C1991 The Descent of the King!

The white python's once flat head had become withered and shriveled. Its brain matter, along with all the flesh and blood essence within, had been swiftly drained by Lvliu's serpentine tongue, thin as a willow branch. The grotesque snake that emerged from the lake's depths, with its vine-like muscles, gnawed away at the white python. The once robust body of the white python was now hollowed out from the inside, resembling a desiccated corpse, as its blood and bones rapidly vanished.

In stark contrast, Lvliu radiated vitality, the eerie glow from his vertical eye captivating and intense. With a swift motion, the snake's tongue retracted into his mouth, and he contentedly licked his lips as if savoring a satisfying meal.

After a brief pause, he turned to Yu Yuan and clarified, "I am not the same as the Desolate Lord." Regardless of Old Ape's decisions—whether he became Han Miaoyuan's puppet or a minion of the Desolate Realm—Lvliu continued to address him with reverence. Back in the Great Swamp, when he was still a Ninth Level Demon King, Old Ape had shown him kindness, and Lvliu had not forgotten.

"I've noticed," Yu Yuan replied with a nod and a smile.

"Lvliu, neither the Divine Soul Sect nor I owe you anything. In fact, it was with your assistance that I secured my divine position," Lvliu said, standing before the Shrouded Tower. His lean frame obscured the white python behind him, now too weak to even cry out. "Of course, I eventually had to relinquish that position."

Yet, Lvliu appeared unconcerned. "Still, I am grateful for the favor you and the Divine Soul Sect have shown me. Sannia was right; I am young and unafraid of losing my essence or descending back to the rank of a Ninth Level Demon King."

"Therefore, neither Han Miaoyuan nor the Beast Gods of the Desolate Realm can use that to coerce me."

He sighed softly, shaking his head. "A tree may long for calm, but the wind does not cease. I wanted to remain neutral, not entangled in your affairs with Han Miaoyuan and the Beast Gods. But Sannia sought me out, determined to pull me into this turmoil."

Lvliu's gaze turned icy. "Now she has disrupted my tranquil existence and revealed to me a world where other Beast Gods thrive. Through her, I've come to realize that the roots and bloodlines of all the alien beasts in this realm originate from the Desolate Realm."

With a soft thud, all that remained of Sannia—a mere piece of skin—was spread upon the black jade altar of the Shrouded Tower.

Lvliu retracted the serpentine creatures, resembling sinewy flesh, back into himself and unleashed the immense power of water against the Shrouded Tower, which astonishingly remained unyielding.

The skin that was once Sannia merged with the black jade altar as well.

"Hmm?"

Lvliu, interrupted mid-sentence, turned around in astonishment, fixing his gaze on the Shrouded Tower.

The tower, as if constructed of black iron and summoned by some mysterious force, shrugged off the suppression of Lvliu's lake and rose effortlessly.

Yu Yuan's face grew increasingly grave.

He observed that the other two Shrouded Towers within the Time Secret Area were exhibiting anomalies and began to draw closer to one another, seemingly on the verge of fusing.

The Shrouded Towers, crafted by the King of the Desolate Realm, Yuen Bu, and entrusted to the Beast Gods, could be partially harnessed by them.

Yet, the Shrouded Towers belonged to no single Beast God.

From the outset, the Shrouded Towers were the instruments of Yuen Bu, and when he required them, each tower would autonomously converge back into his possession.

"Is he truly in this realm?"

Lvliu, sensing trouble, watched as the vast lake around him condensed into a single droplet in the blink of an eye.

Opening his mouth, he carefully placed the glistening droplet beneath his tongue.

"His name is Yuen Bu. He arrived with the initial cohort of Beast Gods and briefly revealed himself in the Gray Domain," Yu Yuan confirmed, sending a thought through his mind, "Keep pressuring Yuen Bu to reveal himself!"

Nearly all the quicksand and mysterious streams of light had been gathered by Zhong Chichen, leaving no oddity untouched.

The two Shrouded Towers had already drawn close to one another. Atop one of the towers stood the Rat God, Nors, and the Ice Phoenix, Alex.

The Celestial Star Beast God had been vanquished by the Dragon Slash Platform, transforming into a cluster of dazzling starlight.

The blood of the Tenth Level Qilin splattered onto the pages of the Time Book, integrating into its narrative.

Of the initial fifteen Beast Gods who invaded the Origin Realm, only Nors and Alex remained alive; the rest had been slain.

Nors shivered in the Shrouded Tower, casting frequent, anxious glances at the massive Old Ape and letting out high-pitched squeals. He was calling out to the Desolate God, pleading for it to cease its battle with Loong Jie and to swiftly enter another Shrouded Tower to make a quick escape from the area.

The usually proud Ice Phoenix, Alex, initially wanted to remain a detached observer, in no rush to join the fray. Later on, however, she didn't dare to engage in combat. Deprived of her sister's power and able to wield only the force of ice, Alex soberly recognized that she was no match for Zhong Chichen and Loong Jie, let alone Yu Yuan.

"What a spectacle," remarked Taishi, his voice emanating leisurely from the Scepter of Light, now magnified a hundredfold. Alongside Cadorath and Reid, the High Priest of the Devaputra Race, he rode the Scepter of Light, tearing through the gloomy clouds, and descended abruptly from another Starfield.

Yet, upon arrival, they discovered that the enigmatic Time Secret Area had vanished. The extraterrestrial battlefield bore no traces of the Beast God's blood, no remnants of limbs or bones, only swirling, terrifying energies that whipped up a storm of epic proportions. The numerous spatial rifts and the twisted, collapsing zones of the Starfield, clashing with abnormal energies, all bore witness to the fierce combat that had taken place.

With a snap, the three Shrouded Towers finally converged, as if unlocking a portal. At the moment of contact, Yu Yuan's heart leapt; he sensed something amiss but detected nothing upon closer inspection. Meanwhile, the Golden Dragon God was locked in a relentless battle with the savage giant ape from the Great Swamp.

Zhong Chichen, book in hand, observed a particular world within its pages with an air of elegance. "Have we arrived too late, or too early?" pondered Reid, scratching his head. The purple demonic flames in his eye sockets flared as he probed the minutiae of the battlefield with his Demonic Will. It was then that he caught the scent of the Beast God's demise.

"We're probably late," Reid said with a chuckle, a touch of embarrassment in his tone as he explained to Yu Yuan, "We've done our best to hasten our arrival."

"Timing is everything."

Yu Yuan halted before the trio of Shrouded Towers suspended in midair, gripping the Dragon Slash Platform and sensing the three surges of blood energy within. He turned to Cadorath with a beaming smile and remarked, "Refining Life Stoste is no small feat, but luckily, we have a plentiful supply of Beast Gods here."

Cadorath's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Are we close to finishing?"

"Just a bit more," Yu Yuan replied with a grin.

Cadorath's gaze shifted to the Rat God Nors and to Alex, who had grown quiet after being separated from his sister, his thoughts inscrutable. "What about these two? If I include these Beast Gods, could I possibly obtain the Life Keychain?"

"That would be perfect," Yu Yuan chuckled.

Cadorath clapped her hands in delight, then pointed at the two surviving Beast Gods. "Did you two hear that? Later on, don't even think about running. Just let me defeat you so you can help me forge my path to eternity!"

Alex remained silent, his expression icy.

Nors let out a frantic shriek at the Old Ape, "Hurry! Hurry up!"

"Silence," commanded the Desolate God with a huff.

His command to 'silence' felt like the impact of two Skyshatter Hammers, crushing down upon everyone, causing Loong Jie's golden form to dent inward at the center, as if struck by two massive, unseen weights.

Loong Jie plummeted dozens of miles in an instant.

Zhong Chichen, who was leisurely holding the Time Book, suddenly coughed up blood, his face contorted in shock.

Lvliu, with a Water Drop under his tongue, felt it burst, causing a relentless flow of blood from his mouth and piercing a hole through his tongue.

Yu Yuan, clutching the Dragon Slash Platform, shook violently before steadying himself. He quickly turned his attention to the Desolate God's chest, his eyes reflecting surprise. "So, you've decided to show up?"

A stream of blood energy, distinctly foreign to the Old Ape, traveled through the 'Life Keychain' and infused into the Old Ape's heart, endowing him with a sudden, infinite divine strength, as if blessed by the celestial gods themselves.

The Desolate God, of the same species as Yuen Bu, experienced the sudden activation of numerous enigmatic Bloodline Crystal Chains within the depths of his Demon Heart. The ephemeral Holy Mountain, flickering between clarity and obscurity, was abruptly bathed in a radiant crimson light. Atop the mountain, the silhouette of a beast, whose mere gaze was enough to make one's eyes water with pain, slowly came into focus.

In that moment, Yu Yuan grasped why the Old Ape of Hao Ran was held in such high esteem by Yuen Bu. Beyond their shared lineage, Yuen Bu could channel the formidable power of the King of Desolate Realm through the Old Ape's Demon Body.

If Yuen Bu's physical form had not yet arrived, he needed to find a suitable vessel to manifest his strength as the spokesperson for the Desolate Realm's source blood. And who better than Hao Ran's Old Ape?

"Patriarch! Patriarch!" The Old Ape was invigorated by the rush of blood energy, feeling a soothing comfort throughout his body. The wounds inflicted by Loong Jie's relentless assaults healed instantaneously. Within his Demon Heart, truths of his bloodline that had never before surfaced now dazzled before his eyes. He also attuned to the voice of Yuen Bu's heart.

He was to lend his Demon Body for Yuen Bu's use. All the bloodline secrets that Yuen Bu would unleash with the Demon Body and the Skyshatter Hammer would be ignited by the Old Ape's Demon Heart, leaving imprints for future contemplation and refinement into his own bloodline treasures. This was an opportunity of a lifetime!

Why would the Old Ape have any objections? Thus, the Old Ape, emerging from the vastness of the Great Swamp, willingly relinquished control of his meticulously tempered Demon Body.

"I have underestimated you," Yuen Bu admitted, now inhabiting the Old Ape's form. "Other Beast Gods may perish, but I can be resurrected in the Desolate Realm, so their loss is inconsequential to me. However, my kind is a rare and precious talent not found elsewhere in the Desolate Realm." Yuen Bu's fluffy arms twisted, flexing his joints as he acclimated to the physique of his kin.

With the Skyshatter Hammer in his other hand, he launched a crushing blow towards Loong Jie below. Loong Jie, having just surged from the depths of the starry river, was met with the brute force of the true Skyshatter Hammer. The Heavenly Dao of Blood within it shattered the void, causing scales and flesh to burst in a violent explosion.

Loong Jie resembled a contorted mass of golden flesh and blood, plummeting thousands of miles below, vanishing without a trace.

Gasping for breath, Loong Jie's injuries were now more severe than before, with several of his dragon tendons snapped. The pain was so intense that he cried out to the heavens, calling to the Colorful Patriarch with his heart's voice.

Zhong Chichen's face went pale, and after sharing a knowing look with Yu Yuan, he vanished on the spot.

"King!"

"My king!"

Tears welled up in the eyes of the Rat God, Nors, and Alex as they knelt in reverence before him atop the Shrouded Tower.

"Thank you for your hard work."

The King of the Desolate Realm, bearing the guise and visage of the Old Ape, met the scene with a steady gaze. To him, all the setbacks and tribulations seemed as insignificant as clouds drifting by. "Apart from the black fox, I have preserved a drop of blood for each of the other Beast Gods. The Desolate Realm is not lacking the power needed for their return to Beast God status, so there is no need for concern."

"It is our own shortcomings that have necessitated your arrival," Nors quickly admitted.

Yuen Bu dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand, as three Shrouded Towers flew in, hovering behind his neck like three dark stars.

At that moment, Taishi, Cadorath, and Reid joined forces with Yu Yuan and the Scepter of Light. With a cold "Silence" from the Scepter of Light, a myriad of light shards erupted, shielding them from a devastating blow and keeping them safe.

"King of the Desolate Realm!"

"Yuen Bu!"

Cadorath and Reid wore grave expressions, not straying from the Scepter of Light as they scrutinized the King of the Desolate God who had descended, eager to ascertain the extent of his power.

Far away at the Abyss Gate, Yu Yuan, who sat as immovable as a mountain, suddenly opened his eyes and slowly rose to his feet.

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