C2207 The Supreme Flame
The central region of the Creitecesh was vast, with stars arrayed in a circular pattern.
A massive Starshard, its surface stained with blood, supported a barren, greenish-gray tree that had taken root within the fragmented celestial land. Through its roots, it collected the Divine Blood of the Secular Bird Queen from beneath the ground.
The tree was devoid of leaves, exuding an aura of desolation and death.
It grew slowly, its sharp branches quivering subtly, as though breathing.
Cosmic energy from all around flowed into its branches and roots. After coursing through its trunk, the energy dissipated once more.
The energy it released carried an intense scent of death!
This tree was absorbing all the energy in the Creitecesh, transforming it into a rich death force.
All the converted death force flowed towards one person at the base of the tree—the Secular Bird Queen!
Sitting cross-legged with her back against the roots, the Secular Bird Queen had transformed back into her human form from that of the Azure Bird.
With eyes closed, she absorbed the death force through her back's skin and all her pores.
Her body radiated a greenish-gray glow, creating a seamless bond with the eerie tree.
Regrettably, this tree was not the Uxthar Tree that had been her companion for many years; it lacked the vibrant vitality of flora.
Crackle!
Intermittently, strands of pale lightning would weave into her body from her back.
Each strand of pale lightning represented an unfamiliar law of mortality, quickly integrating into her bloodline.
Zip!
Suddenly, a space rift tore open, and the Dragon Slaying Stage emerged through it. Yu Yuan had arrived in the Creitecesh, as glimpsed through the cyan crystal.
His first sight was the death-enshrouded tree and the Secular Bird Queen beneath it.
Within the cyan crystal, he had seen Chen Qinghuang maintaining the form of the Azure Bird, with no sign of such a tree.
"Could so much have changed in just a brief moment?" Yu Yuan pondered quietly.
Hovering above the tree laden with death aura was the Spring of Death, a presence so menacing that even Yu Yuan felt endangered. At that moment, the Spring of Death had ceased its eruption of death force, lying in complete dormancy.
The Uxthar Tree, capable of converting the existing cosmic energy within the Creitecesh, was producing an ample supply of death force. The Spring of Death didn't even need to be active to ensure that the Creitecesh would gradually become saturated with this death force.
Crack!
Yu Yuan suddenly observed lightning, branded with the law of mortality, coursing through the increasingly robust Uxthar Tree, ultimately flowing into the body of the Secular Bird Queen.
He could see that the Secular Bird Queen, now in human form, had fully healed from the wounds she sustained in her battle with Yuan Le.
The Secular Bird Queen, responsible for the silence of alien beasts and the Otherkin across several Astral Domains, appeared to have undergone a purification and tempering, earning the favor of the spirits.
On the other end of the Spring of Death, a spirit was bestowing upon Chen Qinghuang new insights into Death Magic, along with a powerful surge of death force.
Chen Qinghuang was on the verge of breaking through to the eleventh level!
Yu Yuan's brow furrowed in concern as he expanded his spiritual sense, taking note of the Creitecesh's ringed structure, now littered with the bodies of alien beasts and the intelligent life of the Wasteland.
These corpses, steeped in death aura, had all perished due to the Secular Bird Queen's arrival.
Because of Chen Qinghuang's actions, the residual energy of the Astral Domain had been converted into death force by the barren, withered tree, aiding her ascent to supremacy.
Beneath the tree, Chen Qinghuang sat with her eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to his presence.
Gazing at the tree and the motionless Spring of Death, Yu Yuan fell into a contemplative silence.
Achieving supreme status was Chen Qinghuang's aspiration, for which she had willingly brought destruction upon the Wasteland. She was aware that an otherworldly spirit had imprinted the symbol of death onto her soul, yet she refused to cast it off.
Having endured a grueling journey from the Origin Realm to the Wasteland, only to be gravely injured in combat with Yuan Le, she was finally on the cusp of realizing her dream.
Should he really cut short her path to ascension?
Yu Yuan hesitated.
Chen Qinghuang was still in the midst of her breakthrough, not yet triumphant. If he were to disrupt the Uxthar Tree and obliterate the Spring of Death, he might be able to halt the process.
Perhaps the Wasteland, known as the Creitecesh, wouldn't perish from energy depletion; perhaps it could even be rejuvenated.
Chen Qinghuang's arduous pursuit of the supreme path had been severed by his own hand. Upon awakening, wouldn't she hold him responsible?
"The situation is what it is, and since Creitecesh isn't my domain, and achieving supremacy is your ultimate dream..."
Yu Yuan silently deliberated in his mind, opting to remain a bystander. He planned to wait until Chen Qinghuang's ascension was complete before severing the peculiar tree.
A ceaseless stream of cosmic energy continued to pour into the tree, which transformed the death force through its breath, filling Chen Qinghuang's body with it.
Within the Spring of Death, a sizzling noise could be heard.
Yu Yuan couldn't shake the feeling that a spirit from another realm was watching him from the depths of the Spring of Death, seemingly mocking his lack of action.
Despite having traversed the cosmos and rushing here from afar, he remained motionless.
The mournful cries of alien beasts echoed from the fringes of the Star River, billions of miles away.
The Dragon Slaying Stage suddenly illuminated, and Yu Yuan's spiritual sense descended upon it to locate the source of the alien beasts' lament.
He saw numerous alien beasts of the eighth and seventh levels entering Creitecesh from another Astral Domain.
These creatures appeared to be aware of the impending disaster in Creitecesh, knowing that their kin had perished and that the domain was on the brink of being engulfed by death, hence their sorrowful approach.
Four immense Three-legged Golden Crows were pulling a golden chariot ablaze with fire from a neighboring Astral Domain, a place of intense heat teeming with countless suns.
The Golden Crows, beast kings of ninth-level lineage, had wings dripping with fiery essence.
The fiery liquid shed by the Golden Crows formed vast rivers of flame in the cosmic expanse.
A figure stood on the flaming chariot, gripping the railing, with rows of suns trailing behind.
Emerging from the tumultuous inferno, the figure's true identity became clear—it was Yuan Lianyao, unrivaled in her beauty.
Her voluptuous form was clad in divine armor, and her eyes were like portals to twin realms of fire. The intense heat emanating from her gaze seemed capable of annihilating worlds.
The Astral Domain she hailed from was ablaze with numerous scorching suns, and the climate was intensely hot, seamlessly merging with her own aura.
"She's actually the first to break through to the eleventh level."
Yu Yuan was astounded.
Yuan Lianyao, having received the Earthfire from the Everlands and been granted the ultimate fire legacy, underwent a transformation, becoming known as the Ancestor of the Fire Demon clan.
To escape the Earthfire's grasp, Yuan Lianyao had no choice but to traverse the Star River, making her way to the Wasteland, a realm teeming with alien beasts.
Though the Wasteland had not birthed a Fire Spirit, the majority of its Astral Domains were exceedingly hot, with many regions mirroring the conditions of Yuan Lianyao's breakthrough.
She, too, managed to ascend to the eleventh level with ease in the Wasteland.
Recently, when Dark Phoenix Zhiya was pursued by Yuan Le, she had entered the Wasteland via the Phoenix Shrine. Intending to use the Phoenix Shrine to return to the Origin Realm later, she joined the fray.
Her alliance with the Dark Phoenix prevented Yuan Le from gaining the upper hand, prompting him to hastily conclude the battle.
"Secular Bird Queen."
Upon the four Golden Crows' arrival in the Creitecesh, Yuan Lianyao's palm revealed a fiery eye, crafted from the Crystal of the Burning Sun.
Peering through this fiery eye, she spotted the tree shrouded in death aura and Chen Qinghuang beneath it.
Then, her gaze fell upon the Dragon Slaying Stage.
"Yu Yuan!"
In her voice, filled with thrilled astonishment, the four massive Golden Crows transformed into streaks of flaming lightning, propelling the chariot forward with a thunderous roar.
The Golden Crows shivered, incessantly warning her of the rampant death force ahead.
Ignoring their pleas, she gripped the rail, forged from the Divine Crystal of the Flame, so tightly she nearly shattered it, and commanded, "Put all your strength into it and fly across!"
