"Anger can make a person temporarily lose judgment and reason. Heavenly Soul, after witnessing the miserable state of Earth Soul, you became enraged, and that anger was directed at me. You're still a bit inexperienced—your combat experience is too shallow. You've spent too long in your own world, that world filled only with towering world trees, the so-called World of Origin, always honing yourself. That's why you possess such astonishing power, which even surprises me. To reach this level in just two hundred years is truly impressive."
I quietly stared at the Wraithlord. He was grinding something white, like a stone, between his two fingers—this was the crystallization of my Soul Essence. The Wraithlord had precisely exploited my weakness and found my Soul Essence, wounding me. If I hadn't reacted in time, I would have suffered grave injury.
With a crack, the Wraithlord crushed part of my Soul Essence. My face tightened, and I clutched my side. Though I had recovered, my Soul Essence was already damaged. At this moment, the Wraithlord sat cross-legged in midair, fiddling with his ear, looking utterly nonchalant.
"Let's have a proper conversation, Heavenly Soul. I can answer any question you have. If you can refute me, I'll tell you what Earth Soul saw and what I did to him!"
I widened my eyes, thinking about the illusion the Wraithlord had just created for me. It wasn't during the fight, but at the moment when rage overtook me and I rushed forward—the Wraithlord cast an illusion. I was using my full strength, so I easily destroyed one of his arms, sending him flying.
From the moment I touched the Wraithlord, he replaced himself with a crystallization of desire in this world—those stones that evoke intense longing in people. My own desires were triggered, so my perception was completely clouded.
Every tactic the Wraithlord used after that was designed to create a killing intent. This is a masterful technique in combat; I've never seen anyone but Yin Choujian use it before.
"It seems you've understood. This step-by-step, relentless method of creating killing intent is Yin Choujian's specialty—and it's the most practical. In the moment your enemy reacts, you trap them in a situation they can never escape, leading to their eventual defeat. But the process is long, because it requires enough patience and enough restraint over one's own power."
"You seem to know what I'm thinking."
The Wraithlord chuckled and then spoke.
"It's not difficult to know what others are thinking. All it takes is an intimate, meticulous understanding of everything in the world. You've grasped part of this, but do you know everything? The entirety of the world? The reason I know what you're thinking isn't because I use power to read it—besides, with the power you possess now, I couldn't read your mind anyway. But just from a single expression, a gesture, I know your thoughts. It all comes from my understanding of this world—deeper, higher, farther than yours."
"So you know everything about John Chou?"
The Wraithlord nodded.
"That guy is truly strong. This complex, step-by-step method of drawing out killing intent in battle—I've never seen anyone else use it, and yes, I've fought him before. The result was a draw. Amusing, isn't it? Everything in this world is like a long string of endless beads, but there's a thread running through them. Most people spend their lives unable to return to the first bead, but some do, tracing the beads back to the beginning. The world you built, Heavenly Soul, is called the World of Divine Law, isn't it?"
I snorted coldly, immediately realizing the implication.
"Was it when a piece of your Soul Essence was inside Ethan Zhang that you spied on it?"
"Indeed. When I entered that world, I was shocked. The entire realm was made up of colossal world trees representing your power. And all this was accomplished in less than two hundred years since you three gained sentience. You're different from the other two. You record everything you observe deep in your heart. The other two—one only knows how to charge ahead recklessly, but at least finally broke through a wall, and the other is still lost, like a headless fly, unable to find direction. But you..."
The Wraithlord paused, pointing at me.
"You took everything you recorded and began to reconstruct it in your world, which was once no bigger than a palm. Slowly, your world expanded, eventually becoming boundless, filled with world trees. It's truly a remarkable achievement."
By now, I was completely calm. Although my power gave me an absolute advantage over the Wraithlord, he still had many ways to cope—he wasn't easy to deal with. But my resolve hadn't changed: I would shatter the Wraithlord's Human Soul, splitting his consciousness and power apart. At least that would eliminate one threat, delaying the fusion of the Threefold Souls, giving Ethan Zhang more time to prepare for the worst possible future, and freeing Earth Soul from the Human Soul's grip. I couldn't let Earth Soul fall any further.
"You really want to kill me, to completely erase me. Too bad you can't do it, so you came up with a way to deal with me—a clever idea. And you're buying time for Ethan Zhang. Do you really think Ethan Zhang is my match? The last hope of Nüwa, ha."
"Maybe you misunderstand Ethan Zhang, or perhaps you underestimate him."
The Wraithlord shook his head.
"I'm not underestimating Ethan Zhang; I just think there's no need. If he still has feelings, he's definitely no match for me. But if he can kill off his emotions, maybe I'm not his match."
Listening to the Wraithlord's ambiguous words, I couldn't tell what he was planning. I slowly moved closer.
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"Let me ask you, Wraithlord—if you really destroyed this world with your own hands, and only you were left, what would you do?"
"I've been alone for tens of thousands of years. What do you think?"
I laughed.
"A world with nothing—for you, what would that look like?"
"Boring."
I burst out laughing.
"If it's so boring, why do you want to destroy the world?"
"Of course, because I said I would—so I must. If I can't do it, then my words would be nothing but a joke."
I stared coldly at the Wraithlord. He shook his head again.
"And you, Heavenly Soul? What do you really want? With no real pursuit, yet you possess such immense power—is it mere coincidence, or is it fate?"
"What do you think? I'm just observing. And you? You haven't done anything, have you!"
I stared coldly at the Wraithlord. Now I was beginning to understand his intent—he wanted me to leave, to stop interfering with his plans.
"I'm not leaving, Wraithlord. Not until I've shattered your body and scattered your consciousness and power. So you'll have to fight me again and again."
The Wraithlord laughed heartily, then shook his head with a helpless smile.
"That would be a real problem. If my Earth Soul were here, you'd be killed instantly, Heavenly Soul."
I nodded slightly. Indeed, the Wraithlord's Earth Soul is so powerful it defies everyone's imagination—no one knows this better than I do.
"What exactly do you want to do with Earth Soul?"
"Guide him—or rather, he wants to become like me. That's why I decided to lend him a hand."
I couldn't hold back any longer. Clenching my fists, white flames erupted all over my body. The Wraithlord stood up as well.
"So it comes to this in the end, Heavenly Soul."
"Of course it does. Enough pointless words, Wraithlord."
With a boom, I punched forward. The Wraithlord quickly retreated, already aware of the true nature of my power—he wouldn't risk taking its impact, and right now he had no way to counter it.
A whistling sound echoed around me as the essence of desire appeared—normally unseen, these desires transformed into multicolored spikes shooting toward me. But as soon as they came close, my power shattered them all. The Wraithlord was just stalling for time; I didn't want to waste any more words with him.
"Heavenly Soul, you bastard."
With a furious roar, Earth Soul appeared beside me, his body crackling with black lightning. He thrust the Endbringer Sword at me, but I paid him no further attention.
With a thunderous crash, Earth Soul was sent flying toward the ground. The black lightning dissipated, the Endbringer Sword destroyed. I caught up with the Wraithlord, who dove headfirst into the pit of desire. I landed beside the pit, slowly raising a hand.
Suddenly, stones behind me cracked and shattered. Instantly, I spun around and thrust out a finger.
With a booming crash, a white beam pierced through the Wraithlord's body. The massive stone mountains behind him instantly disintegrated into drifting white particles, leaving nothing on the ground.
"When did you notice?"
"From the very beginning, Wraithlord. You can't fool me."
Suddenly, I heard the roar of wild beasts. Strange animal heads appeared on the Wraithlord's body, morphing into black streams of energy—these beasts lunged at me, jaws wide. I moved back gently.
Black beasts raced toward me from the sky, their power of a different nature. I quickly understood—waving my hand lightly, the black beasts before me turned to dust and vanished. The Wraithlord's true form was gone. I quietly observed everything around me.
"Instinct... Origin."