Chapter 1003: I Have Never Forgotten This Grudge! (I)

"O soul, return!!!"

The chant echoed endlessly across the wasteland. The brown-robed Daoist's voice had grown hoarse from chanting, yet he continued ringing the bells with all his strength to summon the lost soul home. When the dragon's head emerged from the oppressive black clouds overhead, a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. He growled, "Raise the banner!"

His two companions reacted immediately and began pouring their mana into the white banner. With a sharp crack, it unfurled and snapped violently in the wind. At the same time, the black clouds above seemed seized by an invisible force and began to churn.

Amid the roiling clouds, a streak of azure light quietly withdrew. Not long afterward, she returned to Luo Chen's side as the group drew closer to the wasteland.

"You've done well." Luo Chen nodded and tapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist, and Heavenjade obediently slipped inside.

Devil's Cloud and the Flesh Ganoderma could not help glancing at the pouch once more. A transformed demon cultivator capable of thinking and acting independently was far more valuable than any ordinary spirit beast. Setting aside everything else, the gap in intelligence alone placed Heavenjade in a league of her own.

The group continued forward; before long, the three of them arrived within a hundred li of the wasteland. The strange and urgent chimes continued to drift into their ears. All three silently watched the scene unfold from afar while communicating through divine consciousness transmissions.

"What are they doing?" the Flesh Ganoderma asked. After all, it had first gained sentience within this world, so matters concerning the outside world were largely limited to what Ding Yi knew.

Devil's Cloud studied the ritual for a long while before settling on the white banner. "It looks like... a soul-summoning ritual, I think. Using stones to build an altar, golden bells to guide the way, incantations to summon the soul, and a banner to wave it forth. This was the most orthodox soul-summoning art of the devil sect. It far surpasses the simple soul-guiding techniques used by ordinary forces."

The Flesh Ganoderma looked surprised. "Hm, you seem to know quite a bit. Are you skilled in this as well?"

"Not really. But back when I was still gaining some fame for myself in artifact creation, I repaired a soul-summoning banner for an Initiate from the devil sect. He and his junior had ventured deep into the Demon Sea to hunt down an enemy, and unfortunately, his junior...."

Perhaps because the ritual showed no signs of ending anytime soon, Devil's Cloud began recounting old stories. Luo Chen did not interrupt him. The more they understood about the ritual before them, the better prepared they would be for whatever came next. As for soul summoning, he was not entirely unfamiliar with the concept. Back in Tianlan, there had been shops that sold Soul-Summoning Incense. Once lit, it could supposedly attract the souls of deceased relatives. Whether it truly worked was difficult to verify, and even when it did, the results were often vague and unreliable. Compared to the scene unfolding before him, those were little more than child's play.

Gradually, Luo Chen's attention shifted toward the dragon-shaped soul writhing within the clouds. Following his gaze, Devil's Cloud lowered his voice and said, "The ritual I witnessed back then was performed by a mere Initiate, and it wasn't even remotely comparable to this. Whatever they've summoned now is very powerful. Even with its will in chaos, the pressure it gives off is overwhelming. can't imagine how powerful it must have been when it was alive."

The Flesh Ganoderma stared for a long moment, and it frowned as it searched through the fragments of memories. The effort soon left its head throbbing. After several breaths, however, something seemed to click into place, and it blurted out, "Divine Transformation!"

Luo Chen's expression changed dramatically, while Devil's Cloud's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is that possible? How could three mere Adepts forcibly summon an Ascendant's soul? Stop jumping to conclusions. That soul may be powerful, but it can't possibly be that powerful."

The Flesh Ganoderma paused before answering. "I am pretty sure about this. Its strength only seems comparable to a Sage's, but the actual soul is definitely the soul of an Ascendant, or maybe I should call it an Ancient Demon, or maybe a Titan Beast. Well, it is much like the difference between this fragment soul I have here and my actual self."

Luo Chen and Devil's Cloud exchanged glances. Unconsciously, Devil's Cloud had already taken a step back. Seeing his reaction, the Flesh Ganoderma quickly added, "Don't panic. That thing is almost certainly dead. It's probably been dead for thousands of years, perhaps even tens of thousands. Its consciousness vanished long ago. Even this dragon soul looks like something that was forcibly condensed using the power of heaven and earth."

Noticing that neither of them looked particularly convinced, he shook his head. "I can sense the ancient aura surrounding it. It's definitely not something from this era. If I had to guess, it's either a survivor of the ancient war or something even older. The aura of age and death around it is impossible to mistake. But hmm... Well, you're right in that something on that level isn't the sort of thing a few Adepts should be provoking."

By the end, even the Flesh Ganoderma looked puzzled. Devil's Cloud finally stopped backing away and looked toward the three figures in the distance. "Who are they? Why are they performing a soul-summoning ritual here? Honestly, it feels like they came here specifically for this."

While the two were still trying to make sense of the situation, Luo Chen suddenly spoke. "They're from Devil's Snare."

"Devil's Snare?"

"You know them?"

Luo Chen's expression grew complicated as he looked toward the brown-robed Daoist standing atop the altar. The man continuously rang a bell while chanting at the top of his lungs, directing the soul-summoning ritual below.

He was none other than Wu Qi, the master of Divine Witch Island and one of Blood Nightmare's most trusted subordinates. The last time they met was at the auction in Jadecold City, where Wu Qi had only been at the sixth stage of Golden Core. Now, however, he had already stepped into the late stage. His aura was steady and vigorous, and judging from the depth of his mana, he was not far away from the eighth stage. As for the two men beside him, Luo Chen had crossed paths with them before as well. They were Eagle Devil and Hundred-Faced Fiend, both renowned late-stage Adepts of Devil's Snare.

After Luo Chen explained who they were, the Flesh Ganoderma's expression changed dramatically. "If it's really them, then those three serve under Blood Nightmare and Heaven Splitter. If all three are here... Doesn't that mean those two have entered this place as well?"

The realization seemed to trigger something in Devil's Cloud. "That would explain it. Since Blood Nightmare was originally a disciple of the devil sect, it makes sense for him to have these soul-summoning arts, which he then passed down to... Wait, no. Hold on. That can't be. Wasn't Blood Nightmare from the Blood Sea Lineage?"

The three lineages of the devil sect operated independently of one another. Each had its own path and rarely crossed into another's domain. Experts of the Blood Sea Lineage generally did not practice the arts of the Soul Refinement Lineage, yet here these people were—the subordinates of Blood Nightmare, using true blue soul-summoning techniques of the Primordial Devil Sect.

Luo Chen's face turned dark, and he did not answer their questions. The only thing on his mind right now was the possibility that Blood Nightmare had entered the Land of Fallen Devils as well. The grudge between them was no small matter. Back then, he had openly refused his recruitment, and then he and Han Zhan joined forces to disrupt his avatar, He Yuan. Blood Nightmare was hardly a magnanimous person; he had even casually ordered Liang Baizao to hunt him down. To him, it might have been nothing more than an offhanded remark, but for Luo Chen, that single remark had nearly become a death sentence. Had he lacked sufficient strength, he would have died long ago on Seven Star Island under Liang Baizao's relentless attacks.

Luo Chen did not speak of that grudge, but he had never forgotten it. Now, Wu Qi and the others were conducting a ritual here. If they were acting under Blood Nightmare's orders, was the man himself somewhere nearby?

Suppressing the unease rising within him, he swept his gaze across the surrounding wasteland. Yellow sands stretched to the horizon, while black clouds blanketed the sky overhead. But despite searching carefully, he found no trace of another cultivator. Only then did he turn inward. "Senior, please search the area for me."

"Alright."

When Luo Chen asked for help, Han Zhan rarely refused. Although divine consciousness was heavily suppressed in this place, he specialized in divine soul cultivation, and the range of his divine consciousness still far exceeded that of ordinary cultivators.

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