C1928

Zhong Chichen shook his head and let out a bitter laugh.

After years of plotting and enduring countless hardships, he and Loong Jie had ultimately chosen to relinquish their hard-earned divine seats.

To claim it wasn't painful would be a lie.

"It's better this way."

Yu Yuan watched his longtime senior brother, who was clearly in agony, and offered a serene smile. "The decision I made in the Ashlands was a necessary one. There's so much I'd like to say... things that aren't easy to express. Because both of you carry the origin within you, there are matters I can't openly discuss."

"Any word I speak, it can use the origin to learn of it and prepare its defenses."

He was aware that Zhong Chichen and Loong Jie might misinterpret his actions, but his resolve was firm. Was it not because the two dragons bore the origin within them?

"We've experienced it firsthand this time."

Loong Jie wiped the blood from his face, managing a strained smile. "On our journey to the Ashlands, we faced many hardships. Its presence, the way it ravaged our Dragon Hearts, was excruciating!"

The origin, intimately linked to the Supreme God, began to show its merciless nature as the Will of the Deep fully awoke.

Kaiya, Ji Ningshuang, Youyu, Yu Zhu, and the White Tiger had all faced it, and now it was the turn of these two Dragon Gods.

Those who dared to defy it, to sing a different tune, would inevitably suffer its retribution.

"There's something slightly different."

Zhong Chichen mused, his eyes shimmering like a kaleidoscope of divine crystals, brimming with curiosity.

"In our time, when I was the Seven-Colored Dragon and ascended to Dragon God, breaking through to the tenth level, the sensation was subtly different from what we've encountered this time."

"What's the difference?"

Kaiya asked, her interest piqued.

The Nagas emerged as a formidable power in the Everlands only after the great Demon God Bertain had departed. It was during Bertain's recovery from severe wounds that the Nagas and evilkind had the opportunity to gradually rise to power.

The lineage of the Nagas originated from the lifeblood of the deceased Titan Spinosaurus, the earliest beneficiaries of the Origin.

"As a Dragon God, the Origin was a gentle force, one that could harmonize with everything. It could enhance the strength of the soul, the flesh, and even objects. It lacked a specific attribute or form. Rather, it could transform into various states—air currents, water, divine iron—it was capable of assuming any shape."

Zhong Chichen pondered deeply before speaking, "Back then, the Origin seemed more like a suit of armor protecting our Dragon hearts. It wasn't subject to anyone's control, nor did it possess any spiritual wisdom."

"But now, as I ascend to Dragon God status once again, I sense a change in that same Origin."

"It's as if an eye is quietly observing me, monitoring my every move."

Zhong Chichen shuddered at the thought.

"Hehe, it was the pain that truly awakened you, Seven-Colored Dragon," Kaiya interjected with a light laugh. "Before the arrival of your Dragon Clan, the Everlands were under the dominion of the Star-Spawned Terror. When the Great Demon God Bertain ascended to the tenth level, he had no need for any Origin."

Ji Ningshuang, who hadn't been particularly invested in the situation, showed a flicker of surprise in her eyes at these words.

Yu Yiyi bowed her head slowly, while Loong Jie's face turned pale with shock.

Zhong Chichen, however, seemed unsurprised and said, "I had considered that."

He had once been a Chronowyrm, roaming the Everlands at will, where the Terra Fiend... would sometimes emerge in certain regions. He had also ventured beyond the stars, where he had been ambushed by the Sky Fiend.

The similarities between these two types of soul beings were too numerous to ignore.

"Now that you two have willingly separated from your Origin, I'll speak frankly," Kaiya said.

With a wave of her hand, she sent all the younger members, like Hua Xin and Jiang Miaojie, who had gathered from the central land, back with a flick of her sleeve.

Beneath her feet, a complex pattern of purple glyphs unfurled, blossoming into an exotic purple rose.

As this stunning purple rose emerged, it isolated the sounds and remnant souls on Tianqi's land.

Members of Boulderdawn on other lands could no longer hear their conversation, though they could still see a group intently listening to Kaiya speak.

"Bertain is my father, and the progenitor of your bloodline, the Titan Spinosaurus, was vanquished by him in the Everlands," Kaiya said with a chuckle, her voice tinged with pride as she recounted the wonders that had emerged in the Everlands after Bertain's departure.

"He was healing from his wounds when he discovered that the Everlands had become home to your Nagas, who were slowly taking root and flourishing."

Kaiya paused, her gaze settling on Yu Yuan.

"That was after our devastating encounter with the Beast Gods of the Wasteland."

Yu Yuan, grasping her meaning, gestured for her to go on.

"Had the Beast Gods not come to Stellar Oblivion and slaughtered the mightiest of each race, my father might have ventured to the Everlands to root out the remnants of the Titan Spinosaurus bloodline," Kaiya sighed, a note of resignation in her voice. "But the presence of the Wasteland and the stirring of numerous Beast Gods compelled my father to stand down."

"And beyond that, he harbored hope that the Everlands, his homeland, would give rise to more wonders."

"Indeed, the Dragon God emerged among the Dragons, and the Dark Deities, led by the Dark Phoenix, made their presence known. Yet, once the Dragons broke free from the Everlands, their actions were deplorable—rampant with burning, killing, and looting, leaving little to be admired, much to his discontent."

"He even played a part in aiding humanity to supplant the Nagas."

"Later, he lost his connection with the Primal Soul of the Everlands, and he was left in the dark about what had transpired."

Kaiya added, "He journeyed to the Abyss because the fall of the Abyssal Treasure into the Everlands altered the landscape there, and he sought to understand why."

"Wasteland."

"Beast God?"

"You're Bertain's daughter?"

Her words left the two dragons utterly astonished.

Meanwhile, Yu Yuan informed Zhong Chichen, Loong Jie, and the others that Boulderdawn's main base was situated on the fringe of the Wasteland, close to the extraterrestrial realm.

The reality of the Wasteland, the convergence of many Beast Gods, and the approach of the king left the dragons speechless.

"That Ape seems to be on the brink of madness. He's becoming less and less like himself, his rationality nearly extinguished," Zhong Chichen eventually spoke up.

He turned to a page in the Book of Time, revealing an image.

The giant ape, bristling with violent and brutal vital energy, had eyes of crimson with black specks flickering within, giving the impression of a creature teetering on the edge of frenzied demise.

"Your decision was wise. Otherwise, you two would have met the same fate as him."

Yu Yuan let out a soft sigh, paused, and continued, "The Nagas and evilkind are destined to be discarded. Untamed and Green Willow will soon be reduced to mere cannon fodder."

"Particularly Untamed, who is at the end of his lifespan. It will be exploited to the fullest, draining the last vestiges of value from Untamed."

In that moment, he felt a surge of pity for Untamed.

With the truth revealed to him, he understood that since the humans of the Everlands were the true reason for its existence, all other beings from the Everlands were merely its tools.

The Dark Phoenix, Untamed, and the Root of the Lunar Meridian.

It had gradually corrupted and twisted the mind of Untamed, turning the giant ape into a creature incapable of independent thought, only able to fight and kill on its behalf.

Regardless of Untamed's loyalty, he would ultimately be cast aside because he belonged to evilkind.

After Untamed, it would be the turn of Dark Deity Green Willow, and then the two Dragon Gods.

All origins that came into being because of it would ultimately merge with the humans, who were its creation.

No, that's not right!

This realization struck Yu Yuan as if he had stumbled upon a profound insight, a notion forming at the edge of his consciousness.

The Blood Fiend always believed they were the creation of the Root of the Solar Meridian, but how did the vast river of blood treat the Blood Fiend?

The cosmic giant beast species came into existence because of the Primal Blood.

The Primal Blood allowed the cosmic giant beasts to slaughter each other, only to select the Titan Spinosaurus to reconstitute its dispersed lineage.

Did such high-level existences truly regard the life they created as their children?

Perhaps they were just tools as well, for such beings lacked emotion.

With this in mind, why couldn't his former self resist, knowing full well that it was the Abyssal Treasure that had created the human race in the Everlands?

Why couldn't the Demon God Grec resist the Solar Meridian?

If one day, beings like Primal Blood, Primal Soul, or Primal Vitality sought to harm him, was he to simply await his demise?

Why can't I fight back?

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