C2192 It Was Looking at You and Me!
"I'll scout ahead."
Yuan Le's Blood Clone didn't hesitate in the slightest. He had complete trust in Sekou and, at the first sign of the passage opening, transformed into a streak of crimson light and vanished within it.
He was exceedingly cautious.
With a Blood Clone, he ventured into the inner reaches of the Peak of Creation, aiming to harvest the Primal Blood and master the Secrets of Life.
Should it prove to be a trap, or if anything were amiss, he would only lose a Blood Clone.
"I'll keep watch over this place for you."
As Sekou's heart began to thump more vigorously, the passageway Yuan Le had used sealed itself shut. The enormous bear, brimming with vitality, did not pursue Yuan Le's Blood Clone. He wasn't eager to harness the power of Mother Earth just yet. Instead, he kept a vigilant eye on Yu Yuan at the edge of the Wellspring of Creation, faithfully protecting the area on Yuan Le's behalf.
The pit, nestled deep within the mountain, was shrouded in a blood mist that cloaked the Wellspring of Creation.
The spiritual sense of the Primal Blood appeared to be draining into the Wellspring along with the mist, struggling towards the wall that was layered with a nine-tiered, resplendent barrier.
Sekou observed the blood mist and the stones, rich with cosmic order and energy, as they were drawn into the barrier without his command.
The stones within the barrier morphed into peaks and crags resembling those of the Peak of Creation, with the rock formations manifesting the Cosmic Order.
Sekou gazed in wonder at these laws, discovering changes within the Cosmic Order of the mountain range, many of which were arcane powers unfamiliar to him.
"Yuan Le, you scoundrel!"
Once Yuan Le's clone had vanished, the Light Spirit exhaled in relief and started to clamor once more.
Boom!
Sekou, having gathered sufficient vitality, abruptly assumed his true form of the Direbear. His massive frame nearly filled the entire cavern as he swatted at the dazzling Star of Light.
His colossal paw, which seemed to blot out the sky, drew upon the power of the Peak of Creation, summoning a deluge of enormous meteors that engulfed the star.
The Direbear, now in its true form, had distinct veins of the earth coursing through the depths of its eyes.
It adeptly employed the arcane powers it had just witnessed, channeling them through the meteors in its paw to shatter the star that the Light Spirit's consciousness had clung to.
Creak! Crack!
A star, animated by the consciousness of the Light Spirit and taking the form of a young girl, was barraged by meteors in a relentless assault.
The visage of the Light Spirit, now a girl, seemed to be torn asunder within the star, her spiritual essence flickering in and out.
"Enough already!" Sekou grumbled, his voice booming with malice, "If you keep up this incessant babbling and dare to curse Yuan Le again, I'll shatter you into pieces inside the mountain!"
Within the star, the Light Spirit's form twisted into that of a trembling young girl who whispered, "I just helped you!"
Sekou, however, ignored her completely.
"Ugh!"
Yu Yuan, reaching into the ninefold barrier of the Wellspring of Creation, paid no mind to the vanishing of Yuan Le's Blood Clone. He suddenly felt a connection to his own physical form.
More precisely, he sensed the Soul Altar and the corresponding Blood Altar within his Mindscape, linked to his Solar Spirit.
He couldn't pinpoint his body's exact location, but he was certain it lay within the barrier, resonating with the Blood Altar.
An instant connection sparked between his Solar Spirit and his physical self.
Suddenly, within his Solar Spirit, he noticed blood-colored lightning clinging to his bones, each spark containing minuscule specks of blood light.
These specks were infinitesimal, far smaller than a sesame seed, invisible to the naked eye, and mingled within the lightning that bore the Secrets of Life.
Previously, his Solar Spirit had been oblivious to the intricacies hidden within the blood-colored lightning.
Only through the connection with his body and the mystical seven-tiered Soul Altar, a transformation of his primordial spirit, could he perceive these tiny specks of blood light with his keen spiritual insight.
This blood light represented the fragmented spiritual sense of Primal Blood in this realm.
A portion of its spiritual sense had split into billions of specks of blood light, blending with the blood-colored lightning he had absorbed, and stealthily rooting itself within Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit.
Yu Yuan let out a cold snort, aware that after its initial attempt at a forceful possession had failed, it had swiftly altered its tactics.
The second wave of spiritual sense had disintegrated into billions of specks of blood light, infusing the blood-colored lightning he was drawing in, and surreptitiously infiltrating his Solar Spirit, undetected by all.
It was covertly watching from within the blood-red lightning of Yu Yuan's Bone of the Solar Spirit, biding its time.
Clearly, its intentions were far from benevolent.
"So it was all an act."
Yu Yuan swiftly came to the realization that the Primal Blood of the Wasteland differed from the Uxthar Tree and Mother Earth. Its spiritual sense hadn't fully submerged into the confining barrier.
The sun, moon, stars, and the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—the eight ultimate profound meanings within the barrier—did not encompass the force of life.
What it truly coveted was the bizarre mass of flesh and blood at the heart of the nine-layered barrier.
Its desires, along with those of the other two Primal Animas, were not aligned.
With a tearing sound, within the resplendent barrier, delicate strands of the Root of the Solar Meridian flowed like streams, forcefully separating from the peculiar flesh and blood.
It was feigning deep entrapment!
"There's no spiritual sense in control, after all!"
Yuan Le's true form was still chuckling atop the mountain peak.
His Blood Clone appeared to have secured something he coveted deep within the Peak of Creation, at the true location of the Wasteland's Primal Blood.
The Direbear, riddled with holes across its body, shared in his joy: "Has the refinement begun?"
"It has!"
Yuan Le's face beamed with unmasked excitement as he said with a wide smile, "My journey to the Origin Realm has filled me with hope and revealed another possibility! In that world, Yu Yuan could actually negotiate with his creator, requiring the Primal Blood to seek his consent before descending."
"The spiritual sense of the Primal Blood within Yu Yuan's body isn't even the dominant force."
"This revelation has deeply shaken me!"
Yuan Le harbored a deep longing but had kept it to himself until then.
Only within the safety of the Beast God Temple, which he controlled, did he dare to entertain the thought. He dreamed of the day he might emulate Yu Yuan, or even surpass him, and refine his creator!
Once the seed of ambition is sown, it grows rapidly and becomes terrifyingly formidable.
He had assumed it would be difficult to find the right opportunity, but the sudden arrival of the Wellspring of Creation and the successive falls of the Earth Spirit and the Uxthar Tree were not lost on him.
Even the Light Spirit had confided in him that the Primal Blood's spiritual sense was hopelessly ensnared in the Wellspring of Creation, unable to extricate itself.
He had been waiting for an opportunity of a lifetime.
"If I can gather my clones, naturally I can do the same with my main body."
Yuan Le, laughing heartily, stepped out from the summit of the Peak of Creation and made his way toward the Star River that hovered over the Beast God Temple, heading straight for the Dark Phoenix Zhiya. "I won't waste any time on either front!"
The Beast God Temple surged toward Zhiya once more.
Boom!
The heavens parted, and the Phoenix Shrine, refined by Zhiya, emerged through a portal in the void.
Following a melodious phoenix cry, Zhiya displayed her immense purple phoenix form, with one broad wing cradling the entire Phoenix Shrine.
The graceful phoenix used her other wing to swiftly absorb the deep purple sea of demon energy.
She and Yuan Le clashed in fierce combat.
Meanwhile.
Yu Yuan, who had been reaching toward the Wellspring of Creation, suddenly withdrew his hand. Under Sekou's watchful eye, he smiled slyly and said, "I'll have a look inside."
The rock wall did not yield a passage, and Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit vanished into the dark red wall as if melting into the ocean.
Moments later.
He found himself deep within a vast dark red cavern, akin to the Heart of the Everlands, with stalactites of sharp blood crystals hanging overhead.
Countless blood crystals, each interlaced with blood-colored lightning, housed enormous Life Seeds within.
This was the true manifestation of the Wasteland's Primal Blood.
Originally, there was no passage here, and Yuan Le should not have been able to enter. As long as Mother Earth's spiritual sense was active, no physical entity should have been able to breach the wall.
Fortunately for Yuan Le, Mother Earth's spiritual sense had lapsed, while Sekou retained his self-awareness and managed to carve an opening for him.
A Blood Clone stood beneath a stalactite, entranced as it stroked a blood crystal, drawing forth strands of blood-colored lightning.
"You've indeed held back. You didn't give me everything; you possess a deeper Bloodline Revelation!"
Yuan Le extracted a strand of blood-colored lightning and infused it into his Blood Clone. Instantly, his main body outside acquired a new aspect of the Secrets of Life.
"You've managed to enter as well!"
Yuan Le, lost in deep contemplation, abruptly noticed an unexpected figure appear before him. With a grave expression, he declared, "You wish to contest with me for the refinement? Yu Yuan, by stepping into this realm, you've trespassed into my domain. You're on a path to your own demise."
"That remains to be seen," Yu Yuan retorted, gazing upon Yuan Le's Blood Clone with the same pity one might reserve for a tragic, lifeless skeleton. "I have but one thing to say, heed my words carefully. Its spiritual sense lingers on. It dwells within this cavern, observing both you and me."
