C2221 The Appearance of the Strongest

He reigned supreme over the Origin Realm, manifesting as a colossal ethereal soul.

His presence was no longer hidden.

His arrival caused the various sealed barriers to intertwine as if they were one with the earth and sky.

The immense soul shadow he projected into the depths of the celestial river above everyone unleashed an immeasurable might.

The soul's vastness was awe-inspiring, with the sun, moon, and stars appearing as mere pebbles in his hand.

The other sealed barriers, influenced by his spiritual consciousness, suddenly fused together.

The barriers encasing the mass of flesh and blood, originally eleven layers thick, coalesced into one in the instant his colossal soul emerged.

Now, only a single barrier enveloped the flesh and blood.

Within this singular sealed realm, Yu Yuan, Beilstein, and Lin Daoke found themselves in an extraordinary world.

Then, behind him, a series of dazzling halos materialized in the void.

Eleven radiant halos, some shining like gold, others vast as the sea, woven from verdant branches, or encircled by flames, each embodying the essence of the Great Dao of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

Yu Yuan narrowed his eyes in scrutiny, realizing that the eleven splendid barriers beneath the darkness and atop the true abyss were linked to this world through his soul.

He could freely wield the power of the barriers that separated the abyss from the darkness, harnessing the infinite strength they held.

Here, he could give form to his spiritual consciousness without the need to seize flesh and blood, allowing his power to be revealed.

"I have not given you permission to leave."

The vast azure-black soul gazed down at the Demon Phoenix, still battering against the realm's barrier, and declared, "The memories left by the Abyss Lord are what I seek."

Its featureless visage somehow conveyed an aura of indifference that penetrated the minds of all living creatures.

"The Abyss Lord of old sealed his own core soul to thwart my acquisition of the ancient awakened memories. Unexpectedly, it has inadvertently benefited you, a mere fledgling phoenix."

The Abyss Lord uttered coldly, "You do possess some skill."

While speaking, he reached out and pressed towards Zhiya.

The eleven halos at his back, connected to this realm's void, descended like the crushing layers of the cosmos.

Countless Gold Mountains rose majestically, their peaks touching the starry heavens of the Realm, while innumerable rivers and lakes unfurled across the celestial expanse. Floating continents drifted amidst the vastness, their landscapes dotted with ancient, sky-piercing trees. The immense solar nucleus transformed into a divine palace engulfed in flames, bearing down upon the Demon Phoenix's location.

The Abyss Lord had mastered the intricate essence of the Source Spirit Dao Law, wielding a power capable of annihilating any celestial body or starry landscape.

"No deity in the Three Realms should surpass me, nor should any being dare to defy my will," the Abyss Lord declared, his voice a serene yet pervasive force that echoed through the cosmos, seeping into the very souls and bodies of Yu Yuan, Beilstein, and Lin Daoke, paralyzing their nerves and scattering their thoughts and wills.

Under the weight of his voice, the three mighty ones were disoriented, lost to time and place.

Even Yu Yuan, the Yang God who had refined the source blood and traversed the dual echelons of life's true essence, found himself powerless to challenge the Abyss Lord's will in this extraordinary world.

Without his true form present and the eighth level of the Soul Altar yet to manifest, none could resist the encroaching taint of his soul.

A primal roar echoed from within the Heaven Bearing Life Pillar as countless Beast Gods and Demon Gods cried out in terror and despair.

Alien beasts and Demon Gods, locked in eternal combat to evolve their High Rank bloodlines, were mercilessly extinguished by his devastating might.

The secret realm, akin to a well of blood, now ran red with rivers, its ancient Demon and Beast Gods' carcasses floating in the crimson microcosm within the pillar.

A grotesquely large, blood-red ancient tree, with gnarled branches entwining numerous ancient Demon Gods and Beast Gods, withered and perished swiftly under this relentless force.

The pillar, forged from Divine Stones and the finest metals from various realms, suddenly fractured.

A sorrowful phoenix cry pierced the air as Zhiya, barefoot atop the pillar, was compelled to descend into the blood-drenched secret realm within. Alas, she was unable to evade the overwhelming might.

The Heaven Bearing Life Pillar, already fissured, disintegrated under the immense pressure, its Golden Stone Laws, cold iron, and earth's essence crumbling away.

In an instant, the colossal Heaven Bearing Life Pillar burst asunder, scattering an uncountable amount of stone chips, gold dust, silver grains, and iron rust.

Zhiya's exquisitely proportioned, slender figure shattered in an explosion.

She burst into billions of purple droplets, then abruptly coalesced and contracted, reforming into a purple phoenix with outstretched wings.

She perished in an instant, only to be reborn in the next.

Upon her resurrection, she manifested in her original phoenix form, her elongated, icy phoenix eyes significantly weakened. The previously ferocious and mad aura seemed to have been doused with icy water.

Outside.

"Mother!"

"Hall Master!"

His vast spectral soul's emergence caused even the squirming, bizarre flesh to fall into an eerie stillness.

His presence permeated the world, omnipresent; his consciousness and spirit cast a shadow, instilling a profound sense of crisis in the stimulated, multicolored flesh.

The Beast Gods, Demon Gods, the two Dragon Gods, and Yu Han all snapped to awareness in that moment.

As they regained their senses, they witnessed the Heaven Bearing Life Pillar's detonation and the Hall Master, whom they deemed invincible, disintegrate into a cloud of blood.

The blood reassembled, and the Hall Master reemerged in phoenix form, clearly having sustained grave injuries.

Yu Zhu and Sky Tiger were frantic, bellowing as they attempted to reach the Creation Pool, only to be thwarted by Mother Earth's barrage of meteorites.

"Do you truly wish to perish within?"

Mother Earth, statuesque and regal, furrowed her brow and shook her head, her eyes filled with a somber light as she murmured, "He has come. He has indeed arrived."

The Light Origin Spirit shivered with trepidation.

"Great Demon God Beilstein!"

"Sword Sect, Lin Daoke!"

Zhong Chichen, Loong Jie, and Lvliu, freshly awakened, were taken aback by the sudden appearance of two figures within the confines of the barrier.

Beilstein, who had reigned supreme in the Origin Realm for years, had manifested within the seal.

How had he arrived?

And Lin Daoke of the Sword Sect, how had he come to be here?

With a sizzle, a blaze of light, like a shooting star, burst forth from the barrier encasing the Creation Pool.

The fiery streak paused momentarily in the celestial void of the Desolate Realm to orient itself before drifting off.

"The boundless Geocentric Fire!"

Zhong Chichen was profoundly moved.

"Fire Origin Spirit!"

Mother Earth and the Light Origin Spirit, observing the departing streak of light, recognized the presence of a sentient fragment of the Fire Origin Spirit within it.

Piecing together Zhong Chichen's exclamation, the two Origin Spirits immediately understood the origin and nature of the sentient consciousness within the fiery light.

They surmised that the consciousness of the Ultimate Flame must be seeking the supreme being it had created—Yuan Lianyao!

In a moment, the situation shifted dramatically. The consciousness of the world's most powerful source spirit emerged, transforming the seal shrouding the Creation Pool into a deadly trap for the mighty.

Previously, the eight genuine source spirits of the Abyss had perished here. Gold, wood, water, fire, earth, as well as the sun, moon, and stars, were all devoured within the seal.

Now, Yu Yuan, the Great Demon God Beilstein, Lin Daoke, and the Demon Phoenix faced the prospect of sharing the fate of the eight source spirits.

"It's none of my concern!"

The Light Origin Spirit shrieked, pleading from above the seal outside the Creation Pool, "I am willing to continue shining upon the Abyss. If you permit it, I'll return immediately!"

It was the first to capitulate.

Like a pecking chick, it bowed and scraped to the void soul within the seal, "I've seen the light. You are the beacon of hope and the future for our source spirits. Indeed! It was your awakened emotions that transformed our entire race. I should have realized sooner that you are the one to whom we must bow!"

The void soul inside the seal peered through the barrier with astonishment, "With emotions, you've become even more cowardly. To stay alive, you'd say anything."

"No, no, it's not just about survival. I've truly had an epiphany!"

The Light Origin Spirit nodded vigorously within the star, its small face contorting into an obsequious grin, "From now on, I'll heed your every command!"

The gaze of the Void Soul drifted from the Light Star and came to rest upon the visage of Mother Earth.

"And you?"

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