C2005 The Everlands Was Breathing
Kaiya appeared rather helpless.
Few were aware that she had always lived in the shadow of Yu Yuan. Since her earliest memories, she had been at the side of the Demon God Bertain.
Bertain had imparted to her numerous arcane skills concerning the soul and had taken her on journeys across the vast Astral Domains of this world. He often spoke of Yu Yuan's first life—the dragon slayer.
From a young age, Kaiya understood that her father, Bertain, was a peerless figure in her world.
Yet, whenever the dragon slayer of the Everlands was mentioned, her father would speak of him with great admiration. As his daughter, she was privy to secrets unknown to others.
She was well aware that the Everlands' leader, who had forged the primordial spirit and established a cultivation system for humanity, did so with her father's guidance.
Her father was unmistakably the guide and mentor to that individual.
But in Bertain's heart, he regarded that man as a fellow traveler.
A comrade in the pursuit of the higher Way of Heaven!
This was something Kaiya could never quite grasp. She couldn't understand why, in her father's eyes, the dragon slayer of the Everlands deserved to walk alongside him as an equal.
Kaiya herself had been inducted into the Boulderdawn at her father's behest.
The extraterrestrial Boulderdawn, which thrived in the Stellar Oblivion and brought forth numerous God-Kings, owed much to her father's clandestine efforts.
It was not so much that her father favored the Boulderdawn, but rather he held a particular esteem for the dragon slayer.
Such favor and esteem made Kaiya, his daughter, envious.
The execution of the "New Everlands" initiative and many of the Boulderdawn's practices were also in line with the guidelines and strategies laid down by that very dragon slayer.
Now a God-King with considerable influence within the Boulderdawn, Kaiya found herself merely executing the plans set forth by the dragon slayer of old.
Kaiya, who had always considered herself exceptionally intelligent, bore the soul of a Sky Fiend within a human form.
In Kaiya's heart, she had long surpassed the dragon slayer in her cultivation level, her understanding of the Origin Realm, and her mastery of various Mind Magic techniques.
Why should she continue to adhere to his philosophies after his passing?
Kaiya had always been determined to step out from Yu Yuan's shadow.
Upon discovering that Yu Yuan was the dragon slayer's reincarnation, she harbored a secret competitive streak.
She was curious to see what made her senior brother so exceptional that her father valued him so highly.
Why did her father keep bringing up the man who had initiated Boulderdawn's plans after his "fall"? Deep down, Kaiya was not one to concede defeat; she believed in her own superior strength.
Yet now, with her father's devil soul fallen to the Genesis Continent and oppressed by the Evil Gods within the Holy Temple, his final message was a plea for her to follow Yu Yuan and support all his decisions.
Understandably, Kaiya was not pleased.
"Please don't let him down."
Having made her stance clear, Kaiya spoke nonchalantly, "When your real body arrives at the Everlands via the Dragon Slaying Stage, I'll cross over using the Starway."
Then, her tall and commanding silhouette vanished.
She retreated to her own domain, to her palace, and shut herself away.
"The Silverscale Tribe's alliance with Boulderdawn remains unchanged."
Following Kaiya's declaration, Lizard, now in the guise of a Silverscale Tribe elder, also determined the tribe's future course.
Jessica, with her tenth-level bloodline, and several ninth-level Silverscale members, offered no objections.
When the Beast God ravaged Aihoyari, the Silverscale Tribe was nearly annihilated, and the Abyssal Winged Lizard, bearing Lizard's bloodline, suffered greatly at the hands of the Beast God.
It was Yu Yuan who, alongside Lizard and the Abyssal Leviathan, ventured to Aihoyari to rescue his remaining offspring.
For this reason, Lizard had unwaveringly sided with Yu Yuan, regardless of whether humanity's origins lay in the Abyss.
"Ballo, what Kaiya means is essentially what Lord Bertain intends," Reid informed the Starborn chieftain and Rebecca, along with the other Otherkin leaders.
"Since it's Lord Bertain's wish, then..." Rebecca, an enchantress, held a deep-seated reverence for the Demon God Bertain and declared, "The evilkind will maintain the status quo."
"The Starborn will not take any action for the time being. I will accompany you to the Everlands to see for myself," Ballo stated.
After the Shadowkin, Starborn, enchantresses, Silverscale Tribe, Wingkind, the Secular Bird Queen, and the Abyssal Greater Basilisk had all made their positions clear, the massive upheaval and controversy caused by the human race's emergence from the Abyss through the shattered Abyssal Gate were temporarily subdued.
The Otherkin from the extraterrestrial realms did not immediately sever ties with the Boulderdawn, preserving a tenuous alliance.
They opted to watch and wait.
Everyone was curious to see what sort of conflict might arise between the God-Kings of the Boulderdawn and the sect led by Han Miaoyuan once they arrived in the Everlands.
"Sir, we will certainly stand firmly by your side," Taixu declared, bowing his head.
Tianqi placed his fist against his chest and saluted Yu Yuan, his gesture clearly conveying his stance.
Ann Ziqing, Grec, and all the ninth-level Demon Gods of the Blood Fiend, deeply bound by blood to Yu Yuan, were even less likely to dissent.
The remaining factions were the Skyreach Consortium, Starmoon Sect, Forgeroses, and other human powers that had previously allied with the Boulderdawn.
"We wish to return and see for ourselves," Duan Yisheng of the Starmoon Sect expressed.
Shi Jing'er hesitated briefly before adding, "We need to ascertain the truth first, then we can make a decision."
Zhongli Dapan shared the same sentiment.
"It should indeed be so," Yu Yuan agreed with a nod.
Later, he returned to his palace for a private audience with the Dark Deity Green Willow.
"I have not fallen from grace," Green Willow began, gesturing to his heart. "Following the method Sanha taught me, I ascended from the ninth level to the tenth level after separating from my origin. I had thought that after killing Sanha, Yuan Le's power would suppress my Dark Deity bloodline."
"But it didn't."
Green Willow was perplexed.
"Let me take a look."
Yu Yuan's fingertip touched Green Willow's Demon Heart. His consciousness, along with a stream of bloody light, penetrated the Demon Heart, revealing its inner workings with crystal clarity.
Bloodline chains, resembling the extraterrestrial Milky Way, wove together, and arcane rules related to water continuously emerged within Green Willow's Demon Heart, giving rise to myriad marvels.
His Bloodwraith consciousness was as if it were deep within the celestial Milky Way, allowing him to distinctly perceive the powers that Green Willow had mastered.
"No need to look further."
Shortly thereafter, Yu Yuan withdrew his bloody light and consciousness.
"You're completely fine, and there's no trace of Yuan Le's mark on you. The method he shared with you for ascending to a Dark Deity is the same one commonly used by the Beast Gods of the Wasteland. There's nothing particularly special about it."
Yu Yuan understood his concerns and offered reassurance, "Yuan Le can't take control of you from afar as he did with the Untamed, nor can he possess your body and erase your bloodline imprint."
"But after I lost my origin, I clearly regressed!" exclaimed Green Willow.
"That's because your original ascension to Dark Deity status was propelled by the vast origin of the Everlands, which enabled you to overcome the world's Primal Blood barrier that seals the ultimate blood of all alien beasts and Dark Deities. The Everlands' origin possesses such strength that it allowed you to shatter those bonds, which you couldn't have broken on your own."
"However, once Yu Zhu fell and then reascended to Dark Deity, the Primal Blood's shackles on the blood of alien beasts and Dark Deities were shattered."
"Your regression after separating from your origin is due to the fact that your first ascension to Dark Deity status took a shortcut. Your second rise to the Dark Deity ranks happened because the blood seal was gone, and your advancement was simply normal."
"Therefore, Yuan Le hasn't actually aided you, and you owe him nothing."
...
Beyond the Everlands.
Whoosh!
The gleaming Dragon Slaying Stage, like a shooting star, sliced through the Dark Nebula and came to rest on a nondescript meteorite.
From there, Yu Yuan could see the blue, spherical Everlands with his own eyes, as well as the nearby sun and moon. He could even discern the structures of the various sects stationed on the moon if he looked closely enough.
The Everlands, now devoid of its protective wall, teemed with the remnants of dozens of Star Rivers, each imbued with various attributes and auras that flowed directly into the land.
Many of the original plants had perished, unable to withstand the severe conditions without the wall's protection.
Yet amidst this adversity, new and fierce plants emerged, breaking through the crust of the earth with a tenacious will to survive.
Bathed in the complex and formidable energies of the Star River, these nascent plants thrived, undergoing a profound transformation.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The fissures that marred the Everlands' surface were intermittently filled with cosmic energy, which was then forcefully expelled.
Yu Yuan, silently observing from the extraterrestrial vantage point of the Dragon Slaying Stage, sensed the Everlands pulsating as if it were alive.
It inhaled the cosmic energy flooding in from the outside and exhaled a force that was surprisingly violent and chaotic, tinged with the essence of the Abyss.
