C2007 The Mission of the Primal Anima
Yu Yuan infused his spiritual energy and remnant soul together, weaving them into a stream that penetrated the ground.
Sizzle sizzle!
At the instant his refined spiritual energy made contact with the subterranean fire source, it ignited, disintegrating into ash within the inferno.
The blazing fire, hidden deep beneath the Everlands, appeared to forbid any other life from probing the earth's core with their spiritual energy.
Yu Yuan had combined his spiritual energy with his remnant soul because he was aware of the blazing fire's aversion to vital energy. He hoped that by entering with both forces, he could still harness some power.
As his spiritual energy ignited, becoming mere sparks in the sea of flames, Yu Yuan wisely abandoned it, retaining only his pure Soul Power.
Then, his eyes subtly brightened.
The remnant soul that had seeped from the depths of his consciousness into the domain of the blazing fire felt no discomfort whatsoever.
In the region where the Earthfire burned most fiercely, he could vividly perceive the essence of fire magic with his remnant soul.
He was suddenly filled with unwavering confidence, believing that if he were to release his dominant soul from his body and descend into the depths, he would surely overcome the blazing fire and reach the Heart of the Everlands.
He felt ready to confront the Primal Soul at the heart of the earth and the enigmatic Abyssal Treasure right now.
Previously, when he was in the Everlands, his soul did not sense this connection.
It was unclear whether the Earthfire's attitude toward him had shifted, or if his soul had undergone a transformation that led the blazing fire to fully embrace him.
A ghostly phantom, shaped by his remnant soul's consciousness, glided through the eternally burning flame world.
He refrained from rushing deeper, choosing not to attempt a crossing of the blazing fire, nor to immediately unearth the earth's core secrets.
Instead, he endeavored to understand the presence of the Everlands' Blazing Fire, to discern whether the fire, eternally bonded to the Primal Soul, had been tainted by the Abyss.
He sought to ascertain whether the Blazing Fire was aware of the Primal Soul's mutation.
Soon after, his remnant soul's phantom was seemingly drawn by the Earthfire toward a specific region. It was a seething pool of flames. Intense flames danced over a lava pool capable of melting the gods of heaven and earth, with dense sparks of fire interlacing and deep red lightning flickering.
A quivering flaming soul was immersed in this fiery basin. Crackling sounds filled the air as bolts of lightning, imbued with the ultimate essence of fire magic, either lashed at the flaming soul or infused it with power.
Within the flaming soul resided a terrified fire phoenix, her fiery plumage long since dissolved, leaving behind only a trace of her vital energy that the Earthfire had yet to completely consume.
She desperately sought to capture the interest of the Blazing Fire, hoping it would embrace her as it had Mo Baichuan, and bestow upon her the full mastery of the Way of Heaven.
Mo Baichuan was dead, and she had claimed the Cosmic Crucible for herself. Yet, she failed to unlock the profound truths of the Blazing Fire from Mo Baichuan's divine seat within the Cosmic Crucible.
She was acutely aware that to meld the Fire Spirit of the Everlands as her sister Zhiya envisioned, she first needed to grasp the Way of Heaven as revealed through the Earthfire. She could either decipher the creation, function, and expression of the blazing fire through her own faculties, or be acknowledged by the Blazing Fire itself, receiving the transmission of its profound Way of Heaven, transforming her into another Mo Baichuan.
Only by achieving this could she stand a chance to confront the core Blazing Fire of the earth after the Everlands fractured. With Zhiya's assistance, she could seize the opportunity amidst the chaos of the Everlands to refine the Blazing Fire.
She had once believed in her exceptional insight and unparalleled talent. In the Wasteland, much like Tan Xiaotian, she had gathered the cosmic orders of various flames, vanquishing alien beasts of similar nature, and merging their bloodlines with hers. She had nearly unraveled all the arcane mysteries of the flames that existed in the Wasteland, including the sun's fire, the glow of meteors, and other unique fiery forces.
She had assumed that, following Mo Baichuan's demise, she could discern the intricacies of the Blazing Fire's cosmic order from his divine position through the Cosmic Crucible. However, her strategy had fallen short.
After Mo Baichuan's demise, the Divine Throne quickly crumbled. The secrets of the Blazing Fire she had committed to memory failed to stir her significantly.
Incapable of refining the enigmatic Cosmic Crucible, she found the fire circle inscribed upon it utterly incomprehensible.
With no other recourse, she was forced to embark on a secondary path.
Not daring to reveal her real body before the onset of the great battle, she could only send forth a flaming soul to reside within Zhou Cangmin, hoping to make contact with the Blazing Fire through him.
She yearned for the Blazing Fire to recognize her existence, her boundless potential, and her accomplishments that eclipsed those of Mo Baichuan.
She aspired to gain the favor of the Blazing Fire.
Yet, she miscalculated once more.
The instant her flaming soul was drawn into the Earth's depths by the Blazing Fire, the Everlands' Blazing Fire began dissecting all the fire magic she had mastered in the Wasteland.
The Blazing Fire was the ultimate source on this journey, its level surpassing hers by an unfathomable margin.
The myriad of flames she had gathered and refined in the Wasteland were swiftly claimed by the Blazing Fire.
Complicating matters, her flaming soul remained linked to her physical form, and she found herself unable to sever the connection unilaterally.
The Blazing Fire, not fully assimilating her, kept her flaming soul intact, virtually stripping it of the power she had gleaned.
Her grand designs on the Blazing Fire were thwarted before they could truly commence, leading to her utter defeat.
"Yu, Yu Yuan!"
A feeble consciousness emanated from her fire phoenix's flaming soul, attempting to capture Yu Yuan's attention, hoping he might lend her assistance.
Through Zhiya, she learned of Yu Yuan's conflicts with the Everlands and the will of the Earth's core.
She sensed an opportunity might be at hand.
Whoosh!
A ghostly fire shadow ascended from the Earth's core, stealthily infused into the remaining flaming soul of the fire phoenix by the Blazing Fire's impetus.
Dense crimson lightning transformed into the most intricate fire veins, integrating with the residual Bloodwraith.
Additionally, supremely pure flames solidified into crystals, aiding the fire shadow in constructing... bones, enabling it to assimilate the fire phoenix's leftover energy.
Before long, within the tumultuous pond of fire, a diminutive Fire Crystal being emerged.
This being possessed bones of red crystal, yet lacked flesh and organs. Within its chest cavity, a ball of unextinguished flaming soul persisted, the last vestige of the fire phoenix.
The aura emanating from the diminutive Fire Crystal figure was unmistakably that of Mo Baichuan!
He lacked a true face, his head a skull crafted from Fire Crystal, yet within that resplendent skull, a flame burned fiercely.
It was this flame that radiated Mo Baichuan's presence, akin to a remnant soul he had left deep within the earth's core.
It seemed as though Mo Baichuan, before departing the Everlands and heeding the Earthfire's command to seek out an extraordinary flame, had left a contingency in the earth's depths.
"I..."
Mo Baichuan, now a Fire Crystal Skeleton, sent forth a remnant soul from within the flames, "I require a measure of life dew, which only you can distill."
Yu Yuan's phantom wavered, uttering softly, "Life dew?"
Once Mo Baichuan's soul was reassembled in the Wraithlands, it was cast into the Crucible of Rebirth, embarking on the journey of rebirth.
Barring any unforeseen events, Mo Baichuan would soon be reborn in a human form, with his memories intact.
The reborn Mo Baichuan, aware of his identity, would have the essence of the fire magic he had mastered etched deep within his soul, ensuring a smooth continuation of his cultivation journey.
Yu Yuan had previously suggested that Mo Baichuan seek him out through Boulderdawn and the Chamber of Commerce when he deemed it appropriate.
His intention was to aid Mo Baichuan in resuming his cultivation path, to ensure that Mo Baichuan could ascend to the highest echelons without dependence on the Heart of the Everlands.
Yet now, another fragment of Mo Baichuan's soul, encased within a Fire Crystal Skeleton and harboring a fire phoenix's flaming soul in its chest, was requesting "life dew." What was the meaning of this?
How did Mo Baichuan come to know of the "life dew"?
A flurry of questions flooded Yu Yuan's thoughts, and he did not immediately consent.
"Life dew can enable me to take form again within the earth's core, allowing my Fire Crystal Skeleton to develop flesh, blood, veins, and organs," conveyed Mo Baichuan.
Yu Yuan remained silent, pondering the enigmatic nature of the "life dew."
Within the Secret Realm of Time, he had slain several Beast Gods, transforming them into orbs of vital energy that he placed upon the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Currently, he was indeed capable of condensing a drop of life dew.
"Life dew not only forms the Life Keychain but also holds the power to recreate living beings, much like when I assisted the Dire Bear in creating a little one radiating with a chill."
Meanwhile, Mo Baichuan, who stood before him, already possessed a Fire Crystal Skeleton and a soul.
All that was missing was the flesh, blood, organs, and veins to fill out his skeletal form, and Mo Baichuan would become a flesh-and-blood reality, ready to be reborn.
Yet, within the chest cavity of this Mo Baichuan, the blood orb formed from the fire phoenix's flaming soul resembled the heart of an Otherkin, and the interior of the Fire Crystal Skeleton was already marked with many secrets of flame.
Yu Yuan could predict that this reborn Mo Baichuan would not be categorized as human.
The bones, flesh, and sinews of the newly born Mo Baichuan would be naturally imprinted with the essence of fire. At the instant his heart solidified, it would inevitably be infused with the core truth of the Blazing Fire.
Consequently, it would transform directly into a bloodline chain corresponding to the Blazing Fire.
This was certainly no human!
Rather, it was a novel race, with a singular fire attribute within their bodies, possessing the essence of fire from inception, akin to the Dawnbringers and the Starborn.
The source of this nascent race was the Blazing Fire below, the Earthfire of the Everlands!
It sought to use the life dew before Mo Baichuan to forge a race intimately linked to it, forever under its sway!
Yu Yuan had an epiphany.
The evolutionary paths of entities like the Primal Soul, Primal Blood, and the Primal Anima seemed to invariably include this step—creating a race.
The cosmic giant beasts appeared to be crafted by the Primal Soul, while the Star-Spawned Terrors were evidently connected to the Primal Blood.
The mightiest Titan Spinosaurus had given rise to the Titans, and the vast Nagas.
Even the Secular Bird Queen, the Uxthar Tree, and the Abyssal Greater Basilisk had scattered their ancient bloodlines across the cosmos, thus giving rise to the Wingkind, the Shadowkin, and the Silverscale Tribe.
Witnessing the birth and flourishing of a new race seemed to be the calling of these enigmatic beings, a means for their own evolution.
The guardians of the Evil Temple referred to the Earthfire in the Everlands as the Elementary Primal Anima. It was poised to evolve!
It aspired to advance, to become an Intermediate and Advanced Primal Anima, much like the Primal Soul and Primal Blood.
Yet, its power was only sufficient to give Mo Baichuan the rudimentary structure of a Fire Crystal Skeleton; it was incapable of endowing him with flesh and organs.
Thus, it sought assistance.
"I need to know something. Who are you, exactly? Are you Mo Baichuan, or are you the Earthfire itself? Perhaps the residual soul of the Wasteland's Fire Phoenix, or a hybrid of sorts?" Yu Yuan inquired with earnest.
"Mo Baichuan" remained silent, as if deeply contemplating the question, striving to ascertain his true nature.
"We'll discuss this once you have an answer for me," Yu Yuan decided.
With that, Yu Yuan's remnant soul and spiritual sense retracted, instantly departing from the Earthfire and returning to his real body.
At that moment, numerous cultivators from the Everlands and unfamiliar Primordial Spirits were converging around him.
