C2096 The Shattered Earth

In the fifth level of the Abyss, there were sixteen vast continents.

One such continent, known as Breluan, was home to the Horned Demon race.

This race had even produced an Evil God.

Regrettably, the Horned Demon's Evil God perished while attempting to besiege Bertain, who had crossed into their realm wielding his devil soul.

The loss of their Evil God plunged the Horned Demon race into despair, causing their morale to take a severe hit.

As the humans from the Everlands ventured into the Abyss, they appeared disinterested and largely ignored the wider world's affairs.

Without their Evil God, the Horned Demons struggled to maintain a foothold in the Abyss, let alone harbor ambitions of conquering the Star River.

They clung to their territory, pinning their hopes on the might of their own champions, yearning for the emergence of a new Evil God to ascend with the Horned Demon race to the upper reaches of the Abyss.

Then, one fateful day, the Breluan Continent began to tremble violently; mountains crumbled, and the once-solid earth gave way to numerous muddy swamps.

Many Horned Demon clansfolk perished, some swallowed by gaping fissures, others crushed beneath falling rocks, and yet more suffocated in the engulfing mire.

In a tragically brief span, the Horned Demon inhabitants of Breluan faced near annihilation.

The continent itself had seemingly morphed into a ravenous beast, eradicating the Horned Demons born of the Abyss's Primal Soul in a display of ruthless cruelty.

The remains of the deceased Horned Demons, along with the potent energies of the Abyss, were siphoned away by the land.

The once-immobile landmass, like a colossal floating stone, began ascending towards the upper layers of the Abyss.

The strange upheaval of Breluan sent shockwaves through all the denizens of the Abyss.

For as long as memory served, the seven levels of the Abyss and its 127 continents had remained constant, with no recorded instance of continental drift.

Yet, a horrifying transformation swiftly took place once more.

On the sixth level of the Abyss, two other continents suffered the same fate as Breluan.

These landmasses obliterated the inhabitants of the Sapphire Snail, Fragrant Miasma, and Blood Fang tribes, all of whom were then propelled towards the lofty skies of the Abyss.

The land in flux seemed to respond to a call, as if eager to break free from the Abyss.

At the summit of the Abyss, Jihui, Van Heqing, and Lu Hongpeng stood in a realm where the energy of the Abyss was at its densest. They observed the Breluan Continent drifting from the fifth layer to the first, the source of the Abyss's light.

At that moment, Jihui had become the linchpin for the human factions within the Abyss.

Yet, of late, he had been plagued by confusion, his mind foggy, his heart seemingly caught in an endless struggle.

In his sea of consciousness, the image of Yu Yuan in the Ashlands would sometimes surface, revealing Yu Yuan's Demonic Vessel. Occasionally, Yu Yuan would gaze at him, murmuring softly.

This familiarity compelled him to heed Yu Yuan's words, to serve him as his master.

But deep within his heart, other voices would emerge, insisting that this was not the path.

Jihui, his thoughts muddled, watched Breluan ascend from the Abyss's fifth layer, feeling utterly bewildered.

"Jihui?"

"What's going on?"

"What should we do?"

The cultivators from Ebon Star, Sword Sect, and Sunlit Order, including Van Heqing and Lu Hongpeng, were all unsettled by the Abyss's anomalies and sought Jihui's guidance.

"Let me inquire."

After a moment's hesitation, Jihui attempted to reach out to the master he held in his heart.

He sought to connect with Yu Yuan, whose presence he occasionally perceived.

...

In that instant, Lin Daoke remained alone in the Sword Cave, now separated from the Abyss.

Ssssh! Ssssh!

Within the depths of Lin Daoke's consciousness, a blinding snow-white sword light flickered incessantly.

Whenever an alien consciousness or power tried to infiltrate, he would cut it down with his primordial spirit sword.

Lin Daoke's sword heart remained clear and luminous.

He gazed upon his peers in the Sword Cave, his eyes settling on Van Heqing and Lu Hongpeng. He noticed that the soul marks within the primordial spirits of these Grand Sword Immortals were distinct from his own.

These soul marks were in complete harmony with the primordial spirits of Van Heqing and Lu Hongpeng, indistinguishable from one another.

Even he, not adept in Mind Magic, was unable to erase the soul marks from Van Heqing and Lu Hongpeng's minds without causing them harm. Lin Daoke, devoted to swordsmanship, had never delved deeply into the mysteries of the soul. Yet, with his unwavering focus and a heart as clear as his sword heart, he successfully resisted the encroachment of the Abyss's Primal Soul.

Tan Xiaotian, despite having ascended to the eleventh level and possessing a deep understanding of Spirit Magic through his connection with the origin of the Abyss and the Eternal Alliance, could not evade the pervasive influence of the Primal Soul. Even the Demon God Bertain, a master of Mind Magic, struggled against the relentless assault of the Primal Soul.

However, Lin Daoke, the master of the Sword Sect, who had dedicated his life to perfecting his swordsmanship and harbored the unwavering ambition to transform his primordial spirit sword into the source of the sword, astonishingly withstood the ever-intensifying Primal Soul of the Abyss.

"Yu Yuan is right," Lin Daoke mused from atop the Sword Cave, observing the human cultivators scattered throughout the various levels of the Abyss. He slowly recognized that even exalted beings like Jihui, Van Heqing, and Lu Hongpeng could no longer withstand the Primal Soul, regardless of whether they had an origin in their minds or not. Their thoughts and consciousness had been subtly altered and their souls eroded.

Suddenly, Lin Daoke's thoughts turned to Ann Ziqing, Taixu, Tianqi, Xuanli, and others who, as if heeding a mysterious call, had descended into the deepest darkness of the Abyss. "They must be searching for Yu Yuan."

After a brief hesitation, Lin Daoke let the Sword Cave descend, entrusting it to Van Heqing, Lu Hongpeng, Yue Mu, and other Grand Sword Immortals of the sect. Then, he alone, with his sword in hand, plummeted toward the lowest reaches of the Abyss.

"Uh!" Upon reaching the fifth level of the Abyss, Lin Daoke sensed something awry and stealthily came to a halt. The seventh level was utterly consumed by darkness; the highest levels' light sources were obscured, and not a single beam could penetrate the gloom.

At that moment, the darkness of the seventh level surged toward the sixth, like a sentient cloud of shadows.

Lin Daoke looked down and saw the thick darkness, like a vast curtain of night, slowly drifting out.

It seemed that all thirty-two continents on the sixth level would soon be engulfed by the dark.

The inhabitants of the Abyss on this tier might never witness light again.

"Yu Yuan!"

Just then, Lin Daoke watched as Yu Yuan emerged from the inky depths below, joining him on the fifth level of the Abyss.

"Eh, you actually..."

Yu Yuan, who had been alerted to the changes in the Abyss by the Tree of Life and the Thunder Spirit, had traveled from the Dark Realm.

Upon his arrival, he immediately detected the presence of that individual within the souls of Jihui, Van Heqing, and Lu Hongpeng.

Knowing that person's tendency to target the strongest first, Yu Yuan had expected Lin Daoke to be the primary victim.

Surprisingly, Lin Daoke's soul was pristine, untouched by the corrupting soul mark that could warp one's thoughts.

While the Dark Overlord Tan Xiaotian had succumbed to the invasion, and the Demon God Bertain was desperately resisting, Lin Daoke, the most straightforward and unassuming among them, remained unaffected.

"How did you manage that?"

Yu Yuan inquired, intrigued.

"What?"

Lin Daoke responded, taken aback.

"The force that sought to erode your soul and twist your consciousness—how did you fend it off?"

"With a single sword strike."

Yu Yuan fell silent.

After a pause, he continued, "What brought you down here? And what are your future intentions?"

"I'm not versed in the arcane of the soul, or else I could have eradicated the foreign influence within Van Heqing's mind and the others. It doesn't belong to them," Lin Daoke confessed candidly. "I came looking for you to see if you might have a solution."

Yu Yuan's eyes sparkled. "We can discuss this matter shortly."

Boom! Boom!

The fifth and fourth levels of the Abyss were once again upheaved by Mother Earth, extinguishing the lives of the Abyssal races dwelling there as they fled towards the heavens.

Below, the boundless darkness churned, relentlessly surging upward.

Darkness threatened to envelop the land of the Abyss once more, striving to prevent the lands birthed by Mother Earth from breaking free of its clutches.

"You don't get to decide!"

Yu Yuan uttered a cold snort.

Simultaneously,

As the towering mountain within the Stellar Oblivion drew near, the Uxthar Tree rooted upon it began to shine with a green, divine light.

The intricate patterns within a verdant leaf vanished, as the divine light converged, transforming it into a smooth, reflective surface.

Billions of miles away, Yu Yuan's real body utilized the Soul Altar within his sea of consciousness to shine upon this green leaf, making it mirror-like.

His image was cast onto the leaf through his Soul Altar.

"Mother Earth!"

His heartfelt intentions reached out through the leaf, using the Uxthar Tree rooted in the mountain to penetrate deep into the earth's core.

Within the belly of the mountain, the Primal Blood and the slowly awakening Mother Earth were jolted by his presence.

"Let's strike a deal."

"It's Yu Yuan!"

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