Saintess Zue Yin
Zue Yin watched Yaan leave with a complex expression. She was feeling a myriad of conflicting emotions, and yet, at the forefront of it all, she couldn't help herself from smiling.
As the red-robed child vanished, leaving their planet and returning the world to the way it should be, the three supreme elders approached Zue Yin, all three hesitating.
"Elder Zue Yin, you-"
"Saintess Zue Yin." Zue Yin interrupted the second of the three supreme elders. These old men were all so much older and more experienced than her, but she simply didn't care at all.
The 2nd supreme elder's words got caught in his mouth. The 3rd supreme elder furrowed his brows, but the 1st supreme elder…
"Hahaha! Yes, Saintess Zue Yin, this is indeed fitting." The old man smiled, walking past the other two uncertain elders and standing directly before Zue Yin with a smile filled with satisfaction.
"Saintess Zue Yin, from this day form, you shall become the publicly acknowledged Saintess of the Divine Phoenix Clan. The position of 'Saintess' has historically held great significance to each of the four Divine Clans, but it has been over 200,000 years since the last person worthy of being considered a Clan Saintess appeared. The Divine Clans have never operated under the rule of a sole leader, instead being ruled by the supreme elders, however…the position of Saintess gives you authority no less than that of myself, the 1st Supreme Elder."
Zue Yin nodded calmly. The 1st supreme elder glanced back at the other two uncertain elders and smiled faintly.
"Do you two still not understand the situation? We were not privy to their conversation, but the outcome should be clear to you both - Saintess Zue Yin has been chosen by the World Demon himself to lead the immortal world in the Divine Phoenix Sector - no, the entire Four Divine Star System! The two of you, never forget, we were forced to concede defeat to the Divine Court and that bastard, Law Empyrean…this is our Phoenix Clan's greatest humiliation!"
The other two supreme elders silently nodded, so the 1st supreme elder went on.
"The World Demon has been placed on the List of Evil, recognised as one of the Divine Court's greatest enemies! His coming here to our planet was not without reason; this the start of a war between the Divine Court, and the force lead by the World Demon and Primordial Sage! Us beings below the Divine Step can only help control the immortal world, which is of paramount necessity for the divinities…and I say that we side with the enemy of our enemy, for only they can be considered our divine ally in this world!"
The two supreme sliders' expressions flickered several times, but in the end, they both sighed and nodded solemnly.
"Supreme elders, I assume that you three are all aware of the rumour…that this world will end in less than 30 millennia?" Zue Yin suddenly spoke up.
The three old men looked at her seriously and nodded. The 1st supreme elder's eyes lit up, then brightened further and further as he had a premonition regarding what Saintess Zue Yin was getting at…and why she of all people had been chosen by the World Demon!
"The World Demon, Yaan, may be the Demon of this World, but I believe that he is this world's necessary evil…he is in truth not the World Demon, but the World Saviour! The words that he spoke back then were entirely true - his goal is to save this world, to save all of us, to save me, our clan, those who have died and those who are to come…and to save himself. He wishes to overturn logic, to rewrite common sense, and to fight for a brighter tomorrow that perhaps, only he can possibly reach. We will all die at the end of this Era, I have no delusions that I possess the ability to transcend the Origin…but I truly believe that he can do so. Elders, I plead that you always remember in your hearts - for the Divine Phoenix, death is not the end, but a transition into a new beginning! The world that we know, the world that has always been, is imperfect and flawed. I wish for this world to die, so that it may be reborn like the Phoenix, reborn into a world without flaws, a perfect world…a world rife with hope for all!"
The elders felt the unwavering resolve and sincerity infused within Saintess Zue Yin's words. Her eyes were burning with the flames of the Divine Phoenix, not only entrancing them, but even causing their bloodline to cry out. It was crying out to them, and even if they didn't fully grasp all that she was saying, they knew in their hearts that her words were true, her resolve was pure, and the direction of her vision, must now become the new direction of their clan!
Up above Planet Phoenix, Yaan watched with a smile, observing as Zue Yin achieved exactly what he believed her capable of. She was someone who shared his frustration towards the state of this world, and upon hearing his declaration, his resolve to fight tooth and nail, to do anything and everything within his power to fix this cursed world…the fire in her heart erupted like never before.
The fire within Zue Yin's heart was currently like a newly ignited spark, but this spark had ignited the spark of passion that existed within every bloodline cultivator on Planet Phoenix. All those with bloodlines above 50% purity inherited the flames of the Divine Phoenix, and these were not just physical flames, but flames of their dao.
"I was right to come here." Yaan murmured.
In terms of gaining control over the immortal world in the Four Divine Star System, his contribution was now far higher than anyone else's. He had grabbed hold of the Divine Phoenix Clan, one of the four Divine Clans that ruled over this star system. These clans represented the absolute peak of the immortal world, not only in this star system, but across the Qi Plane!
This was especially true of the Divine Phoenix Clan.
When the Divine Phoenix died, its dao became the spark of fire which ignited the bloodlines and hearts of its descendants. They may only be immortals, but each member of the Divine Phoenix Clan possessed their own nurtured fragment of a divinity's dao, the Divine Phoenix's dao of fire!
Zue Yin was the manifestation of this spark given true life; she was not the Divine Phoenix, but she was the one walking the path towards inheriting the Divine Phoenix's dao!
Yaan had said that she would be unable to transcend the Origin, and this really was the sobering truth. However, he believed that there was a possibility, for Zue Yin to become the first divinity to ascend to the Divine Step via her dao heart without the hindrance of the Heavenly Dao's Divine Stairway!
But in the end, Yaan's greatest reward from this encounter, was his deepened understanding of his own fate. Those countless illusory chains of fate had now become ten times clearer in his eyes, and the feeling of connection between himself, and those whom were tied to him via fate, was now countless times stronger.
Because of this, as he stood there with a light smile, staring down at the shocked Phoenix Bloodline cultivators who all felt the fire of yearning ignite within their dao hearts, he also felt the presence of several others nearby, 'concealed' from him as they lay in wait.
Well, the Astral King and Primordial Sage were only concealed because they were hiding from the other two, the Sage obviously knew that such a half-hearted illusion could not fool him. Since they wanted to remain hidden like this, Yaan decided to ignore them, instead turning sharply towards the moon which orbited the closest life-plant to Planet Phoenix.
As his gaze seemed to pierce through space and all deceptions, the Primordial Asura's senses exploded with a feeling of alarm. Without hesitation, she grabbed her shocked sister, and shot up from the moon, removing their concealment and then suddenly stopping, turning to face Yaan calmly.
Before the Primordial Spirit could even ask her sister why she had revealed themselves, Yaan was already standing in front of them.
Yaan ignored the Primordial Spirit, who was barely concealing her hatred and rage towards him through her fierce gaze, and he instead looked at the Primordial Asura…
"Rui…" Yaan muttered.
"I am the Primordial Asura. Rui was the identity that I took on after reincarnating and forgetting my true self, much like how you called yourself 'Des' during your mortal life back then."
She spoke in a cold, emotionless tone, as killing intent naturally seeped into her every word. She was not directing this killing intent towards Yaan, it was just…her dao.
Ignoring what she said, Yaan sighed and looked at her with a complicated gaze.
"For you to possess a complete dao heart of slaughter…fate is truly a strange thing."
Slaughter…
Slaughter had once been the core focus of Yaan's cultivation.
Slaughter was also the dao followed by his own Dao Clone of Soul.
Slaughter had been a defining aspect of Yaan's life, and even now, his killing intent surpassed the Primordial Asura's…but his slaughter did not.
"And for you to develop a complete dao without anyone being able to see through its true nature…as expected of the one raised by each of the four Primordial Demons." She replied expressionlessly.
Yaan smiled, not responding to her claim that he had been 'raised' by the Primordial Demons. Honestly, there was indeed some truth to that statement. Each of the four Primordial Demons had had a huge impact on his life, Yaan had no issue with admitting this.
"So, why were the two of you waiting here for me?" Yaan's smile faded in an instant, his expression becoming unreadable and the air around him seeming to freeze. The entire atmosphere shifted according to his will, causing a sense of danger to arise within the Primordial Spirit's heart.
The Primordial Asura was a Heavenly Empyrean, and she was no stranger to danger and battle. She wouldn't be so easily threatened, but she also assessed here and now, that she could not kill the person before her. Even if she worked together with her sister, they could not kill him.
But likewise, Yaan could not kill them, not by himself at least.
The Primordial Demons were the oldest living beings in this world, they had all lived through three million years of experience, battle and survival. How could any of them die so easily?
"We want Infinity Lake and the Spirit Palace. That is all. If you allow us to take away these two things, we will leave and not come back." The Primordial Asura cut straight to the point, making sure to reply before her sister could lose her calm and say something unnecessary.
The injuries suffered by the Primordial Spirit were far deeper than anyone else realised. Only the Primordial Asura understood that her sister's Dao Soul had been injured, leading to her heart falling victim to outbursts of uncontrollable hatred and rage, particularly when it came to Yaan.
"Infinity Lake?" Yaan raised an eyebrow, then immediately shook his head. "This is a Primordial Treasure, its value inestimable. It is one of the four Primordial Treasures from the Spirit Plane that fell into this star system, why would I allow you to take it away?"
"If you permit us to take away Infinity Lake, and the Spirit Palace which was built into the centre of the lake, we will not intervene with your mission to take over the Four Divine Star System." The Primordial Asura replied.
"Not worth it." Yaan shook his head. "You-"
Suddenly, Yaan stopped talking. The Primordial Asura and Primordial Spirit also showed sharp expressions. Following Yaan's gaze, they looked up into the violently shaking space above them.
At the same time, the Astral King showed an unnerved expression, swallowing and hastily flying back, away from the nearby distortion. As for the Primordial Sage…
She suddenly appeared beside Yaan, no longer hiding herself from her two sisters. Normally, her sudden appearance would have shocked them and given rise to many complex feelings, but because of what they all sensed in the space above, nobody even paid her any attention.
The space directly above the group of four trembled violently, until numerous cracks forced open spatial tears in the Qi Plane, creating violent storms that threatened to damage the nearby planets. Without a word, both Yaan and the Sage reached out and suppressed this chaotic space from spreading out any further, but they continued to watch without blinking.
Gradually, beyond the cracks in space, two giant stars, burning with the light of absolute authority and arrogance, manifested in an illusory form.
No, those weren't stars - they were eyes!
And that wasn't just arrogance, it was…
"Defiance." Yaan spoke calmly, but his voice sent the space ahead of him shuddering due to the Divine Power imbued within his words.
Finally, Defiance Sovereign's smiling illusory face manifested in the space above them. Everyone showed a range of expressions, but they relaxed slightly when they realised that Defiance Sovereign wasn't truly here. However, the reason for him looking down at them despite not being here was quite strange…
"Temporal Vision." The Primordial Sage spoke plainly. The other three all nodded.
Yaan had seen the Primordial Spirit use this same ability before, back on the Spirit Plane. However at that time, she had been the one looking into the past, causing her past self to notice them and glance at them briefly. This time however, he was standing on the other side of this bizarre power possessed only by divinities…
The Defiance Sovereign before their eyes, was not the present Defiance Sovereign, but the future Defiance Sovereign who was looking back into the past, from whenever he was standing there in the future!
For his gaze to be seen by them through his own Temporal Vision was very unusual, but that was because Defiance Sovereign wasn't looking into the past using time dao comprehension, but by forcefully ripping open a fissure in time. This should be impossible…but when did Defiance Sovereign ever care about what was and wasn't possible?
"World Demon, I will be arriving in exactly one hour. I want you to prepare properly for my arrival, hence my forewarning. You may choose the location…where we will do battle! Come alone, or else I will destroy the entire Four Divine Star System, and this battle for out mutual entertainment, will become a battle to the death."
After saying these worlds, which caused the Qi Plane to tremble violently, as if it couldn't tolerate the extent of Defiance' Sovereign's disruption of it rules of operation, his giant, star sized eyes, faded away into obscurity, and the world returned to its former stable state.
The three Primordial Demon sisters stared at Yaan silently.
His reaction was beyond their expectations.
After being challenged to battle by the strongest being in the 2nd Origin Era…Yaan was smiling so vibrantly that his gaze seemed to fill with the flames of battle.
He couldn't help it. After all, this would be his first chance to truly test his current power against an opponent undoubtedly stronger than him when it came to direct combat. Beyond this, however, he felt extremely intrigued…
Defiance Sovereign often seemed like a whimsical madman, but Yaan knew better. Defiance Sovereign truly was seeking him out for battle, and like he said, he did not intend to fight to the death.
So then, just what did Defiance Sovereign want with him?