C2360 At the End of the Heavens
Two thick beams of divine light shot forth from Yu Yuan's eyes, as if they could pierce through time and the heavens. To the inhabitants of the Wasteland below, these radiant beams were the manifestation of the god of annihilation's supreme will, the physical representation of his ultimate divine power.
Beneath Yu Yuan, within the Dark Nebula, the scattered stars bore witness to the living beings prostrating and praying for mercy.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two dazzling beams of divine light, like an extended river of luminescence, hovered motionless above Chen Qinghuang's head. She, who was adrift among the desolate stars, gazed upward at the celestial brilliance, squinting slightly as she looked toward its origin.
Yu Yuan's immense presence, almost encompassing the majority of the northern Astral Domain, exerted a suffocating pressure on her. As if sprawled across the high skies of the northern Astral Domain, he unleashed boundless vital energy, radiating a brilliant light that sent shivers through the creatures of the Wasteland.
The dim stars below Yu Yuan's form seemed no larger than mud pellets. His skin and limbs, like colorful soft jade, appeared capable of reducing any star to dust with a mere flick, resulting in the annihilation of countless lives.
Chen Qinghuang stood in awe, reflecting deeply, "Has it come to this?" In her perception, the Yu Yuan above could obliterate the Wasteland and the Origin Realm without breaking a sweat.
Moreover, this being, the carrier of the blood source of all life, seemed capable of effortlessly creating a new universe and giving rise to even mightier intelligent beings after the destruction of the world!
This Yu Yuan felt alien to her.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Innumerable splendid threads of light and shadowy lightning danced across the surface of Yu Yuan's body, brimming with the endless Secrets of Life.
Chen Qinghuang, who had primarily focused on mastering the death force and recently delved into the arcane mysteries of destruction and poison, found his vast and ancient breath of life increasingly alien and remote.
She had long since witnessed Yu Yuan's emergence. As her own body ceased to be a vessel of abundant life force, now filled with death, destruction, and poison, Yu Yuan, who innately repelled such energies and auras, would not immediately target her.
Yu Yuan's first instinct was to sense the presence of a powerful being with a majestic life force.
Yet, with Yu Yuan's massive form visible to the naked eye, blotting out the sun, Chen Qinghuang found it impossible to overlook him.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The brilliant divine lights that had reached out began to retract slowly, fading away bit by bit.
This was Yu Yuan's colossal form, rapidly approaching, as he also gradually dimmed the piercing light in his eyes.
Like a vast, multicolored canopy, Yu Yuan swept across the skies of the Northernmost Astral Domain, deliberately concealing his aura as he neared the star where Chen Qinghuang resided.
Beneath him, he paid no heed to the myriad creatures that had survived in the Wasteland.
To him, the strongest warriors of the Otherkin and the remaining alien beasts were insignificant, no more consequential than ants.
As he soared over these beings, he understood the roots of their existence, the truths of their bloodlines, and the sources of their lives as if they were an open book.
The origin of life in this realm was the Primal Blood he had assimilated into the Wasteland, merely a part of his own blood source.
The Lord of Ruin, Yuan Le, had been slain and consumed by a Primal Beast, and Yu Yuan had effortlessly refined the realm's Primal Blood. The Wasteland held no more secrets for him.
His body, as grand as a celestial tapestry, finally came to a halt.
From the extreme northern Astral Domain of the Wasteland, the cacophony of billions of creatures' wails, cries of despair, and prayers rose from the world below.
His enormous head loomed in Chen Qinghuang's view, reminiscent of the Tyria star in the Ashlands.
Chen Qinghuang's eyebrows knitted slightly, as if the constant upward gaze at Yu Yuan was causing her discomfort.
The presence of Yu Yuan was overwhelming, prompting her to consider distancing herself from him.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, another Yu Yuan emerged from the depths of the colossal head's eye and landed beside Chen Qinghuang.
This Yu Yuan, in his normal state, possessed the body of the Undead Sovereign, with a fragment of his spirit residing within.
"Why are you here?" the newly arrived Yu Yuan inquired, landing on the star where Chen Qinghuang stood, his curiosity evident.
"I never imagined you could refine such terrifying flesh," the Secular Bird Queen remarked, ignoring his question. She observed both Yu Yuans, one before her and the other vast form in the sky, and commented, "It seems you have fully grasped all the Secrets of Life from the Primal Blood of the Abyss of Truth. This flesh, which brought about the destruction of the true Abyss, has now become another of your bodies."
Yu Yuan smiled and remarked, "Perhaps 'refining' isn't quite the right word."
"What do you mean?" Chen Qinghuang asked, taken aback.
Shaking his head, Yu Yuan, who hadn't quite figured it out himself, chose not to elaborate. Instead, he probed further, "You wouldn't be here without good reason. You must have discovered something, right?"
Chen Qinghuang rose gracefully and pointed towards the horizon with her delicate, jade-like hand, saying softly, "Over there lies the End of the Wasteland, at the very edge of the heavens."
"The End of the Wasteland!"
Yu Yuan's interest was piqued as he followed the direction of her gesture.
The Empress's pale finger was pointing to the far north of the Astral Domain.
It was an enigmatic expanse, boundless and devoid of life—a place whose vastness was unknown.
Upon his arrival, Yu Yuan had swept through the Astral Domain with a hurricane formed from his consciousness.
He had indeed noticed the peculiar region Chen Qinghuang referred to as the End of the Wasteland, but his senses and exploration using vital energy had detected nothing there.
It was akin to the Brugeth, erased by the Maw of Oblivion, with no celestial bodies, wind, or air movement—void of anything visible to the naked eye.
This was the epitome of nothingness, utterly devoid of energy, with neither drifting spirits nor a single stone or blade of grass.
In the Abyss of Truth, where not even a hint of energy existed, there were remnants of shattered stars, the carcasses of Chaos Titans fused with Starshards, and the ruins of obliterated civilizations.
The place Chen Qinghuang pointed to was the true void, a Land of Nothingness that Yu Yuan had only once experienced in the Brugeth.
"I've been told by locals that no one knows the true breadth of the sky's end, nor can anyone fathom its mysteries."
"Not even the Lord of Ruin, Yuan Le, nor the Primal Blood seem to understand the peculiarities of this place."
With those words, Chen Qinghuang gestured towards Yu Yuan, the Undead Sovereign, and took his hand, leading him towards the absolute void.
Yu Yuan, whose massive form resembled a vibrant tapestry in the sky, gazed curiously at the so-called end of the heavens through his kaleidoscopic eyes, reminiscent of Hex Stones.
Yuan Le and the Primal Blood were unaware of the wonders of this place?
He activated his Divine Sense, searching within the Primal Blood that had been assimilated into his being for memories related to the Land of Nothingness.
To his surprise, he found nothing!
The Primal Blood, ruler of the Wasteland, had created both Yuan Le and the previous Lord of Ruin. They should have thoroughly explored every mysterious location within the Wasteland.
Yet, there were no significant memories concerning this secret place.
Yu Yuan communicated with Mother Earth at the Peak of Creation.
Mother Earth, ever-present in the mountain's core, promptly replied, informing him that even the Earth Spirit merged with her had no knowledge of the Wasteland's furthest reaches.
"This is rather peculiar," Yu Yuan mused, his interest piqued.
"It's indeed a curious place. The Star River's energy in the Extreme North Astral Domain hasn't penetrated the so-called end of the heavens. I'm aware that energy flows. If a section of the Star River is void, the surrounding cosmic energy should naturally fill the space."
Mother Earth, sensing the oddity, continued her dialogue with Yu Yuan, prompting him to reflect deeply.
Yu Yuan considered the situation and recognized the logic in her words.
After the Brugeth was destroyed by the Maw of Oblivion, energy from adjacent Astral Domains began to trickle in.
He had deduced that, in millions of years, the Brugeth would be replete with Star River energy once more, potentially reforming stars and all manner of life.
However, the situation Chen Qinghuang was leading her "Undead Sovereign" body toward at the edge of the Wasteland was markedly different.
The Star River energy of the Astral Domain's extreme north showed no sign of flowing toward the void.
Chen Qinghuang also remarked, "The myriad mighty ones of the Wasteland have ventured into this enigmatic place known as the End of the Heavens, only to find it boundless and barren. No being knows its true expanse, nor the secrets it might hold."
With that, she and Yu Yuan's Undead Sovereign forms transitioned from the normal reaches of the Extreme North Astral Domain to the End of the Heavens.
Upon entering, Yu Yuan's Undead Sovereign form could not detect even a trace of energy or vitality.
The spiritual sense he released, akin to the probing power of his vibrant, five-colored form, could traverse the void. Yet all it ever detected was emptiness.
In this realm at the very edge of the heavens, devoid of cosmic order, he was unable to harness the truths of the void.
With no points of reference or direction, the perceptive energy he unfurled returned only hollowness and void.
"Feel it carefully!" Chen Qinghuang suddenly exclaimed.
Yu Yuan was taken aback. His Undead Sovereign form seemed numb to sensation.
Yet, his resplendent five-colored form and the four Primal Animas within the Peak of Creation stirred simultaneously.
Upon entering this so-called End of the Heavens, a strange, fragmented consciousness began to awaken within the Secular Bird Queen's body—two of them, in fact!
One fragment, eerily familiar to Yu Yuan, was the venomous spirit previously extinguished by Harris, the God of Oblivion.
The other, suffused with a breath of ruin!
These two consciousnesses permeated Chen Qinghuang's soul, flesh, and organs, spreading through her veins like countless tiny stars, poised to coalesce in this secret void.
Initially, Yu Yuan suspected that Galuba, the God of Destruction, and Kuna, the Snail Goddess, sought resurrection through Chen Qinghuang. After their demise, she had assimilated their flesh and blood, effectively "consuming" them.
But Yu Yuan quickly realized this was not the case.
The resurgence within Chen Qinghuang's body was none other than the Spirit of Destruction, once cultivated by Galuba, and the venomous spirit, nurtured by Kuna!
Though Galuba and Kuna had perished, the Primal Animas they had refined persisted.
In the lifeblood and might of these two otherworldly deities, the traces of the Primal Animas endured, never having fully perished.
"I don't know why either," Chen Qinghuang confessed, her brow furrowed in bewilderment. "As soon as I entered this Land of Nothingness, the lifeblood and residual power of Galuba and Kuna exuded consciousnesses of destruction and poison, fragmented and striving to reunite."
This was why she had brought Yu Yuan, in his Undead Sovereign form, into this absolute void.
Her prolonged stay in the Wasteland, her reluctance to leave, was all due to this peculiar occurrence.
She was determined to uncover the truth.
