Sea Swallower Remnant Soul's words plunged the entire altar into dead silence.
Take it to Abyss?
How was that possible?
Han Jue was the first to frown.
"A remnant soul of a fiendish beast like you carries grave slaughter karma. Wouldn't taking you to Abyss simply invite disaster?"
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul gave a low laugh.
"Young one, you've got some nerve."
"At my peak, I could swallow three thousand Golden Immortals like you in one bite."
Han Jue said coldly, "But now you're only a remnant soul."
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul narrowed his eyes.
"Are all people from Abyss this stubborn?"
Ao Lie glanced at Han Jue.
"He's an especially stubborn kind."
Han Jue glared at him.
"Whose side are you on, exactly?"
Ao Lie could not be bothered with him.
Lan Shuang was not affected by Sea Swallower Remnant Soul's words.
She lowered her head and looked at the Book of Cause and Effect.
The karmic threads of Sea Swallower Remnant Soul recorded within it were so tangled that they were alarming.
Crimson, black, and gray were twisted into a single mass.
They were the countless acts of slaughter accumulated during the Beast Tribulation.
If such a remnant soul were brought back to Abyss and lost control, the consequences would be severe.
Yet he knew some secrets of Emperor's past.
That was equally important.
After pondering for a moment, Lan Shuang said, "If you wish to enter Abyss, you must be revealed by the Book of Cause and Effect."
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul gave a strange laugh.
"Reveal my karma?"
"Do you know how many living beings I have killed?"
Lan Shuang's expression remained calm.
"That is precisely why it must be revealed."
"Abyss has Abyss's rules."
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul fell silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly laughed even harder.
"Rules."
"That old tortoise has slept in Abyss for countless years, yet he taught a group of juniors who care about rules."
"Interesting."
"Far too interesting."
Ao Yin said coldly from the side, "Fate Overseer Lan Shuang, if Abyss will not take him, why not hand him over to the Dragon Clan for disposal?"
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul abruptly looked at him.
"The Dragon Clan?"
"Back then, even your Ancestral Dragon had to personally act to suppress me."
"What are you supposed to be?"
Ao Yin's face darkened at once.
But after suffering a major loss earlier, he did not dare act rashly again.
Lin Yue also spoke. "This remnant soul is dangerous. Abyss should not take him away alone."
Feng Li, however, said nothing.
She merely watched Lan Shuang, seemingly wanting to see how Abyss would handle this.
Lan Shuang naturally knew that none of the three clans wanted Sea Swallower Remnant Soul to fall into Abyss's hands.
But she also knew that she could not bring him back herself.
Emperor's decree had said it clearly: if she could not obtain it, she should run; if she met a powerful enemy, she should retreat; she was not to invoke his name.
Although some information about Emperor had already been exposed because of Sea Swallower Remnant Soul's old acquaintance, she could not continue expanding the risk.
Lan Shuang slowly said, "Abyss does not accept those whose slaughter karma has not been cleansed."
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul's gaze turned cold.
"You reject me?"
Lan Shuang said, "If you wish to enter Abyss, you must first cleanse your baleful slaughter karma."
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul's laughter gradually faded.
"Cleanse my slaughter karma?"
"If this remnant soul of mine is cleansed of its slaughter karma, what will be left of me?"
Lan Shuang looked at him.
"Perhaps the real you will remain."
As those words fell,
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul suddenly fell quiet.
Within that mass of roiling black water, the scarlet eye flickered uncertainly.
He recalled something from a very long time ago.
Before the Beast Tribulation, he had merely been a trace of sea-devouring spirituality in the Northern Sea.
The world had only just opened, and all things were chaotic.
Baleful Fiendish Aura had eroded him.
His devouring instinct had overwhelmed his intelligence.
Later, he became a fiendish beast.
He devoured waterways.
He devoured living beings.
He devoured his own kind.
Until one day, he swam near Abyss.
At that time, deep within the Northern Sea, a Black Tortoise of absurd size lay sleeping.
Sea Devourer felt that it was an unprecedented feast.
So he pounced.
Then, seemingly annoyed by the noise, the Black Tortoise merely turned over.
An indescribable force crashed down.
His physical body shattered on the spot.
That day, Sea Devourer learned for the first time that in the Primordial World, some things might look as though they were sleeping, but touching them meant death.
Later, his remnant soul was suppressed by the Northern Dark Water Palace.
Guarding the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, he remained there for countless years.
From the Beast Tribulation to the rise of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans.
He watched the Northern Sea change masters again and again.
Only that old tortoise deep within Abyss had continued sleeping.
He slept so long that Sea Devourer had nearly forgotten his existence.
Until today, when people from Abyss arrived.
They carried the Book of Cause and Effect, guided Abyss Water Aura, and stood before him speaking of rules.
Sea Devourer suddenly found it absurd.
And exhausting.
He stared at Lan Shuang and said, "If I am willing to disperse my slaughter karma, can you guarantee that I will enter Abyss?"
Lan Shuang shook her head.
"I cannot guarantee it."
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul's gaze turned cold.
Lan Shuang continued, "I can only guarantee that I will bring your soul pearl back to Abyss for Emperor to decide."
Sea Devourer was silent for a long time.
"Will that old tortoise see me?"
Lan Shuang said, "Whether Emperor sees you is not for me to decide."
Sea Devourer suddenly laughed.
"Honest, at least."
Ao Yin could not help saying, "You really intend to trust her?"
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul gave him a cold look.
"Even if I disperse my slaughter karma, it is still better than being refined by your Dragon Clan into a remnant-soul treasure."
Ao Yin's expression turned ugly.
That had indeed been his plan.
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul was dangerous, but if he could be refined into a Dragon Clan treasure, its power would certainly not be weak.
Unfortunately, Sea Devourer had seen through him.
Lan Shuang raised the Book of Cause and Effect.
"If you are willing to disperse your baleful slaughter karma, the Book of Cause and Effect can assist you."
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul looked toward the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl.
"The pearl is yours."
"I ask only for one chance."
After saying that, his massive remnant soul began to contract.
Black water roiled as Baleful Fiendish Aura was continuously stripped from his body.
The entire altar began to tremble.
Countless crimson karmic threads emerged from Sea Swallower Remnant Soul and were illuminated bit by bit by the Book of Cause and Effect.
The sight was immensely shocking.
A fiendish soul left over from the Beast Tribulation was actually taking the initiative to disperse its slaughter karma.
Ao Yin and Lin Yue watched with dark expressions.
Feng Li's eyes flickered instead.
Could Abyss's rules truly make a fiendish beast remnant soul bow willingly?
That was simply unbelievable.
Han Jue gripped his spear and said softly, "Is he really willing?"
Ao Lie said gravely, "He has guarded this place for too long."
"Sometimes, living too long is also torture."
Han Jue glanced at him.
"You're quite good at sighing over life."
Ao Lie said indifferently, "Guard a gate long enough, and you start thinking about things."
Ancestor Xuan Jia looked at Sea Swallower Remnant Soul and slowly sighed.
"Fiendish beasts, dragons, phoenixes, and qilins alike, all remain within the tribulation in the end."
"To willingly disperse slaughter karma is already no easy thing."
Lan Shuang activated the Book of Cause and Effect with all her strength.
Black-and-white radiance descended continuously.
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul grew smaller and smaller.
In the end, the vast black water dissipated, leaving behind only a pitch-black soul pearl floating above the altar.
Within the soul pearl, a faint eye remained.
That eye looked toward Lan Shuang.
"Take me to Abyss."
Lan Shuang put away the soul pearl.
"I will request Emperor's instructions."
At the same time,
The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl atop the altar finally broke free from the black water's restraints and slowly descended.
Lady Mingzhu raised her hand and caught it.
The instant the pearl landed in her hand, the waterways throughout the entire water palace calmed.
"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl is ours."
Before the people of Abyss could show any joy,
A dragon claw suddenly struck from the side.
Ao Yin made his move.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
Sea Swallower Remnant Soul had dispersed, the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl had just fallen into Lady Mingzhu's hand, and Abyss's people still had their attention on the soul pearl.
This was the best chance to seize the treasure.
"Hand it over!"
A dragon claw tore through Blackwater, striking straight at Lady Mingzhu.
Ao Lie's expression changed drastically.
He was the closest, and the first to react.
Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped forward. Blackwater dragon aura erupted as he forcibly positioned himself in front of Lady Mingzhu.
Boom!
Ao Yin's claw came crashing down.
Ao Lie was sent staggering back dozens of yards, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The killing intent in Ao Yin's eyes surged.
"Ao Lie, you dare stand in my way?"
Ao Lie looked up, his gaze icy.
"She is Lady Mingzhu, keeper of the Abyss Treasury."
"You dare lay a hand on someone from Abyss?"
Ao Yin laughed in extreme rage.
"Someone from Abyss?"
"Have you forgotten that you are the Dragon Clan's crown prince?"
Ao Lie fell silent for a moment.
Then, he slowly straightened.
"I remember."
"But today, I am upholding Abyss's rules."