C2084 I Once Hunted an Origin Spirit

"Yu Yuan, what's going on?"

Tan Xiaotian, who had been observing from the sidelines, stroked his chin thoughtfully and spoke with a grave tone, "Has your true form ventured into the depths of the Darkness World beneath the Abyss?"

Having ascended to the Supreme of Darkness, he had separated a part of his essence, and now, even the Darkness Origin Spirit from Creation Land was evading him. He had been unable to connect with the Darkness Origin Spirit within the Dark Domain.

Yet, just moments ago, the Darkness Origin Spirit from the Abyss's Creation Land had unexpectedly reached out to him. Tan Xiaotian sensed that a significant change was imminent.

At that time, Yuan Li's true form emerged from the Beast Temple, but he did not join forces with the five mighty Beast Gods to besiege Yu Yuan. Instead, he seemed intent on withdrawing. Tan Xiaotian's curiosity was piqued.

"The vast Origin Soul of Hao Ran has been consumed by our Founder, becoming unimaginably powerful. The entire Outland Devaputra Race, including Beilstein, will be powerless to challenge its will. They will gradually come to believe that it is the true creator, their ultimate origin."

"What it has always craved, the thing it most desires to possess, is a being of the same origin."

"Other Origin Spirits can only enhance its power marginally. Only Hao Ran's Origin Soul and the Origin Soul of the Outland Devaputra can offer substantial aid."

"In particular, Hao Ran's Origin Soul, once fully integrated and refined by it, will amplify its influence to an extraordinarily terrifying degree."

"Tan Xiaotian!"

Yu Yuan turned to face the Demon Master, whose features had dramatically shifted. He spoke with a stern urgency, "You won't be able to escape its grasp either! Before, after shedding a portion of your instinct, you managed to retain your identity. But now, it has become something beyond your resistance. You..."

After a poignant sigh, Yu Yuan added, "Once it has enslaved Beilstein, you and Lin Daoke will be next."

With a grim expression, Tan Xiaotian asked coldly, "Even after reaching the Eleventh Level and becoming a Supreme of Darkness, I can't break free?"

"How do you stack up against Beilstein?" inquired Yu Yuan.

Tan Xiaotian's expression deflated instantly, like a frostbitten eggplant. "Clearly, I am no match."

"If the Great Demon God Beilstein can't escape, what makes you think you can?" Yu Yuan spoke bluntly, unconcerned about the impact of his words. "Human, any Outland Devaputra related to Beilstein won't be able to escape once it enslaves him."

He paused, then turned to Jee Ningshuang, his words trailing off.

Jee Ningshuang, still mastering the Starfrost Sword and not yet at the Eleventh Level, was a fellow human. Yu Yuan's declaration left her feeling uneasy.

If Tan Xiaotian couldn't withstand the abyss's evil, she too would struggle to avoid the same fate.

"If Beilstein is overcome, who in the world could possibly stand against it?"

Worry flickered in Jee Ningshuang's icy gaze as she looked towards the star glowing red. The star, housing Origin Blood, quivered slightly amidst their conversation, as if it too sensed the disquiet.

"Yu Yuan, is there any temporary way to evade it?" Tan Xiaotian interjected.

"The further away, the better. Keep as much distance as possible from the realms it controls. Ideally, you'd break free entirely. As long as you're in the abyss or Origin Realm, once Beilstein is enslaved, both you and Lin Daoke will inevitably be trapped," Yu Yuan explained his strategy.

Tan Xiaotian listened intently, hanging on every word.

After a moment, he inquired, "Yuen Bu, is there soil in the Desolate Realm that would suit me, Tan Xiaotian? Would you allow me to propagate the Great Dao of Darkness, enabling the Darkness Origin Spirit that created me to gain strength from it?"

Yuen Bu's face flickered with indecision, and he hesitated to commit.

Suddenly, the mountain housing the Beast Temple began to tremble.

The spirit of the earth, manifesting through the bear form of the Beast God, reached out to Yuen Bu using its secret arts.

"There is a land that shares my essence."

With an impassive stare, it conveyed its message to Yuen Bu.

"The land is known as Muddy Divine Soil, coexisting with the Hannya Divine Tree in the Origin Realm. Indeed, it is an earth spirit, self-proclaimed Mother Earth, once a high-level origin spirit."

Yu Yuan gazed into Sekou's eyes and immediately understood that it was in communication with Yuan Li, deciphering the thoughts it wished to convey.

The mountain quivered subtly, turning its chest towards Yu Yuan.

Then, with a questioning look in its eyes, it asked, "An advanced Origin Spirit? Also, how can you hear my inner voice?"

"I've hunted many Origin Spirits like yourself. Among them was an advanced Origin Spirit known as Mother Earth, whom I killed during my time as the Abyss Lord," Yu Yuan stated emotionlessly.

The words of Yu Yuan sent the scarlet star, home to the source blood and extreme cold, and the mountains of the Desolate Realm, where the source blood and the spirit of Mother Earth resided, into a sudden and violent tremor.

...

"That giant lizard has lost its mind!"

In the Muddy Divine Soil, a gathering of Dark Elfkind and Winged Race elites watched as Brie, the chieftain of the Dark Elfkind, eyed the rampaging Abyss Goanna in the radiant galaxy behind them and exclaimed, "What is it thinking? To catch up with us, is it willing to forsake its own life?"

Crack!

The Abyss Goanna's silver scales shattered as it charged forward, oblivious to any pain.

The breaking of its scales seemed to be a result of the old lizard tapping into its life force, recklessly speeding along without a care.

Life or death had become inconsequential to it.

The lizard's tail, bristling with menacing spikes, resembled an endless mace, swirling through the void and creating spatial vortices for propulsion.

It had overtaken them, spilling its blood across the cosmos as a sacrifice, even tapping into the power of the void.

Known as the Deep Sky Lizard, it was adept at manipulating spatial forces. When it fully unleashed its bloodline's power, it soared faster than one could traverse the Muddy Divine Soil.

Brie's face darkened with concern as he watched Chen Qinghuang, who had assumed a human form, perched upon the branches of the Hannya Divine Tree.

Chen Qinghuang had sustained grave injuries in her battle with the Demon Phoenix Zhiya. As she drew upon the divine tree to replenish her strength, many branches of the Hannya Divine Tree withered away.

If the Secular Bird Queen were at her prime, she wouldn't need the support of the divine tree to make the Abyss Goanna keep its distance.

But now...

"Your Majesty, where are we headed?"

Unable to contain his concern any longer, Brie gazed up at the increasingly barren branches, now shedding their yellowed leaves, and addressed Chen Qinghuang within, "What's the deal with that tainted old lizard?"

The Dark Elfkind and the Winged Race were both deeply concerned, troubled by the relentless and fearless old lizard.

"There is a mountain that comes from the Desolate Realm," Chen Qinghuang whispered.

At that moment, having just endured a fierce battle, she caught sight of a shimmering red light in the far-off heavens. Her once pale face, now unadorned by her crown, seemed to be touched by the distant glow, gaining a hint of rosiness.

"He has seen me. All is well now."

Chen Qinghuang breathed a sigh of relief, seemingly assured that she was out of harm's way and no longer needed to fear the ferocious old lizard.

"Who?" Brie exclaimed in surprise.

"Yu Yuan."

The queen rested her eyes in tranquility, ceasing her frantic draw of power from the Hannya Divine Tree. She remained motionless, perched upon a leaf.

In that instant, the luminous Muddy Divine Soil appeared to slowly recover fragments of its memory. The rate at which the grayish-black Divine Soil absorbed energy from the cosmos abruptly slowed. Sentient and wise, its aberration caught the Hannya Divine Tree off guard.

Through their unique form of communication, the Hannya Divine Tree discovered that the Muddy Divine Soil's reclaimed memories were filled with images of it being sliced into segments. In the boundless depths of darkness, a figure had cleaved a landmass larger than the Tia Main Planet into fragments. Astonishingly, that figure was Yu Yuan!

Furthermore, the Hannya Divine Tree observed a seed buried within the Muddy Divine Soil, drifting through the vast star rivers of the Origin Realm. This seed was inseparable from the Muddy Divine Soil; where the soil existed, so too did its representative seed, always nestled within.

"In the Origin Realm, there once stood a divine tree, bound by the forces of the abyss, becoming part of it. A seed from this divine tree, alongside the Muddy Divine Soil, experienced rebirth in an untainted corner of the Origin Realm," the narrative continued.

The radiant red light grew in intensity, transforming into the towering figure of Yu Yuan as the Yang God, addressing the Muddy Divine Soil.

The Hannya Divine Tree listened to Yu Yuan's speech and came to a sudden realization: it had originated from the seed of the divine tree, and the divine tree that had succumbed to the abyss, along with the fragmented continent, were intrinsically linked.

The continent had been shattered, and with it, the spirit of the earth perished. The Hannya Divine Tree, facing this catastrophe, chose to surrender.

Prior to this, a seed of the Hannya Divine Tree had parted ways with the Earth Spirit, bursting forth from the abyss to drift among the stars of the Origin Realm.

"No wonder I can't resist it. It's my origin, akin to a Yin or Yang Meridian," the Hannya Divine Tree epiphanized.

Suddenly, the murky Muddy Divine Soil materialized in the starry sky, now devoid of energy due to the towering mountain's presence.

This celestial expanse was home to nothing more than a solitary mountain, a deep red star, and a handful of individuals including Yu Yuan, Jee Ningshuang, Tan Xiaotian, and Yuen Bu.

Boom! The mountain and the Earth Bear trembled as the Muddy Divine Soil arrived.

They were like parched souls who had finally glimpsed a refreshing spring, understanding the sweetness of its waters.

"Secular Bird Queen," Yuen Bu called out, upon noticing the weakened Chen Qinghuang meditating on a verdant leaf. His expression was a mix of emotions, as if he was on the verge of speaking.

Yu Yuan flashed a cold grin, silencing Yuen Bu with a look.

In the Gray Domain, Yuen Bu had sent a blood avatar to convince Chen Qinghuang to reach out to him with an animal bone once she was free, promising to assist the Secular Bird Queen in her quest to vanquish the Demon Phoenix Zhiya. He had also offered to share the riches of the Origin Realm and the Desolate Realm with her.

Chen Qinghuang, roused by his call, opened her eyes, but instead of looking at Yuen Bu, her gaze settled on Yu Yuan.

"It's dead," she stated simply.

"I'm aware," Yu Yuan responded, nodding. He watched the Muddy Divine Soil move cautiously, as if evading him, then turned his gaze back to the mountain with a sly smile. "It's uncertain who will merge with whom."

The mountain's spirit was merely nascent, while the Muddy Divine Soil's predecessor, the Earth Spirit born in the abyss, had once been a high-level Origin Spirit, equal in rank to the Origin Blood and Origin Soul.

Should the Earth Spirit of the Desolate Realm seek to ascend to the next tier through the Muddy Divine Soil, it might instead be consumed by it, potentially allowing Mother Earth to resurrect through this exchange.

This will come down to who possesses greater strength and who can secure more assistance.

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