Sea Devourer's Atonement, the Ferocious Soul Devours Demonic Sha

Deep within the Northern Darkness Sea.

The Sea-Swallowing Soul Pearl floated above the core of a water-vein formation.

Ever since Lu Chen had taken it in, it had guarded the water veins along the edge of the Northern Darkness Sea.

The Book of Cause and Effect had left a mark upon its soul pearl.

The water vapor of the Northern Darkness Sea had also gradually washed away its lingering ferocious balefulness.

In the past, Sea Devourer had been a ferocious soul that devoured water veins during the Beast Tribulation.

It had devoured countless living beings.

It had also destroyed many seas.

According to the judgment of the Book of Cause and Effect, the karmic bloodshed upon it was exceedingly grave.

Yet it had voluntarily dispersed most of its karmic bloodshed and offered up the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, earning itself a slim foothold in Guixu.

All these years, it had remained very quiet.

So quiet that many of Guixu's living beings had nearly forgotten that a ferocious beast remnant soul was hidden within the Northern Darkness Sea.

Until today.

Youdu released Demonic Sha, contaminating Guixu Academy and even spreading toward the Northern Darkness Sea.

Upon sensing the aura of Demonic Sha, the Sea-Swallowing Soul Pearl suddenly reacted intensely.

Demonic Sha was extremely dangerous to ordinary living beings.

To it, however, it was like a stream of foul water that could be devoured.

Of course, swallowing it would also bring backlash.

Demonic Sha differed from ordinary baleful energy.

It contained Luohou's Demonic Dao will. If it devoured too much, its ferocious nature could very well take control of it once more.

Yet Sea Devourer still volunteered to fight.

Lu Chen hesitated slightly when he heard Sea Devourer's words.

"Are you sure?"

The Sea-Swallowing Soul Pearl trembled lightly within the water vein.

"I became ferocious through devouring."

"If I now fear swallowing a few mouthfuls of Demonic Sha, how can I speak of atonement?"

Lu Chen fell silent for a moment.

This ferocious soul had changed quite a bit.

The system also issued a prompt.

"Detected that the Sea-Swallowing Soul Pearl requests permission to devour Demonic Sha. Host, please choose."

"Option one: Allow Sea Devourer to devour Demonic Sha and let it restore its ferocious beast nature. Reward: one Ferocious Beast War Spirit."

"Option two: Refuse Sea Devourer's request to fight and have the Guixu Dharma Body purify Demonic Sha. Reward: Demon-Purifying Water Talisman."

"Option three: Restrain Sea Devourer with the Book of Cause and Effect, allowing it to devour Demonic Sha as atonement. Reward: Sea-Calming Beast Spirit Prototype."

Lu Chen chose option three.

"Granted."

"The Book of Cause and Effect will restrain you."

"If you cannot endure it, retreat at once."

Sea Devourer gave a low laugh.

"This old turtle... Emperor, rest assured."

Lu Chen's eyelid twitched.

Did this fellow just try to call me old turtle again?

Forget it.

Now was not the time to argue over forms of address.

Above the Northern Darkness Sea.

The radiance of the Book of Cause and Effect descended.

Black-and-white light wound around the Sea-Swallowing Soul Pearl, forming a chain of karma.

The next moment, the soul pearl shot into the sky.

The deep-blue seawater was churned up by it.

A colossal black-water beast phantom rose from the Northern Darkness Sea.

It resembled a massive whale and an ancient serpent, with a mouth like an abyss and broken scales along its back.

This was the Sea Swallower Remnant Soul's current form.

It was countless times weaker than its ferocious beast body of old.

Yet it still carried an astonishing aura of devouring.

Above Guixu Academy.

Youdu was controlling Demonic Sha as it battered the Realm-Protecting Formation.

Han Jue, Ao Lie, Feng Li, and Lin Yue joined forces, barely blocking the frontal assault of Demonic Sha.

But Demonic Sha could seep through any opening.

Black mist continually bypassed the formation, trying to burrow into the foreheads of the academy disciples.

Lan Shuang used the Book of Cause and Effect to purify it, but the pressure upon her grew ever greater.

Just then.

A deep roar came from the direction of the Northern Darkness Sea.

Sea Devourer's beast phantom burst from the water.

It opened its enormous jaws and inhaled the Demonic Sha filling the sky.

Boom!

A vast amount of Demonic Sha was directly swallowed into its mouth.

The pressure above the academy instantly eased.

Youdu's expression changed dramatically.

"A ferocious beast remnant soul?"

After sensing Sea Devourer's aura, he was first startled, then revealed an incredulous expression.

"You actually serve Guixu?"

Sea Devourer's enormous pupils fixed upon Youdu.

"Guixu gave me a path to live anew."

"The Demonic Dao would only turn me back into a mad dog."

Youdu sneered.

"A ferocious beast speaks of atonement?"

"You have devoured more living beings than I have ever killed."

Sea Devourer fell silent for an instant.

Those words had indeed struck it.

It had devoured far too many.

That was precisely why it wanted all the more to seize this slender chance.

The chains upon the Book of Cause and Effect lit up, suppressing the ferocious nature surging within its soul pearl.

Sea Devourer opened its mouth once more.

"That is why I will devour your Demonic Sha today."

"I will repay whatever little I can."

It inhaled sharply.

More Demonic Sha was swallowed.

Youdu's face darkened.

This Demonic Sha was made from resentment, killing intent, and Heart Demon fragments that he had painstakingly gathered from the Three-Clan Battlefield.

He had originally intended to use it to contaminate Guixu Academy and the Northern Darkness Sea.

Yet it had now become sustenance for Sea Devourer's atonement.

He formed seals with both hands.

"Demonic Sha enters the soul."

"Ferocious nature, reignite!"

The Demonic Sha Sea Devourer had swallowed exploded within it.

Sea Devourer's beast phantom shook violently.

The deep-blue light in its eyes began to darken.

Countless memories from the Beast Tribulation flooded into its mind.

Devouring.

Tearing.

Destruction.

Madness.

It seemed to return to that chaotic era.

All living beings were food.

All water veins should be devoured.

Sea Devourer let out a pained roar.

"No..."

"I will not return..."

"I finally crawled out of that mad sea..."

The Book of Cause and Effect shone brilliantly.

Lan Shuang gritted her teeth and activated the Book of Cause and Effect.

"Sea Devourer!"

"Guard your mind!"

"You are now Guixu's Sea-Calming Soul Pearl, no longer a ferocious beast of the Great Tribulation!"

The black aura in Sea Devourer's eyes was suppressed somewhat.

Seeing this, Han Jue thrust his spear and forced back Demonic Sha before roaring at Sea Devourer, "Hey! Old ferocious soul!"

"Didn't you say you wanted to atone?"

"Don't let a few breaths of rubbish from a demonic cultivator knock you flat!"

Sea Devourer's eyes shifted slightly as it looked toward Han Jue.

"You brat..."

Ao Lie added coldly, "You devoured so many water veins, yet now you cannot even swallow a little Demonic Sha?"

Phoenix Li's Frostflame descended around Sea Devourer, helping it freeze the outer layer of Demonic Sha.

Lin Yue used the power of the earth veins to stabilize the Northern Darkness Sea's water veins, preventing Demonic Sha from surging back.

Guixu's younger generation had actually turned around and begun protecting Sea Devourer.

Sea Devourer was silent for a moment.

Then it suddenly laughed loudly.

"Good."

"If I cannot even measure up to a few juniors today, then I will have guarded the Northern Darkness Sea for nothing all these years!"

Deep within its soul pearl, its final thread of clarity stabilized completely.

Its enormous jaws opened once more.

This time, Sea Devourer did not passively swallow.

Instead, it borrowed the power of the Book of Cause and Effect to break down the Demonic Sha.

The resentment returned to the Book of Cause and Effect.

The killing intent returned to the Realm-Protecting Formation.

The foul demonic aura returned to the depths of the Northern Darkness Sea, where it was suppressed by the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl.

The remaining purest baleful power was slowly refined into Sea Devourer's soul pearl.

Youdu's gaze changed completely.

"You can actually refine Demonic Sha?"

Sea Devourer sneered.

"I dared to devour even the water veins of the Northern Sea in those days."

"Your little bit of Demonic Sha is far from enough."

As its words fell, it inhaled fiercely.

A vast amount of the Demonic Sha released by Youdu was drawn into its enormous mouth.

The darkness above the academy rapidly faded.

The pressure on the Realm-Protecting Formation plummeted.

Han Jue's eyes lit up.

"Now's our chance!"

Ao Lie's black-water Dragon aura surged.

Phoenix Li's Frostflame sealed off the flanks.

Lin Yue's earth-vein chains wrapped around Youdu once again.

Han Jue charged head-on with the Realm Guard.

The four-person formation's phantom condensed once more.

This time, more than half the Demonic Sha had been lost, and Youdu could no longer easily manifest countless clones.

Han Jue thrust his spear.

Ao Lie's Dragon claw pressed down alongside the spearhead.

Phoenix Li's Frostflame burned into the demonic shadow.

Lin Yue's earth-vein chains locked Youdu's feet.

Boom!

Youdu's Taiyi Demon Body was blasted backward.

A massive gash appeared in his chest.

Black demonic blood spilled out, only to be swiftly purified by the radiance of the Book of Cause and Effect.

Youdu's expression turned utterly grim.

He had never imagined that the Demonic Sha he had so carefully prepared would be devoured in large part by the remnant soul of a ferocious beast within Guixu.

Nor had he expected the Dragon, Phoenix, Qilin, and Guixu Guardian Team to truly be able to suppress his Taiyi Demon Body.

"Good."

"Very good."

Youdu gazed coldly into the depths of Guixu.

"Black Tortoise, this emissary will remember you."

"The Demon Ancestor will remember Guixu as well."

Lan Shuang's expression shifted slightly.

Demon Ancestor.

Luohou.

That name had already begun to cast a terrifying shadow over the Primordial World.

Hearing those words, Lu Chen's heart sank as well.

So it really had led back to Luohou.

Youdu did not continue the fight.

He tore apart half of his demonic body, turning it into a blood-red demonic shadow that forcibly broke through the academy's outer formation patterns.

Han Jue wanted to pursue him.

Lan Shuang immediately shouted to stop him.

"Don't chase!"

"The Emperor has ordered that Guixu is not to leave lightly in pursuit!"

Han Jue halted, forcibly stopping himself.

Staring in the direction where Youdu's afterimage vanished, he gritted his teeth. "He got off easy."

Ao Lie said, "His demonic body has already shattered. He won't be able to stir up trouble anytime soon."

Phoenix Li looked toward the Northern Darkness Sea.

"Check on Sea Devourer first."

Sea Devourer's beastly phantom was slowly shrinking.

After devouring too much Demonic Sha, the black ferocious markings on his body flashed without end.

The Book of Cause and Effect, Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, Frostflame Parasol Tree, and the earth veins of Mysterious Peak Mountain released their power simultaneously, helping him stabilize the soul pearl.

A long while later.

Sea Devourer's Soul Pearl changed from pitch-black to deep blue.

A Sea-Calming Beast Mark emerged on the pearl's outer layer.

The system's voice rang beside Lu Chen's ear.

"Sea Devourer's Soul Pearl has devoured Demonic Sha, redeeming part of its karmic slaughter burden."

"Sea Devourer's Soul Pearl has advanced into a Sea-Calming Beast Spirit Prototype."

"Northern Darkness Sea stability has increased."

Lu Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This battle had ended without real danger.

The academy had been preserved.

The younger generation had completed their combined formation.

Sea Devourer had also undergone a redemptive transformation.

The only problem was that Luohou might truly have noticed Guixu.

Lu Chen fell silent for a moment.

"How about adding another thirty layers of formations around the academy from now on?"

The more he thought about it, the more necessary it seemed.

This Primordial World really gave him no peace, not even when sleeping.