Ding, Your Cheat Has Successfully Activated

She could not forget that blood-red night half a year ago, when the people from the Iron Blood Sect had burst into her home.

In her despair, she felt an extremely cold, greedy power surge from the depths of her Martial Soul.

That power told her that as long as she killed, as long as she devoured the life force of others, she could grow stronger instantly.

That power disgusted her and filled her with unprecedented terror.

Lu Chen looked at the girl curled into a ball before him and sighed softly.

His Hands pressed heavily on Tang Ya's shoulders, firm yet gentle.

"Look at me, Xiao Ya."

Tang Ya hesitantly raised her eyes. Through her tear-filled gaze, she saw that Lu Chen's lips still held their usual faintly roguish smile.

"Sister Xiao Ya, do you think that having that Devouring Attribute makes you an Evil Soul Master?"

Lu Chen snorted, his eyes filled with arrogance.

"That's complete bullshit! There have never been evil Martial Souls in this world, only evil people.

A kitchen knife can chop vegetables or kill someone. Does that make the knife guilty?

A Martial Soul is nothing more than a tool. How you use it is up to you, not it!"

"But... but Evil Soul Masters..."

Tang Ya froze. What he said completely overturned everything she had always believed.

Evil Soul Masters were Evil Soul Masters because their wills were usually weak.

They slaughtered innocents and lost all conscience in pursuit of strength.

But you're doing this for revenge, for protection."

"As long as you don't kill indiscriminately, even if your Blue Silver Grass turns pitch-black, in my eyes, Lu Chen's eyes—

you'll still be Sister Xiao Ya, the one who cries easily and even burns porridge."

He reached out and gently wiped away the tears at Tang Ya's eyes, his voice becoming incomparably resolute.

"Besides, the side effects you're worried about aren't a problem before me.

I possess Ultimate Light, Divine Power that can purify everything.

I'm the bane of all cold, sinister auras.

If you fall, I'll purify you.

With me here, you can't become an Evil Soul Master."

Tang Ya stared blankly at Lu Chen, feeling the warmth radiating from his Hands on her shoulders.

The gloom and fear that had been buried in her heart for half a year actually dissipated by more than half at that moment.

That's right. As long as he doesn't despise me, as long as he stays by my side, what does it matter what I become?

"You rascal, who cries easily...?"

Tang Ya sniffled, then smiled through her tears.

Though her eyes were still red, they had become brighter than ever.

She waved her little fist and said coquettishly,

"You said it yourself. If I really can't control myself and want to 'eat' people someday—

I'll swallow you first, you brat covered in golden light!"

"Sounds great. There's enough meat on me to fill you up."

Lu Chen laughed heartily, then took Tang Ya's little hand and led her to the Earth Demon Ape's corpse.

"Come on, Sister Xiao Ya.

Only by truly accepting yourself and your Martial Soul's true form can you become strong!"

"Mm!"

Tang Ya nodded heavily, and two Soul Rings instantly rose from beneath her feet.

A stalk of emerald-green Blue Silver Grass swayed in the wind above her right hand.

Then, several vines suddenly shot out from the ground and swiftly wrapped around the Earth Demon Ape's corpse.

The instant the vines touched the corpse, the Devouring Power deep within the source of her Martial Soul erupted!

The originally gentle Blue Silver Grass instantly became ferocious and greedy, radiating a heart-palpitating aura.

Tang Ya's delicate brows knitted together as she instinctively tried to resist the out-of-control power.

"Sister Xiao Ya, I'm here. Don't worry—devour to your heart's content!"

Lu Chen spoke gently, softly guiding her by her ear.

Tang Ya took a deep breath and completely let go of her resistance to the Devouring Attribute.

At that moment, the ferocious Blue Silver Grass plunged into the ape's corpse like venomous snakes spotting prey.

The originally emerald blades of grass gradually took on traces of purple-black, becoming eerie and sinister.

Countless strands of life essence were madly absorbed by the Dark Blue Silver Grass and continuously sent into Tang Ya's body.

Tang Ya's body trembled as she clearly felt her Soul Power, which had long been starved for energy, slowly rising.

But the Earth Demon Ape had been dead for quite some time, and little life essence remained in its body.

In only a few breaths, the ape's corpse had been drained into a shriveled empty shell.

"Not enough!"

Tang Ya's eyes suddenly flew open, and two streams of black qi escaped from her pupils.

Her gaze was full of greed, and her expression became somewhat twisted.

The next second, her gaze abruptly fell upon Lu Chen.

Clearly, she had temporarily been controlled by the evil aura within her body.

Countless Dark Blue Silver Grass vines surged at Lu Chen like tens of thousands of venomous snakes.

Lu Chen merely smiled faintly at the sight.

He spread his Hands, showing no intention of stopping her.

"Sister Xiao Ya, come on. Devour your fill this time."

But just as the grass tips were about to touch his body, they suddenly stopped.

"No... I can't hurt Little Chen!"

Tang Ya's face twisted as she kept growling.

She struggled in agony while desperately suppressing the surging desire to devour within her heart.

Seeing this, Lu Chen walked straight over and pulled her tightly into his arms.

"Sister Xiao Ya, absorb without worry. You know I have an Immortal Body."

The moment those words left his mouth, Tang Ya could no longer hold back.

To the Dark Blue Silver Grass's senses, the life essence within Lu Chen was far richer than that of an ordinary Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

He was like a glowing, walking source of deadly temptation.

"Pssh!"

Several black grass tips fiercely pierced Lu Chen's body.

Lu Chen could clearly feel his life force draining away at a rapid rate.

His body, once brimming with vitality and blood, gradually shriveled.

Just then, a powerful fluctuation of Soul Power suddenly appeared nearby.

It was Luo Wei!

"Young Sect Master, you..."

Lu Chen replied in a deep voice, "I'm fine. No matter what happens next, don't interfere."

Though worried, Luo Wei could only nod when she saw Lu Chen's confidence. "Yes!"

The Dark Blue Silver Grass's Devouring Power far exceeded Lu Chen's expectations.

He had originally thought that his abundant vitality could support him for at least thirty seconds.

Yet after only a dozen breaths, he felt his body completely dry up and collapse limply into Tang Ya's arms.

He had completely become a dried corpse, several Soul Bones falling from his body one after another.

"Little Chen!"

The moment Luo Wei saw Lu Chen's Head Soul Bone fall off as well, her expression drastically changed.

A powerful wave of Soul Power erupted from her body.

Every Soul Beast within ten li trembled all over and fled into the distance in terror.

Although she had seen Lu Chen die before, at least his head had remained intact then.

In her eyes, even if Lu Chen could recover quickly and return from death, there had to be a limit.

The head was an incomparably important part of a Soul Master, the vessel of memory.

And now, even his head was gone!

Yet out of absolute trust in the Young Sect Master, she ultimately held herself back from acting.

At the same time, in the distant tent,

Long Aotian crawled out with a wary expression.

"Aunt Luo, what happened?"

The next second, his pupils shrank sharply.

He saw a skull, apparently having lost its support, fall from Lu Chen's body.

His limbs had all vanished, leaving only a shriveled upper torso.

Tang Ya was holding it in her arms.

"Brother Lu is... dead?!" Long Aotian's face filled with horror and disbelief.

Tang Ya, having finished absorbing the energy, suddenly regained clarity in her eyes.

When she saw the headless corpse lying limp in her arms, her Brain, which had been controlled by evil aura, instantly recovered its reason.

Her pupils widened abruptly. "Little Chen!"

She cried out in heart-wrenching anguish, tears streaming down like broken beads.

"I... I actually killed Little Chen..."

After standing there stunned for a moment, Tang Ya abruptly pulled a dagger from her storage Soul Tool.

Without the slightest hesitation, she stabbed it toward her own chest.

She could not accept that she had personally killed the person she cared about most.

"Holy shit! What am I seeing?" Long Aotian's eyes widened.

Behind Tang Ya, a drop of blood suddenly began to boil.

Then it twisted and swelled.

In only a few breaths, the dead Lu Chen was actually reborn!

Just as the dagger was about to plunge into Tang Ya's body, a large hand suddenly seized her wrist tightly from behind.