Chapter 1489: Energy of Creation

The last embers of daylight lingered upon the distant horizons of Hell’s Paradise Island, their golden brilliance slowly surrendering to the deeper crimson of evening.

The sun had descended until half its magnificent orb lay beyond the farthest reaches of the island, spilling molten amber across the heavens while great clouds drifted through its dying radiance, their edges gilded with the final extravagance of a day reluctant to depart.

Beneath that beautiful farewell, forests stretched in immense emerald expanses, their canopies rippling gently beneath the evening winds, while distant mountains wore fading crowns of gold above valleys already gathering the first shadows of night. The river wound through the ancient landscape like ribbons of polished silver, its waters catching fragments of the heavens and carrying the broken reflections of the setting sun toward distant shores.

It was a particularly beautiful evening, although tonight there seemed to be something even more enchanting about the way the world received the dying light. The air was wonderfully clear, the distant mountains more distinct against the crimson horizon, and the enormous lake beyond the forest shimmered with a purity that made its surface resemble a vast mirror laid beneath the heavens.

Far below the balcony, the first lights of civilization had begun appearing through buildings glasses, their gentle brilliance gathering beneath the deepening dusk as the island prepared to exchange the splendor of sunlight for the glittering magnificence of night.

Phei Ryujin Tiamat stood upon the rooftop, his long white hair stirring in the evening breeze as he watched the sun descend. Its fading radiance caressed his handsome features, drawing a golden sheen across his pale hair and illuminating the depths of his golden-amethyst eyes.

He rested one hand upon the balustrade while the other hung loosely at his side, his posture was relaxed enough that anyone observing him might have mistaken him for an ordinary young noble enjoying the evening after a pleasant day.

Yet a faint somberness lingered within his gaze, an almost melancholy softness he could scarcely explain even to himself.

Perhaps a year beneath the merciless cold of the Primordial Frozen Zone had made him appreciate such ordinary beauty more deeply. After spending so long surrounded by eternal blizzards, frozen wastelands and heavens that seemed to have forgotten warmth, witnessing a sunset of such magnificence felt strangely precious.

Or perhaps the passing of another day had merely drawn his thoughts toward everything that had happened since the previous sunset.

Gods, his life had hardly given him a chance to grow accustomed to any of it.

His gaze wandered across the forest and distant mountain ranges, where the sacred golden brilliance that had enveloped Hell’s Paradise Island was gradually withdrawing from sight.

During the descent of the Primordial Lotus, World Essence had poured upon the land in such abundance that the entire island seemed immersed beneath a celestial ocean. Golden filaments of its energy had drifted through the heavens, washing everything with their radiance, while immense currents of the same energy filled the atmosphere above them.

Those filaments were becoming increasingly difficult to perceive now.

Their brilliance had settled deeper into the world, sinking into the atmosphere, the earth and the countless currents of numerous Elemental Essences and energies flowing throughout the island.

As the golden luster softened, the familiar colors of the landscape returned, richer than Phei remembered them. The forests possessed a deeper verdure, the mountains stood beneath an extraordinary clarity, and even the evening light appeared gentler upon the land.

A freshness filled the air, carrying the purity of an ancient place cleansed of something it had borne for far too long.

The World Essence itself had hardly diminished in its quantity, potency and purity... there was so much of it—

Phei could feel how deeply it had taken root, flowing through the atmosphere in vast, unseen currents before descending into mountains and ancient forests.

Beneath the earth, it entered spiritual veins that had nourished the island long before its arrival, mingling with the Mana and Elemental Essences already coursing through them. Even as the golden radiance faded into the same unseen existence as the energies surrounding it.

World Essence cleansed impurities from Mana and nourished the Elemental Essences, gradually purifying all it encountered. The longer the Genesis Angel remained within this world, the farther that influence would spread through the energies upon which countless cultivators depended.

Most would only notice that their surroundings had changed: the Mana had become purer, the Elemental Essence they refined carried fewer impurities, and cultivation in certain regions felt different.

Perceiving the sacred currents responsible lay beyond most of them.

To Phei, the World Essence’s currents were distinct as the evening breeze brushing against his face.

Before his Angelic awakening, World Essence had belonged to mysteries he could barely approach. Now its presence felt intimate. The currents surrounding him seemed to recognize the Genesis Angel within his blood, responding gently to his existence even when he made no attempt to command them, even if he didn’t realize (for some reason) more World Essence was flowing from him into the living world each passing breath he took!

A thoughtful smile touched his lips as he watched a faint golden current pass through the evening air and disappear among the invisible energies around the balcony.

Phei had once entertained the possibility that World Essence might be the most powerful Essence in existence, and could anyone blame him?

Beyond its ability to purify other energies and Essences, World Essence had existed since the Beginning when creation first unfolded and life began taking shape throughout the Realms.

Numerous beings owed their origins to that sacred power, with Angels among the most remarkable. Their race had been created entirely from World Essence. Even the Fallen Angels, despite the transformations separating them from their celestial kin, shared that beginning; whatever they had become, the Essence from which their race arose remained the same.

And its part in creation extended far beyond those beings.

World Essence was the source from which the other Essences belonging to creation had arisen.

Mana, most Elemental Essences and the countless energies flowing throughout the Realms could all be traced back to the sacred power now spreading through Hell’s Paradise Island.

Phei still found himself considering the enormity of that knowledge whenever he sensed its currents, although he could remember no long struggle to acquire it.