C2015 Prepared for a Long Time!

Han Qi, gaunt and skeletal, emerged in the chilling pond beneath the Land of Terror, his cultivation still at the Spirit Walk level. Yet the Lunar Spirit within his sea of consciousness had ascended to the rank of a Ghost King, and the blood coursing through his veins seemed infused with a frigid energy.

In human form but possessing the soul of a Ghost King, he was undeniably an anomaly.

Upon surfacing in the cold pond, the ghosts that had been surging toward the soul stone were suddenly immobilized by an unseen force, rendered motionless. The flowing tributaries of the Lunar Meridian likewise came to a gradual halt.

"Youyu, do you understand why the Root of the Lunar Meridian is located within that deep pond?" Han Qi, hands empty, asked with a smile as he gazed intently at the pond where the soul stone was placed.

"This pond can be seen as the body of the Root of the Lunar Meridian. It's the hub of all the Lunar Meridian's branches and harbors the power of rebirth. A mere pond, even with the Root of the Lunar Meridian, shouldn't possess such formidable might."

Youyu gazed doubtfully at the pond beneath his feet.

Boom!

With a thunderous splitting of the earth, the pond, deeply embedded in the ground, began to rise slowly. The grey stones at its edge crumbled away like dried clay, revealing the pond's true composition—a massive violet gold skull.

The violet gold skull, with a gaping hole in its cranium, had been hollowed out to form the pond. Subjected to innumerable refinements, it had shrunk hundreds of times over to become the pond beneath the Land of Terror, housing the Root of the Lunar Meridian and charged with the solemn duty of governing the cycles of life and death in the Everlands.

The violet gold skull bore the shape of a dragon's head.

"The skull of the Titan Spinosaurus," Youyu murmured, his initial shock giving way to sudden realization.

The head of the Titan Spinosaurus, an eleventh-level cosmic giant beast that had perished in the Everlands, had been preserved. It lay beneath the Land of Terror, transformed into the vessel for the Root of the Lunar Meridian's undead spirits.

"The Undead Lord had his reasons for lingering in the Everlands all these years," Han Qi said with a sneer. "The Everlands remain his domain, and that's unchangeable. You, Youyu, would still be considered part of the Everlands as long as you don't forsake your essence. Yet you seem blind to the fortune that lies before you."

Crackling thunder and fine lightning enveloped the Undead Altar, crafted from the skull of a Titan Spinosaurus. Many ghosts attempting to infiltrate the soul stone dissipated into nothingness.

The flow of the Lunar Meridian ceased, and Youyu's body, reforged in the depths of the Wraithlands, ignited amidst the electric arcs.

In the dim underground expanse, another figure materialized.

She was a delicate being, her form reminiscent of a tree, appearing as a woman devoid of flesh and blood, with lightning coursing through her as if it were her veins and lifeblood.

"My name is Samantha. I hail from the Abyss, the vessel of the Thunder Spirit."

This petite creature from the Abyss stood next to Han Qi, her silver gaze as captivating as a thunder ball.

As she spoke, she gazed down at the world beneath her feet with awe.

"Origin Master."

She silently invoked the phrase, seeking to draw the attention of the Will of the Deep.

Her presence was mission-bound.

The guardian of the Evil Temple had roused her master, who imparted the profound meaning of thunder, and instructed her to serve Jihui in another realm following the fracture of the Abyssal Gate.

As Lin Daoke, Han Miaoyuan, and others ventured from the Everlands to the Abyss, Samantha, under Jihui's directive, passed through the same gate into the Everlands.

Upon her arrival, Jihui's orders led her to descend into the Land of Terror.

Among the multitude of Evil Gods in the Abyss, she was a formidable force, a key player in the siege against the Demon God, Bertain.

Regrettably, as the Thunder Spirit was not a superior Primal Anima, it granted her the profound meaning of thunder but not the ascent to the eleventh level.

Her standing was akin to that of Tan Xiaotian, the Demon Lord, on the Way of Heaven—infinitely close to the eleventh level, yet not quite there.

Per the Thunder Spirit and Jihui's conjecture, she needed to locate and merge with the fragment of the Thunder Spirit sealed away by the Great Demon God, Bertain, in a secret corner of the Origin Realm. Only then might she have a glimmer of hope to achieve the eleventh level.

The peculiar relic, a fragment of the Thunder Spirit lost in the Origin Realm, was now in the possession of a cultivator named Qi Yunhong.

"I need that stone he holds."

Han Qi, unreservedly pointing at the soul stone brought forth from the Wraithlands by Youyu, assured Samantha, "I will undoubtedly locate Qi Yunhong for you."

"Alright."

Samantha, who had evolved from a plant in the Abyss, reached an agreement with Han Qi.

Youyu's expression was grave as he sensed a formidable threat emanating from the Abyssal visitor. He communicated telepathically, "A guest from the Abyss seems to be awaiting our arrival."

Above.

Yu Yuan, who had been releasing the ghosts that Jihui had meticulously condensed, picked up on Youyu's telepathic message and became aware of the events unfolding in the Land of Terror.

He also came to understand the source of Jihui's confidence.

The divine power of lightning was notoriously lethal to ghosts and spirits.

Samantha, the Otherkin from the Abyss, had been drawn to the Everlands by Jihui but chose to conceal herself in the Land of Terror, biding her time for either Youyu or him to show up.

Yet, Yu Yuan had not anticipated that the skull of a Titan Spinosaurus would be used in the ritual to refine the Root of the Lunar Meridian.

He had processed the Root of the Lunar Meridian in the Wraithlands, inadvertently erasing crucial memories, unaware of this significant detail.

What did this imply?

It meant that some memories of the First Undead Dominator had been wiped by the Will of the Deep, all to obscure the Primal Vitality.

"Titan Spinosaurus, skull."

A look of intrigue crossed Yu Yuan's eyes.

At the Dragon Slaying Stage, a suit of violet gold armor materialized, safeguarding his head, limbs, chest, and all vital areas.

Clad in this violet gold armor, he was invulnerable amidst the raging inferno.

Neither the celestial meteor shower nor the earth's spewing magma could penetrate this miraculous armor or harm his flesh.

"I possess it as well."

Beneath Yuan Lianyao's feet, the blazing fire revealed a consciousness that Yu Yuan recognized.

President Lyi of the Skyreach Consortium!

Having transmuted himself into 'true metal' and descended into the heart of the earth with a body of refined iron, he ultimately became the Sunsilver Essence of the Cosmic Crucible and the artifact soul of this object.

The furnace lid transformed into a colossal golden shield, wielded by the blazing fire before him.

With the shield in one hand and a flame blade in the other, he gazed at Yu Yuan, conveying his intent.

"I will journey to the realm you govern."

As soon as she spoke, Yuan Lianyao transformed into a blazing meteor, shooting out of the fiery mass in an instant and making her way toward the Moonfall Sanctuary.

Many onlookers watched in amazement as the fiery meteor descended into the deep pit that connected to the extraterrestrial realms.

This pit was not only a conduit to the Hellmouth but also concealed a secret path leading directly to the Ashlands!

Indeed, it was the Ashlands that beckoned!

Deep within Yuan Lianyao's mind lay all memories associated with the Ashlands: the main planet of Tyria, stars ablaze with fire, the Eiwrone, and numerous other wondrous places she had once witnessed.

Every memory that existed was visible to her.

As familiar as Yuan Lianyao was with the Ashlands, so too was her connection to them.

Whoosh!

Adorned in Yuan Lianyao's guise and armed with a fire shield and flame blade, the entity known as Blazing Flame emerged from a shadowy cavern on the Eiwrone.

The Otherkin who had settled nearby watched in terror.

Members of the Starborn, Dawnbringers, and enchantresses began to spontaneously combust, quickly reducing to ashes.

A Sky Fiend that roared past in the distance caught a glimpse of the scene and transformed into a streak of flaming meteors, burning to ashes as it soared.

The entity had shifted the battlefield from the Everlands to the Ashlands, taking out its wrath on the Otherkin allied with Boulderdawn. After achieving its goal, it set a direct course for Tyria.

Boom!

The Fire Star, a place once explored and cultivated by Yuan Lianyao, now shifted in the void due to its presence.

It trailed behind the Eiwrone like a fireball in flight.

Chaos ensued across the Ashlands.

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