Heaven and Underworld

"But why hadn't they arrived yet?"

"Good! Good! Berserk Battle, I'll remember this."

Biluo's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"You still have the leisure to chat!" Mo Ya swept both hands forward, and countless larger golden Heavenly Chains appeared. Combined with his first soul skill, golden light now roamed the sky. The deep purple had been gilded in gold, making it exceptionally beautiful.

"Fifth Soul Skill, Heaven and Underworld—Serpent's Wrath!" Upon seeing this attack, Biluo naturally did not dare let his guard down. If he failed to block it, he would die. Even if he survived, being left paralyzed all over would not be much better.

Jade-green scales began covering his entire body. The jade-green serpent shadow that had been circling in the sky suddenly transformed into a beam of green light after Biluo unleashed his fifth soul skill, merging into his body.

Aah—!

Biluo covered his face with both hands. At that moment, he no longer even looked human. His legs had actually turned into a serpent's tail.

"You made me become like this! I'll show you the price you must pay!" Biluo raised one hand, and a strange green magic circle appeared behind him.

Within the magic circle, a phantom gradually solidified.

Until it became completely corporeal!

A snake! A massive snake!

First came the snake's head, then its body, then its tail.

"Dark Jade Emperor! I summon you with my Innate Soul Power—tear him apart! Destroy him!" Biluo pointed at Mo Ya, his voice still hoarse.

His fifth soul skill was inherently extremely peculiar. It required the combined power of nine or even ten people to activate.

It allowed the martial soul to merge with the user's body, achieving the effect of a body martial soul strengthening its host.

Such a soul skill was extremely rare. After all, for a beast martial soul to achieve the effects of a body martial soul was truly one of a kind.

At the same time, his fifth soul skill did not merely merge the martial soul into his body—it could also sacrifice his own soul power.

To summon the true Dark Jade Emperor!

He had learned of this function from "that person." However, this skill defied the natural order and came at an enormous cost, so he had never used it before. This was the first time he had been forced to use it.

But according to what he had learned from "that person," using this skill would only consume "a little" of his life force, along with lowering his own Soul Power Level.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

Biluo felt that it was still quite worthwhile. It was a life-saving measure—when his life was on the line, why should he care about anything else?

Hisss~

The Dark Jade Emperor did not follow Biluo's command to "tear Mo Ya apart and destroy him." Instead, it gazed at Biluo greedily, slowly flicking out its tongue.

"Dark Jade Emperor, what exactly are you doing? I summoned you to help me deal with him!"

Seeing that the Dark Jade Emperor was not moving, Biluo shouted in fury.

Yet that shout left him completely stunned the very next moment.

The Dark Jade Emperor's long, slender body reached Biluo in the blink of an eye. Then, before everyone's shocked eyes, it swallowed him whole.

"B-Boss?"

"The boss is done for—we're done for too! Run!"

"Dark Jade Emperor, what have you done?"

"Forget that, hurry up and run for your lives!"

The remaining Evil Soul Masters scattered in panic, some fleeing while others collapsed in disarray.

The legend of the Biluo Serpent Emperor was actually real?

Mo Ya did not bother with the fleeing Evil Soul Masters. Given his special status, as well as his position within the tower, he had participated in some of Spirit Pagoda's secret collaborations.

It was better not to kill them if possible, lest trouble eventually come back to him...

After consuming Biluo, the Dark Jade Emperor's pitch-black scales began turning green. Its body shrank considerably, and its dark aura gradually faded away. In the end, it became an ordinary soul beast instead.

Mo Ya quietly watched the scene, watching the Dark Jade Emperor's evolution and liberation.

Legend had it that there was once a type of soul beast capable of traversing the underworld and the heavens, possessing the ability to communicate with the underground.

Once humans learned of this, they captured them on a massive scale.

As a result, humanity's exploration of the underground yielded countless resources.

But humanity's ambition did not end there. In the end, they even resorted to evil arts, sealing these soul beasts and turning them into martial souls.

Those were stories from thirty or forty thousand years ago. At first, Mo Ya had even thought they were all fake. He had never expected to witness the legend with his own eyes today. It seemed he truly had been ignorant and inexperienced.

According to the legend, for a Biluo Serpent to free itself, the host of its martial soul had to offer themselves as a sacrifice. But that condition was too difficult. No one dared make such a great sacrifice, nor would anyone pay such a price for all humanity.

By now, this was likely the last Biluo Serpent, and it had already become an emperor.

Its liberation here could be considered the end of this legend. Yet while the legend had ended, the story of the Biluo Serpent had not.

The completely liberated and evolved Biluo Serpent Emperor stood in the air. Its aura had undergone a qualitative transformation, reaching a level close to that of a ten-thousand-year soul beast. It did not look toward Mo Ya at all, as though ignoring him. Instead, as though sensing something, it looked in a certain direction.

Then it transformed into a streak of green light and vanished...

"What was that?"

Gu You had been watching the battle below with great relish when, amid the countless black eyes of this world, a beam of light suddenly appeared.

A beam of green light...

Wait? Why was there green light?!

The green light in Gu You's eyes grew larger and larger until he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head.

Gu You only felt as though his head were splitting apart, as if something had been forcibly stuffed into his mind. It could not immediately fit, requiring time to expand and patch itself into the needed shape.

Gu You could say with complete seriousness that this pain was worse than any pain he had ever experienced before!

At the same time, green motes of light began appearing all over Gu You's body.

Soul spirit fusion...

If an outsider had seen this, they would surely have been astonished.

Such a forced fusion was no different from a soul beast sacrificing itself. Once a soul beast chose to sacrifice itself, it was either nearing the end of its lifespan or had been deceived or coerced...

But those genuinely willing to sacrifice themselves of their own accord were truly extremely rare.

The Biluo Serpent Emperor itself was a legendary soul beast. It possessed dragon-descendant bloodline within it, and some even praised its venom as the ultimate poison, the king of all poisons under heaven.

Even if it had willingly sacrificed itself, the process was still exceedingly dangerous for Gu You.

Although there was no backlash from the soul spirit's resentment, fusing with a soul spirit that had lived for tens of thousands of years required an immense amount of spiritual power. Gu You's spiritual power simply could not withstand it.

What was more, the soul ring it bestowed was not suited to his martial soul in the first place.

"So, you want to follow me?"

Within the sea of spirit, Gu You looked at the little snake coiled around his finger and spoke.

The little green snake was very intelligent. It nodded.

"Fine. If you want to follow me, then follow me. You must have been trapped for a long time, huh?"

"But that hurt like hell just now. If you want to fuse with me, just tell me. Don't force it like that—it's the worst feeling."

Gu You grumbled as well.