Evan Yang spread out his divine sense and found that there were still quite a few souls in this city, all busy earning Soul-Stones. When they first saw him, they looked surprised, but then went back to their own business. Since he needed to keep his actions secret, Evan Yang began searching for a spot with no souls nearby.
After a while, Evan Yang took out that strange Soul-Stone Collector and started absorbing Soul-Stones from the area.
He absorbed Soul-Stones by the hundreds and thousands at a time, thanks to his divine sense spreading out wildly.
With no souls around, no one could witness Evan Yang's impressive feat.
Maintaining this pace, after about half a day, Evan Yang had absorbed nearly all he needed—an initial estimate put his haul at several million, maybe even more.
Anxious to track down the Ember Core, Evan Yang put away the collector and returned to find Theo Tian, who was still struggling to gather Soul-Stones.
After thinking for a moment, Evan Yang said, "Brother Theo Tian, I think we're good here. Let's head out."
"No way, I've only got a few thousand." Theo Tian was doing his best, but it was just a few thousand. Evan Yang couldn't stand to watch and said, "Don't worry. Once we're out, I'll give you a hundred thousand. That'll be enough for the consultation."
"You? Where did you get a hundred thousand?" Theo Tian asked curiously.
"I have a special method, but you can't use it. That's why I managed to collect a lot more." Evan Yang smiled.
"Really?" Theo Tian was excited. If Evan Yang really had that much, there was no need to waste time here—they could go ask right away.
Evan Yang nodded and smiled. "That's right. Let's go."
Theo Tian put away his collector and left with Evan Yang, smiling. Outside, they tallied their harvest: Evan Yang had over a million Soul-Stones, and after the city's share, he kept about six hundred thousand. He took his portion and left with Theo Tian.
Theo Tian only had a thousand or two, and felt puzzled. But since Evan Yang gave him a hundred thousand, he couldn't help but ask, "General Wood (Mu Han), how did you do it?"
"How should I explain it? I just use the collector smoothly, so my speed is faster." Evan Yang didn't really know how to explain, so he kept it vague.
Theo Tian nodded, "I see, no wonder. Let's go. I'm eager to get to the Seer Tower."
Evan Yang nodded, but halfway there, trouble appeared: a group of six souls—all red, clearly not friendly.
The lead soul laughed, "Didn't expect to find a human. Perfect. Everyone, draw out this human's soul and make him join us. And the other one too—he should join us as well."
"Alright, boss. I'll go corrupt them now," one soul said, clicking his tongue.
Evan Yang didn't understand what they meant, but their attitude made it clear—they weren't good souls.
The soul who just talked about corruption stepped forward, stretched out his hand, and a gust of wind blew over. This wind made Evan Yang feel as if his body was splitting apart, even corroding.
Theo Tian, on the other hand, wasn't affected—he had no physical body, so it didn't matter much. Evan Yang didn't know what kind of power this was, but he was furious. "Are you trying to provoke me?"
"Oh, kid, you're really tough. But what's the point of anger? You're human—your normal attacks don't work on souls like us." the soul sneered.
"Is that so? Then try this!" Evan Yang hurled his Sacred Flame, burning the corrupting soul until its essence trembled and it screamed.
The other souls were shocked and stared at Evan Yang in anger, launching their own special attacks. Evan Yang realized they all used powers similar to Soul-Power, like his own Immortal Essence, but sourced differently and with slightly different methods.
But to Evan Yang, they were no threat at all. In just a few moves, he destroyed several souls—out of six, five were completely annihilated.
The last soul cried out in terror, "You—you broke the agreement!"
"Agreement? What agreement! I have no idea! All I know is you souls tried to mess with me, so I wiped you out!" Evan Yang snorted coldly, then finished the last one off with a burst of flame. Theo Tian was about to say something, but saw Evan Yang had destroyed all six souls.
"How are you so fast?" Theo Tian exclaimed. "What's wrong?" Evan Yang sensed he had something to say and asked curiously.
"There are rules in the Death Realm: humans aren't allowed to destroy souls here. If you do, you'll definitely be captured and your physical body destroyed!" Theo Tian said in shock.
"What? There's such a rule in the Death Realm?" Yang Han felt things were getting serious, but since no one knew, he said, "Only the two of us know about this. Make sure you don't tell anyone else."
"Yeah, I won't tell anyone. Let's hurry and go—if someone sees us, it'll be trouble," Theo said.
Evan Yang nodded and left with Theo Tian. About an hour later, at the spot where they disappeared, white smoke rose, and the six souls that had died earlier actually revived.
But now they were just weakened souls. "Big brother, that human was too cruel," one soul said.
"Don't worry. He'll pay for daring to destroy us. Luckily, we took a Rebirth Pill earlier—if our souls are destroyed, we can revive after an hour. But now it's used up; if we die again, there's no saving us." the lead soul said.
"So what do we do?" The others looked at the lead soul.
"What do we do? We report him, of course! Destroying us means he broke the Death Realm's rules. No matter how strong he is, can he be stronger than the law here?" the soul sneered.
"That's right, big brother, you're so smart. Where should we report it? What if those guys don't believe us?" one soul asked.
"Don't believe us? Impossible! I already recorded the moment you were destroyed—I've got evidence." the lead soul snorted.
"Big brother really is clever. Let's go." one soul agreed, and the rest echoed him. The group then left together.
Evan Yang had no idea these souls could revive this way. Right now, he was arriving at the Seer Tower with Theo Tian.
Evan Yang had no idea these souls could revive this way. Right now, he was arriving at the Seer Tower with Theo Tian.
Inside the Seer Tower, the guard tried to stop Theo Tian, but Theo Tian said, "I've got Soul-Stones now."
"See for yourself." Theo took out the pouch of Soul-Stones.
The guard checked and saw there really were a hundred thousand, so he nodded. "That's right, a hundred thousand. Well, you're in luck—go on in."
"Thanks." Theo Tian said with a smile.
Theo Tian went inside and waited for Evan Yang, who also walked up and handed over a hundred thousand. But the guard frowned, "Humans pay double for questions, so you need at least two hundred thousand."
Evan Yang hadn't expected such a rule, but since he had enough, he handed over another hundred thousand, and the guard let him in.
After a while, both went inside. There were ten rooms, some with doors open, some closed. A passing soul explained, "Open doors mean you can go in; closed doors mean someone's already inside asking questions, so only one person per room."
Evan Yang and Theo Tian saw that several rooms were open, so they each entered a different one. As soon as they stepped inside, the doors closed automatically—nothing outside could be heard from within, and nothing inside could be seen from outside.
In front of Evan Yang sat a soul who seemed quite old, giving the impression he knew everything—especially all the major events in the Death Realm.
"You're from the Immortal Realm?" the soul asked.
"Yes." Evan Yang nodded.
"Did you come here to find someone, or is there another reason?" the soul asked.
Evan Yang thought for a moment and said, "I want to know the whereabouts of an item."
"What item?" the soul asked, curious.
"The Ember Core. Please advise." Evan Yang said.
Hearing this, the soul looked surprised. "Why are you asking about that?"
"I want to know where it is. Please advise." Evan Yang repeated.
"I can't really advise you, but this artifact does come from your world. It's now suppressed in the Death Abyss of our Death Realm. Neither souls nor humans can enter that place," the soul said.
"Suppressed? Death Abyss? Why is that?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Since you've paid, I have to tell you. Long ago, a powerful cultivator from the Immortal Realm came here searching for something, breaking our rules and sparking a massive battle among Ghost Lords. In the end, the expert was wounded but couldn't be destroyed, so they suppressed him in the Death Abyss, hoping its corrosive power would finish him off," the soul explained.
"Really? So you mean the artifact was suppressed along with the person?" Evan Yang asked, surprised that the person could be found as well.
"That's right. At first, the person was suppressed. One Ghost Lord wanted the artifact, but was burned by its flames. In the end, none dared to use it, so they sealed it together," the seer said.
Evan Yang nodded, "I see. Thank you."
"I've told you everything I know, but I advise you not to go there. There aren't any powerful souls, but the corrosive aura is enough to destroy your body," the seer warned.
"Where is the Death Abyss?" Evan Yang thought about it and asked, deciding for himself whether he'd go.
"Are you sure you want to know?" the seer asked, surprised.
"Yes, I want to know," Evan Yang said.
The seer thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I'll tell you." He gave Evan Yang the location of the Death Abyss, especially warning him not to pursue the Ember Core—countless people and souls had died because of it.