C2090 The Cruelty of the Primal Anima!
Suspended above the Abyss, Cao Jiaze, his body torn and lacerated, clutched a flag as he stood within the Maw of Oblivion. He allowed the profound energy from the Everlands to purify his meridians and bones. Yet, his injuries were too severe, and his power recoiled upon him, preventing timely recovery.
Yuan Le, wielding the Heaven-Shattering Hammer, was willing to risk the integrity of his weapon and his own substantial energy to shatter Cao Jiaze's form and expel his spirit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each strike, the Heaven-Shattering Hammer plummeted from the heavens into the Maw of Oblivion, sending millions of sparks scattering.
Yuan Le cackled with a ghastly glee.
Meanwhile, Yu Yuan had managed to extricate himself from the Genesis Continent. His Solar Spirit and physical form remained linked through their shared bloodline and soul, allowing him to witness all that transpired with his body. He realized that his Demonic Vessel, which had plunged into the Heart of the Everlands, had been seized by an old ally.
As the Demonic Vessel emerged from the Heart of the Everlands, Yu Yuan's body and Solar Spirit momentarily felt a connection, which quickly faded.
Boom! Boom!
The mountain quaked, and the Primal Blood Continent glowed with a sinister crimson light. Suddenly, the convulsing mountain began to absorb the stars surrounding it, prepared for the Beast God, incorporating them into its mass, causing it to swell.
The mountain's hue shifted to the gray-black of Phoenix Ashes. At its summit, where the Beast God Temple stood, a blood mist enveloped the area, spawning robust vegetation teeming with life.
The summit had transformed into a wondrous land, freshly reborn and brimming with vitality, a stark contrast to its former barrenness. The Wasteland's Earth Spirit lacked the power to bestow such vibrancy upon the mountain.
Chen Qinghuang's perch, the branches of the Uxthar Tree, reached uncontrollably toward the mountain, as if yearning to penetrate the swirling mist at its peak. The Secular Bird Queen's eyes reflected an unusual hue.
In that instant, panic filled the eyes of Sekou, who, unlike Yuan Le, had not yet set foot in the Beast God Temple.
The Direbear's heart came to a sudden halt.
A moment before, the Primal Anima that had created him amidst the mountains had lost its blood connection with him.
He felt forsaken.
"Yuan Le!"
Desperate and sorrowful, he called out to the Lord of Ruin, who stood above the Maw of Oblivion, striking down upon Cao Jiaze, "It, it... seems?"
Yuan Le's face turned ashen.
The blood mist swirling around the peak of the grayish-black mountain released an odd vitality that set off alarms in Yuan Le's mind.
Feeling a sense of unfamiliarity, he realized something was amiss and decided to turn back.
Suddenly, a streak of blood light burst forth from the towering mountain, aiming straight for Yuan Le's chest.
Yuan Le was visibly taken aback by the sight of the blood light.
Instead of resisting, he allowed the blood light to seep into his chest, infusing his beast heart with tremendous force and a conscious spirit.
Crack, crack!
Yuan Le's beastly bones emitted peculiar sounds. Beneath his hair, which shimmered like blood crystals, numerous acupoints birthed their own unique worlds of life.
It was as if the billions of creatures from the Wasteland were dwelling within Yuan Le's acupoints, parasitically inhabiting his body.
In that instant, Yuan Le, as if embodying the very essence of the Wasteland's inhabitants, saw his aura soar to new heights and once again he plunged towards Cao Jiaze, who was retreating into the Maw of Oblivion.
A myriad of vibrant, blood-colored beams of light cascaded from Yuan Le's body, piercing through the Maw of Oblivion.
Even the Demon Lord, Tan Xiaotian, whose self-awareness was being overtaken by Yuan Le, felt utterly powerless in his presence.
Before the Maw of Oblivion could rupture, Tan Xiaotian swiftly departed, preceding Cao Jiaze.
Following Tan Xiaotian's departure, a green-black source of light also vanished from the Maw of Oblivion, taking the flag with it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Maw of Oblivion, which had materialized due to the Lizard, could not bear the overwhelming force and burst apart.
Cao Jiaze was drenched in blood, the Soul Pillar in his mind shattered, and his eyes were destroyed.
He stood alone, a lifeless husk, in the vast emptiness.
His cultivation had plummeted from the exalted primordial spirit to the Unbound realm. The Marks of the Celestials in his sleeve, which hadn't had the chance to demonstrate their power, silently disintegrated into nothingness.
"Enough!" Yu Yuan bellowed.
Yuan Le turned, casting an indifferent glance at him before soaring back to the mountain's summit, sparing Cao Jiaze's life.
"Yu, Yu Yuan?" Cao Jiaze, blinded, recognized the voice. His bloodied face turned towards the sound.
"Yu Yuan, is it you? Where am I? My memories, my mind..."
Clutching his head, Cao Jiaze realized his memories were still trapped in the Everlands. Countless fragmented images surged through his mind, yet none could form a complete picture. His sea of consciousness was drained of Soul Power, his bones largely shattered, and his tendons snapped. His once-solid foundation of cultivation had crumbled repeatedly.
He had forgotten so much.
"Am I dying?" he wondered aloud, his sightless eyes lifted. Yu Yuan seemed a towering presence, as if he filled the entire void.
But as Cao Jiaze looked up, the fully manifested Solar Spirit within Yu Yuan suddenly shrank a thousandfold. Moments later, Yu Yuan stood at Cao Jiaze's height, stepping onto the now-diminutive Dragon Slaying Stage to face him.
Cao Jiaze's realm had degraded to that of the Solar Spirit, and the Solar Spirit within his lower elixir field was crumbling like brittle sand, stripped of all spiritual energy.
He could no longer maintain his Solar Spirit.
"When I was preparing for ascension, I could sense you constantly. It was an odd sensation. I felt as though you were always watching over me, and at the very edge of my soul, you were already there," Cao Jiaze said with a wry smile. Drained of all potential and strength, he was still oblivious to his fate.
"Eventually, my soul consciousness was engulfed by an all-consuming darkness, leaving me devoid of any sensation."
"I was confined within the darkness, trapped inside the Soul Pillar I had forged within the recesses of my own mind."
At this point in his tale, Cao Jiaze succumbed to the Spirit Walk state.
The shattering of the Soul Pillar led to the destruction of his primordial spirit.
With the Solar Spirit gone and the heaven soul vanished, all that remained of his Spirit Walk was a solitary Lunar Spirit.
His physical form continued to crackle and pop as his bones shattered relentlessly.
Such was the plight of Cao Jiaze, a figure of sorrow to Yu Yuan. Cao Jiaze, who had been used as a mere backup by another, seemed destined for tragedy from birth.
The sole purpose of Cao Jiaze's existence was to serve as a vessel for that entity's descent, to manifest its power at a predetermined moment, and nothing more.
"You will have another life, even if it's as a mere Lunar Spirit. I will ensure your rebirth!"
Yu Yuan gazed at him and declared with gravity, "Release your Lunar Spirit from your body and enter my Dragon Slaying Stage. I will forge a new path for you. Once reborn, do not follow the same spiritual path as before, lest you fall prey once more to being overtaken and exploited by that entity."
Yu Yuan mourned for Cao Jiaze, as well as for his past self.
The distinction between him and Cao Jiaze lay in his former strength; he was powerful enough to host the will of that entity without perishing, even channeling its mightier power.
Just like Yuan Le at this very moment.
The blood light, having vanished into the Maw of Oblivion, now emerged from Yuan Le's body.
The Lord of Ruin awoke once more, fully aware of the recent events.
"Why?"
Yuan Le surveyed the strange, muddy earth beneath him, sensing the absence of the Earth Spirit, once a timeless ally of the Primal Blood. "We both existed in the Wasteland. While you slumbered, it guarded you for countless years. Why would you choose the entity from the Abyss over aiding it?"
For the first time, Yuan Le felt discontent.
Yu Yuan had honored his word, refraining from meddling in the conflict between the Phoenix Ashes and the Earth Spirit.
Yet, in the end, the Primal Blood of the Wasteland had opted for the Phoenix Ashes.
The atmosphere of the mountain had transformed. A vitality at the summit emerged, a phenomenon previously unseen.
Yuan Le was far from foolish. He understood that with the assistance of the Primal Blood in the Wasteland, the Phoenix Ashes had consumed the nascent Earth Spirit, resurrecting as the Mother Earth of the Abyss.
