C2194 The Obsession with Cleanliness

In the stone caves of Creation Peak, Yu Yuan and Yuen Bu were each engrossed in their tasks, respecting each other's space without interference.

Yuen Bu's numerous blood clones were occupied with gathering the life laws unfamiliar to him, paying no mind to Yu Yuan's activities.

Crack!

It wasn't until the sound of a prisma shattering echoed from deeper within the cave that one of Yuen Bu's blood clones finally paused to observe.

The clone hesitated briefly before transforming into a streak of blood light, attempting to traverse the dense blood mist just as Yu Yuan had done. The source of the shattering noise was beyond the thick veil of mist.

Silently, the blood clone dissolved into the mist, becoming one with it.

The rest of Yuen Bu's nearly hundred blood clones momentarily halted their collection of life laws.

All of Yuen Bu's blood clones cast a solemn gaze towards the blood mist.

Moments later, more blood clones of Yuen Bu emerged, moving with increased urgency in the area, desperately manipulating the blood-colored lightning within the prisma.

Yuen Bu's actions were marked by a sense of dire urgency.

...

Atop the mountain peak, Yuen Bu, the King of Desolate Realm, stood with the majestic Beast Temple floating behind his neck.

His expression darkened suddenly, as if sensing an impending dread. The supreme being, now in the form of a colossal ape, gritted his teeth and extracted an object from the Beast Temple.

It was a drop of the Secular Bird Queen's Divine Blood!

The Divine Blood, brimming with the power of death and emitting a toxic scent, was consumed in one gulp.

The Divine Blood tainted his tongue and corroded his flesh, causing his bones to shatter.

Yet, amidst the self-inflicted agony, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as if narrowly averting disaster.

"What are you afraid of?" Zhiya inquired, her voice tinged with confusion.

Her immense phoenix form hovered around Creation Peak, not daring to approach the summit.

She was contemplating Yuen Bu's actions, determined to uncover what secrets the King of Desolate Realm might be concealing behind his cautious demeanor.

...

Beyond the blood mist, Yu Yuan burst forth like a lightning-charged rainbow, shattering prisma pillars one after another.

The blood-colored radiance from the cave splattered in all directions, the mist thickening while the sinister eyes embedded in the rock walls watched his movements with malevolence.

As the blood-colored prisms shattered, the embedded pieces of Colorful Land instantly lost their constraints. Dozens of differently sized fragments of Colorful Land instinctively drew near each other, clicking into place and reconnecting to form a complete expanse of Colorful Land. This hundred-acre spread was Mother Earth's primal form and the foundational root of the middle-ranked Primordial Spirit.

With a tearing sound, millions of Earth Veins, resembling strands of colorful hair, spread across the Colorful Land in a mysterious pattern. If Taishi were to witness this spectacle of Earth Veins, the image would be etched deep into his Primordial Spirit, undoubtedly propelling his cultivation to new heights.

Yu Yuan hovered in the air, gazing at the sight until he felt slightly dizzy. He grunted to himself, lamenting that his true form was absent. Otherwise, he would have used the real Soul Altar to imprint the billions of Earth Veins and forge a new platform.

"It used to span hundreds of acres!" the Light Origin Spirit exclaimed in a scream. The clusters of intense light that represented him were converging, revealing many transparent crystals within, each bearing the sacred truths of light he had mastered.

Suddenly, the transparent crystals began to assemble, transforming into a city imbued with a divine aura—a City of Light! He had solidified a City of Light using the laws of light, where his spirit and consciousness lay concealed within.

The city roared within the glowing cavern, desperately seeking an escape route from the Origin Blood of this realm. Disheartened, he maneuvered the City of Light, crying out, "I just want to leave this place. The Origin Realm is in turmoil, and the Desolate Realm is no safer."

"This fellow is even more vile!" he raged. "The Origin Soul of the Abyss merely wishes to enslave me, demanding my unwavering loyalty and the surrender of the profound secrets of light. Yet this creature in the cave nearly obliterated me!"

After a long period of aimless drifting, unable to find an exit, he eventually floated beside Yu Yuan. It seemed a bit safer to be near him.

"You're not so bad. You took me to the land above the Abyss and used me merely as a source of light. When I wished to depart, you opened the gateway for me. And now, you've rescued me once more."

He extended a friendly gesture toward Yu Yuan.

"Was this Colorful Land once spanning hundreds of acres?"

Yu Yuan, suspended mid-air, mulled over these words and took another look, realizing that the Colorful Land, which had fragmented and reformed, continued to shrink incrementally.

Within, the rich essence of earth was rapidly depleting from the land.

New colorful clouds formed and new vibrant veins appeared, yet the land, radiant as a frozen sunset, persisted in its diminution.

Mother Earth's consciousness and spirit remained deep within the nine-layered barrier of the Creation Pool, tirelessly delving into the profound mysteries of a fellow Earth deity.

Unaware, she did not feel her form being pierced by blood-red prismatic crystals, nor did she know of her prior division.

"None of you will escape."

The sentient thoughts of the Origin Blood flickered from the Eyes of Life embedded in the cave walls.

The numerous Eyes of Life slowly transformed into wellsprings of blood, with the Origin Blood amassing power for some unknown purpose.

Suddenly, a blood well ejected a figure, a youth with skin as pure as jade.

It was none other than the Snow Child, Yu Han!

Around his neck, a necklace of cold crystals morphed into thumb-sized blood crystals, his internal energy surging like a wild tide of life.

His physique was exceptionally honed, each blood vessel and vein pulsating with captivating blood-colored lightning.

Born from Yu Yuan's life force and the essence of the Violent Bear, and later empowered by extreme cold, he was a unique being.

Cast down to the Desolate Realm, he underwent a transformation by the realm's Origin Blood, his body saturated with life's essence, every tissue and bone infused with the distinct scent of this realm's Origin Blood.

Yu Yuan could see his own soul, reduced to a speck at the back of his skull, enveloped in a sphere of blood energy.

The consciousness dominating his mind, composed of myriad blood lights, indicated that the Origin Blood had successfully possessed him.

"The journey to the Origin Realm incited Yuen Bu, whom I crafted with my own hands, to harbor a rebellious spirit. It was you, Yu Yuan, who sowed the seeds of disloyalty deep within his psyche."

The Origin Blood articulated through the body of the Snow Child, Yu Han.

"I also perceived a possibility. If the being born in the abyss can devour its own kind from the Origin Realm, and if Mother Earth herself was once shattered and stripped of her earthly power, and if within the barrier of the Creation Pool there lie dormant spirits of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, then it stands to reason that this entity can merge with different types of beings."

"If he can do it, why can't I?"

The entity that had taken residence in Yu Han's body with a thread of spiritual consciousness began to exhibit complex emotions, moving beyond its former state as an unfeeling automaton of laws.

"I have even glimpsed the form of a perfect life!"

With its newfound complexity of feeling, it gestured as if presenting a treasure, directing Yu Han's fingers towards the ceiling rock.

A blood-red prismatic crystal descended from the rock.

Encased within the crystal was a small, undeveloped figure, lacking distinct facial features as if it were still a concept in the making.

The Life Seed within this tiny form was all too familiar to Yu Yuan.

Humans!

Or more accurately, the Protoss!

"It's not quite as you imagine, not an exact match."

As though he had insight into Yu Yuan's thoughts, he shook his head and explained, "I've been refining Yuen Bu's Life Seed, advancing it through numerous transformations, constantly optimizing and adjusting. After dozens of iterations, Yuen Bu's drop of blood has evolved into this."

"It bears a striking resemblance, indeed."

He was quite moved by the comparison.

"The Abyss Origin Soul lacks mastery over the laws of life; it shouldn't have been capable of creating such an advanced intelligent race. There's something else that allows your race to stand out in the Abyss and to truly shine within the vastness of the Origin Realm."

"Incredible, truly a formidable being."

He couldn't help but express his admiration.

The image of the Creation Pool surfaced in Yu Han's eyes, revealing the bizarre cluster of flesh and blood.

The subject of his admiration and contemplation, the formidable being he referred to, was the Abyss Origin Blood, eliminated by the Abyss Origin Soul.

Now, all that remained of it was this mass of flesh and blood.

"To think that such an awe-inspiring peer could fall to the Origin Soul in the Abyss. If I continue to adhere to conventions, if I refuse to innovate, how can I ever hope to triumph?"

"Yu Yuan, you are the architect of all this!"

"The moment I laid eyes on the Creation Pool and that mass of flesh and blood, I began to doubt, and from there, dark thoughts took root." He found himself unexpectedly casting blame upon Yu Yuan.

Whoosh!

The blood-colored prisma retracted into the dome of the cave, vanishing from sight.

"Regrettably, I can only infer the evolved form of the Life Seed after numerous rounds of optimization and transformation. With my current power and insight into the essence of life, I'm unable to make it manifest successfully."

"I require the mass of flesh and blood in the pool. I need the crystallized wisdom of this predecessor to forge my own Protoss!"

"Once this endeavor is successful, Yuen Bu's race, as well as the alien beasts of the Desolate Realm, are fated to become mere side characters!"

"…"

He laid out his grand plans and aspirations, seemingly unconcerned about what Yu Yuan and the Light Origin Spirit might think.

Deep within the crater of Creation Peak.

The Hannya Divine Tree had perished, devoid of any spiritual consciousness. Its desiccated and cracked trunk slowly turned to ash.

It passed away in utter silence.

Occasionally, colorful pebbles continued to fall towards the sealed barrier of the Creation Pool.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sources of the Yang meridians, the spiritual consciousness of the Abyss Origin Blood of the Desolate Realm, halted just before reaching the eerie mass of flesh and blood.

Yuen Bu involuntarily shuddered.

Boom!

The Beast Temple, which he had commanded to be crafted and was floating behind his head, uncontrollably surged towards Yuen Bu's skull, catapulting him from Creation Peak.

"A filthy clump of flesh!"

A cascade of blood, shaped by spiritual consciousness, lingered above the head of Yuen Bu as he stumbled, falling into the starry expanse. Yet, it hesitated to descend, having detected a drop of the Secular Bird's divine blood.

It must possess an aversion to impurity.

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