Boom!
The Dragon God Claw revealed its sharp edge, tearing through heaven and earth. The Evil Emperor's body exploded on the spot, seemingly transforming into light and heat that illuminated everything.
A single silver crystal floated in the high altitude. A seven-colored mark was clearly visible upon it, seemingly having transformed into an eternal brand, deeply etched into the crystal.
Buzz—
Within this silver crystal existed incredibly dense soul fluctuations. It gave a light tremble, attempting to flee.
However, right at this moment, that seven-colored brand erupted with dazzling radiance, directly sealing off all the heaven and earth origin energy.
Immediately after, the void tore open, and a dragon claw reached out. The silver crystal was instantly in Di Tian's grasp.
"Evil Eye, you cannot escape."
As an existence who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and as the old rival of the Evil Emperor, how could Di Tian possibly not know the special trait of the Evil Eye clan? The destruction of the physical body wasn't true death; this crystal was the key.
If this silver crystal were allowed to escape, the Evil Emperor could rely on his powerful mental strength and soul to possess a descendant, thereby living once more and growing once again.
"I am not willing!"
At this moment, the Evil Emperor's tone was filled with utter reluctance. A hint of regret surged in his heart—if he had known, he wouldn't have stepped into these muddy waters back then. But soon, he severed this line of thought himself!
To achieve godhood, everything was worth it! Even if it meant his body and soul being extinguished!
Beneath the Dragon God Claw, the Evil Emperor perished.
The power of the Dragon God had been displayed to the absolute fullest!
At the same time, down in the Evil Demon Forest.
Even though they were only watching through the ice mirror, they could still feel the terrifying aura erupting from the heavens. The seven-colored divine might suppressed thousands of miles, the deep-blue ripples stilled time and space, up until the dark-red blood light painted the sky—it was absolutely soul-stirring!
Under the imagery presented by the ice mirror, Chen Junting and the others knew very well that it was the aftermath of the Evil Emperor's body exploding.
At this moment by the ruins of the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters, the atmosphere was dead silent. No one spoke a word. How much time had passed?
"Old Evil Eye... just died just like that?!"
Bear Lord clicked his tongue inwardly, speaking with a hint of disbelief.
As one of the witnesses to that great battle from a thousand years ago, Bear Lord knew the Evil Emperor's strength very well. Back then, not only had the Evil Emperor managed to escape unscathed, but he had even forced Di Tian to recuperate for a full thousand years!
But what about now? The fight concluded in less than an hour. Was Di Tian injured? At least, from Bear Lord's perspective, he didn't appear to be.
If he were the one to provoke Di Tian and fight him, the result... he was afraid his head would have been chopped off by Di Tian long ago. Thinking of this, Bear Lord shuddered.
Right at this moment, Smack— a light palm slapped onto Bear Lord's shoulder, startling him so badly that he instantly flew into a rage. "Which bastard..."
Bear Lord violently turned his head, only to see the Myriad Demon King.
"What do you want!?"
"Are you scared?" The Myriad Demon King didn't say much else. He just raised an eyebrow and asked this single question with a rather meaningful tone.
"Scared of what? What are you talking about?"
"There's no need to play dumb."
The Myriad Demon King wasn't surprised by Bear Lord's answer. He just offered a well-intentioned reminder, "Pay a bit more attention from now on, and stop making Di Tian angry. Otherwise, my big meal in the future might just feature a Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear's paw."
"You!" Bear Lord barked, but then swallowed his words.
Meanwhile, the members of the surprise attack squad were also quite astonished. Such combat power, such a battle record—it had already surpassed their comprehension.
"Is this a true Quasi-God?!"
They had to admit it! The three tiers that Chen Junting had categorized were simply too accurate. The Quasi-God tier was fully deserving of its name!
It wasn't long before Di Tian returned from the high heavens, carrying the overwhelming aura of having slain the Evil Emperor. His black robes fluttered in the wind, stained with blood, his presence imposing!
He walked straight to Chen Junting and tossed the silver crystal into his hands. Under Di Tian's suppression, the Evil Emperor's soul inside was completely immobilized. Even its remaining strength couldn't stir up any waves, entirely unable to affect the outside world.
"This is the Evil Emperor's core," Di Tian spoke slowly. "Once you completely shatter it, you will obtain the Evil Eye's soul ring and soul bone. But be careful; his soul resides within this crystal."
Chen Junting nodded slightly, looking at the crystal. The next moment, Electrolux's light chuckle rang out in his mind. "Hehe— A soul? Leave it to this old man."
"Alright. Teacher, I'll trouble you." Hearing this, Chen Junting naturally had no objections. When it came to dealing with souls, there was probably no one in this world more capable than Electrolux.
As the obscure incantations echoed within Chen Junting's Spirit Sea, on the outside, a small cluster of pure white flames gradually formed on his palm.
This small cluster of flames seemingly didn't possess any temperature, yet it gradually solidified. This caused the silver crystal to violently flash. The Evil Emperor's frantic voice rang out: "You dare!"
Chen Junting didn't speak; he just let the flames fall. The incredibly hard silver-white crystal, the moment it was tainted by this seemingly inconspicuous cluster of flames, let out an incomparably mournful shriek. The hard silver crystal melted away like ice and snow, and the silver currents of air rising from within couldn't detach from the white flames in the slightest; they were completely absorbed and incinerated by it.
This was the Purifying Fire, specifically used to purify souls. After a life died, its soul would rise up. If it didn't dissipate on its own, it would very likely form a wraith. And the Purifying Fire was the perfect antidote for wraiths. No matter the level of the soul, upon encountering this flame, it had met its absolute nemesis.
However, as the Evil Emperor's soul rose, Electrolux within the Spirit Sea suddenly changed the incantation he was chanting. The next second, streaks of runes shot out from Chen Junting's hand, binding the rising soul and then frantically kneading it.
This scene left everyone dumbfounded. Chen Junting watched his teacher's actions and asked with confusion, "Teacher, what are you planning to do?"
"Doesn't your Immortal-Slaying Sword Array still lack a sword-wielder?" His weathered tone seemed incredibly apathetic. But this apathy was directed solely at the Evil Emperor.
"In my past life, I manipulated quite a few souls, so I know very well how a creature's soul is born. Fundamentally, it's when consciousness is born upon the soul's origin, and it continuously grows based on memories."
"Now, this old man will give you a pure soul."
Electrolux suddenly erupted with a massive grey light! As the grey light swept past, it seemed to erase all traces! In this moment, the consciousness belonging to the Evil Emperor within the rising soul was completely annihilated. As the runes slowly contracted, this pure soul origin fell into Chen Junting's hand.
As for the Evil Emperor... he could truly be considered to have had his ashes scattered and soul extinguished. But no one pitied him. The vengeful spirits of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda were still fresh in everyone's minds.
A dark-red soul ring finally bloomed after the silver crystal had completely melted. Looking at the seven golden lines on this soul ring, as well as the faintly appearing eighth line, a trace of fiery eagerness flashed in Chen Junting's eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.
His attention was mostly focused on the center of the soul ring. Right in the middle, there was a small, dark-blue eye pupil. Only the size of a palm, it flickered with a bizarre radiance.
Ning Tian stood to the side. "Is that a soul bone?"
Chen Junting nodded, his tone quite certain. "This should be an external soul bone of the eye-pupil category."
Saying this, he pressed his index finger against his own glabella. Amidst a sudden burst of golden light, the Heaven's Eye slowly manifested. A beam of rose-gold light mixed with verdant-gold sprayed out from it, landing directly onto that dark-blue eye pupil.
Instantly, that dark-blue eye pupil was dyed the same color as the Heaven's Eye. No matter how the Evil Emperor's residual mental power inside struggled, since this eye-pupil external soul bone didn't make up the majority of his residual mental power, under the guidance of the Power of Destiny, it lost all ability to resist.
As the struggles gradually subsided, the soul bone flew toward the Heaven's Eye on Chen Junting's glabella. During its flight, its size shrank drastically, finally merging into the Heaven's Eye.
When he felt a chill at his glabella, Chen Junting sensed a surge of powerful mental energy instantly flood into his Spirit Sea. Immediately after, this mental power was directly enveloped by the Power of Destiny and the life energy of the Golden Life Essence, merging into his skull.
Feeling this robust mental power merging into his Spirit Sea, Chen Junting quickly retracted his focus. Then, he turned his gaze toward that most eye-catching soul ring.
With its seven golden lines and faintly appearing eighth line, this entire soul ring of the Evil Emperor was already on the verge of evolving into a million-year soul ring. Actually, at his level, there wasn't much difference between 800,000 years and 900,000 years. The only thing missing was that ultimate leap to a million years.
"How is your own condition?" Seeing that Chen Junting had already absorbed the Evil Emperor's soul bone, Di Tian cast his gaze onto the soul ring and reminded him.
"I've never felt better." Chen Junting's gaze appeared incredibly resolute.
Then, he looked at Ning Tian beside him. "Xiao Tian, act according to the situation."
Ning Tian nodded slowly, suppressing the worry in her eyes. But she seemed to have sensed something, causing that worry to gradually dissipate. So, she only said, "Be safe."
"Don't worry."
As Chen Junting prepared to absorb the soul ring, all the humans and beasts retreated. Aside from Di Tian and Ning Tian, no one dared to approach.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz—
Sword hums rang out, and sword qi crisscrossed the air! The Immortal-Slaying Array Diagram unfurled, overwhelmingly vast. With Chen Junting at the center, the four great sword intents materialized, landing at the four array nodes.
Once everything was ready, Chen Junting, in his peak condition, guided his mental power toward the Evil Emperor's soul ring. But the moment his mental power landed on the soul ring, he felt an incomparably powerful repelling force burst forth from it. Obviously, this was the Evil Emperor's willpower. Even though the Evil Emperor was thoroughly dead, even if it was only a remnant.
However, this obviously couldn't cause too much trouble for Chen Junting. He had the massive backing of Electrolux behind him! Furthermore, you are merely a remnant will! Since you are already dead, why struggle?!
Thus, Chen Junting increased the output of his mental power, guiding the Evil Emperor's soul ring down above his head. A soul ring of over 700,000 years! Nearly 800,000 years! Once he absorbed it, he could use certain methods to make this soul ring completely evolve into a true 800,000-year soul ring!
"Child, begin," Electrolux's compassionate voice sounded.
As the soul ring descended, Chen Junting unhesitatingly sat cross-legged and, guided by his mental power, began to fuse with the Evil Emperor's soul ring. The dark-red soul ring entered his body, and Chen Junting violently trembled from head to toe. He instantly felt an exceptionally overbearing and terrifying mental will, filled with reluctance and destructive intent, surge into his Spirit Sea. The frantic impact was as if it wanted to completely tear his Spirit Sea apart.
But before this mental power could run rampant... "How dare you still act so insolently!" An ancient voice, brimming with endless majesty, echoed out!
Within Chen Junting's Spirit Sea, shining golden light directly forced back the dark-red mental power that wanted to wreak havoc. Then, an overwhelming current of grey air closely followed. This caused the violent dark-red mental power to retreat frantically, like a mouse encountering a cat, until it was driven into a corner by the golden light and grey radiance with nowhere left to run.
Whoosh—
It was as if a wave had been stirred up in the Spirit Sea, but it calmed down in an instant. Dressed in grey robes, Electrolux stepped out. The moment he appeared, the Spirit Sea, enveloped in golden light and grey radiance, seemingly transformed into his domain. Within this domain, he was a god!
Looking at the "cowering" dark-red mental power, Electrolux's gaze was apathetic. He extended his index finger and merely pointed out from afar. The next second, his power was thoroughly displayed.
The golden light and grey radiance continuously suppressed it, completely enveloping the dark-red mental power. Seemingly facing a desperate situation, the dark-red mental power struggled incessantly. But obviously, it was entirely in vain. The struggles of the dark-red mental power continuously weakened until they faded into nothingness, revealing a stream of pure mental power.
Immediately after, a grey dot appeared at the tip of Electrolux's finger. If one looked closely, this grey dot resembled a blackhole, spinning rapidly. Then, like a whale swallowing water, it sucked all of this purified mental power into the grey dot, sealing it away.
While doing all this, Electrolux glanced back. His weathered eyes seemed to pierce through the Spirit Sea to see the outside world. Thus, he similarly pointed out from afar, and another grey dot appeared on the index finger of his other hand. However...
Pew—
With a light flick, the grey dot on his fingertip flew straight out. Flying and flying, it departed from the Spirit Sea and arrived in the outside world. Thus, in the eyes of Di Tian and Ning Tian, a grey dot drilled out of Chen Junting's Spirit Sea. Like a black hole, it continuously whale-swallowed the energy being released from the soul ring!
With Electrolux's help, Chen Junting's absorption became completely unhindered. It had to be said, the Evil Emperor's mental power was incredibly massive and overbearing. Worthy of being an existence with nearly 800,000 years of cultivation; just the mental power and energy contained within the soul ring alone were enough to burst his entire body and Spirit Sea.
As time continuously passed, Chen Junting's body was constantly scoured by the Evil Emperor's vast energy and mental power. His meridians continuously expanded! His Spirit Sea continuously dilated! His two soul cores spun like wildly rotating tops. And as for the two grey dots, one in the Spirit Sea and one outside... Mm—they could no longer be called grey dots; they had completely become two grey spheres.
But he didn't pay the slightest attention to all of this. Because...
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)