C2083 Under the Darkness
In the vast expanse of darkness, the Tree of Life's branches and leaves swayed, channeling its power outward.
The green leaves disintegrated into dust within the darkness, offering up the plant essence it had absorbed and refined over countless years.
Crack!
Intense bolts of lightning flashed across the Tree of Life's thick, scaly roots, vanishing as quickly as they appeared.
The blinding lightning held the ultimate truth of thunder, the very essence that Wei Zhuo, Qi Yunhong, and others had sought their entire lives, yet it remained tantalizingly out of reach.
The cosmic order they had longed to grasp was now willingly presented to Yu Yuan in the form of a thunder ball.
It imprinted itself onto Yu Yuan's Soul Altar, becoming one of its distinct layers, marked by the vivid lightning.
The Tree of Life and the Thunder Spirit meekly surrendered their rule's secrets to Yu Yuan, allowing him to reconstruct the two shattered layers within his mind.
They harbored a deep-seated fear of Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan was the Primal Soul's chosen voice within the Abyss, once its most formidable Divine Weapon. It was through Yu Yuan that the Primal Soul ensured their compliance.
Those they had selected to speak for them, once overpowered by Yu Yuan, were also vanquished by his hand.
Their memories were haunted by the dreadful images of Yu Yuan's wrath.
Though Yu Yuan had slain the vessels of their will, they still felt the pain as if it were their own.
Furthermore...
Yu Yuan had not battled the Titan Spinosaurus. Before his demise, he had already achieved parity with the Primal Soul, holding equal standing within the Abyss.
In his later years, Yu Yuan was no longer a mere representative of the Primal Soul but more akin to an ally.
The Primal Soul of the Abyss could not possess him; any actions it wished to take required Yu Yuan's counsel and agreement.
In this regard, Yu Yuan could be considered the true Lord of the Abyss.
The plant essence and the Thunder Spirit had always drifted in the shadows, privy to many secrets.
They were also aware that Yu Yuan's previous fall was the result of a joint effort by the Titan Spinosaurus and the Primal Soul of the Abyss.
Yu Yuan had indeed been defeated, paying with his life, but his resurrection and the reconstruction of four layers of the Soul Altar in his consciousness, along with the presence of Primal Blood and Primal Vitality from the Origin Realm, suggested that Yu Yuan would return even stronger than before.
The outcome of the prolonged struggle between him and the Primal Soul of the Abyss remained unpredictable. As a result, the plant spirit and the Thunder Spirit had no choice but to comply with Yu Yuan's demands, not daring to defy him. "You have secured your right to exist in the future," he declared.
Yu Yuan felt a sense of satisfaction as he sensed the intricate and profound rules being etched into the green leaf and the thunder ball in his palm, and he observed the formation of two new stages within his mind. Before his descent into darkness, a platform corresponding to the Primal Vitality revealed the soul's complete mysteries, triggering a flood of new memories.
He came to understand that the plant and Thunder Spirit inhabitants of this place had been subdued by him, leading them to ally with the Primal Soul of the Abyss and willingly remain in the shadows. His recollection of the origins of these two Primal Animas was patchy, as if the memories had been forcibly fragmented, preventing him from piecing them together fully.
"I've forgotten where you two originated from. And from where did I bring you to the Abyss?" Yu Yuan inquired abruptly. The Tree of Life's branches and its expansive foliage began to retract towards its trunk, shivering subtly.
Shortly after, it relayed a startling revelation. The plant spirit and its native continent were home to Mother Earth—a superior Primal Anima. They were intrinsic to this world, which was, in fact, the Origin Realm. The area Yu Yuan now gazed upon, teeming with the violent and chaotic energies of the Abyss, consisting of seventy-two lands and seven Abyssal layers, was truly the sky of the Origin Realm. This territory had once been theirs, belonging to the plant spirit and Mother Earth—it was not the Abyss.
Beneath the boundless darkness lay the true Abyss. The forces of the Abyss emerged from this obscurity, with the Primal Soul of the Abyss revealing itself in the endless depths, corrupting the continent where the Earth Spirit resided and drew sustenance. This land gradually became populated with numerous Abyssal creatures.
Generations of these beings, along with the Evil Gods, were all creations of the Primal Soul of the Abyss. Yet, these Abyssal progenies seemed immature and failed to satisfy the Primal Soul of the Abyss. Thus, from the darkness below, the Genesis Continent emerged. On this land, known as the Genesis Continent, the human race materialized, resembling the embodiment of a higher wisdom.
"The first person is you."
"When the Genesis Continent emerged from the darkness, you were already there. You formed beneath it, and together with the Genesis Continent, you came into our view."
"After you, seeds drifted from the Genesis Continent and fell upon our land. Only then did the new human race emerge."
The plant spirit spoke with a hint of fear.
Yu Yuan's face changed.
Fragments of memories struggled to coalesce within his emerald table, desperately trying to form a complete picture, yet seemingly thwarted by some force, they remained incomplete.
Yu Yuan was utterly bewildered.
The seven layers of the Abyss where he found himself were not the Abyss at all, but the Origin Realm.
The Primal Soul of the Abyss had stepped out from the true Abyss, spreading its influence in the boundless darkness, spawning numerous Abyssal creatures on the lands of Mother Earth.
Dissatisfied, for it had not met its expectations, it then brought forth a new continent from the darkness.
This land was the Genesis Continent.
Upon this newly surfaced land, there was one person from the very start, and that person was him!
It was after him that the seeds of the human race scattered across the continents of Mother Earth and the Tree of Life, mingling with other Abyssal races, and ultimately elevating humans to become the Gods of the Abyss.
This was the vision witnessed by the plant spirit.
"Share with me your knowledge. Once I have inscribed your rules onto these two layers, I will return to the Genesis Continent and have a word with that darkness."
...
In the desolate expanse of the unknown Astral Domain.
Yu Yuan brought his palm down, unfurling a tapestry of blood-red worlds above the head of the Direbear.
Hundreds of Cosmic Giant Beasts roared, as though from the depths of the River of Time, exerting their force upon Sekou. The brutish bear and the Earth Spirit within him plummeted into the abyssal gloom.
Crack crack!
Sekou's bones splintered, then rapidly regenerated.
The fearsome fangs of the smilodon clamped onto Yu Yuan's arm, but as he burst into hearty laughter, shaking his limb, the teeth crumbled to dust.
The shattered teeth sparkled like stars, radiating the profound mysteries of their bloodline.
Yu Yuan's free hand balled into a fist and struck the Heaven-Shattering Hammer.
Boom!
The Ape wielding the Heaven-Shattering Hammer, along with the hammer itself, were sent reeling by Yu Yuan's forceful punch. Blood gushed from the broken arm bone, and his chest was stained crimson.
The Death Viper, sensing the gravity of the situation, retreated to stand behind Yu Yuan.
He was too intimidated to join the battle and instead kept his distance, casting frequent glances toward Yuan Le.
The Death Viper came to the stark realization that their combined strength was no match for Yu Yuan. Only with the return of Yuan Le's true form could they hope to defeat Yu Yuan.
Ji Ningshuang, on the verge of slaying the black goat within its own starry domain, paused in confusion upon receiving a message from Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan instructed her to return, to cease her combat efforts, informing her that further fighting was pointless.
Ji Ningshuang hesitated.
At the summit, the Beast God Temple trembled mightily.
The doors of the Beast God Temple swung open, and Yuan Le's true form emerged, while his Blood Clone retreated back into the inner sanctum.
"Enough!" Yuan Le bellowed.
The Earth Spirit, inhabiting Sekou, along with the Death Viper, the Ape, and the smilodon, had been valiantly withstanding Yu Yuan's onslaught just outside the mountain.
His commanding roar brought a moment of clarity to the Beast Gods, halting their struggle against Yu Yuan.
"My king?"
The five Beast Gods turned their gaze to Yuan Le, puzzled by the sudden turn of events.
With the mountain, the Beast God Temple, and their presence, wouldn't they be unbeatable in the Origin Realm?
Surely, Yu Yuan, at the eleventh level as a Solar Spirit, couldn't withstand the full might of the Lord of Ruin?
"We're returning to the Wasteland."
Yuan Le inhaled deeply, his complexion pallid, as he issued his resolute command.
The faces of the five Beast Gods registered shock. They struggled to comprehend the retreat; the path had seemed clear, with no insurmountable obstacles in sight. Why was Yuan Le ordering a withdrawal now?
"We must evacuate swiftly. If we delay, it may be too late."
Yu Yuan interjected. He exchanged a meaningful look with Yuan Le and cast a sympathetic gaze upon the Ape and the Direbear. "It's uncertain how many of you Beast Gods will survive the journey back."
The five Beast Gods exchanged furious looks, suspecting that he was overstating the danger.
Yuan Le exhaled a weary sigh and declared, "Prepare to head home."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The shattered celestial fragments, remnants of the stars and realms destroyed by Yu Yuan, were drawn to the mountain like iron filings to a magnet, adhering to its flanks.
The mountain appeared quite bizarre, adorned with numerous hanging shards.
"The moment Bertain steps out of the Evil Temple, he will hunt you down. At that point, he will be possessed by the Primal Soul. I trust you'll be prepared to confront him," Yu Yuan gestured for Yuan Le and the mountain to depart, seeking to carve out some precious time for himself.
Having consumed the Primal Soul of this realm, it now wielded control over all beings except for itself and the Sky Fiend, as well as numerous Evil Gods from the Abyss, effectively bringing the Abyss and the Origin Realm under its dominion.
Yuan Le, along with the Primal Blood within the mountain and the Earth Spirit, having ventured into the Origin Realm, would not be permitted to leave without a struggle.
Should the mountain make its way back to the Wasteland, it would pose a significant challenge to manage Yuan Le and the Primal Blood within the world they had meticulously crafted.
Consequently, the most straightforward solution was to swiftly eliminate all interlopers from the Wasteland.
With Yuan Le's demise in the Origin Realm and the subsequent fragmentation of the mountain, the Primal Blood and the Earth Spirit would fall under its control, pledging allegiance as the Blazing Fire and the Thunder Spirit had done before.
This was its ultimate desire.
