C1857 Don't Return
Inside the Dragon Slash Platform.
At Qiyan's behest, Yu Yuan once again tapped into the power of the Yang God, distant at the Abyss Gate, and shrouded the luminous dome with a fresh blood-red canopy.
Once Yu Yuan had completed these tasks, the babbling demon spoke with grave seriousness, "I bear a message from Lady Andrea."
"Didn't she leave with Han Qi for the Demon Realm?" Yu Yuan paused, puzzled, "Where did you encounter her?"
"In the Epitaxial Realm. I was trapped in an underground cavern, where a tributary of the Yin Meridian that Lady Andrea had refined overflowed with her essence." Qiyan's demeanor shifted to one of utmost reverence when speaking of the Divine King Shehun, and his words took on a solemn air, "She entrusted me with a message for you."
"Go on!"
"Do not allow your Yang God, which has acquired a complete life sequence, to return to the realm of all living creatures. And no matter what transpires, your Yang God must not delve deep underground or cross the Geocentric Fire to make contact... with It."
At this juncture, Qiyan was visibly shaking.
A burst of purple flame ignited deep within his Devil Soul, consuming his memories as he spoke.
Yu Yuan's complexion blanched with alarm.
Not long ago, Mo Baichuan relayed a message from the Geocentric Fire, expressing the need for his Yang God to return to mitigate the Demon Phoenix's sway over the blood of all living creatures. It required his unique Yang God to descend and commune with the Origin Soul.
Had the Yang God been essential to guard the Abyss Gate, Yu Yuan might have considered dispatching it before Supreme Wisdom could draw out the Demon Phoenix.
Yet now, Qiyan unexpectedly conveyed a directive from Shehun, insisting that under no circumstances should the Yang God be submerged underground!
"Lady Andrea has uncovered something monumental in the Demon Realm! She revealed that when the ancient Titan Spinosaurus plummeted into the abyss, an artifact from the same depths crossed the Geocentric Fire and reached the Origin Soul. From that moment, the Origin Soul was transformed, no longer the entity it once was."
"You..."
Qiyan suddenly adopted a tone of deference, his voice laden with trepidation and astonishment, a hint of confusion flickering in his expression.
Yu Yuan watched as new memories coalesced within Qiyan's Devil Soul, while the old ones were consumed by the Devil Fire.
He was suddenly struck by a recollection of certain events, even as he was forgetting them. As Andrea's messenger, he was subject to her incredibly intricate Soul Arts, designed to prevent any leakage of information. These arts ensured he could not access the full truth and details, and they also caused him to forget everything once his message was delivered. This was to prevent any knowledge of the Devil Soul's memories from being discovered once he departed from the Dragon Slash Platform.
"Your so-called plan to forge a new expanse, Lady Andrea said she grasped its deeper meaning. You were aware of this at the time and thus sought to extricate yourself from it."
"You failed, and it led to your demise."
Qiyan bowed his head, seemingly shaking, "Lady Andrea warns you to be wary of all supreme beings from the expanse. Anyone who merges with the Origin should be approached with caution. It seems that only the Demon Phoenix, following in your footsteps, has sensed something amiss and is searching for a way out."
"It may have been corrupted by an entity from the abyss."
"Lady Andrea also mentioned that she and Youyu are currently trapped. If you wish to enter the Gray Domain, you must seek out the mature ground beetle. The constellation pattern on its shell reveals the entrance to the Gray Domain."
"Furthermore, Lord Beilstein is delving into the abyss, seeking to understand the anomalies affecting the Origin Soul of the vast expanse."
With a loud pop, a pale purple flame burst from the depths of Qiyan's Devil Soul, extinguishing many flickering memories. Moments later, he gazed around in confusion, then turned to Yu Yuan with a blank expression. "Where am I? Why am I here? Yu Yuan, are you going to seal me again?"
Qiyan had forgotten everything.
Yu Yuan, taken aback by the message Qiyan had delivered, paid no mind to his clamor. The Origin Soul that had given rise to the vast expanse might have been compromised by an abyssal force. All those elevated to the highest through the Origin Soul could not break free from its grasp.
Taishi had left instructions long ago: the new Divine King should be forged within the new expanse, not on this ancient land beneath us. The most profound memories of the main soul are self-sealed—could it be a precaution against the Origin Soul's influence?
Yu Yuan's mind was a tangled web of confusion, with too many questions and puzzles that he couldn't unravel.
Before hearing about Qiyan, he had been preoccupied with the enigmatic Origin Soul. It was the acquisition of the Abyss Treasure that had catalyzed his transformation, giving rise to the magnificent civilization of all living creatures.
But now...
"Let me out!" Qiyan yelled.
Whoosh!
A dark red cloud enveloped him, whisking the Unique Devil, who had lost his crucial memories, away from the Dragon Slash Platform.
Upon his release, Qiyan immediately located a familiar underground passage within the Iridescent Cloud Miasma Sea and made his way toward the Foul World below.
Within the Ghosts Poisoning Array, a grass hut once used for crafting poison pills housed a luminescent white stone table, its surface a deep red.
Yu Yuan remained inside for an extended period.
...
In the Dim Starfield, on the Origin Blood Continent, Ji Ningshuang, having reverted to her ice sculpture form due to Yu Yuan's Yang God departing, suddenly had a refined sword light flicker between her brows. With a crisp sound, she emerged from her frozen state.
She rose slowly, her slender fingers massaging her forehead.
She faintly sensed a shift in the stellar trajectories within her sea of consciousness. A warm and intimate presence seemed to be flowing into her from her homeland, channeled through her highest divine position.
This divine position, resembling a radiant ice pillar, bore the inscriptions of the ice and star laws she had studied. Her recent encounters with the extreme cold had led her to unlock deeper ice mysteries, causing the ice pillar to shine even more brightly.
Unlike Lin Daoke, she had no desire to forge the ice pillar into a sword. Instead, she contemplated it with her spirit.
Suddenly, she realized that the ice pillar, refined by her Primordial Spirit and Origin, was not under her absolute control.
Whoosh!
The pervasive cold mist abruptly plunged toward the ground, ceasing its envelopment of Ji Ningshuang.
She looked on, somewhat baffled, at the icy ground beneath her crystalline gaze.
When she attempted to connect, she discovered that the frigid force guarding the Origin Blood no longer responded to her, and she was unable to draw any additional strength from the extreme cold.
She sensed a rejection.
"How odd, why has there been such a sudden shift in attitude? What could be the cause?"
Unable to find an answer, she lingered underground a bit longer, attempting to communicate with the intense cold.
The cold that had once been favorable to her now turned distant and unresponsive.
Yu Yuan had been absent for an extended period, and the profound chill of the underground began to repel her, leaving her no choice but to depart from the Origin Blood Continent.
...
At the Abyss Gate.
Yu Yuan's Yang God, resplendent and translucent like a ruby, sat serenely atop the vibrant sea.
Above him, the Chaos Roc and the old lizard kept a vigilant watch from within the misty waters, though they no longer spotted any abyssal creatures gathering below.
The young spinosaurus yawned, having waited for the Origin Realm Gate to reappear, its keen intelligence having guided the Demon Phoenix there.
In this timeless forbidden land, where days and nights were indistinguishable, the passage of time was immeasurable.
Suddenly, Yu Yuan's Yang God opened his eyes and, using the Bloodline Secret Technique at his chest, he forged a crimson river and submerged a strand of his consciousness within it.
Gray Domain.
Ann Ziqing, now ascended to a Great Demon God with her Yang God, stealthily left the Tia Main Planet. She reached the space above the Heaven Opening Flare Star and encountered the Desolate God.
"In your Great Swamp, all your offspring perished due to the wrath of the Demon Phoenix."
Ann Ziqing, upon her arrival, observed the Old Ape perched on a rock, puffing on his pipe, lost in contemplation of the swirling energy vortices. "A clone of the Demon Phoenix has returned to the vast expanse, wielding the lives of the innocent as a threat, seeking the demise of Loong Jie and Zhong Chichen."
She relayed Yu Yuan's account of the events that had unfolded in the vast expanse.
The Desolate God stowed his pipe and shifted his gaze from the vortices to Ann Ziqing, his expression tinged with sorrow as he inquired, "Are you Ann or Yu Yuan?"
"Consider me Yu Yuan for now."
"Very well."
The Desolate God nodded thoughtfully and after a moment's reflection, he spoke, "The Demon Phoenix is akin to the Yang Meridian in the vast expanse. If you can address the Yang Meridian issue in the Origin Blood Continent, you'll be able to return to the vast expanse and lift her oppressive hold over its inhabitants."
"She has treated all living creatures of the Vast Expanse in such a manner, indicating her intention to sever ties with it. Given the circumstances, her connection to the bloodline of the Vast Expanse must be decisively cut." The Old Ape's face was etched with sorrow. "The Demon Phoenix of the Great Swamp has perished, as have my own progeny. I am hoping you can reverse this fate."
He gazed at Yu Yuan, his eyes brimming with hope and entreaty. "In this world, only your Yang God has the power to sever this bloodline!"
"You're suggesting my Yang God should return to the Vast Expanse?"
"This is merely my personal belief. I also think it's the only viable solution."
"That may be so, but it could very well be your own true sentiment."
