C2012 The New God
In the Perish Starfield, a grand yet dimly lit hall housed the still form of Yu Yuan's Yang God, his palm cradling a vial of Life Stoste. This Life Stoste pulsed with vitality, exuding a vibrant fragrance and encapsulating the true essence of the blood that coursed through this realm. It possessed the divine power to command the forces of heaven and earth.
The Life Stoste's form was ever-changing: at times, it resembled a crystalline Life Altar; at others, a throbbing heart; or a network woven from interlacing Bloodline Crystal Chains. It continuously displayed its marvels, resonating with Yu Yuan's heart as if it shared a connection with the primal blood.
Within the Time Secret Area, Yu Yuan had wielded the Dragon Slash Platform with his true form, vanquishing the Raymon Beast, the Nine-tailed Black Fox, and the Celestial Star Beast. Along with the Qilin and the Flamingo offered by Zhong Chichen, he had managed to distill this supremely precious Life Stoste.
Refined by the Yang God himself, Yu Yuan had initially promised Cadorath eternal life with this Life Stoste. However, after Cadorath sought the ultimate secrets of light from the Light Origin Spirit at the pinnacle of the abyss, his subsequent stance and attitude became ambiguous. Thus, Yu Yuan decided to withhold the Life Stoste for the time being.
Recently, he contemplated entrusting it to the Demon God Lvliu. Yet upon learning that his Tenth Level bloodline had not been heavily involved and that he could not treat Lvliu as he had the Desolate God, Lvliu, to his surprise, declined with a smile. The reason was straightforward: Lvliu still had an extensive lifespan ahead.
He had no desire to forge a Life Keychain within his chest and heart, which would bind him as Yu Yuan's puppet and follower. He did not wish to be located or have his thoughts and mind sensed by Yu Yuan at will. Since he was not desperate for immediate immortality, he certainly did not want to be subjected to Yu Yuan's control due to the Life Keychain's presence.
To others, eternal life might be a coveted dream, but for Lvliu, it represented a fetter. Consequently, the Life Stoste that Yu Yuan had meticulously refined, capable of forming a Life Keychain and birthing new species, remained in his possession for the time being.
"It knows," Yu Yuan murmured to himself.
Once Han Miaoyuan had infused the Profound Dao Flag into the vast boundary walls, Yu Yuan's Yang God and his true self could maintain a connection. Thus, all that he was experiencing in the Hellfire Mountain was being perceived in real-time by his Yang God.
The behavior of the Geocentric Fire and the silent consent of the Hellfire Mountain's will made one thing clear: they were aware that he had just refined a Life Stoste and now they were demanding it.
His Yang God, having advanced to the Eleventh Level, could alter its form and wield power akin to that of the Dragon Slash Platform. The Life Stoste in his possession could be transported to the Dragon Slash Platform by the Yang God, then retrieved by his true self and cast into the Heaven and Earth Furnace. This would forge a miraculous heart for the Flame Crystal Skeleton that bore Mo Baichuan's essence, yet was not him.
But he chose not to proceed.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, like a specter, Andrea phased through the wall with her Devil Soul, not disturbing any of the arrays etched upon it.
"Do not release the Life Stoste," she declared, her soul form burning like a purple flame before Yu Yuan. "The new race that the Extreme Flame seeks to forge, the Flame Demon Race, could become as eternal as the Starry Behemoth with your Life Stoste!"
"Extreme Flame has its full backing. If the Flame Demon Race comes into existence, it may spell doom for all other races!" Andrea expressed her concern.
Andrea, whose corporeal form resided in the Perish Starfield, was surprisingly aware of the events unfolding in the Hellfire Mountain. She even knew about the Flame Demon Race, the new species that Extreme Flame aspired to create.
"You're in the Hellfire Mountain too?" Yu Yuan asked, his brow furrowed.
"A part of me is," Andrea acknowledged openly. "The Earth Demons haven't left the Hellfire Mountain; they're congregated at the Colorful Lake. They act as my eyes, monitoring the Hellfire Mountain's activities for me. Once the boundary wall of the Hellfire Mountain dissolves, I'll be able to establish a soul connection with the Earth Demons at the Colorful Lake."
"Additionally..." She hesitated, then added, "The furnace that engulfed numerous flame alien beasts and beings from other races bears a Demonic Mark inscribed by my father, which allows me to discern faint traces."
"Through the Demonic Mark within the furnace, I've been able to sense sporadic ripples of consciousness from the Extreme Flame. It refers to this nascent race as the Flame Demon Race and looks forward to them burning all life in this realm, much like the Abyss humans and the Heaven Demons of the Origin Realm."
"Its intention is to propel the Flame Demon Race to annihilate the Bright Clan, Star Race, and Dark Elfkind, and to have the Flame Demon Race take their place," Andrea stated softly.
"Moreover, the Flame Demon Race has received its intervention, with its soul's power branded onto the souls of the Flame Demons. It is its ambition, alongside the Extreme Flame, to bring forth the Flame Demon Race."
"Are you referring to that entity from the Abyss?" Yu Yuan inquired.
Andrea gave a slight nod.
Yu Yuan held a vial of Life Stoste in his grasp. With his intense gaze fixed upon it, the substance gradually vanished from his palm. "This life force will not be used to create the Flame Demon Race."
...
The Hellfire Mountain range was the center of attention.
Yu Yuan observed Mo Baichuan emerging from the Heaven and Earth Furnace, the Flame Crystal Skeleton gazing back at him, extending a bone hand devoid of flesh and veins. It was making a request.
Around the mountain, as well as in the skies and beneath the earth, various powerful cultivators watched intently, fixated on the standoff between him and the Flame Crystal Skeleton.
In this moment, the enigmatic skeleton, crafted in the likeness of Mo Baichuan and standing before the Heaven and Earth Furnace, was truly astonishing.
For reasons unknown, figures like Zhou Cangmin, Faang Yao, Xu Jingyao, and other Mountain Lords of the Primordial Yang Sect felt an oppressive heaviness just by looking at the fleshless Flame Crystal Skeleton.
It seemed that if the Flame Crystal Skeleton were to gain flesh and a distinct face, it would have the power to determine its own fate.
"No!"
"It mustn't take shape!"
"It should not come into this world!"
Cultivators who had collected celestial flames, each attuned to the path of fire in their own way, sensed an ominous presence and silently screamed in alarm.
Despite the Extreme Intelligence's reluctance to reveal itself in the Ascension Mountain Range, Cao Jiaze remained steadfast at the helm of the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area. Han Miaoyuan, Lin Daoke, and Tan Xiaotian were still absent.
Other newly ascended supremes like Lu Hongpeng, Wu Rann, and Cao Ji had heeded the Extreme Intelligence's directive to abstain from meddling in the affairs of the Hellfire Mountain Range.
All parties exercised caution, opting to observe the unusual events unfolding within the Hellfire Mountain Range and Yu Yuan's actions from a distance.
Yet...
Upon reaching the summit, Qin Luo entered a round of intense sunlight, which, at that moment, came roaring toward them.
The palpable flames of death had already begun to shroud the multitude of life, leaving everyone feeling helpless and despondent.
With the sun's proximity, the surface of the vast expanse seemed ablaze, transforming the Heavenly Source Continent, Quietus Continent, and Profound Sky Continent into fiery domains akin to the Hellfire Mountain Range and the Red Devil Sect.
Lakes and rivers were drying up, and the oceans' waters were steadily receding.
The few surviving plants and flowers withered and perished, their moisture sapped away by the encroaching sun.
The earth itself appeared cracked and on the verge of bursting open.
"I won't give it to you," Yu Yuan declared, looking down at the slowly splitting ground and the lava threatening to surge from the earth's core. With a cold laugh, he added, "I don't appreciate the way you conduct your trades or the manner in which you attempt to curry favor with me."
Volcanoes erupted, spewing forth fiery torrents that surged toward the sun like cascading waterfalls.
Countless solar nuclei, long buried at the heart of the earth, transformed into miniature suns and soared toward the nearing celestial body.
Simultaneously, the seven suns previously separated by the Geocentric Fire from the mouth of a frog in the Desolate Realm also embarked on a journey toward the outer sun after a circuit through the fiery core beneath the earth's surface.
This was a spectacular tableau destined for the annals of history.
Like a reverse waterfall, the sea of fire and the diminutive "suns" ascended toward the ever-illuminating sun, swiftly merging with it in a brief span of time.
Crackling sounds echoed as the palace, which Qin Luo considered the foundation of the Great Dao, crumbled above the extraterrestrial Flaming Sun he had refined. The crimson earth thundered, causing the Flaming Sun to suddenly fracture.
In a mere moment, the intense light of the sun and the ubiquitous flames began to vanish rapidly.
To the onlookers, the eternal sun that had illuminated the vastness seemed as if it had been devoured.
It diminished swiftly, and the fiery energy that had been concealed within it vanished as it shrank.
Until it transformed into another "solar nucleus."
This larger and most dazzling "solar nucleus," supported by the other "solar nuclei," descended once more into the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
The "solar nuclei" adorned Mo Baichuan's chest cavity like fruits, akin to organs such as the spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
Only the heart was missing.
Whoosh!
Yuan Lianyao, who had sunk to the core of the earth, re-emerged from a volcanic vent. Deep within her soul, there now resided an oddity glowing like a red-hot branding iron.
It was a divine seat!
This branding iron-like divine seat bore many defects visible to Yu Yuan, with numerous scorched areas and unrefined, incomplete laws.
Even the fire laws that Yuan Lianyao had failed to fully grasp and imprinted upon it seemed amiss.
"She has ascended to godhood!"
"The Red Devil Sect has witnessed the rise of a new deity!"
"After Mo Baichuan, she is the second to be favored by the Geocentric Fire and ascend to the divine seat!"
Both openly and covertly, the cultivators monitoring the Hellfire Mountain's activity witnessed the fiery red lotus leap from the volcano's maw. Her sensual and bewitching form was enveloped by divine flames, eliciting envious praise.
Yet, only the likes of Lu Hongpeng, Wu Rann, and Cao Ji were aware of the significant imperfection in her divine ascension.
Her rise to divinity was so precarious, it could disintegrate at any moment.
"Something's off."
Wu Rann examined her closely, scratching his head before suddenly remarking, "She should have perished instantly, her soul shattered due to an unstable breakthrough foundation."
"In the Vast Expanse, there has never been a case like hers!" exclaimed Du Yuan.
The final sun vanished beyond the horizon.
Only the moon's chilly radiance continued to illuminate the vastness, casting a subtle silver glow over an increasingly strange world.
"You..."
As Yuan Lianyao emerged from the earth's core and hovered among the mountains, Yu Yuan experienced an intense sense of discomfort.
In Yuan Lianyao's mind, her original soul imprint was undetectable to Yu Yuan.
It was as though Yuan Lianyao had ceased to exist.
At that moment, Yuan Lianyao reached out toward the fire phoenix.
It was as if she were summoning something.
The featherless, fleshless, organless fire phoenix of the Desolate Realm, now just a skeleton of ruby-like bones, darted toward Yuan Lianyao's outstretched hand.
The fire phoenix settled in Yuan Lianyao's grasp, her ruby bone structure shattered into segments by Yuan Lianyao.
As the bones fractured, the fire phoenix—convinced by Zhiya to seek the fire's origin in the Origin Realm's Vast Expanse for an eleventh-level breakthrough—truly perished.
Her fire soul vanished within the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
Yuan Lianyao broke the Tenth Level Beast God's bones into pieces and, with the Earth Flame and Water, reforged them into a slender flame knife.
This flame knife, held in Yuan Lianyao's hand, slowly pointed at Yu Yuan.
It was too soft, now it was resorting to force.
The flame knife, entrusted to Yuan Lianyao's body and acting on her will, used her incomplete form to strike at Yu Yuan's true form within the Hellfire Mountain.
The sky's flames ignited in Yu Yuan's mind at the direction of the flame knife.
Yu Yuan, preparing to perform secret arts, felt a sudden jolt of pain in his soul. His consciousness plunged into confusion, unable to discern directions or even his own identity.
