Chapter 613: Chapter 18: Who Exactly Are You?

“Soldier Disintegration?”

Richard stared at the product left behind by the Immortal creature’s disappearance, his mind somewhat blank.

Isn’t Soldier Disintegration using weapons to hack oneself to death? How did it directly become a thing?

“Yes, my lord. You helped him get rid of that ghostly form, so he chose Soldier Disintegration before dying as a token of gratitude to you.”

The voice of the Fire Spirit God was full of emotion. The Immortal Country Civilization emphasizes returning to the heavens upon death, and few use Soldier Disintegration as a method of dying. The method converts an Immortal’s life essence into a weapon, and once this method is chosen, that Immortal’s soul shatters completely, with no possibility of reincarnation.

“Is that thing a Dao Artifact?”

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean by ‘sort of’?”

“The product of Soldier Disintegration, although possessing Daoist Texts, with only auxiliary texts and nurturing, can only be considered a semi-finished product.”

Taking the little bell through the Space Rift into the laboratory, the material of the bell looked like bronze, with no decorations on the surface, but an extremely ancient Daoist Text resembling bird script could be vaguely seen.

Richard injected a slight amount of Magic Power, and the Daoist Text on the bell instantly activated, emitting a clear chime.

In the sound of the bell, Richard felt a refreshing sensation in his spirit as a coolness emanated from his soul, clearing his mind without any fatigue or weariness.

“Awaken the mind? This is a rather good thing.”

A slight joy rose in Richard’s heart. With the mind-awakening effect, there must be Soul Rules within this bell. Through Sacrificial Refinement, this bell could certainly disrupt an enemy’s mind.

This would be extremely useful for Richard.

Even if this bell slows an enemy just a fraction of a second, Richard could hit with the Miracle Furnace’s Flames. Wishfully thinking, if it could slow multiple times, Richard would be unmatched beneath the Dominator.

Of course, Richard was very aware that this was nearly impossible.

For, as long as one strike does not kill, even the World Master of the native world would guard against spiritual intrusion. In circumstances where the enemy is prepared, such a singular spiritual attack is hard to be effective.

Touching the bell lightly with his hand, the Miracle Furnace quickly provided information.

[Material: Soldier Disintegration Bell]

[Refinable Rules: Soul Rules (slightly incomplete) Fire Element Rule (moderately incomplete) Metal Rule (extremely incomplete)]

[Refining Consumption: 20 Soul Power]

Seeing this result, Richard nodded with satisfaction, then set the bell aside. White continued to move forward, while he himself contemplated the condition of that earlier Immortal.

“After being burned by the Miracle Furnace’s Flames, his twisted soul actually recovered, and his rationality seemed to restore as well. Could the Miracle Furnace’s Flames actually heal soul distortion?

Or, perhaps their souls were twisted by some force, and the Miracle Furnace’s Flames just happened to burn that force away, so he returned to normal.”

Richard found this hypothesis highly probable, because he suddenly recalled something.

This fragment had been inaccessible for fifty thousand years, and life forms below the Fourth Level have a maximum lifespan of ten thousand years. After exceeding ten thousand years, the soul structure of life will be irreversibly damaged.

By this logic, these Immortal creatures should have long since died of old age.

Yet now, these Immortal creatures not only did not die but lived quite well. Their souls, although chaotic, showed no signs of collapse.

It’s not hard to speculate that some force behind the scenes certainly exists, maintaining the existence of these souls, allowing them to live eternally in this twisted form.

“If this hypothesis is true, then these methods really seem like some kind of punishment,” Richard murmured to himself.

Judging from the condition of that Spirit Melding Hall manager, this soul-twisting state is definitely not enjoyable. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen Soldier Disintegration the moment he became lucid.

Continuing forward, the Spirit Melding Hall was quickly explored. As the Fire Spirit God said, there wasn’t much here, just materials.

Many of these materials were extremely rare; Daoist Xuan Qing took some, and the rest were pocketed by Richard.

Within the Spirit Melding Hall was a passage leading directly to the Daoist Text Hall, and following this path, the group quickly arrived at the Daoist Text Hall.

The vast hall was filled with partitions, as the engraving of Daoist Texts required a private space, unlike the Spirit Melding Hall where a few large urns and mats sufficed.

The area of the Daoist Text Hall was larger than the Spirit Melding Hall, and there were more Immortal creatures. Conflicts among these Immortal creatures led to complete destruction and ruins inside the Daoist Text Hall.

Relying on spiritual power, Richard found numerous Dao Artifact embryos in these ruins. Made of exquisite materials and buried under the debris, they remained usable even after the passage of fifty thousand years.

Storing these Dao Artifact embryos safely, the group quickly reached the center of the Daoist Text Hall. There, a gigantic Immortal creature, much larger than the Spirit Melding Hall’s manager, was slowly writhing.

Richard probed slightly with spiritual power and quickly concluded.

“There’s no need to fear this thing; it’s just a large Third Level creature.”

Inside this creature, Richard detected thousands of twisted souls, and this was only a part of the monster. These Immortal creatures were in a bizarre state, their bodies fused together but still unable to separate, while their souls remained independent.

This imposing giant, which looks incredibly intimidating, is actually a collection of immortal monsters with numerous different consciousnesses.

The Fire Spirit God in the great cauldron also discovered this situation. He looked at these immortal monsters with sorrow in his eyes. These people were once disciples of the Firework Hall, many of whom he had watched grow up.

Now, they have all become these grotesque beings, neither human nor noble.

“My lord, could you release these disciples from their suffering? In such a state, having their souls scattered might be a form of relief for them.”

“…Let’s wait a bit longer. Maybe there’s still hope. I managed to burn that steward from the Spirit Melding Hall back to normal with a fire; maybe these people can be burned back too.”

Richard’s somewhat fiery gaze pierced through the rift, fixed intently on the gigantic immortal monster. Although he didn’t know why the immortal monster was like this, there was no doubt that this monster was very suitable for research.

Burning it to ashes would be a waste.

Seeing Richard refuse, the Fire Spirit God said no more. Having already pledged himself to Richard, it wouldn’t do to keep thinking about his former master.

Besides the Dao Artifact Embryo, the Daoist Text Hall had nothing else. Any jade scrolls or records documenting information had all been destroyed over the fifty thousand years.

Once out of the Daoist Text Hall, there was nothing else in this world fragment worth exploring.

Although this world fragment covered more than ten square kilometers, the Firework Hall occupied a sizable area, taking up a quarter of the space, yet the remaining three-quarters had no traces of manmade objects, being filled entirely with flora.

When faced with Richard’s questioning, the Fire Spirit God was at a loss for how to explain.

“My lord, the Supreme Sect is among the top great sects within the Immortal Country. The Sect Leader Ancestor has already touched the threshold of a Golden Immortal. For such a level of sect, even a place as chaotic as the Firework Hall should appear like an immortal paradise. If you build the place completely roof-to-roof and remove all these Immortal Flower Spirit Grasses, wouldn’t it just become a blacksmith’s shop?”

Richard was left speechless by this explanation.

As a pragmatist, he rarely paid attention to such matters. But when he thought about it, even the Wizard Academy of the Wizards was immensely grand, with magnificent decorative sculptures within.

In situations where resources were abundant, pursuing aesthetics was entirely normal.

With the fragment explored, the only issue remaining was the transaction.

“You want me to kill the Mad Immortal in the Immortal Country?”

Xuan Qing Taoist nodded: “That’s right. As long as you can kill that Mad Immortal, this fragment of the Immortal Country will be yours.”

“But I already know of this place.”

A sly smile crept up on Xuan Qing Taoist’s face: “If you disagree, then the entrance will no longer be here.”

In the laboratory, Richard raised an eyebrow, his vast spiritual power sweeping through the space rift to scrutinize the Xuan Qing Taoist inside and out.

“It seems I misjudged.” Richard said calmly.

This Xuan Qing Taoist had somehow acquired a protection from the Power of the World on his soul. With this protection, unless Richard personally descended, he would never be able to eliminate Xuan Qing Taoist.

Xuan Qing Taoist smiled and said: “To trade with an existence like you, naturally, I must have some backup plan.”

“But have you considered that the greatest treasure of this fragment has already been taken by me? What use do I have for an empty fragment?”

“You see, you didn’t outright refuse, which means this fragment still holds some value.”

“…Mortal, produce your contract.”

Indeed, this fragment held value for Richard because it had not been absorbed by the world yet. Once he descended into this world and supported a puppet to seize the role of World Guardian, he could completely separate this fragment from the world and feed it to his Secret Realm.

This was a fragment of a great world, and it would be an absolute nourishment for the World Mushroom.

A look of joy appeared on Xuan Qing Taoist’s face as he immediately took out a Destiny Contract from his bosom.

“You should recognize this contract. It was created by the White Wolf King to subdue a warlord when he conquered this world. However, the warlord chose death over surrender, leaving the contract to circulate.”

Richard glanced at the contents of the Destiny Contract, which were quite simple: in exchange for the Immortal Country Fragment, Richard had to kill the Mad Immortal.

“Mortal, I have a few questions for you.”

“Please ask.”

Richard calmly said: “Why do you call that immortal the Mad Immortal, and why are you willing to trade with an otherworldly being intent on invading your world, just to kill the Mad Immortal.”

“That’s because…”

Xuan Qing Taoist wanted to answer, but as soon as his mind attempted to function, he realized the flaw in his logic.

Why was he so adamant about killing the Mad Immortal?

Once again, the bells tolled in his mind, but this time there was a difference as another bell rang simultaneously.

Richard used Magic Power to strike the little bell he had just acquired, watching the expression of Xuan Qing Taoist change continuously. He asked wistfully, “I felt something was off with you a long time ago. A competent conspirator would never collaborate with a target they had no understanding of and couldn’t fully control.

So, who exactly are you?”