C2012 The New God
In the Stellar Oblivion, a dim and vast hall stood silent. Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit sat motionless, clasping a life dew in his palm. This life dew pulsated with life, exuding a vibrant fragrance and encapsulating the Secrets of Life inherent in Primal Blood. It held the divine power to command the forces of nature.
The life dew was ever-changing: at times, it became a crystalline Altar of Rebirth, at others, a throbbing heart, or a network woven from bloodline chains. It continued to display its wonders, resonating with Yu Yuan's own heart as if it shared a bond with the Primal Blood.
Within the Secret Realm of Time, Yu Yuan wielded the Dragon Slaying Stage with his true form, vanquishing the Stormwraith God, the nine-tailed black fox, and the Starbeast God. With the addition of the Kylin and the flamingo, two Beast Gods presented by Zhong Chichen, he was able to distill this exceedingly rare life dew.
Crafted by the Solar Spirit himself, Yu Yuan had initially promised Cardo eternal life with this life dew. But after Cardo sought the ultimate mysteries of light from the Light Spirit at the summit of the Abyss, her subsequent stance and attitude became uncertain, prompting him to withhold the life dew for the time being.
Recently, he had contemplated giving it to the Dark Deity Green Willow. Yet, upon learning that Yuan Le had not been heavily involved with his tenth-level bloodline and could not be treated like Untamed, and considering that his bloodline would not degrade further, Green Willow declined the offer with a smile.
His reason was straightforward: Green Willow still had an extensive lifespan to enjoy. He did not wish to forge a Life Keychain in his heart, only to become a puppet and follower of Yu Yuan. He had no desire to be located at will, nor to have his thoughts and consciousness perceived by Yu Yuan.
Since he was not desperate for immediate immortality, he saw no reason to be beholden to Yu Yuan due to the Life Keychain, which would compromise their equal standing.
To some, eternal life might be a coveted dream, but for Green Willow, it represented a fetter. Thus, the life dew, capable of creating the Life Keychain and spawning new life forms, remained in his possession for the time being.
"It knows," Yu Yuan whispered under his breath.
After Han Miaoyuan had infused the Everlands' wall into the Banner of Duality, Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit and his physical form were able to maintain a connection. As a result, his Solar Spirit was instantly aware of everything he encountered in the Everlands and the Fireheart Mountains. The actions of the Earthfire and the silent consent of the Will of Everlands pointed to one conclusion: they were aware that he had just refined life dew in his possession and now sought it from him.
His Solar Spirit, having advanced to the eleventh level, could alter its form and wield power akin to that of the Dragon Slaying Stage. He could use the Solar Spirit to transport the life dew to the Dragon Slaying Stage, from where his physical form could retrieve it and cast it into the Cosmic Crucible. This was to forge a miraculous heart for the Fire Crystal Skeleton that bore Mo Baichuan's essence, yet was not Mo Baichuan himself. But he refrained from doing so.
Suddenly, like a specter, Kaiya phased through the wall without disturbing any of the intricate arrays upon it. "Do not send out this life dew," she implored, her soul form burning like a purple flame. She made her stance clear to Yu Yuan, "The extreme blaze seeks to birth a new race known as the Fire Demons. With your life dew, the Fire Demons might attain a level of immortality akin to that of a cosmic giant beast!"
"The Blazing Fire has given it full backing. Should the Fire Demon Race indeed come into existence, it could spell doom for other races!" Kaiya expressed her concern.
Kaiya, whose physical body resided in the Stellar Oblivion and whose devil soul was scattered across realms, was surprisingly informed about the events transpiring in the Fireheart Mountains. She even knew that the new race the Blazing Fire intended to create was named the Fire Demon Race!
"You're in the Everlands as well?" Yu Yuan inquired, his brow furrowing.
"A part of me is," Kaiya confessed openly. "The Terra Fiends have yet to depart from the Everlands; they're congregated at the Seven-Colored Lake. They act as my eyes, constantly monitoring the Everlands' activities. Once the wall of the Everlands vanished, I was able to establish a soul connection with the Terra Fiends at the Seven-Colored Lake."
She paused briefly before adding, "The furnace that has consumed countless Emberfiends and Otherkin bears my father's glyphs. Through them, I can discern faint traces of what has transpired."
Through the glyphs in the crucible, I could faintly perceive the consciousness ripples that emanate from the blazing fire. It refers to this nascent race as the Fire Demon Race, and it eagerly anticipates their emergence into this world. It desires for the Fire Demon Race to succeed and, like the denizens of the Abyss and the Sky Fiends of the Origin Realm, to consume all life within this realm.
"It intends for the Fire Demon Race to annihilate the Dawnbringers, the Starborn, and the Shadowkin, allowing the Fire Demon Race to take their place."
Kaiya uttered softly.
"Furthermore, the Fire Demon Race has received its intervention. They possess its Soul Power, branded onto the souls of the Fire Demons. It, along with the blazing fire, seeks to forge the Fire Demon Race."
"Are you referring to that entity from the Abyss?" Yu Yuan inquired.
Kaiya gave a slight nod.
Yu Yuan watched as the life dew in his hand slowly vanished under his intense gaze. "It will not use this life force to create the Fire Demon Race."
...
In the Everlands, all eyes were on the Fireheart Mountains.
Yu Yuan observed Mo Baichuan emerging from the Cosmic Crucible, gazing back at him through the Fire Crystal Skeleton, extending a bone hand devoid of flesh and blood.
It was making a request.
Around the mountain range, cultivators from above and below were all fixated on the Fireheart Mountains, witnessing the standoff between him and the Fire Crystal Skeleton.
At this moment, the enigmatic skeleton, forged in the likeness of "Mo Baichuan" and standing at the Cosmic Crucible, was truly astonishing.
For reasons unknown, individuals like Zhou Cangmin, Faang Yao, Xu Jingyao, and other Lords of the Sunlit Order felt an oppressive heaviness just by looking at the fleshless Fire Crystal Skeleton.
It seemed that once the Fire Crystal Skeleton acquired flesh and blood, a clear visage, it could dictate their very existence.
"Don't let it happen!"
"It must not take form!"
"It should not come into this world!"
Cultivators proficient in fire magic sensed that something was amiss upon witnessing the Fire Crystal Skeleton and cried out in alarm within their hearts.
Yet, Jihui chose not to reveal himself at Skyreach Peak, and Cao Jiaze continued to preside over the Moonfall Sanctuary.
Han Miaoyuan, Lin Daoke, and Tan Xiaotian had not yet returned.
Others, like Lu Hongpeng, Wuran, and Cao Ji, the newly elevated cultivators, had received Jihui's directive not to intervene with any affairs concerning the Fireheart Mountains.
Everyone maintained their restraint, opting to remain observers of the anomalies within the Fireheart Mountains and Yu Yuan's actions.
However...
As Qin Luo reached the pinnacle, the searing sun he had entered roared towards them.
The palpable flames of death had already shrouded the beings of the Everlands, leaving them feeling helpless and despondent.
Due to the sun's proximity, the surface of the Everlands appeared ablaze. The Land of Quiescence, Aetherius, and Euwrea seemed to transform into extensions of the Fireheart Mountains, a fiery realm akin to that of the Ruby Hand.
Lakes and rivers began to dry up, and the sea within the oceans grew shallower by the moment.
The barely surviving flora, now devoid of moisture and scorched by the nearing sun, withered away.
The earth itself seemed on the verge of bursting open.
"I won't give it to you," Yu Yuan declared, looking down as the ground slowly split apart, revealing the lava churning beneath, eager to burst forth. He sneered, "I don't like the way you propose to trade, nor your attempts to curry favor with me."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Volcanic craters erupted, spewing fiery torrents that surged towards the sun like cascading waterfalls.
Solar nuclei, long buried at the core of the earth, transformed into miniature suns and soared towards the encroaching sun.
Simultaneously.
The seven suns, previously separated from the Wasteland frog by the Earthfire, had made their circuit through the heart of the flames and now also ascended towards the extraterrestrial sun.
This was a grand spectacle destined for the annals of history.
Like a waterfall flowing in reverse, numerous miniaturized suns surged towards the eternal sun of the Everlands, quickly merging into it.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The burning sun, which Qin Luo had revered as the foundation of the Great Dao and had consecrated, began to fracture. Palaces crumbled atop it, the crimson earth thundered, and the burning sun suddenly split.
In a flash, the intense radiance of the sun and the omnipresent flames vanished.
To the onlookers, the sun that had eternally illuminated the Everlands seemed to have been devoured.
It diminished rapidly, and the fiery energy within, the essence of the sun's fire, vanished as it contracted.
Until, at last, it became another "solar nucleus."
This larger, most dazzling "solar nucleus," now under the guard of the remaining "solar nuclei," abruptly descended into the Cosmic Crucible.
Clusters of solar nuclei adorned Mo Baichuan's chest cavity like fruits, nestled among organs such as his spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
Only a heart was missing.
Whoosh!
Yuan Lianyao, having plummeted to the core of the earth, once again emerged from a volcanic crater. In the depths of her soul, a peculiar object glowed, resembling a red-hot iron.
It was a divine seat!
The divine seat, akin to a piece of iron, bore many defects visible to Yu Yuan. Scorched black in places, it was marred by incomplete rules that had yet to be fully refined.
Even though Yuan Lianyao had attempted to imprint the fire magic, it appeared fundamentally flawed.
"She has ascended to godhood!"
"The Ruby Hand has witnessed the rise of a new deity!"
"After Mo Baichuan, she is the second to be favored by the Earthfire, bestowed with the mighty divine seat!"
Cultivators, both overtly and covertly monitoring the Fireheart Mountains, watched the "blazing red lotus" leap from the volcano's maw. Her seductive form, ensconced in divine flames, drew envious praise.
Yet, only Lu Hongpeng, Wuran, and Cao Ji understood the immense imperfections in her deification!
Her ascension was as flimsy as child's play, so fragile it could shatter at any moment.
"Something's amiss."
Wuran scrutinized her closely, scratching his head before suddenly exclaiming, "She should have perished at the instant of her ascension, her foundation too weak to sustain the breakthrough."
"In all of Everlands, there has never been such an anomaly!" Du Yuan shrieked.
At last, the final sun vanished from the extraterrestrial heavens.
Only the moon's cool luminescence continued to bathe the Everlands, casting a pale silver glow over an increasingly enigmatic world.
"You..."
As Yuan Lianyao stepped forth from the earth's heart and hovered among the mountains, Yu Yuan was struck by a profound sense of disquiet.
Within Yuan Lianyao's mind, her original soul mark was undetectable to Yu Yuan.
Yuan Lianyao seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Then, in that moment, Yuan Lianyao reached out towards the fire phoenix as if beckoning to something unseen.
The fire phoenix of the Wasteland, stripped of its feathers, flesh, and organs, was reduced to a skeletal form of red agate. As Yuan Lianyao extended her hand, the skeletal phoenix abruptly flew towards her.
Cradled in Yuan Lianyao's grasp, the red agate skeleton of the fire phoenix was snapped into segments.
In that moment of fracture, the fire phoenix—persuaded by the Dark Phoenix Zhiya, yearning for the vastness of the Origin Realm, the Everlands, and seeking the Fire Spirit of this realm to achieve an eleventh-level breakthrough—truly perished.
Its fire soul vanished within the Cosmic Crucible.
Yuan Lianyao, having shattered the tenth-level Beast God bones, worked them with Earthfire, transforming them into a slender flame blade.
This flame blade, held in Yuan Lianyao's hands, slowly pointed towards Yu Yuan.
It had been too soft; now it resorted to force.
The blade's will, housed within Yuan Lianyao, used her as its vessel. With Yuan Lianyao's fractured new god form, it struck at Yu Yuan's true form amidst the Fireheart Mountains.
A sea of flames engulfed the sky, sparked by the flame blade's aim, igniting first within Yu Yuan's mind.
Yu Yuan, on the verge of employing Mind Magic, suddenly felt an excruciating pain in his soul. His consciousness plunged into confusion, unable to discern direction or even his own identity.
