C2075 Blood Slaughterhouse
The Light Spirit, having established an unspoken understanding with Yuan Le, shivered deep within the earth.
It was the first to detect the return of Yu Yuan.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Deep within the luminescent veil, blinding beams of light suddenly converged on a solitary figure.
These beams, beyond the Light Spirit's control, seemed to have awaited this figure's return for eons, ready to fuse with his body upon his awakening.
That figure was Yu Yuan!
At a glance, Yuan Le realized that Yu Yuan, who had just been in the Ashlands, had inexplicably crossed into the highest tier of the Abyss.
The light's power, concealed within the luminescent veil covering the land, was now intertwining with Yu Yuan's form.
Yuan Le's brow creased. Through his mastery of the Secrets of Life, he could discern that the light's power was integrating with Yu Yuan's Mindscape.
With Yu Yuan's arrival, the radiant land seemed to fall under his dominion.
Boom!
The ground trembled gently as forces perceptible to Yuan Le coursed towards Yu Yuan, infusing his limbs, acupoints, and elixir field.
Yuan Le huffed in reassurance, "There's no need for alarm. That's his real body. His Solar Spirit, having ascended to the eleventh level, remains within our grasp. His newly formed primordial spirit isn't yet a match for Bertain. He's no threat to me at this time."
Yuan Le's gaze then shifted to the Sword Cave, floating above. He observed Lin Daoke, Jihui, and several other human paragons emerge. "Aside from that Lin Daoke fellow, no one can withstand a single blow from me."
He commanded the Dark Tower to rotate and perched atop the somber iron structure, waiting with haughty anticipation.
He awaited the arrival of Yu Yuan, Lin Daoke, and Jihui, ready to vanquish these formidable adversaries in one decisive move.
"No, you don't understand! You can't comprehend!"
The Light Spirit, as if recoiling into the earth's depths, was consumed by dread.
"You claimed you could restrain him, yet you've failed. I need time. My advancement is incomplete, and I've yet to reach the mountain you spoke of."
The Light Spirit evidently had second thoughts and was ready to renege on its agreement with Yuan Le, preparing to once again submit to Yu Yuan.
Yuan Le declared with confidence, "Leave it to me. Continue with your advancement. Rest assured, without an eleventh-level Solar Spirit, none here pose a threat."
"Heh!"
Yuan Le's laughter boomed like thunder, echoing across the continent and even piercing through the light barrier to reach the lands below.
"Who's laughing?"
"Up in the sky, on the highest continent, who is that laughing?"
The Abyssal powerhouses on the ground and the human cultivators journeying through looked up in wonder as the continent shone brilliantly.
The continent hadn't glowed this brightly in ages, signaling to them that something was amiss.
"Yu Yuan!"
"It's Yu Yuan!"
"And our Sect Master!"
Figures began to materialize one by one in the high skies above the continent. Early arrivals like Su Qingmo and Yue Mu from the Sword Sect shot up into the air from various regions.
They all cried out in shock, speculating whether Yu Yuan, Lin Daoke, and Jihui had forged their alliance.
Before Jihui had departed, he had confidently assured them that upon Yu Yuan's awakening, he would assume command over the denizens of the Abyss as the Lord of the Abyss.
Every Evil God of the human race would heed the beck and call of the Lord of the Abyss.
Yu Yuan, Jihui, and Lin Daoke's arrival together, without immediate conflict, was seen as a sign that Jihui had indeed accomplished his goal.
Unbeknownst to them, Yuan Le, the Lord of Ruin, had silently entered the area and was in communication with the Light Spirit beneath the surface.
They all soared towards Yu Yuan and his company.
Yu Yuan, transported by the guardian of the Evil Temple, looked down from his high vantage point for any sign of Yuan Le as the crowd gathered around.
"Yuan Le!"
With that call, he was upon the high valley where Yuan Le was located.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Beams of intense light chased after him, showering his form and flowing into his Mindscape.
Within the depths of his consciousness, a silver platform took shape.
The platform shimmered, drawing in the dazzling light and etching the essence of light magic, all beyond the control of the Light Spirit.
He had left the profound mysteries of light in the past so that he could rebuild his Soul Altar upon awakening.
Upon his arrival, his Soul Altar gained a new layer, rapidly condensing into form.
This was an unexpected delight.
The chaotic and violent energies of the Abyss surged in, filling his acupoints and elixir field, making him feel as though the entire world was in harmony with him.
He felt even better here than when his Solar Spirit was in the Ashlands or his real body was in the Dark Star.
This feeling was like... coming home.
"The Abyss is full of surprises. Yu Yuan, you destroyed my two Blood Clones last time, but now I've returned," Yuan Le said with a smile, ascending slowly alongside the Dark Tower.
The space near the Dark Tower twisted violently, as if being compressed by Yuan Le's power, threatening to rupture at any moment.
"Halt!"
Jihui's voice boomed from a distance. The continent, veiled by the Light Spirit, burst into a kaleidoscope of colors, stabilizing the trembling void.
He prevented Yuan Le from using the Dark Tower to shatter the space and make an easy escape.
"So, it's your real body."
Yu Yuan, gazing at Yuan Le now in human form, instantly felt an infinite surge of vital energy radiating in all directions.
Mountains within hundreds of miles of the valley turned to ash without a sound.
The peaks, like dense clouds, dissipated into dust at the mere touch of the wind.
Yet Yu Yuan was aware that these mountains and rivers, now reduced to dust, had been very real; they were simply obliterated by Yuan Le's overwhelming power.
"Stay back, everyone!"
Seeing Yue Mu attempting to get involved, Jihui couldn't help but yell out, "Yuan Le is in that valley, he is the Lord of Ruin, and he is here in person!"
"Yuan Le!"
"Lord of Ruin!"
Shouts and exclamations echoed across the mountainside.
"Those who are not of the highest level, remain on the ground below," Jihui commanded, addressing the silhouettes soaring through the clouds. "Stay put, and don't even think about coming up here to gawk!"
With a whoosh, Lin Daoke and the Sword Cave drifted closer, while Sword Sect notables like Van Heqing and Lu Hongpeng were instructed not to venture near Yuan Le's location.
That area was off-limits to all but him and Yu Yuan.
Yuan Le, the Lord of Ruin, had merely revealed a fraction of his power, yet it was enough to obliterate the mountains and rivers for hundreds of miles. The residual shockwaves continued to spread, relentlessly destroying every obstacle in their path.
This Yuan Le was a far cry from the Blood Clones that Yu Yuan had previously vanquished.
The true form of Yuan Le had arrived, effortlessly rewriting the fundamental rules of the world to create a battlefield that suited him.
A vast expanse of crimson, blood-red ground formed beneath Yuan Le, teeming with densely woven blood traces that harbored infinite bloodline secrets.
The land was rendered perfectly flat, with blood light radiating from the surface as the blood traces writhed like living entities.
Yuan Le narrowed his eyes and smiled, murmuring, "This is the Blood Slaughterhouse."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Any beings that had not managed to flee in time or were not shielded by the Most Highs burst into clouds of blood mist at the emergence of the Blood Slaughterhouse.
These clouds of blood mist ascended from the land in all directions, drifting like lanterns before descending upon the Blood Slaughterhouse.
With the addition of the blood mist, the expansion of the Blood Slaughterhouse gained even greater momentum.
"Stop."
With a single command from Yu Yuan, innumerable invisible threads of rules, imperceptible to both the eye and the spirit, infiltrated the Blood Slaughterhouse that Yuan Le had summoned, halting its advance.
His evolving body gently descended from the heavens.
The Dark Tower where Yuan Le stood began to crack and crumble. Despite his efforts to sustain it, the tower's disintegration was inevitable. The Blood Slaughterhouse at his feet, along with the nascent creatures of the Wasteland spawned from the blood traces, failed to thrive and collapsed one after another.
"Since you've ensnared my Solar Spirit, I shall keep your real body in this realm," Yu Yuan declared, standing atop the Blood Slaughterhouse and gazing at the encroaching tide of blood. "Through you, I intend to ascertain the current state of my Solar Spirit."
