The evil godsâ shrill soul screams echoed from within the five crackling Illusory Ancient Talismans.
âNo!â
âDonât!â
They had been able to communicate with Nie Tian the whole time.
After all, it was Nie Tianâs Blood Essence that had vested them with fleshly bodies. It was Nie Tian who had gone to great lengths to help them gradually build up their strength.
They had long since developed their own awareness and learned the human language. They simply chose not to communicate with Nie Tian on a soul level out of repulsion towards him.
However, at this moment, trapped on the dilapidated altar, they were suffering from the raging flames. Their fleshly bodies that had been reforged thanks to Nie Tian were being relentlessly damaged by the very person who had reforged them.
Their bodies werenât the only things being damaged; their souls were as well.
They finally started to feel afraid.
Thanks to their soul connection, they could vaguely sense that Nie Tian wasnât just saying things to scare them, but he was actually prepared to sacrifice them to strengthen the Spirit Pearlâs soul, which had limited potential, but abundant loyalty.
Due to the restrictions of the Illusory Ancient Talismans and the fact that they had failed to gather all of their lost memories and soul fragments from the Void World, they hadnât recovered their peak power yet, and thus couldnât resist the increasingly violent flame power from this wondrous altar.
If they didnât yield, then they would be refined, both their bodies and souls perishing here.
They also had a terrifying feeling that if they were burned away on this altar, their soul awareness would dissipate completely, and could never be regathered.
That meant that even if others wanted to gather their remaining soul fragments in the Void World, it wouldnât be enough to bring them back.
Therefore, they were finally scared. Realizing that they were facing extinction, they yielded and begged Nie Tian for mercy.
A sinister grin appeared on Nie Tianâs face. âYouâre begging me for mercy now? Itâs too late. I donât want to waste any more time on you! So what if you were late tenth grade grand monarchs? Do you really think I canât survive without you?
âWhen my bloodline enters the tenth grade and my cultivation base reaches the God domain, what are your grand monarchs, including that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, to me?
âItâs not like Iâve never faced a tenth grade grand monarch in battle!â
Overtaken with anger, Nie Tian completely ignored the evil godsâ pleas for mercy, and issued an order to the Flame Dragon Armor. âGo on! Burn their bodies and refine their souls! Those who donât obey me are useless, and a waste of my precious Blood Essence!â
âGot it.â After giving a simple answer, the Flame Dragon Armor channeled even more flesh power from him to fuel the eight flame dragon skeletons, which then spewed even fiercer flame power at the altar.
âMaster...â The Spirit Pearlâs soul wanted to say something, but stopped and sighed after seeing the state Nie Tian was in.
In despair, the five evil gods wailed for his forgiveness.
Nie Tian turned a deaf ear.
He had made up his mind. If he couldnât completely tame the five of them, he might as well destroy them as soon as possible. Otherwise, they might stir up more trouble when he took another trip to the Void World.
Not to mention that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits might be able to use them to reopen the portal.
In order to prevent future problems, he had decided to kill the five of them and use their soul power to strengthen the Spirit Pearlâs soul.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
As the five evil gods were being purged, the Spirit Pearl seemed to come under increasingly heavy pressure. The cyan heaven and earth inside of it seemed to be on the verge of falling apart.
âMaster! Stop!â the Spirit Pearlâs soul cried anxiously.
Nie Tian was confused.
âIt seems to me if they die, this pearl will perish too, and Iâll lose the place I need to survive!â The Spirit Pearlâs soul panicked. âThereâs a strong connection between them and the Spirit Pearl. Itâs not an exaggeration to say that theyâre a whole. I, however, am the expendable one.
âIf I perish, the Spirit Pearl can still persist. But if they perish, the Spirit Pearl will explode, and youâll lose it forever.â
Nie Tian went blank for a moment before letting out a cold snort and lifting a hand to make a grabbing motion.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The five Illusory Ancient Talismans immediately flew over from the dilapidated altar.
âThere were three Spirit Pearls originally, all of them forged by Grand Monarch Nether Spirit of my people with the five evil godsâ soul fragments he collected from the Spirit World and the Mortal World,â the Spirit Pearlâs soul explained. âHe only made three of them because he was afraid that they would awaken and be difficult to contain if their soul fragments came together.
âOnly by splitting them into three Spirit Pearls could he use their wonders with no scruples.
âMaster, by fusing the three Spirit Pearls together, you allowed them to gather their broken souls and regain their awareness. Then, you vested them with fleshly bodies with your unique Blood Essence.
âI am the one the pearl can live without.
âIn fact, in a sense, Iâm not the Spirit Pearlâs soul. They are!â
The Spirit Pearlâs soul that Nie Tian had created with a strand of his soul essence and the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch sounded sad and helpless as it carried on.
Nie Tian took a moment to think before letting out a gentle sigh.
Originally, the Spirit Pearls hadnât needed a soul to control them. Each of them held nothing but a third of the five evil godsâ soul fragments that had been scattered in the Spirit World and the Mortal World.
Because of that, the unawakened five evil spirits had grown stronger and stronger as the Spirit Pearls devoured discarnate souls.
âIf the three Spirit Pearls hadnât merged, and their broken awareness hadnât regathered, I might have still been able to restrain them as the soul of a Spirit Pearl,â the Spirit Pearlâs soul said, full of bitterness. âMy strength only allowed me to suppress them when they were unawakened and weak.â
Nie Tian listened in silence as it brought out the truth it was reluctant to say. Even after it finished, he remained silent for a while.
During this time, the five Illusory Ancient Talismans floated quietly beside him. The evil gods within them could feel the Spirit Pearlâs soulâs sorrow.
However, none of them dared to make a sound, fearing that they would stir Nie Tianâs emotions, which were not yet stable. They were afraid that he would throw away all that he had helped them achieve, and plunge them into eternal silence.
After a long while, Nie Tian asked, holding the Spirit Pearl, âWhat do you think I should do? What can I do to benefit you? You donât have to take those five into consideration. And this Spirit Pearl isnât that valuable to me either. The stronger I become, the less helpful itâll be, so donât worry about that.â
Upon hearing this, the five evil gods within the Illusory Ancient Talismans grew very uneasy.
They concentrated on sensing even the most subtle changes in the soul will of the Spirit Pearlâs soul.
With a method Nie Tian couldnât detect, they secretly sent it auras, asking for help and hoping it would talk Nie Tian out of eliminating them.
After contemplating for a long time, the Spirit Pearlâs soul said, âWe canât trust them whatever they say now.
âI have a feeling that theyâre only loyal to their former master, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. Even the Netherspiritsâ current high chieftain, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, might not be able to gain their allegiance.
âIf thatâs the case, then you can only solve the problem on the fundamental level by deriving Grand Monarch Heavenly Spiritâs soul-enslaving magic from the Nether River and using it on the essence of their souls.
âMaster, you observed that branch of the Nether River in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. You must have discovered many of its wonders. You might as well go through them in your mind and see if you can find anything.
âIf you canât, then thereâs also another way.â
âWhat way?â
âGo to the Nether Realm. Thereâs another branch of the Nether River there, and those statues.â
âThe Nether Realm?â
âExactly, my ancestral land. While grand monarchs of all races are out finding a solution to the crisis theyâre facing, I doubt that branch of the Nether River is heavily guarded. I suppose itâll be safe to go there now. By going there, you can examine that branch of the Nether Realm and those stone statues, and see if you can find a way to control them completely.â
The evil god of rage let out a violent roar. âYou bastard!
âYouâre nothing but the discarnate soul of a petty Phantasm! All Phantasms should serve us as their masters! Yet you stoop so low as to swear allegiance to a human junior. For shame!
âI canât believe a despicable one like you managed to rise to the ninth grade when you were alive!
âWe should have devoured you when we had the chance!â
The suggestion put forth by the Spirit Pearlâs soul seemed to sting the evil gods, as they all sent furious soul will to it, venting their fury and expressing their intent to kill it. In fact, if they hadnât been confined within the Illusory Ancient Talismans, they would have charged out and annihilated it right away.
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