C2175 Under the Darkness the Nine Layers of Seals
The Abyss of Truth was a realm of death and desolation.
A gleaming stone platform soared through the Otherworld, aimlessly seeking signs of life.
Ballo and Brie whispered to each other, employing their vital energy and consciousness to perceive this novel environment. They occasionally marveled at the former splendor of this world, expressing their amazement with impressed clicks of their tongues.
Yu Yiyi was set free as well. Clutching the Crucible of Evil, her remnant soul rippled outward.
"What a formidable world. To think that even the Chaos Titan has perished in the sands of time."
She was deeply moved.
Numerous sun and moon fragments floated in the sky, still casting a faint glow.
Yet, with their combat prowess and cultivation, they could discern the contours of this world through their consciousness and vital energy, even in the absence of light in the Abyss.
"Master, aren't you concerned about leaving?" Yu Yiyi asked, her gaze filled with worry as she observed the fluctuating greenish-black spots on Yu Yuan's neck and face.
The relentless erosion from the Primal Soul continued to sap Yu Yuan's strength. They all knew that his battle with that entity had never truly ceased.
"For the moment, I'm alright."
Yu Yuan looked up at the inky firmament, contemplating a bold ascent into the enveloping darkness.
Above, he might discover the route to the Frostlands. Although he risked confrontation with the Primal Soul and the dark, at least he would have a definitive direction.
In the silent Abyss of Truth, however, he was utterly directionless, his power steadily drained by the Primal Soul.
"Let's keep searching. The Tree of Life should be here, and Bertain might be in this world as well."
The Dragon Slaying Stage echoed with the sounds of the void. Their remnant souls, consciousness, and vitality dispersed, scouring the true Abyss for any anomalies.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Yu Yiyi even released a portion of the Bane from the crucible, transforming the lesser beings into her scouts to aid in her surveillance of this realm's peculiarities.
They encountered the Chaos Titan, now one with the Starshard, each encounter leaving a profound impact on their spirits.
"It's incredible that such formidable beings once thrived in this desolate world," Brie exclaimed in awe.
They had just emerged from within a Chaos Titan shaped like a colossal fish, within which lay hidden an entire world.
In that realm, numerous skeletons bore a striking resemblance to those of the Oceanfolk from the Origin Realm, indicating that intelligent life once thrived within the world inside the belly of a colossal fish.
The territory within the belly of the giant fish was comparable in size to Ionodios, featuring numerous desiccated lakes and oceans. The lakebeds and seafloors, devoid of water, were adorned with coral and a variety of shells, forming magnificent palaces. The dome of this world was studded with innumerable, once-luminous gems and pearls.
However, shortly after their arrival, the relatively intact world began to rapidly disintegrate due to their external influence. The dimmed gems and pearls, along with the energy-depleted palaces and castles, disintegrated into dust amidst the collapse. Having witnessed similar worlds and scenes multiple times, they had grown desensitized to such destruction.
"I sense the Tree of Life!" Yu Yuan exclaimed. After an extensive search, he finally detected a strong presence of plant vitality through the Soul Altar in his consciousness, his expression brightening.
As he attempted to establish a connection, the plant spirit within the Tree of Life and the Thunder Spirit seemed even more agitated than he was.
"Why have you come?"
"Have you been exiled here as well?"
"Are you reconciled with him, or do you still stand in opposition?"
"…"
The two Primal Animas, now emotionally awakened, cautiously sent messages to the Soul Altar from a distant place, seemingly fearful of further offending him and incurring his punishment.
"We'll discuss it when we meet!" Yu Yuan decided, after a considerable wait.
Eventually, in the desolate Abyss of Truth, Yu Yuan once again laid eyes on the vast Tree of Life, its many leaves turned yellow as if it had absorbed an excessive amount of plant vitality without timely replenishment.
"Yu Yuan!" Qi Yunhong emerged from the tree's scale-like bark, the Thunder Pool secured around his waist, his exposed limbs etched with veins of brilliant lightning.
His presence was formidable, and his voice thundered with the power of thunder magic, as if he were a deity wielding the Way of Heaven. His pupils, resembling thunder balls, suggested that a mere glance could obliterate any ghost.
"Hehe, I've surpassed Wei Zhuo and now qualify to contend for the title of Supreme Thunderbolt!"
Qi Yunhong was exuberant, and with every gesture, lightning crackled and zapped around him. It was clear that he hadn't yet fully mastered his newfound power.
Yu Yuan could immediately sense Qi Yunhong's formidable strength. The plant spirit and Thunder Spirit had expended much effort, but in the Abyss of Truth, there was no energy to replenish these two Primal Anima. As a result, the leaves of the Tree of Life had turned yellow.
"We're trapped! Above us, in the darkened sky, there are nine layers of enigmatic seals. Without the power to break these seals, we can't return to the Darkland."
The consciousness of the plant spirit manifested helplessly in Yu Yuan's mind.
It explained that it had attempted to escape after the Thunder Spirit had bestowed thunder magic upon Qi Yunhong and after it had transformed his flesh and sinew. The Tree of Life had soared towards the heavens.
But as the Tree of Life neared the dome, the nine-layered seal emerged out of nowhere.
A terrifying force was unleashed, and a blinding divine luminescence erupted, forming an intricate pattern of the Way of Heaven's profound mysteries that neither he nor the Thunder Spirit could decipher.
Their escape was thwarted by the nine layers of seals. Despite repeated attempts, neither he nor the Thunder Spirit could make the slightest dent in the barrier.
They hadn't even managed to breach the first layer of the seal.
"Below the darkness, the nine layers of seals loom!"
Yu Yuan was deeply stirred by this revelation.
In his true form within the Abyss of Truth, he had been cut off from his Solar Spirit for quite some time and was unaware that it had reached the Wasteland with the Wellspring of Creation and that cluster of vital energy.
Yet, the memory of losing an arm while probing the Wellspring of Creation was still fresh in his mind.
He vividly recalled that the seals around the Wellspring of Creation also had nine layers, and that divine radiance erupted when the flesh and sinew collided.
"We are ensnared by the same nine layers of seals. To leave this realm, we must shatter these nine layers."
With this realization, Yu Yuan's resolve solidified.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, in the high skies of the Abyss, three clusters of spirited body beast souls materialized.
A colossal blood-boned elephant, a golden-patterned leopard, and a hyena.
These were the three mighty Beast Gods of the Wasteland!
Without the need for their beast souls to be refined, their appearance in the Abyss was fleeting as they began to dissipate.
They emerged abruptly, right above Yu Yuan's head in the dark expanse, their beast souls shining brightly, making them immediately noticeable to him.
"Why would the souls of the Wasteland's Beast Gods suddenly appear here?"
Puzzled, Yu Yuan quickly manifested the Soul Altar at his brow as the three clusters of beast souls fell apart, shining its light to search through the memories of the three Beast Gods.
The beast souls disintegrated rapidly in the Abyss, turning swiftly into smoky wisps.
Their Soul Power, drawn by the dark canopy above, vanished into the upper darkness without triggering the ninefold barrier, becoming dense Soul Power within the darkness.
Yu Yuan wore a perplexed expression.
Before the three beast souls vanished, he employed the Soul Altar's Mindflay technique to capture their most recent memories.
He witnessed himself standing at the Wellspring of Creation, alongside the Moonfang Tiger, fervently trying to break through a blood-red barrier to enter the Wellspring.
It was an alien world, one familiar to the three Beast Gods, the Wasteland!
His Solar Spirit had taken the Wellspring of Creation to the Wasteland, where the three Wasteland Beast Gods were drawn into it while pursuing the Moonfang Tiger.
And now, their beast souls had somehow ended up in the Abyss!
"Master, have you discovered something?"
Yu Yiyi, noticing his odd demeanor, inquired softly.
"The Wellspring of Creation reaps the flesh and blood of the mightiest, whose souls are then dissolved and manifest directly here. Once the souls of the mighty perish, their Soul Power ascends to the dark realm above. It's no wonder that such boundless Soul Power exists in the infinite darkness, becoming part of its force," Yu Yuan murmured to himself.
The plant spirit and Thunder Spirit, aware of the Wellspring's bizarre properties, began to chatter excitedly once more.
Ballo exclaimed in astonishment, "I'm not familiar with the Wellspring of Creation, but it seems the Beast Gods of the Wasteland must have returned there. If what you say is true, then the Wasteland is likely where the three Beast Gods met their end!"
"Yes, they perished in the Wasteland," Yu Yuan confirmed with a nod.
Ballo was staggered, "How can that be? How is that even possible?"
"We are in the true Abyss, an Abyss that doesn't border the Origin Realm. If the Beast God of the Wasteland is dead, how can its beast soul manifest here?" Brie said, scratching his head in disbelief.
Yu Yuan offered a simple explanation about the Wellspring of Creation and the peculiar vital energy, saying, "I have a feeling that the nine-layered seal can be interconnected."
