Yuan's Ascension-Chapter 1015: The Madness Of Overlord Bloodforge (1)

"Bloodforge wants my help?" Wu Yuan raised an eyebrow, slightly taken aback.

He didn't know much about Overlord Bloodforge, but when his body refiner self first left the Summerpeak World, it was through the Bloodforge Battle at the Bloodforge Devil Hall that he began his meteoric rise. Thus, Wu Yuan had kept an eye on matters related to Bloodforge.

However, after becoming the leader of the Eternal Sun Immortal World, Wu Yuan had learned that the Bloodforge Devil Hall was quite independent. Its sole Sovereign, Devil Sovereign Bloodforge, rarely interacted with the other Sovereigns of the Eternal Sun Immortal World.

Because the Bloodforge Devil Hall controlled a relatively small expanse of territory, it remained rather mysterious within the Greenridge Macrocosm, seldom engaging with other factions.

And Wu Yuan's qi refiner self had spent years in seclusion cultivating, only recently becoming a Sovereign, so naturally he had even fewer interactions with the Bloodforge Devil Hall.

"Overlord Bloodforge is one of the oldest Overlords in our divine court headquarters," Overlord Xin Ya explained. "In terms of age, he's only younger than Overlord Xue Li. The two of them are extremely close. Moreover, Overlord Bloodforge was the first Overlord of the Greenridge Macrocosm," Overlord Xin Ya added.

"The first Overlord?" Wu Yuan was startled. This wasn't recorded in the intelligence archives of either the Eternal Sun Immortal World or the Cang Feng Eldritch World.

"That was long ago, in the very early stages of this heaven and earth's samsara cycle," Overlord Xin Ya said wistfully. "I was still just a Sovereign then, and beings like Sovereign Qing Ling and Sovereign Heng Yang hadn't even been born yet."

"That early?" Wu Yuan remarked, surprised.

"Indeed. Back then, Overlord Bloodforge was in his prime. He reached the third-stage Overlord level in just over 100 million years, arguably the most monstrous prodigy in our divine court headquarters' history," Overlord Xin Ya sighed.

"However, his growth was too rapid, too smooth. As a result, he faced very few setbacks. In the end, he found himself trapped before the threshold of eternity, unable to break through for a long time. In truth, it was only a bit over a billion years - not that long - but he couldn't bear it."

Wu Yuan pondered silently.

From what he was hearing, this Overlord Bloodforge had been incredibly gifted, becoming an Overlord in just over 100 million years. It was almost inconceivable.

With such talent, he wouldn’t be far behind figures like Zhu Shan and Lie Jin. Yet no matter how fast one cultivated, they would eventually be stopped at the gate of eternity.

"What happened next?" Wu Yuan asked, quite curious.

Few legends or tales about Overlord Bloodforge still circulated within the Greenridge Macrocosm in the present day. In fact, most of the Astral Monarchs in the Eternal Sun Immortal World barely even knew Overlord Bloodforge's name. Something major must have occurred in between.

"Being unable to break through for so long led him to search for alternative paths. Eventually, he encountered another path during his explorations in the cosmic sea," Overlord Xin Ya said.

"Another path?" Wu Yuan was puzzled.

"Divine Sacrifice," Overlord Xin Ya shook his head and sighed. "He learned this sort of teaching from some unknown source. It involved gathering the blood and bones of countless lives, and even sacrificing one's own blood, bones, mana, and spiritual power to mysterious, unknown entities. All this, just to obtain greater power from an inscrutable sacrificial source!"

Wu Yuan listened in astonishment.

What a coincidence. He still remembered True Saint Taiyuan's warning not long ago, telling him to challenge the Azure Saint Tomb but absolutely never walk the path of Divine Sacrifice, as he would likely end up consumed by it.

And Overlord Bloodforge chose the path of Divine Sacrifice, while Sovereign Qing Ling just happened to have the Azure Saint Token? Various thoughts flashed through Wu Yuan's mind in rapid succession.

In the Heartland region of the boundless cosmic sea, there were a handful of places suitable for late-stage Sovereign powerhouses to explore. However, such locations were extremely rare. The vast majority of areas demanded at least Overlord-level strength merely to have sufficient self-preservation ability.

While Sovereign Qing Ling's power was impressive, he was still far from the Overlord level. How had he obtained the Azure Saint Token? Looking at it now, there seemed to be an answer.

"Back then, Overlord Bloodforge succeeded, in a sense," Overlord Xin Ya sighed. "In that era, there were still relatively few Overlords in the entire universe, and even Sovereigns weren't that common. He descended upon various macrocosms, and though his power was suppressed, he still carried out frenzied massacres, sacrificing the blood and bones of countless lives. In this process, he gradually lost himself, but his power also grew more and more terrifying.

“Many Overlords from the Eldritch Court and Immortal Court tried to deal with him, but were defeated one by one. Multiple Overlords even had their mana bodies and ether bodies destroyed at his hands.

“Slaughtering time and again, he became the universally acknowledged number one Overlord in the Ling Jiang Universe. Unmatched.

“Finally, his power broke through to the fourth-stage Overlord level," Overlord Xin Ya said slowly, reminiscing about that era when the universe was newly formed.

Wu Yuan listened in shock. That past was too distant; he knew little of that era.

It turned out Overlord Bloodforge had once been so powerful, the number one Overlord in the Ling Jiang Universe.

"Then, he went mad," Overlord Xin Ya sighed.

"Mad?" Wu Yuan was startled.

"Though he kept making breakthroughs in power, the sacrificial source had completely eroded his inner self, making him utterly obsessed with power," Overlord Xin Ya shook his head slightly. "In the end, before his foundation was deep enough, he began the final push for Dao Enlightenment."

"Dao Enlightenment?" Wu Yuan held his breath.

From the sound of it, of the three paths to eternity, Overlord Bloodforge had chosen the first.

"He failed?" Wu Yuan asked softly.

"Yes. He failed," Overlord Xin Ya sighed. "As soon as he attempted Dao Enlightenment, he swiftly met with failure, unable to gain the Great Dao's recognition. He faced the backlash of the entire river of space and time.

“If he had stopped then, he could have recovered from his foundational injuries in ten billion years, and would still have hope for the future.

“But he was too crazed. He wouldn't listen even to the True Saint's dissuasion, and stubbornly gambled everything on that slim chance.

“He failed utterly. He was almost completely annihilated in body and spirit, with only a trace of his soul remaining, but without any hope of recovery." Overlord Xin Ya shook his head lightly. "Not just himself, but the entire Greenridge Macrocosm was affected. The river of space and time trembled, and the entire macrocosm was destroyed."

"The entire macrocosm? Destroyed?" Wu Yuan listened in astonishment.

Vaguely, he couldn't help but think of another being - Sovereign Black Devil. From Sovereign Lan Yan and the others' descriptions, it seemed Sovereign Black Devil's actions would eventually lead to the destruction of the entire Spacetime Dao Realm, ultimately forcing the Dao Master to intervene.

Of course, what the Dao Master said differed somewhat from Sovereign Lan Yan and the others' accounts.

"Though the macrocosm was destroyed, its essence wasn’t extinguished. So after hundreds of millions of years, the entire Greenridge Macrocosm gradually revived, once again forming thousands of immortal nations. Various powers intervened to compete for supremacy; it was no longer solely our Taiyuan Divine Court's domain," Overlord Xin Ya explained. "After Sovereign Qing Ling's rise, the other factions had no choice but to split the territory."

Wu Yuan nodded in understanding.

So before the current Greenridge Macrocosm, there had been an era when Overlord Bloodforge ruled the macrocosm. The macrocosm had even been destroyed once. No wonder no legends remained.

"What about the Bloodforge Devil Hall?" Wu Yuan asked, puzzled. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"It was established at the True Saint's behest," Overlord Xin Ya said. "The True Saint sent treasures across universes and spacetime, allowing that wisp of Overlord Bloodforge's remnant soul to stabilize after a full hundred million years. But the backlash he suffered was too severe. The treasures could only restore his outward appearance, unable to prevent his remnant soul from gradually disintegrating.

“The Bloodforge Devil Hall's main purpose, besides screening for a few cultivation prodigies, is actually to harvest the animus of vast numbers of living beings, to slow the disintegration of his remnant soul.

“After all, it's extremely difficult for our divine court headquarters to produce an Overlord. Back then, the True Saint had high hopes for him. Helping him survive was an act driven by a faint glimmer of hope, a chance to see if circumstances might eventually take a favorable turn," Overlord Xin Ya sighed.

"Unfortunately, after hundreds of billions of years, that wisp of Overlord Bloodforge's remnant soul is on the verge of complete collapse, with almost no chance of recovery."

Wu Yuan nodded slightly.

Now that he understood the matter in full, he couldn't help but think of his experiences in the Bloodforge Spacetime. So, it had been established with the Taiyuan Divine Court's help.

Every hundred years, the Bloodforge Devil Hall held a Bloodforge Battle. Over hundreds of billions of years, who knew how much animus had been harvested? All this, just to help an Overlord extend his life, seeking a slim chance at survival?

Wu Yuan found it difficult to make a moral judgement.

To many sempiternal lives, especially Sovereigns and Overlords, those countless ordinary mortal lifeforms held no importance whatsoever, less than insects or plankton.

Even if a macrocosm collapsed and innumerable lives perished, it likely wouldn't count as a major event in the eyes of the lofty Overlords. There was a fundamental difference between mortal lifeforms and sempiternal lifeforms.

In the eyes of eternal lifeforms, this was even more so.

In the eyes of True Saint Taiyuan, Overlord Xin Ya, and the others, using the harvested animus and blood of countless lives to extend Overlord Bloodforge's life, in exchange for that slim hope of his survival, was probably worth it. Wu Yuan mused silently.

After all, normally speaking, it was difficult for a macrocosm to produce even one Overlord in an entire samsara cycle of heaven and earth.

Wu Yuan never considered himself a so-called good person or saint. He didn't hesitate to kill when necessary, but he never deliberately engaged in wanton slaughter without reason. However, compared to Overlord Bloodforge, he was practically an innocent little rabbit.

"What does Overlord Bloodforge want my help with?" Wu Yuan inquired.

"I'm not certain either. When you go see Overlord Bloodforge, he'll tell you himself," Overlord Xin Ya looked at Wu Yuan. "But there's one thing you should remember, Ming Jian. There’s no need to force yourself to help him.

“If you can help, do so within your means. If you can't help, then so be it," Overlord Xin Ya shook his head slightly. "Don't feel obligated for any other reasons.

“In fact, everything our divine court headquarters does is for the sake of each and every Overlord." Overlord Xin Ya said.

"Not easily giving up on any Overlord is the tenet of our divine court headquarters. But likewise, our divine court headquarters rarely interferes with any Overlord's decisions," Overlord Xin Ya added.

"I see. Alright," Wu Yuan nodded lightly, lost in thought. This matter with Overlord Bloodforge was likely not so simple.

"Senior Xin Ya, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now," Wu Yuan clasped his hands and swiftly transformed into a streak of light, directly entering the Spacetime Intersection Layer.

He headed straight for the Greenridge Macrocosm.

Boom! Suddenly, a powerful aura descended from the void as a figure in blood-red robes appeared in the Xin Ya Realm, quickly arriving outside the temple.

"Xin Ya." The blood-robed figure's voice rumbled.

"Xue Li." Overlord Xin Ya smiled as he gazed at the newcomer, who was none other than the oldest Overlord of the divine court headquarters, Overlord Xue Li.

"Did Ming Jian agree?" Overlord Xue Li stared at Overlord Xin Ya, a hint of anxiety on his face.

"I didn't tell him Bloodforge's request," Overlord Xin Ya said calmly. "I told Wu Yuan to go to the Bloodforge Spacetime. Bloodforge will make his request directly to him."

"You didn't tell him?" Overlord Xue Li was stunned, and couldn't help but ask, "You didn't demand Ming Jian to help?"

"I couldn't make such a demand," Overlord Xin Ya shook his head lightly.

Overlord Xue Li's eyes widened, a flash of anger passing through them.