In a dark, silent space, dense gray mist swirled, with specks of starlight filtering through.
The faint stars resembled countless eyes casting their gaze, giving off an eerie and ominous feeling.
Layers of incessant whispers rose, continuous, hoarse, and terrifying, carrying a maddening aura of depravity.
The soul cluster, a mixture of Xiao Meng, Hun Yi, and countless other mental wills, suddenly gained a brief moment of clarity.
The formerly muddled minds temporarily separated, and they all regained their consciousness, each with their own thoughts.
"Where is this?" Hun Yi's face showed a mix of confusion and curiosity. He squeezed closer to Xiao Meng.
Xiao Meng ignored him, her gaze slightly dazed as she stared upwards.
There, an incredibly vast, magnificent, planet-like figure stood. It wore a bronze mask and a black robe, which barely maintained a human form. Beneath the robe, countless tentacles with mysterious and complex patterns extended.
Celestial Worthy!
Why is Celestial Worthy's will in my mental World? Isn't this thing supposed to be with the main body?
After a moment of confusion, a thought suddenly emerged in Xiao Meng's mind: Am I the main body?
But isn't the main body that Nine-Star Dou Saint, Amon? That was certified by the World rules… Based on his volume, it determined the individual limit of all avatars and Amon's overall volume limit.
Xiao Meng's consciousness blurred, and an invisible thread extended from the back of her neck, stretching infinitely high and far into the sky.
She suddenly split open, and a tiny speck of light, guided by the invisible thread, floated upwards, towards the planet-sized figure that emanated an ancient, primordial, mad, and bloodthirsty aura.
This speck of light, representing a true spirit, approached a tentacle. This tentacle was different from the others; its very end was the upper half of a human body.
He had a broad forehead, a high nose, black eyes, and slightly curly hair, with a crystal monocle over his right eye.
There was no vitality in those eyes, empty as if they belonged to a puppet.
As the speck of light merged, his eyes gradually gained vitality, and his gaze deepened. He raised his right hand, using his index finger and thumb to pinch the upper and lower edges of the monocle on his right eye. Afterward, he fell silent again, becoming as lifeless and dazed as a puppet.
Amon, dressed in a black classical robe and wearing a pointed soft hat, appeared before the mixed soul cluster that had lost Xiao Meng's true spirit. He glanced at the tentacle with a human upper body at its end, then immediately withdrew his gaze.
"It's you, it's you, the fellow who invaded my soul! Didn't you die and get devoured by me?" Hun Yi shrieked.
Amon turned his gaze to him, a playful smile on his lips:
"Whether you devoured me or I devoured you, it doesn't matter to that clone. As long as some strong obsession is left in the soul, my goal can be achieved.
"The latter might even be better, as it minimizes changes to your personality and is more covert. Now, you are useless."
Amon snapped his fingers, and Hun Yi, who was about to curse, let out a scream.
This soul body exploded, and countless consciousnesses transformed into countless insects, taking parts of the soul with them, crawling in different directions.
Hun Yi also turned into an insect, and eventually, all these insects vanished into the boundless gray mist.
The planet-sized figure seemed to react to Amon's arrival, trembling slightly and slowly wriggling.
The whispers suddenly became denser and more frantic, like roars from the deepest part of the soul.
Amon looked up, his gaze piercing through the bronze mask to see the face beneath it, a face eighty percent similar to his own.
A smile curved his lips, and he vanished from its presence.
...
Not long after Yao Chen and the others left, an ordinary, unremarkable man in black appeared in the Earth Hall square. He looked at the heavily damaged Earth Hall, which had large areas collapsed and its spatial passages connecting to various branch halls destroyed, his expression slightly gloomy.
"Greetings, Hall Master," a group of Soul Hall Honored Elders respectfully bowed to him.
Soul Destruction Life looked at the Deputy Hall Master, suppressing the anger in his heart, and asked, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
The Deputy Hall Master replied with a bitter expression, "It was Yao Chen of Starcloud Pavilion who launched the attack, but the mastermind was probably Xiao Yan, to rescue that woman who was captured by Wu Ying…
"Because Xiao Yan was there, I was constrained when fighting, otherwise the situation wouldn't be this bad."
"The soul origin? Was it also snatched by them?" Soul Destruction Life asked with a strange tone.
"Yes." The Deputy Hall Master nodded, somewhat afraid to meet his gaze.
"Forget it, then. This is not your fault. I will report it to the Soul Clan Leader."
Hearing Soul Destruction Life say this, the Deputy Hall Master breathed a sigh of relief.
...
Yao Chen brought Xiao Yan and the others back to Starcloud Pavilion. He did not see Xiao Meng in the crowd, and Xiao Yan's expression showed no joy of having rescued someone, his mood slightly heavy.
He cupped his hands to the guest elders who participated in the rescue, saying:
"Thank you all for your great assistance. Yao Chen thanks you here. The promised rewards will not be broken. After I cultivate for two days, I will begin refining for you. You can go back and think about what elixirs you need first."
Hearing Yao Chen say this, these guest elders all smiled broadly, then very tactfully left, leaving the space to Yao Chen and his disciple.
"Xiao Yan, what exactly happened in the end?"
Yao Chen did not know what happened after Amon appeared, only that Xiao Yan rescued Xiao Meng but was blocked by a Soul Hall Honored Elder.
Finally, a stronger-than-imagined expert descended. He felt it might be a figure on the level of the Ancient Clan or the Soul Clan Leader.
Because he had agreed with Amon to keep his matters confidential, Xiao Yan did not elaborate too much, replying:
"Xiao Meng died… She blocked the last blow for me, and her soul merged with that soul cluster, unable to separate. Xiao Meng's clansmen appeared and said they could preserve a trace of her true spirit."
Yao Chen opened his mouth, not knowing how to utter words of comfort. First, he lost Little Fairy Doctor, and then immediately lost Xiao Meng… Xiao Yan's calm and indifferent appearance now made him a little flustered.
"You… sigh, you should calm down yourself. Try to look on the bright side. You've already done your best." Yao Chen sighed helplessly.
"Yes, I did my best… but what I got in return for my best effort was this result… I am still too weak, too useless." Xiao Yan once again hated his weakness, his powerlessness.
Yao Chen originally wanted to ask about the mysterious expert who appeared at the end, but the words caught in his throat, and he swallowed them back, shaking his head slightly and leaving the main hall.
Xiao Yan stared blankly at the sky… various complex emotions continuously surged in his heart.
Scenes of his past interactions with Xiao Meng flashed through his mind like a rapidly spinning lantern, finally stopping on her appearance after merging with many souls, looking at him with pleading eyes.
He clutched his chest, leaned against the wall, and gasped for air. A sudden dizzy spell came over him, and he swayed, using all his strength to steady himself, preventing himself from falling.
"Great Thousand World… Dou Emperor, huh…"