C2090 The Source Spirit's Cruelty
In the void permeated by abyssal energy, Cao Jiaze, his body lacerated and bleeding, clutched a banner firmly within the revealed Chaos Abyss. He harnessed the profound abyss energy to purify his meridians and bones.
Yet, his injuries were too severe, and the exertion of his power was backfiring, preventing timely recovery.
Yuen Bu, wielding the Skyshatter Hammer, was determined to shatter Cao Jiaze's form despite the risk of breaking his weapon and the immense toll on himself, intent on expelling Cao Jiaze's consciousness and spirit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Like a blacksmith hammering hot iron, the Skyshatter Hammer descended time after time into the Chaos Abyss, sending millions of sparks scattering.
Yuen Bu cackled with a grim ferocity.
Meanwhile, Yu Yuan, at the Creation Land, had managed to extricate himself.
His Yang God and physical form maintained a connection through their bloodlines and souls, allowing him to witness all that transpired with his body with crystal clarity.
He was also aware that his ghostly form, which had plunged into the heart of the vast expanse, had become the vessel for an old companion's spirit.
As the ghostly form emerged from the heart of the vast expanse, both his body and Yang God felt an instantaneous connection.
But just as quickly, the sensation vanished.
Boom! Boom!
The mountain quaked mightily, and the Origin Blood Continent glowed with an eerie, crimson light.
Suddenly, the quivering mountain began to absorb the stars prepared for the Beast God, one after another, incorporating them into its mass, causing the mountain to swell.
The color of the mountain shifted, gradually taking on the same grey-black hue as the Muddy Divine Soil.
At the summit, where the Beast Temple stood, a thick blood mist fostered robust vegetation, signaling a surge of vibrant life.
The peak of the mountain had transformed into a wondrous land, teeming with newfound vitality, a stark contrast to its once barren state.
The Earth Spirit of the Desolate Realm lacked the power to bestow such vivacity upon the mountain.
The Hannya Divine Tree, home to Chen Qinghuang, reached out its verdant branches uncontrollably towards the mountain, as if longing to penetrate the mist enshrouding the summit.
The Secular Bird Queen's eyes shimmered with intrigue.
In that instant, panic filled the eyes of Sekou, who, unlike Yuen Bu, had not yet entered the Beast Temple.
The Earth Bear's heart skipped a beat.
He and the source spirit that had birthed him amidst the towering mountains had just lost their blood connection.
He felt utterly forsaken.
"Yuen Bu!"
Desperately and sorrowfully, he called out to Yuen Bu, the King of the Desolate Realm, who stood above the Chaos Abyss, striking down Cao Jiaze. "It, it... seems?"
Yuen Bu's face turned ashen.
The grey-black summit and the bloody mist exuded an odd vitality, prompting Yuen Bu to inwardly curse his luck.
Feeling a sense of alienation, Yuen Bu sensed trouble and decided to turn back.
A stream of blood light burst forth from the mountain, aiming straight for Yuen Bu's chest.
Yuen Bu paused, visibly taken aback by the sight of the blood light.
Instead of resisting, he let it seep into his chest, infusing his beast heart with tremendous force and conscious essence.
Crack, crack!
Odd sounds emanated from Yuen Bu's animal bones. Under his blood-colored prismatic fur, numerous apertures birthed their own unique worlds.
It was as if the billions of creatures from the Desolate Realm lived within Yuen Bu's pores, parasitically thriving within his body.
In that moment, Yuen Bu, as if bearing the weight of the Desolate Realm's populace, saw his aura soar, and he once again lunged at Cao Jiaze, who was retreating into the Chaos Abyss.
Colorful blood-colored streamers cascaded from Yuen Bu, piercing through the Chaos Abyss.
Tan Xiaotian, the Demon Lord whose self-awareness was being overtaken, felt utterly powerless before Yuen Bu.
Before the Chaos Abyss could rupture, Tan Xiaotian swiftly departed, leaving Cao Jiaze behind.
Following Tan Xiaotian's departure, a dark green light source also vanished from the Chaos Abyss, taking the banner with it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Chaos Abyss, gushing with abyssal energy, could not bear the strain and burst apart.
Blood smeared Cao Jiaze's face, his soul pillar shattered, and his eyes were destroyed.
He stood, lifeless as a zombie, isolated in the void.
His realm plummeted from the exalted Primordial Spirit to the Unrestrained Stage, and the Heaven Palace Seals in his sleeves crumbled silently before their might could be revealed.
"Enough!" Yu Yuan bellowed.
Yuen Bu turned, casting an indifferent glance at him before soaring back to the mountain's summit, sparing Cao Jiaze's life.
"Yu, Yu Yuan?" The blind Cao Jiaze, his face smeared with blood, turned toward the sound of his voice.
"Yu Yuan, is it really you? Where am I? My memories, my mind..."
Clutching his head, Cao Jiaze realized his memories were still trapped in the vastness of the ocean. Countless fragmented images surged in his mind, yet none could form a complete picture. His soul energy was depleted, his bones shattered, and his tendons snapped. His once solid cultivation and foundation had crumbled repeatedly.
He had forgotten so much.
"Am I dying?" he asked, his sightless eyes lifted. Yu Yuan seemed impossibly tall, omnipresent, filling the void.
In that moment, Yu Yuan's Yang God, a figure of immense power, shrank to a fraction of its size. Soon, Yu Yuan stood before Cao Jiaze, both of them on the now-diminished Dragon Slash Platform, face to face.
Cao Jiaze's realm had plummeted to the Yang God Stage, his Yang God, once seated in his lower dantian, now disintegrating like sand without its spiritual energy. He could no longer maintain his Yang God Stage.
"When I was preparing to ascend, I could sense you constantly. It was such an odd sensation. I felt as if you were always watching over me, and at the edge of my soul, you were already there," Cao Jiaze said, a wry smile on his lips. Drained of all potential and strength, he was walking towards death, still unaware of the truth.
"Then my soul consciousness was engulfed by darkness. I couldn't feel anything anymore."
"I was trapped in darkness, within my own mind, inside the soul pillar I had forged."
As he spoke, Cao Jiaze descended into the Soul Wandering Stage. When the Soul Pillar shattered, his Primordial Spirit was destroyed.
After the Yang God vanished, so did the Heavenly Soul, leaving only a Yin God in his Soul Wandering Stage. His body continued to crack, bones shattering relentlessly.
Such was the sorrowful state of Cao Jiaze, a spare to be used, his life a tragedy from birth. Cao Jiaze's sole purpose was to allow that entity to descend at a pivotal moment and demonstrate power through him. Nothing more.
"You will have another life, as a Yin God, and I will ensure you are reborn!" Yu Yuan declared with gravity. "Separate from the Yin God and enter my Dragon Slash Platform. I will forge a new path for you. Once reborn, do not follow the same spiritual path, or you will still be vulnerable to possession and exploitation."
Yu Yuan mourned for Cao Jiaze and for his past self. Unlike Cao Jiaze, he had been strong enough to embody that entity's will without perishing, even channeling greater strength, much like the current "Yuen Bu."
The blood-colored streamer that had vanished into the Chaos Abyss now emerged from Yuen Bu's body. The King of Desolate Realm awoke, fully aware of the recent events.
"Why?" Yuen Bu questioned, gazing at the strange, muddy earth beneath him. He sensed the absence of the Earth Spirit, once a steadfast ally of the Origin Blood. "Together in the Desolate Realm, it guarded you through eons of slumber. Why choose the entity from the Chaos Abyss over aiding it?"
For the first time, Yuen Bu felt discontent. Yu Yuan had honored their agreement, not meddling in the struggle between the Muddy Divine Soil and Mother Earth. Yet, in the end, the Desolate Realm's Origin Blood had sided with the Muddy Divine Soil.
The mountain's essence transformed, the summit now teeming with unprecedented vitality. Yuen Bu was no fool; he recognized that with the Origin Blood's assistance, the Muddy Divine Soil had consumed the nascent Earth Spirit, resurrecting in the guise of the Chaos Abyss's Mother Earth.
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