C610 Break the Sky!

Whoosh!

Yan Qiling transformed the heavens and earth into a grand chessboard, employing the space magic he had mastered to create a grid of space nodes.

Pure black and snow-white chess pieces were affixed to these nodes, anchoring small portions of space in their place.

The fat old man swept his whisker brush and chuckled, "Mr. Yan certainly has a few tricks up his sleeve."

Yan Qiling's expression remained stoic. He refrained from further conversation and proceeded to weave spells.

Rays of light burst from his fingertips, infusing the Circle of Aetheric Bending he had conjured from nothing.

He was convinced that Lin Zhuyun wouldn't have made such a bold statement without substantial confidence.

Aware that Lin Zhuyun had not succumbed to the Sky Fiend's possession and had retained her self, yet was swayed by the Abyssal Leviathan, he harbored disdain for the girl who had forsaken the Everlands.

In the internal conflict, Yan Qiling maintained a balanced and moderate stance, not believing that entities like the magnate of the Shadow's Keep lacked the right to exist within the Everlands.

Thus, he was willing to accept figures such as Zhongli Dapan, Loong Jie, and the Ghoul King, the supreme leader of the Shadow's Keep.

However, Lin Zhuyun, manipulated by the Abyssal Leviathan and now standing against the Everlands, was beyond his tolerance.

The fat old man continued to smile, yet with a hint of regret, he remarked, "Such a waste."

He suspected that Yan Qiling, a fellow adept in space magic, had unwittingly fallen under the sway of the Evil Statue and the soulless Yu Yuan.

Just like Qi Hongyi and the Ghoul King, they were no longer themselves.

He and his disciple, having both emerged from the Skyreach Consortium and pledged early loyalty to "President Lyi," had defected from the Consortium following President Lyi's incident. Consequently, they had earned President Lyi's trust, and he had not directed the Evil Statue to harm them.

He believed that he and his disciple had become President Lyi's true confidants.

Yan Qiling, however, was not among them.

"What if I refuse to obey?"

President Lyi, reborn in flesh and blood, languidly extended a hand from within his snow-white robe.

Golden lightning, slender as dragons, twined around his fingers.

Crack!

Thick golden bolts erupted from the earth where Sword Prison once stood, resembling curved totem poles of evilkind, emanating a power that could shock all beings and make the heavens and earth pale in comparison.

"President Lyi's real body hasn't arrived, but the power he left deep in the earth when he seized Sword Prison still recognizes my aura and obeys my command."

He had managed to wrest Sword Prison from the guardians of the Sword Sect in the Star River of the extraterrestrial realms.

At his zenith, the force of his battles seeped into the earth, and even when drawn out again, it remained astoundingly potent.

Golden bolts of lightning danced at the command of his fingers, guided by delicate golden threads.

"A young woman from Winter's Bite, seduced by the Abyssal Leviathan, has chosen a doomed path of obscurity, and she thinks she's a person of consequence?"

He scoffed with contempt, "Do you really believe that rampaging through the Sundering Isles, Demon's Scar, Icestorm Island, and Starmoon Sect will intimidate anyone?"

"The Spirit Walkers you've slain couldn't even qualify to meet me when I was in the Everlands!"

His hand, entwined with golden filaments, mimed a pulling motion, as if drawing down Divine Thunder upon his foe.

Suddenly, the void transformed!

The space surrounding Lin Zhuyun, which should have been impenetrable like a sealed balloon, was breached without warning.

Defying the spatial constraints, robust golden bolts of lightning appeared instantaneously within Lin Zhuyun's confined space.

In a mere moment, she was overwhelmed by the golden lightning.

At a glance, Lin Zhuyun seemed to be ensnared at the core of these golden light columns.

Rip!

Hundreds of golden sparks erupted from within the pillars, voraciously consuming the green "Frozen Flames" emanating from her.

Boom!

An enigmatic sealing force, born from the golden pillars, subtly restrained the cold moon.

The cold moon's chilly radiance began to fade.

Deep within the cold moon, a minuscule, grain-like glimmer seemed to be shrouded.

The fat old man, expelled from the Skyreach Consortium and hunted to the extraterrestrial realms, witnessed the sudden appearance of golden pillars in that small celestial domain. They targeted not Lin Zhuyun, but the cold moon. His thoughts stirred, and he suddenly grasped the truth.

"President Lyi, can the Abyssal Leviathan use the cold moon to see us here?" the fat old man inquired in a hushed tone.

"The cold moon itself is a celestial body that the Abyssal Leviathan refined from the Star River beyond our world. It serves as the eye of that cosmic giant beast. With this eye in her possession, the girl can suppress and gradually refine the Sky Fiend. Without it, what chance would this young member of Winter's Bite have to refine the Sky Fiend, infuse it with the Frozen Flames, and wreak havoc far and wide?"

The man in the white robe pieced together the full picture upon learning of Lin Zhuyun's deeds in the Sundering Isles.

Being the former president of the Skyreach Consortium, he still commanded the loyalty of many elders within the organization.

His reach extended far and wide, his influence palpable both within the Everlands and across the extraterrestrial Star River.

"What concerns me isn't the girl, but the cosmic giant beast known as the Abyssal Leviathan." He then disclosed the grim reality, "The most fearsome entity in the depths of the Embers Sea is the Abyssal Leviathan. Having encountered this cosmic giant beast years ago, I am acutely aware of its dreadfulness more than anyone else."

Golden lightning streaked forth from the space surrounding Lin Zhuyun.

The cold moon hovering above her was besieged by this divine thunder, as if countless golden threads sought to enshroud the moon completely, obscuring the view of the Abyssal Leviathan.

Boom!

The Evil Statue, sculpted by the Sword Prison, burst through the somber, murky heavens like a divine mountain.

Perched a thousand meters above, the Evil Statue nestled amidst the clouds.

The moon's radiance was pure, and the stars sparkled like scattered diamonds against the night sky.

The foggy expanse created by the River and Rock Ward was shattered by the imposing presence of the Evil Statue.

"I'm going to seek out the Abyssal Leviathan."

Yu Yuan, standing within the Crucible of Evil, exchanged a significant glance with the master of the house.

The next moment, the Crucible of Evil ascended into the heavens.

Qi Hongyi and the Ghoul King ceased their close pursuit, instead opting to split up as if to pursue others, determined to capture and confine the malevolent magnates who had fled from the Sword Prison.

Whoosh!

The Frost Queen transformed into a shimmering ray of frost, soaring straight up into the heavens, heading directly for Yu Yuan.

Yan Qiling, who had been restraining Lin Zhuyun with his space magic, watched as a massive hole tore through the sky. He saw the Evil Statue break free from its bonds and descend upon the white clouds, his face betraying a hint of concern. He silently wondered, "Could the turmoil in Aetherius be set off by this?"

While pondering this, the Circle of Aetheric Bending he was controlling continued to restrict Lin Zhuyun, and he himself swiftly escaped through the rift in the sky.

"The Abyssal Leviathan!"

The elder, a loyal follower of President Lyi, addressed the fat old man, "Master, the Cosmic Giant Beast has been released from the depths of the Embers Sea. It's been wreaking havoc across the Everlands, leaving the Devil Palace and Shadow's Keep struggling to cope. A Cosmic Giant Beast is such a rarity, even beyond the Star River, that even a Solar Spirit or an Unbound cultivator might never encounter one in their lifetime!"

"I'm well aware it has been freed!" the fat old man retorted with a stern glance. "The disturbance at Moonfall Sanctuary propelled the bronze coffin out into the Extraterrestrial Star River, triggering a chain of quakes beyond our world. Besides the Embers Sea, places like the Land of Terror, Frozen Hellscape, and the miasma cloud have all been in constant unrest of late."

"If it weren't for the internal chaos, would Sword Prison have been so easily breached?"

"You're aware of all this?"

"President Lyi is indeed a prodigy. With this ordeal behind him, he should be able to regroup and refine his primordial spirit amidst the stars of the Extraterrestrial Star River, shouldn't he?" The fat old man's eyes glowed with fervor as he continued, "President Lyi, I know that you had once formed your primordial spirit, but at the moment of your triumph, external forces intervened. Not only was your primordial spirit shattered, but your soul nearly dispersed!"

"I did some digging afterward and learned that the Skyreach Consortium was poised to become a formidable power in the Everlands and beyond, all under your guidance!"

"It was only because your primordial spirit was incomplete that you ended up in such straits, relegated to the role of the former president!"

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