Within the derelict structure, a profound blackness reigned, the easiest place in this entire city, this entire world, to be forgotten. Red Ling had vanished without a trace. Old Liu was preoccupied studying his battered sword case, and Birdman’s whereabouts were unknown. Ye Xiu’s most pressing need was simply to find his Master, the High God, hoping he could resolve his current turmoil.

“Master!” Ye Xiu spotted the High God seated afar in the gloom. His entire silhouette seemed ethereal, scarcely there. “Master, what’s wrong with you…”

“Stop right there! Listen to me.” The High God did not move, his voice distant and echoing. “The Dark Death Gods have appeared. Their target is you.”

Ye Xiu stood rooted in confusion, deeply troubled by how different the High God seemed today: “What in the world are Dark Death Gods? Is it that one named Shun Yi I encountered in the Nine Paths of Vicious Poison Array?”

“Oh, he found you?” The High God hesitated slightly. He knew Ye Xiu’s cultivation capabilities and understood the malignancy of the Dark Death Gods. “He didn’t kill you? Or…?”

Ye Xiu raised his hand. The jade ring on his finger pulsed with a faint, eerie light. He pressed on, “He intended to kill me, but he fled. You say he is a Dark Death God, but I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

The High God seemed to notice the light emanating from Ye Xiu’s finger. He was astonished, yet joyful. “This jade ring… you have finally found your own Soul Stone. From this day forward, you too can possess a unique Death God cultivation. That should be enough to contend with that Dark faction.”

“Not only that…” Ye Xiu raised his arm high. At that moment, the slender Death God Scythe leaped forth, its purple light instantly illuminating everything. “I also obtained this in the Vicious Poison Array. Perhaps that Dark Death God was frightened away by it.”

“This is… the Netherworld Holy Sword, Yuan Tu. How is it in your possession?” The High God’s inner excitement was palpable, yet he remained seated, showing no outward sign of agitation. “No wonder Shun Yi couldn’t kill you.”

“Master, tell me quickly, what exactly are these Dark Death Gods?” Ye Xiu’s thoughts remained fixed on the lineage of the Death Gods.

The High God composed himself and began slowly, “The Death God lineage has countless branches. Our Flame faction primarily cultivates power such as Purple Flame and other dominating soul energies. The Dark faction, however, mainly cultivates Shadow Speed, possessing formidable assassination capabilities. In ancient times, when the Flame Emperor, King Ming, conquered the Land of Death, the Death Gods were unified into a single lineage. From then on, they brought slaughter to the world, forging the pinnacle legend of the Death Gods.”

“King Ming?” Ye Xiu suddenly recalled that Red Ling had referred to him by that title, though he hadn't paid it much mind—perhaps the Xi Shi who transformed into Red Ling had mistaken him for someone else. “Did King Ming die? Did his death cause the decline of the Death Gods?”

The High God paused, then elaborated: “Compared to the Inner Cabinet of the Land of Death, I am merely a low-ranking Flame Death God. Legend says King Ming vanished. Without him, the Death God Realm began to fracture once more. Coinciding with the rise of the ancient clans, the world began to fall into disarray.”

“What about me? How did I come to be? I’ve been by your side since I could remember anything.” This was the first time Ye Xiu truly cared about his origins.

“All I know is that you came from the Gate of the Inner Cabinet, which is forbidden territory for lesser Death Gods. The Great Priest handed you over to me, telling me you were a Flame Death God whose sealing had not yet been completed.” The High God’s jaw tightened slightly as he spoke. “The Dark faction seized the Mark of King Ming and sealed all the Flame Death Gods behind the Gate of Death. I managed to escape with you. Tens of thousands of years have passed, and they have finally found us. That Shun Yi is merely a young vanguard under the command of the Dark King Zhou; he found this location.”

“Then what do we do? How do we respond?” Ye Xiu recalled Shun Yi’s power—how he alone had overwhelmed Old Liu and Birdman atop the peaks of the mountains, even severely wounding him. If not for that Netherworld Holy Sword, he might be dead already. But then, he reassured himself, as long as the High God was here, Shun Yi couldn't truly do anything to him yet.

“You must rapidly cultivate your soul energy, or you will be nothing more than fish on a chopping block.” As he spoke, a green light emanated from the High God’s body. Beneath that light, there was no substance, only a phantom image. “Shun Yi is formidable. Even I am no match for him. He killed me; what you see now is merely a memory construct fashioned from the last vestiges of my soul energy.”

“Master…” Hearing this, Ye Xiu immediately dropped to his knees. He couldn't believe there was anything in this world capable of killing a Death God, especially when that ‘thing’ was a Death God itself.

“Time is short, listen carefully!” The High God’s tone sharpened. “Every one of us Death Gods must cultivate our own soul energy. The Death God Soul Energy Realms are divided into: Blood Vessel, Body Break, Soul Stir, Shadow Devour, and Boundless. Each realm is further divided into Initial, Mid, and High Tiers. Blood Vessel: Augmenting weapons with soul energy; different energy attributes yield different enhancement effects. Body Sacrifice: Augmenting the body with soul energy, charging a specific part of the physique; different energy attributes produce varied results. Soul Stir: Augmenting the entire body; the soul departs the shell. The level of cultivation determines the number of souls. The soul’s combat style relates to the soul energy attribute. Shadow Devour: Absorbing souls to enrich the self; shape and attributes change based on the absorbed soul's characteristics. Boundless: Agile explosive soul kill in all directions, an area-of-effect attack, where attributes are related to soul energy charging.”

This was the first time Ye Xiu encountered such complex cultivation theory. For him, he couldn't sense any soul energy whatsoever; he didn't even understand what other powers he possessed.

The High God did not stop; his speed of speech began to accelerate. “Soul energy attributes are divided into Ice, Fire, Poison, Strength, Speed, Supreme, Divine, and Heaven Ladder. Soul energy can originate from any source—perhaps generated by nature, produced within living beings, inhaled, or derived internally.”

“How do I cultivate?” Ye Xiu was urgent.

“All of this resides within the Soul Energy Jade Ring on your finger. Every one of us Death Gods has a unique cultivation method. Everything depends on your unique Soul Stone; whatever cultivation it demands, that is the cultivation you will attain.” The High God’s ethereal glow slowly drifted toward Ye Xiu, gradually enveloping the jade ring. “My time is almost up. I can only use my remaining strength to enhance your Soul Stone, enabling it to cultivate its own exclusive abilities, perhaps even forcing out the Stone Soul…”

“Whoosh!” As the High God finished speaking, the surrounding phantom light swept toward the jade ring like a gale. In that instant, the entire corridor was illuminated. When all the phantom light was absorbed by the ring, a dragon-head emblem suddenly materialized upon its surface. The dragon claws tightly gripped Ye Xiu’s finger, and its mouth gaped open, poised as if ready to roar across the nine heavens.

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