Devouring Souls

White light flashed, carrying shards of Living Souls as it surged toward Qiu Yan's Living Soul, then lunged forward!

The fragments came into contact with Qiu Yan's Living Soul, colliding and merging!

An aura of slaughter, tearing, biting, and devouring erupted at once.

Devour!

Qiu Yan actually intended to devour those shredded fragments of the humanoid Living Soul and merge them into his own soul power!

Devouring Living Souls was one way to strengthen one's soul. Though it was Qiu Yan's first attempt, it seemed to be an innate instinct. Without any deliberate control, he began merging the foreign Living Soul fragments into himself.

Expansion!

In an instant, Qiu Yan's Living Soul swelled violently, then contracted again under the control of his will!

With this expansion and contraction, his Living Soul grew stronger, denser, and more solid. It finally withstood the pull of the Soul Seizing vortex. Then Qiu Yan seized the moment and charged forward, completely escaping the vortex's range of attraction.

However, even as he broke free, his Living Soul suddenly distorted, as though some foreign object were crashing about inside it.

Not good! I forcibly devoured him, but he seized the opportunity. His Living Soul was pierced and shattered by the Divine Power Longsword, losing its support. It should have dispersed soon, but now that I've devoured it, it is as though I gathered those shattered soul fragments together again. His scattered consciousness and memories are reforming, instinctively seeking to recover, so they are trying to seize control! It is instead trying to assimilate my Living Soul!

The humanoid Living Soul had originally been a whole realm above Qiu Yan's, and who knew how many years it had immersed itself in this path. Even though its Living Soul had shattered and its thoughts were in chaos, the power it unleashed under instinct's command remained immense—far beyond Qiu Yan's ability to resist.

Still, it won't be so easy for you to steal the magpie's nest and let the dove occupy it! Though I am at a disadvantage in realm, I was trapped in a temple for over seventy years, alone and isolated, enduring hardship and loneliness. How many people have experienced that? That loneliness and helplessness are far more terrifying than your chaotic Living Soul! Yet I never went mad and held fast to myself. Could I possibly lose to a jumble of chaotic thoughts?

As his thoughts turned, Qiu Yan's resolve instead became even firmer. No matter how the chaotic thoughts within his Living Soul ravaged him, he remained unmoving, as calm as the eye of a storm.

Elsewhere, a thought rose from the Pan Household.

Hm? Elder Zhan's soul was actually shattered? Unexpected. This man actually has a deity helping him. Unfortunately, he provoked me. Even the City God of this city cannot save you, much less when you don't know what's good for you and dared to recklessly devour a Living Soul that had condensed a Human Soul! Once a Human Soul condenses, wisdom ascends, the mind becomes lucid, one can speak laws and measures, form hand seals and chant incantations. How can an Aperture-Opening Realm cultivator compare? You are courting death!

This thought was not surprised by the shattering of the humanoid Living Soul. Its tone remained steady, revealing a composed calm.

What a pity. I had intended to use your aperture-opened Living Soul as soul material, but now it has benefited Elder Zhan instead. You three should go lend Elder Zhan a hand. It will save some time. It is getting late; this young master should be sleeping as well.

As the thought fell, the night sky twisted, and three Living Souls arrived together. Each contained a Xiaoqiao humanoid figure. They were unmistakably three cultivators who had stepped into the Soul-Congealing Realm and condensed Human Souls!

Two shot straight toward Qiu Yan's Living Soul. The remaining one abruptly turned downward and split off two fragments of Living Soul, turning them into two identical incantation glyphs.

Activate!

The fragments shattered, linking with the ground.

In the rear courtyard of the Pan Household, light bloomed around a residence. A ring of light spread outward, its glow darting like a shuttle as it rapidly expanded over the ground, strange symbols drawn along its edge.

Soul-Guiding Formation Diagram, Spirit Lock! Seal!

Smack!

What kind of method is this? It has actually cut off the ground, making it impossible to break through!

The deity's true body resided underground. It had been able to interfere with the three Condensed Human Souls by using Divine Power light to echo with the Living Soul, but now, as the ring expanded, the connection between the entire Pan Household and the underground was forcibly locked shut, impossible to penetrate!

The tides of battle changed in an instant. Even if he circled far away and emerged from the ground elsewhere, he might not make it in time. For a moment, Qiu Yan's Living Soul was isolated and helpless. Worse, after forcefully devouring another Living Soul, he was trapped in chaos and unable to move, surrounded by the two arriving Condensed Human Souls.

"A man's heart is never satisfied, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. Dealing with someone like this requires no great effort. Constructing an illusion will be enough to make him lose himself completely."

The two Condensed Human Souls exchanged thoughts, then shifted separately. Multicolored illusory lights spread from their souls, seeking to envelop Qiu Yan's Living Soul!

At this critical moment!

Just then.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

A string of crisp cracks suddenly rang out from within Qiu Yan's Living Soul. Then the rapidly twisting Living Soul swiftly settled down!

"Not good! This man actually suppressed Zhan Yuan's will! We cannot hold back any longer!"

Waves of astonished thought came from the two Condensed Human Souls. Then the figures within them moved their hands. The dazzling illusory radiance vanished, replaced by two Living Soul fragments!

But just as the fragments shattered, before they could turn into incantation patterns, a white light rose from within Qiu Yan's Living Soul and swept outward.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A fierce wind howled, forcibly driving the two Condensed Human Souls back. Immediately afterward, the light contracted and wrapped around the surface of the Living Soul without leaving the slightest gap. With one flash, it tore through the air and vanished into the moonlight in the blink of an eye.

"Where did that light come from?"

"Am I seeing things? In the middle of the night, how could there be..."

"Huh? You saw it too?"

In the Pan Household's courtyard, servants on night watch whispered among themselves, many raising their hands to rub their eyes.

"Even ordinary mortals could see that light. Clearly, it was not formed from soul power..."

Above the high walls, two soul shadows drifted upward. They were the two Condensed Human Soul shadows forced back when the white light swept out.

Behind the two souls, the third Living Soul drifted over as well, sending out a thought: "That light was undoubtedly Divine Power radiance. But that deity was isolated below by the power of the Soul-Guiding Formation Diagram I borrowed. How could it possibly release Divine Power again? Yet if Divine Power Stars had been placed inside the Living Soul beforehand, their Divine Power glow would have been obvious and discovered long ago!"

"At the final moment, that man actually subdued Zhan Yuan's will. He is no simple matter either."

"The radiance seemed to be generated from the inside out, appearing from thin air."

"How could a Living Soul generate Divine Power? Could he have concealed his cultivation and actually already cultivated a Divine Soul? Divine Soul radiance?"

"If he were someone whose Divine Soul emitted light, he could even contend with a deity. If we encountered such a person, how could any of us survive?"

Thoughts crisscrossed among the three Living Souls as they argued. Just then, that calm-toned thought came from the Pan Household again—

"Enough. Stop arguing. Since that man dared come investigate, he must have coveted the Soul-Guiding Formation Diagram. How could he lack preparations or a means of escape? Still, once he has provoked me, there is no reason to let him go. His Living Soul may have escaped, but the deity helping him cannot. It must still be in the city. Ask the City God here, and the matter will naturally become clear."

Hearing this, the three Living Souls ceased their dispute and said together, "Young Master is wise."

"Enough, return first. It is late at night, so it would be inappropriate to pay a visit. Tomorrow, we can take a trip to the City God Temple. I hear that the City God here is the daughter of Prince Yin from the previous dynasty, valiant and dashing, with a charm all her own. If she could be added to the Hundred Beauties Portrait, that would be quite a fine thing."

As the thought fell, the three Living Souls grew somewhat flustered and hurriedly said, "Young Master, there are gods above our heads. Please mind your words."

"What is there to fear? I know what I am doing."

At the same time.

Inside Qiu Yan's room in the Liu Household courtyard, a glowing phantom drifted in. The radiance then withdrew, revealing Qiu Yan's Living Soul within.

The moment this Living Soul entered the room, it sank downward, nearly falling to the floor before barely managing to maintain its balance.

"Soul Dao battles truly are extraordinarily perilous. One careless misstep, and having one's soul destroyed would be the least of it. One might even lose oneself forever, never able to rise again."

After sighing, the Living Soul rose again and flew toward the head of the bed.

"Still, at the final moment, I used my own will to forcibly suppress the foreign thoughts and completely annexed the other's Living Soul, strengthening my own soul. I never expected there would be an unexpected gain as well."

With that thought, his attention gradually focused on the interior of his own Living Soul.

At the center of the Living Soul floated a tiny black hole, within which white light flickered from time to time.

"This tiny hole is actually connected to the deity's true body and can transmit Divine Power!"

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