C186 How Sad

The white paper fan had slipped beyond his control, now evading him at the bottom of the Soul Transformation Pool, greedily absorbing soul energy.

Yu Yuan was taken aback.

Earth Demon Xiquan was frantic with urgency, pressing Yu Yuan to retrieve the fan from the pool without delay.

"What in the world is happening?"

Yu Yuan watched in amazement as the fan seemed to come alive, darting through the air like lightning, its movements as unpredictable as a serpent's. It was utterly elusive.

The dark soul energy was vanishing rapidly.

The fan, with its four ancient black characters, radiated a light identical to that of the dark soul energy.

"Yu Yuan, this white paper fan?" Yuan Lianyao demanded.

"It's another artifact from the Divine Soul Sect," Yu Yuan offered. "It appears to have been forged by one of the sect's formidable figures. Each character seems to form its own realm, faintly linked to distant lands."

"A child's soul resides within the world of those four archaic characters, recuperating there."

He gave a succinct account.

"A Divine Soul Sect artifact!" Xiquan exclaimed, astounded.

"Yu Yuan! This item might be related to the space array beneath us!" Yuan Lianyao's eyes never strayed from the fan. "It conceals a soul spirit and possesses a realm of its own, capable of connecting to foreign places..."

She fixed her gaze on Yu Yuan, her voice urgent. "Don't you see the striking resemblance to the Soul Transformation Pool and the space array below?"

Yu Yuan was momentarily speechless.

Then, in an instant, the once-docile fan in his possession mysteriously merged with the base of the Soul Transformation Pool.

Strands of the pool's ink-colored soul energy began to seep downward.

Suddenly, a stream of thoughts surged from the fiery sword soul.

"Key, key, key..."

The sword soul was insistent, fixated on one concept — the key!

Whether it referred to the key to the Soul Transformation Pool or the space array was unclear.

"That object!"

Xiquan's eyes were glued to the pool's depths, his earlier panic giving way to a surge of excitement. "Yu, that fan seems to have triggered the space array at the bottom of the Soul Transformation Pool!"

A distinct spatial fluctuation emanated from the depths, sending ripples through the pool.

The tumultuous spatial activity alerted the humanoid dragon, Ann Jieshan, and the Demonic Tree, who sensed it immediately.

Powerful Alien Soul Demon Spirits surrounding the Soul Transformation Pool instinctively leaped toward its depths.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Terrifying sword intents burst forth from the engraved sword scars on the pool's walls.

The Alien Soul Demon Spirits dissipated into plumes of smoke, vanishing into the sword scars.

Yu Yuan's face paled in shock.

Since his arrival at the Soul Transformation Pool, the sword scars had never once launched an attack.

This was unprecedented!

Then, even more fierce sword intents surged from the wall's scars.

These sword intents were far more dreadful and vicious than the hidden forces of the restrictions in the earth's fissures, and the essence of the swordsmanship they contained far surpassed it.

Yu Yuan, with his lower cultivation level, could only sense the sword intents dimly and was unable to discern their true form.

Yet, the mighty Earth Demon Xiquan, like a tidal surge of power, could see the sword intents transforming into various ancient swords, each carrying a distinct aura, as they cleaved through every Alien Soul Demon in the sky.

"Slash!"

A prismatic sword intent, with the might to cleave the heavens and earth, split the humanoid dragon figure in two.

The dragon man, a descendant of Zhao Yafu, let out a howl, fleeing the scene as if encountering a ghost in broad daylight.

His human head and severed dragon body parted ways, only reassembling once they were well clear of the Soul Transformation Pool.

Three additional sword intents, like streaks of lightning, shredded the towering Demonic Tree to bits.

Branches snapped, and unseen leaves scattered in a whirlwind.

In an instant, the Demonic Tree was reduced to countless fragments, its sentient leaves fleeing from the vicinity of the Soul Transformation Pool.

Lim Fengyan, the current head of the Lim family from the Silvermoon Empire, found himself ensnared midair by three sword intents, his body a blur of blood and gore.

Crying out for help, Lim Fengyan seemed to be desperately seeking Su Xiangtian's aid.

But his cries were short-lived; within seconds, his Yin God shattered, his essence dissolving into a pure soul thought that merged with the sword scars in the Soul Transformation Pool.

Thus, a patriarch from one of the empire's five great families was obliterated in an instant.

Sword intent surged from the etched marks on the pool's wall, soaring into the sky and ruthlessly harvesting the lives of every soul and creature of flesh and blood.

The ghost ape, brimming with demonic energy, was seized by an instinctual terror. Ignoring both Duan Tianhong and the Lee family's venerable general, it fled despite its injuries.

"Boom!"

The molten lava pool erupted in a dazzling display as it was suffused with sword intent.

Duan Tianhong, in the late stages of the Yin God realm, had his forehead split open with gashes oozing blood.

His hair in wild disarray and his vitality severely damaged, he vanished into the lava pool in a hasty retreat.

Seeing the dire turn of events, the old general of the Lee family grunted and, with great effort, executed a self-damaging escape technique. In an instant, he transformed into a golden cloud and drifted dozens of miles away.

"Retreat! Everyone, get away from that pool!"

Su Xiangtian's voice, laden with panic, echoed across the sky, growing fainter as he moved away.

"Sizzle, sizzle!"

Sword intent wove through the void, slicing through the cosmos.

Alien Soul Demons were obliterated on the spot, their essence condensing into streams of colored smoke that seeped into the sword marks on the Soul Transformation Pool's wall.

As the sword intent burst forth, slaughtering all in its path, the Earth Demon Xiquan fell silent. This sentient being, nurtured by the enigmatic lands of the Heavenly Source Continent, dared not attempt to leave the Soul Transformation Pool.

It had assumed the pool's depths were fraught with peril, too dangerous to even graze the bottom. But who could have predicted that every creature outside the pool would fall prey to the sword intent's indiscriminate massacre, leaving a landscape of death and mourning in mere moments?

Trembling inwardly, Xiquan looked at Yu Yuan with an uncomfortable gaze.

The Lady of Darkmoon City, unable to resist, gravitated towards Yu Yuan.

Her shoulder already brushing against his, she still felt a sense of insecurity. With a moment's hesitation, she reached out and clasped Yu Yuan's arm.

A flash of fascination sparked in her eyes.

As she gazed upon Yu Yuan's arm, beneath the fabric, it seemed to her as searing as a glowing iron brand.

Even she couldn't bear such a terrifyingly high temperature and quickly withdrew her hand. Yet, she continued to clutch at Yu Yuan's sleeve, seeking some comfort.

She keenly sensed that the deliberate sword marks on the Soul Transformation Pool's walls bore no malice towards Yu Yuan alone.

Anyone else who dared to come near the Soul Transformation Pool was fair game for death!

Moreover, these sword marks didn't seem to be part of the inherent prohibitions of the Heaven Sealing Soul Transformation Formation.

"The soul energy is insufficient. The ancient sword intent was stirred by the activity of the space array, emerging autonomously to accumulate more soul energy," Yu Yuan mused silently for a moment before smiling at Earth Demon Xiquan. "An abundance of soul energy can be lethal. Except for me, with the mark and essence of the sword soul, anyone else is fair game."

Xiquan gave an awkward chuckle and hurriedly said, "Yu, you know I mean you no harm."

"No ill intentions?" Yu Yuan's smile held a hint of irony.

"As heaven is my witness!" Xiquan quickly clarified, "I only wish to use that space array to escape the Boundless Land. To that end, I've willingly aided you, ensuring the demise of Silvermoon Empire's practitioners and the extinction of those alien souls!"

"My only desire is to leave; I harbor no other ambitions!"

Under Yu Yuan's watchful eye, he quietly drifted towards the Soul Transformation Pool, but as he was about to leave its confines, he hesitated.

He came to a halt, looking at Yu Yuan with a pitiable expression.

"You might as well die here."

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