C2082 The Birds and Beasts Scattered
Ashlands.
Shortly after Yu Yuan's ascent to the Undead Sovereign, upon his arrival at the Heart of the Everlands, the Evil Temple ceased its trembling. Concurrently, the devil souls within Reid and Youqian underwent transformations.
The God of Ghosts, in pursuit of Han Qi, abruptly returned to this realm, summoned by a mysterious signal.
The ancient tree, animated by the will of Primal Vitality, sensed imminent disaster.
As a being of high-level Primal Anima, the disturbances in both the Sky Fiend and the Evil Temple conveyed an overload of information.
Crucially, upon entering the eleventh level and the Heart of the Everlands, Yu Yuan acutely felt the presence of an unseen eye scrutinizing him, deciphering the dominion he wielded.
Cao Jiaze, whose body had been taken over, locked eyes with Yu Yuan and, in doing so, also perceived the ancient tree.
A natural resonance was born between them.
Consequently, the ancient tree, now host to this entity, commanded the Levi River, the encroaching Shadow Mountain, and the souls and ghosts that had traveled the Path of Undead, including Matina, Wagner, and Youyu, to retreat to the Wraithlands, to the domain it had shaped.
Only in its own world, where the ghosts had originated and grown powerful, would they find some semblance of safety.
It also needed time in the depths of the Wraithlands to contemplate the forthcoming, most severe chaos.
Before long, all the powers that had emerged from the Wraithlands withdrew through a murky passageway back to their origin.
Zhong Chichen, the Abyssal Leviathan, and others were left questioning what had transpired.
"It is dead."
As the ancient tree vanished, it whispered this message through the rustling of its leaves, sending ripples through the souls that heard it.
Yet, those who listened were left in the dark, unaware of what had occurred or who had perished.
Then, a piercing phoenix screech shattered the silence. Zhiya was the first to grasp the gravity of the situation.
The protracted conflict between the Secular Bird Queen and the Dark Phoenix Zhiya came to an abrupt halt.
The vast purple phoenix, with its colossal wings blotting out the heavens, bore feathers matted with decaying flesh and bone.
She, too, was being consumed by the death force, parts of her wings transformed into violet gold skeletal plumes, devoid of any flesh.
The Secular Bird Queen, in her Azure Bird form, was in an even more pitiable state, with gaping wounds in her neck and abdomen, still oozing blood.
Yet, their fierce rivalry ended without a victor, in a most hasty and illogical conclusion.
"Return to my shrine!"
Zhiya commanded, positioning herself at the entrance of the Phoenix Shrine, and gestured for the Astral Tiger, Iron-winged Bird, and the Beast Gods to make their way back to the sanctuary.
Yu Zhu, however, lingered with a heavy heart, her gaze fixed on the now extinguished Everlands and the last known location of Yu Yuan.
She was consumed with concern for Yu Yuan's wellbeing, her mind burdened with unspoken words and worries.
"He won't die, not in his true form at least."
Zhiya left them with these words as the grand Phoenix Shrine ascended, departing the Ashlands.
"We're heading to the Wasteland. The Abyss and Origin Realm are on the brink of unification. It's only in the Wasteland that we can withstand the malevolence of the Abyss, which has devoured its own," Zhiya declared with grave intensity.
She reverted to her forlorn human guise and, with faltering steps, made her way into the Phoenix Shrine.
Upon her entry, the mythical Phoenix Shrine took flight, leaving the rifted Ashlands behind.
Simultaneously, in the Darkpinion Astral Domain, the alien beasts that were not privileged to travel to the Ashlands with the Phoenix Shrine received her message and silently prepared to depart this world.
The Origin Realm was no longer their haven; they were compelled to embark on a new odyssey.
...
Chi!
Zhong Chichen's divine probe into the energy vortexes and the space magic within met with silence; no response echoed back.
He had attempted to sense several of the thirty-six halted vortexes with his power, all to no avail.
He became instantly wary, careful not to be ensnared by the energy vortexes, lest he encounter unforeseen peril.
Nearly all of the human elites from the Everlands had been cast into the Abyss by the guardians of the Evil Temple, joining Yu Yuan in confronting Yuan Le's true form.
Those who remained were primarily Otherkin from beyond the stars and cosmic giant beasts like Zhong Chichen, Loong Jie, and the little spinosaurus.
"The Primal Soul of the Everlands has been corrupted by the vile energies emerging from the Abyss."
The Secular Bird Queen, equally disheveled, perched on a branch of the Uxthar Tree, harvesting plant essence to mend the gaping wounds in her flesh, eager to expedite her recovery.
She was heedless of the potential harm to the Uxthar Tree, whether it could withstand her relentless harvesting.
Pata!
Branch after branch snapped under the weight of her desperate efforts.
Every time she snapped off a piece of the branch, she would select a new one to drain of its plant essence, ensuring that the divine blood from her wounds did not spill.
The divine tree, deeply rooted in the Phoenix Ashes, drew upon the Phoenix Ashes to collect cosmic energy with full force to compensate for its losses.
The Secular Bird Queen suddenly declared, "We're leaving."
All the Shadowkin and Wingkind had converged and settled upon the Phoenix Ashes.
The Secular Bird Queen had lost interest in the power struggles within the Ashlands. Aware that she could not intervene, she realized the most prudent action was to depart at the earliest opportunity.
Following the Phoenix Shrine, the enigmatic Phoenix Ashes, too, carried the Uxthar Tree into the Star River.
Moments later.
The Phoenix Ashes, having sensed a disturbance, astonishingly detected the presence of Yu Yuan.
Whoosh!
Now outside the Ashlands, the Phoenix Ashes, brimming with cosmic energy, nourished the Uxthar Tree, keeping it vibrant and full of life.
The dark Phoenix Ashes began to emit a curious glow against the backdrop of the starry void, as if straining to detect some unseen force.
This anomaly alerted both Chen Qinghuang and the Uxthar Tree.
The Wingkind and Shadowkin, observing the radiant earth beneath them, recognized that something extraordinary was unfolding.
The Phoenix Ashes discerned two distinct auras: one emanating from the Abyss, belonging to Yu Yuan's true form, and another resembling a mountain encircled by stars.
Suddenly, the Phoenix Ashes shuddered in the void, sensing a malicious intent alongside the Uxthar Tree that took root within it.
This hostility originated from the Everlands.
"Move out!"
The Secular Bird Queen retracted her colossal form, her exquisite face set with a frosty resolve, and commanded, "We must escape the Ashlands quickly—the farther from the Everlands, the better!"
Roar!
The Lizard, now a true Abyssal Greater Basilisk transformed by the Abyss's might, received a command.
This directive stemmed from the Primal Soul deep within the heart of the Everlands.
Momentarily taken aback, the Lizard then soared from Tyria, assuming his primal form as a Cosmic Giant Beast, in pursuit of the Secular Bird Queen and the Phoenix Ashes.
...
In the deepest reaches of the Abyss, darkness was infinite.
Yu Yuan darted through the darkness like a streak of lightning, heading straight for the Tree of Life before coming to an abrupt halt. Deep within his sea of consciousness, images emerged from the depths of the emerald table: the Phoenix Ashes that had fled the Ashlands, the Uxthar Tree, and perched upon it, the Secular Bird Queen.
The dissipating aura of the Phoenix Ashes struck a chord of familiarity within him, sending a jolt through his body. This peculiar Phoenix Ashes carried the essence of a departed high-level Primal Anima, redolent of Mother Earth herself. The two were undoubtedly linked.
Consider, for instance, that the Root of the Solar Meridian was birthed from the Primal Blood of the Wasteland, while the Root of the Lunar Meridian was a gift from the Primal Vitality. The Phoenix Ashes, then, had been cleaved from Mother Earth. Despite her fall in the Abyss, she had cunningly left behind a failsafe.
This failsafe wasn't abandoned in the Abyss but rather cast into the Origin Realm, transforming into the enigmatic Phoenix Ashes. This grayish-black Hallowed Ground, together with the Uxthar Tree, eventually fell into the clutches of the almighty Titan Spinosaurus and was discarded in the Ashlands.
Lizard, having accepted Arthurs's terms, ventured into the Ashlands from the fringes of the cosmos, all for the sake of the Phoenix Ashes. The 'Uxthar Tree' of the Origin Realm had always thrived amidst the Phoenix Ashes, the two existing as one over the eons. And the land that once harbored Mother Earth gave rise to the Tree of Life.
Though the Phoenix Ashes may not currently be an Earth Spirit, its origins from a high-level Earth Spirit imbue it with boundless potential. Perhaps...
Lost in contemplation, Yu Yuan came to a standstill before the Tree of Life, which had withdrawn from the Dark Realm to rejoin the infinite darkness. Leaves saturated with dark energy, now blackened, gazed upon Yu Yuan as if they were watchful eyes.
The Tree of Life was awash with fear at his presence.
With a rustle, another Thunder Spirit within the trunk of the Tree of Life appeared to shudder in response.
"I've come to reclaim what rightfully belongs to me," Yu Yuan declared, palms open and facing upward, gazing at the colossal Tree of Life as the leaves swiftly shed their dark energy.
Whoosh! The sound filled the air as a torrent of Soul Power surged from the depths of darkness, ceaselessly flowing into his "Soul Altar." His sea of consciousness absorbed the Soul Power with the voracity of a sponge.
The top tier of the emerald table was saturated with dense Soul Power when it suddenly began to glow brightly.
In the palms of his hands, a luminescent green leaf and a small thunder ball appeared.
The moment the radiant leaf and the lightning-woven thunder ball touched his palms, two new platforms materialized in the recesses of his mind.
They were linked to the plant spirit and the Thunder Spirit within the Tree of Life.
The two Primal Animas lurking in the shadows had no choice but to acquiesce to his demands.
They willingly relinquished control of the laws of wood and the essence of thunder, which then became part of the intricate laws within the two new levels of his mind.
His "Soul Altar" expanded from four levels to six in an instant.
Yet, these two additional levels were only newly marked with the laws and had not yet fully solidified, requiring more time to stabilize.
Back when he was the Lord of the Abyss, these two platforms had already existed.
His fall and the havoc wreaked by the mightiest Primal Anima had caused his "Soul Altar" to fracture.
He was now refining what was rightfully his, using the Tree of Life and the Thunder Spirit within.
The Tree of Life and the Thunder Spirit harbored a fear of him as profound as their fear of the strongest Primal Anima.
"You're quite astute, recognizing that the outcome of our struggle is uncertain and hedging your bets accordingly," Yu Yuan remarked with a nod of approval.
