, alternated between cries of agony and moments of blissful squinting.
He would sometimes lose his vital energy, only to be replenished with the lost dragon's blood and breath.
In the extraterrestrial realm, Lin Daoke, having cleaved through the Everlands' wall and shattered the Dark Phoenix's vital energy seal, did not hasten to enter. Instead, he surveyed the azure world below. He observed the expansive Godsblight Marsh, once shrouded in purple mists, now obscured by the Dragon Slaying Stage. The blood-red canopy created by the Dragon Slaying Stage enveloped the marsh, obscuring his view of the interior.
"Mr. Lin!"
"Senior Lin!"
The cultivators of the Unbound Realm stationed on the moon clustered around him, bombarding him with accounts of the events and describing the Dark Phoenix's audacity and madness.
Lin Daoke remained stoic, absorbing their stories in silence. Among them was Xueyin from Colddeath, who had made his way from the Everlands to the extraterrestrial realm. After a respectful bow, he conveyed, "My lord, Yu Yuan, has declared that he will confine this incarnation of the Dark Phoenix within the marsh, ensuring that the Dark Phoenix's blood power cannot extend beyond its bounds."
"Your master?" someone exclaimed in astonishment.
"From this day forward, the Colddeath Sect shall revere Yu Yuan as a divine being. More specifically, it is Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit Body that we shall venerate as our deity, and we shall henceforth heed his commands."
