C1990 You Look down on Me!
Boom!
Thunder balls burst forth from the Stormwraith's side as they struck the Dragon Slaying Stage, exploding in a dazzling display. The heavens and earth were blanketed in electric fury, resembling a secret dimension crafted by the deity of thunder, swirling with the intricate essence of the lightning rule.
The Stormwraith God, at the tenth level, valiantly resisted, yet its massive form was disintegrating. It had sought the Thunder Spirit from the Origin Realm, aspiring to ascend further in strength, but tragically met its end beneath the Dragon Slaying Stage. As the thunder balls detonated, its rotund body was violently drawn into the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Within the internal cosmos of the Dragon Slaying Stage, the Stormwraith God was transformed into a mass of blood and thunder, bound by the enigmatic powers of that inner world, unable to fade away. Shattered remnants of the Stormwraith God's blood and limbs, along with countless tiny sparks of lightning, were successively extracted by the Dragon Slaying Stage, merging into the bloody radiance.
In a brief moment, the Stormwraith God vanished without a trace.
The Dragon Slaying Stage, as if it possessed eyes, pivoted in the void, its gaze shifting toward the nine-tailed black fox.
The nine-tailed black fox, having deliberately reduced its size to a streak of gray-black light, was on the verge of fleeing the fractured Secret Realm of Time, heading for the Dark Tower, when it suddenly turned around. It sensed an invisible force tailing it, settling upon its form.
And so, it beheld the Dragon Slaying Stage.
The violet-gold Dragon Slaying Stage, in response to its backward glance, morphed into a chilling, crystalline divine eye.
As the nine-tailed black fox met the gaze of those frigid eyes, its body felt as though it had plummeted into a cavern of biting ice. Deep within its brain, its beast soul was engulfed by a blinding cold fog.
Shivering, the beast soul frantically summoned its bloodline mysteries, conjuring nine figures—handsome, robust, alluring, innocent, and enchanting men and women. Each bore the visage of the Everlands' human race, striving to capture Yu Yuan's attention from within the depths of its own mind.
Crack!
The fox's nine tails abruptly detached from its body, darting off in nine different directions. It seemed that the survival of even one tail would ensure its vitality persisted, allowing it to regenerate in the Wasteland and resume its journey as a Beast God.
Alas.
The nine beguiling figures, wrought from its beast soul, proved futile against the cold, merciless might of the ice magic-infused Dragon Slaying Stage.
Nine stunning individuals, both men and women, were shrouded in a cold fog, their spirited bodies frozen solid.
Whenever the image of a handsome man or beautiful woman shattered in its mind, an escaped fox tail would suddenly become soulless, drifting motionless in the cosmos.
The Dragon Slaying Stage burst into a spectrum of colors, appearing beside the nine-tailed black fox that had lost its tails, and drew it in.
The nine tails that had fled from the black fox were lured by another force, one by one. They willingly entered the Dragon Slaying Stage, transforming into a second surge of blood-red light.
Following the Stormwraith, the nine-tailed black fox was also consumed by Yu Yuan's Dragon Slaying Stage.
"Starbeast God," Yu Yuan silently called out in his heart.
Having dealt with the nine-tailed black fox, the Dragon Slaying Stage shifted its course and sped towards the Starbeast God, which had settled atop a Dark Tower, attempting to break free.
Within the dark iron tower, streams of spatial light converged. The Starbeast God had already activated its time travel power.
The Starbeast God was still frantically searching for a destination to teleport to.
Yet, all three Dark Towers were in the vicinity.
Regardless of its teleportation destination, escaping the Secret Realm of Time proved difficult. Thus, the attempt to teleport away was futile.
"Save your efforts," Zhong Chichen said, squinting as he made a gentle swipe with the Book of Time. The void near the Starbeast God solidified as if it had become an iron slab.
The spatial light that had been amassing at the heart of the Dark Tower now seemed to be infused with iron.
This spatial light could not serve as the driving force for the Dark Tower, nor could it assist in breaking Zhong Chichen's spatial seal to flee the fragmented Secret Realm of Time.
"This little world, soon to vanish, is now somewhat within my grasp," Zhong Chichen remarked with a hint of remorse. "Had I firmly seized control upon my arrival, perhaps Loong Jie would not have been wounded."
The Book of Time had absorbed copious amounts of sand and light, restructuring the rules of time within its pages, enabling it to connect with this realm.
Similar to Yu Yuan's dominion over the Ashlands and the Dark Star Region, he had become the master of this domain.
Regrettably, the Secret Realm of Time was damaged and unstable. His gathering of the residual forces here meant that its collapse would only hasten.
He had finally seized control of this fractured world, which was on the brink of destruction and would soon vanish into oblivion.
Thankfully, there was still time to act before the end came.
For instance, he could render the Dark Tower incapable of exerting its intended power.
Or he could ensure that Yu Yuan's Dragon Slaying Stage successfully located the Starbeast God and materialized in front of the fleeing Dark Tower.
Elsewhere.
Bang!
Loong Jie, resplendent with his Ultimate Golden Body, struck the giant ape's chest like a golden beam piercing the heavens and earth.
The Holy Mountain within the Ape's chest flickered with each of Loong Jie's impacts.
Loong Jie, fighting desperately, unleashed the razor-sharp might of the golden dragon god, capable of slicing through any barrier or wall, forcing the old ape, wielding the Heaven-Shattering Hammer, to stagger backward.
The giant ape, reeling in the void, struggled to retaliate. Each time he attempted to swing the Heaven-Shattering Hammer, Loong Jie, transformed into a golden column of light, would crash into his chest again.
The ape's arm, lifted with great effort, involuntarily dropped once more.
The bloodline mysteries he had just invoked, emerging from the Demon Heart in his chest, were scattered by the formidable impact of the golden light.
As long as he couldn't wield the Heaven-Shattering Hammer or trigger the bloodline that limited Loong Jie's Ultimate Golden Body, he seemed incapable of subduing Loong Jie.
The fully-realized golden dragon god was invulnerable, impervious to fire and water, and immune to all visible forms of attack.
Moreover, the perfected Ultimate Golden Body was the sharpest Divine Weapon in existence.
Destined to cleave stars, rend giant beasts, and shatter barriers, these divine powers were etched into the very heart and marrow of Loong Jie from the moment the golden dragon god came into being.
His relentless onslaught failed to breach the Ape's chest solely because of the Holy Mountain of the Wasteland.
Without the constant manifestation of the Holy Mountain, even the unparalleled giant ape, famed for its brute strength in the Everlands, could not withstand Loong Jie's assault. It would have succumbed to a pierced Demon Heart and met its end at Loong Jie's hands.
"Why are you running?"
As Loong Jie gained the upper hand, steadily draining the Ape's strength, Yu Yuan materialized like a specter in front of another Dark Tower.
Perched atop this Dark Tower was the white boa god.
With Zhong Chichen controlling the Secret Realm of Time, now in a state of collapse, the white boa Sanha struggled to activate the Dark Tower's time travel power.
Her only option was to clumsily pilot the Dark Tower, hoping to quickly escape the influence of the Secret Realm of Time.
Just as she was on the verge of escape, about to glimpse hope, Yu Yuan, who had been fixated on the Ape, made his presence known.
"I've been searching for you lot for quite some time, unable to eliminate all you Beast Gods in one fell swoop," Yu Yuan said with a smile, his tone light. "But you've made it easy for me, ambushing me in the Secret Realm of Time. All the Beast Gods that were due have arrived."
Without even glancing back, Yu Yuan was aware that the remaining Kylin, Starbeast God, and the ice phoenix Alex stood no chance of escape.
"Green Willow! Green Willow!"
In her flight, the white boa unleashed a blizzard from her mouth. The snowflakes varied—some hexagonal, some branched like trees, others like starshards—filling the space ahead.
Each snowflake, upon closer inspection, was a drop of the white boa's miraculous blood.
The snowflakes' ethereal beauty tore through Zhong Chichen's spatial blockade, propelling the Dark Tower beyond the Secret Realm of Time.
In the grey void of the extraterrestrial, devoid of twinkling stars, rivers stretched across the heavens.
The murky River of the Darkness, imbued with the vital energy and consciousness of the Dark Deity Green Willow, revealed slender, crystalline chains of bloodline power glowing from its depths.
Green Willow, who had remained outside the Secret Realm of Time, appeared to have prepared for everything.
Transformed into a human form, Green Willow's emerald vertical pupil shone with an eerie, cold gleam.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A broad extraterrestrial river surged towards the white boa Sanha's Dark Tower. The waves rose mightily, cradling the Dark Tower aloft.
Sanha's eyes sparkled with delight. "I knew you'd come to my rescue."
The white boa transformed into a stunning woman clad in a white dress, her smile as sweet as the willow itself, as she showcased her enchanting figure and poise.
Yu Yuan emerged quietly from the fragmented Secret Realm of Time.
Green Willow's unexpected appearance took him aback. "Are you here to save her?" he inquired.
After losing their primal source, Green Willow and the Untamed returned to the ranks of the Dark Deities. The Ape even managed to obtain some life dew, which he used to craft a "Life Keychain," granting him immortality.
However, Green Willow's heart lacked a Life Keychain, indicating his status with Yuan Le wasn't as esteemed.
At the Abyssal Gate, it was the Ape and the white boa who had made an appearance, not Green Willow, who abstained from the conflict surrounding the Secret Realm of Time.
Green Willow, through the Beast Gods of the Wasteland, had discovered a method to ascend to the tenth level. Yet, he seemed to deliberately avoid any confrontation with the Boulderdawn Sect.
When Han Miaoyuan used his primal source to coerce the Ape back in the Everlands, Green Willow remained uninvolved.
He was still youthful, and losing his primal source would merely demote him to a ninth-level Monster Lord. Without the threat of death looming over him, he maintained a demeanor of ease and nonchalance.
"Save her?" Green Willow's vertical pupil gleamed with a hint of scorn.
The rivers at his command, like serpents stretching across the horizon, swallowed every irregular, crystalline snowflake.
Once the snowflakes hit the river, they shattered under the force of the waters, transforming into the most refined and sweet vital energy—energy that Green Willow could fully absorb.
The waves from the Dark Tower surged upwards, engulfing the very Dark Tower where the white boa had sought refuge and plotted its escape.
As the Dark Tower plummeted, it was swiftly subdued by the river Green Willow had refined, stripping it of its wonders.
"Green Willow?" Sanha, the white boa, was slow to grasp the situation. She had assumed Green Willow's actions were meant to aid her escape with the Dark Tower amidst the river's currents.
But now submerged, both she and the Dark Tower were not only constrained in their movements but also battered by the river's relentless force.
The materials used to construct the Dark Tower, along with its beastly form, were saturated with Green Willow's watery essence. It was as if the tower, like a person drowning, was forced to gulp down water until it swelled, rendering it incapable of deploying its innate bloodline mysteries.
"Green Willow!" it finally realized something was amiss. At the bottom of the shimmering river, it lunged at Green Willow with bared teeth and claws.
Its previously poised and graceful demeanor twisted into something monstrous and horrifying, devoid of any seductive charm.
"You're actually quite hideous," Green Willow declared arrogantly, riding the crest of a wave to hover above the river before slowly descending.
"Trying to impress me with those petty tricks? I was merely indulging you to see what you were up to. And your king? It granted Lord Untamed eternal life and even plans to bestow the same gift upon Cardo without cost."
"What, you think you're better than me?"
As Green Willow continued to sink, the dispersed rivers transformed into dazzling arcs of light, all converging upon the river that held the Dark Tower and the white boa captive.
Thus, the river became a lake in an otherworldly realm.
At the bottom of this celestial lake, the white boa's scattered blood droplets, once used to forge pathways, were swiftly purified by Green Willow.
"Listen to me! My king is just and clear in his judgments. You haven't yet served him, so he must scrutinize you!" The white boa was clearly desperate. "And after all these years of loyalty, I have yet to achieve immortality. Green Willow, you need to exercise more patience and not act so hastily."
"Besides, you're so young; you're not going to die anytime soon!" the white boa shrieked with fervor.
It believed Green Willow was upset for not having been granted eternal life like the Untamed for pledging allegiance, hoping to persuade Green Willow not to act rashly out of dissatisfaction.
"Sorry, I've never been one for patience, nor do I wish to wait," Green Willow responded, shaking his head as he descended from the lake's surface to the Dark Tower at the lake's bottom. Countless serpentine vines, resembling eerie green tendrils, emerged from the depths, entwining around him like blood vessels.
The white boa, having intentionally assumed a human form to gain Green Willow's approval, was too late to revert to its true Beast God form before being impaled by the sinuous blood tendrils.
It suddenly stiffened, as it discovered that the lifeblood it had refined for tens of thousands of years, along with the profound secrets of its bloodline, were rapidly slipping away from it.
It came to a sudden realization that Green Willow's initial display of affection and longing upon their first encounter was actually a sign of its desire... to devour it.
Green Willow showed no compassion. Licking the corner of its mouth, a serpentine tongue darted out like a bolt of lightning, piercing the white boa's skull to harvest the concealed power within its brain.
