C1884 Dragon Devour
Yu Zhu floated in midair, a mere half-meter above the vibrant sea surface, her lips curling into a joyful smile.
She first gazed into Yu Yuan's face, then down to the arm he used to support her, her eyes gradually brightening.
"I'm aware that the Abyssal Gate below us is fraught with danger."
Her eyes sparkled brilliantly, a stark contrast to her pale skin and petite frame. She didn't seem like someone who had lost their divine status, yet her body was devoid of any original aura.
Whoosh!
Within the fluttering Wraithbanner, the astute phantom of Jihui emerged, his gaze deep as he looked at Yu Zhu and sighed with regret, "Why did it have to be you?"
Had it been the supreme Dark Phoenix, his efforts would not have been in vain. Together with Yu Yuan and the two giant beasts, they could potentially annihilate it at the Abyssal Gate.
But what significance was there in killing Yu Zhu, who had already lost her divine position?
Moreover, judging by Yu Yuan's stance, he would never allow anyone to harm Yu Zhu at the threshold of the Abyssal Gate.
"Whoa!"
The slender, dark girl propped up by Yu Yuan suddenly looked up in astonishment. Her eyes swept over the Abyssal Leviathan and the Abyssal Greater Basilisk, finally resting on the face of the little spinosaurus as she exclaimed, "So there is another one."
From the depths of the glistening blood membrane encasing her, a deep purple radiance burst forth, putting all beings near the Abyssal Gate on edge.
The intense purple glow, teeming with demon energy, was unmistakably from the supreme Dark Phoenix!
They had assumed that the Dark Phoenix had taken refuge within Yu Zhu, ready to wreak havoc upon her arrival through the evilkind's mystique.
But upon closer inspection...
Their piercing stares, which seemed ready to tear through Yu Zhu's flesh, all converged on the area around her chest and abdomen.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A heart pulsated vividly, casting a splendid purple glow, as if stripping away the veneer and revealing the true splendor of her Demon Heart.
Her Demon Heart shone with the clarity of purple jade, its delicate bloodline chains resembling a myriad of intertwining purple lightning bolts!
The transformation of her Demon Heart gradually lightened her complexion, leaving her no longer dark but luminously fair.
She gently ascended into the air, locking eyes with the little spinosaurus under Yu Yuan's astonished gaze. She pointed to the Demon Heart beneath her chest and asked, "So, the one inside my heart, is that your... sister?"
The little spinosaurus's complexion darkened instantly.
Yu Yuan peered intently, his pupils glowing with a crimson light that pierced through all illusions and concealment, revealing a violet-gold crystal nestled within Yu Zhu's Demon Heart.
The violet-gold crystal exuded the scent of the Titan Spinosaurus's vitality!
It was the dragon heart given to her by the Dark Phoenix, belonging to another young Titan Spinosaurus that had yet to be fully assimilated and refined!
She had consumed most of it, integrating the intricate bloodline mysteries from the dragon heart deep into her own Demon Heart.
Yet, within the heart of the Old Titan Spinosaurus, a direct descendant, there remained arcane secrets too complex to digest, which she struggled to fully merge with and refine.
Especially since she had lost the empowerment of her origin, with the Supreme God title stripped from her by the Will of Everlands.
"Father, she devoured the heart of my sister."
The little spinosaurus, now in the form of a fierce young man, glared menacingly, his mouth twisted into a sinister smile.
"Father? You... call him father?"
Yu Zhu hovered between the little spinosaurus and Yu Yuan, her expression turning curious as she realized whom the little spinosaurus was addressing.
"He hatched me and gave me life; of course, he's my father!" declared the little spinosaurus with conviction.
Since discovering the ancestral vital energy concealed within the Abyssal Gate and attempting to harness it for his resurrection, the little spinosaurus's perception of the Old Titan Spinosaurus as a father had faded.
Conversely, Yu Yuan, who had aided his escape and restored the vital energy that had been extracted from him, had rekindled a sense of kinship.
"Well then..." Yu Zhu's lips quirked into a slight smile as she nodded and said, "That would make me your sister."
"Sister?"
The little spinosaurus stiffened, his body and facial expression frozen in shock.
Yu Yuan was equally bewildered.
"What is this mess?"
Tan Xiaotian, massaging his disheveled black hair, glanced between Yu Zhu and Jihui inside the Wraithbanner. "You've got a keen mind; can you explain to me what exactly is happening here?"
Whoosh!
A pair of exquisite purple wings unfurled from Yu Zhu's back, fluttering softly.
The thick demon energy that radiated from her was a deep purple hue, identical to the Dark Phoenix's aura in the Dark Star domain, even down to the scent.
"The Phoenix Clan!"
The Abyssal Leviathan and the Abyssal Greater Basilisk cried out in astonishment.
"Her heart, once the Demon Heart's brilliance has faded, is unmistakably the Heart of the Phoenix!"
Realization dawned on the Abyssal Leviathan after its outcry. It slapped its forehead, exclaiming, "The Spider Queen from Shadow's Keep isn't her true bloodline source at all. She's always been the child of the Dark Phoenix! Moreover, she's the most direct of descendants!"
"She is the Dark Phoenix's own daughter!"
This revelation left the formidable entities assembled at the Abyssal Gate dumbfounded.
Yet, it was the undeniable truth.
Yu Zhu's presence, the purple wings gracing her back, and the demon energy she emanated all proclaimed her shared lineage with the exalted Dark Phoenix!
Her visage, her form, the aura she exuded were the spitting image of the Dark Phoenix of old!
"Father, I... I might need your help to dissolve the violet-gold crystal within my heart. She told me that you could assist me, and that after losing my original essence, you could help me ascend once more to the stature of a Dark Deity," Yu Zhu said, drifting before Yu Yuan with a hint of anxiety, her lips slightly pursed. "The life force within your Solar Spirit can free me from these bonds."
The 'she' Yu Zhu referred to was, of course, the Dark Phoenix.
The Dark Phoenix had sent her, and it seemed she was convinced that Yu Yuan possessed not only the capability to aid Yu Zhu in reclaiming her status as a Dark Deity but would indeed help her succeed!
"How did she know Yu Yuan was here?"
Jihui's phantom writhed intensely within the Wraithbanner, as though he was locked in combat in another realm, steadily losing ground.
Since Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit and Lunar Spirit were unable to interconnect, no one but Jihui himself knew of the struggle he faced against Youyu's encroachment in the Origin Realm, a battle he was finding particularly grueling.
"With the Origin Gate in existence, the unique essence of my father can find its way to the Darkpinion," Yu Zhu offered by way of explanation.
"Why didn't she come herself?" Tan Xiaotian asked with a cold edge to his voice.
Yu Zhu remained silent, merely gazing at Yu Yuan, her face brimming with expectation.
"Her soul is quite peculiar, not the demon soul we're familiar with, but more akin to... a devil soul."
The Abyssal Greater Basilisk interjected, voicing its confusion, "A body of evilkind housing a Sky Fiend Soul is truly an anomaly among anomalies. Her body could reach the heights of a Dark Deity, and perhaps her devil soul might even ascend to become a great Demon God. Should she succeed in both, this girl would be a miracle unprecedented in history!"
"Demon body, devil soul!" Jihui, concealed within the Wraithbanner, fixed his gaze on Yu Yuan, "Master Taiyin, could she actually be your child with the Dark Phoenix?"
At this, Tan Xiaotian's head throbbed as if it were about to split, and he snapped, "Jihui, what nonsense are you spouting?"
The Abyssal Greater Basilisk and the Abyssal Leviathan, however, remained silent.
Yu Zhu was bewildered.
She referred to Yu Yuan as her father because he had taken great care in nurturing her within the Marsh of the Serpent Spine Mountains three centuries prior.
After she emerged from the toxic mire and ventured into Gloomhollow, it was Yu Yuan who had looked after her, eventually bringing her to the Forgotten Ruins and providing her with care and many treasures over the years.
A blood crystal from the Great Demon God Grec, along with various rare treasures, Yu Yuan had always been generous with her.
These factors, coupled with her innate closeness to Yu Yuan, made her wholeheartedly accept him as her father.
Yet, neither the supreme Dark Phoenix who had sent her, nor Qiyan of the fiends, had ever revealed to her that Yu Yuan was her true father.
Still, she felt an undeniable bond with Yu Yuan, ever since her spiritual wisdom first emerged in the Serpent Spine Mountains.
"Impossible!" Yu Yuan's face remained composed as he shot Jihui a cold glare, though inside he felt somewhat uneasy, "I am not a Star-Spawned Terror. Stop making wild speculations!"
"Some things, you believe only you and Bertain are privy to in this world. But after my journey to the Abyss, I too have uncovered the truth," Jihui said with an insinuating tone.
He didn't spell it out, yet Yu Yuan grasped the meaning.
When a human evolves their dominant soul into a primordial spirit, do they not become akin to a great Demon God, a Star-Spawned Terror? Could it be that they are essentially devil souls?
...
