C810 Treating the Disease with the Right Medicine
The Soul Transformation Pool, drawn by the creation of a new spatial passageway and its own magnetic pull, was whisked away from the terrifying expanse of Horror Land to the enigmatic Fallen Moon Forbidden Area.
The passageway vanished as swiftly as it had appeared, leaving only the ethereal image of the Soul Transformation Pool hovering above Yu Yuan.
Having orchestrated these events, Yu Yuan gently closed his eyes, then opened them anew.
Upon opening his eyes, he turned and offered a smile to Qianqiang Ghost, who was nimbly evading Luohou's onslaught.
Bathed in Yu Yuan's gaze, Qianqiang Ghost's resplendent golden armor burst into a cascade of dazzling light.
This venerable spirit, a millennia-old denizen of Mingdu who had wandered the Outland Star River for years, felt an icy dread seep into his soul.
His fear was rooted in the unpredictable return of the spatial passageway.
Should it open once more, the Soul Transformation Pool, rightfully belonging to the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, would wield a power beyond comprehension.
Had Zhu Zhen not intervened, both Mo Yan and the Devil Blade would have been swept into its depths.
The Black Staff Ghost King had already succumbed...
Could he possibly possess the strength to escape the clutches of the Soul Transformation Pool?
This chilling thought intensified the cold in Qianqiang Ghost's heart.
Born in the Horror Land and steeped in age, Qianqiang Ghost was intimately acquainted with the myriad tales of the Soul Transformation Pool—far more so than the Black Staff Ghost King.
"That pool could obliterate the Black Staff's soul without breaking a sweat."
Qianqiang Ghost relayed his thoughts to White Coat Mercurial through a secret technique, "All seven of them are aware of the Soul Transformation Pool's horrors. You, being the youngest, might not grasp its full might. Take heed, keep your distance from Yu Yuan. Better to face the wrath of Luohou Ghost King than to fall under Yu Yuan's scrutiny."
With his warning issued, Qianqiang Ghost drifted back, his movements creating a gulf between himself, Yu Yuan, and the ominous black clouds.
It was clear to all that he harbored a deep-seated fear of both Yu Yuan and the Soul Transformation Pool.
"The Black Staff has already met his fate; do I really need your caution?" White Coat Mercurial's own fear echoed silently within him. He exchanged a brief word with the other seven ancient ghosts and then, alongside Luohou Ghost King, began a tactical retreat.
"I'll take care of you later."
With a cold snort, Yu Yuan withdrew his attention and once again faced the ominous cloud formed by dark magical energy, peering deeply into its midst with his "Insightful Eye."
The White Coat Mercurial, clutching a sharp awl, found himself besieged by the Kalpa Ghost King amidst a sky full of stones.
The soul of the Kalpa Ghost King had fragmented into thousands, infusing each stone, and like a tempest, relentlessly pelted the luminescent white bones.
The bones, seemingly forged from divine iron, withstood the barrage without showing a single crack.
Occasionally, the Black Staff, resembling a towering obelisk, would join in, delivering a crushing blow to the white bones.
Yu Yuan's expression shifted subtly.
Deep underground, the Styx, intimately linked to the white bones, once again conveyed the intent of the Yin Meridian's source.
The Black Staff Ghost King remained in Horror Land!
A mere fraction of the Black Staff's soul had left the dark cloud, transforming into a spectral stream of light, drawn out by the Soul Transformation Pool and exiting through the spatial passage.
The majority of the soul, however, lay concealed within the Black Staff, continuing its assault on the white bones.
"I was naive to think I could catch the Black Staff Ghost King off guard and have him withdraw his entire soul from the cloud. It seems that to him, I, with only the cultivation of the Yin God Stage, am not worth his full effort. He believes that a quarter of his soul's power is more than enough to annihilate me."
Yu Yuan quickly came to a realization.
After a wry smile, he shook off his despondency and forced himself to think clearly about how to aid the white bones.
In that moment, the white bone spoke out once more: "Don't come in."
This was unlike the previous indirect warning conveyed by Yu Yiyi through the cauldron soul.
This time, amidst the black cloud and under the onslaught of the Kalpa Ghost King and the Black Staff, the white bone issued a direct plea, unconcerned with being overheard by any entity or ghost.
The Black Staff Ghost King remained unseen, lurking within the staff, seemingly biding its time, waiting for Yu Yuan to step into the black miasma, ready to strike as soon as he entered the domain of the Black Staff.
Suddenly, Yu Yuan pieced together the entire sequence of events.
The Black Staff Ghost King had lost a quarter of his soul and sustained injuries. Only if the Black Staff from the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area could return to Horror Land and merge with him would he be able to heal.
Knowing he was vulnerable, the injured Black Staff wouldn't risk leaving the protective black cloud as a soul to launch a second attack on him.
The Black Staff feared the possibility of the spatial passage opening again.
Thus, he concealed himself within the scepter, leading Yu Yuan to believe that the Black Staff had been taken to the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, and that only the White Bone and Qianjie were battling within the dark mists.
The Black Staff was biding his time, waiting for Yu Yuan to walk into his trap.
Meanwhile, the White Bone, aware of the Black Staff's intentions and knowing he was still alive, warned Yu Yuan to stay away.
The White Bone remained silent about the Black Staff's survival because he alone understood the pact made with the source of the Yin Meridians. With its aid, he had ascended to the Yin God Stage and secretly communicated with the source through the Styx beneath the earth.
Granted by the source of Yin Meridians, the Styx was a gift to the White Bone, whose current battle with the Black Staff and Qianjie also harnessed the river's power.
Sensing his connection with the source of Yin Meridians and heeding its warning, the White Bone was cognizant of the Black Staff's presence.
These rapid-fire thoughts zipped through Yu Yuan's mind, and he swiftly grasped the intricacies of the situation.
The White Bone's warning to stay out was a sign that the Black Staff's focus had shifted from him to Yu Yuan. Feigning an attack on the White Bone, he was actually lying in wait.
"I need to dispel those black demonic clouds to unlock the full potential of the White Bone's power. I must find a way," Yu Yuan resolved.
Heeding the White Bone's advice, he positioned himself just outside the dark mists, clutching the shrunken Evil Cauldron in one hand and the sword sheath in the other.
Moments later, inspiration struck.
Hiss!
A spark of flame burst forth from the palm of Yu Yuan's hand, gripping the sword sheath, and streaked toward a dark spot not too far away. This flame, akin to a miniature sun, blazed intensely, casting a brilliant light.
Following the initial spark came a second, then a third, and a fourth, each one a tiny inferno, radiating the sun's brilliance and descending like a series of small suns upon the bizarre world formed by the dark magic power within the scepter.
"Sun Essence Fire!"
"Huh! The way that kid invokes the Sun Essence Fire, doesn't it resemble the 'Glorious Heavenly Wheel'?"
"Could it be?"
As the cultivators from the Heavenly Source Continent gasped in astonishment, the miniature suns plummeted into the abyss of darkness. These suns were the Sun Essence Fire that Yu Yuan had once refined within himself, originating from the eye of the Chaos Roc—an eye that itself was transformed from a sun.
As the little suns cascaded into the heart of the dark magic energy, they set off waves upon waves of reaction. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Each droplet of Sun Essence Fire carved through the black veil like a razor-sharp blade, tearing open a small domain of darkness in an instant.
Even Yu Yuan was taken aback by such an unexpected transformation. "How could the Sun Essence Fire, refined from an eye of the Chaos Roc, be so formidable?!" His face registered utter astonishment as he witnessed the flecks of Sun Essence Fire rending the Darkness World asunder. He suddenly lamented not having saved more of it.
In the past, he had refined eight specks of Sun Essence Fire to construct the Life Altar within his body. To dissolve the Giant Beast Soul Amber, he had expended a bit, and had occasionally tapped into it during his alchemical endeavors. After acquiring the Evil Cauldron and the scabbard, he hadn't given much thought to the Sun Essence Fire, nor did he realize its staggering potential.
But now, his perspective on the Sun Essence Fire had shifted dramatically in an instant. "This is no ordinary Sun Essence Fire. This is the Sun Essence Fire that the Starry Behemoth refined, infusing it with additional power, which he then further concentrated," mused Cao Jiaze of the Profound Sky Sect, awestruck by the formidable might of the fire amidst the dark magic energy. "This kid is truly squandering heavenly gifts!"
"Just a few specks of Sun Essence Fire, and it's this overwhelmingly powerful?" exclaimed a member of the Spirit Void Sect in astonishment.
"It's precisely the remedy needed. The Devil Spell practiced by the Black Staff Ghost King before his demise was surely tied to darkness. The black devil energy he unleashed from his staff enveloped the area in total darkness, where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The radiance within the bones serves only to cleanse tainted souls and can't restore light to the Darkness World."
"The Sun Essence Fire, created by the Chaos Roc's refinement of the sun, possesses such divine strength."
"The sun in his eyes emits flames and light that dispel the dark devil energy, transforming a world shrouded in darkness into one bathed in sunlight."
Cao Jiaze marveled, "Yu Yuan seems oblivious to the immense power and wonder of the Sun Essence Fire he refined from the Chaos Roc's gaze."
At that moment...
The expansive darkness was being shredded by mere specks of Sun Essence Fire!
The Sun Essence Fire continued to blaze. As the fiery specks slowly faded, the energy of the flames and the sunlight were depleted. The small world, once an enclave of absolute darkness, was scorched to nothingness, ceasing to exist.
