C2084 I Once Hunted a Primal Anima

"Yu Yuan, what's going on?"

Tan Xiaotian, who had been observing from the sidelines, stroked his chin thoughtfully and spoke with a deep resonance, "Has your real body ventured into the depths of the World of Darkness beneath the Abyss?"

Since ascending to the status of Dark Overlord, he had severed a part of his essence. Even the Dark Anima from the Genesis Continent shied away from him.

He had been unable to connect with the Dark Anima within the Dark Realm.

But just now, the Dark Anima from the Genesis Continent of the Abyss had unexpectedly reached out to him.

Tan Xiaotian realized immediately that a significant change was underway.

At that moment, Yuan Le's real body emerged from the Beast God Temple, but rather than joining forces with the five great Beast Gods to besiege Yu Yuan, he seemed intent on withdrawing.

Tan Xiaotian's curiosity was piqued.

"The Primal Soul of the Everlands has been consumed by our creator, becoming unfathomably powerful. The entire host of the Star-Spawned Terrors, Bertain included, 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 coveted, the thing it most desires, is something of the same essence as itself."

"Other Primal Animas can only enhance it marginally, but the Primal Soul of the Everlands and the Primal Vitality of the Wraithlands can offer it substantial aid."

"Particularly the Primal Soul of the Everlands—once fully integrated and refined by it, its sphere of influence will be terrifying beyond measure."

"Tan Xiaotian!"

Yu Yuan turned to face the Demon Lord, whose complexion had dramatically shifted, and declared gravely, "You won't be able to escape its grasp either! Before, after you shed a portion of your instinct, you managed to preserve your sense of self. But now, it has evolved beyond your capacity to withstand. You..."

He sighed softly before adding, "Once it has enslaved Bertain, you and Lin Daoke will be next."

Tan Xiaotian, with a grim expression, retorted icily, "Even after ascending to the eleventh level and becoming a Dark Overlord, I can't escape it?"

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

Tan Xiaotian's demeanor deflated instantly, "Naturally, I am no match."

"If the Demon God Bertain can't escape, what makes you think you can?" Yu Yuan bluntly stated, unafraid of being harsh. "Human, all the Star-Spawned Terrors related to it will be unable to flee once Bertain is enslaved."

He paused, then turned to look at Ji Ningshuang, stopping short of speaking further.

Ji Ningshuang, who was still mastering the Stardust Blade and had not yet attained the eleventh level, was also a human. Yu Yuan's words had clearly left her feeling uneasy.

Should Tan Xiaotian fail to withstand the Abyss's malevolence, she too would not be spared.

"If even Bertain succumbs, who else in this world could possibly stand against it?"

Ji Ningshuang's icy gaze, tinged with anxiety, shifted to the star that glowed red.

The star, housing Primal Blood, quivered slightly amid their discussion, as if sensing the unrest.

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

"The further away, the better. Distance yourself from its dominion as much as possible. Ideally, you should completely extricate yourself. As long as you remain in the Abyss or the Origin Realm, once Bertain is subjugated and fully under its control, both you and Lin Daoke will have no chance of escape," Yu Yuan explained his strategy.

Tan Xiaotian listened intently, careful not to miss a single detail.

After a moment, he inquired, "Yuan Le, you mentioned there's a soil in the Wasteland that's well-suited for me, Tan Xiaotian? Would you allow me to propagate the Dark Way of Heaven, so that the Dark Anima that is my creator might gain strength from it?"

"This..."

Yuan Le's face flickered with indecision, and he hesitated to commit.

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

The Earth Spirit, inhabiting the bear's form, reached out to Yuan Le through arcane means.

"There is a tract of land that aligns with my essence."

Through Sekou's eyes, it regarded Yuan Le with a detached gaze, communicating its message silently.

"The land is known as the Phoenix Ashes, existing alongside the Uxthar Tree in the Origin Realm. Indeed, it is an Earth Spirit, self-proclaimed as Mother Earth, and was once a high-ranking Primal Anima."

Yu Yuan gazed into Sekou's eyes and understood that he was in communication with Yuan Le, deciphering the thoughts being conveyed.

The mountain quivered slightly, turning its chest toward Yu Yuan.

Then, with a questioning look in his eyes, he asked, "A high-level Primal Anima? Moreover, how can you sense my inner voice?"

"I have hunted many Primal Animas like you before. The high-level Primal Anima known as Mother Earth was one of my prey when I served as the Lord of the Abyss," Yu Yuan stated emotionlessly.

Yu Yuan's words caused the Crimson Star, home to the Primal Blood and Extreme Coldness, and the high mountain, the hiding place of the Primal Blood and Earth Spirit, to shake violently.

...

"That giant lizard has lost its mind!"

The Phoenix Ashes was swarming with formidable members of the Shadowkin and Wingkind. Brie, the Shadowkin leader, watched the frenzied Abyssal Greater Basilisk in the Star River behind him and exclaimed, "What is it thinking? Is it so desperate to catch up with us that it's willing to risk its life?"

Crack!

The Abyssal Greater Basilisk's bright silver scales shattered as it surged forward, oblivious to any pain.

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

Life and death had become inconsequential to it.

The lizard's tail, bristling with menacing spikes, resembled a spiked club stretching for miles, stirring the void and creating a vortex of space to propel it forward.

Having overtaken them, the Starborne Lizard spilled its blood across the cosmos as a sacrifice, even tapping into the power of the void.

Known as the Starborne Lizard, it was adept at wielding space magic. When it fully unleashed its bloodline's power, it could outpace the Phoenix Ashes.

Brie watched Chen Qinghuang with deep concern. She had taken on a human form.

Chen Qinghuang had sustained severe injuries from her battle with Zhiya, the Dark Phoenix. As she used the divine tree to regain her strength, many branches of the Uxthar Tree withered.

At her zenith, the Secular Bird Queen wouldn't have needed the divine tree to force the Abyssal Greater Basilisk to retreat.

But now...

"Your Majesty, where are we headed?"

Unable to contain his concern any longer, Brie looked up at the continuously withering leaves and spoke to Chen Qinghuang, "What's the deal with that infected old lizard?"

The Shadowkin and Wingkind were both deeply concerned, troubled by the fearless and relentless old lizard.

"There's a mountain that has emerged from the Wasteland," Chen Qinghuang whispered.

In that moment, after enduring a fierce battle, she spotted a glimmer of red light in the far-off sky. Deprived of her imperial crown, her pale face was faintly touched by the distant light, gaining a hint of rosiness.

"He has seen me. All is well now," Chen Qinghuang breathed a sigh of relief, confident that she was no longer in danger from the ferocious old lizard.

"Who?" Brie exclaimed, startled.

"Yu Yuan."

The empress closed her eyes, content, and ceased to draw power from the Uxthar Tree in her frenzied state. She remained still, perched upon a leaf.

Meanwhile, the luminous Phoenix Ashes seemed to slowly recover fragments of memory. The rate at which the ashen Hallowed Ground absorbed energy from the cosmos abruptly slowed, a sign of its sentient and sapient nature that astonished the Uxthar Tree.

Through their unique form of communication, the Uxthar Tree learned that the Phoenix Ashes' regained memories were mostly of being torn asunder. In the vast expanse of darkness, a figure had cleaved a landmass larger than Tyria into segments.

That figure was none other than Yu Yuan!

Furthermore, the Uxthar Tree glimpsed a seed buried within the Phoenix Ashes, a seed that had journeyed through the Star Rivers of the Origin Realm alongside the sacred soil. The existence of the Phoenix Ashes was intrinsically linked to this seed.

"The Origin Realm once harbored a Tree of Life, which was ensnared by the forces of the Abyss, becoming part of it. A seed from the Tree of Life, along with the Phoenix Ashes, experienced rebirth in the uncorrupted reaches of the Origin Realm," Yu Yuan's grand Solar Spirit declared, addressing the Phoenix Ashes as the red light intensified.

The Uxthar Tree listened to Yu Yuan's words and had an epiphany. It realized that it was born from a seed of the Tree of Life, which had succumbed to the darkness of the Abyss. The Tree of Life and the Shattered Continent were intrinsically connected.

The continent had been shattered, and within it, the Earth Spirit had perished. The Tree of Life, faced with no other choice, had surrendered.

Before this calamity, a seed from the Tree of Life, along with a fragment of the Earth Spirit, had acted as a contingency. It had burst forth from the Abyss and now drifted through the starry expanse of the Origin Realm.

"No wonder I can't resist it; it's the essence of my being. I am akin to the Lunar Meridian or the Solar Meridian," Uxthar Tree realized with a start.

Whoosh!

The Phoenix Ashes materialized in the desolate and silent expanse of the starry sky, where the cosmic energy had been sapped by a towering mountain.

In this starry void, there stood only a solitary mountain and a deep red star.

Present were Yu Yuan, Ji Ningshuang, Tan Xiaotian, Yuan Le, and a handful of others.

Boom! The ground trembled!

Both the mountain and the Direbear were stirred by the arrival of the Phoenix Ashes.

It was as if they were parched wanderers who had finally glimpsed a refreshing spring, knowing the sweetness and relief a single sip would bring.

"Secular Bird Queen."

Yuan Le, on the verge of departure, caught sight of the weakened Chen Qinghuang, seated in meditation upon a verdant leaf. His expression was tinged with complexity, as if he was grappling with unspoken words.

Yu Yuan flashed a cold grin, his gaze fixed on Yuan Le.

Yuan Le lapsed into silence once more.

During his time in the Ashlands, he had used a Blood Clone to attempt to sway Chen Qinghuang, urging her to reach out to him once she emerged from the Ashlands.

He had vowed to aid the Secular Bird Queen in her quest to vanquish the Dark Phoenix Zhiya.

He had further promised to share the riches of the Origin Realm and the Wasteland with the Secular Bird Queen.

Chen Qinghuang, who had been meditating with her eyes closed, opened them upon hearing his hushed call. Yet, she did not glance at Yuan Le; her gaze was fixed on Yu Yuan.

"It's dead," she stated simply.

"I'm aware," Yu Yuan replied, nodding. Observing the Phoenix Ashes cautiously avoiding him, he squinted towards the mountain and said with a sly smile, "Who will merge with whom remains an open question."

The Earth Spirit within the mountain was but in its nascent stage.

The Phoenix Ashes, on the other hand, were once the embodiment of a high-level Primal Anima, born in the Abyss, and of the same tier as Primal Blood and Primal Vitality.

If the Earth Spirit of the Wasteland seeks to ascend to the next level using the Phoenix Ashes, it might face a backlash from the Phoenix Ashes themselves, potentially allowing Mother Earth to use this opportunity for her own resurrection.

The outcome will hinge on who possesses greater strength and who can secure more assistance.

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