"Area cleared."
Within a radius of over ten miles, the spiritual net that had been cast out detected no more life signs.
Tang Sui lowered her head, her demonic energy condensing into a needle that pricked the pad of her finger. The blood, under the low temperature, came into contact with the even colder water. It was like snow-white pearls spat out by an oyster, only changing color. It solidified into blood beads the size of red beans, which were then strung together by the black demonic mist at intervals, lengthening and expanding their reach.
The rolling, ink-colored formation patterns stretched for hundreds of meters, their intricate and obscure totems and imprints flashing with points of crimson light.
Each black line connected to a blood bead at its ends.
The massive formation pattern lit up, making Tang Sui's complexion appear even paler. The turbulent water surged, roaring and churning with waves that rose and fell centered on Tang Sui.
Through the passage of time, the energy that had already settled in this body of water was attracted by the magic circle, transforming into specks of faint blue fluorescence that slowly converged towards Tang Sui. They flowed into the glowing formation patterns and finally entered Tang Sui's body, merging with her soul.
Her consciousness was constantly impacted by the surging energy, as if undergoing repeated cleansing, making Tang Sui unconsciously yearn to sink into that more profound realm.
Even Tang Sui hadn't expected that this soul-control energy absorption would be so... comfortable.
Her eyelids felt so heavy that they were about to close completely. Tang Sui, with a sliver of clear consciousness, withdrew the initiative of her thoughts from her physical body and awakened the consciousness entities of the Fox Mask and the others, infusing them with a vast amount of demonic energy.
"I'll leave it... to you..."
With difficulty, she spoke these five words. Then, Tang Sui's head drooped, and she fell into a deep slumber, absorbing the continuously flowing energy.
The vertical pupils in the dark golden masks coiled around her eyes rolled. Black and red demonic energy surged out, enveloping the entire masks.
Seven humanoid figures, each with a distinct demeanor, warped and appeared in the turbulent water.
Except for the last one, a black-dressed girl whose appearance was identical to Tang Sui's, her bare white feet stepping on the ice ocean solid and firm, the lower bodies of the others, whether old or young, were semi-transparent, like specters. Their forms flickered, appearing unstable.
The seven figures, forming a circle, six of them looked up, each wearing a pristine white mask of the original version.
Fox Mask, Ape Mask, Big Flyer, Lucky God, Old Woman Mask, Cicada Pill.
They all looked uniformly towards the Black Mask, the second in authority besides Tang Sui. They silently lowered their heads, their white masks gradually being stained black under the Black Mask's gaze, with gold and red patterns adorning their eye sockets or the edges of their faces.
Now, their leader was the Black Mask.
She stood directly behind Tang Sui, leaning slightly forward, able to touch the top of Tang Sui's soft hair with a raised hand.
"Don't let any bothersome things cause trouble."
A cold arc tugged at the corner of the Black Mask's lips.
"Yes."
Fox Mask and the others saw this, lowered their heads as if in submission, and as knights guarding her, their phantom forms silently retreated, each flying off in a direction to meditate and protect.
At the same time, in the distant Sea God's Temple, Tang San was also grinding his teeth, mobilizing the power of the Sea God's Light, absorbing and outputting it madly.
To lift the Sea God's Trident, which weighed one hundred and eight thousand catties, he had to not only exert all his strength but also constantly surpass his physical limits in a very short time to endure and complete the transformation.
When he grabbed the Sea God's Trident, he felt his Mysterious Jade Hands were sealed and unusable. He had to pull it out by sheer force.
However, when he finally broke through the golden light resistance around the Sea God's Trident and touched its shaft, an electric shock spread through his body. The heaviness he had felt earlier became a tangible reality in his grasp.
The patterns on the shaft of the Sea God's Trident seemed to perfectly align with his palm. What surprised Tang San even more was that the shaft was warm, as if blood flowed within it, giving him an indescribably strange feeling, while also allowing him to truly feel the difficulty of pulling it out.
But Tang San understood that at this point, he could not retreat, nor could he stop. He had to keep trying, constantly pressuring himself to forcibly break through his limits, if he had any hope of pulling out the Sea God's Trident.
Compared to Tang Sui, who was in the northernmost part of the continent, feeling as if she had returned to the cradle of life, absorbing energy in deep slumber and waiting for time to drive her integration into a complete soul, Tang San was quite the contrast.
...
The turning of the stars above the ice ocean was imperceptible to Tang Sui, thousands of meters below.
As she absorbed energy, the originally upright icebergs began to collapse one after another. The soul beasts became restless, and the local snow-covered residents watched with concern. Tang Sui was completely unaware of all this.
The power of the Azure Maiden should have been cold, but as it flowed through her soul, it felt like a comforting bath in a hot spring.
Her mind was like still water, her heart clear and empty.
Whether in her past life or this one, Tang Sui had never experienced such comfort and warmth.
This sense of comfort was buried deep in her earliest memories before she entered reincarnation, and now it felt as if someone was digging it out with a shovel, allowing her to relive it.
The Fox Mask and the others, connected to Tang Sui's soul, also felt her relaxation as if they were experiencing it themselves.
"She's sleeping so soundly."
Only the Fox Mask, whose spirit was satisfied while his body had to do hard labor, sighed softly. His right hand, transformed into beastly claws, ruthlessly pierced the scales of a peeping observer who was sensing the immense energy and trying to take advantage of the situation. It plunged into flesh and blood, directly crushing the heart.
Flesh and blood, along with crimson fluid, sank and floated in the ice ocean, saving him the trouble of getting splashed.
Fox Mask raised his hand and opened his Twin Domain, swallowing the corpse of the dead soul beast to become their nourishment, diligently carrying out his duty as a guardian.
In the center of the reformed Spirit Gathering Formation, a black and red barrier enveloped the Black Mask and Tang Sui.
To make Tang Sui sleep more comfortably, the Black Mask even floated in the void in a kneeling posture, her hands cupping the sides of Tang Sui's cheeks, whose head rested on her knees. She occasionally helped Tang Sui smooth down her hair, which was being blown by the wind.
"When was the last time I slept this comfortably? I can't even remember."
Ape Mask clicked his tongue.
Old Woman Mask sighed, "It's been a long time."
"I really wish we could go back to the old days," Lucky God Mask said with a sorrowful expression. "Back then, the young mistress would still hold me and help me clean my body. We don't have that kind of benefit anymore."
Cicada Pill, who had obtained a new body, glanced at his colleagues, snorted twice. Although his mask depicted an old man's sorrow and he stood at 1.7 meters, his voice was full of youthful energy: "It's good enough that you're not bathing in blood springs. You still want to be scrubbed clean? Dream on."
"Tsk, Cicada Pill, you'd better not open your mouth. The moment you speak, it breaks the mood," Big Flyer said disdainfully, looking at Cicada Pill.
Cicada Pill's face fell.
It wasn't like he wanted this voice.
During the previous battle in Gengxin City, among the soldiers of the Martial Soul Empire who were devoured, there were many who had not yet fully grown into capable young talents, youths who were forced into the army by war and conscription.
But he looked down on the human forms of the others.
What kind of freaks were they.
Cicada Pill was worried, but Cicada Pill couldn't say it.
Suddenly, the masked figures who were chatting idly paused, including the Black Mask with her calm expression. Their auras changed drastically, and their faces showed icy killing intent. The depths of their ink-colored eyes revealed fierce, bloodthirsty crimson light:
"It's you again."
—Author's Notes—
Two more chapters will be added later, muah!