C2218 The Appearance of the Blazing Fire
In the Creitecesh Astral Domain, Yu Yuan had ceased using the Soul Altar to delve into the Secrets of Life. As Yuan Lianyao watched with astonishment, he raised his hand and swept aside the fiery dome that enshrouded the chariot.
Above him, flames churned and blazed, while around the chariot, intense meteors darted to and fro, creating an awe-inspiring fire array that held the essence of celestial fire magic.
Yu Yuan paid no mind to the spectacle, his gaze fixed on the Star River before the chariot, where the Dragon Slaying Stage stood motionless.
"What's the matter?"
Yuan Lianyao sensed that something significant must be unfolding, otherwise, he wouldn't have suddenly acted so out of character.
"Should my true self proceed, or the Solar Spirit?"
Yu Yuan murmured to himself, then quickly came to a decision.
As his true self reached the Dragon Slaying Stage within the silent Star River, he opened a space rift and vanished in an instant.
Right after the Dragon Slaying Stage disappeared, and before the space rift had fully healed, Yuan Lianyao's curvaceous and alluring form became rigid. Panic was evident on her stunning face as she exclaimed, "It's here, it carries its aura!"
Yu Yuan's brow furrowed.
"In the direction where the Dragon Slaying Stage vanished, a whiff of Earthfire's aura has scattered! Its spiritual sense has followed us here from the Origin Realm and the Everlands!"
Yuan Lianyao's voice was filled with alarm.
The one she feared most wasn't the Dark Phoenix or Yuan Le, but the Earthfire that had given her life.
Her transformation and alliance with the Abyss's Primal Soul had allowed Earthfire to ascend to the status of an Intermediate Primal Anima.
This also enabled her to effortlessly reach the eleventh level of supremacy upon entering the Wasteland.
Yet she was acutely aware that Earthfire's second possession, which would occur after her ascension to the eleventh level, would maximize its power!
The memory of Earthfire's spiritual sense possessing her in the Everlands, now cast into the Ashlands, was still painfully clear.
She knew she couldn't escape Earthfire's grasp and was consumed by dread.
"Yu Yuan, I... I might..."
Her eyes, shimmering like Fire Crystals, were fraught with terror. Biting her lip, she whispered, "I might not be able to hide from it. Now that its spiritual sense is here, it can find me in the Wasteland, no matter where I am."
"It has only begun to send a sliver of its consciousness. In time, it will become more refined and focused, and I will be overtaken by it."
"I don't know what the future holds."
Yuan Lianyao clutched Yu Yuan's arm tightly, her heart gripped by immense fear.
Facing the Earthfire, she felt as powerless as Sekou before Mother Earth, utterly overwhelmed and unable to find any means of escape.
"Don't worry. I'm here, and everything will be alright."
Yu Yuan turned to her, taking her scalding hands in his own—a result of her turbulent emotions. He offered her a radiant smile and soothing words, "There's no need to fear. When I say it's fine, it's fine. I have plenty of experience and methods for handling Primal Anima like the Earthfire. I'll teach you how to manage it soon."
As he reassured Yuan Lianyao, he continued to exchange silent communications with the Solar Spirit.
...
Elsewhere.
"There's still the presence of a blazing fire."
Yu Yuan, floating midair at the Peak of Creation, grasped the Dragon Slaying Stage in his hand. Observing the sealed wall within the Wellspring of Creation, he nodded in approval, "Indeed, if my real body can make it here, then it will be even easier for the spiritual sense of the blazing fire with its assistance."
With Yu Zhu, the Moonfang Tiger, and numerous Beast Gods watching, he cast a glance at the expanse of purple demon energy and commanded, "Come forth. I will transport you to her side."
Whoosh!
The Celestial Pillar of Life, once belonging to Yuan Le, the Lord of Ruin, and later refined by Zhiya, obediently emerged from the forefront of the purple sea.
The Celestial Pillar of Life compliantly shrank and was seized by Yu Yuan's hand.
Rip!
A myriad of delicate fire sparks transferred from Yu Yuan's palm into the Celestial Pillar of Life, endowing the formidable artifact with the power to breach realms!
"Go."
Yu Yuan hurled it downward. The Celestial Pillar of Life, infused with the essence and life patterns of the Dark Phoenix, transformed into a streak of blood-red lightning and pierced the sealed wall of the Wellspring of Creation.
Within the first layer of the wall, a blood-red columnar pillar tore through the celestial firmament, revealing itself!
Crack!
Countless blood-colored lightning bolts erupted, stirring up a maelstrom of bloody ripples within the first layer of the sealed realm.
After passing the Celestial Pillar of Life, Yu Yuan, with the Dragon Slaying Stage in hand, flashed a brief smile before soaring into it.
Whoosh!
Grasping the Dragon Slaying Stage, Yu Yuan flashed into the resplendent seal. The once clear barrier was immediately filled with a murky, blood-red hue.
Mother Earth, the Light Spirit, Yu Zhu, and the Moonfang Tiger could no longer discern the scene within.
The earlier image of Zhiya struggling against the onslaught of numerous Dao Elephants was now obscured by the murky blood-red.
Yu Yuan's entry had thrown the order of the eleven-layered seal into disarray, blurring everything.
...
Deep within the sealed realm.
Stars shimmered like purple diamonds, radiating light that could extinguish souls.
Zhiya looked up and felt a rending sensation from her demon soul, her soul and bloodline connections fragmented by the multitude of purple soul blades.
She was cut off from the outside world, with only the Phoenix Shrine she had painstakingly crafted maintaining a faint connection.
As the Phoenix Shrine neared the Wellspring of Creation, she sensed something amiss and immediately knew it was Yu Zhu attempting to break through.
Confronted by the unseen Demon God Bertain and Lin Daoke, the mightiest human of the Everlands, she felt an immense pressure.
She was also aware of the deeper, more terrifying dangers lurking within the depths of the eleven-layered, splendid seal.
Yu Zhu, having not fully grasped the Secrets of Life, could not withstand the warping force of the flesh. Should she fall into the seal, she would dissolve just like the white boa god.
This was something she could not permit.
She desperately cried out for no one to enter, when suddenly a dazzling golden sword light streaked directly towards her heart.
Even before the sword light reached her, her heart, harboring the endless Secrets of Life, began to ache.
At that moment, more amethysts seemed to emerge within the depths of her demon soul, slowing her reasoning and thoughts.
As she activated the bloodline mysteries and conjured a violet-gold shield before her, she was suddenly engulfed by a sea of flames.
Within the depths of this overwhelming inferno, she felt the fearsome power of the Earthfire and the unruly spiritual sense of the Earthfire!
Within this sealed world, only the rules and energies left by the Primal Animas had given rise to unusual Dao Elephants.
The Primal Anima had long since fallen, and its spiritual sense should have been eroded away ages ago.
It was inconceivable for the spiritual sense of a Fire Spirit to manifest within the sealed realm!
Yet, this particular Fire Spirit was all too familiar to her. It was the very Blazing Fire that had persistently barred her from reaching the Earthfire Primal Soul.
As the violet gold shield was engulfed by the inferno, Zhiya finally experienced the fearsome flame power that Mo Baichuan could never harness.
The Blazing Fire, capable of reducing all things to cinders, burst forth from the flames.
Her shield, refined from her lifeblood, vanished without a trace.
The golden sword light, as it soared into the tumultuous sea of flames, found the flames parting to create a slender path for it to advance.
In a flash of insight, she realized that the emergence of this sea of flames was designed to complement Lin Daoke's swordsmanship!
"To think that I would have my Heart Aperture shattered by Lin Daoke's supreme swordsmanship within this sealed barrier."
A flicker of defiance sparkled in the depths of Zhiya's icy gaze.
She had a contingency within the purple demon energy sea; even in death, she retained the capacity for rebirth.
Yet to regain today's strength might take millennia.
At a time when the Three Realms were in upheaval and Primal Animas were emerging one after another, she could not bear the thought of waiting for centuries. She refused to miss out on this era of turmoil!
Torn by indecision, she contemplated whether to take a desperate gamble and introduce the alien beast she had forged into the sealed realm to disrupt the status quo.
With a resounding clang, a blood-red Celestial Pillar of Life plummeted from the heavens, shattering the golden sword light that traversed the sea of fire and carving a vast chasm in the fiery expanse.
"Celestial Pillar of Life!"
Zhiya's spirit jolted, her composed and natural visage now etched with bewilderment.
The "Celestial Pillar of Life," freshly consecrated, should have been undetectable and unsummonable within the confines of the barrier.
What could have caused it to appear so abruptly?
"Yu Yuan!"
From the fiery depths, a figure formed of spiritual sense emerged, plump and commanding.
He was the sovereign of flames, the primal origin of fire in the world, bellowing towards the heavens.
His shout resonated with the fire rules of the eleven-layered barrier, drawing the dispersed fire energies from the other layers to converge in an instant.
In the span of a few breaths, the world transformed into a realm of fire, even more dramatic than the heart of the Everlands!
Volcanoes burst forth from nowhere, and burning astral worlds took shape, forged by his formidable power.
Countless flame meteors streamed through the void like serpentine rivers, unveiling the profound truths of fire that shaped the Heaven, Earth, and all beings within the Three Realms.
He fixed his gaze on Yu Yuan and declared, "You actually dared to enter wielding the Solar Spirit!"
