Upon the drab, taupe meteorite, Audrey’s eyes were tightly shut, emanating waves of violent soul tremor. Evelyn, Adams, and Marisha, three members of the Tianmu Clan, clustered around her, their faces turning incredibly grim, hesitating on whether to strike. The moment the malevolent spirit, the incarnation of Ming Hong, surged into Audrey’s mind, the three saw it clearly, also witnessing clusters of clouds merge into her. Seeing the extremely bizarre soul fluctuations emanating from Audrey now, all three felt a terrible foreboding, believing Audrey had been possessed by Ming Hong.

“That malevolent spirit was refined by Singh; it contains the profound essence of Singh’s mysteries!” Evelyn stated this while preparing to condense his own mysteries to counter it. “I fear we are no match for that malevolent spirit,” Adams said, his face etched with horror. He turned his head to scan the surroundings, his expression suddenly shifting, “Eh! Isn’t that the Ancient Ancestor of the Dragon Lizard!”

Above the sea of meteorites before them, amidst the turbulent energy fluctuations, the humanoid avatar of the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor, along with Tu Shiqi and the couple Ya Yun, flickered into view, anxiously searching. It was only because the sector where Audrey and the others were located had been deliberately sought out by Shi Yan as a spatial blind spot that the vision of the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor and Tu Shiqi could not detect them. Unless they calmed their minds and probed with their soul consciousness, they likely couldn't locate Audrey and the others in a short time.

“We can ask them for help,” Adams proposed. Marisha immediately shook her head, “They will kill Audrey along with the threat to eliminate any future trouble. We cannot do that.” They were unaware of the past connection between Audrey, Shi Yan, and Tu Shiqi.

“Then what do we do? Her solitary power certainly cannot contend with that malevolent spirit. Once the spirit successfully possesses her, we… will all suffer the consequences.” Adams was consumed by anxiety. He pondered, “How about we retreat first and leave her to her fate?” “That might be the only way,” Evelyn hesitated for a moment, deeming the suggestion somewhat reliable, as staying would not only fail to help Audrey but might also result in their own deaths by the malevolent spirit. “We wait until those three leave and no longer perceive this location before we depart, otherwise, we might be exposed,” Marisha sighed inwardly, gazing deeply at Audrey. “I am sorry, we cannot help you; you must rely on yourself. I hope you can break free from the shackles.”

The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor’s avatar, Tu Shiqi, and his wife searched this area for a while and soon departed in haste. The trio of Adams did not linger unnecessarily. They quietly slipped away from the meteorite. When they looked back after flying off the rock, they all froze. Behind them, the space was empty, nothing there. The meteorite they had just occupied seemed as if it never existed. The three fell silent, realizing the extraordinary nature of the location where they and Audrey had been. Likewise, they gained a deeper understanding of the profound mastery Shi Yan possessed over spatial mysteries.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Not long after they left, the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor and the Tu Shiqi couple instantly reversed direction and returned. The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor’s avatar instantly blocked the trio’s escape route. He opened his mouth and spat out a barrier of magma, trapping Adams, Evelyn, and Marisha. The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor looked at the three with extreme hostility. He snorted, pointed at the trio, and addressed the Tu Shiqi couple, “That malevolent spirit incarnation of Singh fled in this direction. He must have possessed someone to evade our detection. We’ve scanned the vicinity—there are no other life signs, only these three who just appeared…” Adams’s face changed drastically.

“Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty escape!” the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor roared. Tu Shiqi and Ya Yun frowned. They knew Adams, Marisha, and Evelyn had a connection with Shi Yan and Audrey, but they also believed that Singh’s malevolent spirit incarnation was highly likely hiding among the three of them, nested within their minds. Because even if the malevolent spirit fled quickly, it couldn't instantly evade their pursuit. There was only one possibility—attaching itself to a soul and instantly merging with that soul to bypass their sensory detection. In this area, following the massacre by the masked woman of the Phantom Clan, all hidden entities had been wiped out. In the deathly silent sea of meteorites, the survival of these three—Adams, Evelyn, and Marisha—was too anomalous. In their eyes, the only way Singh’s malevolent spirit could escape their perception was by clinging to the minds of these three. —They did not know that, in a spatial blind spot beyond their sight, another person, Audrey, existed.

“These three people… alas, forget it, you handle it,” Tu Shiqi hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly agreed with the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor’s doctrine of killing the wrong one over letting the right one go. “Lava Eruption!”

The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor hissed, and the magma barriers slowly gathered and closed in, engulfing Adams, Evelyn, and Marisha together. The three cried out shrilly. Adams knew that if he didn't state his case, if he didn't explain the situation, they would all perish horribly.

“It’s not like that! It’s not like that!” Adams screamed frantically. The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor paused, then said gravely, “What?” “We saw that malevolent spirit! He did not possess us, none of us were affected by him, the one who was possessed! He is over there!” Adams pointed toward Audrey’s location. “That spot is invisible to the naked eye, it’s a blind spot in space; we just came out of it!” “Wait a moment!” Tu Shiqi commanded.

The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor held back, hesitantly opening his senses. Probing with the profound mystery of his Immortal Apex realm, his crimson pupils suddenly brightened, shooting two eerie beams of light toward the position Adams indicated.

“Sizzle!”

As if a rock wall were melting, as if space were corroded, the concealed meteorite and Audrey upon it were revealed simultaneously. On the drab, taupe meteorite, Audrey sat cross-legged. Countless dense specters and fierce ghosts spread out around her like overlapping mountain ranges, all centered on her. Above her head, clusters of pitch-black, cloud-like souls hovered like dark stars. She was gathered in the center by myriad specters and fierce ghosts, her expression indifferent, eyes tightly closed. On her brow was a small vortex, rolling like a brand, absorbing the power of the multitude of souls. Adams was horrified. He had taken for granted that Audrey had been possessed, assuming she was certainly doomed. At this moment, his guilt vanished; he felt that since Audrey was already dead, pointing out her location was also a way to avenge her.

From the vortex on Audrey’s brow, a clear wisp of soul emerged amidst the clusters of specters and fierce ghosts. —That was Audrey’s Main Soul!

“Found you!” The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor, sneering, saw this formation and, without thinking, raised his hand to blast Audrey to death. Ya Yun suddenly shrieked, “Wait!” “Hmm?” The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor’s face darkened. “That’s not right! She isn’t Singh!” Tu Shiqi also reacted, pointing at the Main Soul flying out from the vortex on Audrey’s brow. “Her Main Soul is still present; she was definitely not possessed. Otherwise, what we would see should be Singh’s soul, not her Main Soul!” The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor was not dull; he had simply lost his reason due to rage and hatred. Prompted by the others, he recovered.

“The situation is different from what we assumed,” Tu Shiqi stroked his chin, pondering for a while. “Let’s not act rashly. We will stand guard for now and observe the situation. When it concludes, we will know exactly what happened.” The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor considered it and nodded in agreement, refraining from immediately unleashing slaughter.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Audrey’s Main Soul, pouring out from her brow, was like a sorceress chanting a spell that reached the soul directly. The tens of thousands of souls floating near her, influenced by her soul incantation, began to whirl, all rushing towards her and burrowing into the vortex on her body’s brow. A corner of a soul sea manifested within her vortex, filled entirely with spirits inside. Audrey’s Main Soul was like a net closing in on fish, enveloping those souls. Within the incantation, a ferocious giant crocodile suddenly took form beneath her, causing the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor’s face to turn cold and his heart to tighten abruptly. Tu Shiqi quickly raised his hand, making a gesture to calm down, which successfully settled the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor.

The giant crocodile, summoned by Audrey’s spell, began spitting out malevolent spirits—those it had previously swallowed, which were the other five of the seven malevolent spirits Singh had refined. Stirred by Audrey’s Main Soul, every single one of those spirits plunged into the sea of souls within her brow. When even the giant crocodile vanished, the clusters of souls hovering above Audrey’s head suddenly transformed, taking the shape of the Ming Hong malevolent spirit. That Ming Hong spirit’s eyes were deep and cold, seemingly possessing complete autonomous intelligence. He floated behind Audrey like a massive shadow, staring deeply at the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor, and a thought projected over: “I have devoured Singh!”

The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor jolted violently and roared, “What did you say?” “I swallowed Singh! He is dead!” Ming Hong declared. Then, he opened his mouth, and within his dark, massive maw, the shattered remnants of Singh’s soul could be faintly seen, like shards of broken cloud. Those soul fragments were still being dissolved, broken into smaller and smaller pieces.

“Heavens!” Ya Yun cried out. “Singh, after being vicious for so many years, was finally backlashed by the very spirit he refined. What retribution!” Tu Shiqi was also suddenly enlightened. “So, Singh… is truly dead?” The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor asked uncertainly. Tu Shiqi and Ya Yun both nodded. The Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor visibly relaxed, his expression strange. “It’s good that he’s dead; his death means fewer troubles. Not all members of the Soul Clan wish to see me exterminated. Well, I hope Singh’s death will make the Soul Clan sober up a bit, stop being so deranged.” Tu Shiqi and Ya Yun exchanged a glance, revealing bitterness. They understood the Soul Clan far better than the Dragon Lizard Ancient Ancestor; they knew the Soul Clan would absolutely not let this go. However, neither of them offered an explanation. The more relentlessly the Soul Clan pursued the Dragon Lizard Clan, the more dependent the Dragon Lizard Clan would become on them, tying them inextricably to the Xuan Tian Clan—precisely the outcome they desired.

The group did not continue their discussion, all staring intently at Audrey, observing her transformation. ……