C1920 The Ability of the First Dominator
Beneath the deepest layer of the Abyss World lies the expansive Genesis Continent. Here, in the endless darkness, a towering figure with a red beard emerged. His presence swelled rapidly, and his immense specter began to overshadow the Genesis Continent. He resembled an ancient Evil God of the Abyss, smiling down with a sinister gaze.
His eyes shone like two deep purple, demonic suns, casting their eerie light upon the Evil Temple, constructed from the bones of numerous Evil Gods. Swirls of demonic clouds emanated from his colossal yet ethereal specter, shrouding the entire Genesis Continent in a dark cage.
The Evil Temple, which had stood for millennia, was now severed from the seven layers of the Abyss. The Evil Gods, scattered throughout the Abyss and those at its pinnacle, suddenly found themselves unable to sense the temple's presence.
In their haste, the Evil Gods employed their arcane powers and divine sight to peer into the darkness below. All they could see was an ever-expanding purple sea, seemingly spreading its corruption to the lowest depths of the Abyss.
Amidst the boundless darkness, a hidden crisis loomed as the Demon Gods from the Otherworld sneered with malevolent delight.
"Bertain!" The furious roars of the Evil Gods echoed from the various levels of the Abyss.
The corporeal forms of the Evil Gods, each as vast as a small universe, watched helplessly as their sacred Evil Temple fell prey to Bertain's assault once more, plummeting into the abyssal darkness below.
The mighty beings from the seven layers of the Abyss sensed the wrath of the Evil Gods and knelt in trepidation.
The deep, hearty laughter of the tall, red-bearded old man resonated across the Genesis Continent and the Evil Temple. His laughter tore through the oppressive darkness, revealing flashes of dark red and deep purple light, adding an otherworldly hue to the shadowy realm.
"As long as I remain in the Abyss, you can forget about channeling the power of this bone-dry Holy Temple into the Origin Realm at your leisure," Bertain taunted, his gaze fixed upon the Holy Temple as he addressed the guardian.
Suddenly, sparse droplets rained down from his position, striking the towering Holy Temple. The billions of runes adorning the temple, like bones subjected to a powerful acid, began to dissolve in parts.
Amidst the myriad bones, the residual might of the Evil Gods clashed with the dark will and runes, all under the force of the guardian. Consequently, the guardian found it impossible to effortlessly transmit the Holy Temple's power to the Origin Realm.
With the Evil Temple under sudden attack, the Evil Gods who had ventured into the Origin Realm were forced to divert their attention, unable to ignore the plight of their sanctuary.
The power of the Holy Temple continued to surge through Jihui's essence, reconvening at the temple itself.
The resurgence of the Great Demon God Bertain threw Jihui and the Evil Gods' plans into disarray, rendering their efforts futile.
Currently, Bertain remained in the Abyss, launching an assault on the Holy Temple, which was intrinsically linked to the Abyss. Their stronghold was quaking, on the brink of collapse. How could they spare any thought for Yu Yuan?
...
Wraithlands.
"Hu! Hu! Hu!" The Spirits of the Dead belonging to Youyu, Matina, and Wagner seamlessly reintegrated with their bodies that awaited them at the Origin Gate.
Kaiya's devil soul also rejoined her demonform, and with a slight smile and a casual tone, she remarked, "The old man is still kicking."
"I just knew it. With the old man's skills, those Abyssal Evil Gods couldn't lay a finger on him!"
Kaiya's lips curved into a self-satisfied grin. The Soul-Capturing God-King appeared content, seemingly having received the confirmation she sought.
The three Gods of Ghosts, now whole with their bodies and souls reunited, gazed at the pulsating Origin Gate with trepidation.
They lacked Kaiya's easy optimism. The power Jihui had demonstrated in the Origin Realm, along with the Evil Gods who had yet to unleash their full might, weighed heavily on them.
When the "old man" made his move, Yu Yuan quickly grasped the crux of the issue, nodding thoughtfully, "I hadn't anticipated..."
It was clear that Bertain, concealed somewhere in the Abyss, had once again made his presence known there, likely initiating an offensive against the Holy Temple, compelling the Evil Gods and Jihui to divert their energies to counter his force.
This left them unable to attend to the affairs of the Origin Realm.
Their smooth departure and return to the Wraithlands owed much to Bertain's clandestine efforts.
"This soul stone..."
Youyu reflected, gripping the now mostly depleted, lustrous stone, withdrawing it from the Origin Gate.
"I infused it with the power of the specter after refining it, drawing copious amounts from the Wraithlands. This time, Jihui consumed a great deal of it," Youyu said, his face tinged with disappointment.
The light that formed the Origin Gate vanished abruptly, as if a candle had been snuffed out. In its place, a dark-brown leaf materialized, looking eerily out of place.
Yu Yuan narrowed his eyes, gleaning from the leaf a vision of the events that had unfolded within the Mindscape. He had been guided by Jihui to the Origin Realm, where he first encountered Youyu and the Ghost King he had conjured in the Mindscape. The conversations, the rituals, all the experiences they had shared were etched into the leaf's essence.
But after Jihui reclaimed control of the Origin Realm and unleashed a counterassault on the Mindscape, those traces vanished.
The dark-brown leaf drifted to the ancient vine and became part of the second Undead Lord. Yu Yuan realized that the Undead Lord, taking the form of the ancient tree, must have been aware of the Origin Gate's creation. It had even left a leaf behind, a silent sentinel over the gate's comings and goings. Yet, the subsequent events had taken it by surprise, preventing it from witnessing every detail.
"Hand me the soul stone," Yu Yuan requested with a smile, now back from the Origin Realm and inhabiting a body from the Wraithlands. Youyu, without a moment's delay, passed the palm-sized soul stone to him, adding, "With the Origin Gate gone, the powers that entered the Origin Realm are likely irretrievable."
"That remains to be seen," Yu Yuan countered. Clutching the soul stone, he presented the Dragon Slaying Stage with his other hand. Assisted by the Second Undead Lord, Yu Yuan, now endowed with a formidable body infused with shadow energy, positioned the soul stone atop the Dragon Slaying Stage. A spectrum of rainbow hues began to radiate from the stage.
Threads of rainbow-colored psionic power permeated the soul stone, forging a bond with the Mindscape through their faint resonance. Yu Yuan's Spirit of the Dead harnessed the Dragon Slaying Stage, channeling power across the void.
At this moment, under the watchful gaze of the three Gods of Ghosts and the two Undead Lords, Yu Yuan stood as if he were the sovereign of the Wraithlands, his presence seamlessly intertwined with the realm's mystical essence.
In the Wraithlands, his form seemed to have become all-powerful, capable of altering the very fabric of existence and determining the fate of life and death, the cycle of reincarnation itself.
The small soul stone in his hand glowed with a ghostly white light, accumulating a dazzling energy.
Youyu gasped in astonishment, his face alight with wonder.
He could feel it—the power he had lost was now flowing back to him through the soul stone!
He gazed at Yu Yuan before him, his senses tingling with the presence of the Root of the Lunar Meridian. For a moment, he was under the impression that the Root of the Lunar Meridian in the Land of Terror had aligned with him once more.
The sound of rushing energy filled the air as Yu Yuan, in his Shadow-Form, connected with the Path of Undead within the enigmatic Wraithlands, channeling the might of the Levi River.
His Spirit of the Dead, now condensed into the form of the Crucible of Rebirth, merged with the soul stone.
The Dragon Slaying Stage transformed into a temporary, ethereal Origin Gate, retrieving the vanished powers from within the Origin Realm.
A form of Mind Magic, wordless and intuitive, manifested in Yu Yuan's thoughts. He wielded the authority of the First Dominator, aiding Youyu in reclaiming his lost strength.
"I cannot retrieve the original essence, but whatever else remains, I will bring it all back to you."
