The crimson planet, at this moment, transformed into a mass of energy.
Countless life forms within it seemed to evaporate completely, all turning into the fiercest part of the crimson energy mass.
BANG!
As if a star had exploded, the entire cosmic void was dyed in crimson.
The entire Crimson Realm was affected.
The Crimson Realm, originally tinted with a crimson hue due to the core Crimson Star, now seemed to be approaching its end as the Crimson Star exploded.
A dark red glow enveloped the entire star region; space became chaotic, and even light twisted at this moment.
Yuan Kong felt numb, as if he had lost all sensation and awareness.
At the instant the Crimson Star rushed towards them, Yuan Kong had merged himself into space, hoping to rely on space to minimize the damage from the explosion of the Crimson Star.
Indeed, the existence of space did weaken most of the explosive damage.
However, even with the barrier of space, the shockwave from the explosion of the Crimson Star still gravely injured Yuan Kong.
If not for the dense vitality he sensed, Yuan Kong thought he might have already died.
It was truly unexpected.
Who could have imagined that the massive planet deep within the Crimson Realm could transform into an energy state and self-detonate?
This was equivalent to the self-destruction of the planet where the Sacred Heart Continent was located.
Its power might even pose a life-threatening danger to God Kings.
Bai Ling also wore an expression of lingering fear. Both she and Stone King were pulled by Yuan Kong into the space layer, yet they were still affected. Even just being affected almost cost them their lives.
If not for her immense vitality, she couldn't have withstood such a terrifying explosion.
Even now, she could feel the spatial forces constantly tearing at her body.
"The space here has shattered. We can't rush back. Help me stabilize the surrounding spatial forces. Though risky, I still need to establish a stable connection between our current layer and cosmic space; otherwise, in the spatial turbulence, we might drift into unknown perilous places."
Spatial turbulence was an extremely dangerous situation in the eyes of any level of practitioner.
It wasn't that mastering space meant one wouldn't fear spatial turbulence.
On the contrary, the more one understood space, the more one realized how powerless one was when space truly went chaotic.
Space was vast and mighty. Unless one could control the entire universe, one would inevitably be overwhelmed by the torrent of space.
"I'll restore your injuries; the two of you stabilize the space," Bai Ling said.
Stone King silently absorbed the vitality Bai Ling infused into his body. At the same time, he manipulated the nine elements, using the other elements to assist the space element, and cooperated with Yuan Kong's wisdom to quickly calm the unrest in the surrounding space.
Yuan Kong, while recovering, fully connected with cosmic space.
On his forehead, a small portal imprint quickly appeared, identical to the Space-Time Door.
"Hope Xu Yuan can hold on," Yuan Kong said solemnly.
Bai Ling and Stone King remained silent.
Hold on?
Under such a massive explosion, who could possibly endure?
Although Xu Yuan seemed to have made special arrangements and voluntarily sacrificed himself in this battle, the explosion of the Crimson Star was so sudden that no one could react in time. It was hard to say whether Xu Yuan managed to use his prepared means.
Thus, Xu Yuan might really be dead.
"How could the Crimson Star turn into an energy plane?" Stone King was extremely agitated at this moment.
How could there be so many hidden dangers next to the Crimson Realm in their Starry Anomaly?
Not only did the Crimson Mother conceal super divine artifacts, but this Crimson Star was simply a devastating weapon.
Fortunately, this battle forced out her Crimson Star. Otherwise, during a plane war, if such a super planet were to explode, it would be unimaginable.
"Her Crimson Star should also be her foundation. After all, it's indisputable that the Crimson Star is the mother star of the Crimson Realm. Now, without the Crimson Star, the Crimson Realm is equivalent to a plane without its origin."
Therefore, the Crimson Mother might not even be able to remain as a plane master in the future.
This was good news.
Without the support of the plane, the threat of the Crimson Mother plummeted.
But similarly, without the plane's constraints, her danger increased further.
Thinking of this, Yuan Kong quickened his pace.
They must return to the battlefield as soon as possible.
They must do everything possible to leave the Crimson Mother behind this time.
Under the massive explosion, the core area of the entire Crimson Realm was impacted by the energy from the explosion of the Crimson Star for a full ten minutes.
For ten minutes, the Crimson Mother stood in place, her eyes filled with killing intent, and her ruby-red pupils bloodshot.
She hated them!
She despised Xu Yuan and the others with utmost hatred.
If not for Xu Yuan and the others, her plan for twin super divine artifacts wouldn't have been forcibly stopped halfway. Her Crimson Star wouldn't have needed to be exposed, and she could have continued her plan to devour celestial bodies in the universe to aid her cultivation.
However, all of this was now impossible.
To survive, she detonated her Crimson Star.
This also meant her path to becoming a God King was severed.
The Abyssal Sage King inherited her legacy. Since the abyss he mastered was an energy plane, the Crimson Realm naturally was an energy plane as well.
Only after countless eons of evolution, the Crimson Realm had changed beyond recognition.
The Abyssal Sage King had her backing, allowing him to recklessly devour other planes. However, the weaker Crimson Mother of old didn't dare to be too ostentatious, so after the Crimson Star transformed, almost no one knew its original form.
This was the true core of her legacy, a part not yet reached by the Abyssal Sage King.
After devouring enough planes and growing strong enough to make a plane master achieve half-step God King status, the energy plane could integrate with a physical planet in the universe, truly merging with it.
Upon completing this fusion entirely, it could switch between matter and energy.
Of course, such a transformation could only happen once.
Because the planet's power was fully digested, only its material form remained in the universe.
Once transformed, it required devouring another physical planet and digesting it over countless eons.
None of this mattered. The key point was that after devouring an ordinary life-bearing planet, she could attempt to devour a god-level plane, and later gradually increase the quality of the planets she devoured until finally, her envisioned final step was to devour a star.
Yes, to devour a star.
If she could digest a star with the help of the plane, she could ascend to God King status through energy.
With sufficient energy, all barriers of cultivation would cease to exist. This was the greatest insight the Crimson Mother gained throughout her journey.
The Crimson Star was the key to the Crimson Mother's path to God King status.
However, at this moment, everything was gone.
Her eyes were bloodshot.
Her heart was filled with boundless killing intent.
She wildly vented her power, unconcerned even as her own body unconsciously cracked.
At this moment, she only wanted to tear Yuan Kong and the others apart with her bare hands.
Even though the shockwaves from the explosion of the Crimson Star were terrifying, she knew that Yuan Kong and the others likely hadn't truly died.
She wanted to vent.
Similarly, she needed to devour Bai Ling's avatar; otherwise, it would be difficult to heal her wounds, let alone find a new path to God King status. She might even struggle to maintain her current level.
The Crimson Mother didn't ponder where Xu Yuan had gone.
Just moments ago, she could clearly sense that Xu Yuan had always been in the same spatial dimension as her.
The vortex formed by Xu Yuan was forcibly dispersed and utterly annihilated by the energy produced by the explosion of the Crimson Star.
Even Xu Yuan's Hunyuan Spear disappeared without a trace, swallowed by a spatial rift, no one knew where.
Time passed.
Half an hour went by.
The surrounding cosmic space was still violently fluctuating, the tremors seemingly ready to burst open at any moment.
However, compared to half an hour ago, this was already very peaceful.
Because previously, there was no intact space here, all were scattered fragments of space.
The Crimson Mother's gaze locked firmly on one direction.
She unreservedly mobilized the last of the Crimson Realm's plane power.
The Crimson Realm, having lost its origin, was like losing cohesion. The entire star region was gradually becoming ownerless.
The Crimson Mother's control over the Crimson Realm was down to this short period.
She frantically searched every corner of space.
Finally, sensing a trend of space breaking, she quickly flashed over.
BANG!
Yuan Kong and the others had just returned when they felt a tangible killing intent.
Seeing the Crimson Mother with her fiery red hair floating in the air, bloodshot eyes, and her body surrounded by crimson destruction and crimson power, the three of them felt their scalps tingle.
"Crimson, you've gone mad!" Bai Ling exclaimed in shock and anger.
She quickly retreated.
She could sense that the Crimson Mother had decomposed all her own power, and that power was highly invasive, as if trying to devour her.
Yuan Kong quickly teleported Bai Ling to the rear.
The three vigilantly withdrew backward.
Looking around, they indeed didn't see Xu Yuan's figure.
All three felt their hearts sink.
Good news was that the Crimson Mother's condition was worse than they imagined. Even if the aftermath of the Crimson Star's explosion hadn't harmed her, it absolutely shook her foundation, perhaps akin to self-mutilation.
Bad news was that the Crimson Mother still retained peak strength faintly.
Perhaps, the three of them dragging this out still had a chance.
But this brought them back to the beginning.
Initially, they had four people and thought the same way, but after Xu Yuan volunteered to sacrifice, only one of the Crimson Mother's trump cards was forced out.
Now, the three of them had to make a choice again.
If someone was willing to risk their life to hold the Crimson Mother back, then the smallest price could be paid.
Would anyone sacrifice themselves?
No.
Even among the three who had a good relationship, no one stepped forward to sacrifice themselves.
The three felt powerless.
How was this Crimson Mother like the protagonist in those storybooks?
The Crimson Mother pressed closer and closer, then suddenly stopped.
She turned her head, her gaze uncertain and suspicious.
Something was wrong!
"Heh, still quite vigilant."
A chuckle echoed through the cosmos.
This was—
Xu Yuan.
His person unseen, only his voice heard.
Yuan Kong and the others were overjoyed.
They were searching for Xu Yuan's figure, but after checking all directions, they couldn't see Xu Yuan.
"A minor mishap occurred, but this mishap turned out well."
From his voice, it wasn't hard to tell that Xu Yuan was quite satisfied at the moment.
It seemed the explosion of the Crimson Star was unexpected, surpassing his imagination, but it also brought him benefits.
The Crimson Mother also showed an incredulous expression.
Not an auditory illusion!
How could it be?
Xu Yuan was definitely the one who directly bore all the aftershocks.
How could he still be alive?
The Crimson Mother and Yuan Kong's group followed Xu Yuan's voice, wanting to find him, but they couldn't locate the source of the sound, as if it had appeared out of thin air.
At this moment, Xu Yuan indeed had no body.
This was his goal for this battle.
Self-sacrifice was because this body needed to be discarded. Now, it was considered to be giving its final contribution.
Body gone, will remains.
When spiritual energy carrying Xu Yuan's essence and spirit merged with the shattered cosmic space, Xu Yuan genuinely experienced his past situation.
"At that time, I was like this, trapped without knowing it."
Stone King was a naturally born cosmic life form, nurtured and evolved by the universe, born as a god, and upon awakening from sleep, became a half-step God King.
Despite theoretically qualifying for breaking through to God King status, he could never break through that barrier.
Cosmic life forms weren't bound by planes but were always constrained by cosmic will.
Xu Yuan realized this issue only after seeing Stone King.
Any act against cosmic will would certainly be sanctioned immediately.
Now, with his will integrated into cosmic space, Xu Yuan deeply comprehended all of this.
The feeling of being controlled became clearer.
However, at the same time, his power became stronger.
"Impossible!"
The Crimson Mother felt her plane's power rapidly dissipating, seized by fear.
This feeling was as if her power was being forcibly taken away.
"There's nothing impossible. My realm is far higher than yours, and what I can do far exceeds your imagination."
A spear shattered the void.
At this moment, the Hunyuan Spear seemed to have undergone a transformation.
Before Xu Yuan's body was completely destroyed, the vortex he transformed into tried to absorb as much energy as possible from the explosion of the Crimson Star, forcibly leaving all the power to Jue and the other four soul spirits.
With Xu Yuan's guarantee, Yao Yao and Mountain River finally broke through and rebuilt, thoroughly integrating the dream space and Mountain River World into the Hunyuan World, forming a triadic structure.
Yes, a triadic structure.
Similar to the form of Douluo Planet and the Abyss.
However, the Underworld belonged to the area derived from the contact between Douluo Planet and the Abyss, while the Hunyuan World had a firm foundation.
One virtual, one real, integrated into the Hunyuan World, providing it with a new power.
Virtual and real.
"Yuan Kong, the distribution will remain as before, but Douluo Planet's external expansion and exploration, your three planes must fully support. Within a year, I want to see Douluo Planet's soul masters personally controlling over half of the Crimson Realm," Xu Yuan said calmly.
"No problem." Yuan Kong and the others gave their promises.
Although establishing a connection between Douluo Planet and the universe within a year posed numerous challenges, with the full effort of three half-step God Kings, it was achievable.
"Arrogant!"
The Crimson Mother was completely enraged.
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