Stripping Away Life Gold! Returning to the Hundred-Thousand-Year Peak

Boom—!

The Golden Tortoiseshell's frantically operating dual water-and-earth defense suddenly stalled. Its murky eyes abruptly widened and contracted, while its massive body froze on the spot.

"Y-You... what did you say?!"

The Golden Tortoiseshell stared at Mu Yunye in shock, its voice trembling violently from extreme agitation and disbelief.

"Really? You can really pull out this bloodsucking crystal?"

The Golden Tortoiseshell could hardly be blamed for its shock. The Life-Watch Crystal was like a festering parasite clinging to its bones, constantly draining its hundred-thousand-year life essence!

It had tried countless methods. It had even resorted to mutilating itself, yet it had been unable to remove it.

How could a human possibly do it?

"Since I dared to say it, I naturally have complete confidence."

Mu Yunye ignored its doubts and merely nodded calmly, his gaze carrying an irresistible certainty.

"I can help you deal with it and free you from this torment worse than death. But in exchange, you must become my Soul Spirit."

"A Soul Spirit?"

The Golden Tortoiseshell's enormous head drew back slightly, and the shock in its eyes was instantly replaced by even deeper wariness.

It had seen far too much human cunning and greed.

The Golden Tortoiseshell fixed Mu Yunye with a hard stare and asked in a deep voice, "I have only heard of soul rings and soul bones. What kind of strange and vicious secret art is this Soul Spirit?"

"Vicious secret art? Pah, pah, pah! You old turtle!"

A cheeky voice suddenly rang out within the empty karst cave. Under the Golden Tortoiseshell's horrified gaze...

Buzz—!

A strange radiance flickered between Mu Yunye's brows.

Three illusory figures, each exuding a completely different yet equally terrifying aura, appeared out of thin air beside Mu Yunye like Gui Mei.

"This... this is..."

The Golden Tortoiseshell sucked in a sharp breath.

"The ruler of the Far North... the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion?!"

The Golden Tortoiseshell let out an incredulous cry.

"You... no, this state of yours... You have no physical body?!"

Ice Empress shot the Golden Tortoiseshell a cold glance. The pressure of a four-hundred-thousand-year ferocious beast instantly made it shut its mouth.

"Do you see?"

Mu Yunye smiled faintly and pointed to Skydream Ice Silkworm, Ice Empress, and Autumn-Water Dew beside him as he patiently explained.

"This is what a Soul Spirit is."

Mu Yunye's voice was clear and deeply enticing.

"Simply put, you become my soul ring, while I use a special method to preserve your consciousness and soul. You will not truly die. Instead, you will exist in my Sea of Spirit in an entirely new form of life."

"When I attain godhood in the future, all of you will gain true immortality as well!"

Boom—!

Mu Yunye's words were like a massive bomb exploding fiercely within the Golden Tortoiseshell's mind.

The Golden Tortoiseshell was utterly stunned.

"There's actually such a method?!"

It muttered to itself, its gaze shifting repeatedly between Mu Yunye and the three Soul Spirits.

"..."

The karst cave fell into prolonged silence.

The Golden Tortoiseshell was caught in an intense internal struggle. As a defensive soul beast with a long lifespan and an instinctive love for clinging to life, it feared death more than any other creature.

I do not have much time left. This damned Life-Watch Crystal is about to drain the fire of my life completely dry...

The Golden Tortoiseshell pondered sorrowfully.

If it could not resolve this, it would sooner or later die a miserable death anyway...

The Golden Tortoiseshell glanced at its dull dark-gold shell, then at Mu Yunye's calm, confident face and those Double Pupils so profound that they seemed capable of seeing through every truth in the world.

"Fine! I agree!"

In the end, its desire for life overcame its fear of the unknown.

The Golden Tortoiseshell nodded heavily. A flash of resolve crossed its murky eyes as it finally yielded.

"Human boy, as long as you can pull out this poisonous thorn, I will willingly become your Soul Spirit!"

"A wise choice."

The smile at Mu Yunye's lips deepened.

"Elder Yi, please prepare the undead magic formation for forging the Soul Spirit Contract."

Mu Yunye called softly within his Sea of Spirit.

"Leave it to me."

Electrolux's gentle voice rang out.

"Close your eyes. Do not resist my power."

Mu Yunye took a step forward and arrived directly before the Golden Tortoiseshell's enormous head.

Buzz—!

The next instant, Mu Yunye's pupils split apart. Countless intricate, profoundly mysterious gray-white runes leaped and intertwined wildly in the depths of his eyes, as though they reflected a vast, deep starry sky.

Under the heaven-defying analysis and insight of the Double Pupils, the Life-Watch Crystal was instantly deconstructed in Mu Yunye's eyes into the most fundamental strands of elemental texture.

"Reconstruct!"

A dazzling gray-white divine light erupted from Mu Yunye's Double Pupils, directly enveloping the Life-Watch Crystal.

"Now!"

Mu Yunye suddenly clenched his right hand in the air.

Accompanied by a blazing elemental storm, the Elemental Sword, wreathed in the five attributes of ultimate fire, lightning, light, evil, and ice, was instantly summoned into his grasp.

Sshk—!

Holding the Elemental Sword, Mu Yunye placed its tip with flawless precision against the Golden Tortoiseshell's skin. Using the sword's ultimate elemental affinity as a bridge, he began absorbing the violent life aura and curse power.

The Elemental Sword's blade hummed violently. Its originally pure-white edge was dyed with a dense, dark-green glow.

The life force contained within the Life-Watch Crystal was simply too immense. Even the portion contaminated by the curse surged madly into Mu Yunye's body along the blade.

"Hiss..."

Fine beads of sweat instantly covered Mu Yunye's forehead. Had his body not undergone the ultimate tempering of the Icefire Dragon King Bloodline, the instant he came into contact with this immense life force—

He would have suffered terribly as well.

"..."

The Golden Tortoiseshell shut its eyes in agony, its enormous body continuously convulsing from the intense pain.

As time passed—

The gray, decayed cursed baleful aura on the crystal's surface was continuously broken down by the reconstructive power of the Double Pupils, then forcibly absorbed and neutralized by the Elemental Sword's ultimate evil and holy attributes.

"Get... up!"

Mu Yunye suddenly let out a thunderous roar.

The Double Pupil runes in his eyes revolved at their limit, and the light of the runes suddenly burst forth.

Pfft!

The Life-Watch Crystal that had tormented the Golden Tortoiseshell through countless days and nights was finally forcibly stripped completely from its body by Mu Yunye!

The Life-Watch Crystal floated in midair, giving off warm and boundless fluctuations like the origin of life itself.

Life Gold!

Boom—!

At the instant the Life-Watch Crystal was pulled out, the Golden Tortoiseshell's huge, withered-tree-like body suddenly erupted with an earth-shaking roar.

As a terrifying dual water-and-earth aura burst forth, the rocks throughout the karst cave cracked inch by inch. The underground river even flowed backward, transforming into a curtain of water that filled the sky.

Nourished by this immense life force—

The gray aura of death around the Golden Tortoiseshell was instantly swept away. Its formerly dull shell transformed into a dazzling dark-gold hue, as though forged from pure gold!

Roar—!

With a long roar full of boundless exhilaration and majesty, the Golden Tortoiseshell's aura directly broke through that layer of shackles and completely returned to its peak state.

"I... I'm finally alive again!"

The Golden Tortoiseshell wept tears of joy.

When it looked at Mu Yunye again, there was no longer the slightest trace of wariness or hostility in its eyes. In their place were endless fervor and gratitude.

"Human, thank you!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the Golden Tortoiseshell's massive hundred-thousand-year body suddenly bowed forward, its enormous head slamming heavily against the hard stone.