"I knew it wouldn't be that simple."
Yu Xian flashed away to evade the attack. The next instant, the giant's palm slammed down with a terrifying roar, violently shaking the entire mountain.
This single strike served as an immediate trigger.
The giant's pupils were completely swallowed by crimson light. With a low growl, he rose from his cross-legged posture, glared at Yu Xian, and smashed his fist into the ground.
The earth fractured instantly, fissures tearing rapidly toward Yu Xian. Yu Xian had no choice but to dodge to the right; after evading the attack, he continued moving right and regrouped with Nora in the blink of an eye.
"We're done for—he's completely fallen to demons," Yu Xian lamented.
Nora shook her head. "No. Didn't you say those who succumb to the demonic fall retain their reason? Right now, he doesn't look sane at all, so he probably hasn't completely fallen yet."
"Good point!"
Thinking about it, Yu Xian realized she was right.
With that, he decisively activated his ability toward the sky. A magic array swiftly formed, and massive summoned beasts began emerging from it one after another.
A giant wolf over ten meters tall, covered in stiff metallic bristles, was the first to emerge.
It pounced at the giant directly from midair, intending to pin him beneath its paws. But it underestimated just how abnormal the giant's reinforced body was; the moment it collided with the giant, its body deformed like soft mud.
Then, sensing someone behind him, the giant whipped around with a punch, sending the giant wolf flying.
Fortunately, the giant wolf was nonetheless a Mighty One whose body had already converted into a body of laws, so although heavily wounded, it did not die.
Seeing this, Yu Xian sent the giant wolf back to the Primordial God World with a mere thought.
In the blink of an eye, even more summoned beasts poured out of the magic array. However, these summoned beasts grew smart—they didn't clash head-on with the giant at all. Instead, they circled him at a distance and bombarded him from afar, unleashing beams of light, energy cannons, and elemental shells that rained down relentlessly upon his body, driving him into an even greater frenzy.
He suddenly let out a low roar as a crimson aura erupted across his whole body, and his already massive frame began to swell madly.
The surrounding summoned beasts reacted quickly, scattering backward, but the giant expanded too fast. In the blink of an eye, a summoned beast resembling a bat was snatched up in one of his hands. He slammed it viciously into the ground, then began stomping frantically on the bat summoned beast.
"Chains of Light!"
Yu Xian activated his skill at that moment.
In an instant, streaks of golden chains materialized swiftly, binding the giant in place in the blink of an eye.
The giant let out an enraged roar, unable to break free from the chains' binding. Yet he quickly locked onto Yu Xian and charged straight at him.
Before he could get very far, however, the surrounding chains pulled taut, making it impossible for him to take another step.
The other ends of the chains were held firmly by summoned beasts. While a single summoned beast might possess far less strength than the giant, when their numbers reached a certain threshold, no amount of brute force from the giant could overcome them.
The giant struggled frantically, his strength continuously surging. On Yu Xian's side, however, more summoned beasts joined in restraining him. The golden chains lengthened continuously, and beast after beast gripped them with hands, clamped them with teeth, or seized them with tentacles, pulling with all their might to pin the giant in place.
Only after confirming the giant had completely lost the ability to resist did Yu Xian stroll leisurely up to him. He enlarged the necklace directly, then slipped it over the giant's neck.
The previously rampaging giant's expression immediately turned serene upon wearing the necklace, resembling an enlightened eminent monk.
He slowly sat down cross-legged on the ground and said, "My apologies. I did not wish to attack you, but just now my mind was consumed by evil thoughts, wanting only to destroy everything in sight."
"It's all right. You were merely affected by the demonic fall phenomenon. We understand," Yu Xian smiled faintly.
Just then, the others reached the summit one after another. Seeing the giant bound on the ground, their expressions turned solemn and tense, as if ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Nora stepped forward and explained the situation, and only after hearing it did everyone relax.
"You two are way too fast! We pushed ourselves as hard as we could and barely made it up, only to find that you not only arrived long ago, but even squeezed in a fight?" Gong Qian complained somewhat helplessly.
This proved that Yu Xian and Nora were truly far faster than them.
"The difference wasn't actually that big, just about two minutes," Nora said with a smile.
In fact, the battle between Yu Xian and the giant had indeed ended very quickly, the entire process likely lasting less than a minute.
Yu Xian waved to the group, and everyone walked over to the giant. After introductions, they finally learned of his situation.
The giant belonged to the race of Twilight Giants, and his name was Zhougelasi. His age wasn't worth mentioning, as it was simply too long to recount.
Like Yu Xian and his companions, he had been traveling across the myriad heavens. Roughly five hundred years ago, he discovered that malice in his mind was multiplying and his desire to slaughter was growing ever fiercer.
Consequently, he used his abilities to create this space, subsequently reinforcing it continuously.
Essentially, any living being below a Mighty One would die instantly upon entering. He went into seclusion in this space, utilizing the strengthening rule to perpetually reinforce his benevolence in order to combat the burgeoning malice.
"Do you know why you succumbed to the demonic fall?" Yu Xian asked curiously after hearing Zhougelasi out.
Zhougelasi furrowed his brows slightly in contemplation. "Speaking of which, there is indeed a faint clue. When my malice grew increasingly intense, I vaguely glimpsed an afterimage—a man meditating with a woman embracing him from behind. I was on the verge of losing myself, but the woman's eyes brought me back to my senses."
"A man and a woman... Could that be the source of the demonic fall phenomenon?" Yu Xian murmured to himself upon hearing this.
Zhang Shou couldn't resist raising his hand and saying, "Wait, Salty Fish, something's not right. Wasn't the demonic fall phenomenon caused by Quan Juehua?"
Primarily, he had nearly been controlled and influenced by Quan Juehua, so he had always believed Quan Juehua was the culprit behind the demonic fall phenomenon. Now, hearing an entirely different version from Zhougelasi left him thoroughly perplexed.
"Could there have been two or even more culprits from the start? Or perhaps... Quan Juehua has many avatars, and what Zhougelasi saw was just one of them?" Niman guessed.
Yu Xian nodded. "There really is that possibility. Besides, even if we know there are two sources of the demonic fall phenomenon, we might not be able to find them right now anyway."
Just like Quan Juehua—he was currently nowhere to be found, and after so many years, all trace of him had long gone cold.
The Tree Universe was simply too vast. Finding someone in the first place was exceedingly difficult, and if someone intentionally hid themselves or even used miraculous items to conceal their tracks, tracking them down was unimaginably hard.
Chapter 642