C1998 Entering the Abyss
"Where is the Evil God?"
Yu Yuan, clutching the Dragon Slaying Stage, descended slowly from the sky and hovered above the wall on the ground. Yet, he did not land.
Peering through the transparent, thin wall, he surveyed the vast world below. No trace of the Evil God was to be found, nor any Abyssal creatures aside from Jihui and the human youths. This was highly unusual.
When he guarded the Abyssal Gate, it teemed with Evil Gods, massive and bizarre, who furiously battered against it.
As a Lunar Spirit wandering the Abyss, he had encountered numerous peculiar species and knew that some Evil Gods did not accept Arthurs' replacement by Jihui as the new Abyssal leader.
Not all Evil Gods trusted Jihui or wished to see humanity regain control over the Abyss.
Yet now, with the Abyssal Gate shattered, the Evil Gods, once desperate to cross into the Origin Realm, had vanished.
Where had they gone?
"Sir."
Jihui couldn't help but chuckle, explaining, "With the Abyssal Gate broken, the Evil Gods scattered across the Abyss's layers don't need to clumsily traverse this land to reach the Origin Realm directly."
"Without the gate's seal, many of the Abyss's Warp Gates are passable."
"Some of them, the Evil Gods... they should have already reached the Origin Realm by now."
Jihui laughed with a hint of triumph.
"They... are already here?"
High Priest Reid was overcome with dread. He quickly surmised that the Evil Gods, prepared before the shattering of the Abyssal Gate, must have used different layers of the Abyss and the Mystic Gates previously leading to the Origin Realm. They had seized the opportunity during Yu Yuan's battle and Cardo's reception of the Light Spirit to secretly depart.
Now, with the Beast God threat in the Origin Realm just addressed, the Evil Gods emerged.
The Beast Gods were merely the first wave. Yuan Le was still alive, and more Beast Gods might be amassing in the Wasteland, poised to invade at any moment.
With Yuan Le and the Beast Gods' growing knowledge of the Origin Realm, the impending Beast God invasion promised to be even more formidable.
Perhaps those who possess the "Life Keychain" like the Ape, having achieved immortality, will emerge one by one in the Origin Realm.
With over a hundred Beast Gods in the Wasteland and an untold number of Evil Gods, they all make their presence known in the Origin Realm. How can they be defended against?
The humans of the Everlands are on the brink of war. The Dark Phoenix's intentions remain a mystery, and there has been no word from Bertain, their leader, for quite some time. Cardo is being guided by Jihui to receive the inheritance of the Light Spirit.
Reid suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of pessimism. He believed that the situation in the Origin Realm had spiraled out of control and was beyond his ability to rectify.
He wished fervently for the Great Demon God, Bertain, to emerge from the depths of the Abyss and provide him with guidance.
"I must return immediately to inform Kaiya about everything that has transpired here and prepare for the confrontation with the Evil God of the Abyss," Reid decided, no longer hesitating. He turned to Taishi and added, "I will also report the Human Race's connection to the Abyss. I can't predict how others will react, but you should brace yourself."
Taishi's expression was one of bitter resignation as he replied, "It seems we'll need time to come to terms with this."
"Don't rush," Yu Yuan interjected, his eleventh-level Solar Spirit handing off the Dragon Slaying Stage to his primary form. The Solar Spirit materialized beside Taishi and stated, "Just wait a moment, I'll depart with you."
Reid, anxious to leave, paused briefly before reluctantly agreeing, "Then... okay."
Yu Yuan offered a reassuring smile, "I'll pass the message to Kaiya and have Taixu relay it. There's no need for you to make a special trip."
His Solar Spirit Body could reach out to Zhong Chichen, Loong Jie, Taixu, Ann Ziqing, Grec, and even the Dire Bear.
Every member of the Colddeath could serve as his messenger, spreading his directives.
Now that the secret was out and would soon become common knowledge, he had no intention of keeping it under wraps any longer.
As for the fate of those who had relocated to the Ashlands, as well as the scattered peoples of the Origin Realm, the cultivators from the Starmoon Sect, the Skyreach Consortium, the Forgeroses, the Silvermoon Empire, the Stormcrown Empire, and the Songbird Empire, only time would tell what choices they would make.
Whoosh!
With his real body, he steered the Dragon Slaying Stage downward, plunging into the Abyss like the two Dark Towers. As he descended past the land where Jihui resided, the stage halted on the next level. Looking up, he noticed the light above had dimmed, yet the land below continued to bask in a radiant glow.
This land, concealing the Light Spirit, remained a beacon in the Abyss, its luminescence enduring.
On the second tier of the Abyss floated two vast continents, dwarfing the size of the Everlands. The inhabitants were among the mightiest races of the Abyss, with some having serpentine bodies and human heads, others with hooves as large as elephants, and still others resembling fierce plants.
These beings of the Abyss possessed both wisdom and a spiritual essence, and their civilizations were highly advanced.
The kingdoms on these continents featured palaces of bizarre designs amidst orderly chaos. The broad avenues were lined with towers and edifices, standing shoulder to shoulder. Many towers, crafted from cold jade and precious stones, glowed brightly under the light from above.
Their attire was opulent, whether it be lavish garments or exotic armor, clearly valuable and pulsing with energy.
Suddenly, towering figures of the Abyssal elite emerged from their crystal palaces, their gazes icy as they fixed their eyes on him.
"The worlds are now connected!"
"The barriers between our world and theirs have finally vanished!"
"Is he... a human?"
The Abyssal powerhouses, bathed in the light from above, looked up at him. Initially poised to strike, they hesitated upon realizing his humanity.
Some even bowed respectfully, their demeanor submissive. These were the ones who had once received the human race's benevolence in the Abyss, their tribes flourishing under human protection during times of splendor.
Their bows signified a hope that humanity might restore its past grandeur and resume dominion over the Abyss.
Yet, not all were so reverent; many Abyssal beings wore grim expressions.
Still, perhaps wary of Jihui's presence and aware that their kin from the Abyss had already gained strength in the world they were about to enter, they refrained from any hasty aggression.
The Abyssal species inhabiting these two continents boasted advanced civilizations. Their auras were not only powerful but exuded an air of remarkable restraint and serenity.
Likewise, the level's violent and chaotic Abyss energy was incredibly intense.
However, Yu Yuan's objective lay elsewhere. After a brief survey, he bypassed the continents and continued his descent into the deeper Abyss.
The third level held four continents.
The fourth level, eight.
The fifth level, sixteen.
The sixth level, thirty-two.
And at the very bottom, sixty-four continents.
He plummeted swiftly from the top down. The further he descended, the sparser the Abyss energy became, and the dimmer the light.
It was reminiscent of the time Jihui had guided him through the Abyss's layers with a Lunar Spirit, observing each level's conditions. Now, he was reliving the experience.
The difference was that this time, it was not his Lunar Spirit at work, but his real body.
With the real body wielding control over the Dragon Slaying Stage, his vision was clearer, and he could more acutely perceive the strength of the Abyssal species, along with the hidden powers within their flesh, blood, and souls.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As he fell, the sheer velocity masked any sensation, but upon halting, arriving on a landmass at the Abyss's nadir, he was struck by a revelation.
The violent and chaotic energy of the Abyss was furiously rushing into his body.
His corporeal form, like a sponge soaking up water, devoured the Abyss's power.
His flesh, bones, and organs were cleansed and tempered by the Abyssal force, and the acupoints he had opened were also infused with its power.
Whether he liked it or not, it seemed his mere presence, his arrival here, triggered an automatic absorption of energy.
It was as instinctual as breathing.
Simultaneously, even the dominant soul within his Mindscape seemed to stir, drawing in the Abyss's psionic power.
He was engulfed in an unparalleled sense of comfort, as if his physical body was perfectly adapted to the Abyss's hostile environment. Every cell in his body and every soul thread in his dominant soul relished the Abyss, eager to amass its power.
In that moment, he was struck by an odd realization: he belonged to the Abyss, or perhaps... the Abyss belonged to him.
Beneath the lowest tier of the Abyss lay an endless expanse of darkness. It was said that, much like the summit of the Abyss, only the Evil Gods could traverse and dwell in such realms.
Yu Yuan found himself on the seventh level of the Abyss, the very land once visited by the Lunar Spirit and Jihui. It was there that he suddenly became aware of a presence.
—The Evil Temple!
Nestled in the deepest reaches of the boundless dark, the Evil Temple was a place even the formidable Demon God Bertain regarded with trepidation. It served as the ultimate sanctuary for all Evil Gods, hidden within the shadows beneath the seventh level of the Abyss.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the dark source was likely located below, possibly connected to the Evil Temple.
"Why can my soul perceive the Evil Temple?" Yu Yuan mused, momentarily taken aback. He gazed upward, only to find the sky devoid of any light source, the land where Jihui resided now out of sight.
Jihui had explained that the creatures dwelling at the base of the Abyss, unable to ascend, would never encounter light and were deemed by those above as inferior, akin to wild beasts.
Despite the absence of light, the bottom of the Abyss was home to sixty-four continents teeming with billions of Abyssal species.
Yet, the denizens of this level were scarcely distinguishable from beasts, lacking in spiritual wisdom, perpetually engaged in brutal combat, consuming the flesh of their adversaries to grow stronger, and mating purely on instinct.
Chaos and disorder reigned as the perpetual motif of this realm.
Humans, however, stood as the sole exception.
Having lost the Abyssal Treasure and plummeted from the highest echelon to the nadir, humans were unable to naturally assimilate the Abyss's power, yet their spiritual wisdom remained unextinguished.
"Hmm?" Yu Yuan's thoughts were interrupted as he realized that all his sensory connections and spiritual links with the Solar Spirit had been severed in this light-forsaken place.
Yet he was certain the Solar Spirit remained above, stationed by the fractured Abyssal Gate, not having departed.
As his real body descended, the Solar Spirit had not rushed to leave, opting instead to await news.
Back on the sixth level, his soulful bond with the Solar Spirit had persisted, allowing for mutual communication and the ability to sense each other's presence.
It wasn't until the seventh level that the connection broke.
"Without light, in places untouched by its rays, can the real body and the Solar Spirit still maintain their connection to the soul?"
Yu Yuan mused for a moment, yet he didn't dash toward the sixth level to confirm his suspicions.
Evil Temple!
That eerie hall he had seen in the Origin Realm, conjured by Jihui, seemed to stir with excitement at his approach.
Yu Yuan hadn't progressed or formed a primordial spirit, but he experienced a profound sense of familiarity.
He felt as though he was about to return home, to the place of his dreams, and found himself involuntarily drifting over the land, descending into the darkness below.
Suddenly, he realized that the absence of light on this lowest level didn't affect his vision.
Previously, when he had traversed this level as a Lunar Spirit, many areas were indistinct, shrouded in shadows and exceedingly vague.
But now, everything was different.
His vision was crystal clear in the seventh level of the Abyss; he could even discern the landscapes of nearby lands.
Furthermore, as he left the deepest layer of the Abyss and continued to plunge further down, he was unaffected by the intense darkness that disoriented many Evil Gods.
It was as if he were the sovereign of the dark.
