C808 Constitution!
Zhu Zhenlin, a being of Divine Level!
Anyone aware of Mo Yan's true identity could immediately guess the owner of the hand that appeared out of thin air in the space tunnel. Those unaware of the hand's owner could infer their level of power from the fierce clash between the hand and the Cosmic Order of the Way of Heaven and Earth. Even the less perceptive could see that numerous weaker ghosts were being forced to retreat deep into the earth.
Moreover, the palace that had always been suspended in the sky, transformed from the Mark of the Celestials, plummeted to the ground with a mighty crash. The dense black cloud, conjured by the Black Staff and shrouding the three great Ghost Kings, also descended to the earth's surface.
Some even looked up to the sky in horror to see the perpetually gloomy and dark heavens showing signs of clearing, with the sun, moon, and stars threatening to reveal themselves.
The ghosts wailed in utter despair.
The eternal darkness of the Land of Terror's sky served as a natural shield for the ghosts. Esteemed individuals understood the will of the Land of Terror—the Root of the Lunar Meridian—which protected the ghosts.
Should the sky tear open and the fierce sunlight pour through, it could wreak havoc on the ghosts of the Land of Terror, annihilating many who could not adapt in an instant. This was akin to human cultivators who hadn't reached the Spirit Walk realm, where the Lunar Spirit cannot leave the body.
Lower-tier ghosts dared not leave the Land of Terror to roam the outside world.
If the dark sky were to split open and the sun's rays beat down, the psionic light, alien to this world, would devastate the Land of Terror, spelling doom for the weaker ghosts.
No one anticipated that the mere appearance of a hand in the space tunnel could nearly puncture a hole in the sky. Thankfully, in an instant, everything reverted to its original state.
The sky remained dark and dreary.
The miraculous space tunnel, formed with the help of the Soulforge Pool and the Root of the Lunar Meridian, vanished swiftly after Mo Yan and the Devil Blade disappeared without a trace.
Suspended in midair, the only thing that remained afloat was the Crucible of Evil.
"Yes, yes..." Yuan Lianyao of the Ruby Hand watched everything unfold in silence. When she finally spoke, she found herself involuntarily stuttering.
Yu Yuan's face was somber as he gave a slight nod. "It's him."
Yuan Lianyao's eyes widened in shock, her ethereal Lunar Spirit form seeming to waver as if it might collapse.
That was Zhu Zhenlin!
The second-in-command of the Devil Palace, a peak cultivator who had condensed his primordial spirit, stood at the pinnacle of the Everlands hierarchy!
For Mo Yan's sake, he had employed a theurgy capable of altering the very fabric of the cosmos, daring to enter an unstable space tunnel and whisking away both Mo Yan and the Devil Blade.
"There's no need for excessive concern. We are in the Land of Terror. Even he cannot overturn the Way of Heaven here," Yu Yuan said, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "Rest assured, if a cultivator at the level of the primordial spirit could control everything, the Land of Terror would have long since been conquered."
For millennia, the Land of Terror had maintained its sovereignty. None of the current five supreme sects, including the former Boulderdawn, could claim dominion over it.
This was due to the Root of the Lunar Meridian, deep within the earth, safeguarding this realm and forbidding any power from meddling.
Yu Yuan's mind raced with thoughts.
He reached out through the River Styx, now brimming with water since White Bone's ascension to Ghost King, and silently communicated with the Root of the Lunar Meridian.
The Root of the Lunar Meridian assured him that Zhu Zhenlin lacked the power to disrupt the grand scheme of the Land of Terror.
In these Nether Reaches, the true master of the elements, the one who could do as he pleased, was none other than Dhoreus, the Ghost King born of this very place!
In secrecy, Yu Yuan exchanged further thoughts with the Root of the Lunar Meridian.
"Rhutar."
His gaze suddenly fell upon the ancient ghost, resembling a colossal figure clad in golden armor.
Rhutar, spared from the Ghost King Rahu's assault due to the emergence of the Soulforge Pool and the creation of the space tunnel, jolted as if electrified.
His golden armor instinctively drew together.
The golden-armored giant had remarkably diminished in size in just a brief span of time.
For reasons unknown, the very soul origin of Rhutar the Spectre felt a chill when subjected to Yu Yuan's gaze.
"Impossible! What am I afraid of? Can a mere Lunar Spirit defeat me? Even Rahu only managed to wound me!"
Rhutar shook his head, attempting to dispel the fear that had taken root in his heart.
He had never truly believed that Yu Yuan, who had overcome the calamity thunder and ascended to the Lunar Spirit realm, was all that formidable.
Dhoreus's concerns regarding Yu Yuan stemmed solely from the sword sheath the young man possessed, a relic of the Moon Slayer, a cultivator whose might had once reverberated across the Star River beyond our world.
The sword sheath and the sword spirit spell within it threatened to incessantly erode Dhoreus's sword force.
That was the extent of it.
Rhutar himself had not suffered under the Moon Slayer's sword force and did not fear Yu Yuan wielding the power within the sheath to strike at his spirit.
"Yu, I've already torn that girl's Lunar Spirit to shreds. You saw it with your own eyes; what can you possibly do to me?"
To combat the unfounded terror within, he postured aggressively and taunted Yu Yuan from a distance, his menacing gestures bordering on the comical.
"What can I do?"
Yu Yuan murmured to himself, head bowed in contemplation.
"Longevity doesn't guarantee wisdom, nor does it ensure one can evade misfortune."
Cao Jiaze, having crashed to the earth, clutched the radiant Mark of the Celestials and stood firm upon the ground, his corporeal form enduring.
The Lunar Spirits who had plummeted alongside him were astonished to find their sanctuary, the palace that had sheltered them for days, now rested in the palm of Cao Jiaze.
His real body, laid bare to the biting cold, was unflinching against the wind's bone-scraping ferocity. His eyes, a reservoir of restrained divine light, were fixed intently on the Soulforge Pool.
The space tunnel that had sought to whisk away the Devil Blade and Mo Yan was gone, yet the Soulforge Pool remained steadfastly at Yu Yuan's back!
Real or illusion, the swirling dark Soul Power at the base of the Soulforge Pool stirred a profound unease among all the ghosts and souls present.
"Yu Yuan."
Beneath the Crucible of Evil, a massive black scepter stood like a towering black mountain.
Endless wisps of black mist were released from the scepter, and a terrifying phantom slowly straightened from a prostrate position.
As it rose, the surging black mist enveloped it, and the rich black magic power churned like a tidal wave!
"Black Staff!"
"Qignas!"
The remaining ghosts, previously pressed to the ground by Zhu Zhenlin's hand, were of the Celestial Shade and Spectre variety, numbering only a few hundred.
They once again floated off the ground, their gaze fixed on the terrifying phantom that was rising from the depths of the tumultuous black clouds.
"It's very difficult for me to justify your treatment of Young Master Mo Yan."
Within moments, the phantom, now as tall as the black scepter, finally stood upright and addressed Yu Yuan, "He brought me the scepter that is integral to my life's cultivation. In return, I promised to keep his son safe. It was a fair trade, but you've complicated matters. Dealing with this is no easy task for me."
"You ceased being human long ago. Black Staff, your boldness in revealing yourself is unexpected."
Yu Yuan's gaze moved from Rhutar to Qignas, who now stood erect, nearly level with his Crucible of Evil. "Ghost King, you may be the most formidable power in the Land of Terror, but you should know that forces capable of countering the Ghost King have always existed elsewhere in the Everlands!"
"You've been well protected. As long as you remain within the Land of Terror and don't venture out, those forces won't touch you."
"But if the deity that shields you were to open the gates to those powers, everything would change!"
The Soulforge Pool floating above him bolstered his confidence.
Unknown to all, the Soulforge Pool that had emerged was not only capable of consuming the Chasuo Kingdom.
Nor was it limited to the souls and ghosts before him.
The frenzied energy emanating from the Soulforge Pool seemed poised to engulf the entire Land of Terror in Yu Yuan's perception!
Every Lunar Spirit and ghost born here or from extraterrestrial origins was a target for the Soulforge Pool!
Should the Soulforge Pool truly descend upon the Land of Terror instead of the Moonfall Sanctuary, he believed this realm would undergo a cataclysmic transformation!
The Lunar Spirit, a state of being that allowed a cultivator to tap into the psionic power of the Lunar Meridian, was something Mo Yan had only heard of in legends. But here, in the Soulforge Pool, it was a palpable force. The Devil Blade, a weapon feared even by the Bane, lay submerged within the Crucible of Evil, an artifact of the Ruby Hand sect.
