C854 A Nightmare Descended

From the heart of the mountains, a shrill, haunting wail tore through the air. Powerful cultivators of the Skyblight Cult emerged from their sealed caves and burst from the grandeur of their palaces, gazing at the sky in utter disbelief.

They beheld Sky Fiends of various shapes and forms, each embodying a different kind of body. They watched as Stoneborn, resembling massive rocks, descended into a mountain peak, causing it to tremble violently as though becoming one with the Stoneborn itself. They saw a Terra Fiend, which should have been transformed into an artifact soul by human cultivators, brazenly appear and laugh in their faces.

"My heavens!" exclaimed an elder of the Skyblight Cult, who had ventured onto the Star River Battlefield and attained the Solar Spirit level, his voice trembling with shock. "What am I witnessing?"

"Good lord! The Star-Spawned Terror! The Star-Spawned Terror that has forged its own body!"

"The Stoneborn! The mighty ones of the Stoneborn!"

Another Solar Spirit Realm expert, who had sought enlightenment in seclusion for decades, rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Has an inner demon corrupted my spiritual wisdom? Am I hallucinating?" He frantically rubbed his eyes, desperate to ensure that the vision before him was not a mere figment of his imagination.

He had been secluded for far too long, unaware that Boulderdawn, absent for nearly ten thousand years, had officially begun its return. He could never have imagined that the Star-Spawned Terror and the Otherkin would unite and step foot into the Everlands.

Such a scenario, where beings from beyond the Everlands appeared en masse, could only occur in the most dreadful of nightmares. After all, this realm had always been under the vigilant watch of the three upper sects, the Devil Palace, and Shadow's Keep!

For millennia, it had been the cultivators of humanity, alongside the legions of evilkind, who had dominated the depths of the Star River, taking pride in hunting Sky Fiends and vanquishing Otherkin warriors. The Sky Fiends and Otherkin had never dared to near the Void Wall of the Everlands on a large scale.

Only the occasional few had risked their lives, sneaking through the treacherous and unstable space rifts into the Everlands. These intruders were swiftly dealt with by the five great sects, either hunted down or captured in secret.

Outsiders had never been able to stir significant turmoil within the Everlands. The notion of an invading coalition formed by Sky Fiends and Otherkin attacking the sects of the Everlands was simply inconceivable.

Until...

An immensely large extraterrestrial winged dragon suddenly swelled in size, its blade-like wings slicing through a low mountain. It was only when the mountain crumbled with a thunderous roar that everyone grasped the gravity of the situation.

This nightmarish spectacle was, in fact, not a dream.

This was the harsh reality they were facing!

"Yan Qiling, Yu Yuan, you, you are the eternal sinners of the Everlands!" Yun Hao shook uncontrollably with fear and anxiety, watching as a gaping hole tore open in the sky. One after another, Sky Fiends surged into the mountains of the Skyblight Cult as if pouring through the Maw of Oblivion. His psyche shattered completely.

And he was not alone.

Every person in Eshvehona who could still stand upright, who had not been reduced to spitting blood or collapsing from the battle between him and Yan Qiling, was now wailing in despair.

A catastrophe of this magnitude, unseen in ten thousand years, was unfolding within the Skyblight Cult!

All because Lee Tihai had imprisoned Yu Yuan's mother's soul, compelling Yu Yuan to come forth with the Soul-Igniting Kin-Seeking technique!

The rogue cultivator Lee Tihai, along with the Sect Master Yun Hao, were the true architects of the Skyblight Cult's disaster!

Countless eyes, filled with resentment and dissatisfaction, turned towards Lee Tihai.

Lee Tihai felt a chill to his core, equally terrified by the extraordinary events unfolding above the mountains. He was merely a rogue cultivator; the Skyblight Cult had not yet invited him to venture to the extraterrestrial realms as a Solar Spirit.

He had never before encountered a Sky Fiend, nor had he witnessed such formidable Otherkin.

Was it not simply the capture of Yu Yuan's mother's soul?

He could not fathom how such a minor probe, a gesture to ingratiate himself with Zhu Zhenlin and Sect Master Yun Hao, could have precipitated such an apocalypse for the Skyblight Cult.

"Mr. Yan?"

Yu Yuan, plunged into the Crucible of Evil, ascended with the cauldron, gazing solemnly at the tumult in the distant mountains, "Was such a massive upheaval truly necessary?"

The former Sect Master of the Skyblight Cult, the Evil King Yu Xi, had been a predecessor of this era.

With the creation of a new spatial passage by Yan Qiling and others, hordes of fiends and aberrations from the Scarlet Dunes and Moonfall Sanctuary flooded into the mountains like a relentless tide.

He could see that the Skyblight Cult stood no chance of holding their ground.

Despite his usual detachment and lack of fondness for Yun Hao and Lee Tihai, there were others like Yu Xi, Chou Muge, and many who revered the Evil King that he considered.

He was concerned...

"I know what's on your mind," Yan Qiling said with a slight smile. "We discussed this during your time in the Land of Terror. I've shared with you their fresh perspective. The influx of Sky Fiends and Otherkin experts you've seen won't harm the innocent."

"We have our own code of conduct."

"These mountains are set to become a bustling trade hub deeply rooted in the Land of Quiescence, akin to the Skyreach Consortium's headquarters! The difference is, there will be no taboos on who can trade. Whether human, Sky Fiend, or Otherkin expert, any intelligent being is free to come and go."

"However, they must secure permission from our Boulderdawn Sect, and we will provide protection."

Yan Qiling hinted at a greater scheme.

He, or rather the Boulderdawn Sect, intended to leverage the Skyblight Cult to propagate their distinctive philosophy.

They chose the Skyblight Cult's location because it was in the Land of Quiescence, where many cultivators of the Evil Dao harbored radical thoughts that might resonate with their ideas.

This was unlike Euwrea, where traditions were rigidly upheld and minds were thoroughly indoctrinated by the three great upper sects.

"I..."

Before Yu Yuan could continue, he observed that the Otherkin and Sky Fiend experts flooding into the mountains refrained from slaughtering the Skyblight Cult members on sight.

Unless, of course, the Skyblight Cult sought their own demise.

He also took note of the powerful Sky Fiends, who had taken on physical forms and were persuasively speaking to the intimidated Skyblight Cult disciples.

"This land was once the domain of the Terror Claws, not yours! The Skyblight Cult's home isn't in these mountains, but rather in the forest across from Eshvehona."

"You must relinquish this unfamiliar territory and seek out your sect master."

"As long as you avoid conflict and don't seek death, you're free to depart."

"Please, don't compel us to resort to violence."

The newly arrived Sky Fiends and Otherkin experts were surprisingly composed, all restraining their innate savagery and bloodlust.

"See that?" Yan Qiling gestured toward the mountain range, addressing Yu Yuan with a hint of pride, "They are all early signatories to the pact, sworn in by the honor of their ancestors. Yu Yuan, you might not be aware, but they actually embody the spirit of the contract more than the three upper sects do."

"Yun Hao, it's time for you to retreat to the Skyblight Cult's original territory and take your people with you," the rotund Zhou You, clutching his horsetail whisk, called out from the cloud-covered sky with a playful grin. "You know where the old site is. Oh, and we refrained from a massacre this time, sparing those loyal to you, to offer them a chance to make their own choices."

After a brief pause, Zhou You's gaze drifted into the distance.

"This is also an opportunity for every sect and power in the Land of Quiescence, beyond the Devil Palace and Shadow's Keep, to make a choice!" His voice resonated with conviction.

"It seems my covert protection is no longer necessary."

Luo Yue, with her soul form, sat next to Yu Yuan aboard the Crucible of Evil, tucked away beneath Eshvehona, ready to emerge should danger befall him. Yet, at this moment, she could no longer contain herself.

She hovered high above, her gaze fixed on the deepening throng of Sky Fiends and Otherkin within the mountains.

Luo Yue's face twisted with disbelief; she could never have imagined witnessing such an eerie tableau unfold in the Everlands.

Was the Boulderdawn Sect on the brink of a grand amalgamation with other life races?

Yu Yuan inhaled deeply, then suddenly turned his attention to the Silver Rainbow Shuttle within the Crucible of Evil, his eyes settling on the Dark Herald shrouded in darkness.

Why was there no stir from the Devil Palace?

Surely, the Devil Palace and Shadow's Keep must have felt the earth-shattering anomalies here in the Land of Quiescence.

For a cultivator at the level of the Primordial Spirit Realm, a mere thought could traverse millions of miles in an instant.

Knowing full well what was transpiring within the Skyblight Cult, how could the Devil Palace and Shadow's Keep possibly stand idly by?

In that moment, he grasped a reality that had already crystallized.

The era dominated by the three upper sects, the Devil Palace, and Shadow's Keep, was on the verge of being shattered.

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