C989 It Is Not up to You!!
"Han Yin!"
Zhou You's brow furrowed as he gripped the crystal-clear Four Directions Platform, a product of the teleportation circle, and he let out a cold snort.
The space he and President Lyi occupied seemed to be cleaved from the rest, now completely isolated.
In the blink of an eye.
Unaffected by Grec, he and President Lyi reappeared in midair above the Domain Channel.
"Is he the one delaying Yu Yuan?" President Lyi inquired, frowning.
"He's not himself anymore," Zhou You replied.
"Since he's been corrupted, he should be thoroughly eradicated."
President Lyi, sitting with dignified poise, slapped the armrest of the Golden Throne, and a myriad of golden lightning bolts, roaring with the power of the rule, surged toward the Ebon Star's supported expert.
With a flick of his horsetail whisk, Zhou You sealed the space around the elder named Han Yin.
The elder was immediately submerged in tens of thousands of golden lightning bolts.
Han Yin, his spiritual wisdom lost to the corruption of Grec's vitality, was pulverized into minuscule particles of flesh and blood by the divine force of the Path of Metal amidst the sea of golden light. His remains fell to the Domain Channel below.
With his death, the distance between Yu Yuan and the deep pit normalized at last.
Whoosh!
Seconds later, Yu Yuan, drenched in blood, reached the ominous pit.
Upon his arrival, the Dragon Slaying Stage in his grasp emitted an enigmatic glow that surged into the pit, revealing the ancient characters Hui, Bi, and Shang.
Like three black suns, they abruptly morphed into three dark Abysses.
The phrase To Know All is to Suffer All had once been the cornerstone of Jihui God-King's divine ascension.
It was through his contemplation of the Chronowyrm on the Dragon Slaying Stage, buried within the Abyss, that he gained insight into the fabric of space and time.
Following the demise of the Chronowyrm, Jihui ascended to godhood by mastering this Way of Heaven.
Perhaps this was why, when Yu Yuan arrived at the pit with the Dragon Slaying Stage, the God-King's ancient words manifested their mystical presence once more.
Then, Yu Yuan noticed a flat, peculiar terrain beneath the three archaic black characters.
It was like a massive, semi-transparent glass capable of reflecting another dimension!
This semi-transparent glass appeared to be the so-called Domain Channel that led to the Hellmouth.
Previously, when he had visited this place, he could only detect spatial disturbances and see unusual flashes of light. It had been impossible for him to directly observe the Domain Channel, which resembled a glass mirror.
"Dragon Slaying Stage!"
He instantly recognized that this time, holding the Dragon Slaying Stage and having absorbed the residual memories and strength of the dragon slayer through Wraithbinding, allowed him to perceive the true Domain Channel beyond the seals of those three words.
Moreover, it was a Domain Channel that had regained stability, ready for traversal once again.
Initially, this Domain Channel was forcibly carved open by a tenth level Chronowyrm, a Dragon God whose body held the true essence of space and time.
It was the Chronowyrm that had created this passage to the Hellmouth.
The remains of the Chronowyrm lay within the Dragon Slaying Stage he held, and the strange power of the dragon slayer, now merged with his Lunar Spirit, enabled him to wield the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Naturally, he could now clearly see the Domain Channel, obscured by layers of mist and suppressed by Jihui, the God-King.
"Heh."
Another figure, Grec, hovered in the air some dozens of meters away, wearing the face of Shi Yuxuan.
This time, Grec did not rush to make his move.
He kept a proper distance, sensing the unseen barriers between him and Yu Yuan, and with a playful smile, he asked, "Eager to leave the Everlands?"
Yu Yuan turned his head, gazing deeply at him from above the pit.
He had truly experienced the tactics of the Blood Fiend Patriarch, the Great Demon God Grec.
Upon Grec's arrival, Tian Zang had withdrawn to the Land of Terror. Luo Yue was gravely wounded and had escaped. Dusk Raven was dead, the ninth level yellow tiger nearly so. Ji Ningshuang was severely injured, and the leaders of Colddeath, Ann Wen, the fallen Dark Deity, and Zhongli Dapan were all overwhelmed.
Numerous eighth level warriors, archdemons, and Otherkin had become his marionettes, manipulated at will.
Blood Moon had turned traitor in an instant, severing the silent bond between him and the Soulforge Pool.
The three powerhouses from the upper sect and the envoys from the Devil Palace refrained from making any hasty moves.
Yun Hao persuaded him to surrender the items without a fuss...
An entity whose power and presence rivaled that of a peak Dark Deity and a cultivator with a primordial spirit, having descended into the Moonfall Sanctuary, left an indelible, eternal mark deep within Yu Yuan's psyche.
"I really have no desire to encounter you again anytime soon."
Yu Yuan bowed respectfully to the supreme being before soaring toward the Domain Channel visible to the naked eye.
"That's not for you to decide."
The Great Demon God, Grec, watched him from a distance, an enigmatic smile playing on his lips.
Whoosh!
Clutching the Dragon Slaying Stage that entombed the Chronowyrm, Yu Yuan plunged into the Domain Channel, its surface like a glass mirror. The sharp edges of the gray-white stone in his grasp whistled as they cleaved through the fabric of space.
Intuitively, he sensed peculiar rifts within the Domain Channel below.
These rifts, nestled within the channel's walls, did not lead to the Hellmouth but to more secluded and rare locations, accessible only to the extraordinary.
His eyes sparkled with recognition; his true destination lay within these rifts, not the Hellmouth.
Filled with hope and reflecting on the intricate dynamics of the Everlands, he considered President Lyi's counsel to be wise indeed.
Best to lay low for now, he thought. Once Boulderdawn, President Lyi, the Otherkin champions, and the five Utmost Beings established a new understanding, it would be safe to return.
Suddenly, the Altar of Rebirth within his chest began to tremble at an unprecedented rate!
Drawing nearer to the Domain Channel, an intense, indescribable terror surged through his soul, his organs, and every drop of his blood!
Ah!
His mind felt on the verge of shattering. Approaching the Domain Channel, he reined in his advance just in time.
Staring in horror at the Domain Channel, which resembled a glass mirror, his form quivered.
The translucent surface silently took on a crimson hue.
The blood was so vivid, it sent chills down one's spine, evoking a deep sense of dread!
Beneath the Domain Channel, it seemed a sea of blood churned, capable of unsettling the very vitality of all living beings.
Yu Yuan's Altar of Rebirth, which had refined and absorbed the lifeblood of various races, stirred the vital energy within him. It was as if it sought to bid farewell to Yu Yuan before merging with the blood sea beneath the Domain Channel.
Yu Yuan shivered, struggling mightily against the unsettling surges of his own vitality.
Suddenly, atop the blood-stained Domain Channel, which had turned from translucent to a vivid red, a man in a blood-red robe with a thick, red beard obscuring the lower half of his face materialized out of thin air.
In the prime of his life, the man sat with an air of grandeur on the Domain Channel, his posture exuding strength and majesty.
His dark red eyes sparkled with a joyful smile as he met Yu Yuan's gaze.
"Grec!"
Yu Yuan's body jolted as he fought against the alien bloodlust within him, gradually pulling himself upright.
The Altar of Rebirth inside him, the little world of his vitality, and every drop of blood concealed within his acupoints roared, frantically urging him to give in to the descent.
This pull was hundreds of times more intense than the allure he once faced at the Blood Pool on Acora Island!
The Domain Channel below was now saturated with Grec's vitality, and the blood sea beneath it appeared to be Grec's very own Altar of Rebirth.
The true Grec!
