Chapter 639: The Ocean of Souls
Above the high skies, a massive golden array exuded an incredibly powerful aura. This vast array was constructed solely to imprison a humanoid figure radiating terrifying soul power that clashed against the golden array. However, the array, made from the essence of Emperor Flame, remained unshaken by the fierce soul assaults, burning any soul impact into nothingness upon contact.
The splendid array, like a celestial canopy, enveloped a vast area of the Heavenly Tomb, allowing countless energy bodies to witness its might.
"Is this Lord Xiao Xuan's technique? It's unimaginably powerful." "With such heavenly methods at his disposal, the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb won't last long!" "Is that accursed spirit of the Heavenly Tomb finally going to be slain by Lord Xiao Xuan?"
Voices filled with hatred and satisfaction echoed among the energy bodies, all watching the sky eagerly. Though they couldn't personally slay the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb, witnessing its utter defeat was equally gratifying.
After several attempts to break free, the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb, unable to escape the constraints of the golden array, fell into madness. Its eyes burst with murderous intent and hatred.
"Xiao Xuan! I'll fight you to the end!" "If you show no mercy, I won't make it easy for you either!"
Feeling its soul essence being continuously pulled, the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb suddenly radiated intense soul light. Xiao Xuan, seemingly prepared, changed his hand seals.
"You want to self ignite your soul? At this point, if I let you succeed, what's the use of borrowing this power?"
As he spoke, the fine threads piercing the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb trembled violently, and a torrent of fiery power flowed into the spirit's body, forcefully extracting its soul essence.
Sizzle! A radiant ring of light detached from the body of the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb. Xiao Xuan clenched his hand, capturing the glowing ring to prevent any soul power from leaking.
"No! Xiao Xuan! Give me back my soul essence!"
As soon as the radiant ring separated from its body, the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb screamed miserably and weakly at Xiao Xuan. But the voice of the spirit seemed feeble.
Once its soul essence was removed, it was overwhelmed with weakness. Initially, it could somewhat resist the golden array's power. But after losing its soul essence, it couldn't muster the strength to resist, and the positions previously pierced by the fine threads were scorched into voids.
With a wave of his hand, Xiao Xuan unleashed a fierce wind that struck the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb down to the ground, falling like a meteor onto the tomb's surface.
Surrounding energy bodies, taken aback, could no longer contain their deep seated hatred. After a low growl, they swarmed towards the fallen spirit of the Heavenly Tomb.
Energy bodies, driven by centuries of hatred, unleashed their most potent attacks in a frenzy.
"Ah!"
Deprived of its soul essence and extremely weakened, the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb could not fend off the ferocious assaults of the energy bodies. Its screams of agony echoed incessantly until it was violently torn into fragments.
A resentful and unwilling remnant of the spirit drifted up and slowly dissipated with the wind.
The spirit of the Heavenly Tomb, a being formed from countless energy bodies' soul imprints, met its end at the hands of those very entities a fate it brought upon itself.
As the spirit was torn to shreds, the desire to devour within the minds of countless energy bodies also quietly faded, their vision clearing.
All energy bodies kneeled in the direction of Xiao Xuan, gratefully chanting, "Thank you, Lord Xiao Xuan!"
Xiao Ze, witnessing the final downfall of the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb, couldn't help but shake his head slightly. Xiao Xuan, dispelling the vast golden array, descended gently before Xiao Ze and Xiao Chen, carrying the radiant ring.
"Young one, I await your good news," Xiao Xuan stated as he handed the radiant ring to Xiao Ze.
Xiao Ze waved his robe, dispersing the external restraints on the ring, and bowed respectfully to Xiao Xuan and Xiao Chen.
"Ancestor, Xiao Ze will not let you down!"
With that, Xiao Ze stepped into the radiant ring. As he disappeared into the vast power of the soul within, Xiao Chen turned to Xiao Xuan with concern.
"Brother, do you think Xiao Ze can succeed?"
"I believe he can," Xiao Chen nodded, then asked, "Should I leave now to give Xiao Ze more time to refine the soul essence?"
"There's no need; the spirit of the Heavenly Tomb has been vanquished, and the tomb's own repulsive force isn't as strong."
As the two conversed, countless energy bodies moved away from the soul essence. The soul essence's deadly allure was strong, but with Xiao Xuan guarding, they dared not harbor any thoughts of it and kept their distance to avoid provoking him.
Unaware of the external affairs, Xiao Ze observed the radiant ring around him, which seemed like a blazing sun to the soul, emitting infinite pressure.
As Xiao Ze's figure entered the radiant ring, he saw an endless ocean made entirely of souls. Waves surged like soulful roars echoing ceaselessly.
Touching the soul waters, Xiao Ze felt as if his flesh was mingling with souls.
"A sea made entirely of souls?"
Looking across the boundless soul ocean, Xiao Ze's face lit up with joy. Absorbing and refining this soul ocean could immensely boost his soul power, potentially bridging the vast chasm between the Heavenly Realm's completion and the Emperor Soul Realm.
Yet, Xiao Ze didn't immediately start refining the soul ocean but closed his eyes briefly, sensing his surroundings.
"The passage of time in the soul ocean differs from the Heavenly Tomb…" "The immense soul power even alters the flow of time here…" "In a way, this place is a miniature version of the Heavenly Tomb, slowed down significantly due to the overwhelming soul power."
Xiao Ze slowly opened his eyes, realizing he was in the tomb of the Heavenly Tomb.
He had roughly calculated that a month in the Heavenly Tomb equated to a year in the soul ocean. If not for the need to break through to the Emperor Soul Realm, Xiao Ze would have liked to preserve this soul ocean for its slow flow of time, providing potentially decades more training time compared to someone cultivating in the central realm.
However, weighing his options, Xiao Ze chose to pursue the Emperor Soul Realm, finding it more enticing.
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