C2359 She Had Been Here Before

"Hall Master, the Beast Temple remains within the Phoenix Starfield. The surviving alien beasts and Beast Gods are all there as well," the White Divine Tiger reported, occasionally glancing towards the Boundless World.

The Boundless World now felt alien to him; he could no longer recognize the once-familiar cosmos.

"Our homeland, after enduring relentless, bloody battles, is on the brink of collapse."

The Sky Tiger sighed deeply.

"Homeland..."

Zhiya gazed at the Boundless World, her expression a mix of emotions. "Though our bloodline hails from the Desolate Realm, our true homeland has always been the Boundless World."

The Sky Tiger and Yu Zhu nodded in agreement.

Now, only Yu Yuan and the Great Demon God Beilstein remained in the earth's core, with no other signs of life in the Boundless World. With their departure, the world was no longer engulfed in towering flames. The flames, like fiery serpents, continued to recede from the Boundless Great World.

The rampant lightning and thunder had retreated back to their rightful Domain Boundary. Yet, the Boundless World was in disarray, its magnetic field bizarre and intricate, leaving everyone uncertain whether Yu Yuan and Beilstein had damaged the world's very foundation.

Out of reverence for both Yu Yuan and the Boundless World, despite the absence of visible danger, no one dared to tread upon that land.

Beyond the Boundless World, there were entities like the vibrantly winged butterfly, the Oblivion God Harris, the Death God Kurkova, and the mighty beings from the Origin Realm. Still, no one dared venture into the Vast Expanse, all passively awaiting news.

The Chaos Roc, Monolith Tortoise, and Starry Behemoths, having left the Holy Devil Continent, once roamed the vast starry rivers. Sensing a great upheaval in the cosmos, they had returned.

These three colossal creatures now loomed near Jee Ningshuang and the Divine Soul Sect's powerhouses, eyeing Zhiya with predatory intent, yet not daring to act against her.

Qin Luo, Zu Ann, and other Primordial Spirit experts maintained a cautious distance from Zhiya, fearing her unpredictable wrath might lead her to slaughter them for their essence.

Unbeknownst to them, the vicious creature Zhiya had nurtured had already fled the Desolate Realm.

"Come here for a moment."

As Zhiya approached the Phoenix Shrine, ready to enter the meticulously crafted hall, she was suddenly interrupted by the telepathic message from Yu Yuan.

Standing before the hall, bathed in a rainbow of light, Zhiya's graceful figure tensed slightly.

"Meet me at the Heart of the Vast Expanse."

Yu Yuan's undeniable command echoed within Zhiya's heart.

After a brief hesitation, Zhiya complied, unable to defy Yu Yuan. Whenever his voice filled her mind, she felt as though her heart and body were no longer her own.

"Yu Zhu, join me on a trip to the Heart of the Vast Expanse."

With the Sky Tiger and other powerhouses looking on in astonishment, she took Yu Zhu's small hand and transformed into two streaks of dark purple light, shooting towards the Boundless Great World.

Soon after, the combined lights descended upon the crystalline Heart of the Vast Expanse.

The Great Demon God Beilstein stood pensively beside the dark pool.

Yu Yuan was seated cross-legged in the pool, once home to the Origin Soul Nest, with the greenish-black essence of the Origin Soul reaching up to his waist.

Upon noticing Yu Zhu's arrival, Yu Yuan's face grew stern as he said with displeasure, "I did not instruct you to bring her along."

"There are too many malevolent forces outside; I feared someone might harbor jealousy and harm her in my absence," Zhiya explained coolly.

The Old Demon smirked and scoffed, "You're the one they envy the most. With everyone aware of her connection to Yu Yuan, who would dare lay a hand on her now?"

"It was my own insistence to accompany mother!"

Yu Zhu clung to Zhiya's hand, her young face etched with defiance and a protective stance toward Zhiya.

She was certainly not naive, understanding that Zhiya's insistence on her presence was out of concern that Yu Yuan might turn hostile.

"You've always been worth my affection."

A sliver of warmth seeped into Zhiya's icy heart as she gripped Yu Zhu's hand firmly in return.

In that moment, Yu Zhu became her source of strength and support, emboldening her to converse with Yu Yuan, whose powers were nearing their zenith, within the Heart of the Vast Expanse.

As one of the most formidable beings across the Three Realms, she was well aware that even the Great Demon God Beilstein, freshly returned from foreign lands, stood no chance against Yu Yuan.

She was also privy to the fact that another Yu Yuan existed in the Desolate Realm, equally as fearsome and mighty.

The one who truly compelled the Abyss Origin Soul to flee this realm and seek an alternate path was not the Great Demon God Beilstein, but the impeccable Yu Yuan.

"What do you wish to know?"

Zhiya steadied her nerves, feigning composure as she asked with a cool detachment.

"How did you manage to create that little Origin Beast? And how did you know it was an Origin Beast? How did you figure out it needed to feed on its essence?" Yu Yuan voiced his profound perplexity.

After the true Abyss fell silent, a gateway remained between the seven layers of the illusory Abyss and the Origin Realm.

Even with the fragmented memories that led Zhiya to uncover the secrets of the Chaos Djinn's existence, she shouldn't have been capable of crafting a Life Seed to spawn a little Origin Beast.

The enigma of how Zhiya produced that little Origin Beast had always baffled Yu Yuan.

"Did it make its way to the other side?"

Instead of answering, Zhiya countered with her own question.

Yu Yuan gave a slight nod, adding, "My Yang God form and I briefly connected through the Time River. I discovered several Chaos Djinns there, likely from our own world. The little Origin Beast you nurtured thrives there, growing stronger with each hunt."

A tranquil expression crossed Zhiya's eyes as she whispered softly, "As long as it's safe, as long as it lives, I will never perish."

"Explain how you brought it into being," Yu Yuan demanded, his patience wearing thin. "Don't test me. I can extract the memories straight from your mind and heart!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

A wild glint flashed in Zhiya's eyes once more.

"Let's not waste any more time. Just tell us where that little Origin Beast came from!" Beilstein interjected, aiming to defuse the tension.

"You might find this hard to believe," Zhiya began, taking a deep breath to settle herself before continuing with a hint of sheepishness. "What if I told you that I received a revelation in a dream, as if a divine presence had favored me, revealing the mysteries of the Origin Beast and bestowing upon me the life sequence to conceive it—would you believe that?"

Yu Yuan furrowed his brow. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

With an icy demeanor, Zhiya retorted, "I knew you wouldn't believe me! That's why I didn't tell you the truth when you first asked. Because, truth be told, even I couldn't believe it myself!"

"I couldn't believe that in a moment of enlightenment about the essence of life and bloodlines, I would slip into a deep slumber. It was during that sleep that I seemed to glimpse a shadowy figure surrounded by a golden aura."

"It might have been a woman, I can't be sure, but it was this golden figure who revealed to me the mysteries related to the Origin Beast and bestowed upon me a unique life sequence for its creation."

Zhiya's answer was nothing short of astonishing.

Yu Yuan's face remained stoic, and Yu Zhu, equally taken aback, suspected her mother was just stalling Yu Yuan.

In her eyes, Zhiya was nearly invincible. Who in the Abyss, Origin Realm, or Desolate Realm could induce her to dream during her spiritual awakening, let alone impart the knowledge of breeding an Origin Beast?

"I believe you. The sheer implausibility of it is why I'm inclined to take your word for it."

To everyone's surprise, after a prolonged silence, the Great Demon God Beilstein spoke up, "In the Origin Realm, Desolate Realm, and even the lifeless Abyss, such a person does not exist. However, there is someone who comes to mind, someone who could fit the description. Her name is Stephanie, known elsewhere as the God of Destiny."

"It must have been her who gave you the special life sequence that allowed you to nurture that young Origin Beast."

"Stephanie... she's actually been to my world."

Beilstein's expression grew grim, his mood turning sour, "She had you bring forth a young Origin Beast that feeds on the very essence of the cosmos, one that even consumed Yuen Bu and the spinosaurus."

"What is she planning?"

Among the myriad worlds of the foreign realms, the only Origin God that the Old Demon truly revered and dreaded was Stephanie alone.

Even though the Time God Heesters outranked him, Beilstein harbored no awe for him.

He was confident that he would one day surpass Heesters.

But Stephanie, the enigmatic God of Destiny, the first to liberate herself from the servitude of the Origin Spirit and the first to sacrifice the Origin Spirit to establish a system of divinity, invoked in him a profound sense of powerlessness and reverence.

The Old Demon had not anticipated that Stephanie had previously visited the Origin Realm and had even secretly made contact with Zhiya.

What was even more surprising was that the ferocious and formidable Origin Beast had been conceived at her behest by the Demon Phoenix.

...

Desolate Realm.

Yu Yuan's massive form, created from the amalgamation of five-colored flesh, sprawled in the depths of the cosmos, roaring through the expansive stellar sea.

A "hump" had formed on his back, which upon closer examination, was revealed to be Creation Peak.

As Yu Yuan's roar echoed, Desolate Realm Starfields passed by. His pervasive consciousness, like a tempest, swept through the galaxies in search of this realm's hidden secrets.

He was curious to discover if there were any remnants of the Destruction God Galuba's stone statues or any undestroyed pathways.

The Secular Bird Queen had disturbed the extraterrestrial Destruction God Galuba by using one such statue, an action that had piqued his interest.

He was determined to attempt a reenactment of that event.

Yet, as he scoured each Starfield, he detected no trace of anything, no region with spatial anomalies that might connect to an otherworldly domain.

That day, his formidable body reached a Starfield with living survivors.

"It's him! The fearsome Endbringer! The Destroyer has come!"

Within this Starfield, the remaining alien beasts and the mighty beings of the Desolate Realm gazed up at Yu Yuan, whose vibrant form nearly eclipsed the vast galaxy. Overwhelmed by his crushing presence, they cried out in utter despair.

Those who had been cowering in this Starfield, living in constant fear of an imminent apocalypse, were now in a state of mourning.

Yu Yuan's presence seemed to herald the end for the remaining Starfields, as if he would consume them entirely.

To the remaining beings of the Desolate Realm, his colossal, colorful form was the very embodiment of the Destroyer.

Suddenly, Yu Yuan's expansive consciousness picked up on the presence of the Secular Bird Queen among them.

...