C2343 Return to the Everlands

Gazing down from the void beyond, one could witness the ferocious lightning and thunder churning like boiling seawater.

At this moment, the Way of Heaven in the Everlands had descended into turmoil. The mighty had withdrawn, and the Gods had vanished without a trace.

A cultivator from the Gods on Tyria, after long contemplation of the Everlands, found himself so overwhelmed with emotion that tears streamed from his eyes.

Only the Supreme Zhiya of Shadow's Keep and Lin Daoke, the Master of the Sword Sect, dared to peer through the fearsome lightning at the vast fissure that had torn through the heavens.

Beneath the wild tempest of lightning, a crevasse plunged straight down to the fiery depths within the Everlands.

Through the divine sight of Zhiya and Lin Daoke, the resplendent Heart of the Everlands was visible, as were the bloodline lightning streaks that danced across the crystalline surface.

"Stop dawdling and dive in already," Zhiya muttered to herself, eager for the big devil to step into the Heart of the Everlands and engage in a mortal duel with the Primal Soul from the Abyss, allowing her to discern the Cosmic Order of both adversaries.

"Heh," Bertain sighed, his cape billowing with a flourish. The blood-red fabric was marked with crimson lightning, echoing the bloodline rules of the intelligent life from the Otherworld, creating a dazzling interplay of light with the bloodline lightning on the Heart of the Everlands.

"You've been gathering the bloodline mysteries of the beings from the Origin Realm through Yu Yuan's Solar Spirit, while I've been equally busy in the Otherworld," the big devil boasted. "This cape is a Divine Artifact, which I've named Doomsday. My Sun Destruction Cape is designed for the day when I confront an entity like you."

With those words, he prepared to step forward.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed, and he glanced down at his chest.

Whoosh!

A sphere of chaotic luminescence burst forth from the blood-red cape, settling into his palm. It resembled a dimly lit expanse of stars, conjuring up an entire scene before him.

The old devil instantly saw another version of himself in the World of Darkness, grievously wounded by a corporeal Yu Yuan. A spiritual sense from the Primal Soul of the Abyss sought to infiltrate and possess his body.

The other miniature Chaos Orb, which he had concealed within the Dragon Bone Staff, was now fending off the Abyss's Primal Soul from within his amethyst demonform.

In the dense darkness, the God of Oblivion, Harris, the Death God, Kurkova, and the Space God, Devitt, found their powers constrained by numerous peculiar crystals. Harris and Kurkova had clearly sustained severe injuries, while only Devitt continued to channel space magic into the Chaos Orb embedded in his demonform.

"Primal Soul, Primal Vitality, Primal Blood..." The big devil's face grew increasingly solemn as the chaotic glow in his hand began to twist violently.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Boom! The Earthfire summoned by the Blazing Flame became tumultuous, driven into disarray by the internal rules.

A ghostly figure of the blazing fire, having departed from the Heart of the Everlands, was extinguished in an instant due to the old devil's mental tremor and his reflexive actions.

The Blazing Flame was taken aback, and its dispersed spiritual sense within the inferno rushed into the Heart of the Everlands for refuge.

The old devil, now standing before the crystal sphere and on the verge of entering the Heart of the Everlands, exuded an aura of extreme peril.

"Enough, reverse the chaos!" Bertain, having returned from the Otherworld, gazed at the Heart of the Everlands before him and unleashed his theurgy.

His devil soul, from within the Doomsday robe, swiftly merged into the Chaos Orb at his chest and vanished from sight. Following suit, the Doomsday robe, fluttering amidst the flames, whisked into the Chaos Orb with a swift motion.

As the devil soul and the cape disappeared, the tumultuous magic ball, radiating a warping force field, abruptly transformed into a sphere of iridescent light.

Numerous delicate spatial threads suddenly spread throughout the Chaos Orb, and then it vanished from the onlookers' view.

In the external cosmos, Zhiya and Lin Daoke, positioned above the colorful butterfly, stared in bewilderment at the spot where the old devil had vanished.

"Has he... already entered?" Zhiya's eyes sparkled with curiosity, attempting to peer through the Heart of the Everlands in hopes of catching a glimpse of Bertain.

Lin Daoke simply shook his head, remaining silent.

"What in the world is this old devil up to?"

Zhiya's exquisite visage was as cold as a block of ice. She stepped away from the colorful butterfly and moved closer to the Heart of the Everlands, saying, "Bertain has driven out the Star-Spawned Terror, disrupting the Cosmic Order in the Ashlands and even limiting the psionic powers of the Star River. He was fully prepared, but did he just slip away at the last moment?"

Lin Daoke kept silent, sensing that something was off.

Wielding turbulent thunder and lightning, Bertain had reached the Heart of the Everlands. But just as he was about to enter, he vanished. Had all his meticulous planning and efforts been in vain?

"Why don't you give it a try?"

Lin Daoke suddenly offered, feigning generosity.

The notoriously mad ruler of Shadow's Keep was uncharacteristically composed, retorting, "You should be the one to try first."

Despite her usual recklessness, Zhiya wouldn't dare to charge into the Heart of the Everlands without any understanding of what lay ahead. Recently, she and her carefully nurtured Primal Beast had been harshly reprimanded by the Primal Soul of the Abyss of Truth, suffering a significant setback. This experience made her cautious about taking further risks.

"Then we wait," Lin Daoke added.

With a whoosh, the colorful butterfly flapped its wings, sending Lin Daoke tumbling through the air. Without a second thought for their reactions, it sliced open a void crack and departed. As it vanished, the butterfly emitted a mournful cry, seemingly aware of its master's plight.

In the Origin Realm, within the Genesis Continent, Bertain, clad in Golden Dragon Armor and possessing an amethyst demonform, unleashed a surge of energy from a patch of chaos in his chest. Another Bertain, returning from the Otherworld, emerged from that eerie chaos glow and seamlessly integrated into the amethyst demonform.

Whoosh! A blood-red cloak burst forth from the chaos light, settling upon the Golden Dragon Armor. Then, the chaos light began to swell with energy, distorting the magnificent seals in the darkness and blurring the magnetic field of the cosmic order.

The two All Spirits Banners, having already converged, were unable to maintain control under the influence of the "Chaos Orb" within Bertain's chest, failing to seal the heavens.

"Lord Bertain!"

"Lord!"

The three trapped Gods of the Otherworld, sensing the familiar fluctuations of the force field, erupted in unison with cheers of joy. They instantly recognized that the big devil, who reigned supreme in the Otherworld, had hastened from the Everlands to engage in a decisive battle with the Primal Soul of the Abyss in the World of Darkness.

"It is I."

The old devil's eerie laughter burst forth from within his amethyst demonform. Disregarding the extensive void seals of the All Spirits Banners, he shattered innumerable barriers, making his way from the vast Everlands to the dark heart of the Genesis Continent.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

From within Bertain's Doomsday Cloak, a torrent of immense and powerful vital energy surged, infusing the amethyst demonform. The demonform transformed into crystal bones as resilient as rock, complete with limbs and a central torso. The abundant vital energy from the cloak clung to the amethyst structure, forming robust and refined muscles, bestowing upon the big devil a genuine flesh-and-blood body, akin to the Primal Soul of the Abyss.

"In the thirty-six realms of the Otherworld, I've used this cloak to harvest Life Seeds and draw forth various forms of vital energy."

Bertain flashed a sly smile at Yu Yuan, who had merged the forces of the Primal Soul, Primal Vitality, and Primal Blood into one. "You possess a flesh-and-blood body, and I, as a Star-Spawned Terror, have tirelessly pursued a flesh-and-blood form that is truly my own."

Encased within the Golden Dragon Armor, the amethyst demonform crystallized into bone, enveloped by a layer of robust, refined flesh. At the core of this novel form, a mysterious Chaos Orb resided, and in his grasp, he wielded the Dragon Bone Staff.

Armed with an array of Divine Artifacts, Bertain had fused with the two devil souls and was now steadfastly confronting the Primal Soul of the Abyss.

"I had intended to divide and conquer, but it appears I lack the strength to do so. I must face you one-on-one."

"Since that's the case..."

Bertain, having amassed all his strength and Divine Artifacts, sighed and said, "I'll have to entrust this to Yu Yuan."

...

Meanwhile.

In the Everlands, before a massive crystal ball, the tumultuous sea of lightning roared.

The Dragon Slaying Stage appeared out of nowhere.

"Yu Yuan!"

Startled by the sudden emergence of the Dragon Slaying Stage, Dark Phoenix Zhiya and Lin Daoke couldn't help but cry out.

The many powerful beings from Tyria and the neighboring stars were equally astonished by the Dragon Slaying Stage.

"It's the Dragon Slaying Stage!"

"Yu Yuan has arrived!"

Crowds clamored as they drew closer to the Everlands, eager to discern if among the fierce lightning, any familiar Divine Artifacts were revealed.

"It's actually him!"

Zhiya had never imagined that after the vanishing of the great Demon God Bertain, another would take his place, standing before the Heart of the Everlands.

"My Undead Lord's Lunar Spirit and my Solar Spirit Body have both entered it."

Yu Yuan, standing atop the Dragon Slaying Stage, was in his true form.

At that moment, the Dragon Slaying Stage floated amidst the tumultuous lightning, with the sea of fire below it burning wildly.

Yet for Yu Yuan as he was now, neither the wild lightning nor the flames, stoked by extreme heat, could harm him in the slightest.

With a mere thought, he manipulated the dense lightning crackling above the sea of fire.

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