C2279 Confusion!
"Demon Palace Sovereign!"
Upon hearing Pei Yuling utter this taboo name, every Void Spirit Succubus turned ashen, mirroring his pallor.
These entities, born of the ancient Starry Behemoths, now faced the Demon Phoenix, who delighted in hunting their creators.
She had claimed the lives of more Starry Behemoths than any other, save for the Titans and spinosaurus.
A legend in Hao Ran, she was the sovereign of the alien beasts.
"Sir, may I assist you?"
Pei Yuling's voice carried a note of deference as he discreetly invoked the Void Mirror, assessing the unfolding scenario.
Beyond the sacred grounds, numerous rifts in the fabric of space offered pathways to the vast Starfields of the Origin Realm.
"Your presence honors us, sir. How may I be of service?"
While Pei Yuling bowed with respect, the Void Mirror had already synced with a conduit straight to the Heaven Opening Flare Star in the Gray Domain.
A flicker of elation crossed his brow.
His gaze involuntarily drifted to the rift leading to the Heaven Opening Flare Star, thinking that once he reached the Gray Domain, he would be beyond reach. The fate of the Void Spirit Succubi who looked to him as their leader was of little concern to him. His survival was paramount.
"Uh..."
The glimmer of happiness on Pei Yuling's brow vanished abruptly.
He watched the rift he had set his sights on begin to swirl with deep purple mists, signaling the presence of overwhelming Demonic Power.
The purple haze snuffed out the link between the Void Mirror and the rift in an instant.
Pei Yuling realized his escape route was gone!
"Advice? I have no lessons for you. I simply desire the essence within you."
A sneer played across Zhiya's eyes.
With a rush, the void's recesses brimmed with the expansive purple demonic energy. The secret haven, wrought by the Void Spirit Succubi within the spatial crevices, was now suffused with Zhiya's limitless presence.
For Pei Yuling and the Void Spirit Succubus elders, escape through the rifts had become an impossibility.
"Please, spare my life. I pledge my loyalty to you!"
Aware of the looming disaster, Pei Yuling dropped to his knees, bowing his head repeatedly in desperation.
"You are not worthy."
Zhiya shook her head with detached indifference.
Roar!
Behind Zhiya, a sky-shaking roar erupted from the narrowest crack in the void.
The ferocious blood energy within the roar caused all the Void Spirit Succubus, except for Pei Yuling, to burst apart. A gruesome mix of severed limbs and blood spilled into the rift.
Pei Yuling's heart shattered with fear.
His body, specially crafted through the refinement of Divine Butterfly blood, was reduced to pulp—both flesh and internal organs—by the violent shock.
Had he not fused with a Primordial Spirit, desperately clinging to life, he too would have perished within that rift.
"There should be no one else under his command who understands the true nature of the void and has attained the Tenth Level."
Zhiya advanced toward him with deliberate steps.
Her presence bore down on Pei Yuling like a landslide, his bones cracking under the immense pressure, his flesh and blood blurring before his eyes.
Zhiya's pale, elegant hand plunged into him like a spear into mud, extracting a clump of dark Origin Essence from within Pei Yuling.
Whoosh!
She enveloped the Origin Essence with a deep red glow from her palm, then ignited it with a drop of Van Heqing's blood.
That single drop, aided by the dark Origin Essence in her palm, briefly illuminated Van Heqing's mind before vanishing.
Frowning, she murmured to herself, "He's assimilated the Origin Soul so quickly."
At that moment, her expression turned grave as she felt the sensation of being watched.
She retrieved the Void Mirror from Pei Yuling's remains and, with a furrowed brow, sensed its energy before turning her gaze toward the passage leading to the Gray Domain.
"Has he already detected my presence?"
Zhiya, clutching the Origin Essence, hesitated only briefly before soaring back toward the rift from whence the beastly roar had come.
Soon after, the peculiar realm that had long been home to the Void Spirit Succubus was engulfed by a tide of purple demonic energy.
In time, the purple miasma faded away through various spatial rifts, leaving nothing behind—not the sacred land of the Void Spirit Succubus, not Pei Yuling's body, nor the hallowed lake.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole lurking behind.
In the Origin Blood Continent, Yu Yuan snapped out of his momentary trance and regained his composure.
Zhiya had spared Van Heqing's life. Using the blood he had shed, she glimpsed the anomalies within his sea of consciousness.
As Van Heqing's Primordial Spirit and Yin God merged, Yu Yuan observed every detail through his Soul Altar.
He watched as Zhiya executed Pei Yuling amidst the chaotic void streams and annihilated his entire race, not missing a single detail of the destruction, including her whispered self-reflection.
"It's indeed a bit fast."
Yu Yuan remained unfazed as he continued conversing with Tai Xu, Tianqi, and the Chaos Roc.
He was adept at multitasking, keeping an eye on Zhiya's next move while simultaneously communicating with his other two bodies in the Desolate Realm in his own unique way.
...
In Horror Land, deep underground, the Yin Veins spontaneously burst forth with countless Yin Scorched Essence.
The veins resumed their flow, reestablishing the cycle of rebirth for all living creatures within the Desolate Realm.
The souls of the fallen Protoss, regardless of their location in the Origin Realm, now instinctively traveled towards the Desolate Realm.
"Hehe, I'll be the guardian of this place from now on."
Han Qi appeared above a pond in Horror Land, harvesting the burgeoning Yin Scorched Essence with a contented smile. "My journey to supremacy begins here, in Horror Land!"
...
On the Creation Continent, the "Paths of the Undead" that had paused for a while outside the heavens quietly resumed their course.
Only a select few from the Dark Elfkind, Bright Clan, Star Race, Rock Clan, and Asura Clan with higher bloodline ranks were fortunate enough to reach the Cold Domain.
The majority of these diverse races remained dispersed across the vast Starfields of the Origin Realm, their low bloodline ranks sparing them from the massacres by the Evil God and the Protoss.
Now, the souls of those who perished outside the Cold Domain, for whatever reason, were carried along the Paths of the Undead.
These paths transported the souls to the Creation Starfield, guiding them to a cave at the heart of the Creation Continent, shrouded by the Myriad Spirit Restriction.
Directly to the heart of the Creation Continent.
Curiously, the people of the various alien races beyond the heavens were no longer giving birth to new children.
The cycle of reincarnation for these races seemed to have been disrupted.
If this situation persisted, the alien races of the Origin Realm would face extinction!
In contrast, the Protoss and the Evil Gods who had left the vastness to seek survival among the great star rivers were now seeing a surge in births.
Twins, triplets, and even quadruplets had become commonplace.
The Abyss Tribe, which had given birth to the Evil Gods, was also experiencing a population boom.
...
In the Perish Starfield.
After the energies of the two worlds collided and eventually settled, there was no sign of frequent visits from the powerhouses of either realm.
The mightiest beings of the Origin Realm and the Beast God of the Desolate Realm seemed to have intentionally forgotten this place, unaware that the two worlds could now connect.
On this day, someone finally arrived at the Perish Starfield, a gateway to the Desolate Realm.
"Desolate Realm!"
Demon Lord Tan Xiaotian, seated on his Dark Cushion, drifted to the former stronghold of the Divine Soul Sect.
Surveying the shattered meteorites and remnants of fierce battles, Tan Xiaotian's lips quirked into a smile as he declared, "I have arrived!"
Whoosh!
A greenish-black shadow unexpectedly emerged through the 'Path of the Dead' in the Perish Starfield. He arrived gracefully, nodding slightly, "Mr. Tan, it's been a while."
The newcomer habitually wore a cloak that concealed his Devil Soul, his eye sockets ablaze with a wise and demonic fire, the color of which was a dark greenish-black.
"High Priest Reid."
Tan Xiaotian spoke with a sneer of contempt, "You're not here to stop me from going to the Desolate Realm, are you? Ha, of your entire Devaputra Race, I only truly fear the Great Demon God Beilstein. You, along with Saka and Sable, have never been a match for me."
"I am simply following orders," High Priest Reid responded gravely.
