C2143 Spread the Death!

"How does the Great Demon God Bertain emerge from the Holy Temple in the Everlands?"

After Yu Yuan departed, Youyu gazed at the ancient tree with curiosity, eager to learn of its capabilities.

"The key lies within his daughter."

Infusing spiritual sense into the ancient tree's Primal Vitality, the message resonated within the Soul Altar in Yu Yuan's mind, allowing him, though distant, to listen clearly.

As the message from the Primal Vitality spread, a grayish-white glow emanated from the center of the Soul Altar in Yu Yuan's consciousness.

"Kaiya, born of both human and Sky Fiend, was created by Bertain. Her soul shares a profound bond with his. She has been practicing Spirit Magic under my guidance and once sought to draw near to me."

"She acquired a portion of Mind Magic through the Lunar Meridian in the Everlands. After her departure, I kept a watchful eye on her."

"Her devil soul is uniquely extraordinary, bearing the imprint of the Everlands' Primal Soul. During her time in the Star River, she delved into the Bloodbrawlers' arts of reincarnation. She is the key that the great Demon God Bertain intends to use to unlock the Wraithlands."

"Should she face a life-threatening crisis, with her devil soul on the brink of collapse, it would instinctively alert Bertain."

"Regardless of his circumstances, unless he is overtaken, Bertain will be roused. Driven to rescue Kaiya, he will burst forth from the Holy Temple. I sense that her life is of utmost importance to Bertain."

The Primal Vitality provided this insight.

Bertain would only leave of his own accord if his daughter faced imminent death, without being possessed.

Whoosh!

The Dragon Slaying Stage reemerged in Straikepera.

Yu Yuan, standing upon the Dragon Slaying Stage, fixed his gaze ahead, his expression turning grave.

In mere moments, Chen Qinghuang underwent another transformation, rapidly nearing the threshold of Zagreus.

A colossal greenish-gray Divine Bird, with wings that could eclipse the sky, circled above Chen Qinghuang's head.

A pall of death cast by the Divine Bird shrouded her real body.

This Divine Bird was the Solar Spirit of the secular bird.

The greenish-gray Divine Bird, once a vibrant manifestation of her Solar Spirit, now lay lifeless. Its cold, sharp eyes glimmered with a deathly gray light, devoid of any spark of life.

Deep within the Divine Bird's gaze, enigmatic symbols of death loomed, ominous and foreboding.

A sense of decay, desolation, and a deathly stillness emanated from the massive greenish-gray Divine Bird, spreading its chilling presence.

To Yu Yuan, Chen Qinghuang's creation, a Divine Bird sculpted from her Solar Spirit, felt eerily similar to the aura dispersed by the Ghoul King—utterly devoid of the vibrancy characteristic of living beings.

Using his Soul Altar, Yu Yuan, who had delved into the Secrets of Life, discovered an absence of blood flow within the Divine Bird. Its flesh was shriveled and lifeless, resembling an ancient relic that had decayed for millennia.

As the greenish-gray Divine Bird took to the air, its wings stirred up colossal Dead Storms, which coalesced the death force of the Straikepera.

With a tearing sound, the murky depths of the gray Dead Storms were laced with blinding lightning and ghostly white flames—a harbinger of annihilation.

Beneath the Divine Bird, Chen Qinghuang's expression was one of cold detachment, as if she were an otherworldly deity.

She shadowed the Divine Bird, a product of her own Solar Spirit, as it swiftly soared toward the Zagreus.

The colossal Dead Storms continued to siphon the life force from the Astral Domain, now silent in the wake of her passage.

Far away, Yu Yuan, standing upon the Dragon Slaying Stage, felt the influence of the gray Divine Bird's aura. It was as if his own flesh and blood were being eroded, vitality seeping away.

His brow furrowed in concern.

Primal Vitality had warned that the symbols imbued with Death Magic were damaging to him, yet they might prove immensely beneficial to Chen Qinghuang.

Perhaps they could grant her insight into a more profound level of death force, enabling Chen Qinghuang to ascend to supreme power using this force.

"Secular bird, death force, symbols..."

Flashes of spiritual insight sparked within Yu Yuan's mind, illuminating his thoughts as he sought to uncover some pivotal connection.

He pondered the Spring of Death and the entry of Arthurs.

Then, as if struck by spectral lightning, a revelation flashed within the Soul Altar of his consciousness.

Arthurs, who entered with the flag, possessed a profound knowledge of the Origin Realm, the Abyss, and the Wasteland. He was intimately familiar with all three realms.

The Titan Spinosaurus, the Secular Bird, Bertain, Lin Daoke... including himself.

Arthurs was well-informed about the current state of the Abyss and the Origin Realm, as well as their respective power structures and the Wasteland's layout.

If Arthurs had been stripped of all his secrets by the anomaly within the Spring of Death before his demise.

Or if Arthurs hadn't perished but was instead confined by the anomaly in the Spring of Death, then through him, it would have learned about the conditions within the Origin Realm and the Wasteland.

It also knew there was a Secular Bird Queen in the Origin Realm who, after slaying Deathwings in her early years, had mastered Death Magic.

Moreover, she had reached an extraordinarily advanced level of growth.

The anomaly sent the empty pole, engraved with the symbol of death, which presumably had the power to seek out Chen Qinghuang and brand her with the symbol, enabling it to amass even greater strength.

The anomaly must have been certain of the Secular Bird Queen's presence in the Origin Realm and understood the influence and outcomes the symbols' appearance would generate to act so deliberately!

Meanwhile.

His Solar Spirit, left behind in the Frostlands, sat at the edge of the Wellspring of Creation and suddenly tuned into the heart's voice of Primal Blood.

Primal Blood seemed to have also detected something amiss and cautioned him to be wary of the Secular Bird Queen.

It also explicitly informed him that the secular bird's core power and talent used to be regeneration.

And it was the power of regeneration that fell under the domain of Primal Blood, which had once shown favor to the secular bird.

Only after the secular bird vanquished the peculiar Deathwings and integrated the death force into her bloodline did Primal Blood completely abandon her.

This revelation coincided with the words of Primal Vitality.

His Solar Spirit and Primal Blood, in communication with his real body, learned that the Moonlit Wanderers and the Stoneborn had suffered persecution in the Zagreus Astral Domain. Through the messages spread by Zhong Chichen, they discovered an entrance to the Frostlands within the Straikepera Domain, prompting their migration.

Three Voidfarers raced through the frigid Star River, pursued by howling Sky Fiends.

It was these same Voidfarers that unexpectedly encountered the Secular Bird Queen en route to Zagreus.

Above Chen Qinghuang's head, the massive azure-grey Divine Bird beat its wings, unleashing a storm brimming with death force upon the oncoming Voidfarers.

The Voidfarers, forged of silver and iron, began to rust as the death force enveloped them, appearing as if time had corroded them for eons, rendering them unusable.

Hundreds of warriors from the Moonlit Wanderers and the Stoneborn, upon seeing her Solar Spirit manifest as the secular bird, eagerly emerged from their cabins, hoping to catch her gaze.

Indeed, she looked upon the excited Stoneborn and Moonlit Wanderers through the eyes of the azure-grey Divine Bird.

Plop! Plop!

The bodies of the Stoneborn and Moonlit Wanderers warriors fell stiffly, breathless before they even touched the ground.

With just one look, hundreds of Stoneborn and Moonlit Wanderers lay dead.

The Sky Fiend, in pursuit of the Moonlit Wanderers and Stoneborn, was stunned by the sight of the Divine Bird and decided to retreat back to Zagreus.

"The Secular Bird Queen!"

"Since it's her, we must consult the High Priest and Lady Kaiya!"

"Quickly, let's flee!"

The Sky Fiends roared as they retreated.

Whoosh!

The Divine Bird above Chen Qinghuang's head soared gracefully, its wings stirring a hauntingly beautiful pale white flame that swept over the Sky Fiends.

As the Divine Bird passed, the Sky Fiends dissipated, transforming into pure Soul Power.

Upon their deaths, the Sky Fiends' souls did not enter the Path of Undead but became Soul Power in the cosmos, to be consumed by other Sky Fiends.

Chen Qinghuang's real body continued its flight towards Zagreus, while the greenish-grey Divine Bird she had become was slowly fading.

The Divine Bird entered Zagreus right before Yu Yuan's eyes.

"Kaiya."

Yu Yuan's brow twitched.

He had intended to stop Chen Qinghuang, but after hearing the words of the Primal Vitality, he realized that only when Kaiya faced danger would the Demon God Bertain be compelled to protect her.

Bertain, driven by his deep love for his daughter, would leave the Holy Temple as long as she hadn't been entirely taken over by the Demon God.

Consequently, Yu Yuan, with hesitation in his heart, quietly followed behind.

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