C2253
Youyu was the one speaking.
The Great Demon God Beilstein had just ascertained that Yu Yuan's aura had left no trace behind. Without hesitation, he summoned the heart stone.
The heart stone, glowing with soulful brilliance, materialized in Youyu's palm, creating a connection with the void that seemed to contain a miniature domain. The faint cries of ghosts could be heard emanating from it.
In the Gal Starfield, a chilling and eerie soul aura suddenly permeated the sky.
Mother Earth spoke in a gentle tone, "This object has the power to alter the laws of nature within a world. It enables the wandering spirits and ghosts of the Desolate Realm to more easily comprehend and strengthen their powers."
"You..."
Chen Qinghuang's brow furrowed as she seemed poised to speak, yet ultimately she restrained herself.
Turning her gaze to the still Death Spring behind her, she caught sight of Zhong Chichen circling it with a sense of marvel.
The Colorful Divine Dragon appeared indifferent to whether Yu Yuan would awaken successfully.
His fascination and focus were entirely on the Death Spring's interior, as if he were intent on using this spring as a gateway to a whole new realm.
"Don't seek your own death," Chen Qinghuang warned him with an icy tone.
"Not at all, not at all," Zhong Chichen replied nonchalantly, brushing off the warning and continuing to loiter around the Death Spring.
"I'll awaken him."
Youyu gestured for Beilstein to stand back and pressed the heart stone against Yu Yuan's forehead.
The heart stone burst forth with divine radiance, and from beneath it, streams of blood-yellow Grim River flowed, infiltrating Yu Yuan's brain and his body's mysterious meridians.
Whoosh!
Yu Yuan's mind seemed to expand and illuminate as the heart stone touched his forehead.
Beilstein and Yu Zhu, both adept in the secret arts of the soul, narrowed their eyes for a closer look. They observed a sudden transformation within the "Undead Sovereign's" mind. His soul power had formed into a series of Dark Mountains, with the Grim River weaving between them.
It resembled the Demon Realm of the Origin Realm.
Wu! Wu! Wu!
The mournful sobs of innumerable lost souls rose from the Grim River within the heart stone, where another spectral image of Youyu also emerged.
Youyu unfurled the Great Path within the heart stone, simultaneously harnessing the power of the mind to stir the tumultuous Dark Mountains and the soul consciousness of Yu Yuan. Matina, the Ghost King, along with Wagner and Luo Yue, coordinated their efforts from different sectors of the heart stone, commanding the Ghost Kings, ghosts, and ghost spirits loyal to them to channel their power into Yu Yuan's mind. This caused the Dark Mountains to bellow, bringing forth the memories and soul imprints Yu Yuan had etched within them.
Boom! Boom! The landscape of Yu Yuan's mind, also that of an Undead Sovereign, erupted with earth-shattering noise as the gray-white mountains careened wildly, bursting with astonishing light. Some of the Dark Mountains, notoriously difficult to influence, bore strange symbols on their walls, exuding a potent scent of death.
Youyu, having ascended to the status of Undead Sovereign through the Soul of Origin, bore a striking resemblance to the slumbering and bewildered Yu Yuan, whether in the structure within his body or the secrets of the soul he had discerned. He immediately knew how to reorganize the muddled soul and the secret arts of the dead.
Despite the challenge of the immovable Dark Mountains, Youyu was relentless, resolved to shift them at all costs. While the Great Demon God Beilstein remained watchful, Youyu eagerly took action, intent on using his own strength and the divine powers of the heart stone to swiftly rouse Yu Yuan.
However, as he employed the heart stone's might to reconfigure the Dark Mountains in Yu Yuan's mind and categorize the ghostly soul shadows in a manner he understood, the death symbols etched into the mountain walls began to affect him. Within the heart stone, the weaker souls and spirits of the Demon God were unwittingly transformed into a surge of soul energy, dissolving into the Grim River. Intelligent and sentient ghosts perished inexplicably.
Yet Youyu turned a blind eye, rationalizing these losses as necessary sacrifices for Yu Yuan's awakening. It was only after a time, when the deathly aura had also stripped the intelligence from other ghosts, reducing them to soul energy that merged with the Grim River, that he sensed something amiss.
"Youyu, hold on a moment," urged the Great Demon God Beilstein, finally intervening.
Hush! Hush! Hush!
Beilstein, possessing only a Devil Soul, flicked his finger, sending droplets of purple flame cascading over Yu Yuan's body and mind like rain.
Inside Yu Yuan, the flames transformed into lanterns, yet they did not ignite on their own.
Hundreds of these purple lanterns drifted within Yu Yuan's meridians and acupoints, casting light on the smallest parts of his body and revealing the stark death symbols etched within.
Many similar symbols were present in Yu Yuan's bones, and even more so within the cold flesh of his brain.
Beilstein's Demonic Pupil flashed with a chilling light. "Secular Bird, you understand the meaning of those symbols, don't you?"
"I do," replied Chen Qinghuang, who had reverted to human form. Her face remained impassive, her eyes undisturbed. "Yu Zhu acted too hastily. I actually hoped you would be the one to enter his body and aid his awakening."
There was a hint of regret in Chen Qinghuang's voice.
"Trying to harm me?" Beilstein scoffed.
Without waiting for Chen Qinghuang to respond, the Great Demon God interjected, "The entity before you is merely a Devil Soul. Even if my Devil Soul perishes within Yu Yuan's body, what significance does that hold?"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Chichen and Yuan Lianyao from within the Time Book, Yu Zhu at the Phoenix Shrine, and Mother Earth atop Creation Peak all fixed Chen Qinghuang with stern gazes.
"Yu Yuan protected you in the Gal Starfield for an extended period to aid your ascension to supremacy," Yuan Lianyao, also present through the Time Book, declared angrily. "Now, as he lies injured and comatose, you forsake his salvation in favor of using those death symbols for harm?"
"Chen Qinghuang, after all Yu Yuan has done for you, can you truly be so ungrateful?"
Yuan Lianyao's rage was palpable.
She had been at the Creation Pool, poised to delve into the Flame Dao Elephant revealed within the Myriad Spirit Restriction and unravel deeper truths of the flame.
However, when Youyu and Yu Zhu detected the emergence of another supreme being in the Gal Starfield, suspecting the return of Yu Yuan's Undead Sovereign, she paused her pursuit of the flame's essence.
She believed that the Secular Bird Queen, who had received Yu Yuan's care on numerous occasions, would be as concerned about Yu Yuan's fate as she was.
However, to her surprise, Chen Qinghuang, despite understanding the profound implications of those death symbols, chose not to reveal them and even plotted against the one who would awaken Yu Yuan.
"To decipher those death symbols, a sacrifice is necessary," Chen Qinghuang explained dispassionately. "The ideal sacrifice would be a powerful being, and it's not limited to just flesh and soul."
"Why should I have informed him about Beilstein's demise ten thousand years ago when I was a participant myself?"
"It was Youyu who acted too hastily."
While she spoke, the heart stone resting on Yu Yuan's forehead was still teeming with the souls from the Grim River.
As these ghostly souls perished, Youyu noticed the death symbols on Dark Mountain within Yu Yuan's mind beginning to fade away.
In their place surged numerous strands of gray-white lightning, intricate and laden with the essence of Soul Arts.
The Soul Arts, a hallmark of the Undead Sovereign, were now truly manifesting within Dark Mountain.
"She's correct!" exclaimed Youyu.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The lanterns that the Great Demon God Beilstein had placed inside Yu Yuan's body began to extinguish one after another.
Beilstein huffed, realizing that the Soul Arts and demonic thoughts he had sent to probe the mysteries within Yu Yuan had been wiped out by those death symbols.
The Great Demon God suddenly had an epiphany and turned his attention to the still "Death Spring" behind Yu Yuan's body.
At the very depths of the Death Spring, a speck of gray-green light was slowly growing brighter.
Beilstein and Youyu both realized that the essence of the souls extinguished by the death symbols, as well as those from the Grim River, were all converging into this light.
It seemed to be aiding the gray-green light in its gradual refinement.
The light radiated an intense aura of death, so potent that merely gazing upon it or sensing it could evoke an overwhelming urge for self-destruction.
"There's another message hidden within the symbols inside Yu Yuan," Chen Qinghuang remarked coolly, interpreting the message she discerned from the symbols. "When a fragment of the Origin Soul's spiritual consciousness was erased from Yu Yuan's body, the Origin Soul deliberately twisted Yu Yuan's soul, infusing it with the Soul Arts it had mastered."
The Origin Soul was intentionally left for Yu Yuan, so he could attempt to restore his disordered soul and grasp the Soul Arts inherent to the Origin Soul, as well as the true essence of the Origin Soul that Yu Yuan inherently possessed.
The Origin Soul of the abyss sought to tempt him with Yu Yuan, who was tainted with poison.
He longed to unlock the coveted secret arts of the soul and unravel all the mysteries within the Undead Sovereign. In doing so, he was bound to be poisoned, coming into contact with the residual aura and power of the Origin Soul.
He wasn't foolish, though. He avoided the trap and instead dispatched Yu Yuan to the Gal Starfield.
Chen Qinghuang clarified the situation, adding, "Before he sent Yu Yuan over, he infused him with his own deathly power. He requires a sacrifice of blood and soul to manifest himself within the Spring."
"If the sacrifice is of blood and flesh, then he assumes a corporeal form. If it's the soul, then he takes on a spiritual form."
Having said her piece, Chen Qinghuang turned her gaze to the Death Spring, offering no further explanation.
"The Abyss is teeming with ghosts. It's better if you handle this."
Beilstein stepped back from Yu Yuan's body and settled onto the Time Book, casting a curious glance at the Spring. Indeed, he noticed the gray-green glow within the Spring intensifying.
The Great Demon God expressed a keen interest. "From another realm, a master of death's true meaning, who has even clashed with him and slain a fragment of his spiritual consciousness."
With a sly chuckle, Beilstein gestured towards the Spring, "Visitor from another world, I'd be intrigued to have a chat with you!"
A peculiar ripple emanated outward.
The gray-green light responded, yet Beilstein couldn't decipher it.
"He wishes to converse with the awakened Yu Yuan and the Yu Yuan of before. He has no interest in communicating with you," Chen Qinghuang stated icily.
"Oh?"
Caught off guard, Beilstein let out a bizarre laugh. "Quite the arrogant one, aren't you? Hey, the other one, the one who inhabited a palace as his body, did he meet his end in your realm?"
