“Strange,” Ice Talker murmured, puzzled.
“Wait… there’s another possibility.” She paused, then said, “Unless someone has already inherited the snow mountain’s legacy. In that case, the aura would have automatically disappeared.”
Someone inherited the snow mountain’s legacy?
The Blues Family!
John immediately thought of the Blues Family disciples. They had vanished without a trace, leaving Bonnie with only one clue-“snow mountain.”
It seemed that one of the Blues Family members had indeed obtained the snow mountain’s legacy.
John felt a sense of relief; this was good news for the Blues Family.
And now he was sure that they were safe.
Ice Talker, noticing his reaction, asked, “Do you know who inherited the snow mountain legacy?”
“No idea,” he replied quickly, feigning ignorance. He wasn’t about to place his trust in Ice Talker.
“So, you’re letting me go now?” he added.
Ice Talker gave him a sly look. “But you haven’t agreed to join the Nature Clan yet.”
She winked at him, saying, “With Nature Clan’s protection, you’d be a lot safer.”
“Not interested,” John replied bluntly.
Ice Talker didn’t give up. “You should think carefully. You’re in a pretty dangerous position right now.”
John’s patience wore thin. “Are you going to let me go, or do I have to break my way out?”
As he spoke, a longsword appeared in his hand, and he activated his divine skill, Creation and Destruction.
Buzz!
A streak of sword energy tore through the air, splitting the void and creating rifts with turbulent flows of energy swirling around.
Ice Talker’s expression shifted slightly. “What a terrifying skill!”
She regarded him with surprise before her expression softened into a smile again. “Fine, I’ll let you go. But remember, my door is always open for you, little brother!”
With a wave of her sleeve, a surge of spatial power rippled, and John’s figure vanished.
The smile dropped from her face as she watched him go, her brow furrowing.
“My Lady,” Terran approached, puzzled. “You’re really just letting him go like that?”
“Don’t worry,” Ice Talker replied with a smirk, a single snowflake appearing in her hand and slowly melting away. “He won’t escape my grasp that easily.”
…
John reappeared in an open field.
As soon as he materialized, the furious roars of Hunters filled the air.
Drawn by the hatred mark he carried.
Annoyed, he didn’t bother fighting them off. Instead, he calmly retreated into his World-in- Hand.
Now that he had slipped out from Shadow Clan’s control, his movements would be much freer.
“The Blues Family disciples should be safe. Next, I’ll rescue Cand-Dragon and launch an open attack on the Shadow Clan!” he decided.
He still had a captured Shadow Clan peak-level upper-tier god.
However, that one’s soul was powerful, and he’d need to refine some Soul Essence to strengthen his Soul Technique before he could perform Memory Extraction.
“John, can you let me out now?” Sini came running over, pouting and looking at him expectantly.
“No,” John replied firmly. “Spend the next few days focused on cultivating. We’re about to launch an open strike against the Shadow Clan.”
“Really?” A smile lit up Sini’s face immediately.
John nodded, though he felt a bit uneasy. He wasn’t sure if this was a good or a bad
development.
Ever since Sini acquired her Nether power, she had become increasingly fascinated by the thrill of battle and bloodshed.
Setting aside his concerns, he focused on his own cultivation.
He had ample resources on hand.
112 Soul Essences, unrefined treasures from the Sea Clan and Feather Race, and numerous skill stones that could enhance his concentration techniques-particularly the Condensed Spirit Technique and the Crape Myrtle Mind Technique.
Under the Life Tree, where several wooden huts had been built, he entered the one prepared for him by the others and began his secluded training.
…
A month later, John emerged from his training.
He had absorbed all the Soul Essences, pushing his Soul Technique to a staggering 1.69 million points.
It far surpassing most of the Shadow Clan’s peak-level upper-tier gods.
Of course, there was still a gap between him and the 108 main city lords or the other Overseers.
Beyond this, he had also refined the Sea Clan and Feather Race treasures.
His true form and godly avatar each used an Apocalypse Stone.
His true form absorbed treasures from The Immortals and Feather Race.
While his godly avatar refined those of the gods and Sea Clan.
The Sea Clan, heavily reliant on magic, provided a powerful boost to his Wrath of the
Gods mage class.
He had also raised two top-tier mind techniques-Condensed Spirit Technique from the Sea Clan and Crape Myrtle Mind Technique from the Feather Race-to level 10,000.
These enhancements elevated his mental power and Soul Technique even further.
Most notably, he gained new abilities.
With Condensed Spirit Technique reaching level 10,000, he acquired a new skill: Mind Manipulation.
This ability allowed him to control any object, even living beings-similar to his Sword Control, but much more versatile.
The Crape Myrtle Mind Technique, also at level 10,000, added soul damage to all his attacks.
Both physical and magical attacks now dealt soul damage without risking soul backlash.
John’s power had once again advanced dramatically.
“It’s time to rescue Cand-Dragon and the others,” he decided, stepping out of the hut and locating the captured Shadow Clan peak-level upper-tier god.
Despite his immense strength, the captive was helpless in John’s World-in-Hand and had been mercilessly tortured by Lincoln and the others for over a month. His spirit was nearly
broken.
Even so, his lips remained sealed, revealing nothing of the Shadow Clan’s secrets.
Unwilling to waste any more time, John used Memory Extraction on him.
He gleaned a wealth of information on the Shadow Clan.
Though most of it offered little of immediate value. The most crucial piece was the location
of the Spirit Stone mine.
“The Immortals!” he exclaimed, stunned. There truly was a presence of The Immortals
hidden here.
Along with the coordinates for the Spirit Stone mine, John had uncovered another crucial
detail.
Shadow Star was previously known as Spirit Jade Star, a realm once controlled by The Immortals. The native creatures-the spirit beasts-were the original inhabitants of this
land.
At some point, however, an upheaval occurred, allowing the Shadow Clan’s Lord God to seize control. The exact nature of this upheaval was beyond what this prisoner knew.
“Sir, is this guy still of any use?” Beelzebub approached, eyeing the defeated Shadow Clan
god sprawled on the ground.
“No, you can finish him off,” John replied, with no hint of sympathy for the captive’s fate.
“John!” Sini came running over, her face bright with anticipation. “Are we going to make a
move against the Shadow Clan?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “But first, I need to rescue Cand-Dragon and the others.”
“I’m coming with you,” Sini said eagerly.
She had been cooped up in the World-in-Hand for a month, with little interest in training,
and was itching for action.
John considered it, then nodded. Having Sini by his side wouldn’t put her at risk.
Then he turned to the other powerful figures from various races within his World-in-Hand and, with a thought, expelled them all.
Now that he was beyond the Shadow Clan’s reach, there was no need to worry about exposure.
These powerful individuals suddenly reappearing would likely draw Shadow Clan’s attention,
giving him some cover.
“Let’s go. We’ll pick up two people first.” John glanced up at the sky-it was the dead of
night, ideal for his plan.
He and Sini exited the World-in-Hand, only to be met by the angry roars of Hunters charging
at them.
Sini’s eyes lit up, and she immediately launched into an attack.
A black mist spread around her, brimming with powerful soul energy. Within its radius, the
souls of the Hunters dissipated, snuffed out instantly.
John watched in surprise. “Your soul attack can actually kill these Hunters?”
Sini looked back at him, puzzled. “Is there a problem?”
John frowned slightly. The Hunters and their brood mothers shared a collective soul link;
normally, only by killing the brood mother could the Hunters be permanently destroyed.
But clearly, the brood mother was still alive.
Even when facing these Hunters himself, he relied on the Golden Lotus Hellfire for a soul-
damage attack that wouldn’t trigger backlash.
He said, “Use that soul attack on me.”
“Alright,” Sini didn’t hesitate, knowing full well her soul attack posed no threat to John.
Whoosh!
The black mist rose, enveloping John completely.
This time, he didn’t immediately use his Golden Lotus Hellfire to purify it. Enduring the soul
pain, he carefully examined the sensation.
“Just as I thought!” John murmured in surprise.
Sini’s black mist could actually sever the shared soul connection.
This meant she could bypass the soul link and effortlessly kill Shadow Clan elites.
“Alright, you can disperse the mist now,” John instructed.
If he didn’t have Golden Lotus Hellfire, even he would have been at a loss against this strange
mist.
Sini promptly dispersed the black mist, her face beaming. “John, does this mean I can finally
be of help to you now?”
Her greatest wish was to be useful to him.
John nodded, noticing more Hunters gathering around them. He stopped Sini from attacking
further and said, “Let’s go pick up two people first.”
He activated his Split Void ability, tearing open a spatial rift, and pulled Sini into it.
Buzz!
With a pulse of spatial energy, they emerged at the novice village where John had previously
been.
Sini looked around curiously. “John, where is this? I sense so many Skyline Continent beings
here.”
“It’s the novice village on Shadow Star,” he explained briefly. Heading to Dumas’s wooden hut, he pushed the door open.
Inside, Dumas lay sprawled on a bed of dry grass, fast asleep.
Without John’s assistance for the past month, he had been struggling. The daily quota of a
hundred cubic units of ore was far beyond his capacity. He didn’t even notice someone entering his hut.
John called out, “Hey, you dead yet?”
“Huh?” Dumas jolted awake, sitting up quickly. Seeing John, his face lit up with relief. “My
Lord, you’re back!”
John replied coolly, “If I hadn’t come, you’d likely be dead by now.”
Forcing a weak smile, Dumas said, “My Lord, don’t worry about me. You should get out of
here. The Shadow Clan is actively searching for you.”
“I know. Just enter my World-in-Hand,” John responded, pulling Dumas into his World-in-
Hand without further explanation.
As for the others in the village, he didn’t intend to help them. Most were weak demigods or lower-tier gods, offering him little value.
There was, however, one person he couldn’t allow to live.
The last surviving Dark Human.
Expanding his mental power, he quickly located the man and used Soul Impact from a
distance.
The Dark Human died in his sleep, an end that was almost merciful given the circumstances.