C2360 At the End of the Heavens
Two broad beams of divine light burst forth from Yu Yuan's eyes as if they could penetrate the fabric of time and the heavens above. To the inhabitants of the Desolate Realm below, these dazzling rays were the manifestation of the will of their god of annihilation, a tangible extension of his supreme divine power.
Beneath Yu Yuan, in the shadowy expanse of the Gloom Star River, scattered stars served as altars where the people prostrated themselves, praying for mercy.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The radiant beams of divine light, resembling an endless river of luminescence, hovered motionless above Chen Qinghuang's head. Isolated on a desolate, withered star, she gazed up at the brilliance above her, squinting slightly as she sought out its origin.
Yu Yuan's colossal presence, almost encompassing the majority of the northern Starfield, was so overwhelming that it made her feel as though she were suffocating. Like a behemoth sprawled across the high skies of the northern Starfield, he unleashed boundless energy from his flesh and blood, his resplendent light sending shivers of unease through the beings of the Desolate Realm.
Beneath the might of Yu Yuan, the dim stars seemed no larger than clay beads. His skin and limbs, reminiscent of multicolored soft jade, appeared capable of pulverizing any star below with a mere flick, spelling doom for countless lives.
Chen Qinghuang, struck by the gravity of the moment, mused in awe, "Has he reached such a state?"
In her perception, Yu Yuan could obliterate the Desolate Realm and the Origin Realm without breaking a sweat. Moreover, as if he bore the lifeblood of all creatures, he seemed poised to effortlessly forge a new universe and spawn even mightier sentient beings after this world's end!
Such a Yu Yuan felt alien to her.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Innumerable streaks of splendid light and shadowy lightning danced across Yu Yuan's body, each one a vessel of the endless mysteries of life.
Chen Qinghuang, who had delved deeply into the forces of death and recently explored the arcane secrets of destruction and poison, felt his boundless life force to be both foreign and distant. She had long since beheld Yu Yuan's true form.
Now, as her body was no longer a bastion of vibrant life but a vessel for death, destruction, and poison, Yu Yuan's natural aversion to such energies meant he wouldn't immediately target her. His senses were attuned to those with a robust life force.
Yet, how could she possibly overlook the sight of Yu Yuan, so vast that he blotted out the sky, visible to her unaided eye?
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The dazzling beams of divine light gradually contracted and vanished into thin air.
This was Yu Yuan's immense form, rapidly approaching, while he also slowly dimmed the piercing brilliance within his eyes.
Like a colossal tapestry of vibrant colors, Yu Yuan swept across the skies of the world known as the Extreme Northern Starfield. Upon reaching the star where Chen Qinghuang resided, he intentionally subdued his presence.
Beneath him, he paid no heed to the numerous beings that lingered in the Desolate Realm.
To him, the mightiest alien warriors and the remaining alien beasts were insignificant, mere ants unworthy of mention.
As he soared above these creatures, he held an intimate knowledge of their life's essence, the true nature of their bloodlines, and their origins.
The source of life for these beings was the Abyss Origin Blood, which he had assimilated into the Desolate Realm—merely a fraction of his own bodily essence.
Yuan Li, once the King of the Desolate Realm, had been slain and consumed by the diminutive Origin Beast. The Origin Blood of this realm had been effortlessly refined by Yu Yuan; there were no secrets left for him here.
His vast body, akin to a five-colored celestial canopy, finally came to a halt.
From the extreme north of the Desolate Realm, the cacophony of billions of creatures—wails, cries of despair, and prayers—rose tumultuously from the Stars World below.
To the Secular Bird Queen, Chen Qinghuang, his enormous head loomed as large as the Tia Main Planet in the Gray Domain.
Chen Qinghuang's brows knitted slightly; she found the constant upward gaze at Yu Yuan unsettling.
The overwhelming presence of Yu Yuan exerted too much pressure on her, prompting a desire to distance herself.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, another Yu Yuan emerged from the depths of the colossal head's eyes, landing beside Chen Qinghuang.
This Yu Yuan, in his normal state, possessed the body of the Undead Sovereign, with a strand of his spirit residing within.
"Why are you here?" asked the newly arrived Yu Yuan, landing on the star where Chen Qinghuang stood, his curiosity piqued.
"I didn't expect you could refine such terrifying flesh," the Secular Bird Queen remarked, not addressing his question. She observed the Yu Yuan before her and the other vast blood form of Yu Yuan in the sky, commenting, "It seems you've fully grasped all the life truths left by the Abyss Origin Blood. This piece, the flesh that wrought destruction upon the true Abyss, has also become one of your bodies."
Yu Yuan offered a smile and replied, "Perhaps 'refining' isn't quite the right word."
"What do you mean?" Chen Qinghuang asked, taken aback.
Yu Yuan shook his head, clearly as confused as anyone else. He didn't elaborate but instead said, "You wouldn't be here without reason. You must have discovered something, right?"
Chen Qinghuang rose gracefully to her feet, extending her hand toward the horizon. "Over there," she said softly, "is what's known as the end of the Desolate Realm."
"The end of the sky!" Yu Yuan's interest was piqued as he followed the direction of her gesture.
The Empress's delicate finger pointed to the far north of the Starfield, a bizarre and boundless place devoid of any signs of life.
Yu Yuan had felt the whirlwind of his own consciousness sweep across the Starfield upon his arrival. He had certainly taken note of the special boundary Chen Qinghuang referred to as the end of the sky in the Desolate Realm, but his senses and exploratory blood abilities had detected nothing.
It was akin to the Deep Starfield, erased by the Chaos Abyss—devoid of sun, moon, stars, wind, and even the movement of air. There was nothing visible to the naked eye.
This was the epitome of void—a place without a hint of energy, wandering spirits, or even a single stone or leaf.
In the silent depth of the true abyss, where not even a shred of energy existed, there were still remnants of shattered stars, the remains of Chaos Djinns fused with star fragments, and the ruins of once-great civilizations.
The point Chen Qinghuang indicated, the end of the sky, was the very essence of nothingness—a kind of void Yu Yuan had only once before encountered in the Deep Starfield.
"I've heard from the locals that no one knows the true expanse of the end of the sky, nor can anyone fathom its wonders," she said.
"Not even the King of the Desolate Realm, Yuen Bu, or the Abyss Origin Blood seem to grasp the enigma of this place."
With those words, Chen Qinghuang gestured towards Yu Yuan, the Undead Sovereign, and took his hand. Together, they set off toward the land of absolute emptiness.
Yu Yuan, magnificent as a tapestry of vibrant colors, gazed curiously at the so-called end of the sky with his eyes, as multifaceted as Divine Stones.
Yuen Bu and the Abyss Origin Blood were unaware of this place's mysteries?
With a single thought, he delved into the memories within the Origin Blood fused into his being, searching for any connection to this realm of emptiness.
To his surprise, there was nothing but emptiness!
The Abyss Origin Blood had dominion over the Desolate Realm. Yuen Bu, along with the former King of Desolate Realm, should have thoroughly explored every mysterious corner of this land. Yet, there were no profound memories of this particular secret place.
Yu Yuan sought insight from Mother Earth within Creation Peak. The ever-present Mother Earth, deep within the mountain's core, promptly replied. She informed him that the junior Earth Spirit, now part of her, also lacked any knowledge about the farthest reaches of the Desolate Realm.
"How peculiar," Yu Yuan murmured, his curiosity piqued.
"This place is truly enigmatic. The energy from the starry expanse in the far north of the Starfield hasn't seeped into what's known as the end of the sky. I understand that energy flows; where a galaxy is void, the cosmic powers from neighboring stars should naturally fill the void."
Mother Earth, sensing the oddity, kept the dialogue open with Yu Yuan, prompting him to reflect deeply.
Yu Yuan considered the situation and recognized the logic in it. When the Deep Starfield was obliterated by the Chaos Abyss, energy from adjacent Starfields began to trickle in. By his estimation, in a few million years, the Deep Starfield would be revitalized with galactic energy, potentially giving rise to new stars and life.
However, the situation Chen Qinghuang faced as she led her Undead Sovereign form towards the edge of the Desolate Realm was starkly different. Astoundingly, not a sliver of galactic energy from the northernmost Starfield was drifting toward that expanse of nothingness.
Chen Qinghuang remarked, "Numerous mighty beings of the Desolate Realm have ventured into this enigmatic void known as the end of the sky, only to find an expansive emptiness. Its vastness is unknown, as are the secrets it may hold."
With those words, she and Yu Yuan's Undead Sovereign form transitioned from the familiar northern Starfield to the mysterious void at the edge of existence.
Once inside, Yu Yuan's Undead Sovereign form could not detect even the faintest hint of energy or vitality. His soul's awareness, much like the exploratory power of his vibrant form, could traverse the void, but all it encountered was the perpetual absence of everything.
In this ultimate emptiness, devoid of the world's natural laws, he was unable to harness the True Meaning of the Void.
Without any points of reference or sense of direction, the energy Yu Yuan projected returned to him as nothing but emptiness and void.
"Focus on the sensation!" Chen Qinghuang suddenly exclaimed.
Yu Yuan was taken aback. His body, that of the Undead Sovereign, felt nothing at all. However, his vibrant, multicolored divine form and the four Origin Spirits within Creation Peak began to stir simultaneously.
Upon entering what was deemed the end of the heavens, an unfamiliar fragmented consciousness began to awaken within the Secular Bird Queen's body—there were two of them! One shard seemed to be the spirit of the Oblivion God, Harris, whom Yu Yuan was familiar with, previously strangled by the venomous spirit. The other shard exuded an overwhelming aura of destruction.
These two consciousnesses permeated Chen Qinghuang's soul, flesh, and viscera, spreading throughout her veins like countless tiny stars, eager to coalesce in this realm of Emptiness Land.
Initially, Yu Yuan suspected that the Destruction God Galuba and the Snail God Kuna sought resurrection through Chen Qinghuang. After their demise, Chen Qinghuang had assimilated their flesh and blood, essentially 'consuming' them. But Yu Yuan soon realized this was not the case.
The resurgence within Chen Qinghuang's body was none other than the Destruction Spirit once refined by Galuba and the Poisonous Spirit by Kuna! Despite the deaths of Galuba and Kuna, who had previously refined these two great Source Spirits, their essences persisted!
It turned out that remnants of these two Source Spirits lingered within the divine blood and power of the two otherworldly deities, never having fully perished.
"I'm just as clueless," Chen Qinghuang admitted, her brow furrowed in confusion. "As soon as I entered this Emptiness Land, the residual consciousnesses within the refined blood and power of Galuba and Kuna, carrying the essence of destruction and poison, began to seek reassembly."
This was why she had brought Yu Yuan, in his guise as the Undead Sovereign, into this absolute void of Emptiness Land. Her prolonged stay in the Desolate Realm, rather than venturing forth, was due to this mysterious phenomenon. She was determined to uncover the truth.
