Although Tianming was happy, he was also calm and lost in thought.
"I assume the innate godchild is the person in the crystal coffin, and the soul of the innate godchild is the person in Ling’er’s body. The acquired godchild is Ling’er, and her soul is the mortal soul. It sounds like the innate and acquired godchild have to fuse into a new body in order to produce some sort of change. For example, the resurrection of the dead. A new body can only have one soul, so that person wants to be the soul."
Tianming turned to Ye Lingfeng, eyes gleaming. "So what you’re saying is, the only chance for Ling’er to live is for you to kill the soul of the innate godchild and completely destroy her when the two souls are combining?”
"That’s my guess, but I don't quite understand what to do then. The Soulfiend didn't clarify, either. It can only eat the two souls,” said Ye Lingfeng.
"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Since the innate godchild will be at her moment of weakness, you can tear her to pieces," said Tianming.
"I will do my best," said Ye Lingfeng.
"Thank you, Feng," Tianming replied.
"Don't say that. You’re the benefactor who took me out of the Infernal Formation. My life is yours. I’m willing to do anything," added Ye Lingfeng.
"What about becoming Tianming’s concubine?" Ying Huo teased.
"Why don't you die instead!"
In such a serious moment, Ying Huo had made such a joke.
"Calm down. I was born to set the mood. Don't be so nervous. Now that we have this method, we can just kill that old witch. Don't frown. Give me a smile, won’t you?" laughed Ying Huo.
"Smile, my ass! Go away!" Tianming glared. He was still contemplating other problems, such as—
"She’ll try to find a way to fuse the two godchildren once she awakens. How can we ensure she follows the plan? On top of that, you have to control the Soulfiend."
"I’ll be in my soul form and hide within your body, so she can’t see me," said Ye Lingfeng.
"So we only have an hour?" Ye Lingfeng’s body could only survive for an hour once his soul left it.
"Alright then. When the time comes, let the Soulfiend take my body," he added.
"I just don't know what control the innate godchild has over Demon City. She was able to send me straight to the altar and open the tomb. It’ll be troublesome for us if she has complete control of the city," Tianming said.
"That should be impossible. Otherwise, she could’ve isolated the Soulfiend. To put it bluntly, she’s now a powerful soul in a special state, so it’s not at all surprising that she’s called the soul of a god. However, she doesn’t seem to be the real master of Demon City," said Ye Lingfeng.
"Are you sure of that?" Tianming asked.
"Yes, Brother Tianming. Do you remember the voice I mentioned was guiding me somewhere?"
"What happened?"
"A clear path opened in Demon City and sent me to an incredible place. The terrain was much more complicated than here. It felt like the entire city was paving the way for me."
"Then what?" Tianming asked.
"I received an inheritance. Look at my eyes." Ye Lingfeng's dark red eyes suddenly turned into two black vortices that were as deep as a bottomless pit, almost swallowing Tianming's soul in an instant.
The next moment, his eyes returned to normal.
"Awesome, what kind of inheritance is it?" asked Tianming.
"It’s very mysterious. I didn’t receive anything except for two eyeballs that suddenly melted into my eyes. I’m still pondering it. The only thing I know at present is that the inheritance came from someone known as the Primordial Demonlord," said Ye Lingfeng.
"Primordial Demonlord? What a fancy name. Could it be deceiving you? Perhaps he’s just some third-rate master?" Tianming laughed.
"I don’t think so. The Primordial Demonlord was the master of the Soulfiend," Ye Lingfeng replied.
Tianming was merely joking. Judging from the mysteries of Demon City, the strange Soulfiend, and everything that had happened, it was clear the Primordial Demonlord was no ordinary man. Perhaps he was a god.
"Brother Tianming, I have my suspicions," added Ye Lingfeng.
He had grown smarter with the enrichment of knowledge.
"Let's hear it," Tianming said.
"In the past, there wasn’t anything strange in the tomb. There may be two reasons for the current change. First, you entered with Ling’er. So it could all have been caused by the innate godchild. Second, it’s also possible that breaking the Divine Tomb Formation led to strange events. For example, didn’t the soul servants and blood spheres only appear after you tore through the Divine Tomb Formation?" Ye Lingfeng asked.
"You’re right!"
The first time he crossed the Divine Tomb Formation, a black shadow immediately darted across. However, Tianming had failed to see who it was. Then, strange things started happening one after the other. First, Dongyang Fengxiao and Jiang Fengyue; then, the ants feeding on the corpses. The second time he broke through the formation, he released the Soulfiend.
"The soul of the innate godchild previously said she was curious what good fortune the nine soul servants would bring you. This shows that the appearance of blood spheres has nothing to do with her. She can’t come out for two months, so why don’t we collect the rest of the soul servants and see what happens?"
Tianming pulled out the blood spheres and counted a total of six. He was short three.
"Since it’s good fortune, I have to give it a go." Tianming stood up and stared at the endless underground maze. Demon City? Primordial Demonlord? What kind of secrets does this place have?"
Since Ye Lingfeng had received the Primordial Demonlord’s inheritance, the previous one must be gone. Perhaps he was too weak to fully understand the inheritance right now.
"Remember this route. Let’s take a look around."
Tianming walked beside Ye Lingfeng. The soul servant didn’t require searching for; they showed up at the door.
A few days later, Tianming and Ye Lingfeng had just arrived at a crossroads when something appeared in the shadows in front and to the left and right of them. Up ahead was a blazing phoenix. Though small, it was as swift as the wind. Tianming also sensed the existence of Invincible Sword Ki within the beast.
"Ying Huo?" Tianming froze.
"That’s a fake!" Ying Huo shouted, emerging from his lifebound space.
At the same time, in the passage on the left, black thunder surged, wrapping around the walls like tens of thousands of snakes. In the dark, a black beast shaped like a lion, tiger, and leopard charged toward them. In the right passage, a huge two-headed dragon with nine sharp mountains on its burly body burst out.
"These three soul servants arrived at the same time!"
As Tianming spoke, his three lifebound beasts appeared beside him, looking exactly the same as the soul servants. The soul servants weren’t real people, but ever-changing. This time they had turned into Tianming’s lifebound beasts. For now, Tianming wasn’t sure how many blood spheres they would eventually become. However, he would find out after he killed them.
"These soul servants and my lifebound beasts can exist at the same time, indicating that Dongyang Fengxiao and Bai Xiaozhu aren’t dead. In other words, I didn't kill Brother Jinghong."
That was good news. Tianming finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tianming, you don't have to do anything. The three of us will fight them!" Burning with fighting spirit, Ying Huo darted out and met the phoenix soul servant head on. Perhaps they found it interesting to challenge themselves. Meow Meow and Lan Huang each also faced their clones, occupying the three passages.
Tianming glanced at them. Strangely enough, the soul servants had all of their means, but what depressed him was the fact that their opponent was obviously stronger. How else could they test Tianming?
Feigning defeat, Ying Huo turned around and yelled, "Come on, we need reinforcements. Are you just going to stand around and watch the show?!"
"Didn't you say we wouldn’t have to do anything?" Tianming laughed.
"Damn it! Hurry up!" fumed Ying Huo.
Aside from the three lifebound beasts, Tianming had Ye Lingfeng and the Soulfiend on his side. Although the Soulfiend had degenerated into its most primitive state, it was still dangerous, and the strongest member of their team. Its lethality lay in its flesh and soul. For the time being, the three soul servants couldn't resist the Soulfiend.
According to his arrangement, Tianming supported Ying Huo, Ye Lingfeng assisted Meow Meow, and the Soulfiend cooperated with Lan Huang. Upon approaching, Tianming realized that the phoenix soul servant was at least a Sky Saint. They had trouble locking on to its position, despite employing Ying Huo’s Infernal Haze and Tianming’s Insightful Eye. Splitting the Grand-Orient Sword into two, Tianming and Ying Huo besieged the soul servant.
Invincible Sword Ki collided wildly in the passage. With over five hundred strands of Invincible Sword Ki, Tianming tore at the opponent’s Infernal Armor. Fortunately, he was very familiar with the means of the phoenix soul servant. Although he couldn’t defeat the beast, he managed to put up a fight.
This time, Ye Lingfeng was there to help them. Otherwise, it would have been a challenge to deal with the three soul servants that appeared at the same time.
A thunderous noise reverberated in the right passage. Lan Huang and the Soulfiend tore apart the two-headed dragon soul servant. Unsurprisingly, it was indestructible and immediately reshaped itself.
The battle continued.
A long time later, when Tianming and Ying Huo were completely exhausted, he managed to chop off the soul servant’s head with the Thousand-Demise Sword. Unfortunately, it immediately fused together and bounced back.
"I’m so pissed! How can an imposter be so fierce!"
Ying Huo jumped up in a rage but was chased and beaten by the soul servant. It was humiliated!