C2186
Atop the Beast Temple, Yuen Bu listened intently to the exposition, never once interrupting the flow of words. As he did so, the deathly power within his flesh and the skeletal symbols of death that had emerged swiftly vanished. He was far from idle.
Once Yu Yuan fell silent, Yuen Bu's lips curved into a gentle smile. "It is the reason I ascended to be the King of the Desolate Realm, imparting to me the profound truths of life. I have been granted not only eternal life for myself but also the ability to bestow the Life Keychain upon other Beast Gods. This Beast Temple even has the power to resurrect Beast Gods with just a drop of their blood."
"My loyalty to it is unwavering. I am prepared to surrender my ego and allow my corporeal form to endure its descent."
"I am its progeny. Whatever decisions it makes, I will comply without question."
"This is my duty, my responsibility! Ever since it chose me to ascend to the throne of the King of the Desolate Realm, I vowed never to betray it." Yuen Bu's voice resonated with conviction, as if renewing his oath.
Yu Yuan was taken aback. He couldn't discern whether Yuen Bu's loyalty was genuine or if, knowing that the origin blood of this realm lay beneath Creation Peak, Yuen Bu was feigning allegiance.
If Yuen Bu were a master of deception, seeking to blind it to his true intentions, he would first need to deceive himself. Positioned at Creation Peak, it should have the capacity to penetrate Yuen Bu's thoughts and scrutinize the depths of his heart.
If Yuen Bu harbored no ulterior motives and was sincerely committed to the life chariot of the Desolate Realm, indifferent to who sat as the King or to serving beneath another, Yu Yuan would hold genuine admiration for him.
Suddenly, Creation Peak trembled gently. The consciousness of the realm's Origin Blood released a crystal-clear message to Yuen Bu: once it unraveled the mysteries of the flesh within the Creation Pool and extracted the essence of the Yang God from Yu Yuan's body, Yuen Bu would remain its chosen emissary.
It promised to endow Yuen Bu with newly acquired life wisdom once more. This message was audible only to the Origin Spirit near Creation Peak and to Yu Yuan.
With a radiant smile, Yuen Bu performed a respectful bow within the Beast Temple.
"Show me the Secular Bird Queen," he requested.
Yu Yuan bowed his head, attempting to glimpse the interior scene through the temple's rocky walls.
He gestured for Yuen Bu to open the doors of the hall, ensuring that the Secular Bird Queen was indeed inside and still alive.
"If I can't see her, I'll consume the remaining Life Laws!"
At the summit, a third of the blood-colored lightning remained, relentlessly pursuing him, unable to be drawn out by the world's Origin Blood.
"The Secular Bird Queen is truly a prodigy. With just a piece of animal bone I gave her from the Gray Domain, she discovered a way to traverse the barriers between worlds."
Yuen Bu was grasping at straws for conversation.
Yu Yuan could see he was stalling for time, attempting to erase the death symbol within the animal bone in his body and expel the death force from his flesh.
His goal was to allow the world's Origin Blood to descend smoothly and reveal its mightiest power at Creation Peak.
Yu Yuan, having ceased to draw in the remaining blood-colored lightning, covertly tapped into his bloodline power. His eyes, like divine beacons, shone with a bloody glow as he tried to peer into the Beast Temple.
Regrettably, the Beast Temple, constructed under Yuen Bu's direction, seemed shrouded in an unseen blood-colored fog.
Yu Yuan couldn't make out the interior of the Beast Temple, and even the grand palace atop the peak was becoming obscured, leaving him staring into a blood-red maelstrom.
"Such profound terrestrial truths!"
A cry of delight came from Sekou as Creation Peak sank into a chasm.
The chunk of land, severed from the summit and carrying the Creation Pool, had emerged within the mountain's core.
"The Dao Law of the Wood Origin Spirit!"
The Hannya Divine Tree emitted a tranquil green glow, the long-still divine tree shrinking as it descended toward the Creation Pool.
Above the Creation Pool, a dazzling star hung suspended, eliciting wonder from the Light Origin Spirit.
"The Great Sun, Full Moon, Stars! The nine-layered seals around that mass of flesh and blood are a veritable treasury of origin spirit laws! It's incredibly wondrous and unfathomable!"
Exclaimed the youthful Light Origin Spirit.
Yu Yuan concentrated and observed the nine layers of resplendent seals now under the influence of Mother Earth, the Light Origin Spirit, and the Hannya Divine Tree, all encircling the seals.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
Blood-red rays shot rapidly from all directions within the mountain, in sync with Mother Earth, the Light Origin Spirit, and the shrinking Hannya Divine Tree, all attempting to break through the nine-layered seal.
The mighty Origin Spirits joined forces to unravel the formation, causing the celestial bodies, elements, and Dao symbols to reemerge layer by layer.
The manifestation of these symbols further excited the Origin Spirits.
The peculiar flesh within the Creation Pool attracted only the world's Origin Blood and held no benefit for Mother Earth, the Light Origin Spirit, or the Hannya Divine Tree.
Yet, the Dao symbols revealed within the nine-layered barrier held the profound truths of the fallen Origin Spirits from the abyss.
Wood represented another Wood Origin Spirit, possibly another divine tree of creation.
Earth hailed from another advanced Earth Spirit!
The sun, moon, and stars, all potential sources of light, contained principles beneficial to the Light Origin Spirit.
Thus, the Origin Spirits, drawn to the enigmatic Dao symbols on the barrier, joined the effort to break it without any summons from the world's Origin Blood.
"I understand," Yuen Bu suddenly declared from atop the Beast Temple.
Yu Yuan's brow furrowed as he spoke, "It urges you to expel the forces of death quickly to facilitate its smooth arrival. It wishes to manifest its power through you at Creation Peak. If it cannot descend through me, it intends to use you to grievously wound me, shatter my form, and descend when I'm powerless to resist?"
"Would it be ideal for them to simultaneously break the seal over the pool, allowing it to enter with ease using my Yang God form and assimilate that mass of flesh and blood?"
Yuen Bu let out a wry smile. "How did you hear that?"
Yu Yuan seemed to have discerned all that was communicated through Yuen Bu's secret exchange with his beast heart.
With a whoosh, Yu Yuan's towering Yang God form drew in the remaining blood-colored lightning.
The last third of the blood-colored lightning was absorbed into his body.
"Don't you care about the fate of the Secular Bird Queen?" Yuen Bu asked gravely.
"She bears the name Secular Bird; she's not so easily vanquished. Even you, Yuen Bu, as the King of the Desolate Realm, might find it challenging to kill her in the Beast Temple."
Yu Yuan let out a cold snort. As Yuen Bu's expression shifted subtly, Yu Yuan added, "Once I assimilate these remaining life laws into my Yang God form and unravel the secrets of that mass of flesh and blood in the Creation Pool, even if she's truly dead, I can resurrect her and restore her presence to the world!"
"Such a poignant, tear-jerking tale of love," came a voice laced with biting sarcasm from thousands of miles away.
The moment the voice emerged, the Old Ape in the Great Swamp involuntarily shuddered.
The woman in the black dress whirled around, her face etched with shock and terror, as she fixed her gaze in the direction of the voice.
"Demon Phoenix!" she uttered, her voice quivering.
Thousands of miles away, in the midst of a vast purple sea of demonic energy, a chair adorned with an intricate phoenix design materialized. As the black goat's gaze settled upon it, Zhiya, the Demon Phoenix, appeared to have just stepped through space, sitting with poise and dignity.
Her posture was impeccable, her chest adorned with stunning curves, her expression icy.
Beneath the chair's remarkable craftsmanship lay a dead bone snake and the skinned remains of a smilodon.
In her hands, she held two orbs of life essence, each wrapped around a pulsating beast heart.
The bone snake and smilodon, Yuen Bu's subordinates granted the Life Keychain for immortality, had been slain by her, their Life Keychains reverting to orbs of boundless vitality and two vibrant hearts.
Only then did Yu Yuan realize that the other two mighty Beast Gods of the Desolate Realm had not shown up at Creation Peak because she had targeted and killed them.
"My King!"
The beast hearts in her hands let out the cries of the bone snake and smilodon, as if pleading for Yuen Bu's aid.
They were not entirely dead after all.
"An unyielding presence."
Always composed, Yuen Bu, who had stepped out of the Beast Temple with a gentle smile, now found his inner calm disturbed by the arrival of the Demon Phoenix, Zhiya.
"The liveliest spot in the Desolate Realm is naturally where I must be," she declared, her frosty eyes suddenly sparkling with delight. "Yuen Bu, have you truly captured that wretch? Here's my offer: execute her in the Beast Temple and show me her lifeless corpse. Then, I'll hand over the snake and tiger to you. With the beast hearts and life essence, reviving them will be a breeze."
As she spoke, the vast expanse of dark purple energy surged toward Creation Peak.
