Just as Master Spirit Caller finished speaking, a voice echoed from the sky: "Senior, aren't you just toying with my guards?"
"Otherwise, how would I get you to come out?" Master Spirit Caller replied with a smile toward the sky.
Evan Yang and Gavin White looked up curiously. They saw a man descend from the sky, looking exactly like the statue—this must be Spirit King Hanlin.
"Senior, Hanlin King greets you." Spirit King Hanlin said respectfully. Seeing even Spirit King Hanlin treat Master Spirit Caller this way, Evan and Gavin grew more curious about Master Spirit Caller's true identity.
"Today, I've come for another matter. I wonder if you have time?" Master Spirit Caller asked curiously.
"What is it? What could bring you here in person, senior?" Spirit King Hanlin asked, intrigued.
"Let him explain. Young brother, it's your turn." Master Spirit Caller pointed at Evan Yang.
Evan Yang hadn't expected Master Spirit Caller to let him speak, but since he'd come, there was no reason to leave. He said to Spirit King Hanlin, "General Skybreaker is your subordinate, right?"
"Yes, that's right. What's up? Did he offend you?" Spirit King Hanlin asked, curious.
"Here's what happened: General Skybreaker recruited someone called Master Soul Summoner, who specializes in harvesting souls, refining them, and erasing their consciousness—turning them into tools for his own use. I came here to pursue him." Evan Yang explained.
"Is that true?" Spirit King Hanlin asked suspiciously.
"Yes, that's exactly it," Evan Yang replied.
"That's strange. General Skybreaker just arrived with a group, saying he ran into trouble and was being hunted by two people. He must mean you two, but that's not what he told us." Spirit King Hanlin said.
"Looks like he really did come. Then let me confront him face-to-face and we'll clear things up." Evan Yang said.
"Alright, since senior is here, I'll trouble you to join us." Spirit King Hanlin said.
Master Spirit Caller nodded. The three followed Spirit King Hanlin through the guards and finally arrived at a lavish palace.
The palace was originally filled with General Skybreaker and his people. When they saw Evan Yang had chased them here, they were shocked, but General Skybreaker quickly calmed down and pointed at Evan, "You actually chased us all the way here! Isn't the harm you've done to us enough?"
"Harm you?" Evan Yang was puzzled. What trick was this guy playing now?
"Spirit King Hanlin, it's him! He came to seize my rare treasure, chased us to our place, and we barely escaped. Now he's followed us here!" General Skybreaker said.
Hearing General Skybreaker's words, Evan Yang and Gavin White understood—these guys had already twisted the truth.
Evan Yang chuckled, "General Skybreaker, do you even bother drafting your lies?"
Just as the two were about to start arguing, Spirit King Hanlin spoke up, "Enough! If you want to know who's telling the truth, each of you explain your side. I'll decide for myself. Besides, with Master Spirit Caller here, he knows even better than I do who's lying and who's honest."
General Skybreaker was shocked to see Master Spirit Caller next to Evan Yang, while Master Soul Summoner hid in the back, not daring to show himself—he'd spotted Master Spirit Caller, who kept staring at him with a strange smile.
"I'll go first," Evan Yang volunteered, then explained everything that happened between him and General Skybreaker, finishing with how he ended up here.
After hearing Evan Yang's account, Spirit King Hanlin's expression soured—General Skybreaker had actually been refining souls. So he asked, "General Skybreaker, how do you explain this?"
"He's slandering me! I never refined souls!" General Skybreaker quickly defended himself.
"Oh? Really? Then explain how you and he became enemies," Spirit King Hanlin said.
General Skybreaker knew he couldn't avoid it now, so he made up a story—how he got the artifact, how Evan Yang found him, and so on. Spirit King Hanlin's expression grew darker as he listened. Before General Skybreaker finished, Spirit King Hanlin punched him, sending him sprawling to the floor, terrified.
"You dare lie to me? Don't you know I hate liars the most? General Skybreaker, today I'll have you imprisoned. Guards, take him to the cliffside dungeon!" Spirit King Hanlin said angrily.
General Skybreaker was terrified, but badly injured and couldn't resist as he was carried away. The people who came with him hadn't expected this outcome; all of them knelt, begging for mercy in terror.
Spirit King Hanlin snorted, "Take these people away too. They're an eyesore."
"Leave him behind," Master Spirit Caller finally spoke, pointing at Master Soul Summoner as Spirit King Hanlin was about to have the rest taken away.
Spirit King Hanlin had no objection. He had the others taken away, leaving only Master Soul Summoner. The whole process took only a moment, and Evan Yang and Gavin White had achieved their goal.
"My people caused you trouble. Sorry about that," Spirit King Hanlin apologized to Evan Yang and Gavin White after giving his orders.
Evan Yang hadn't expected Spirit King Hanlin to have such poise—at least he wasn't petty. Evan smiled, "It's fine, it was their fault, not yours, senior."
"No need to be so polite. Stay and watch this with me," Master Spirit Caller said with a smile.
At that moment, Master Soul Summoner was hiding in the corner, terrified of Master Spirit Caller. Master Spirit Caller opened his hand, and a yellow light appeared. Bathed in that light, Master Soul Summoner screamed a few times, then vanished—turning into a small bat-like creature.
"I knew it was you beasts causing trouble," Master Spirit Caller snorted. The bat that Master Soul Summoner had become shrieked, "You—you won't have a good end!"
"Pathetic," Master Spirit Caller said, putting the creature into a magical artifact. The room fell quiet, but Evan Yang and Gavin White were stunned—what was going on here?
Spirit King Hanlin wasn't surprised; he quickly understood what had happened.
"Is it them?" Spirit King Hanlin asked.
"Yes, it's their faction. I didn't expect they'd already infiltrated your subordinates," Master Spirit Caller said, frowning.
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"Looks like I need to check my people. If this keeps up, they'll infiltrate my ranks and I won't even know it," Spirit King Hanlin said.
"I only came here because I sensed those people's aura on these two friends. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered coming so far just to stir things up for you," Master Spirit Caller said with a smile.
"Senior, what are you saying?" Spirit King Hanlin replied with a smile.
At that moment, Evan Yang interrupted, "What are you talking about? Can you tell us?"
"I almost forgot—you probably don't know anything yet. In that case, let's chat together so you'll know more," Master Spirit Caller said with a smile.
"Is that alright?" Spirit King Hanlin was unfamiliar with Evan Yang and was curious since Master Spirit Caller wanted to discuss these matters with him.
"No problem. He's not ordinary—he has Saint King Duran's Chaos Soul-Power, Saint King James's Soul Battle Will, and even that crazy Human World's binding ability," Master Spirit Caller listed Evan Yang's strengths one by one.
Evan Yang was shocked—he hadn't expected Master Spirit Caller to see right through him. That took serious skill. Spirit King Hanlin was also stunned, "What? He has Saint King Duran's Chaos Soul-Power? Isn't he supposed to be impossible to recruit?"
"I couldn't say. Maybe Saint King Duran passed that power on and it ended up with him. As for Saint King James, he's been missing for years—you'd have to ask him about that. And that crazy guy, he's always being used by others, so who knows?" Master Spirit Caller said.
Evan Yang was stunned. Master Spirit Caller had named three people, all tied to his cultivation. Except for Saint King James, Evan didn't know the other two at all.
"Is what senior said true?" Spirit King Hanlin asked excitedly, looking at Evan Yang. Evan replied awkwardly, "Except for Saint King James, I don't know the other two at all."
"Oh? Really? Maybe it's your destiny. But Saint King James has been missing for years—how did you meet him?" Master Spirit Caller asked curiously.
"He was just imprisoned before, but I've already freed him. He's somewhere now," Evan Yang said.
"Imprisoned? Looks like the rumors are true—the crazy guy sealed some people at random. Maybe Saint King James was one of them," Master Spirit Caller said.
Evan Yang didn't know, so he just watched them talk quietly, until Spirit King Hanlin said, "Let's go, we'll discuss this together."
After that, Evan Yang and Gavin White were invited to a VIP building, where Spirit King Hanlin explained the origin of Master Soul Summoner to them.
It turned out there was another kind of evil soul here, called Evil Souls. They could change shapes and turn into animals, making them hard to guard against. The leader of these Evil Souls was known as the Evil King.
Evan Yang finally understood that what Master Spirit Caller said on the arena wasn't a lie—there really was an Evil King, just like there were Saint Kings.
After Spirit King Hanlin finished, Master Spirit Caller said, "Just as Spirit King Hanlin explained, now you understand."
"I didn't expect the Soul Prison Realm to have so many conflicts," Evan Yang said, surprised he'd encountered such things right after arriving.
"That's right. The Soul Prison Realm is like this, and your Human World has similar problems. It's just bigger, so when something happens, it doesn't shake everything at once. We can't afford to let the Evil King stir things up—we have to slowly control their evil forces," Master Spirit Caller explained.
"I see," Evan Yang replied, understanding now.
"By the way, I haven't asked—what brings you here?" Spirit King Hanlin asked curiously.
"I almost forgot—just wanted to ask, is there a meadow here where, if someone touches it, their soul gets partially absorbed?" Evan Yang asked.
"You mean the Soul Loss Sanctuary?" Spirit King Hanlin immediately made the connection.
"I don't know if that's it, but what's special about that place?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"Of course. That place grows all kinds of rare herbs, but they're not easy to harvest. If you're careless, part of your soul will be absorbed invisibly, and eventually you'll feel your soul missing, unable to move freely," Spirit King Hanlin explained.