The process of absorbing destructive energy was absolutely excruciating.
Xia Yi held the Hammer of Creation and struck off a corner fragment from the massive purple crystal beside him, grasping it in his hand.
The purple crystal looked like amethyst, with strange energy fluctuations radiating from within. It barely managed to weaken—or rather, filter—the terrifying aura of destructive energy.
But even so, the destructive energy, after being filtered, simply became more refined as it surged into his body.
That kind of pain wasn't something that could be endured just by willpower—it felt as if his body was being torn into shreds, then reassembled, again and again. A never-ending cycle of destruction and reconstruction.
Just imagine, seeing your own body being disassembled right before your eyes—what kind of feeling would that be?
Every sensation was vividly clear. He could feel each and every cell breaking apart and reassembling again. The torment left a deep imprint on his very soul—this kind of suffering couldn't even be described in words.
But for the sake of his martial soul's evolution, no matter how painful, he had to endure it.
Behind Xia Yi, six snow-white fox tails danced in the air as he clutched the purple crystal, constantly absorbing the destructive energy within.
"There's life force hidden within the destruction energy—but it's too faint," Xia Yi frowned slightly. Logically, the destructive energy should be balanced with life energy. Otherwise, this valley couldn't possibly have such a dense aura of life.
If that's the case, then where was the rest of the life force?
Glancing at the Hammer of Creation in his hand, Xia Yi smiled faintly, letting the hammer float in mid-air as he began to try communicating with it through his spirit.
After repeated forging and blood sacrifices, the Hammer of Creation had already developed life and sentience.
The moment Xia Yi's consciousness connected with the hammer, he sensed its joy as it continuously absorbed the surrounding life aura.
Very soon, Xia Yi noticed that the area where the purplish-red light pillar was located had the densest life aura.
"Just as I suspected," Xia Yi leapt up and dove directly into the purplish-red light pillar.
The instant he passed through the light pillar, a terrifying wave of destructive energy pierced through his body—but Xia Yi was well-prepared, operating his martial soul to its limit.
He quickly absorbed the overwhelming destructive power inside him, and almost instantly, a seventh tail emerged from his back.
Now at the center of the purple light pillar, Xia Yi realized he had guessed right—the outer part of the pillar was purplish-red destruction energy, while the inner core was overflowing with vibrant life energy. Even the air was emerald green.
Looking down, sure enough, that massive crystal he had seen earlier—its outer layer was purplish-red, but the center was emerald green, like a jade carving.
As expected, it was a Life Godstone.
The outer purple crystal was a Destruction Godstone.
The Destruction Godstone acted like a shell, wrapping around and protecting the Life Godstone.
The little bit of life energy present in the outer Destruction Godstone was merely what had leaked out from the Life Godstone within.
With each breath, that dense life force washed over Xia Yi's body, instantly soothing the agony caused by the earlier destruction energy. His vitality, spirit, and energy quickly returned to their peak.
Xia Yi's martial soul once again stirred restlessly. Joy flashed across his face as he sat down cross-legged, madly absorbing the life energy around him.
By the time he stood up again, eight snow-white fox tails had grown behind him.
Two evolutions in a row for his martial soul—before Xia Yi could even fully rejoice, he suddenly felt as though something within the green life aura was watching him.
The entire air was emerald green, so visibility was very low. Even spiritual perception didn't help much.
Xia Yi could only rely on his powerful intuition to sense that someone—or something—was staring at him.
However, the moment he looked up, that mysterious gaze vanished without a trace.
"Discovered me? Such sharp instincts... Is this the outsider Brother Hao mentioned?"In the green pillar of light, a small tree, about as tall as a person, flickered briefly before vanishing.
"I don't care who you are. If you want to hide, then stay hidden forever!" Xia Yi snorted coldly and summoned the Earth Cauldron. As a spatial portal opened, Gu Yue slowly appeared in front of him.
"This is the aura of the Goddess of Life." Gu Yue's delicate brows immediately furrowed.
"This is Devil's Island. The Black Dragon King's Life Godstone came from here. Outside is the Destruction Godstone. Didn't you want the power of Creation? Now you can begin," Xia Yi said.
"We're not the Goddess of Life or the God of Destruction. To fuse the forces of destruction and life, we need the complete divine rules from the God Realm," Gu Yue raised her hand, and the Sky Cauldron appeared in her palm. "You take this first. Later, I'll have the Demon Empress give you the Ocean Cauldron. With the power of all three cauldrons, we can mobilize the foundational rules of the nascent Soul Beast God Realm. Then you'll be able to forcibly fuse destruction and life energies. The Demon Empress and I will handle the reception inside the God Realm and ensure the fused energy is fully absorbed into it. The power of creation cannot be stored long—if it disperses, it would be a huge waste."
Gu Yue was visibly excited. Lately, she had been managing the Soul Beast God Realm's digestion of energy stolen from the Abyss.
But the process was too slow—even with the help of the Demon Empress and the Nine Dragon Kings, they'd only managed to absorb less than a tenth of the power so far.
At this rate, who knew how many years it would take to absorb all the Abyss' energy?
But with the power of creation, the pace would increase drastically.
Then she wouldn't be stuck inside the Soul Beast God Realm's prototype any longer.
"There's one more thing. Zhu'er says she wants half of the energy here," Xia Yi said seriously.
"Half?" Gu Yue was clearly displeased but gritted her teeth and replied, "Fine—but I have one condition too."
"What condition? Go ahead." Xia Yi rubbed his forehead. He had known from the start that both Gu Yue and Leng Yaozhu weren't easy to deal with.
"I found a record in the Spirit Pagoda's archives. At the bottom of the War God Temple, there lives a group of mysterious extraterrestrial beings. Find an opportunity, and we'll go investigate together."Gu Yue's purple eyes shimmered with undisguised excitement—her whole being brimming with anticipation.
"Extraterrestrial beings? How come I've never heard of that?" Xia Yi asked curiously.
"This is the War God Temple's greatest secret. The Spirit Pagoda only has speculation, not confirmed information," Gu Yue's eyes grew deep. "If it's true, we might be able to find a really promising alternate dimension."
"Alright. Once we finish things here, I'll find a chance to explore the War God Temple," Xia Yi nodded.
The War God Temple was originally created to temper military personnel.
As long as you were a soldier of the Federation, you could take on its trials. Each level cleared promoted your military rank by one.
Xia Yi was currently just a soldier in the Blood God Legion, so he could go without hiding his identity—completely aboveboard.
"I have one more thing to say," Gu Yue suddenly turned to Xia Yi, baring her teeth slightly, "You actually agreed to let Lan Fozi come pester me? Once the Soul Beast God Realm becomes a true divine realm, I'm definitely going to deal with you!"
Waving her delicate fist in front of him, Gu Yue snorted coldly before vanishing back into the Soul Beast God Realm prototype.
"She's not really mad, is she?" Xia Yi shrunk his neck. Wasn't Lan Fozi supposed to go find the Demon Empress to train her Sea-Calming Rod technique first? Why would she go to Gu Yue?
Before Xia Yi could think further, the Ocean Cauldron tore through space and appeared in front of him.
(End of Chapter)