C1938 They Were All Fleeing!
Inside the Dragon Slaying Stage, blood rained torrentially from the heavens.
A fierce wind carried the storm, mingling with feathers drenched in divine blood and a vine-like eagle claw that descended through the golden canopy.
The Abyssal Winged Lizard, cast into this realm, was left with only its head and part of its body. It surveyed this strange new world, seeking someone to question.
Fortunate to be of the eighth level and part Lizard lineage, its vitality was remarkably resilient.
Plop! Plop!
The blood rain fell incessantly. As the Silvery Land beside it slowly pooled into a small pond, a familiar silver-gray feather came into view.
"Hawk God!"
The memory of agony under Soderis's torment resurfaced, and he feared the Hawk God from the Otherworld was about to invade this utterly foreign domain.
"Father, are you... still alive?"
He whispered mournfully, blaming his own cries for help for the Lizard's entrapment in Aihoyari.
Boom!
A claw, thick as an ancient tree's root, struck the Silvery Land, quaking the earth and halting his self-pity.
The bloodstained broken claw corrected his mistaken belief.
A gleam of satisfaction lit his eyes. "Excellent! Even you can be severed!"
The small pool of blood expanded into a vast, crimson lake, with numerous silver-gray feathers floating atop like water lilies, centered around the desiccated claw.
The chilling presence within the claw and the subdued power of the Beast God in the lake were restrained by this world.
Every fragment of a tenth-level Beast God held its own might and lingering will; the docile nature of the claw and divine blood was surely unusual.
The Abyssal Winged Lizard scanned the surroundings, desperate for answers.
Deep within the golden firmament, a will coalesced into a wraith, speaking with a profound and reverent tone.
"Submerge yourself in the blood, draw strength from it with your bloodline's gift. It has consumed your flesh, cleaved your body; there's no need for courtesy."
"Yu Yuan!"
The young beast let out an excited scream.
He recognized it!
The figure within the golden firmament was none other than Yu Yuan from the outside world, now standing on the enigmatic Dragon Slaying Stage.
That claw belonged to Soderis, the one that had recently shredded his body, pressed against his skull, savored the taste of his blood, and ridiculed him mercilessly.
But now, the tables had turned.
He had the opportunity to feast on the divine blood of a Beast God from the Otherworld!
"I promised your father I would do everything in my power to save you. Don't let him down."
The comforting voice echoed once more, and the feathers floating on the lake's surface moved as if propelled by an unseen force toward his severed limbs.
"Your kindness will never be forgotten!"
With effort, he raised his head in a gesture of thanks before plunging into the lake formed from Soderis's divine blood, gulping it down voraciously.
He could feel his strength returning!
...
Outside.
Yu Yuan withdrew his gaze from the Dragon Slaying Stage, content in the knowledge that with the young beast's bloodline power and the divine blood of a tenth-level Beast God, along with an eagle claw, the creature's wounds would surely heal as if they had never been.
The descendants of the Lizard, even those of mixed heritage, possessed a remarkable vitality.
"Will you keep calling out?"
Yu Yuan, having severed one of Soderis's claws, watched as the Hawk God flapped its wings in a desperate and clumsy attempt to escape. Yu Yuan followed at a leisurely pace.
Like an inescapable nightmare, he hovered behind the Hawk God, consuming its spirit and will.
With its wings riddled with bloody holes and its flight severely impaired, Soderis, now missing a claw, was in a pitiful state.
It felt the dread emanating from Yu Yuan, and the King's words echoed in its mind, reminding it that the humans of the Origin Realm deserved the highest degree of attention.
Though the human race's bloodline offered them no advantage in strength, and the humans did not seem particularly powerful, nor were they likely to be the first to cross their path,
the Dark Phoenix, who had caused a great upheaval in the Wasteland, resided in the land of the humans.
Moreover, it had failed to suppress the human race, to dominate their world, and to make the seemingly feeble humans submit.
"Everlands, human race."
Soderis sighed, etching the term "human" deep within his heart, and ceased his wailing.
Yet, whenever his cries subsided, Yu Yuan, who persistently pursued him, would promptly inflict another wound.
Whether on its wings or its beastly form, a new bloody cavity would appear.
Its divine blood was scattered across the Star River, meticulously gathered by Yu Yuan with the Dragon Slaying Stage, to carefully nurture something.
The formidable patriarch of the Silver Hawk Clan, renowned throughout the Wasteland, was revered by countless intelligent lifeforms who would kneel in worship at the mere sight of his passage through the stars.
But now, he was on the brink of despair.
Casting a glance at the dark hound, swallowed by a muddy pond and missing three legs, he immediately realized that its plight was scarcely better than his own.
Elsewhere, the primordial Abyssal Leviathan, engaged in a two-on-one battle, had trapped the Starbeast God and the Galehound God within an oceanic expanse of the cosmos.
This radiant sea was the Abyssal Leviathan's domain, furiously pulling together water-related energies from the starry sky.
The Abyssal Leviathan, in its greenish fish form, grinned widely, radiating a sense of joy.
Within its realm, the Starbeast God and the Galehound God were like wanderers lost at sea, struggling to escape and constantly vulnerable to its stealthy assaults.
Soderis lamented his misfortune, cursing his choice of the Aihoyari.
"Oh, I forgot to show you something."
Yu Yuan suddenly slapped his forehead as if he had just remembered.
Soderis, in his frantic escape, zigzagged through the cosmos like a drunken elder, his beastly form unsteady until now, when he came to a halt.
He saw the shattered star he had left behind, where his kin, the Silverscale Tribe's youth, were relentlessly turned into a mist of blood as they hunted their own, gathered resources, and coveted rare trophies.
Yu Yuan, in hot pursuit, managed to multitask, occasionally jabbing with the Dragon Slaying Stage while simultaneously unleashing streaks of crimson sword light.
The sinister crimson sword light, in the world he had abandoned, led to the massacre of other races that had ventured into the Origin Realm with him, just like the Silverscale Tribe.
The silver hawk howled, frantically calling out for someone to come to its rescue.
Yet, it too was in flight.
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Just use the mystique shared among the Beast Gods to bring the other two back. If you combine the power of all six Beast Gods, you might stand a chance at turning the tide," Yu Yuan said, his eyes narrowed and a smile playing on his lips as he closed in on the halted Soderis.
"If they don't return, the four of you are certain to perish in Aihoyari, without a sliver of luck on your side. Hurry, I'm waiting for you to summon them. Let's not waste everyone's time, shall we?" He punctuated his words with a jab from his metal sword at Soderis.
He showed no courtesy to the Hawk God from the Otherworld.
Before arriving in Aihoyari, the Otherworld Beast Gods had committed acts far more cruel and inhumane, never once regarding the beings of this realm as equals.
"Wait, just wait a moment!" Soderis shrieked in terror.
...
On the fringes of Aihoyari, three Voidfarers, their hulls riddled with cracks, were desperately trying to escape.
On the edge of the starry sky, the Skyreach Consortium's experts, the formidable Forgeroses warriors, and the Silverscale Tribe members were being besieged by a swarm of giant green rats.
Zheng Luanjie, Qi Lingyu, Qin Yan, Yu Ying, and Tan Yuan of the Skyreach Consortium were all there, their faces etched with resolve. They were prepared to defend the three Voidfarers to the death.
Inside the Voidfarers were many of the weaker disciples from the Skyreach Consortium and Forgeroses.
Those who had not reached the Solar Spirit level could only take refuge within the warships, shielded by the protective barriers from the cosmic energy outside.
The weaker human cultivators, unable to endure the cosmic energy, would either be culled or transformed into the dreaded Warpbeasts should the Voidfarers rupture.
Becoming a Warpbeast was a fate more terrifying than death itself, a fate no one wished to meet.
"Where in the world did these rats come from?!" Qi Lingyu, having advanced to the Unbound Realm, fought valiantly, wielding her silver trident, covered in grime and her hair flying wildly.
Several giant rats, each with an eighth-level bloodline, left her feeling mentally and physically drained, as if she would never be able to rid herself of them.
Close by, members of the Silverscale Tribe were being devoured by these rodents. The relentless crunching of bones was a torment to her nerves and spirit.
She knew her fate would be the same.
Lurking behind the horde of giant rats were a few beasts with ninth-level bloodlines, the so-called beast kings, watching them with predatory intent.
And beyond the beast kings, a vague figure seemed to be observing from a distance, waiting for them to reach their destination to follow them into another Astral Domain.
Qi Lingyu's heart was submerged in darkness, aware that without a miracle, their complete destruction was inevitable.
"Curse that Dark Phoenix!"
Tan Yuan, of the Forgeroses, was bloodied from the giant rats' vicious bites.
After forcefully throwing off one of the giant rats, she cursed, "The alien beasts of the Star River all obey the Dark Phoenix. It must have issued some command that has led us into this dire situation."
She believed that the Everlands had taken precautions, provoking the Dark Phoenix's wrath.
Unaware of the Wasteland's existence, she couldn't fathom that it was an extraterrestrial invader from another world causing the massive incursion into the Aihoyari Astral Domain.
A piercing scream suddenly erupted, causing all the giant rats assaulting them to halt their frenzied attack and look around in confusion.
The giant rats were perplexed, unable to grasp why they had received a signal to retreat at such a moment.
They were so close to following those warships into another world, one teeming with more living creatures to feast upon – weren't the prospects of such gains clear?
The screams resounded once more!
The Beast God, who had remained unseen and yearned for more flesh, abruptly began to withdraw!
This caused the rats to descend into chaos.
