Origin
Yunxiu's breathing suddenly stagnated, the white jade statue on her heart felt even hotter, and the immortal power and divine power trembled slightly in her body, as if responding to her anger and anxiety.
Yunxiu's hands were cold.
Zhi Huan always managed to pinpoint their location, as if he knew their plans. Every time Yan Xiu fought Zhi Huan, it was as if he was deliberately holding back, easily knocking him unconscious and seriously injured. There was also a strange resonance of divine power between the two...
And... Zhi Huan once said that his name was Yan Xiu - "traitor".
"You two are... in the same group. Or rather, you and Zhihuan were originally one..."
Yunxiu's voice trembled slightly, each word coming out between her teeth. She couldn't believe this conclusion, but all the clues pointed to this.
Only forces born from the same source can absorb each other without hindrance; only clones can share part of consciousness and know each other's actions.
Yan Xiu paused, then looked up at Yun Xiu. The cold white light in his eyes flickered slightly, as if some emotion was surging within, but he quickly suppressed it. He didn't deny it directly, but simply asked:
"If so, what are you going to do? Kill me?"
"What's the meaning?"
Yunxiu asked, and the light blade of the Wuxin Sword became brighter. The light blue fairy power climbed up her arm and intertwined with her own divine power to form a more resilient light shield.
"Who...are you?"
Maybe she had guessed a little, but she still asked:
"Why do our divine powers resonate?"
Yan Xiu was silent for a moment. He slowly stood up against the pine tree. The fatigue and serious injuries he had shown before were gone, replaced by a suffocating feeling of oppression.
The divine power around him has stabilized, with a faint black color wrapped in the cold white, like a thin layer of ice covering the abyss.
He took a step forward, and Yunxiu subconsciously stepped back, but found that her ankles seemed to be entangled by an invisible force and she could not move - it was Yan Xiu's divine power that silently locked her movements.
"The ancient god..." Yan Xiu looked at her calmly, "The god who transformed himself into the world and blocked the magma disaster. He is the source of everything."
Yunxiu's pupils suddenly contracted.
Of course she remembered that Zhihuan said that the ancient god was his origin; Yingtang also mentioned that the residual soul of the ancient god was hidden in Yunxiu's body.
But what does this have to do with Yan Xiu?
Just as she was about to speak, she heard Yan Xiu continue, "Ten thousand years ago, when the ancient god incarnated into the world, his body spread out into mountains and rivers to protect the world. However, later on, perhaps his power was insufficient to sustain his soul... perhaps his resentment was too great... no one knows the specific reason. In short, his divine power was scattered across the earth, and his soul was split in two."
"He stripped half of the soul of its divine power, transformed it into a white body, and sent it into reincarnation. The other half... mixed with his hatred and will of destruction, was sealed deep within his spiritual vein."
He raised his hand, and the black aura in his palm became even thicker, almost completely enveloping the cold white divine power:
"I...since the day I was born, I have lived for the Ancient Gods. As for Zhi Huan..."
Yan Xiu paused, his gaze falling on the white jade statue on Yunxiu's heart, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.
"He is that half-destructive obsession... and also me. We, indeed, share the same roots."
Yunxiu's head was buzzing as if struck by thunder.
She thought of the ancient god Gao she had met in the illusion, whose face was 70% similar to Yan Xiu's... She also remembered Yan Xiu's evasion every time he mentioned the ancient gods, and his silence when he mentioned the resonance of divine power...
All the pieces finally came together at this moment, revealing a truth that made her shudder.
Yunxiu's voice was hoarse, and she could feel the divine power in her body violently stirring.
"So everything you did before was fake? You protected me, helped me organize my divine power, and fought with Zhihuan, even getting seriously injured. Was it all an act?"
Yan Xiu's Adam's apple moved, and he took a step forward, only two steps away from Yun Xiu.
The shock and disappointment in Yunxiu's eyes pierced his heart like needles, but the divine power in his palm did not loosen at all:
“It’s not all fake.”
His voice lowered.
Yunxiu sneered, "Because I am the vessel of the ancient god's residual soul, right?"
The light blade of the Wuxin Sword was almost touching Yan Xiu's chest:
"So, it was you who wanted to completely revive the ancient gods. Zhi Huan's gathering of divine power and the killing of so many lives were all part of your plan?"
Yan Xiu's gaze fell on the wound on her arm, which was still bleeding.
"Zhi Huan's obsession is stronger than I imagined. He not only wants to revive the ancient gods, but also wants the entire world to pay the price for its oblivion ten thousand years ago. My original plan was to gather enough divine power to completely seal his obsession with destruction, leaving only the will to protect—but I didn't expect him to find you so soon, nor did I expect..."
Yunxiu's heart felt like it was being tightly gripped, and the pain was so severe that she could hardly breathe.
She suddenly understood. In Yan Xiu's plan, everyone—including mortals and the inhabitants of Yaoxi Mountain—would die for the "Ancient God's Resurrection." Mortals still retained some divine power, let alone these immortal beings, born and raised by nature. If all this power were gathered and fed to the Ancient God, Gao's resurrection would be just around the corner.
"This was your plan in your last life, right? But you couldn't succeed... What went wrong?"
Yan Xiu didn't answer, but instead gave her a deep look. The next second, a binding rope encircled Yun Xiu, and her divine power seemed frozen, instantly rendering it useless.
"Do you want to know about your past life?"
The Immortal Binding Rope was wrapped around Yunxiu's body, and the cold white divine power locked her spiritual veins like an ice chain, preventing even the faint light at her fingertips from condensing.
She struggled to break free, but the rope tightened, draining her strength bit by bit, leaving only the burning heat from the white jade statue on her heart.
Just like her burning powerlessness and anger.
Yan Xiu stood in front of her. When he raised his hand, the cold white divine power in his palm slowly flowed out. There was no longer any trace of his usual gentleness, only an almost indifferent certainty.
"You want to know."
He flicked his fingertips, and a ray of divine power fell on Yunxiu's brow. There was no stinging pain, only a slightly cool air flowed down along her forehead, instantly enveloping her consciousness.
The next second, Yunxiu's eyes suddenly lit up - it was not the morning light in the mountains and forests, but the magma that burned the sky red ten thousand years ago.
Yunxiu's... consciousness, or rather, his gaze, first fell on the crumbling heaven and earth.
They were all familiar to her...she had seen them in other people's visions.
Crimson magma gushed from the earth's core like surging fiery dragons, flowing down the shattered mountainside. Wherever it passed, vegetation instantly turned to black ash, and the solid rock burned red, even melting into liquid slurry, spreading along the ravines. The eastern sea surged with deep blue waves, towering higher than the highest peaks. They swept up broken ship masts and boulders from the seabed, hurtling towards the mainland. Islands along the way were overturned like building blocks, sinking into the deep sea.
The only sounds left between heaven and earth were the rumble of destruction: the roar of magma erupting, the roar of crashing waves, and the cries of the creatures fleeing.
At that moment, a golden figure slowly descended from the clouds. Silver-white hair cascaded down her shoulders, its tips adorned with tiny golden gleams. Her robe, a blend of moonlight white and light gold, radiated a divine aura. Even against the backdrop of the magma-filled sky, she remained spotless, without a speck of dust.
Ancient gods.
He said nothing, simply raising his hand and gently pressing against the surging lava. Golden divine power erupted from his palm, like a vast net of light, tightly enveloping the entire lava flow. The lava struggled violently within the net of light, unable to break through the golden barrier. It could only tumble and cool within, gradually solidifying into black rock.
Then, he turned to face the huge waves, and gathered another divine power at his fingertips, which turned into an invisible dam, blocking the huge waves away from the coast. The sea water roared behind the dam, but it could no longer move forward.
But this was only temporary. The earth continued to crack, more magma pouring out of the cracks. The clouds in the sky were dyed a dark red, even the sunlight could not penetrate. Gao's face gradually paled, and the golden divine power around him slowly weakened.
Although his divine body was strong, it could not support this broken world for long.
Finally, he made his choice.
Gao slowly closed his eyes, and the golden divine power surrounding him suddenly surged, dyeing the entire world golden. His divine body began to disintegrate bit by bit, transforming into countless golden points of light, drilling down through the crumbling earth, filling the bottomless cracks. His divine power fell like spring rain on the mountains and rivers, melting into the soil, seeping into the river water, and even penetrating the roots of the surviving plants and trees.
The god incarnates into the world and uses his body to repair the sky.
The lava gradually subsided, the huge waves slowly receded, and the cracked earth stopped shaking. But all that remained of the ancient god Gao was a faint golden remnant, hovering in the sky above Yaoxi Mountain.
That was the last resting place of his consciousness and soul, and he chose this place as the habitat of his soul.
For the first tens of thousands of years, Yaoxi Mountain, shrouded in divine energy, became a sacred place for spiritual cultivation. Plants absorbed the divine energy and transformed into spirits, birds and beasts bathed in the aura and awakened their spiritual intelligence. Even the stones in the mountains cultivated consciousness over the intervening years.
These fairies knew that it was the ancient gods who protected this world, so they built a temple on Yaoxi Mountain, offering incense every day and praying for the revival of the gods.
At that time, Gao could still maintain his soul intact through the power of incense, occasionally even alluringly bestowing divine power upon the mountain creatures. However, as time passed, dynasties came and went, and new faiths arose, people gradually forgot the ancient god who had incarnated into the world. They preferred to believe in spirits who could directly answer their prayers.
For example, the immortals who come down from Mount Yaoxi to save the world.
The incense offerings to the temple decreased day by day, and finally stopped completely.
Cracks began to appear in Gao's soul. Without the nourishment of incense, his consciousness grew increasingly blurred, and his soul gradually split in two.
Half of him carried his original will to protect the world, but due to lack of strength, he was trapped deep in the spiritual vein of Yaoxi Mountain; the other half was wrapped in his resentment for being forgotten and his desire for power, and turned into a black remnant soul, also sealed in the spiritual vein, being gnawed by the obsession with destruction day and night.
Another thousand years passed, and the soul with the will to protect could no longer hold on and was forced to leave the spiritual vein and fall into reincarnation.
This is where Yan Xiu came from.
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