Chapter 282

Chapter 282: Devouring the Great Devil’s Divine Soul

Shen Sang Ruo had mostly figured out the strength of the Great Devil’s soul. At the same time, she studied his attack style, since before this she did not know how to attack with Divine Soul Power. She only needed to learn a Devouring type Soul Method, which was not too hard. Now she could fight the Great Devil head on.

The Great Devil sneered, his voice cold: “Parlor tricks! No matter how you hide, you only have that little bit of strength!”

His aura doubled. Their attacks crashed together as each tried to devour the other. For a while, neither side could win, and the fight grew tense.

Outside the space, the Snake Maiden at Shen Sang Ruo’s side was not idle. She kept muttering under her breath, “Eat him! Eat him!”

In the Snake Maiden’s eyes, Devouring and eating were the same thing. When the Great Devil’s soul left his body, the Formation supported by that soul failed, and she and the other beasts felt much better. The rest copied the Snake Maiden and cheered by Shen Sang Ruo’s side.

Inside, Shen Sang Ruo seemed to sense them. The vortex of Divine Soul Power in front of her grew larger, and it faintly began to overshadow the Great Devil.

The Great Devil was shocked. He knew how much energy was in that Divine Soul Power. It should not be enough to match him. Also, the power depended greatly on the user. In hands like his, it could be doubled. That brat had not even known how to use Divine Soul Power before he pulled her into this space. He was sure that even if Shen Sang Ruo got the Divine Soul Power, she could not stir up much trouble. Now the situation was clearly outside his expectations.

Shen Sang Ruo’s soul was much stronger than he thought, and her use of Divine Soul Power rose quickly in a short time. Her talent in Soul Methods was no worse than her talent in other areas. This talent made even the Great Devil, who excelled at Soul Methods, red with jealousy.

He tried to boost his Devouring spell to fight her, but the pull of the vortex grew stronger and sucked in all the Divine Soul Power he released. He finally realized something was wrong. He had to switch from offense to defense, using all his Divine Soul Power just to hold his ground, yet he still slid toward the vortex.

He shook his head in disbelief, shouting, “Impossible! Impossible!” He knew that if his soul touched the vortex, it would be completely devoured. He screamed, “I do not want to be devoured! I do not want to be devoured! Ah!” The Devil Race’s grand plan, his own ambitions, would all be gone.

Only a few meters remained. His soul was being pulled away bit by bit, just like the Formation he had prepared for them. Shen Sang Ruo stood before him and swept him with a cold look, saying, “I will give you one chance to tell me what you planned with the Heretic Cultivator back then, and you might live.”

The Great Devil’s face twisted as he barked, “You want to know? Keep dreaming! The Cultivation World is fated to be destroyed. Even if I die, that will not change. Sooner or later, the Cultivation World will be our Devil Cultivators’ domain! Even if I die, I will not let you have peace, hahaha!”

Shen Sang Ruo lost patience and raised her hand, strengthening the vortex’s Devouring pull. The distance shrank fast. A third of his soul was already devoured. No matter how arrogant he had been, fear now took over as death drew near. His wails echoed in her ears: “No! No!”

Seeing this, she meant to spare a thread of his soul, since she might still learn something from him later. But when she tried to pull the vortex back, the Devouring spell would not stop, as if another power stood in her way.

A voice rang out in her mind: “You dare devour my soul, I, Ya Lan, head of the Devil Cultivators. Can you bear it? Let us die together!” Shen Sang Ruo felt darkness wash over her and lost consciousness.

The Great Devil’s soul vanished. The space broke apart, and her soul returned to her body. The Snake Maiden saw a bright light sink into Shen Sang Ruo and cried out in joy, “We won!” On the other side, Ya Lan turned into a cloud of black mist and scattered completely.

The Giant Beetle and the Swift Snails climbed onto Shen Sang Ruo to celebrate, but she did not open her eyes. The Snake Maiden’s smile slowly froze as she asked, “What is going on? Why is she not waking up? Did she not devour the Great Devil’s soul? Is he not already dead?”

She used Divine Sense to check Shen Sang Ruo’s state. Everything seemed normal, yet there was no sign that she would wake up.

The Dodder Flower Sprite seemed to think of something and called out, “I know! The one she devoured was a Devil Cultivator, and not just anyone, but a Great Devil soaked through with Devil Qi. His soul must be different from a normal Cultivator’s.”

Devil Qi and Spiritual Qi repel each other. Since Shen Sang Ruo devoured Ya Lan’s soul, it would surely affect her soul. This was why she could not wake.

That guess was right. At this moment, Shen Sang Ruo’s soul was fighting the soul mass full of Devil Qi. Ya Lan’s Divine Soul Power was dark and very aggressive. Even after being devoured, it still tried to attack her soul, break into her sea of consciousness, and strike at her Contracted Beasts.

In her sleep she frowned, sweat beading on her forehead. The Snake Maiden hurried to wipe it away. It was the only thing she could do. The rest could only worry outside and hope she made it through.

Where they could not see, Shen Sang Ruo’s soul burned like a blaze of fire, pressing down hard on the dark soul. The fire worked well against that darkness, burning and driving it away. The unruly dark soul fled in panic, but the flame soul chased and cut it off. At last, Shen Sang Ruo tamed it completely, turning it into Divine Soul Power she could use.

About a quarter hour later, she slowly opened her eyes. She saw the Snake Maiden, the Dodder Flower Sprite, the Giant Beetle, and the Swift Snails forming a circle in her view as they cried, “You are awake?!”

Shen Sang Ruo blinked, then stood up and asked, “How long was I out?”

The Snake Maiden grabbed her arm to help and said, “A quarter hour. Are you alright? Did the Great Devil’s soul affect you?”

“I am fine,” Shen Sang Ruo answered, though her voice held a hint of doubt, “but…” [My dantian feels odd.] She had tamed Ya Lan’s Divine Soul Power, but its Devil Qi would still rub off on her. Right now, two things kept circling her Nascent Soul.