Unwilling Beast Souls

The battle erupted in an instant!

Ouyang Duanhai, though unarmed, felt his chest bones twist in a grotesque fashion; that deep red Phoenix Bird Totem, poised to take flight, saw its wings extend all the way to his armpits and arm bones.

His entire body was saturated by the eerie Phoenix Bird Totem, and his movements suddenly became agile and swift.

Like a bolt of deep red blood-light, Ouyang Duanhai—the light of humanity long extinguished from his eyes—reached Jin Yang in the blink of an eye.

His wing-like hands swept out, effortlessly swatting the "Cicada Wing Sword" blades down to the bottom of the pool.

"Whoosh!"

A stunning pillar of blood-colored light erupted from the crown of Ouyang Duanhai's head, seemingly filled with countless leaf-like feathers.

The feathers whistled within the crimson pillar, and a faint, shrill phoenix cry echoed, stinging the eyes of everyone watching from the pool floor.

At a glance, it appeared as if another slender, deep red Phoenix Bone had pierced straight through Ouyang Duanhai from the top of his head.

Jin Yang's face drained of color; he tore a jade pendant carved with a Chi Dragon from his waist and hurriedly held it before him.

The exquisite Chi Dragon totem within the jade pendant released a cold halo through its intricate patterns, instantly freezing the pool water in front of Jin Yang into a thick, solid block of rock-ice.

"Boom!"

Ouyang Duanhai charged with violent ferocity, shattering the rock-ice into pieces and sending Jin Yang, who clutched his life-saving "Cold Chi Jade Pendant," flying toward the bottom of the pool while spitting blood.

The moment he moved away from the Phoenix Bone, Ouyang Duanhai, now consumed by a bloodthirsty madness, ceased his pursuit and stood still once more by the giant python's skull.

His eyes, fresh and red as blood, remained fixed on the center of the Phoenix Bone, where a pearly white light was slowly condensing.

The blood-colored pillar erupting from his crown swirled with countless feathers, seemingly arranging themselves into a sophisticated formation, attempting to siphon the Phoenix Marrow that was about to take shape within the bone.

Jin Yang, fallen to the pool floor with a cloud of his own sprayed blood drifting above his head, hurriedly used the Chi Dragon-carved jade pendant to absorb the wisps of his own life essence.

He gestured toward Ouyang Duanhai, who stood upon the giant python's skull, his expression frantic as he urged Hong Tai and the others to strike and kill him immediately.

Hong Tai and his men, who had originally intended to assist him, hesitated upon seeing Ouyang Duanhai—now reduced to a freakish entity—shatter the ice-rock formed by Jin Yang's protective pendant with nothing but his own raw power.

The ferocious combat prowess displayed by Ouyang Duanhai exceeded Hong Tai's expectations; this Dark Ghost cultivator, who had previously pursued Zhou Qingchen, had not anticipated that the man universally recognized by the Seven Great Families as a coward would become so troublesome.

After a moment of contemplation, he tossed aside the iron chain he had been dragging, no longer caring whether Ning Yao lived or died.

He shook his head at Jin Yang, signaling with his eyes for him to be patient, and communicated through gestures with the two Pulse-Opening Realm leaders.

Seeing the Phoenix Marrow nearing completion and terrified that Ouyang Duanhai might seize it first, Jin Yang ignored his injuries and scrambled up from the pool floor.

With a volatile expression, he repeatedly signaled Hong Tai, urging him once again to kill Ouyang Duanhai at once.

Hong Tai, unaware of what the gradually gathering amber glimmer actually was, suddenly grew suspicious.

He did not know much about the mysteries of the Remains of the Heavenly Phoenix, and the Dark Ghost leader had not explained it clearly when he arrived.

Jin Yang was, of course, different; given his relationship with the leader, he surely knew more secrets regarding the Heavenly Phoenix.

With both Ouyang Duanhai and Jin Yang staring fixedly at the white, pearly light within the Phoenix Bone, acting so desperate and eager—could it be?

Thinking of this, Hong Tai formed his own plans.

He signaled for the python to approach, stroked its head, and ordered the loyal beast to prowl the pool floor, searching for any possible anomalies.

He then beckoned to Xu Rui and the masked leader, having the two of them flank him on either side.

Once this was done, he waited for Jin Yang to rise and join them before the four of them moved together toward Ouyang Duanhai.

Deep in the same pool, in a dark corner pressed against the rock wall, Pang Jian watched the battle that had ended as quickly as it began.

Jin Yang, despite his noble status, had become cautious and docile after relying on a jade pendant to survive Ouyang Duanhai's enraged strike.

The python kept by Hong Tai, however, began to stir across the pool floor.

By the time he noticed the serpent, it seemed to have sensed his presence as well, quietly slithering toward him.

Pang Jian cursed inwardly.

He had intended to wait for the Dark Ghost and Ouyang Duanhai to exhaust each other so he could swoop in and reap the rewards, but he hadn't expected Hong Tai to be so vicious as to dispatch the python to hunt him down.

Hong Tai's python possessed not only intelligence but also greater speed in the water than he did; he felt it would be difficult to fend off.

He prepared to retreat into the stone gate immediately!

However, just as he intended to extricate himself from this mess, a violent, twisting pain erupted from his Dantian, right beside his navel.

Deep within the spirit sea he cultivated daily, a tempestuous storm suddenly surged, as if some foreign object had been disturbed, clashing and colliding within his Dantian.

Pang Jian groaned in misery.

The sensation of a living thing thrashing about in his Dantian spirit sea made him wonder if his practice of the "Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art" had caused him to suffer a cultivation deviation and fall into hallucinations.

With his scalp tingling from the pain, he no longer had the strength to retreat to the stone gate.

Having not yet cultivated divine sense, he could not see the state of his own spirit sea; he only felt, vaguely, that something was struggling, trying to break free from within.

Gritting his teeth and roaring, he released bubbles into the water, his mouth emitting low, strange sounds.

He braced himself with the Dragon-Patterned Spear in one hand while clutching his stomach with the other, forced into a crouch by the agony.

He swore to himself then and there that, in the future, when practicing the "Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art," he would absolutely never absorb just any energy he encountered.

He believed the anomaly within his dantian was caused by his reckless absorption of the "Profound Yin Power," combined with the acidic, toxic energy present in the pool water.

Nearly fainting from the agony, he struggled to look ahead and saw the python swimming toward him.

The python, as thick as a water bucket, was patterned with black and white scales. It held its head high, its eerie green eyes glowing like ghost fires.

Pang Jian cursed his luck; just as his dantian fell into chaos, he had to be targeted by the python kept by Hong Tai.

Now, he lacked the strength even to flee and could only watch helplessly as the python approached to devour him.

It was just like how that Phoenix Bone, descending from the heavens, had consumed the giant python at the bottom of the pool.

It seemed he was destined to meet the same tragic end.

Feeling utterly helpless, Pang Jian braced himself to be consumed by the python, only to find the pain in his dantian rapidly subsiding.

Looking down, he saw strands of pitch-black thread emerging from between his fingers as he clutched his stomach.

These black threads resembled the highly toxic, viscous fluid secreted from the giant python's maw, which had mingled into the pool water above.

With every black thread that emerged from his fingers, the pain in his dantian eased, and as the threads left his grip, they began to coil around one another.

Coiling and twisting, they transformed into a slender black snake.

The black snake, only as thick as a child's arm, appeared to be covered in scales of black iron, yet Pang Jian sensed it possessed no flesh or blood; it felt like a manifestation of solidified dark energy.

Suddenly, he recalled the so-called "Spirit Sha" and that ethereal blood shadow.

It was exactly the same!

"A spirit body, or perhaps... a soul?"

Pang Jian stared blankly at the black snake refined from the black threads, feeling certain that this creature was the beast soul of the giant python.

The python kept by Hong Tai, which had been rushing toward him to swallow him whole, also witnessed the black threads rapidly taking the form of a snake.

When the python with the emerald eyes finally discerned the form of the black snake, terror suddenly erupted in its cold, green pupils!

Its raised neck and head trembled slightly.

It seemed to want to flee immediately, but just like Pang Jian, who had been in agonizing pain moments before, it found itself unable to move.

It watched helplessly as this black, alien snake—many times thinner than itself—slithered into its wide-open maw and vanished into its head.

Then, the alien snake devoured its beast soul, claiming its body as a new vessel.

The "Spirit Sha" of this world could possess fellow cultivators, and a fierce creature at the level of a "Dark Giant Python" could naturally use its beast soul to possess its own kind.

The beast soul of the "Dark Giant Python" quickly seized control of the python's body, and the snake's green eyes shifted to a pure, abyssal black.

After a brief moment of adjustment, it stretched its serpentine body and lunged at Pang Jian just as it had before.

Pang Jian, having just regained control of his body, was bewildered by this turn of events. Before he could grasp what had happened, he saw the python lunging once more.

Pang Jian was forced to raise his Dragon-Patterned Spear to meet the attack.

He surged upward in the water, the savage brute force in his arm bones erupting as he thrust toward the python with the blackened eyes, regardless of whether he could land a hit.

His spear tip pointed directly at the python's eerie, pitch-black eyes!

The python, with its pair of obsidian eyes, stared straight at him—or rather, it stared at the ancient-looking Bronze Gate Pendant hidden beneath the gap in his clothes over his chest.

Fear gradually surfaced in the python's pure black pupils, and it began to hesitate.

It twisted its body in the water, its tail lashing out in a chaotic rhythm that could propel it in any direction or assist it in continuing its charge to tear apart the desperate Pang Jian.

Whatever it recalled, it dared not continue the charge, despite being in a position to strike quickly.

Just as it was about to make contact with Pang Jian, its lashing tail seemed to transform into a head, carrying it rapidly backward.

It was actually fleeing!

"The beast soul of the giant python at the bottom of the pool dissipated into the dark water and was absorbed into my dantian's spiritual sea along with the acidic, toxic energy!"

"This was the last shred of life it preserved for itself when its flesh was being devoured! The Phoenix Bone only wanted its flesh; it had no interest in its beast soul."

After his Dragon-Patterned Spear thrust into empty water, Pang Jian watched the python flee and finally understood the situation.

The black alien snake that had condensed from the threads drifting out of his body was the master of that massive skeleton, the very source of the terror that made the Blackwater Pool a forbidden zone.

—It was the beast soul of the giant python from the pool's depths.

Now, it had possessed the python kept by Hong Tai, using the body of a weaker kin to move about.

Just as Pang Jian finally grasped the truth, the fleeing python circled the bottom of the pool and suddenly emerged from behind him, biting down on his back.

Caught off guard, Pang Jian was unable to mount an effective defense, and his entire back was trapped within the python's jaws.

A sharp, stabbing pain struck instantly!

"Gurgle!"

Pang Jian let out a cry of agony and choked on a few mouthfuls of water, only to discover with astonishment that his spine and ribs had not been snapped by the python's bite.

It was at this moment that he felt the scorching heat of the Bronze Tablet on his chest once again!

This heat spread through his entire body with incredible speed, even enveloping the python that held him in its jaws!

The "Dark Giant Python," not daring to kill Pang Jian head-on, had possessed its kin and used a ruse to circle around, hoping to kill him in a single bite, but it had not expected Pang Jian's chest bones to be as hard as divine iron.

As it tried to release its grip and flee, a strange, scorching heat quietly spread from Pang Jian's body into its own.

The "Dark Giant Python" realized at once that something was wrong; this time, it was the one who wanted to escape, but it was already too late.