C2227 Blocking a Sword
The Spring of Death ceased its disturbances.
Regardless of Yu Yuan's words, the Death Will on the other side maintained its silence. However, the individuals scattered around the spring, through the previous actions of the spring, as well as Yu Yuan and Chen Qinghuang's responses, had ascertained the existence of a higher intelligent life in the unknown Otherworld.
"I would like to go see for myself."
After a prolonged silence, the Secular Bird Queen, with eyes shimmering like clear pools, expressed, "There lies a power I desperately need."
"Now is not the time," Yu Yuan gently advised, pausing for a moment. Observing that the Death Will within the Spring of Death still showed no inclination to converse, he continued, "Let's preserve the Spring of Death for the time being. The entity on the other side is bound to cause significant upheaval. We should wait and see, addressing the more pressing matters at hand first."
Chen Qinghuang hummed in agreement.
Having ascended to the Supreme Realm and cleansed the deathly taint from her soul with Yu Yuan's assistance, she now needed to stabilize and familiarize herself with her new state, delving into the Death Magic she had recently acquired.
She truly wasn't in any rush.
She had indeed wrought havoc in the Wasteland, rendering several Astral Domains desolate. Yet, with Yuan Le's demise and Dark Phoenix Zhiya ensnared, as long as Yu Yuan didn't seek her out for trouble, she had no reason to concern herself with anyone in the current Wasteland.
"What about the Wellspring of Creation? Do you have a plan?" Mother Earth, now composed, still wore a look of grave concern. "He's likely to target Bertain. If he possesses Bertain, he'll have the perfect vessel to break free from his bonds."
"Rest assured, he won't succeed in possessing him," Yu Yuan replied with calm confidence.
...
Elsewhere.
"Your Highness!"
Before the Beast God Temple, a chorus of Beast Gods erupted in alarm.
Zhong Chichen, Loong Jie, and Green Willow, present in the Book of Time, were equally stunned by the transformation occurring within the Wellspring of Creation.
Within the Wellspring of Creation itself.
He, shrouded by a massive phantom, reached out and extracted a sword from Lin Daoke's body.
A Divine Sword, seemingly crafted from the purest Psicrystal!
This was Lin Daoke's Solar Spirit Sword, the embodiment of his Solar Spirit and spiritual energy, both resilient and keen-edged.
Master Lin Daoke of the Sword Sect had forged his primordial spirit into a blade, cultivated his Solar Spirit into another, and even transformed his Lunar Spirit into a third sword. Among these, the Primordial Spirit Sword was the mightiest, the Solar Spirit Sword the most durable, and the Lunar Spirit Sword was tailored for slaying ghosts and specters.
At this moment, he sought Lin Daoke's most durable blade, the Solar Spirit Sword.
"This is a fine sword," he murmured to Blazing Fire.
A cascade of golden radiance, prompted by his words, infused the Solar Spirit Sword from within Lin Daoke, triggering a remarkable transformation in the blade's material. In an instant, the Divine Sword adopted a green-gold substance, its durability and sharpness enhanced a hundredfold!
The fundamental cosmic order of the Golden Spirit, intrinsic to this sealed realm, now integrated with the Divine Sword through his influence.
With a swift motion, the green-gold Divine Sword levitated above Demon God Bertain's head, unleashing a sword light of blinding brilliance. The fierce edge of the green-gold radiance seemed poised to shatter the seal, aiming for the Dark Deities and Beast Gods spectating from afar.
"My eyes!" The Death Viper at the entrance of the Beast God Temple bled from its pupils, its eye sockets torn asunder.
The Astral Tiger let out a muffled grunt, tears streaming from its eyes, unable to bear the sword's piercing brilliance.
Loong Jie, Green Willow, and Zhong Chichen, shielded by the Divine Artifact's spatial finesse atop the Book of Time, gazed upon the sword light through the veils of space, unaffected.
Yu Zhu remained unscathed, not even a furrow crossing her brow. Clearly, even the sword light, magnified by the golden rule and emanating from Lin Daoke, posed no threat to her.
With a crackle and snap, thunder and extreme cold were drawn into the Azure Gold Divine Sword as it halted, influenced by his power. In a mere moment, the Divine Sword, tempered by Lin Daoke's Solar Spirit, now harbored the cosmic orders of sharpness, thunder, and frost from the three Primal Animas.
"Within it lies the ultimate mystery of metal that I have long sought!"
Loong Jie let out a low growl, his face aglow with longing. He licked his lips as his dragon blood seethed with fervor.
"The Demon God is in peril!"
Green Willow, with his striking green vertical pupils, exclaimed, "The rule imprint of the Golden Spirit has transformed that sword into the sharpest Divine Artifact in existence. The supreme powers of lightning and ice force can obliterate the souls of all beings. He is the mightiest soul across the Three Realms, keenly aware of how to precisely target and extinguish the souls of the mighty."
Zhong Chichen's face soured.
"That sword can penetrate Bertain's armor and even his refined amethyst body," Loong Jie declared.
The ultimate mystery of gold had rendered Lin Daoke's Solar Spirit Sword exceedingly sharp, while the forces of lightning and ice were capable of shattering Bertain's soul.
Within that sealed barrier, even if Bertain could divide into millions of devil souls, none could escape the confinement.
Once the devil souls separated from their amethyst-like demonform, they became even more vulnerable to destruction.
In the enigmatic domain he ruled, the Great Demon God Bertain faced constraints at every turn, with his demonform as his sole reliance.
If the demonform were to fracture, preserving Bertain's spiritual sense would be nearly impossible.
Already the strongest soul in the three realms, within his own domain, he could wield the profound truths of numerous Primal Animas. What could Bertain possibly use to contend with him without his demonform?
"I'll lend you a hand."
Whoosh!
The spherical Earthfire suddenly traced two fiery rings.
The Solar Spirit Bodies of Dark Phoenix Zhiya and Yu Yuan were instantly enveloped by the fiery circles, as if surrounded by a myriad of flame meteors.
The intense flames imposed a formidable restriction on living creatures, and Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit Body and Dark Phoenix Zhiya were the two most powerful among them.
Ultimately, even the most formidable living creatures would be constrained by their natural bane.
In the Primal Soul-dominated domain, the Earthfire could exhibit its full strength without the need for a supreme being like Yuan Lianyao.
Thus, Yu Yuan and Zhiya, already hampered by the flames and their consciousness clouded by chaos, found it even more challenging to break free once encircled by the fiery rings.
Of course, they seemed oblivious to the current actions of the Blazing Fire.
After eradicating Bertain's self-awareness and shattering his spiritual defenses, you'll be able to make your way into the Wasteland with ease. Possessing Bertain's form, you'll traverse the Wasteland as him and swiftly bring peace to the realm.
The rotund Blazing Fire offered a few words of flattery before adding, "That armor, forged in the Cosmic Crucible, stands no chance of protecting him with me present."
No sooner had he spoken than the armor, exceedingly thick and repeatedly tempered by the Demon God Bertain, began to strip away from his amethyst-hued demonform.
With a mere gesture from Blazing Fire, the armor plunged into the fiery abyss below.
Crackle and pop!
The most intense flames imaginable devoured the armor, and the fiery patterns etched within it swiftly transferred allegiance.
Slightly melted by the power of Blazing Fire, the armor transformed into a formidable weapon in his grasp.
"Back in the day, before I had made my choice, when I was allied with it, I permitted you to delve into the essence of fire because you were its heir," he reminisced.
"Now, I'm merely reclaiming what's rightfully mine."
The deep red armor, now donned by the Earthfire, felt right at home. The plump hand, dripping with molten lava, caressed the armor, murmuring, "Ah, this is comfortable. It should be worn by me, not you."
The armor's origins lay in the Forge of the Sun, later infused with the sinister metal magic understood by President Lyi, including his own body of refined iron.
Ultimately, upon Bertain's return, the armor became the Divine Artifact that shielded him.
Now, stripped of that miraculous armor, Bertain was left with only his amethyst demonform to face the piercing green-gold Divine Sword.
At this moment, with his consciousness clouded by the overwhelming Way of the Primal Soul from the Abyss, Bertain was utterly disoriented.
The Great Demon God was oblivious to the impending disaster!
As the green-gold Divine Sword tore through his amethyst demonform, and as lightning and ice storms wreaked havoc on his crystalline body, he might awaken.
But by then, it would be too late. His billions of devil souls would be obliterated by the relentless assault of lightning and ice force.
"You are the last holdout among the Star-Spawned Terror race, but your resistance is futile."
His booming voice echoed throughout the sealed world, so resounding that even Zhong Chichen and Yu Zhu could faintly hear it.
The Green Gold Divine Sword plummeted like a bolt of lightning!
Boom!
The Green Gold Divine Sword, forged from Lin Daoke's Solar Spirit, failed to impale Bertain's head or penetrate his amethyst demonform.
Instead, the sword had struck the Dragon Slaying Stage!
When Yu Yuan was overwhelmed by the Solar Spirit, the Dragon Slaying Stage, lacking both a master and an artifact soul, had inexplicably teleported above Bertain's head, shielding the Great Demon God from a potentially lethal strike!
"Dragon Slaying Stage!"
Outside, Zhong Chichen, the Astral Tiger, Green Willow, and the rest of the Beast Gods and Dark Deities cried out in astonishment.
Yu Zhu alone remained unruffled.
The black goat, which had pledged its loyalty and humble service to her, cast a stunned glance at Yu Zhu upon realizing that the Dragon Slaying Stage had intercepted the Green Gold Divine Sword.
"Your Highness, did you know all along?"
The black goat's voice quivered.
Zhong Chichen and the Astral Tiger also abruptly recalled Yu Zhu's earlier instruction for them to keep watching, giving them the choice to either leave or stay and observe.
Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit was deeply ensnared, and her mother, whom she cherished, was present, yet the young woman had suddenly become serene.
Clearly, she had foreseen this!
Within the confines of the seal.
A figure, shaped from a spiritual sense, merged with the Earthfire within the armor. The featureless face seemed to gaze intently at the Dragon Slaying Stage.
"This is impossible! It shouldn't be able to move!"
The Earthfire cried out in a frenzy, swiftly drifting towards Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit, its voice thundering with fury.
"I must look inside him! When his soul was under your suppression, he was nothing more than a mass of powerful flesh and blood! I..."
The Earthfire was both fearful and anxious, its thoughts in disarray within the armor. Its rounded form began to fade rapidly.
"Don't go!"
The vast phantom, which eclipsed the heavens, sensed an imminent threat at the sight of the blazing fire's erratic behavior. "Stay away from his Solar Spirit!"
Yu Yuan's eyes sparkled with sudden intensity.
The soul he had suppressed and sealed quivered, shattering all the soul's cages. It stretched out its arms, smiling in the face of the encroaching blazing fire.
The flame meteors orbiting him transformed into vast seas of blood, reminiscent of the many Roots of the Solar Meridian.
"So, you too need the forces of thunder and ice to vanquish Bertain," he mused. "The rules that Bertain's devil soul fears must also be your own dread."
Yu Yuan's smile was radiant as his Solar Spirit Body underwent a startling transformation.
In silence, he transmuted endless life force, utilizing his real body's eight-tiered Soul Altar to suffuse this form with the powers of thunder and ice.
With a whoosh, the Dragon Slaying Stage, having parried a strike from the Azure Gold Divine Sword, morphed into a violet gold Divine Sword. It cleaved the spherical blazing fire, casting it down into the inferno below.
