C2135 No Trace of Him
The Shura warriors, witnessing the Frostlands strewn with the fallen God-Kings of Boulderdawn, were engulfed in despair and a sense of helplessness. Their eyes and hearts brimmed with intense hatred and the most venomous of words, yet they dared not utter a single one.
"Mr. Zhong," Elena hesitated before speaking, "during our escape, we encountered cultivators from Ebon Star and Ethereal Void, riding giant dragons as their steeds."
Zhong Chichen's expression grew grim. When he, along with Loong Jie, the little spinosaurus, and the Abyssal Leviathan, had departed from the Ashlands, not all of the Nagas could be brought along. Only those with a higher bloodline level had been summoned through the Book of Time.
Many dragons that had migrated from the Everlands to Tyria via Wintermaw possessed bloodline levels too low to either be suitable for the Book of Time or endure the tumultuous void travel, leaving them stranded on Tyria.
At that time, the Sky Fiend had undergone a transformation, and the God of Ghosts, along with other spectral beings from the Wraithlands, had fled. All of humanity's supreme beings were under the influence of that one entity. The powerful among the Otherkin had all but vanished.
Initially, the concern was merely that the Ashlands had become unsafe. No one anticipated that shortly thereafter, the Gods, Sky Fiend, and Evil God would unite and mercilessly slaughter all living creatures.
The news of Ebon Star and Ethereal Void cultivators hunting alien beasts astride giant dragons in the extraterrestrial Star River left Zhong Chichen feeling anything but pleased.
"Mr. Zhong, you should feel fortunate. Since the Nagas originated in the Everlands, perhaps they bear its mark, which is why they still live, albeit as mere mounts, rather than being completely eradicated," Elena remarked.
"You haven't witnessed the annihilation of our Shura's Astral Domains, where Blood Warriors of the eighth and ninth levels were massacred."
"The Starborn, the enchantresses, and all the other once-dominant races, their calamities are the true nightmares," Elena continued, her voice growing increasingly somber.
Having ascended to the rank of Blood King after her bloodline's advancement, Elena felt a profound connection to the Frostlands. There, she sensed that Ji Ningshuang had traveled to the frontier, seemingly on the verge of opening a 'window'.
Elena felt a deep sense of gratitude toward Ji Ningshuang.
She also observed Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit and the Secular Bird Queen, Chen Qinghuang, engaged in conversation in a distant realm.
The stunning beauty of Chen Qinghuang and the icy elegance of Ji Ningshuang, coupled with their profound connection to Yu Yuan and their esteemed positions, left Elena, who had ascended to the title of Blood King, wrestling with feelings of inferiority.
She had no desire to seek an audience with Yu Yuan, unwilling to disturb the harmony between the two women.
Therefore, she remained on the star that housed the Frost Well, directing her platinum Shura subordinates to seek out additional high-ranking Shura survivors.
...
"There's a trace of your life force within that girl," Chen Qinghuang remarked, her gaze slowly drifting back from the distant stars. She fought to suppress the increasingly profound symbols of death in her mind, saying, "I need to find a secluded area, away from everyone else, to decipher these symbols in my mind."
With those words, she disregarded Yu Yuan's pleas and drifted away on her own.
Yu Yuan watched her intently, taking solace in the fact that she did not rush out of the Frostlands and was still within this world.
Elsewhere.
"I'm going to return to the other side for a moment."
Yu Yuan informed Tan Xiaotian, the Abyssal Leviathan, and the others with his real body. Amid their astonished stares, he approached the crystalline wall.
Thanks to the synergy between the Primal Blood and the intense cold, he was able to pass directly through.
As his real body ventured into the darkness, his Solar Spirit promptly arrived, standing vigilantly at the edge of the Wellspring of Creation.
...
In the boundless expanse of the Darkland.
Yu Yuan, having returned, leaned against the crystalline wall, ready to retreat at a moment's notice should the situation sour.
He was aware that the Primal Blood and the extreme cold were also on the alert on the other side, closely monitoring his every action.
With a whoosh, the rich and pure Soul Power from the darkness surged wildly into his forehead. His Soul Altar, nestled within his sea of consciousness, greedily absorbed the energy.
The top tier of the altar turned a vivid shade of green, and the weariness in his spirit and soul was swiftly alleviated.
Reinvigorated, he extended his senses, curious to see if the Primal Soul that had once claimed him as the Undead Sovereign had remained in this place during his absence.
His perception zeroed in on the Genesis Continent, where he sensed tranquility.
Deep within the Genesis Continent, he sensed a sphere of darkness as black as ink. His perception and thoughts subtly skirted around it, avoiding the risk of venturing inside.
Beyond that, his senses reached out infinitely in all directions, thanks to the restoration of the Soul Altar.
Neither the Primal Soul nor the Dark Anima made any sudden appearances, nor did they seem inclined to engage him in battle once more.
He could not ascertain whether the Primal Soul and the Dark Anima were aware of his return or if they were present in the World of Darkness.
Shortly thereafter, his thoughts and perception soared from the depths of darkness to the seven tiers of the Abyss.
His bond with the Abyss thus grew stronger.
He observed numerous human cultivators who had delved into the Abyss departing through the "void door" previously forged by Jihui and Arthurs.
He overheard their conversations.
From this, he discovered that the newly unveiled Everlands were teeming with the violent and chaotic energies of the Abyss, seemingly more intense than those here, drawing the cultivators toward the Everlands.
Many formidable beings of the Abyss, not having ascended to the status of an Evil God, lacked the credentials to leave.
Yet, it seemed they were granted passage by Jihui, and with the guidance of the emerging Evil Gods, many from the Abyssal races dwelling on the floating continents also departed through various "void doors."
The Starborn, Dawnbringers, Shura, and enchantresses had perished in great numbers within the Origin Realm, leaving many territories and Astral Domains vacant.
The Evil Gods, hunters of Otherkin life, would visit the Abyss to find suitable land for their kin and guide a portion of their people there.
The Abyssal races were on the move, migrating from their seven-layered world toward the Origin Realm.
The floating lands above the darkness were not overly expansive; when compared to the vastness of the Origin Realm, they amounted to just a few Astral Domains.
Upon learning of the Origin Realm's abundant resources and the existence of rare treasures not found in the Abyss, those races, bound by a brutal competitive system, became fiercely envious.
To remain in the Abyss meant they had to ascend through its layers.
The warriors from the lower Abyss, without a breakthrough in their bloodline level, could never surge to the upper tiers.
This harsh rule had now been shattered.
Within their kin, if an Evil God were to be born and survive the siege on Bertain, such an Evil God would return, leading their clansmen to the Origin Realm of their choosing.
The abyssal race gradually migrated from the Abyss, taking root and flourishing in the Origin Realm.
Clearly, this had his silent consent.
He was broadening his reach and amassing strength, all the while diminishing the power of Primal Blood and Primal Vitality.
As the Soul Power within the Soul Altar grew more abundant, Yu Yuan sought the presence of Jihui and the Most High of the Sword Sect.
Yet, he discovered that Jihui, Zu Ann, Qin Luo, and the Grand Sword Immortal of the Sword Sect were nowhere to be found in the Abyss.
The land within the seven layers of the Abyss was diminishing, the Light Spirit of the highest layer had vanished, and the abyssal energy seemed to be thinning out.
It appeared that after the Abyssal Gate was shattered, the cosmic energy of the Origin Realm had diluted it.
Yu Yuan suddenly felt that the seven layers of the Abyss were being forsaken due to the fracturing of the Abyssal Gate and because he had consumed the vast Primal Soul of the Everlands, granting him the power to encroach upon the Origin Realm.
The Origin Realm far exceeded the seven layers of the Abyss in every way, and that was not the true Abyss.
The seven-layered world above the darkness was his domain as the Lord of the Abyss, while the darkness below the seventh layer belonged to the Dark Anima.
Beneath that darkness lay the desolate Abyss of Truth, the realm of both the Dark Anima and himself.
After an extensive search, Yu Yuan concluded that the human cultivators remaining on the seventh layer were not worth the effort to pull from above and laboriously return to the Frostlands.
Some time later, once his weariness had fully dissipated and the Soul Altar in his mind brimmed with Soul Power, he stealthily withdrew to the Frostlands.
