Chapter 1167: Soul Capturer |
Tang San nodded and turned his gaze toward the Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor. "Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor, please step forward."
The weight of the rules binding the Soul Capturer lifted. He took a deep breath, and his eyes hardened with resolve. As an Emperor, he knew all too well that there was no point trying to shy away from the battle. Only fighting with everything he had did he stand a chance. And judging from earlier battles, it didn’t seem that Tang San was hell-bent on murdering everyone here, so he did not necessarily have to die even if he lost.
The Soul Capturer also trusted his own power. Though his physical combat ability was among the weakest of the Emperors, even weaker than the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor’s, he held the third rank among the nymph rulers, beneath only Sunborne and Earthshade. Why? Because in terms of divine consciousness, he was on par with the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor, the strongest in spirit of the entire Ancestral Court’s Council.
Tang San had slain the Mammoth Demon Emperor just moments ago, but his expenditure was obvious. And things would not get any easier for him now. Among all the Emperors, the most formidable were, obviously, the top-ranked ones—the Undying and Sky-Splitting Demon Emperors, and the Sunborne and Earthshade Nymph Emperors. But Soul Capturer feared none of them when it came to divine consciousness alone.
As he slowly rose into the sky, Tang San’s expression grew solemn.
The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor’s gaze locked onto him. "I never imagined this… Well, I did imagine some of it. Adamant was not killed by the Ancestral Tree, was it? Or rather, you borrowed some of the Ancestral Tree’s power, but the hand that slayed it was actually yours."
"Yes." Tang San nodded calmly.
The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor gave a bitter smile. "I truly don’t know how humanity could produce a monster like you. It seems Celestial Fox was right. Humans are indeed something to be wary of. A prodigy once appeared among you who became an Emperor through his own strength… and now, here you stand."
The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor narrowed his eyes, smiling faintly. "You know that’s not what I meant. But isn’t it better if this world remains under our control? Look at how splendid it is, the world that we govern."
At some point, his irises had turned deep violet, and whirlpools of purple light spun within his pupils, causing everything around him to distort. Behind him, phantom eyes appeared one by one—large and small, in varied shapes and colors, all radiating unfathomable light.
He was a Soul Capturing Tree, and their specialty, as the name implied, was attacking others’ souls. As he became an Emperor and his divine consciousness ascended, his power grew exponentially. Once he grasped another’s soul, that being would fall under his spiritual enslavement, reduced to a mere puppet. This was his greatest strength. Thus he wasted no time, unleashing the full power of his divine consciousness to engulf Tang San in an attempt to capture him outright.
No matter how powerful Tang San was, Soul Capturer reasoned, he had only just ascended to Emperorhood. His divine consciousness had only just evolved, so how could it possibly reach the pinnacle? More importantly, after so many battles, his consumption must be immense. Now was the chance to end it in one stroke.
Indeed, under his overwhelming mental might, Tang San’s eyes dulled, his body swaying as though his consciousness was fading.
But the Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor did not rush. Slowly, carefully, like an experienced hunter, he tightened his grasp. Pushing too hard might cause Tang San to awaken and ruin everything.
Yet suddenly, a flicker of gold flashed in Tang San’s eyes.
The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor’s pupils dilated violently. One of the eyes behind him blazed, and a spectral figure appeared before him—the phantom of a massive mammoth.
"Aaaaahhhh!" The phantom shattered, letting out a faint scream. The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor staggered back, his face pale. The many eyes behind him lit once more, violet light boring into Tang San again.
Tang San froze, seemingly captured once more.
Those ignorant might not understand what had just happened, but all present were Emperors, and they immediately figured it out. The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor had been struck by backlash. He had warded it off by detonating a captive soul under his control—the remnant soul of a Golden Mammoth Great Demon King, obviously slain and bound in ages past.
Golden Mammoths were famed for their physical strength, not their spirit power. For the Soul Capturer, subduing such a soul had been a piece of cake. In a twisted way, it was fortunate that the Mammoth Demon Emperor had just perished; else seeing this would have caused a rather… awkward scene.
The Emperors’ eyes turned toward the countless eyes hovering behind the Soul Capturer. Each represented a true soul he had bound, and every one seemed to have been a great powerhouse.
He had long been known as the most inactive of the Emperors; few people alive had ever seen him take action. But now, faced with mortal peril, his true strength was laid bare. His might was built upon captured souls, and each one was quite something. Only souls of Great Demon and Great Nymph Kings held enough worth for him to enslave.
The Soul Capturer knew that no matter what the result of this battle was, he was bound to suffer for what he’d done. He had chosen the Golden Mammoth’s soul precisely because that Emperor had just fallen and could no longer take him to task for it.
His ability was unique: Each time he detonated a soul, his own divine consciousness surged, empowering his control vastly. To hold the third seat among the Nymph Emperors was no accident. His countless years of accumulation made his spiritual mastery unmatched.
That single exchange had shown him Tang San’s divine consciousness rivaled his own. So he detonated not one but six more captive souls. For an instant, eyes flashed and phantoms appeared: a Golden-Winged Great Roc, a Chrono Crocodile, a Golden Lion, and three others, six second-tier, eleventh-order beings in total. The surge of power burst through him, violet light flaring from his eyes like twin suns. Spiraling beams of divine consciousness tore through the void, striking Tang San directly. For a moment, the Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor’s divine consciousness blazed at the very peak of the twelfth order!
Tang San’s eyes turned wholly violet, identical to Soul Capturer’s. His body went still.
Success?
The Emperors below all sensed the momentary collapse of Tang San’s divine consciousness. They glanced at each other, shaken. The Soul Capturer Nymph Emperor’s sudden eruption of power had stunned even them. His strength was terrifying, beyond anything they had imagined.