"Well, how about a greeting first?" Ray raised his hand, and the chains tightened around the soul and began to burn it. "The name is Ray. Neat trick, by the way."
Ray referred to the parasitic technique Yu Zi employed. According to Ray's observation, it consumed the host's soul rather than seizing control of the body.
Yu Zi's soul thrashed and screamed from the burning. After a few seconds, the pain subsided as Ray ceased the burning effect.
Yu Zi looked at Ray. He didn't speak, but his eyes told the whole story, along with the question stuck in his throat.
"Oh, I know that face," Ray said playfully, sitting in front of him. "It's the face of 'what the hell just happened.'"
"Well, you see, the moment you nullified my purification, I felt something amiss," Ray said, looking at him. "As a matter of fact, every evil-type energy out there holds no chance against mine."
Additionally, Ray was puzzled by the absence of a number on Yu Zi's forehead. Despite the bloodlust aura he noticed, he realised Yu Zi had never used the 7th ring, even after all the harassment and losing his eye.
With that, Ray quickly figured out what was really going on with the old man's body.
"And from there, it's easy mode," Ray added, creating a nail like the one he used before. "This little thing here can hardly do any critical wound."
He tilted it closer to the soul to examine the tip. After a few seconds of observation, he noticed the compressed spiritual energy trapped in the tip. Realisation struck him, and his face twisted in rage again despite his pain.
"Oh, I love this face now," Ray said with a smirk. "As you figured out, you caused your own fall. Even I was surprised at how perfectly it worked."
Ray's intention had been to push him into using his material soul avatar. In that form, the body and the original soul sync perfectly, and any outside effect can be weakened on the said soul.
Yu Zi had been practically hitching a ride in the man's soul, slowly devouring him.
But what Ray did was send a spiritual shock throughout the whole body at once. Combined with Yu Zi's loss of control, it gave the real owner of the body a chance to fight back for his freedom.
"And with the spiritual property of the nails, I can control which entity I take out if they're separated." Ray pointed at the nails still on the soul's body. "So, any last words?"
Snort. "Well played. I'll give you this one," Yu Zi said. Instead of despair, his eyes carried a cruel light. "But you'd better be careful. The main base will start to hunt you if you kill me."
Yu Zi spoke with disdain. As an elder of the organisation, he had quite a privilege.
"Oh, so you mean you're not the big boss?" Ray said sarcastically. "Or you're saying you're part of 'the Church'?"
The disdain on the soul's face vanished, replaced with surprise. "Oh, so you know my clan."
"That will make it easier to talk," the soul said with an important air. "I am actually an outer elder, and anyone from my rank or higher has a soul slip in the main camp. If I die, the one who took me down will have his picture imprinted in that slip."
Ray froze for a second before his face split into a bright smile, and he started laughing. "I hit a jackpot!!!"
"I wasn't intending to kill you in the first place, but thanks for the info." Covering his palm with spiritual energy and patting the soul, he continued, "Now you're the VIP of my new prison. Just the fact that you have a connection to the Church makes you valuable—but only a little."
"You think I will talk?" the soul smirked.
"You don't need to." Ray looked back at him. "I'll take all the info I need directly from the source: your mind."
"Sophia, keep an eye on him. Since it's a unique condition, I don't know what will happen inside the tree," Ray said loudly, confusing Yu Zi.
But Yu Zi realised who he was talking to the next second. A small crystal spark left Ray's body and expanded, forming a giant deer over three meters tall.
Sophia nodded at Ray, and he vanished from the place.
Moments later, after a couple of short teleportations, Ray entered the formation of the Devouring Tree again, dragging the soul by the chains.
The moment he stepped inside the trunk, the whole tree vibrated. A couple of branches extended from the floating altar, wrapping the soul. One branch wrapped around Ray's hand like a cuddly cat asking for attention—surprising even Ray with how easily she imprisoned even a soul.
Rescanning the tree, he was surprised by what he saw.
[Evil Devouring Tree: A tree that imprisons and purifies evil entities.]
Properties:
• Purifies and absorbs the energy generated by the inmate.
• Injects the purified energy into the atmosphere.
• Inmate is dragged into an internal nightmare.
• Inmate memory projection.
• Generates a unique fruit with purifying and energy-absorption augmentation (low chance to create an innate-skill fruit).
• Space-life: connected to the tree; can be used to teleport into the tree's vicinity.
• Active evolution.
Connection: Ray Light, Sophia, ???
Looking at the additional properties, he stepped back outside and studied the tree's branches. After a short observation, he noticed a couple of unique leaves hidden among the normal ones.
Retrieving a couple of them, Ray couldn't help but smirk after scanning them.
[Space Leaf: Allows the holder—and anyone in contact with him—direct teleportation to the tree's vicinity.]
"So you took the property of the dagger!!" Ray exclaimed. The pair of daggers he used had been his attempt to create teleportation marks. Sadly, he could only create a pair that teleported between each other.
But he never expected his failed creation to have its time to shine—nor that it would help the tree evolve. Ray patted the tree trunk and began teleporting back to Sophia's place.
"So, how did it go?" Sophia asked, looking at Ray.
"More than we expected," Ray answered cheerfully. Looking around, he moved toward a direction, toward an entrance sealed with a big iron door.
"And behind the door… Number 1," he murmured. Ray slammed his leg into it, flinging it open. As the dust settled, Ray's eyes widened in surprise. It was actually a treasury.
Not only did it contain gold and precious materials, but it also held actual treasures that he didn't recognise.
"Well, hello there," Ray said smugly. Taking a small stroll around, he discovered a couple of soul bones over ten thousand and even a hundred thousand years old, medical herbs, and many more items.
With a nod, he opened his inventory and started storing everything. "Well, you're mine now."
"You look in a good mood," Sophia said, noticing the small jumps in his steps along with his humming.
"Well, I just got wealthy," Ray answered. "Of course, I'm in a great mood. Now let's get out of here…"
Hovering the old man with his soul power while opening a gate, Ray paused. Before jumping in, he looked back as an idea formed.
"Let's leave my signal here." Snapping his fingers, all the remaining mist in the cave began to vibrate and shimmer with golden sparks.
Ray stepped through the gate. The moment he did, every spark in the mist expanded, and the mist ignited into golden flames, burning everything left inside the base—whether the remains of the evil master or the caverns themselves.
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