"LET GO OF ME, YOU DAMN BRAT!"
A furious roar shook the room. With Xan Kang Hang's soul unable to reconnect to his hulking body, he was left defenseless while Xue Hui greedily devoured his soul force, terrifying the man to no end.
Perched atop Xan Kang Hang's massive body, Xue Hui used all of his origin spheres to restrain the limbs and tendrils of Xan Kang Hang, preventing them from moving.
"My luck is really good this time. Not only are you a soul puppet, but you also possess Legend-rank soul force. With this, my strength will surely increase. Thanks to you." Hearing Xue Hui's words, Xan Kang Hang's soul trembled in anger as he tried to break free from Xue Hui's Origin of Devourer.
Truth be told, the only reason Xue Hui was able to subdue Xan Kang Hang was because the latter had turned himself into a soul puppet.
If Xan Kang Hang were a normal Legend-rank Demon Spiritualist with an actual body, defeating him would have been impossible even if Xue Hui used all his strength.
Unlike a real body, a soul puppet could never achieve the perfect bond between body and soul.
It was easy to disrupt the connection between the soul and the soul puppet body, one way is to use a massive electrical current to momentarily disrupt the connection between Soul puppets and its soul.
Although the disruption only lasted a second or two, that was enough time for Xue Hui to interfere with the re-establishing connection and use his Origin powers to trap Xan Kang Hang's soul.
And with that, absorbing Xan Kang Hang's soul force became as easy as stealing candy from a child. Once again, Xue Hui had gotten really lucky this time.
"Wait! Please don't kill me! I'll serve under you! I'll be a useful ally, I'm smart! I'm Xan Kang Hang! With me by your side, you'll become the king of this world in no time!"
Xue Hui let out a snort. Even without Xan Kang Hang's help, he was destined to rule over everything. Why would he need an old pathetic soul to achieve that?
"That's a great offer, but since you threatened my Ning'er's life and almost killed her, you can disappear forever." Xue Hui said matter-of-factly as he continued devouring Xan Kang Hang's soul, frightening the man.
Then suddenly Xue Hui made a thinking posture before looking at Xan Kang Hang soul form, "How about this? Answer my questions, and I'll let you free."
The absorption slowed as Xue Hui waited for Xan Kang Hang's response, based on his frantically nodding, it was clear that Xan Kang Hang was willing to cooperate just to survive.
"Why did you trap the giant? That was far too long of a confinement for anyone to suffer. What did she do to deserve such a fate?"
Xiao Julin's situation intrigued Xue Hui. Although he had no idea what she was like before her confinement, he was certain such punishment would not be given lightly.
"I don't know! When I found this place, that giant was already trapped here! I tried to set her free and even tried to use her soul, but I couldn't because of those chains binding her!" Xan Kang Hang replied honestly.
'So this entire labyrinth wasn't built by him but merely discovered. Furthermore, Xiao Julin was trapped here even before the demihumans' subjugation. Then what exactly is that child? Is she actually a titan? If she is, why did they bring her here to the Tiny World and lock her up?' Xue Hui pondered. Just thinking about Xiao Julin's origins was already giving him a headache.
"So why did you create all of this? The trials, the soul puppets, and the automatons? You sure have a lot of time on your hands, huh?" Xue Hui asked next, curious about the labyrinth and its creations.
"The soul puppets and automatons are my handiwork. I brought them here when humans began hunting us demihumans. As for the trials, I created them to wear intruders down so I could easily defeat them once they reached my room."
Xue Hui nodded. He had already suspected as much.
"You brought your puppets, but none of your kin. You've survived this long, so I'm sure you could have saved your people and prevented their extinction if you had brought them here too, right?"
"Everyone is trash! Their only worth is as tools for my masterpiece!"
Xue Hui's eyebrows rose slightly, but he said nothing. He didn't need to hear those words to understand Xan Kang Hang's morals. The sheer number of soul puppets he had created was already enough evidence of how he viewed life.
"So what are the rewards for this trial? I defeated you, so I should receive a reward, right?" Xue Hui asked.
Xan Kang Hang nodded eagerly. "Yes! Yes! Release me, and I'll reward you!"
The two exchanged looks. Xan Kang Hang looked hopeful, while Xue Hui stared at him stoically.
"Nah, I don't think so."
The moment Xue Hui uttered those words, he resumed using the Origin of Devourer to absorb Xan Kang Hang's remaining soul.
The room filled with Xan Kang Hang's loud roars as he hurled curses at Xue Hui while his soul gradually faded away.
Once everything was over, Xue Hui stood up and dusted off his hands while looking down at the empty shell that remained of Xan Kang Hang.
"As I said earlier, you threatened Ning'er. That was your greatest offense, and it cost you your life."
After absorbing Xan Kang Hang's soul, Xue Hui entered the Garden to check on Xiao Ning'er condition.
"Big~"
Xue Hui quickly placed a finger over his lips, signaling Xiao Julin not to make any noise.
Xiao Julin gave a small nod before turning her attention back to the snacks she had discovered inside one of the interspatial rings scattered nearby, continuing to munch on the food as though nothing unusual had happened.
Xue Hui sat beside Xiao Ning'er's sleeping figure and gently placed her head on his lap. What had happened earlier truly scared him. Things had not gone as expected, and Xiao Ning'er ended up getting hurt because of it.
"I was careless and put you in danger. I'm sorry, Ning'er. I promise that won't happen again," Xue Hui whispered as he brushed her hair gently.
Time passed.
After recuperating, Xue Hui and Xiao Ning'er returned to the fifth trial room to search for the final rewards.
While Xiao Ning'er and Xiao Julin searched the room, Xue Hui busied himself examining Xan Kang Hang's remains.
Xan Kang Hang had mentioned earlier that he brought all those soul puppets and automatons with him during the demihuman subjugation.
That implied there was a way to store all the soul puppets and automatons inside a compact, portable object.
An interspatial ring was impossible since there wasn't enough space inside to store everything.
The interspatial layout of the fifth room was also unlikely, as Xan Kang Hang only used it to ambush targets.
Xue Hui continued probing the inscription coding on Xan Kang Hang's body.
Meanwhile, Xiao Ning'er and Xiao Julin managed to locate the final reward, exciting both of them.
"Xue Hui, I think this is it! It has the same box as before, but slightly bigger!"
Hearing her voice, Xue Hui lifted his head and saw Xiao Ning'er carrying a box while walking toward him with Xiao Julin.
"Store it inside your interspatial ring for now, Ning'er. I'll examine its contents later. For now, I think I discovered a way to extract everything and bring it home with us."
Xue Hui stood up and took out inscription ink and a brush. His eyes gleamed with excitement.
He began altering some of the inscription coding on Xan Kang Hang's body.
Every brushstroke contained a small amount of Xue Hui's soul force, causing the inscription patterns to glow.
Once he connected all the lines, the entire labyrinth began trembling violently, frightening both Xiao Ning'er and Xiao Julin.
Xue Hui quickly rushed toward the two girls and enclosed all of them within Origin spheres as the place began collapsing.
Xiao Ning'er watched as Xan Kang Hang's body shifted and folded on its own until its size shrank drastically, eventually becoming no larger than a human head. Its appearance also changed, now resembling a golden egg.
The egg-like object emitted a loud hum as everything around them began flying toward it, the equipment, the soul puppets, and the automatons.
"Xue Hui! What's going on? Everything is being sucked into that thing!" Xiao Ning'er asked with a trembling voice.
The labyrinth shook violently as the entire place was torn apart.
"Hmm, let's get out of here. This place is about to cave in."
After saying that, Xue Hui used the Origins of Piercing and Space to create a portal and teleported outside the Soul Prison Labyrinth.
POOF
In an instant, the three of them appeared outside the labyrinth, floating above Heavenly Luster Mountain.
"Whoa! Big brother is awesome! How can you do that? Can you teach me? I wanna poof too!" Xiao Julin exclaimed excitedly, her eyes gleaming in amazement as she observed the outside world.
"Xue Hui, look!" Xiao Ning'er said with a trembling voice, pointing toward a section of Heavenly Luster Mountain that had begun collapsing. She assumed that was where the labyrinth had been buried.
"That thing is supposed to store all the soul puppets and automatons. I guess the labyrinth couldn't handle that much movement, which is why it collapsed," Xue Hui explained.
If tens of thousands of soul puppets were all being pulled toward the golden egg at once, it was no surprise the entire place had been wrecked.
The trio waited for some time before the tremors within Heavenly Luster Mountain finally settled down. With a beckoning motion, Xue Hui summoned the golden egg toward him.
"That's!? What is that for, Xue Hui?" Xiao Ning'er asked as her fingers traced the surface of the golden egg.
"Let's call it the Myriad Soul Puppet Army. Inside this thing are ten thousand Bronze-, Silver-, and Gold-rank soul puppets. It also contains one thousand Black Gold-rank soul puppets and two hundred Legend-rank soul puppets, all at Demon Spiritualist level."
Xiao Ning'er's eyes widened upon hearing Xue Hui's words.
That many soul puppets were enough to cause devastating destruction to Glory City.
"I modified it so that once we bring this back to Glory City, we can use it to defend our walls during demon beast horde attacks. Xan Kang Hang was a terrible person, but he created a terrifying weapon. Lucky for us, he underestimated us too much and didn't bring out his entire arsenal. Now that he's gone, all his creations belong to us." Xue Hui said with a toothy grin.
This discovery would greatly increase Glory City's chances of survival against future threats.
Xue Hui felt extremely satisfied with the harvest from their journey and couldn't wait to return home to set up the Myriad Soul Puppet Army.
"Let's head back, Ning'er. There's nothing left for us to gain here. We're done."
Xue Hui formed a hand seal, prompting the origin sphere they were in to fly toward Glory City.
"Mm." Xiao Ning'er nodded softly and reached out to hold Xue Hui's hand.
For Xiao Ning'er, the true reward of their journey was being able to spend time alone with Xue Hui. Going through the trials of the Soul Prison Labyrinth together had strengthened the bond between them.
Her face flushed red as she recalled some of the things Xue Hui had said to her.
She had no idea how things would play out once they returned home, but she was determined to call off her engagement to Shen Fei, especially now that she had grown stronger.
Xiao Julin sat in front of them with excitement gleaming in her eyes. She was fascinated by the blurry scenery rushing past them as they traveled at blinding speed.
She couldn't wait to see this Glory City her big sister and big brother kept talking about.
Xiao Ning'er had once told her there was plenty of delicious food there and promised to take her around all the food establishments.
Xiao Ning'er let out a soft giggle. Seeing the dreamy expression on Xiao Julin's face, she could already guess what the little girl was imagining.
As for Xue Hui, he remained silent, quietly meditating while they traveled. After absorbing Xan Kang Hang's soul force, his cultivation advanced, allowing him to break through to One-star Silver rank.
As his soul realm transformed from scattered mist into a spherical form, Xue Hui noticed something unusual floating at the center of his soul realm.
'A seed? Why is there a seed in my soul realm?'
It looked translucent, like glass sculpted into the shape of a small seed, emerald in color, floating serenely at the center of his soul realm.
'That's new,' Xue Hui muttered.
End of Chapter 56
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