"Though the Spirit-Locking Picture I burned before was a magical artifact, its material was ordinary. It merely contained a Soul Split, and I happened to be condensing my Human Soul at the time, so I did not notice much. But now that I am burning an entire demon—and an old demon that has refined the Three Souls—I have discovered something amiss. It seems these Kitchen God flames are not without limits. Still, to get to the bottom of it, this burning and refining must continue!"
With that thought turning in his mind, Qiu Yan stamped his foot. His sole sank into the ground, then kicked upward, sending a great swath of dirt flying and leaving a pit in the earth. With a flick of his left hand, the servant's corpse fell into it.
"This man was killed by his master's household. Even his soul was devoured, leaving nothing behind; he is now an empty shell. He was a mere mortal, not some demon trying to take my life. There is no need to humiliate him. We are all human. The dead deserve respect; let the dead rest in the earth."
Qiu Yan swept his foot again, raising another wave of soil that covered the pit. Before long, it had become a grave mound.
Unmarked lone graves like this were not uncommon in this age. Qiu Yan had no need to worry overmuch. Even the most vicious people knew that while men acted, gods watched. With fear in their hearts came a bottom line, and few would lightly stoop to digging up graves and casting out corpses.
Only after finishing this did Qiu Yan shift his gaze back to the Goat Demon.
At this moment, the Goat Demon's body was convulsing violently. Streams of heat kept bursting from its pores, yet