C2081 I Promise You!
In Zionidall, Kaiya sat atop the peak of Dread Mount, her expression ashen and desolate as she gazed into the depths of the churning clouds where little devils frolicked. Even the simplest of these creatures, their devil souls, had undergone a transformation, now reeking of the Abyss.
Each little devil was taken aback by the mysterious surge in their power and the awakening of new Spirit Magic, blissfully ignorant of the underlying cause. Such ignorance was profoundly tragic.
Looming behind Kaiya, the murky specter of her father, Bertain, exuded a vast and elusive presence, tinged with an eerie sense of death.
Kaiya attempted to reach out to her father in the distant Ashlands. She was aware that his dominant soul was currently within the Evil Temple, and she could sense him through the use of spirit mystique. Even amidst battles with the Evil Gods within the Evil Temple, she could maintain a spiritual connection with her father and receive his guidance.
Yet now, as she sought to connect with her father in the Evil Temple once more, she encountered nothing but a deathly, silent chaos. Bertain had vanished from her spiritual perception.
"The most sorrowful thing in the world is this," she thought.
Clutching her head in her hands, Kaiya wept softly beneath the swirling clouds, fiercely resisting the allure of the Abyss's evil. The very thing she once loathed had become her source, subtly influencing her preferences and drawing her ever closer to corruption.
The thoughts and will of every Demon God, including her own, were destined to be warped. She felt powerless to resist.
Before long, all the Star-Spawned Terrors of this realm would lose any memory of their true origins. Reid, Youqian, herself, and her father would all forget the struggles they had endured to combat the malevolence from the Abyss.
Having unwittingly embraced their betrayer, they would continue to believe in its righteousness, elevating the evil of the Abyss to the status of truth.
Kaiya's mind was a whirlpool of confusion, but the image of Yu Yuan began to crystallize before her. Like a drowning person clinging to a lifeline, she desperately grasped at this last glimmer of hope, a driftwood keeping her afloat.
"Perhaps, only you will be able to reveal the truth to me in the future, to help me recall what once was," she pondered.
In that moment, within the drifting Sword Cave, a devil soul belonging to Kaiya emerged from the body of Yuan Hao, the Grand Sword Immortal of the Sword Sect.
Kaiya had implanted a devil soul within Yuan Hao's body through mystique, tasked with surveilling the Grand Sword Immortals' every move. Her sudden appearance immediately altered the expressions of Van Heqing, Lu Hongpeng, and the others. She paid them no heed, instead focusing on Yuan Le's revealed true form of the blood ape, attempting to depart from the peak of the Abyss and make his way back to the Beast God Temple.
A blood crystal surfaced deep within Yu Yuan's brow. Wherever his gaze fell, the blood mist rising from the Abyss transformed into clusters of blood clouds that enveloped the vicinity of Yuan Le's towering ape-like form. The blood clouds acted like nails, pinning down the very air.
The shattered Abyssal Gate, seemingly resurrected by Yu Yuan's will, hovered above Yuan Le's head, creating a multi-layered sealing force that barred Yuan Le from employing the Void Escape Technique. The Light Spirit, concealed within the land, now served as a colossal mirror, reflecting Yu Yuan's power onto Yuan Le. An infinite brilliance bathed Yuan Le, illuminating him for all to see.
Yuan Le found himself momentarily ensnared, overwhelmed by the full might of the Abyss and bound by its most exalted rules, a sense of despair at his inability to break free.
In these moments, deep within Yu Yuan's mind, another tier of the Soul Altar neared completion. As the Demonic Vessel ascended to the Undead Sovereign, a platform corresponding to the Primal Vitality materialized, shining with a strange silver light. It seemed as if countless Shadow Moon Essences and Levi Rivers were forming in the depths of the platform.
The Mind Magic, governed by the Primal Vitality, had been fully inscribed onto him as the Demonic Vessel advanced. All that was missing was a substantial amount of shadow energy-infused Soul Power. Initially, as long as his Demonic Vessel remained outside the Heart of the Everlands, he could transmit Soul Power across the distance to complete the platform.
However, once the Demonic Vessel entered the Heart of the Everlands, his connection to his original body was severed, leaving him in the dark about what the Demonic Vessel encountered there. With Ji Ningshuang's assistance, bolstered by Primal Blood and extreme cold, he had managed to stabilize the situation. Utilizing the wonders of the Soul Altar and his unique connection to the Abyss, he was also able to constrain Yuan Le's true form.
The current situation was looking very promising. The only uncertainty lay with the Demonic Vessel, deep within the Heart of the Everlands. Yet, he was confident that with the Everlands's Primal Soul entering through Cao Jiaze, and Bertain's efforts to restrain the Evil Temple, his ascension to the Undead Sovereign should be secure. He allowed himself a moment of relief.
"Senior Brother..."
Kaiya's specter materialized within the Sword Cave high above. The sight of the specter sent a jolt through Yu Yuan's primordial spirit, which had turned a dark shade of black. With his current understanding and the memories slowly returning to him, he needed only a glance to realize what had transpired.
He now understood that the contest within the Heart of the Everlands had reached its conclusion, determining both victors and the vanquished. The Primal Soul of the Everlands had been fully assimilated, transforming the Sky Fiend it had nurtured into this state.
"My father must have encountered trouble in the Evil Temple. He's likely the first Demon God to be subdued, still resisting, but I know he will ultimately be defeated," she said. "When he awakens and emerges from the Evil Temple, he will have forgotten his ambitions and ideals."
"The same fate awaits me. Reid, Youqian, Saca, Sable—all the Great Demon Gods are inescapable. While I still retain some semblance of self-awareness, I hope that one day, you can remind me of what once was."
"Only you have the potential to stand against it and reawaken us."
Kaiya's specter conveyed her message urgently, impressing her plea upon Yu Yuan. With a whoosh, her words were cut short. Her devil soul had turned completely black, her past slowly fading from memory. The convictions she had held so dearly seemed to be erasing, and soon her specter appeared bewildered.
She looked as if she no longer knew her location or recalled her recent words. Watching her confusion, Yu Yuan was struck by a profound sadness. He suddenly related to her plight, realizing that his own missing memories might have been erased in a similar manner. As the Lord of the Abyss, he had endured much, and his resolve, along with many memories, had been lost with the shattering of his five-tiered Soul Altar and the subsequent loss of power to contend with the mightiest Primal Anima.
Memories erased were tied to the mysteries of the endless darkness and the mightiest Primal Anima.
To fully awaken them, to retrieve them all, he needed to regain his former strength.
"I promise you."
He said, gazing at Kaiya.
It was then that a light of remembrance emerged from the emerald table within his sea of consciousness.
As he grew stronger, fragments of the memories that had been wiped away began to resurface.
In the Abyss's boundless darkness, there once lay a vast tract of land, anchored by the Abyss's Tree of Life.
Within that land dwelled an Earth Spirit.
Remarkably, this Earth Spirit was a high-level Primal Anima, calling itself Mother Earth.
Unlike the other three Primal Animas, it did not pledge allegiance to the Primal Soul; it sought rebellion, yearning to escape the Primal Soul of the Abyss.
It too was consumed. The continent where it had once hidden shattered into innumerable fragments.
These shattered lands drifted from the darkness, purified by the Tree of Life into what now forms the seven layers of the Abyss, comprising most of the 127 landmasses.
Most of the 127 landmasses before him originated from that very continent, once the secret refuge of Mother Earth.
Indeed, a high-level Primal Anima!
Yuan Le's words were true; his intuition was not mistaken. The Abyss once harbored an Earth Spirit akin to that of the Wasteland, yet not of the same caliber.
It was two tiers superior!
One was elementary, the other advanced, and the two were incomparable.
Were the Mother Earth of the Abyss still alive, it could effortlessly subdue the Wasteland's Earth Spirit, command the towering mountains, and govern the stars that orbit them.
"Yuan Le!"
Yu Yuan suddenly materialized before Yuan Le's crimson gaze, issuing a thunderous call.
Without invoking his Divine Transcendence or amplifying his presence, Yu Yuan appeared insignificant before Yuan Le's eyes, as inconsequential as an insect.
Yet Yuan Le was taken aback, bewildered by Yu Yuan's gesture.
Next to him and Yu Yuan, the blood clouds that bound him, nearly impossible to escape, transformed into a separate crimson realm.
Within this realm, only his head and the silhouette of Yu Yuan remained.
Yu Yuan wielded his power to seal off a small patch of the sky, making it clear he intended to have a private conversation without any eavesdroppers.
"I will set you free," Yu Yuan declared, his voice thunderous. "The very thing I dreaded has come to pass. I'm letting you go, and I hope you manage to escape. If you don't, the Primal Blood that created you and the nascent Earth Spirit within will be devoured."
Yuan Le was taken aback.
What transpired between Yu Yuan and Yuan Le, the Lord of Ruin, within the secluded Crimson Realm remained a mystery.
Yuan Le, who had stealthily approached with intentions of using the "Blood Slaughterhouse" to conquer the Abyss and transform it into another Wasteland, suddenly reverted to his human form.
He then effortlessly shattered the seal and vanished from sight.
Yuan Le departed with poise, while Yu Yuan, the Lord of the Abyss, gazed upon the formidable figures from the Everlands, Jihui, Lin Daoke, and others perched atop the Sword Cave.
With a swift motion, he offered no explanation—perhaps understanding the futility of words—and plunged into the deepest reaches of the Abyss, where boundless darkness awaited.
