C2056 The Forge of the Sun

The red moon hung in the sky, casting its glow over the Wraithlands as ghosts scattered in all directions, and the Shadow Mountains drifted aimlessly.

The landscape of Tyria had undergone a sudden transformation.

With the intervention of Primal Blood and Primal Vitality, the tide of battle was turned in an instant. The presence of these two extraordinary Primal Animas caused Cao Jiaze's spirit to show signs of awakening.

Yu Yuan's Demonic Vessel, empowered by the newly bestowed Mind Magic, embarked on an advancement path akin to that of the dominant soul.

Simultaneously, the fiery patterns on the inner and outer walls of the divine armor, forged by the Cosmic Crucible, underwent a dramatic shift. Ancient alien beasts such as the Fire Kylin and Fire Phoenix briefly came to life within the flame patterns, only to burst into oblivion moments later.

The red flame patterns were swiftly overtaken by a surge of purple magic power.

A force neither belonging to Yuan Lianyao nor the Blazing Fire began to slowly emerge within the divine armor.

At the bottom of the burning pond, the purple Soul Sea churned, and Soul Power started to seep away.

The escaping Soul Power was being absorbed by the Cosmic Crucible, integrating into its innermost depths.

The Primal Soul of the Everlands, long eroded, seemed to find a resurgence of spirit with the transformation of the Cosmic Crucible.

Shortly thereafter, a robust and jovial laughter echoed from the divine armor shaped by the Cosmic Crucible.

The laughter jolted Yu Yuan and roused the bewildered Yuan Lianyao, allowing her soul to reclaim its place within her sea of consciousness.

Whoosh!

A flame representing the spiritual sense of Blazing Fire was expelled, soaring towards the burning pond.

Yuan Lianyao snapped to awareness, gazing upon the strange new world and the two figures of Yu Yuan, murmuring, "I, what just happened..." She was utterly disoriented.

"My dear disciple, I've come to your aid!"

The booming laughter of Bertain, the Demon God crafted by the Everlands Primal Soul, resonated from the divine armor enveloping Yuan Lianyao, having inexplicably manifested within the furnace.

Yu Yuan was taken aback.

"Come on! Let's get out of this accursed place."

A shadowy devil soul emerged from the divine armor, now shifting to a purple-red hue. Without waiting for Yuan Lianyao's response, the armor whisked her away, ascending towards the heavens.

"Leave!"

A will surged from the depths of the pond, disrupting the forces within the crystal ball and twisting the magnetic field.

The radiant light of the crystal ball abruptly faded, and the roaring flames at the edge of the pond seemed to diminish in response.

Yu Yuan's eleventh-level Solar Spirit, along with his real body and Demonic Vessel, suddenly established a connection. The light from the Dragon Slaying Stage enveloped both forms, swiftly extracting them from the Heart of the Everlands.

Before his form vanished, he caught sight of the dark green soul sea floating above the Solar Spirit's head, hastily drifting toward the fiery pond.

This was because the Primal Soul of the Everlands had begun to fiercely resist upon sensing the presence of the great Demon God, Bertain.

It would not tolerate any unforeseen events.

At some point, the Blazing Fire, which had allied itself with the Primal Soul, was alarmed by the commotion.

"Hahaha!"

"The Cosmic Crucible, what a magnificent Cosmic Crucible! The Wasteland's fire phoenix, the sun-swallowing frog, Vermillion Bird, fire dragon, flamingo—all these sources of mighty and rich blood and Soul Power have been refined within the furnace."

"Excellently done!"

Bertain's booming laughter echoed from within the purple and red divine armor.

After departing from the Everlands, the peculiar divine armor detached from Yuan Lianyao. Clad in a fiery red gown, Yuan Lianyao stood amidst the flames.

The flames were swiftly refined into fire lotuses.

On her knees and elbows, alluring yet perilous fire lotuses bloomed, unleashing astonishing power.

Behind her, a sea of flames raged, with a sun emerging amidst the inferno.

The purple and red divine armor that had separated from her continuously morphed, at times becoming a furnace, then a fire shield, and at others, a blade as sharp as Sunsilver Essence.

"First, President Lyi refined himself into the essence of Sunsilver, making the furnace the most resilient object. Then came Mo Baichuan's consecration, followed by the scorching of the Earthfire."

"Subsequently, Blazing Fire personally forged the smelting furnace with the most intense flames, achieving a marvel beyond my wildest dreams!"

"Hahaha!"

Bertain's eerie laughter filled the furnace. Abruptly, the laughter ceased, and he spoke gravely, "It seems they have all forgotten that this Cosmic Crucible was once known as Serpentflame, a furnace that the former sect master of the Order of Healing, Hong Qi, had specially crafted for his disciple."

His devil soul peered out from the purple-and-red divine armor at Yu Yuan's real body.

"The most vivid memory you have after your awakening is retrieving the Forge of the Sun from the Sundering Isles. Don't you realize how crucial this furnace is to both of us, master and disciple?"

Yu Yuan nodded slightly. "I understand now."

"Lord Bertain!"

"Demon God!"

"Old Patriarch!"

All the Star-Spawned Terrors and Otherkin powerhouses, like Ballo and Brie, were electrified upon confirming that the boisterous laughter belonged to Bertain.

Suddenly, they had a pillar of strength, a glimpse of hope.

Bertain, the Great Demon God, universally acknowledged as the mightiest in the Origin Realm and the sovereign who commanded the respect of all extraterrestrial races, had revealed his devil soul within the divine armor.

It was common knowledge that Bertain's devil soul could divide into thousands, yet everyone was aware that his last known appearance was in the Ashlands, where he had stepped into the Abyss through Arthurs' "Maw of Oblivion."

His venture into the Abyss had left Arthurs grievously wounded and thrown the Abyss into turmoil.

His presence was the reason why the multitude of Evil Gods had been confined to the Evil Temple, unable to launch a large-scale invasion of the Origin Realm.

Who could have anticipated that at such a pivotal moment, one of his devil souls would manifest within the divine armor?

He even referred to Yu Yuan as his esteemed disciple, implying a master-disciple relationship?

Even the likes of Ballo, Rebecca, the Abyssal Leviathan, and the little spinosaurus were dumbfounded by his declaration, struggling to grasp the implications.

With a whoosh, the divine armor transformed into a purple-red furnace. The flame patterns on its exterior morphed into soul threads that sketched Bertain's specter.

"This furnace was forged from my insights into the mysteries of Earthfire, capturing the secrets of its flames. My hope was that one day, this furnace would carry me beyond the vastness of the Heart of the Everlands and through the seals of the blazing fire, to witness what has transpired at the core of the Everlands."

"I delved into the essence of earthfire to overcome it, to behold the Primal Soul that gave me life."

Bertain's laughter echoed from the furnace's exterior, his voice booming as if he were rocking with mirth. "The furnace is my most vital demonform!"

The Sky Fiend, from its inception, was a devil soul without a flesh-and-blood body.

Each Sky Fiend, upon reaching a certain level of power, needed to forge a specialized demonform.

Their demonform might take the shape of a weapon, a shield, or even the bones of a mighty being, or perhaps a cape.

The Serpentflame, a furnace, was a unique demonform crafted by the Demon God Bertain for himself!

He forged this demonform with the intent of one day crossing into the realm of the Blazing Fire to investigate the issues plaguing his Primal Soul.

Since awakening from severe injuries, the Primal Soul had ceased responding to him, signaling that something was amiss within the Everlands.

Initially, he suspected that the Primal Soul, like him, had sustained grave injuries during his battle with the Titan Spinosaurus and had thus entered a prolonged dormancy.

However, as humanity ascended and Yu Yuan ascended to godhood through Taiyin, and he still couldn't reach the Primal Soul, he realized there was a significant problem.

Soon enough, even the Earthfire at the planet's core became wary of him, barring his descent.

Thus, the birth of the sect master of the Order of Healing and the emergence of the Forge of the Sun came to pass.

"You..."

The furnace abruptly made its way toward Cao Jiaze.

Inside, the Demon God Bertain wore an expression of utmost gravity, his gaze fixed on Cao Jiaze's eyes, silently attuned to the fluctuations of his spiritual sense.

Boom!

The dome of the Ashlands was suddenly breached, revealing a grand and imposing hall.

"The Evil Temple!"

Caught off guard by the abrupt turn of events, the formidable beings of the Ashlands found their focus shifting back and forth in disarray.

"Master, I have come to escort you home."

The voice of the guardian echoed in Yu Yuan's mind, filled with devotion and humility, as if he had been awaiting this moment for eons.

"..."