C2405 The Gap That Healed
The Soulstone Pedestal, situated at the Origin Grounds, began to emit an exceptionally pure green divine glow.
The Primal Soul within was filled with immense joy.
Its thoughts and clusters of consciousness roamed freely in the vast expanse of the green soul sea. It was as if it had purged all impurities from its heart and was undergoing a gradual transformation.
The soul marks of beings from the nine great eras increasingly resonated with it as it navigated the enigmatic soul sea.
A realization dawned upon it.
Before the cataclysm, the Origin would summon back the numerous Primal Animas it had released. Upon their return to the corresponding crystal at the Origin Grounds, the Origin would gain a significant surge in power and ascend to a higher state!
Indeed, Yu Yuan and it could experience the same phenomenon.
But their ascension did not occur when the Origin summoned back the dispersed Primal Animas, but rather at the moment of destruction!
The lives and souls of intelligent life across countless worlds originated from the seeds dispersed by Yu Yuan and it.
Should the apocalypse truly unfold, the souls and life force of all beings, returning once more to the crystal layers associated with Yu Yuan and it, would herald their own ascension!
This process was identical to the Origin's gathering of Primal Animas!
Yet, in the previous eight eras, they had never felt the wonder of such an ascension.
For at the onset of destruction, Yu Yuan and it had already lost their spiritual sense and consciousness—they had "died" prematurely.
Being "dead," they were, of course, unable to sense the immense power that could elevate them once more when the world's souls and life force returned.
The Origin had always stripped them of their spiritual sense before the onset of destruction.
The Origin simply did not wish for them to realize the marvelous potential for self-elevation through the accumulation of an entire era.
This was the reason Yu Yuan had mentioned the critical importance of sequence.
"Now I understand."
With this newfound clarity, a figure of Yu Yuan, now a pure spirited body, emerged within the Soulstone Pedestal, amidst the vast green depths.
It was the distilled essence of the Primal Soul's spiritual sense, the sovereign of this expansive azure deep.
In this moment, it gazed upon the soul marks of all intelligent life from the nine great eras, its consciousness gently unfolding.
The Primal Soul could discern every experience a living being had throughout its life from each soul mark. At that moment, it noticed a wisp of blackness fading away at the bottom of the vast azure depths of the soul sea. Its gaze, piercing and intense, followed the diminishing black trail.
It observed the wisp of blackness slowly making its way toward the crystal embodying the Dark Anima. As it finally converged with the crystal, it also passed through those representing hatred, resentment, and greed. The black psionic power appeared to resonate with the shadowy aspects of intelligent life, amplifying the evil within their hearts.
In silence, the Primal Soul reflected on its interactions with Yu Yuan across the previous eight grand epochs. During the first five epochs, it had maintained a complementary relationship with Yu Yuan, the embodiment of life force. They were naturally drawn to each other, instinctively close.
Regardless of who awoke first in those five epochs, their inherent affinity ensured they would forge the strongest of alliances upon reuniting. They had never once encountered a disagreement. Yu Yuan typically took the lead, with the Primal Soul providing support.
Their bond in those initial five epochs was akin to that of Taishi, Youyu, and Yu Yuan, with the Primal Soul content to play a supporting role. As the Origin prepared to bring about the end of the world, they would stand together, united in their arrival.
Despite their consistent defeats, they never lost heart. After each loss, and before their spiritual sense faded, they vowed to meet again in the subsequent epoch. Upon their reawakening and reunion, they would dissect their failures and strategize on how to overcome the Origin.
They were, at that time, the closest of Primal Animas in existence. With each passing epoch, by the time the fifth arrived, their combined might had grown formidable. They nearly succeeded in overthrowing the Origin's reign during that fifth epoch!
Filled with optimism, they faced the end of the fifth epoch and the dawn of the sixth, believing they would learn from their past mistakes and emerge victorious. However, as the fifth epoch drew to a close and the sixth had yet to begin, Yu Yuan remained in a dormant state, awaiting the release from the Blood Crystal by the Origin.
He awoke suddenly!
Having regained his spiritual sense, he fought against the fearsome seal of the Spirit of Creation and managed to break free from the Soulstone Pedestal that was his match. This escape also caused the pedestal to fracture.
He took with him a small shard of the Soulstone Pedestal, cherishing it as a precious treasure.
His awakening and escape signaled the premature commencement of the sixth epoch.
The Origin, compelled to initiate a new age ahead of schedule, dispersed the seeds of numerous Primal Animas following his departure. It also scattered Life Seeds through him, once again dividing the heavens and myriad worlds.
Yu Yuan, having fled earlier, refined that tiny shard of the Blood Crystal. Before the other Primal Animas could gain strength, he had already amassed considerable power.
He was meant to seek out Yu Yuan, to aid in his earlier awakening, to use the lessons from the failures of the past five epochs to unite in the sixth.
But suddenly, he was consumed by malevolent thoughts and selfish desires, altering their relationship forever.
He harbored a sinister intention to dominate Yu Yuan before he could fully awaken.
Once this thought took root, it became unstoppable. From the sixth epoch onward, the soul sea that represented him shifted from azure to a dark, murky hue.
High in the Land of Origin, the Soulstone Pedestal corresponding to him now bore a new fissure.
And by his side, a new Primal Anima emerged.
A Dark Anima that would forever be his companion, seemingly devoted to serving him loyally and never leaving his side.
Throughout the sixth, seventh, eighth, and the current ninth epoch.
The Dark Anima remained by his side, a silent partner, supplanting Yu Yuan as his most steadfast and reliable ally.
He no longer sought partnership with Yu Yuan; instead, he aspired to dominate, to have Yu Yuan submit to him entirely, to enslave him.
From the start of the sixth epoch, even before the Land of Origin began its cataclysm, it was a struggle between him and Yu Yuan.
Sometimes he surpassed Yu Yuan, other times Yu Yuan surpassed him. Henceforth, the possibility of them joining forces against the Origin was lost.
The sixth, seventh, eighth, and now the ninth epoch—these four extensive epochs—morphed into an ongoing conflict between Yu Yuan and him.
It was no longer a matter of joining forces to resist the Spirit of Creation; the priority shifted to defeating it before the apocalypse could begin.
Each time they arrived at this place, on the brink of the Spirit of Creation's decision to end the world, they were already significantly drained from their battles, their combat strength severely diminished.
Viewing each other as adversaries, they squandered the progress of an entire era. They failed to devise a better strategy to confront the Spirit of Creation in the new era, wasting their energies on infighting.
Consequently, in the sixth, seventh, and eighth eras, their defeats came even swifter upon their arrival here—surpassing even the fifth era in speed.
After he discarded the small fragment he had taken from the Soulstone Pedestal, he discovered that the crystal had fully healed.
The root of his Way of Heaven, which had sunk into darkness, transformed from black to green, indistinguishable from the green soul sea within.
He then observed a dark filament skimming over the crystal facets capable of stirring evil desires, ultimately settling into the crystal embodying darkness.
He comprehended everything at last!
Following the conclusion of the fifth era, the Spirit of Creation, having triumphed over Yu Yuan, sensed impending trouble in the sixth era.
The Spirit of Creation lost confidence in its ability to face their united strength in the sixth era.
Thus, the Spirit of Creation began to unravel them from within!
His premature awakening, the small shard of the blood crystal he clung to in his struggle, his eternal bond with darkness, and the subtle shift in his nature—all were the Spirit of Creation's doing, manipulating him through the crystal he cherished as a treasure!
"It's all my fault; I've held Yu Yuan back!"
"If it weren't for my early awakening, if I hadn't been deceived by the Spirit of Creation, if it weren't for the crack in my Soulstone Pedestal, we could have ended its cycle of fate in the sixth era!"
The Primal Soul pierced through the truth in an instant.
At that moment,
Yu Yuan, locked in a fierce battle with Lin Daoke, caught sight of the pure green radiance and sensed the Primal Soul's aura shift. A pleased smile graced his eyes.
He knew the Primal Soul had made its return.
His dearest companion, who had stood by his side for five eras, had at last purged the impure, malevolent thoughts that the Spirit of Creation had deliberately scattered.
The Primal Soul, master of the Soulstone Pedestal, hovered over the vast expanse of the azure soul sea. A smile graced its face, mirroring that of Yu Yuan's.
The soul sea began to churn as the refined Soul Power, a product of its evolution, permeated the depths below.
This was reminiscent of Yu Yuan's Soul Altar, through which it could harness its own power to perceive the intricacies of the eight layers beneath.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The refined Soul Power unerringly sought out the eight crystal pieces that had fused with the land of beginnings, each one cleaving to the luminous surfaces of Yu Yuan's Soul Altar.
Gold, wood, water, fire, earth, light, thunder, ice!
The eight strata that had once resonated with the Soul Altar now detected the Soul Power within the eight distinctively hued crystal pieces.
The eight streams of Soul Power then descended, swiftly merging into the eight crystals.
Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, lightning, ice, and light.
Numerous Primal Animas resided within these eight crystal pieces, each hailing from different epochs, with some crystals housing more than one Primal Anima.
Initially, all Primal Animas existed in a state devoid of their spiritual sense. Their energy, the ultimate truths they had discerned, and even what was referred to as their spiritual sense, were all under the dominion of the Origin.
It was their confused spiritual sense that collectively sustained the Origin!
The Origin drew its strength from the spiritual sense of all the Primal Animas within the myriad crystals!
With each dawn of a new era, it disseminated Life Seeds of the Primal Anima, allowing them to flourish with the passage of time. Then, just before the world's end, they would return, transforming into the silent Primal Animas of the Land of Origin.
Such was the method by which the Origin fortified itself.
