Chapter 1247
Chapter 1247: Enrichment of the Soul
“Esteemed hall master, what could be more important than devouring the sea goddess’ soul? Why do you want to leave? Are you no longer planning on devouring her soul?” Jian Chen askrd with a smirk. His voice was filled with sarcasm as he looked at the hall master’s soul.
If the hall master’s real body had been present, Jian Chen obviously would not lay his hands on him, but unfortunately for the hall master, only his soul was here. It was evident that Jian Chen could not stop the clone outside, but it was his sea of consciousness here. It was his territory, so the hall master naturally could not cause any trouble. Just the Azulet sword spirits were enough to heavily-injure him.
The hall master no longer spoke to Jian Chen. The horror of the sword spirits behind him had peaked, so he immediately tried to make his way around the saint artifact in front of him and fled as quickly as he could.
However, right when he moved, the saint artifact reappeared in front of him with a flash of golden light, stopping him from retreating.
The hall master did not give up. He tried to make his way around the tower through various routes many times, but the outcome was still the same. He was stopped by the saint artifact every time. No matter how fast he was in Jian Chen’s sea of consciousness, he would still not be able to speed past the saint artifact.
The hall master was both flustered and furious. He knew that Jian Chen was secretly behind everything and that Jian Chen did not want him to leave. Jian Chen wanted to wipe out his strand of soul here.
“Jian Chen, how dare you attempt a sneak attack against me!” The hall master bellowed as his face became pale-white. He had never thought that he would fail such an easy task in such a miserable fashion. As it turned out, Jian Chen, who had just been a sitting duck, was more complicated than he had imagined, forcing him into such a horrible situation.
Jian Chen coldly smiled, “Hall master, you never had any good intentions as soon as you arrived in my sea of consciousness. All you can blame is yourself for not being strong enough, so why try to explain it as a sneak attack?” A sword that was two fingers wide appeared in Jian Chen’s hand. The sword was condensed from the power of his soul from his sea of consciousness. With a violent tremble, the sword turned into a resplendent streak of light as it shot toward the hall master’s soul.
The hall master’s soul had already become extremely weak after being terrified by the battle among the stars and then heavily injured by the sword spirits. Coupled with the fact that he was in Jian Chen’s sea of consciousness, his movements were restricted. It was impossible for him to block Jian Chen’s attack, even dodging was not possible.
Jian Chen’s sword passed through the hall master’s soul, causing him to wail in pain. His soul became even more faint.
“Jian Chen, I will not let you go for this,” the hall master roared. He knew that this strand of soul was done for today.
Jian Chen said nothing. An icy-cold light flickered in his eyes. His sword swung toward the hall master again as a streak of resplendent light.
After sustaining three attacks, the hall master’s soul finally dissipated, having been destroyed in Jian Chen’s sea of consciousness.
Jian Chen deeply exhaled and the sword in his hand disappeared. He knew that the destruction of a strand of the hall master’s soul would definitely affect his strength. The hall master wanted to devour the sea goddess’ soul, yet Jian Chen had already made up his mind to assist her. It was very likely that he would come into conflict with the hall master of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall in the future, so he did not regret wiping out a clone of his.
Suddenly, Jian Chen’s eyes froze. He could clearly sense a strand of power from the soul where the hall master’s clone had vanished. The power was extremely pure, but there was only a single strand of it. It did not possess any consciousness within.
Jian Chen rejoiced inside. He understood what had happened very quickly. After being destroyed in his sea of consciousness, the soul did not dissipate. Instead, it was trapped there. Although the strand of power had weakened, it was still an extremely beneficial thing to Jian Chen.
Jian Chen immediately began to absorb the power. Fortunately, the strand of power was rather gentle in nature, so Jian Chen encountered no difficulties absorbing it. Very soon, the strand of power disappeared from his sea of consciousness, having been completely absorbed away.
Immediately, an indescribable feeling of ecstacy filled Jian Chen. He could sense that his soul had been enriched, becoming even more powerful than before. Even the sword spirits benefited after absorbing the power.
Returning his attention back to his body, Jian Chen immediately felt that he could sense his surroundings in an even sharper clarity. Even if he did not use his presence, he could vaguely sense the clansmen a thousand meters away.
Suddenly, Jian Chen expanded his presence as much as he could, and he was in for a big surprise. His presence before could only cover a radius of ten thousand kilometers, yet it could now cover a twenty-thousand-kilometer radius. The radius had increased by an entire fold.
“The strength of my soul should have already surpassed the souls of Saint Kings at Great Perfection, but it’s still a little weaker than a Saint Emperor,” Jian Chen deduced inside. However, he shook his head soon after. He felt like it was inaccurate to use a standard like that. This was because among Saint Emperors, there were those with stronger and weaker souls, such as the Class 9 Magical Beasts from the Beast God Continent. They were also Saint Emperors, but their souls were their weakness and would not necessarily be more powerful than Jian Chen’s current soul. On the other hand, the hall master of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall may not have been as powerful as the Class 9 Magical Beasts of the Beast God Continent, but his soul was definitely several times stronger.
“Though the hall master has given me a great gift this time, allowing my soul to strengthen by so much,” Jian Chen thought. He was currently in the territory of the Sea Goddess Hall, so he did not need to fear the hall master of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall. If the hall master’s true body was bold enough to move against him, the hall master of the Sea Goddess Hall would personally come to stop him without any need for Jian Chen to do anything.
At this moment, a heavy but loud sound suddenly reverberated from the divine hall within the territory of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall, along with a wave of vast energy that rushed out like a tsunami. It caused the entire structure to shake violently. Many experts who cultivated there were alarmed, and all of them emerged from their rooms in surprise. They all began to whisper to each other in discussion.
“Jian Chen, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll make you suffer the most excruciating torture for as long as possible before killing you,” the hall master bellowed angrily from within the divine hall. A figure who radiated with terrifying ripples of energy left the divine hall like a streak of lightning as he made his way to the Sea Goddess Hall.
“Isn’t that the hall master who hasn’t emerged for quite a few years? Why has the hall master suddenly become so furious…”
“Didn’t you hear the hall master curse the ruler of the Turtle clan, Jian Chen. Jian Chen sure is something. The hall master has such a good temperament, yet he’s actually become so furious because of Jian Chen. I really do wonder what Jian Chen has done…”
“Weird. From what I know, the ruler of the Turtle clan has always stayed in the territory of the Sea Goddess Hall and has not ventured elsewhere in recent times. How has he offended the hall master and made him so furious…”
Many guests, elders, and hall elders quietly discussed the matter in the divine hall. A portion of them obviously hated Jian Chen, but there was also a tiny group of people who secretly admired him. He had offended the hall master of the Serpent God Hall before and now he had offended the hall master of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall. His boldness really was admirable, offending the emperors of the two halls one after another.
The hall master flew toward the territory of the Sea Goddess Hall while radiating with a powerful killing intent. His face was extremely sunken as his bone-deep hatred for Jian Chen burned inside. Jian Chen had killed a clone of his. Not only would it severely affect the strength he could use, it even heavily injured his soul, making it difficult to recover. What was even more unbearable for him was that he had actually suffered a sneak attack from a 16th Star expert as an emperor. That was just utterly embarrassing for him.
“Hmph, Jian Chen, do you really think that the fake image you conjured when I was in your sea of consciousness would be enough to scare me away? I’m not muddle-headed like a child. That image was very realistic, giving the feeling as if I was actually there, but it’s an illusion in the end. It’s impossible to be true. How can such terrifying experts exist in the world, where a single droplet of their blood would be enough to kill a Saint Emperor? And that there’s an innumerable amount of them? It’s a joke that I believed as real back then,” said the hall master through gritted teeth. He was torn between anger and shame. To think that he, a great emperor, had been frightened by a realistic illusion. That only deepened his shame.
However, when he arrived at the boundary between the two territories, he began to hesitate. He did not cross it in a hurry.
“If I enter the territory of the Sea Goddess Hall right now, I would be breaking the agreement. At that time, I’ll be stopped by the hall master before I even see that blasted Jian Chen. My soul’s injured right now, so I’m not that woman’s opponent,” the hall master calmed down and thought inside. He hesitated.
“Hall master of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall, are you intending to trespass the territory of my Sea Goddess Hall?” Just as he hesitated, an icy-cold voice rang out from up ahead. A figure surrounded by blue light silently appeared opposite of him. Her figure was blurred, but she was clearly a woman. She stood exactly ten meters away in the territory of the Sea Goddess Hall, facing the hall master of the Heaven’s Spirit Hall.