C811 Demonic Break
Flecks of sunfire fell into the darkness, consuming an entire world and all its dark energy.
Everyone present, ghosts included, was taken aback by the immense power of the tiny sunfire that had erupted from Yu Yuan's palm.
In a short time, the dark realm constructed by Qignas was gone without a trace.
Then, a few remaining sparks of sunfire landed on the massive black scepter.
The sparks, like red-hot needles, pierced the scepter, burning a tiny hole through it.
Suddenly, a miraculous sight unfolded.
That single spark and minuscule hole triggered the surge of magic power within the black scepter.
The dark energy within worked tirelessly to fill the hole, attempting to stop the sunfire's power from penetrating deeper into the scepter.
The towering stone column-like scepter changed color abruptly.
It shifted from black to a grayish brown.
As the dark energy within the scepter drained away, the scepter's quality plummeted, and its material suffered damage.
Eventually, the last of the sunfire burned out.
The dark energy within the scepter was nearly exhausted in the process.
With a whoosh, White Bone transformed into a streak of silver-white lightning, slipping into the scepter through the tiny hole.
Crack! Crack!
The enormous scepter began to show cracks the moment White Bone entered.
"White Bone!"
Qignas's roar thundered from the scepter, filled with fury.
In that instant, the onlookers, both ghosts and humans, came to a realization.
The Black Staff had not vanished from the Land of Terror because a soul had been dragged into the Moonfall Sanctuary.
He was still alive!
Not only alive, but he was also cunningly concealed within the scepter, lying in wait to strike!
"Let's have our final battle within the artifact of your past life. Taruer, if you dare, come inside and fight," White Bone's proud voice echoed from within. "But be warned, without the dark energy to counterbalance, can you endure my Soul Burning Flame?"
Crack!
The huge gray-brown scepter began to fracture further after White Bone's entrance.
"I'll keep watch from the outside. As for the inside? I'll pass on the commotion."
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Stones that were meant to encircle White Bone tumbled to the ground, releasing the souls of Taruer trapped within. They soared out, one after another, converging before the eyes of all present.
"The Black Staff must have practiced the Dark Sky Fiend Arts in life," Golden Fiend of the Skyreach Consortium mused with a grave expression aboard the Cloud Cruiser. "Even if Black Staff wasn't a cultivator from the Devil Palace, there's undoubtedly a connection with that individual." He refrained from using the name, opting instead for "that individual" as a euphemism.
Yet, when he mentioned the "Dark Sky Fiend Arts," everyone in the cabin knew exactly whom he was referring to.
Zhu Zhenlin, the Devil Palace's second-in-command, had mastered the Dark Sky Fiend Arts to their utmost limit, forging his primordial spirit in the process. The purity of the dark energy within the scepter, which left White Bone utterly restrained, spoke volumes.
"That realm of darkness, known as the Realm of Eternal Night, was something I never expected to be breached by mere sunfire," Golden Fiend remarked with a sense of wonder. "With the Realm of Eternal Night shattered, and parts of Black Staff's soul taken to the Moonfall Sanctuary, he should no longer be capable of stirring up any waves."
Shen Yan from the Sword Sect furrowed his brow, murmuring, "The kid does have some tricks up his sleeve."
With a whoosh, Rahu, the Ghost King, basket in hand, suddenly appeared beside Yu Yuan. She playfully nudged him with her basket, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "You've truly lived up to my trust. I knew you'd find a way to shatter the Realm of Eternal Night!"
"Realm of Eternal Night?" Yu Yuan echoed, taken aback.
"The Black Staff likely once followed Mo Yan's father and studied the Dark Sky Fiend Arts under him," Rahu said, her tone slightly uneasy as she broached the subject of Zhu Zhenlin. "The dark energy that emanated from the Black Staff must have been collected by Qignas from some dark Abyss beyond our world and infused into the staff as a gift."
"The release of this dark energy gave birth to the Realm of Eternal Night, an enigmatic World of Darkness."
The white flames of White Bone and the radiance emitted by its skeletal form can only harm souls that lack a physical body. In the Realm of Eternal Night, where dark energy differs from Soul Power, such light has no effect. Yet, the sunfire that emanated from your palm possesses such terrifying power; it's beyond what I could have anticipated.
She lavished Yu Yuan with unabashed praise.
"Abyssal Leviathan!"
As he sensed the absence of sunfire in the Golden Sanctum's little world and recalled the refining process of the eight sunfire points, along with the Abyssal Leviathan's repeated attempts to locate him through them—enabling Lin Zhuyun to launch her attacks—he was flooded with a torrent of emotions.
The sunfire, originating from the Abyssal Leviathan, proved incredibly useful in melting the Sunsorrow and aided him in constructing the Altar of Rebirth. Its applications in medicine refining were also boundless.
Now, in combat, the unleashed force of the sunfire was nothing short of astounding. Zhu Zhenlin, at the Primordial Spirit Realm, had amassed dark energy from the Abyssal Deep in the extraterrestrial domain, only to have it utterly consumed by the sunfire. One could only imagine the might of the Abyssal Leviathan at its zenith.
Now free and soaring through the Star River, should the Abyssal Leviathan return to the pinnacle of its power, wouldn't it be even more formidable? The mere thought of the leviathan weighed heavily on his heart, like a mountain, suffocating him.
"You?" Yu Yuan turned his gaze to Rahu, the Ghost King, deliberately shifting the conversation to distract himself from thoughts of the Abyssal Leviathan.
"Why am I here?" Rahu, the Ghost King, asked with a charming smile, glancing at Taruer, who was gathering his soul. "White Bone has entered the scepter. Unless something unexpected occurs, the Black Staff will meet the same fate as Wintermaw, perishing within the ice tombstone, just like White Bone."
"I came because I feared Taruer might hesitate to enter the scepter and intervene in the soul battle between White Bone and Black Staff, and instead, turn to kill you."
She paused, her gaze drifting to the soul swirling around Taruer, and lightly raised the flower basket in her hand, "Taruer, I honor you as an elder. As long as you refrain from striking first, I will remain silent."
Taruer remained silent, his scattered souls still coalescing among the stones.
It was an opportune moment for Rahu, the Ghost King. Should she strike now, Taruer would find himself at a severe disadvantage.
"Taruer, Ghost King."
Yu Yuan's lips curled into a cold sneer. With the disappearance of the so-called Realm of Eternal Night, the massive Black Staff began to suffer destruction at the hands of White Bone. His previously suppressed emotions eased significantly, and he pondered over the best strategy to annihilate Rhutar and Dhoreus.
The image of Lee Yuchan's phantom being shredded by Rhutar haunted him, each recollection bringing a sharp pang to his heart. He couldn't quite fathom why the death of the female general's Lunar Spirit caused him such profound distress.
"Who exactly are you?"
Suddenly, the will of the Root of the Lunar Meridian emerged from the depths of the River Styx with a surge of doubt and inquisition. In an instant, it unleashed a torrent of complex thoughts and uncertainties, flooding his consciousness.
Yu Yuan's spirit trembled. He sensed the Root's skepticism, aware that a misstep in his response could cost him its trust and favor. Worse still, the Root might even employ other forces to eliminate him preemptively. White Bone was one such force at the Root's disposal.
What was happening?
This thought barely formed when more of the Root's doubts, now brimming with hostility, stormed into his mind.
He furrowed his brow, dissecting the will of the Root of the Lunar Meridian as if bracing for battle, striving to unravel the essence of its concerns.
After a moment, Yu Yuan's expression grew exceedingly grave.
"Who am I?"
The Root's uncertainty stemmed from the Soulforge Pool's unconditional support. It arose from the entire Moonfall Sanctuary's overly amicable disposition toward him, including the benevolence of the Evil God statue and various concealed enchantments. When the Moon Slayer's residual sword force was subdued by the Soulforge Pool, unable to manifest its wonders, the Pool's affection seemed inexplicably excessive.
Through meticulous analysis, the Root of the Lunar Meridian arrived at a conclusion that was beyond anyone's wildest imagination.
—Yu Yuan was not merely a man who had lived two lives, but rather three!
Before Hong Qi, there was another individual!
This person managed to deceive everyone, to the extent that even the Root of the Lunar Meridian, the entity overseeing the cycle of reincarnation, could not detect the slightest clue of his existence.
The first step involved being reincarnated or reborn as Hong Qi. In that life, since he did not embark on the path of cultivation, neither the Lunar Spirit nor the Solar Spirit were refined, resulting in a failure to awaken. Consequently, all memories from his past life remained shrouded.
Hong Qi appeared to be an anomaly, or perhaps he was compelled into concealment. The exact circumstances remain unknown to the Root of the Lunar Meridian.
One thing, however, was certain: the Yu Yuan of today was indeed in his third incarnation!
