Battle with the Snake Spirit

"Lord Sean, this is the Netherworld Fruit Tree," a Highgod of Earth Law said through divine sense.

Sean replied, "I know."

Now that they were close to a Main God, he had no idea whether the Death Sovereign and the Netherworld Main God were watching their group. Thus, even when communicating through divine sense, he had ordered everyone implanted with Soul Seeds not to call him master.

Because he did not know whether the Main Gods could intercept their current transmissions.

"Swish, swish, swish~~~~~~"

The Netherworld Fruit Tree trembled. A great many branches spread apart, revealing a fruit within slightly larger than a fist. It was nearly spherical, with a purple skin that was crystalline and translucent, shimmering with flowing light and dazzlingly eye-catching. A faint mist also seemed to drift from it.

"A Netherworld Fruit?"

Many people grew excited at the sight. Everyone present had been implanted with Sean's Soul Seeds, but Soul Seeds only affected loyalty. They did not alter their understanding, desires, pursuit of power, or yearning for beautiful things. At most, when such things conflicted with their master's wishes, they would abandon them for his benefit.

Seeing the Netherworld Fruit now, they instinctively wanted to fight for it. Yet they had also received orders to protect their master with all their strength, leaving them unable to act.

Within his soul, Sean could sense the powerful desires deep within their souls. Because he was suppressing them, he could even feel the pressure on his own soul increasing.

Successfully implanting a Soul Seed in someone did not mean one could rest easy forever. If the gap between the two sides was vast, there truly would be little danger. But if the other party was fairly powerful and had only barely been implanted with a Soul Seed, ordering them to do something against their instincts—or even to die—would place greater pressure upon one's own soul.

Fortunately, thanks to the Soul Pearl in his body, this amount of pressure was effortless for Sean. On the other hand, if these people had been implanted with Soul Seeds by Mors, forcibly controlling thirty Seven-Star Demons and preventing them from fighting over a treasure would probably have been enough to make him suffer.

"Lord Sean, that is the Netherworld Fruit. But be careful—the snakes on the tree are terrifying," someone else warned.

"When you came here before, did the Netherworld Fruit always appear?" Sean asked.

The man replied, "No. Usually, it only appears once after we have come here many times, and only when there are enough powerful experts present will the Netherworld Fruit Tree display a Netherworld Fruit.

"But whether there is a Netherworld Fruit or not, those snakes attack and kill us. Over countless years, who knows how many Seven-Star and Six-Star Demons have died here."

"Snakes?" Sean ignored him and carefully surveyed his surroundings. Unable to use divine sense, he had no idea where those snakes were.

"Rustle, rustle~~" The entire fruit tree bearing the Netherworld Fruit began to shake. Green energy light lit up throughout the branches and leaves of the trees spanning several hundred meters. Gradually... palm-sized Green Snakes formed atop the leaves.

"Everyone, gather together."

Before Sean could give the order, the thirty Seven-Star Demons implanted with Soul Seeds had all gathered together. When Sean had not issued an order, they were no different from normal people and still cared about their own safety.

Naturally, Sean did not object, since he stood in the very center.

The green light around them grew more numerous, but Sean was not particularly concerned. These Green Snakes were essentially just Soul Attacks. What he was truly wary of were the several large snakes behind these little ones, yet they had not revealed themselves.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~~" A mass of Green Snakes launched their attack.

Thousands upon thousands of Green Snakes swarmed forward. The Seven-Star Demons surrounded in the middle all changed expression at once. With so many of them, even if they joined forces, they could not hold them off.

Suddenly, black light surged from Sean's entire body. A great many gray-black Soul Attacks shot outward like ripples. Every Green Snake struck by the gray Soul Attack ripples immediately transformed into specks of green light.

There were many Green Snakes, but Sean's soul power was equally inexhaustible. In no time, vast numbers of Green Snakes had been destroyed. The remaining small portion stopped attacking and lay upon the trees, seemingly waiting for another opportunity.

"Impressive." A sharp voice rang out. A green giant serpent over ten meters long appeared on the branches of the Netherworld Fruit Tree. Its head was humanoid, and it stared coldly at Sean. "Over the countless billions of years of Nether Mountain's existence, innumerable experts have come here. But among those whose Soul Attacks were this powerful, you are the first. In a single move, you destroyed the little snakes my family and I had nurtured over countless years."

"You flatter me," Sean said with a faint smile.

With profound mysteries nearing Paragon level, combined with the soul power granted by Three-element Soul Mutation, even without using Sovereign's Might, probably only a Paragon could surpass him in Soul Attacks.

The Snake Spirit Elder asked, "What is your name?"

"Sean," Sean answered with a smile.

Now that he was near a Main God, he could not use a false name. If it were discovered, it would count as deceiving a Main God—a capital offense.

The Snake Spirit Elder continued, "Have you cultivated your Death Rule to the final step?"

"This..." Sean thought for a moment before replying, "I am not sure, but I truly have not improved in a long time."

His Death Rule was actually only at the level of an ordinary Prefect Lord, equivalent to the fusion of five profound mysteries in the laws. However, the fusion of the strange profound mysteries of death and life had already approached the true peak. That was the true foundation of his strength.

"I see. Admirable." The Snake Spirit said with a smile, "With your strength, consuming the Netherworld Fruit would not actually be of much use."

"But I still want to try," Sean said.

The Snake Spirit said, "Fine. As long as you can withstand one attack from me, I will no longer stop you."

"Please," Sean said solemnly. The Snake Spirit also bore the duty of protecting the Netherworld Fruit. This was probably the Death Sovereign's hobby: watching countless experts come here to die.

The Snake Spirit said nothing further. Dazzling green light radiated from its entire body, and suddenly, an even larger serpentine phantom appeared behind it.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"...

Black lights as dark as ink shot from its green eyes, locking directly onto Sean. They were so fast that he had no possibility of evading them.

Sean had not intended to evade them either. Over countless years, he had learned something about the Innate Divine Abilities of divine beasts. One point was that once the other party activated one at close range, the chance of dodging was nearly zero—unless the difference in speed was too great or the distance was very far.

The black light entered Sean's body directly. A vast amount of soul power gathered to resist it, gradually wearing down the Soul Attack. Before this Soul Attack could reach the depths of his soul, it was completely destroyed.

Its power is not bad. If it were an ordinary peak Asura, even if they could block it, they would still be injured.

Sean made his assessment. His soul power was a hundred times stronger than that of an ordinary Highgod. This was why he could often withstand Innate Divine Abilities involving Soul Attacks head-on. Of course, he definitely could not block those of a God-Devouring Rat or the Four Divine Beasts Combined Innate Divine Ability.

He could actually have confronted the other party's Innate Divine Ability outside his body, but under the eyes of a Main God, revealing a Soul Attack close to Paragon level without using Sovereign's Might would not be a good thing.

"How is this possible?" Seeing that Sean was unharmed, the Green Giant Serpent cried out in shock.

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