Seeing that blood-red bead, a collective gasp escaped the lips of Hanba, Zhurong, and the others: "The Xuanming Pearl?"

The Xuanming Pearl, the personal artifact of the Primeval Heavenly Witch, Xuanming, condensed from the very first wisp of Yin Qi gathered from the heavens and earth...

"Hahahaha..." Following the exclamations of Hanba and the others, a vast and piercing roar echoed out from within the Twelve Heavenly Witches Annihilation Array.

"I have finally waited for this Venerable One! Hahahaha, after how many years of waiting, this Venerable One is finally alive again, hahahaha..." With that arrogant yet profoundly icy voice, a massive phantom stepped forth, arriving directly before the blood-black Xuanming Pearl. It pointed a single finger at the Pearl, and instantly, the seemingly solid Xuanming Pearl shattered like a water bubble. This was not due to the Pearl's lack of resilience, but because this phantom was intimately familiar with its structure, much like Zhurong had once pierced the Fire Spirit Orb.

An incredibly dense essence of Xuanming Qi erupted, akin to a nuclear explosion, immediately surging into a mushroom cloud. Subsequently, all the black mist was absorbed by the phantom. When the black fog completely dissipated, before Ye Jingyu stood a figure towering over ten thousand zhang, covered entirely in bone spurs. It was less like a man and more like a colossal beast. Except for a head that bore a slight resemblance to a human, not a single other part related to humanity remained. Furthermore, despite Ye Jingyu's extensive knowledge, he could not discern its true form—it seemed as though it were stitched together from the bodies of countless monstrous creatures.

Witnessing this colossal beast and sensing its chilling aura, Zhurong, Tianwu, Jumang, and even Hou Yi, whose relationship with Zhurong was strained, along with the ever-diplomatic Hanba, all frowned, involuntarily taking a step back. They clearly held a strong aversion to this entity.

It was because he was the Soul Witch, the unique existence within the Witch Clan who cultivated only the soul, neglecting the physical body—Xuanming, the legendary God of the Underworld...

"Heh heh, what's wrong with you all? Are you unhappy to see an old friend?" Xuanming laughed heartily, his immense body slowly shrinking. When he was only ten zhang tall, he snatched Mu, who had been stunned into immobility, and bit off his head as if casually eating a snack, instantly sucking a wisp of shadow into his maw—that was Mu's divine soul...

Zhurong, Tianwu, and Jumang snorted simultaneously, their bodies merging directly back into the array, completely ignoring him. Only Hanba remained on the side, though she still showed no intention of speaking to Xuanming.

However, the twelve War Generals, seeing their master slain, burned with rage and charged towards Xuanming without hesitation. But as soon as they moved, a faint, sinister light flickered in Xuanming's eyes, and as if bewitched, their bodies instantly lost balance and plummeted from the sky.

Before they could hit the ground, Xuanming grasped them, tossed them into his mouth, and consumed them whole. Both their physical bodies and souls became the finest tonic for Xuanming.

Witnessing this divine ability of Xuanming, Ye Jingyu was inwardly shaken. This seemed to be a terrifying skill capable of directly impacting the soul, right? These twelve War Generals were not high in cultivation, but their combat power was immense due to their powerful physiques. However, their divine souls were far weaker than those of an Epoch-level master—that was their vulnerability.

Yet, even so, it shouldn't be possible to utterly annihilate their divine souls in a single move; even mere deterrence shouldn't achieve that. At least, he couldn't do it. How did this fellow manage it?

"Hahaha, little girl Hanba, I taught you some things back in the day. Considering that, I am practically your half-master. Do you not salute your master when you see him?" After swallowing those Epoch-level masters who had troubled Ye Jingyu and the others for half a day, Xuanming turned to Hanba, who stood watching.

"Hmph? Master? I've never met a master who wanted to dissect his disciple's soul for research!" Hanba pouted.

Dissecting souls for research? Hearing those words, Ye Jingyu's hair stood on end. What kind of person was this big brother? Was he more terrifying than those perverted medical freaks who specialized in dissecting corpses? Researching souls? Could such a thing even be studied?

"Yes, that fellow was a pervert back then. In pursuit of the ultimate path of the soul, he extracted the souls of countless living beings. He was simply an utterly wicked creature. Back then, all of us Great Witches, the Demon Race, and even the Qi Refiners hunted him relentlessly. However, the fellow was incredibly lucky and managed to escape death every time. Finally, when the demons launched their massive invasion, who knows if he suddenly developed a conscience or what, but he wholeheartedly assisted humanity against the demons. The number of demons he killed was far greater than those killed by the several Great Venerables! Because of this, our Great Witches finally acknowledged his status..." Seemingly noticing Ye Jingyu's confusion, Hanba began to explain.

"Hahahaha, that wasn't some sudden change of heart. It’s just that I had studied all the beings in the mortal realm, and when a batch of peculiar creatures finally arrived, naturally, I had to study them thoroughly..." To everyone's surprise, Xuanming burst into loud laughter...

Ye Jingyu could only roll his eyes. Was there really such an oddity in the Witch Clan? Hanba snorted coldly; clearly, the true situation was not as Xuanming described, but rather motivated by his desire for research...

"Kid Ye, what do you plan to do with these people? I assume you intend to silence them by killing them, but killing them outright would be such a waste. Why not let me continue my research on them? Although I killed many demons back then, I never had the time to study them..." At this moment, Xuanming turned his gaze towards Kuang and the others, his eyes blazing with a fervent heat.

Ye Jingyu then remembered that Kuang and the others were demons. Now that they somewhat knew his identity—and even if they didn't know his identity, if even one of them were to reveal his performance today, it would be enough to alert Yuan. Did he really have to silence them?

He had just risked his life to save them; was he now to personally kill them? What was the point of taking such a huge risk earlier?

Hearing the words of Xuanming and Hanba, the expressions of Kuang and the others shifted dramatically. This was an entity who had killed their ancestors in the Primeval Era. When they heard Xuanming intended to study them, their faces instantly turned as white as snow.

When Ye Jingyu turned to look at them, his eyes filled with indecision, these few demons immediately understood what Ye Jingyu was thinking...

"Thud..." With a single sound, the four strongest demons knelt on the ground almost simultaneously...

(I didn't expect the 'Golden Bricks' to still break a thousand yesterday. Thank you for your understanding, brothers. Two more chapters remain; I definitely won't finish them this morning. I will write them this afternoon and upload them together!)