I Don’t Want To Court Death!

The Spirit of the Sea gestured at the chair beside her. "Please take a seat, your holiness." 

Yang Yang walked over to sandy shore and sat on the other empty chair. The young woman leaned back with a smile and placed down her sun-hat onto her lap. "Your holiness, you are my first ever guest. Although I am ignorant and short-lived, I will do my best to answer any questions you have for me." 

He did not respond immediately. His head turned to the red ocean, where thousands upon thousands of waves moved back and forth. The warm breeze cradled their bodies and rocked the wooden chairs back and forth like the waves. There was no sun in this world, but the sky was bright. Clouds drifted without a destination. A horizon that seemingly stretched to infinity or the end of the universe. 

Peace. That was all that he felt. Something he had not felt in a long, long time. "Tell me everything about this Arcane Abyss, and why... there are two scions buried here." 

When he saw the gold and red statues, he knew that they were not inanimate objects, but rather, actual bodies. More specifically, they were bodies that were petrified with their souls sealed away and in a dormant state. 

The Spirit of the Sea looked at him and nodded. "Then, I shall start from very beginning." 

"Hundreds of millions of years ago, this planet was part of the Angelic Domain. It was a young, budding world and its essence was fresh and very, very powerful. It was as strong as one of the Three-Thousand Ancient Worlds. Lifeforms appeared on the planet and many civilizations formed. However, it attracted the eyes of the Underworld. More specifically, the Scion of Fresh Blood, who was invading worlds for their essences. A new world like this would have been a great profit for him."  

"However, this new planet was in the territory of the Divine Sea World, where my master, the Scion of the Sea, lived. Naturally, they fought. The Scion of Fresh Blood sought to consume the worldly essence, and my master sought to defend his territory. They clashed at the first instance and battled for seven days and seven nights."

"Eventually, they both retreated and called for reinforcements. Each side gained three more scions, and the battle continued. All eight scions were at the Holy Seraph level so they were all Exalted Demigods. It was a battle that shook Heaven and Earth. A war that lasted for a thousand years." 

"Trillions of trillions of angels and fiends fell, their blood dyed the Dark Void. Mountains of corpses laid throughout the chaos and rivers of blood flowed without end. Even the eight scions had their bodies and souls shredded, though, not yet destroyed. At such a grand scale, it should come to no surprise that the new planet had ultimately shattered. It split into two pieces and each side took a piece." 

"The new planet had lost the potential of its essence and was ejected from the Angelic Domain. Those pieces fell into here, the Celestial Domain, where they developed into two planets: the Dawn Rift World and the Night Parade World. There should be four continents on this planet, and each sealed the souls of the eight scions. This continent is the resting place of the my master and the Scion of Fresh Blood." 

"My master defeated the Scion of Fresh Blood and sealed his body and soul in this Arcane Abyss, which is the treasure my master created by fusing the Scion of Fresh Blood's broken Limitless Blood Demon Tower with his destroyed Arcane Sea. However, that was not enough and the evildoer's will seeped out and infected many people, turning them to the first members of the Sacred Cult and allowed his Blood Demon descendants to roam freely in here. My master's followers would form the Arcane Temple to resist them." 

With furrowed brows, Yang Yang asked, "And what about you? As the treasure's guardian and a spirit of nature, you should be able to destroy the Sacred Cult by yourself. By itself, I'm sure this treasure is enough to fight with a Mahayana Lord." 

The Spirit of the Sea shook her head. Her smile could not abate the sorrows in her eyes. "I am sealed here. Your holiness, I am not the original guardian of this treasure. Master stayed behind to prevent the evildoer's soul from leaving and created the original guardian to control the Arcane Abyss. I was not created to operate the Arcane Abyss, but rather, to send a message." 

"But, he underestimated the evildoer's power again. The Scion of Fresh Blood's will destroyed the original guardian. Then, master sealed away his own soul with the Scion of Fresh Blood's soul. They are trapped together for eternity. Before master left, he made me the new guardian and told me to forget about my mission. I did as I was told, and bind myself to the essence of the Arcane Abyss, becoming the essence itself, and gained the memories of the original guardian."

Silence. The sound of waves brushed their ears like an elegy with bleak rhythms. "What was your previous mission?' 

"The purpose of my existence was to send a message. Send a message back... to master's home, to his family." 

Yang Yang's heart twitched in pity and pain. The Spirit of the Sea stood up and then kneeled before him. "Sir, please help me! Please help me leave this place!" 

"And how can I do that? Without you, the Arcane Abyss will be destroyed." Yang Yang shook his head. Releasing the guardian of a treasure would be same as removing the heart or brain of a person. Extermination was the only outcome of such an event. 

"Master also told me that if someday a scion appeared within this abysmal land, that scion would be able to unravel my seal and create a new guardian." Tears streamed down her face and her voice choked up. "I have waited and waited and waited and waited! Waited for a scion to come for millions of years! Yet, after tens of millions of years, I stopped waiting. I even stopped thinking. Who was I? What am I? I did not know, so I slept. Slept in a dream world of nothingness, with no emotions and without dreams! I had lost my original purpose..." 

She grabbed onto his left leg and hugged it. Yang Yang could almost touch the dense aura of despair around her. "And then you appeared. You awakened me. When your divine will entered the essence of the Arcane Grassland, I felt it. I had no idea what it was I had felt at first so I created a hand to reach out for you, and then you disappeared. Then, I remembered what I felt. I felt the light of hope. The meaning of my life had returned to me, the very reason I am here! Please, your holiness! Please, help me!" 

Yang Yang stared at the Spirit of the Sea. Then he turned his gaze to the golden statue of the Scion of the Sea. He could almost hear another voice calling out to him, pleading for his help. The ocean waves stirred faster and louder like the banging of a head onto the ground. 

Finally, he looked down at his left hand. The color of his hand was still dark, but much lighter than before. It was dark-grey color, a ghastly color tone compared to the rest of his complexion. 

Yang Yang sighed. "As the Scion of Life, I order you to stop crying and get up. I'll help you."