Soul

On the Star Continent, forty thousand members of the Dark Shadow Secret Unit and another forty thousand from the Golden Throne Army gathered at the source of the spiritual energy eruption. Summoned by Li Huang, they combined their strength to form a powerful protective barrier around the area, preventing the energy from escaping and concealing it from outside detection. Once the situation was stable, Li Huang stepped through the barrier with a thousand members each from the Dark Shadow Secret Unit and the Golden Throne Army.

Li Huang descended into a deep pit, the source of the immense spiritual energy. As he meticulously examined the area, a deep, ancient voice echoed through the silence.

"I'm feeling quite hungry… come be my meal…"

The voice was abruptly silenced as Li Huang unleashed a beam of judgment in its direction. A deafening explosion followed, accompanied by a massive pressure that bore down on Li Huang and his followers. However, the Golden Throne Army formed a shield of golden spiritual energy to protect against the pressure, leaving Li Huang unaffected.

Li Huang's gaze fixed on a group of spectral figures before him. Each of these spirits emanated a formidable presence, retaining echoes of the power they once wielded. The twenty-one spirits all wore matching attire, marking them as disciples of the same sect.

Name: Wu Zhong

Identity: Servant Disciple of the Origin Heaven Sect

Cultivation Level: Saint, Level 2 (Cultivation Destroyed)

Physique: Sacred Bull Demon Body (Destroyed)

Favorability: -10

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Name: Su Chuan

Identity: Servant Disciple of the Origin Heaven Sect

Cultivation Level: Saint, Level 9 (Cultivation Destroyed)

Physique: Water Demon Body (Destroyed)

Favorability: -20

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Name: Bai Ru

Identity: Servant Disciple of the Origin Heaven Sect

Cultivation Level: Saint, Level 1 (Cultivation Destroyed)

Physique: Pureblood White Tiger Body (Destroyed)

Favorability: -30

With a cold voice, Li Huang addressed them, "You startled me. But no matter—what do you all want, skulking around in my land?"

Su Chuan glared at Li Huang, his face twisted in rage as he shouted haughtily, "How dare you, mere scum, attack us!"

Li Huang responded with a faint smile, his expression indifferent, as though Su Chuan's words held no weight to him. "So, there's no need for discussion, then. I'd thought peace could be the solution."

At that moment, dark shadows emerged from the depths of the pit, piercing into Su Chuan and his companions' spectral forms. The spirits screamed in agony, attempting to resist, but their current power was too diminished. Li Huang ordered the Dark Shadow Secret Unit to search the spirits' memories, but as they began, members of the unit suddenly exploded into fragments. Su Chuan's voice echoed with contempt.

"The mechanic really doesn't know his place in anything."

Li Huang observed the scene before him with a cold and emotionless gaze. He raised his hand, using kill points from the system to resurrect the fallen Dark Shadow Secret Unit members. In an instant, the spirits that had just dissipated were revived, fully restored, numbering twenty-one in total. Each resurrection consumed 90,000,000 kill points.

[Total Kill Points: 12,405,948,220 points]

Once the Dark Shadow Secret Unit members were revived, Li Huang immediately asked, "Did you retrieve any information?"

One of the newly resurrected members respectfully reported, "Apologies, Your Majesty. Their memories are protected by a certain power. We couldn't retrieve any information."

Li Huang nodded slightly before conjuring a dense black shadow mist in the air. The mist divided into twenty-one parts, and he gestured toward the remaining spirits with a commanding tone, "Take the twenty spirits and torment them until they reveal everything they know."

The Dark Shadow Secret Unit respectfully obeyed, dragging the spirits into the shadow mist Li Huang had prepared. The spirits tried to resist, but it was in vain. Their screams echoed throughout the area, confusion and terror filling them as they wondered who Li Huang was and how he could so effortlessly resurrect the dead. But no answers were provided, only the intensifying cries swallowed by the shadow mist, which devoured every sound of pain and suffering.

Li Huang walked slowly toward Su Chuan, his face bearing a smile as he used a fingertip to slice off a fragment of Su Chuan's spirit.

"Aaagh! You wretched brat!" Su Chuan's scream resounded through the air, his entire spirit writhing in pain from the soul fragment being severed. He struggled to escape, but the more he moved, the more futile it became to break free from the shadows.

Li Huang stared at him coldly, then asked in a calm but commanding tone, "What is the Origin Heaven Sect?"

Upon hearing this, Su Chuan smirked and laughed derisively. "You think you'll get anything out of me? Dream on! I'll never tell you!"

Li Huang sneered. "A mere servant disciple dares speak to me this way?"

Su Chuan's eyes widened in shock at his words, muttering in disbelief, "How… how do you know... No, it's an honor beyond words to be a servant disciple of the Origin Heaven Sect. A nobody like you could never understand. You're nothing but a frog in a well, blind to the vastness of the world!"

In response, Li Huang unleashed a fiery spirit flame, searing Su Chuan's spirit, intensifying his screams. His ethereal form writhed in agony, blisters and burns appearing across his soul.

"Stop! Stop, please!" Su Chuan shrieked, his spirit twisting as if on the verge of disintegration.

Li Huang sneered, saying, "Just speak, and it will end."

Panting heavily, Su Chuan hesitated, his face a reflection of internal struggle. Finally, he relented, tears of pain and bitterness flowing. "I'll tell you… We're in this state due to internal conflicts within the sect. Factions formed, and we were eventually dispatched on a mission… but we were ambushed by others from our own sect, sustaining grievous injuries. Our spirits escaped, sealing ourselves in this world. I don't know how long it's been, but when we sensed an increase in spiritual power from outside, we chose to unseal ourselves, hoping to absorb that power… and restore our bodies."

Li Huang listened intently, but before he could probe further, Su Chuan's and the surrounding spirits' forms began to distort and destabilize. Su Chuan's terrified cry echoed, "No… no! The curse… it's activated… no, mercy! Master Wu…"

Realizing the curse bound to Su Chuan's spirit could no longer be halted, Li Huang quickly extracted the origin essence of Su Chuan's special physique and terminated his spirit for kill points. He hurriedly moved to the other spirits, pulling their essence as well, but time was short. He managed to retrieve essence from only seventeen, though he collected kill points from all the spirits, as he had instructed the Dark Shadow Secret Unit to execute the spirits if he couldn't reach them in time. Even though it was a broken body, Li Huang's experience with the system knew that if there was some information that was higher than what it could detect, it would cut off all problems without showing any warning messages or symbols.