C2188
Whoosh!
Amidst the deep purple sea of demon energy, an enormous phoenix silhouette suddenly materialized, its gaze fixed on Zhiya's position.
The figure of the phoenix, enveloped by countless delicate blood rays, exuded an aura of ancient vastness, reminiscent of a cosmic giant beast from the early days of the Origin Realm.
Its mouth, agape, wove together a tapestry of bloody lights, with a thunder ball and a vortex of lightning emerging on its tongue.
It beseeched Zhiya with a look akin to a puppy begging for a bone.
Zhiya feigned swallowing the two streams of life dew, then tossed them towards the gaping maw of the creature as if rewarding a cherished spirit pet. The life dew vanished into the creature's mouth.
Contentedly closing its mouth, the creature withdrew back into the purple sea of demon energy, seemingly digesting the two precious streams of life dew.
The tumultuous waves stirred up by the demon energy sea quickly subsided.
"You've used your lifeblood and the bloodline mysteries you've mastered to create a giant beast in the shape of a phoenix?" Yuan Le exclaimed, astounded.
"Your initial Life Seed, like mine, originated from the Wasteland. That Root of the Solar Meridian, which manifested in the Origin Realm, is a blood river of species refined by it. You should be aware of your own origins!"
Yuan Le, seething with anger, declared, "Zhiya, by employing the life arts of the Origin Realm and the Life Seed of an adversary to bring forth such a phoenix, you've committed an utter betrayal!"
"Betrayal?" Zhiya, seated with an air of icy disdain, retorted, "It's your vision, Yuan Le, that's too limited. You've been devotedly serving it, allowing it to descend as it pleases. We've never been alike. I've never been graced with its favor or approval, nor have I become the Lord of Ruin. And it's not due to a lack of talent or potential on my part."
"It knows that I will never submit to it as you do."
Gulp! Gulp!
The demon energy sea beneath Zhiya's chair emitted swallowing sounds, along with eerie, spine-tingling shrieks.
"No, that's not right."
Yu Yuan, who had absorbed all the blood-red lightning and concealed within himself the Secrets of Life from both the Origin Realm and the Wasteland, stared beneath the chair with a grave expression.
The phoenix's form was obscured by the swirling demon energy, preventing a clear view of its true nature, but Yu Yuan was certain that this phoenix was not a cosmic giant beast.
Years ago, he had sensed that Zhiya, the Dark Phoenix, must have refined something of significance, which she kept year-round in the Phoenix Shrine or within the deep sea of condensed purple demon energy.
Back then, he could only sense its presence, unable to clearly see it, and he believed it to be a Cosmic Giant Beast. He assumed that Zhiya had used her own lifeblood to craft a Cosmic Giant Beast to stand against the Secular Bird Queen.
But now, having witnessed it firsthand and using his increasingly powerful Solar Spirit to sense it, he found that the Life Seed within his Solar Spirit had no resonance with the phoenix shadow whatsoever. If the Solar Spirit, encompassing both the Origin Realm and the Wasteland, felt no connection with the Phoenix Shadow, then it was clear that the phoenix was not a cosmic giant beast!
As Yu Yuan pondered the origins of the phoenix form, another bird cry echoed from the Beast God Temple. His heart heavy, he could no longer concern himself with such thoughts. His form, vast as a blood-red mountain range, suddenly swung an arm down towards the Beast God Temple.
"Yuan Le, if you refuse to open the Beast God Temple, then I will force it open myself."
As his colossal arm descended, the peak's summit was riddled with innumerable space rifts, and blood-colored lightning thundered ominously. The tyrannical and cataclysmic vital energy spawned hundreds of massive blood-colored storms, which, directed by Yu Yuan's vital energy, converged in a relentless assault on the Beast God Temple.
"Give it a try," Yuan Le retorted, his anger ignited by the challenge. He bellowed and manifested a beastly form of equal magnitude.
Boom!
The heavens appeared to buckle under the strain as the void around the Beast God Temple twisted and folded upon itself. Endless space rifts were rent open only to heal rapidly, while the relentless vital energy detonated without cease.
At last, the two eleventh-level titans clashed atop the mountain peak, determined to settle the score.
"Move out!"
"Stay clear of the Peak of Creation!"
The Beast Gods of the Wasteland, howling, whisked their celestial territories away, not daring to linger near the fearsome battlefield.
And Zhiya, the Dark Phoenix, finally acknowledged Yu Yuan with a serious gaze as Yuan Le assumed his Beast God form. The sea of purple demon energy beneath her feet solidified in place, as if it had crystallized into a massive purple meteorite.
"After all that talk, you're finally ready to fight."
Zhiya whispered softly to herself.
...
Nestled within the heart of the Peak of Creation, the Wellspring of Creation lay anchored upon a dark red landmass, shrouded by a thick blood mist that enveloped the vast pond like a lantern's cover.
The spiritual sense of Primal Blood in this realm thrived in the depths of the dense mist, seeking to permeate the nine layers of the resplendent barrier and make contact with the flesh and blood within the pond.
The spiritual sense of Primal Blood delved deeper into the nine-layered barrier, relentlessly advancing inward.
Leaves, green as jade, fluttered down from the Uxthar Tree as it diminished in size.
The moment the leaves, brimming with the wonders of plant life, entered the confines of the barrier, their natural patterns resonated with the laws of nature within.
The Uxthar Tree's leaves faced no violent onslaught; they merely shrank progressively until they turned to dust and vanished.
Throughout this process, the Uxthar Tree seemed quite invigorated, for with each leaf's disappearance, it captured a strand of the wood laws it found alien—a trade of sorts.
As it shed its leaves, the tree imprinted the intricate plant essence it had discerned onto them. With their disintegration, it gained access to wood laws it had never before encountered.
Delighted, the Uxthar Tree let more leaves, laden with plant essence, fall upon the barrier.
Soon, its branches were stark and bare.
Mother Earth, inhabiting Sekou's form, used his body and lifeblood to create tiny pebbles.
These jewel-like stones, vibrant and multicolored, were cast into the dazzling, colorful barrier.
Each pebble was an embodiment of the lifeblood of Sekou, an eleventh-level supreme being. Upon closer inspection, one could see a network of bloodline chains within each stone, the profound laws gifted by Mother Earth to Sekou.
Pop!
The pebbles were incessantly crushed to dust, just like the leaves, within the barrier. Yet, the entity that had possessed Sekou watched with eyes alight with a feverish, deranged glow.
Unbeknownst to all, the once-mighty Direbear had withered away.
Every congealed drop of lifeblood, every extraction of Earth's Profound Meaning, sapped Sekou's potential and vital energy.
Sekou, whose beast soul and body had been taken over, felt no pain, unaware that the Primal Anima that had created him was squandering his strength without a care for his survival.
Whoosh!
Above the crimson mist of the Wellspring of Creation, the resplendent Star of Light shone brightly, and within it, the Light Spirit, in the form of a radiant young girl, ceased her communication with Yu Yuan's true form. Her face was etched with terror, for she was the most emotionally rich among them.
"Mother Earth!"
"Little Tree!"
She sent out a wave of ripples in the manner of the Primal Anima. She witnessed the Uxthar Tree withering and the vigorous Direbear, now possessed by Mother Earth, on the brink of exhaustion. The heart of the giant beast could scarcely refine a few drops of lifeblood.
"They've gone mad! Wake up!" The Light Spirit came to a sudden realization.
The dense blood mist continued to shroud the Wellspring of Creation, and the spirit and consciousness of the Primal Blood of this realm were still deeply drawn to it, seemingly deaf to her calls. Both the Uxthar Tree and Mother Earth were seeping in, as if influenced by the wall.
She was able to maintain her spirituality and self-awareness because she felt the presence of Yu Yuan's true form within the wall, and the layer that resonated with her. Thus, she was not as engrossed as the Primal Blood, the Uxthar Tree, or Mother Earth.
"No response?" A boundless fear overtook her.
At this moment, she was at the Peak of Creation, in a world where the Primal Blood had been meticulously nurtured within the Wasteland. As a high-level Primal Anima, akin to the Primal Blood, she could amass and refine an immense amount of spiritual sense and consciousness.
The main consciousness of the Primal Blood could separate itself into numerous spiritual senses beneath the earth, possess Yuan Le, the Lord of Ruin, to observe the summit's movements and inspect the wonders of the Wasteland's secret places.
Yet now, all the consciousness of the Primal Blood seemed to be deeply ensnared within the nine layers of the dazzling wall.
"The nine-layered sealing wall is the nemesis of us Primal Anima! It's a vast conspiracy, a plot aimed directly at us!" She nearly wailed as she soared out from the depths, the Star of Light ascending with her.
This brilliant celestial body re-emerged in the void above the Peak of Creation, right above Yu Yuan's head.
"Yu Yuan!" She called out frantically from within the star.
Yu Yuan, who had been absorbing the blood-colored lightning and processing it while engaged in battle with Yuan Le, was taken aback by her sudden outburst. "What's wrong? You didn't feel the power you were seeking from the nine layers of the wall?"
"The Little Tree is on the brink of death!"
"And that foolish bear is dying as well!"
A scream of terror echoed from the Star of Light, as the little girl he had transformed into wept.
"I barely escaped the Abyss, and I dared not linger in the Origin Realm. I left my home behind and ventured into the Wasteland. But now, it seems I can no longer stay here either. Our Primal Anima is on the verge of bringing about the apocalypse!"
"And you!"
"You're trapped in the Wellspring of Creation, too. The intricate cosmic orders within your Soul Altar are about to be stripped away!"
The Light Spirit, having avoided disaster by maintaining a spiritual connection with Yu Yuan's true form, envisioned other Primal Anima like itself being engulfed by the nine layers of the mysterious wall.
Suddenly, it dawned on him that the Primal Anima, just like him, had perished within the confines of the wall.
Overcome with an immense dread, the Light Spirit disregarded the ongoing clash between Yu Yuan and Yuan Le, as well as Zhiya at his side.
He spoke the harsh truth.
"No wonder it hasn't come for me!"
Yuan Le, in his true form of the towering giant ape, had eradicated the death aura left by the Secular Bird Queen. He was now a candidate for possession by the realm's Primal Blood.
He was ready.
He had thought that the instant he revealed his true form, he would forfeit ownership of his body, to be slain by the realm's Primal Blood after it seized him, thereby quelling the turmoil at the Peak of Creation.
But the Primal Blood's possession never came. He believed the Primal Blood trusted him, confident in his ability to confront Yu Yuan.
It turned out that was not the case.
"Yuan Le, you now have a rare opportunity to turn the tables and refine it instead," Zhiya murmured from the depths of the demon energy sea.
