When Vengeance Was Taken, Karma Faded

Awoo!

The wolf soul lunged straight at him!

Just as it was about to swallow Qiu Yan whole, something profound stirred above Qiu Yan's head, and his Living Soul left its shell!

Azure light flashed within the soul! It condensed!

Stab! Stab! Stab!

The azure light became spikes that darted back and forth, shredding the wolf soul into several pieces in only a few passes. Yet the largest fragment still lunged forward.

But a soul shadow flashed ahead. Qiu Yan's Living Soul had already struck, spinning and releasing a pulling force that actually dragged that wolf-soul fragment over and devoured it completely!

Expansion! Expansion! Expansion!

Azure light flickered throughout the soul, spreading everywhere before suddenly contracting!

It became solid and grew stronger.

In the span of a single breath, Qiu Yan's Living Soul had completely digested that fragment of wolf soul. With the aid of Divine Power, it ground away the impurities within and strengthened itself.

Whoosh!

A clear breeze swept by. Several fragments of wolf soul scattered about drifted with the wind, rapidly gathering together and reforming into a wolf-headed soul shadow. Yet clarity had returned to its eyes.

The instant the soul took shape, it did not utter a word. It turned and sped away into the distance.

"Oh? Trying to flee? Such a drastic change in conduct—could it be..."

As the thought crossed his mind, Qiu Yan's Living Soul had already given chase. But the moment it moved, his soul body suddenly shook and stopped in midair.

"It was affected after all. To seize the opportunity earlier, I forcibly split off fragments of my Living Soul. Though the separated portions retained only scattered memories, the damage was real. While I was wrapped in Divine Power and flying at speed, I did not notice it. Now that I am drifting on my own, it has revealed itself."

Earlier, Qiu Yan had devoured a soul—that of Zhan Yuan, an outer-sect steward of the Upper Spirit Sect. From its memories, he had obtained the two cultivation arts, the Spirit Eye Art and the Curse Compendium. Over the past few days, he had examined them somewhat and learned from the Curse Compendium the method of the Soul-Splitting Curse Formation. He also knew that forcibly using it would bring aftereffects; in serious cases, the Living Soul could scatter to the four winds.

Just as Qiu Yan's Living Soul halted, the wolf soul had already flown far away. Then a point of azure light suddenly flashed at high speed, shredding the mass of wolf soul once more. Only after two or three breaths did it gather itself again, and by then Qiu Yan's Living Soul had finally arrived.

"If your flesh still remained, I would naturally avoid you as if avoiding a tiger, for you are a great demon who has refined the Three Souls. But now, you have only one soul left, and it is merely at the Soul-Projection Realm. How could you possibly escape?" Qiu Yan's Living Soul said.

"Hmph, so what? You captured me because you want to extract information from this general, but do not dream that I will speak!" The wolf soul stopped in midair. "You and the deity behind you injured this general's demon troops, and now you have destroyed my body. You have committed a grave crime! Once the Great King learns of this, even Yuanning City God will be unable to protect you!"

Hearing this, Qiu Yan's Living Soul drifted up and down as though examining the wolf soul closely. Then he said, "It seems devouring Tang Yi's Living Soul affected you greatly. That makes sense. Though he too was at the Aperture-Opening Realm, his soul power was immense—far greater than your own. I weakened him, and you devoured him, but his memories and temperament did not vanish. Instead, they seeped back into your soul. You are now Tang Yi wearing a layer of wolf skin. No wonder even your thoughts have become so much clearer."

During the battle at the Pan Household, Qiu Yan had used three Living Souls condensed with Human Souls, together with Divine Power, to envelop his own soul and charge into the Wolf Demon's flesh. The Wolf Demon had already used Blood Essence to corrode a crack into the protective ripples around Tang Yi. Yet its own wolf soul had become entangled by the Hundred Beauties Portrait, giving Qiu Yan an opening. With one charge and a surge of Divine Power, he stripped both Tang Yi's and the Wolf Demon's souls from their bodies.

Tang Yi's soul had not immediately dissipated after being swallowed by the wolf. It remained entwined with the wolf soul for a long time before its True Spirit faded and its imprint vanished. But his soul power had been far too immense. After devouring it, the wolf soul was corroded by Tang Yi's scattered memories and disposition within it, losing its sense of self and undergoing a drastic change in temperament. Then its soul body had just been torn apart again, striking its original self and resulting in its present behavior.

The wolf soul gave a cold, heh-heh laugh. "Your guess is correct. Young Master Tang's memories gave this general tremendous enlightenment, like enlightenment pouring over my head. I do not know where your Soul Dao cultivation came from, but you surely have no master or lineage. Otherwise, you could have invoked your sect and would not have needed to scheme so much to make this general and the Upper Spirit Sect fight until both sides were battered and bruised!"

Qiu Yan's Living Soul clicked his tongue in amazement. "It seems that such a drastic change in temperament may be a bad thing for ordinary people, but for you, it is a blessing from heaven."

The wolf soul continued, "Enough nonsense. You have offended both the Mountain-Passing Great King and the Upper Spirit Sect. You may escape for a time, but not for a lifetime. And do not expect me to tell you anything. Even if you devour souls, the memories will be incomplete. Perhaps you will miss what you wish to know... Hm?"

Before it could finish speaking, it suddenly cried out.

A ray of Divine Power shot from Qiu Yan's Living Soul and pierced through the wolf soul!

This time, the wolf soul's thoughts were clear, and it clearly witnessed the scene. It was instantly shocked. "What is this? Divine Power generated by itself? Your Divine Power actually arose from within your soul? How is that possible?!"

Amid its shriek, the Divine Power piercing the wolf soul exploded, rapidly erasing the consciousness, memories, and temperament within.

"What are you doing? You want to erase my True Spirit and memories? Do you not want to know..."

"Some matters need not be asked. Soul devouring can reveal them as well. From the moment you began hunting me down, some information could no longer remain hidden," Qiu Yan's Living Soul said as he slowly advanced. "In human form, you are a general under Song Yuan. Every demon instinctively hides its identity, so this Tongshan Demon King is not Song Yuan. Rather, he is someone of status at Song Yuan's side, which is why he could infiltrate the Wuxin Commandery."

"You..." Within the wolf soul, the azure light grew brighter, radiating an emotional intent of utter disbelief. "Could it be that my pursuit of you was part of your scheme all along?"

"I do not possess such great ability. I merely took the chance to investigate."

Upon hearing Qiu Yan's words, the wolf soul struggled again. "Do you know what a great crime it is to destroy my soul? The Great King will learn of it immediately..."

"You were righteous and imposing just now, yet now you are panicking again?" Qiu Yan cut him off. "You need not trouble yourself over that. If I were someone's subordinate and had ruined a task while suffering heavy losses, the first thing I would think of would not be to seek out my superior to complain and ask for help. I would suppress the matter and settle it as quickly as possible. Only after finding the true culprit would I report it. Would you not agree?"

"You even know that..."

Before the words were finished, the True Spirit within the soul had already scattered. The entire wolf soul shrank by half, but every impurity and chaotic thought was stripped away and erased by Divine Power, leaving behind only pure soul power.

Qiu Yan's Living Soul lunged forward and swallowed that mass of pure soul power like a whale gulping down water. His soul body rapidly expanded, then contracted again. With that expansion and contraction, it became increasingly solid. The hidden danger from forcibly splitting his soul was gradually repaired, and his thoughts became clearer and clearer.

"This wolf soul, together with Tang Yi's soul that it devoured, expended quite a bit of itself along the way to wrap the Blood Essence. But what remained has still increased my soul power more than fourfold!"

Feeling the changes in his Living Soul, Qiu Yan sighed.

"Still, I have no way to learn the method of condensing a Human Soul. Tang Yi's soul may contain the memories, but first, they may not be complete. Second, who knows what hidden dangers lie within them? Devouring Zhan Yuan's soul that day was perilous in the extreme. Unless there is no other choice, I cannot try again. Hm?"

Before Qiu Yan's thoughts had even settled, strands of black silk suddenly emerged within his soul, blossoming outward and scattering in all directions!

Light!

In an instant, Qiu Yan felt his Living Soul become light and drifting, as though shackles had fallen away. Then the memories, emotions, and thoughts in his soul rapidly gathered, vaguely about to condense into a single point!

"That is it. The Wolf Demon was the direct culprit behind the village massacre. By devouring its soul, I have avenged half of my grudge, and nearly half the power of Karma has faded as well! What a thing—once this entanglement of Karma is removed, the recoil alone has caused the emotions and memories in my soul to nearly condense completely. What a pity I lack a method of Soul Condensation. Otherwise, I could immediately condense a Human Soul. But after this, I have already seen the road ahead. It will not be long now..."

Even as he was thinking this, a change suddenly occurred on the other side. His physical body, wrapped in blood mist, began to shift. With several muffled puff puff puff sounds, the seated body began trembling violently, and the blood mist spreading around it rapidly contracted!

Seeing this, Qiu Yan's Living Soul did not hesitate. With a single turn, it descended once more onto the crown of his physical body and merged into it.

Mobile users, please visit m. to read.