Chapter 40: Nether Soul Jade

Watching the old man's remnant soul be destroyed by his own sword, the chill in Lu Chen's eyes gradually faded.

He searched through the two storage bags left by the opponent and quickly found the Nether Soul Jade inside.

Upon taking the Nether Soul Jade in hand, he immediately felt the power that nourishes the soul.

But Lu Chen knew clearly that this was merely the hidden remnant soul doing it on purpose.

Otherwise, who would willingly wear it, letting it absorb their life force?

"Come out."

Lu Chen condensed spiritual power at his fingertip and lightly tapped the surface of the Nether Soul Jade.

In an instant, a layer of black mist rose on the jade's surface, slowly condensing in midair into a blurry human shape.

That figure was wrapped in bloody sigils for some reason, giving Lu Chen a sense of familiarity.

"Not bad, junior, you actually saw through my soul‑seeding..." The remnant soul's voice was hoarse, yet carried an arrogant tone.

However, before he finished speaking, he slowly raised his head and got a clear look at Lu Chen's face.

"How can it be you?!"

Even though the figure's shape was very blurry, in the instant he spoke one could still see his face turn deathly pale.

At that moment, Lu Chen also suddenly recalled.

"Mo Xuan! It's actually you, you old thing!"

"I never thought you still weren't completely dead?!"

Mo Xuan was the cultivator who previously tried to seize Lu Chen's body in the Bone Burial Ground.

Back then, Lu Chen thought he had cleared everything, but he hadn't expected that a wisp of remnant soul would still escape.

After discovering it was Lu Chen, Mo Xuan, without a word, broke free from the Nether Soul Jade's restraint and tried to flee immediately.

With his remnant soul's form, without a vessel it would easily dissipate.

But he well knew Lu Chen's monstrous methods; even if it dissipated, it would be better than falling into the opponent's hands.

"Senior Mo, don't run!"

Lu Chen curled his lips into a smile, still curious about the missing parts of the opponent's memory.

"I've opened my Sea of Consciousness; Senior Mo, why not try to possess me?"

"Possess you?! I wouldn't dare possess you, you monster!" Mo Xuan's already pallid face turned even whiter.

"Don't run, Senior Mo! We have things to talk about!"

Mo Xuan originally had only a little remnant soul left, and this wisp was even a remnant of a remnant, so he naturally couldn't run very fast.

Seeing that he was about to be caught, he simply turned around, suddenly reversed direction, and rushed into Lu Chen's Sea of Consciousness.

"He actually came back..."

Lu Chen felt a bit surprised, immediately found a relatively safe spot, and at the same time projected his consciousness into the Sea of Consciousness.

Before, the Empress had fallen into a deep sleep and hadn't noticed the remnant soul intruding.

This time, the Empress immediately sensed Mo Xuan's appearance.

She had intended to use her divine soul power to instantly annihilate him, but fortunately Lu Chen appeared in time.

"Empress Sister! Spare his life beneath the blade!"

The divine soul power condensed in the Empress's hand slowly dissipated, and she gave the appearing Lu Chen a knowing look.

Immediately, Lu Chen began to explain to her.

At the same time, he told the Empress the partial memories he had obtained from seizing the opponent's body.

"A righteous path cultivator? Interesting..."

While the two were communicating, Mo Xuan beside them dared not move.

Upon hearing that Lu Chen actually knew his origins, his expression fluctuated between gloom and clarity, and he also felt somewhat incredulous.

After the exchange, Lu Chen looked toward Mo Xuan.

The reason he was pleased to see Mo Xuan was because he felt the latter could become a stepping stone for his future journey into the righteous path's territory.

After all, for many years he had known nothing about the righteous path; being able to learn more of its details would naturally be best.

"Senior Mo, I remember you said back then that you wanted me to regret it, right?"

Hearing Lu Chen's words, Mo Xuan dared not speak.

Back then, it was merely his exaggeration, a excuse to make Lu Chen stop.

After hiding for so many years, what trump cards does he still have?

"Senior Mo, you seemed to have been a member of some righteous path sect back then?"

"How shall we talk?"

Lu Chen's expression carried a smile.

But it was obvious that, in Mo Xuan's view, it wasn't a smile.

Mo Xuan now had nowhere to flee, so naturally he did not dare to be negligent and immediately recounted his past experiences.

It turned out he had originally been the sect leader of the Righteous Path Star Cliff Sect, because in recent years the clashes between the righteous and demonic paths had been frequent.

Once, by a twist of fate, he was bewitched by a certain demonic path cultivator and thus joined the demonic camp.

In the many years that followed, he worked for the demonic path, helping them gather intelligence on the righteous path and even assisting in breaking several top‑tier righteous sects.

However, his treason was quickly discovered.

The cultivator who had drawn him into the demonic path immediately abandoned him, and all righteous path cultivators took him as a target.

To survive, he had no choice but to flee to Zhenzhou.

But even after arriving there, demonic path cultivators still had no intention of letting him go.

He could only keep running, eventually hiding in the Bone Burial Ground.

Later, it was that he disguised himself as an ancient cultivator, attempting to seize Lu Chen's body.

"So, what is the name of that demonic cultivator? What is his identity?"

"She is called..." Mo Xuan originally wanted to speak, but then forgot that he had already been placed under some kind of restriction.

Otherwise, he could have exposed the other party early during his escape.

Seeing that the other party didn't seem like they wanted to speak, Lu Chen's expression turned cold.

"Wait! I can explain; she placed a restriction on me, I couldn't......"

Mo Xuan originally thought that by voluntarily explaining the circumstances, Lu Chen might show leniency and perhaps give him a way to live.

Even the empress beside him thought the same.

After all, Lu Chen is not really like those demonic cultivators.

But what the two didn't expect was that, before Mo Xuan's words even fell, Lu Chen immediately acted and extinguished the last trace of his remnant soul.

"Lu Chen... you..." This scene, the empress had never imagined either.

"Since we can't get the answer, we won't spare his life." Lu Chen's expression was nonchalant.

Previously, he only knew how to constantly evade, thus allowing others to do as they pleased.

Now he has long understood a principle: when facing calamity, one must eradicate it at the root.

"Not bad, there's growth." Hearing Lu Chen's words, the empress showed a slight relieved expression.

Before, she had also been somewhat worried that, after the soul was linked to Lu Chen, given Lu Chen's personality he would merely survive in the Nine Nether Sect until the end of his lifespan.

By then, even if I had myriad methods, I could only dissipate along with it into the heavens and earth.

Now it seems, there's no need to worry.

After extinguishing Mo Xuan's final remnant soul, Lu Chen's consciousness returned to reality.

The other's death was not meaningless; at least he knew that the relationship between the orthodox and demonic factions had already reached a point of imminent conflict.

"If a true orthodox-demonic war were to break out, who knows what further changes might occur then."

He lowered his head and muttered a sentence, seeming to have sunk into a long period of contemplation.

It wasn't until Su Qian appeared that he finally came back to his senses.

"Master, the blood of the Wind-Wing Demon has been retrieved."