Chen Lin had not expected the Soul-Detaining Technique to actually work, and he was startled.
But he immediately recovered. Before the shadow had been pulled all the way out, he raised his other hand to unleash the Soul-Destroying Finger and destroy it, lest it strike back!
"Spare me, fellow Daoist!"
Suddenly, an aged voice rang out directly in Chen Lin's mind.
He froze.
"It's you!"
He knew this voice all too well. Although it had been transmitted through the soul, he recognized it at once. It belonged to the old man from the Shanhai Realm!
The man had not died after all. He had hidden inside this scroll!
"Indeed, it is I. I had no intention of harming you, fellow Daoist. I merely lodged a wisp of my remnant soul in this object to cling to life. There is no grudge between us. Surely there is no need to wipe me out completely!"
Chen Lin frowned.
He did not believe the Golden Toad would leave behind a remnant soul when killing a cultivator. That meant the man had separated part of his soul and lodged it in the scroll before entering the Gambling Fortune Lake Scenario. This scroll was a contingency he had prepared.
In that case, the scroll was at least a Spirit Treasure!
Only treasures of that grade could conceal the aura of a spiritual body, allowing an object to be placed inside a Storage Bag. The artifact spirits of Spirit Treasures were one example, as was Yun Xiumian's Wooden Hairpin.
"So it is my fellow Daoist from the Shanhai Realm. I had no idea you still had a remnant soul here. I thought you were some ghostly creature. Please forgive me!"
Chen Lin smiled and offered an explanation.
At his words, the old man from the Shanhai