The Demon with Holy Radiance-Chapter 182 - 166: Extract the Soul, Head to the Outer Continent

「A short while ago.」

'If you have a way, then just say it!'

Yang An was overcome with anxiety. Fu Ming and the old monster were about to clash, and time was running out. He had to escape this area immediately.

He highly doubted the old monster would make any special effort to protect him in the heat of battle.

'Hurry! Workshop Master, tell me, what's the plan?'

Yang An immediately sent a new message to the Workshop Master.

Soon, the Workshop Master's response arrived.

"The method is to temporarily pull your soul out of your body!"

"???"

'You can't be serious!'

Yang An was startled. 'How is this related to my soul?'

"Based on your description, you haven't seen any manifestation of the Power of Rules. It's an invisible force, which most likely means this particular Rule has directly imprisoned your soul, thereby affecting your body.

That being the case, as long as your soul is temporarily separated from your body, you can break free."

The Workshop Master continued his explanation.

His words immediately reminded Yang An of how, on several occasions, his sect-mates' souls had inexplicably vanished after he killed them.

He had previously suspected Fu Ming and the old monster; it had to be one of them.

'It seems the old monster really does have the ability to affect people's souls.'

"Then what should I do?"

With time running short, Yang An asked immediately.

"You can't do it yourself. The vessel-transfer is temporarily closed, so I can't help you either. But do you remember the bow I gave you? You can ask her. She might have a way."

The Workshop Master's answer was simple.

'Bow Lady?'

Yang An was a little surprised.

He knew that the Bow Lady could see the beauty and ugliness of souls, and could even devour them.

Since the restraining force on him now involved the soul, it was indeed worth asking the Bow Lady.

At this thought, Yang An immediately withdrew his consciousness from the Tree of Flesh and Blood and called out to the Bow Lady in his mind.

"Bow Lady! I've treated you well, haven't I?"

"Kid, what are you trying to pull?"

The Bow Lady's response came instantly, her voice echoing in Yang An's ears, sounding full of suspicion.

"Save me! My soul is imprisoned, and I can't move! The Workshop Master said I can break the restraint if my soul temporarily leaves my body."

Yang An got straight to the point.

"Are you sure?"

The Bow Lady also knew the situation was dire. She didn't act as willfully as usual and asked immediately.

"Let's try!"

Yang An gritted his teeth.

The Bow Lady agreed at once.

Soon, Yang An felt an invisible, warm power touch his chest, slowly spreading outwards from his torso.

It felt like a pair of slender, warm hands gently caressing his chest.

'How strange...'

Yang An endured the strange sensation, allowing the warmth to gradually spread throughout his entire body.

When his whole body was warm, his consciousness quickly grew hazy. Everything before his eyes seemed to blur rapidly, becoming indistinct, and his mind turned muddled.

But soon after, an icy sensation suddenly swept over him, as if one moment he was under the scorching sun and the next he was thrown into a glacial cavern.

The sudden cold seemed to touch his very soul. An unbearable chill made Yang An shiver involuntarily, his body trembling.

But with that shiver, Yang An's consciousness instantly cleared, and his mind was restored.

He slowly raised his hand, pleasantly surprised to find that he could move again.

The invisible restraining force was gone!

"PTOOEY! PTOOEY! PTOOEY! PTOOEY! Kid, why is your soul so bitter?! Ugh, so bitter! This bitterness is going to be the death of me! YUCK—"

At the same time, the Bow Lady's voice, full of disgust, appeared in Yang An's ears.

'Don't tell me she just... put me in her mouth?'

'But this isn't the time to think about that. The priority is to get out of here without the old monster noticing.'

"Thanks, Bow Lady!"

After thanking the Bow Lady, Yang An fully activated his Illusion Technique to conceal his aura, then transformed into a black shadow and dashed out of the Life Crane Sect.

He was already at the edge of the Life Crane Sect. The entire sect was now shrouded in a layer of red light, obscuring everything from view.

Tremors echoed from the distance. On the ground, fleshy tentacles covered in black fuzz were swelling.

It was obvious that Fu Ming and the old monster had already started their fight.

Yang An had no interest in watching the battle. In the blink of an eye, he was already outside the Life Crane Sect's perimeter.

The Life Crane Sect floated thousands of feet in the air. Yang An landed swiftly on the ground below. Seeing no signs of collateral damage in the area, he finally turned his head to look back up.

The towering giant was still holding up the entire Life Crane Sect, motionless. But now, strange fluctuations were faintly emanating from the sect. The red light swirled like a misty tempest, its power immense.

When two such powers clashed, one was bound to perish.

Fu Ming's true strength surprised Yang An. He really hoped Fu Ming could take care of the old monster, but he didn't think Fu Ming was capable of it.

Even the envoys from the Great Virtue Temple had died at the old monster's hands. The old monster's true strength was likely even more terrifying than he had imagined.

Yang An prepared to move further away. Running was impossible; if he dared to flee, the old monster would be able to find him.

Fortunately, from what the old monster had said while he was restrained, it seemed he wasn't ready to "harvest" this particular leek yet. This was the real reason Yang An could breathe a sigh of relief.

Even though he had obtained the follow-up Cultivation Technique for the Zombie God Realm, this wasn't the end.

Even if he left, he would have to come back for the subsequent Cultivation Techniques in the future. It was better to wait and see what the old monster had planned.

Soon, Yang An headed into the distance, retreating until he was a thousand meters away from the original location of Corpse Saliva Valley.

He waited for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Suddenly, he saw the suspended Life Crane Sect above vanish in an instant. Everything turned to ash in a flash.

Even more than half of Fourth Senior Brother's body was disintegrated in that same instant, leaving only a mutilated torso.

'Damn! Don't tell me Fu Ming actually managed to kill the old monster?'

Yang An's heart leaped in shock. He stared blankly at the scene, only snapping out of it after a long moment.

The Life Crane Sect... was gone!

Looking at the situation, even if the old monster wanted to kill Fu Ming, there was no need to destroy the entire Life Crane Sect. This was clearly Fu Ming's doing.

But in Yang An's perception, the Qi Seal he had left on Fu Ming vanished at that very same moment.

'Fu Ming is dead!'

'The power of that blast tore apart half of the entire Life Crane Sect, Fourth Senior Brother included. It's unlikely anyone could have survived.'

It was a good thing he ran fast, or his fate would have been all too predictable.

Yang An fully extended his senses as he slowly approached the original location of Corpse Saliva Valley. His intuition told him the old monster probably wouldn't die that easily.

'But getting injured is another story. If he's badly hurt...'

Just as Yang An was thinking this, he suddenly froze and slowly turned to look at the figure that had abruptly appeared behind him.

"Old ba—... Master!"

Elder Life Crane had appeared like a ghost, nearly causing Yang An to blurt out a disrespectful term. Fortunately, he corrected himself just in time, but it was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat.

Seeing that Yang An was still safe and sound, Elder Life Crane's own face was expressionless, but He Tou smiled.

'Just as we thought. This kid has someone backing him. He wouldn't die so easily.'

"Little disciple, where were you planning to go?"

"This disciple wasn't going anywhere. I have been waiting here for you, Master. Your Mana is boundless, and your fortune is as vast as the heavens!"

Despite the timely flattery, Yang An's heart was pounding. He had guessed correctly; it was easy for the old monster to find him. It was a good thing he hadn't tried to run.

"Excellent! You've done very well!"

He Tou laughed, seemingly very satisfied with Yang An's answer.

"But now the Life Crane Sect has been destroyed by that traitorous disciple. It's just the two of us left, master and disciple. What do you think we should do next?"

It looked at Yang An with a beaming smile, clearly not counting the fourth disciple.

'Is this old monster testing me?'

Yang An was puzzled. 'Logically, all my sect-mates are gone now. Having one more or one less like me shouldn't matter, yet the old monster specifically left me alive.'

'Something's fishy!'

"This disciple will follow Master's arrangements. Wherever Master goes, this disciple will go. As long as Master is here, the Life Crane Sect will always exist!"

"Hahahaha! Ah, little disciple, as your master, I'm truly growing more and more fond of you. Excellent! I really didn't misjudge you!"

He Tou laughed so hard it rocked back and forth, its long neck craning high.

"In that case, from this day forward, you are the head disciple of my Life Crane Sect!"

"..."

As its voice fell, He Tou suddenly opened its mouth wide and spat out two people.

THUD!

Two figures landed on the ground in unison, both unconscious.

It was Wen Yin and Zhou Quan, whom Yang An hadn't seen at all during the entire ordeal.

'So those two didn't die. The old monster swallowed them.'

"Disciple, I have a very important task for you now."

Elder Life Crane spoke at this moment, clearly having planned this all along.

Glancing at Wen Yin and Zhou Quan, Yang An looked away and said, "Please give me your orders, Master!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Take your junior sister and junior brother, travel to the Treasure Temple Domain—one of the Four Outer Domains—and find a suitable location. The decision is entirely yours. Once you've settled on a place, it will become the new Mountain Gate for our Life Crane Sect!"

Elder Life Crane did not seem to be in a good mood. His tone was indifferent and icy as he spoke.

'Go to the Outer Continent?'

'Why the hell are we going to the Outer Continent?'

For Yang An, who had only ever heard of the Outer Continent but knew nothing about it, the old monster's command was undoubtedly a difficult one.

"Master..."

He was just about to ask the old monster why they had to go to the Outer Continent.

But before he could get the words out, he saw Elder Life Crane lightly raise a hand. Three black shadows flashed and instantly burrowed into the bodies of him and his two unconscious sect-mates.

The black shadows vanished in a flash, so fast that Yang An had no time to react.

But after the shadow entered his body, he didn't feel anything unusual. Even his special abilities didn't react at all.

'This means it's likely some kind of Technique, or perhaps another Power of Rules from a Forbidden Artifact Fragment.'

'The latter is more likely.'

"As your master, I don't have much time. I can only give you a two-month deadline. If you fail to accomplish this within two months, the things left inside your bodies will erupt. By then, it will be too late."

"..."