C893 A Massacre
Whoosh!
The Crucible of Evil emerged, floating out from Yu Yuan's Zigong acupoint and coming to a halt three inches above his head.
With a mere flicker of intent, Blood Moon, the entity that had chosen its own name, soared out, transforming into a vague blood shadow.
In a flash, the blood shadow split into dozens, each one darting towards the Dragon Attendants present.
Every blood shadow effortlessly penetrated a Dragon Attendant's body.
Inside the Dragon Attendants, the dragon's breath within their blood was devoured by the clones of Blood Moon. In short order, they were reduced to desiccated husks.
Thud! Thud!
One by one, the once menacing Dragon Attendants turned ashen. They expired before even hitting the ground.
The clones of Blood Moon, having drained their lifeblood, emerged from their withered bodies and recombined.
"Blood, Colddeath!"
The one with the fierce green dragon tattoo on his neck bit into his fingertip, releasing a drop of dark green lifeblood that formed an enigmatic seal.
A diminutive green dragon, radiating a murky green glow and swishing its tail, materialized.
The green dragon let out a roar, repelling an attacking clone of Blood Moon, preventing it from drawing near.
"My master will arrive shortly! You won't get away with killing my brethren, you whelp!"
The surviving Dragon Attendant, blessed by the green dragon with a drop of pure dragon blood, narrowly evaded doom.
Behind the Dragon Attendant, a nebulous and spectral green giant dragon began to take shape, emerging from the tattoo on his neck as if a totem had come to life.
Empowered by his master's strength from afar, the Dragon Attendant seemed to gain immense might, his muscles swelling to the point of bursting his garments.
With a roar, scales emerged beneath his flesh, gleaming like translucent emerald armor.
In mere moments, the Dragon Attendant appeared to be clad in dragon scale armor, his aura surging exponentially.
The blood shadow, a fragment of Blood Moon, was repelled by the indistinct green dragon, overwhelmed by the torrent of dragon blood within, and dared not approach.
Yu Yuan remained unfazed, aware that once Blood Moon's shadows reconvened, they would have the strength to slay the Dragon Attendant.
After communicating with the cauldron spirit Yu Yiyi, Yu Yuan learned that as long as Blood Moon continuously absorbed the lifeblood of powerful dire beasts and Otherkin, it could refine a body akin to that of the Frost Queen.
With a body like the Sky Fiend, a Bane's battle strength would undergo a dramatic transformation.
At the very least, having a body to shield its soul, it would not be as vulnerable to cultivators like those from the Thunder Sect who wielded the secrets of Divine Thunder.
"Are you truly Yu Yuan?"
In that moment, Wen Xin gripped the Dragon Head Staff tightly, feeling as though she were in a dream.
The Yu family scion from Asvetaesi in the Silvermoon Empire had become the subject of much talk through her own channels recently. His words had not been flattery.
She had made inquiries about him because a traveler from the Skyreach Consortium had spoken of Yu Yuan's exploits.
Yu Yuan's adventures spanned the Moonfall Sanctuary, Afnetalos, the Land of Terror, and now Fiendpeak, with many involving the Otherkin.
"No wonder he could instantly recognize that the girl was of mixed heritage!"
Wen Xin's eyes shone with realization.
"I will save you this once. But when Sacred Hands calls upon you, you must use your bloodline to provide assistance with medicinal herbs," Yu Yuan said while maintaining his connection with the cauldron spirit.
"No problem!" Wen Xin responded eagerly.
"I wasn't speaking to you," Yu Yuan said sternly, turning to the animated Wen Lu. "You need to decide for yourself."
"I'll follow your lead!" Wen Lu quickly affirmed.
Yu Yuan chose not to engage further with the two women.
With a mere thought, the Frost Queen, akin to a deity of ice, emerged from the Crucible of Evil behind Blood Moon.
As the Frost Queen materialized, the world around them was instantly enveloped in a harsh realm of ice and snow.
Wen Xin and Wen Lu shivered, their teeth chattering as they gazed up at the Frost Queen with awe and astonishment.
Blood Moon had volunteered for summoning, and now the Frost Queen had been called forth. Inside the Crucible of Evil, several other Banes of equal standing to Blood Moon were also awaiting their summons.
"There's no need to hurry."
Yu Yuan quelled Yu Yiyi's eagerness with a flicker of his intent.
At this moment, the various incarnations of Blood Moon were rapidly fusing together. Blood Moon had detected the scent of the eighth-level green dragon's breath within the Dragon Attendants. By consuming the blood of these attendants and refining the strands of dragon's breath, Blood Moon found it beneficial for his own advancement, prompting his appearance.
Yu Yuan was aware that once Blood Moon's incarnations united, the surviving Dragon Attendant with a drop of the green dragon's lifeblood would face certain death. That drop of lifeblood was a feast for Blood Moon's eyes, an unparalleled delicacy.
"I need to keep a close eye on Blood Moon," Yu Yuan mused to himself. "I must collect more refined vitality to aid in the fortification of his physique."
"Hmm?"
Upon the Frost Queen's arrival, Yang Chuhe sensed the presence of the Frozen Hellscape, causing a subtle shift in his spirit. For some reason, the sight of the Bane emerging from the Crucible of Evil filled him with a sense of dread.
After a moment's hesitation, he transformed into a stream and swiftly merged with the River of Whispers beside him. The Frost Queen instilled fear in him. Moreover, the wounds he had sustained from his battle with Tong Laoqian had not yet fully healed with the river's help. Realizing the danger, he immediately fled back to the River of Whispers, intending to use its transformative powers to make a quick escape.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The pervasive cold fog was freezing the tumultuous River of Whispers. Yang Chuhe, now a stream, collided with the solid ice, leaving him disoriented and revealing his true form.
Standing on the ice-bound river, Yang Chuhe surveyed his surroundings, his face contorting with distress. The Frost Queen, exuding the chilling aura capable of freezing heaven and earth, seemed to be his natural counter. Notably, her combat prowess and mastery of ice power far exceeded his own practice of Water Magic.
"How can there be such a terrifying and peculiar Bane!" Yang Chuhe lamented, quickly realizing that the Frost Queen was a hundred times more formidable than the already daunting Tong Laoqian.
With a splash, Yang Chuhe turned into a water current, not insisting on entering the River of Whispers. Instead, he fled downstream, racing toward the heartland of the Crimson Sun Empire.
The Frost Queen, shrouded in an icy aura and wreathed in dark blue flames, looked down from high above and pursued him with no sense of urgency.
"Yu Yuan! If you dare to chase me, you're signing your own death warrant!"
"The moment you show yourself, Chong Xiao and Tianjing will be instantly alerted to your movements! I'm certain that both Sages are already en route!"
Yang Chuhe yelled as he fled.
His intention was to dissuade the Frost Queen from relentless pursuit, hoping she would turn back to protect Yu Yuan.
"They may not be masters of space magic, and what of it if they've reached the Solar Spirit Stage?" Yu Yuan remained composed. "Even for Solar Spirit Stage cultivators, it would take hours to arrive from the vicinity of Midnightshields. By then, you'll have already been annihilated by my Bane."
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The Frost Queen flicked her sleeves, and strands of glittering ice light, imbued with the bitterly cold essence of the Ice Way of Heaven, fell into the river Yang Chuhe was using to make his escape, freezing both the water and the air above.
Clusters of dark blue flames, like spirits birthed in the depths of the extraterrestrial Star River, locked onto Yang Chuhe from a distance.
Inside his Mindscape, Yang Chuhe's soul was enshrouded in a swirling cold fog.
He shivered intermittently, his fear of the Frost Queen intensifying with each passing moment.
In the middle period of his Spirit Walk and already wounded, he stood little chance against the Frost Queen at the zenith of her power, her combat strength on par with a Solar Spirit. Without outside intervention, his fate was sealed.
Whoosh!
The myriad blood shadows abruptly contracted and fused into one.
Within this newly formed blood shadow, delicate, green dragons writhed, their appearance deceptively endearing.
But once Blood Moon had consolidated all its avatars, these slender dragons were ripped apart by an unseen force and swiftly consumed.
Above the heads of the surviving Dragon Attendants, the vague form of a green giant dragon bellowed in rage.
Yu Yuan didn't need to speculate; he knew that the dragons within Blood Moon were the refined dragon's breath granted by the eighth level green dragon of Dragon Lake to its Dragon Attendants.
This dragon's breath, a portion of the green dragon's power, would normally be reclaimed upon the Dragon Attendant's death.
Normally, the Dragon Attendant's body would absorb the lifeblood, allowing it to grow stronger on its own.
The relationship between the Dragon Attendant and the giant dragon they serve may appear to be mutually beneficial, but in truth, both exist solely to further the dragon's ascension.
The giant dragon from Dragon Lake entrusts its dragon's breath, dragon's blood, and even its Dragon Soul to the Dragon Attendant, using them as vessels to enhance its own power. As the Dragon Attendant and Dragon Whisperer grow in strength, so too do the dragon's breath and Dragon Soul.
When these individuals die, the released dragon's breath and Dragon Soul can still be reclaimed, emerging even more potent than before.
Thus, the eighth level green dragon is utterly indifferent to the survival of its Dragon Attendant. Its primary concern is whether it can reclaim its own power.
