C2106 The Evil Creature in the Darkness
On the outskirts of the Dark Domain, Jee Ningshuang wielded the Starfrost Sword, tracing a shimmering river of icy sword light through the air. This radiant river harnessed the energy from the surrounding frosty mist, solidifying into a glistening new barrier of ice.
Jee Ningshuang's wrist, as pale and delicate as jade, was guided by this formidable power. Her skin began to crack under the strain, but the intense cold prevented any blood from escaping. Instead, her blood crystallized into glinting ice shards within the crook of her moonlit arm, casting a hauntingly beautiful glow.
The fractures first marred Jee Ningshuang's wrist and arm, then crept up her slender, alabaster neck, and eventually reached her ethereal face. Her visage, once flawless, now bore the intricate web of cracks akin to a precious porcelain vase that had suffered a blow.
Yet, this was merely the external toll. Within Jee Ningshuang's flesh, the network of veins and sinews threading through her body also began to rupture. Even as she honed the strength of gold metal, as if tempering her very bones, she could not endure the overwhelming force of the extreme cold. Following the possession by the will of the cold, her body sustained varying degrees of damage.
She was not of the Eleventh Level, and to halt the encroaching darkness, she had no choice but to exert her full might.
Atop the Dragon Slash Platform, Yu Yuan's countenance was somber as he observed the actions taken by the vessel that was Jee Ningshuang. The intensity in his gaze deepened with resolve.
"You must remain composed; it has to be done this way," the Secular Bird Queen gently counseled beside him, her elegant brows knit with concern. "If the Dark Domain remains unsealed, evil from the other side could breach our defenses at any moment."
Chen Qinghuang paused, her voice laden with anxiety, "The remaining safe havens within the Origin Realm's Starfield are dwindling."
Yu Yuan's frown deepened in silent contemplation.
Below the platform, Taishi and Cao Jiaze emerged as two silhouettes, separated by a translucent celestial veil. They, too, implored Yu Yuan to refrain from intervening at this critical juncture.
Having unlocked the full mysteries of the extreme cold and with her strength augmented by the source blood, Jee Ningshuang was bound by duty to act. The power that now surged through her, a pact between her and the extreme cold, was a consensus long established.
Drawing in a breath of the icy air, Yu Yuan steadied himself, his gaze never leaving Jee Ningshuang. He attuned himself to the subtle shifts in her form, ready to intervene and remedy the situation at a moment's notice.
The endless Frost Energy rapidly crystallized, forming crystals that plunged into the river of sword light, transforming it into a wall of ice that continued to voraciously consume the Frost Energy.
Should any dark force from the other side collide with the wall, it would instinctively draw upon the Frost Energy from the Dark Domain to fortify itself.
The wall had the ability to concentrate Frost Energy from various locations to withstand the onslaught.
As the Origin Blood Continent entered the Dark Domain, where the Extreme Cold also resided, not even the combined efforts of Tan Xiaotian and Jianmu could shatter this crystalline barrier.
Soon, only a small, unrepaired crack remained.
At that moment,
Yang God Yu, at the Eleventh Level, abruptly rose to his feet on the Dragon Slash Platform.
He gazed into the boundless darkness with astonishment.
He could see nothing.
Nor could he sense his own true form on the other side, or the ghostly body that was possessed.
Yet, he felt the presence of something else.
It was akin to a colossal mass of flesh, teeming with countless Life Seeds, all utterly alien to him.
These Life Seeds were as wildly chaotic as the aura of the abyss, brimming with an inherent lust for slaughter, destruction, and annihilation—an aura of extreme malevolence.
This entity, as if surfacing from the darkest depths, concealed a fleshly essence more fearsome than the Origin Blood itself.
It was grotesquely twisted!
The Life Seeds within the mass dwarfed those of the Origin Realm, the Dark Domain, and the Desolate Realm by an unfathomable scale.
They were locked in eternal combat, as though they had been warring for eons, an endless cycle of conflict.
Yu Yuan's Eleventh Level Yang God, originally refined from the Origin Blood of this realm, was now in the Dark Domain, perceiving a dreadfully twisted power within that aberration.
This wasn't a distortion of the soul.
It, along with the horrific power of flesh it unleashed, was beyond the familiar realms of the Abyss Origin Soul!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Chen Qinghuang's heart raced. She, who had just been counseling Yu Yuan, was unaware of what had transpired.
Yet, she was drawn to the darkness, yearning to approach the mysterious fleshly entity, to merge with it, to become one with it.
The Secular Bird Queen, having broken free from the being that had consumed the Vast Ocean Origin Soul, found herself uncontrollably drawn towards the entity that had emerged from the dark abyss.
Simultaneously!
The diminutive spinosaurus, Chaos Roc, Loong Jie, ground beetle, Monolith Tortoise, Zhong Chichen, Ann Ziqing, and Tai Xu.
These formidable beings, with bodies of flesh and blood, had evolved through the power of Origin Blood and ascended to the Tenth Level. Involuntarily, their gazes were drawn to the lingering small rift.
They saw nothing, yet they sensed an anomaly luring them forward, compelling them to draw near, beckoning them to merge with it.
It was as if madness had overtaken them all.
Yu Yuan's heart shuddered with alarm, aware that whatever had emerged from the dark abyss was indescribably fearsome.
He was concerned for his true self that had plunged into the darkness, questioning whether it possessed the capability to confront such an entity or the strength to extricate itself.
Those who had been brought to the Dark Domain, along with the colossal beasts whose power of flesh and blood had reached a certain threshold, seemed to have caught the attention of the dark enigma, all falling under its influence.
Apart from Yu Yuan, at the Eleventh Level, who could withstand the allure of that entity, not even the Secular Bird Queen was spared.
"Seal it quickly!"
Yu Yuan, unable to focus on anything else, commanded Jee Ningshuang, who was under the influence of extreme cold.
Turning his attention to the Origin Blood Continent, where Zhong Chichen and the others had already gathered, he inquired telepathically, "What lurks within the darkness? What has driven them to such madness?"
The Origin Blood remained silent.
After a moment, it responded, "A massive mass of blood and flesh, tainted and twisted. Within it resides... the presence of my kin."
Yu Yuan was astounded.
His kin, of course, referred to the Origin Blood!
Yet, in Yu Yuan's recollection, and according to the understanding of all the Abyss Evil Gods, including the entities of flora, thunder, and luminous spirits, there was no mention of Origin Blood existing in the Abyss.
"There are no others like me in the Abyss. There might have been one in the past, perhaps deceased or devoured by that entity," the Origin Blood elaborated.
Yu Yuan, with acute perception, realized that the Origin Blood had only just discovered the distorted mass of blood and flesh, prompting the revelation of a kin that had once manifested in the Abyss.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Jee Ningshuang, overtaken by the Frost Energy, swung her sword wildly, creating a cascade of sword light. Her crystalline body was marred with numerous delicate wounds.
Both the Frost Energy and the Origin Blood were desperate, no longer heeding Yu Yuan's promise; they couldn't afford to.
If Jee Ningshuang couldn't withstand the power of their arrival and perished in the Dark Domain, they would rapidly seal the breach to prevent the darkness from spreading.
The emergence of a power that profoundly affected flesh and blood caused both the Frost Energy and the Origin Blood to shudder with unease.
"Don't go there!"
"Remember, you must not go there!"
"If you dare, I will exert all my strength to reclaim the power I've granted you and retrieve the life sequence I've given you!"
The Origin Blood, sensing Yu Yuan's thoughts of delving into the darkness, vehemently dissuaded him, "That mass of distorted flesh and blood is unknown to us, and I sense a threat. It's a terrifying entity for both you and me. We need time to understand it."
With his physical form engulfed in darkness and unable to communicate with the Yang God or stabilize the Yang God's thoughts through the Soul Altar, Yu Yuan's Yang God was unable to break free from the Origin Blood.
At this moment in the Dark Domain, the Origin Blood truly had the power to withdraw his strength.
"You are the only one who is lucid, the only one unaffected. What you need to do now is ensure everyone stays put!" The Origin Blood continued to communicate.
"Understood!"
...
A writhing mass of flesh and blood filled the vast pool, emerging from the deepest darkness.
It originated from an unseen darkness, summoned by the Origin Soul of this realm.
"Creation Pool!"
Upon glimpsing the oddity, Yu Yuan instinctively uttered the name of the flesh and blood pool.
After calling out "Creation Pool," Yu Yuan froze in shock.
However, it was his utterance of "Creation Pool" that caused a tremor in the Creation Land, larger than both VastSea and Tia Main Planet, once home to the Evil God Temple and now under the sway of the Origin Soul and the darkness.
Clang!
Space and time trembled as the frozen void shattered, reacting to the stirrings of Creation Land.
The Soul Altar, imprisoned within Yu Yuan's sea of consciousness and bound by his power, had been immobile, unable to return. Yet, due to the tremors of Creation Land, it broke free from Yu Yuan's constraints and reclaimed its place in his sea of consciousness.
Yu Yuan's mind was adrift.
This was his first venture into the Darkness World. He had observed the Evil God Temple from afar, opting to depart from this world due to Beilstein's influence.
Gazing down upon Creation Land from the heavens, he felt a profound sense of attachment and reluctance to leave.
Now, it was the very quaking of Creation Land that had shattered the sealed space-time, allowing the Soul Altar to make its return.
Whoosh!
The instant the Soul Altar re-entered his sea of consciousness, he instantly realized that the Creation Pool he had called forth was inherently one with Creation Land.
Yet, upon closer reflection, he discovered an absence of related memories.
He had clearly invoked the Creation Pool, aware of its unity with Creation Land, but his memory was a blank slate.
Jianmu, along with the Origin Soul of Thunder residing within it, had already begun to frantically evade as the Creation Pool surfaced.
To the World Tree, the writhing flesh within the Creation Pool seemed tainted and ominous.
Both Origin Spirits were stricken with terror, wanting nothing to do with it, not even a fleeting glance.
Yu Yuan, with the true essence of his Origin Blood, had forged a divine platform resembling a blood crystal, which now subtly manifested on his forehead.
It had become his third eye.
