Chapter 10: Battle with the Snake Spirit

"Lord Xiao En, this is the Nether Fruit Tree," a transmission from an Upper Deity of the Earth Law said.

Xiao En replied, "Understood."

At present, being close to the Lord God, he also did not know whether the Death Ruler and the Nether Lord God were watching his party, so even in a transmission he forbade all those who had been Soul‑seeded from calling him master;

because he also did not know whether the Lord God could intercept their current transmission.

Swish swish swish~~~~~~

The Nether Fruit Tree trembled, a mass of branches parting to reveal a fruit slightly larger than a fist; the fruit was roughly spherical, with a violet rind, its surface crystal‑clear and radiant, dazzling, and it faintly exhaled a misty haze.

"Nether Fruit?"

Many who saw it felt excited; everyone present had been Soul‑seeded by Xiao En, but the Soul Seed only affects loyalty, not their cognition, desires, pursuit of strength, or yearning for beautiful things, and at most, when those things conflict with the master's will, they will forgo them for the master's benefit.

Upon seeing the Nether Fruit, they instinctively wanted to seize it, but having received an order to protect the master with all their might, they could not act.

Within Xiao En's soul he also sensed the deep, intense desire of these people, and because he suppressed it, he even felt the pressure on his own soul increase.

Successfully Soul‑seeding one person does not guarantee complete peace of mind thereafter; if the disparity between the two sides is great, there are indeed no hidden risks, but if the opponent's strength is decent and the Soul‑seeding was forced, ordering them to act against their instincts—or even to sacrifice themselves—will cause the seeder to bear greater soul pressure.

However, thanks to the Soul Pearl in his body, this pressure is trivial for Xiao En; on the contrary, if these people were Mo Si Soul‑seeded, forcibly restraining thirty Seven‑Star Demons from vying for the treasure would likely be enough to overwhelm him.

"Lord Xiao En, that is the Nether Fruit, but be careful—the snakes on the tree are extremely terrifying," another person warned.

"When you came here before, did the Nether Fruit always appear?" Xiao En asked back.

The other side replied, "Not at all; usually we have to come many times before it appears once, and that only happens when there are enough high‑level practitioners, the Nether Fruit Tree will then reveal the Nether Fruit;

but regardless of whether the Nether Fruit is present, the snakes will attack and kill us; over countless years, we don't know how many Seven‑Star and Six‑Star Demons have died here."

"Snakes?" Xiao En said nothing more, carefully scanning the surroundings; at this moment he could not employ divine perception, and he did not know where the snakes were.

"Ssshh~~" The fruit trees bearing the Nether Fruit all trembled, and across a span of several hundred meters of branches and leaves, green energy light began to glow, gradually forming palm‑sized green snakes upon the foliage.

"Everyone, gather together."

Before Xiao En could issue a command, the thirty Soul‑seeded Seven‑Star Demons all gathered; lacking a directive from Xiao En, they, like ordinary people, cared about their own safety.

Xiao En naturally did not object, because he stood at the very center.

The surrounding green light grew denser, but Xiao En was hardly concerned; the green snakes were essentially soul attacks, and what he truly feared were the few large snakes behind those small ones, yet they had not yet manifested.

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh~~~~" A massive swarm of green snakes launched an attack,

Tens of thousands of green snakes surged forward; the Seven‑Star Demons surrounded in the middle instantly paled, for with such numbers even a joint effort could not block them.

Suddenly, black light surged over Xiao En's entire body, and a flood of gray‑black soul attacks rippled outward like concentric waves; each green snake struck by the gray soul‑attack ripples instantly transformed into a green speck of light.

Though the green snakes were numerous, Xiao En's soul energy was also inexhaustible; after a short while, a large number of green snakes were annihilated, and the remaining few ceased their assault, coiling on the tree as if awaiting another chance.

"Impressive." A sharp voice rang out as a green serpent ten meters long appeared on the trunk of the Nether Fruit Tree; its head bore a humanoid visage, and it stared coldly at Xiao En: "For countless billions of years this Nether Mountain has seen countless masters, yet never has a soul attack been this strong; you are the first—one strike, and you have destroyed the small snakes my family has nurtured for eons."

"You flatter me," Xiao En said with a faint smile.

Approaching the profound of Great Perfection, combined with the soul power granted by the three‑path soul mutation, without employing the Lord God's power, perhaps only Great Perfection itself could surpass him in soul attacks.

The Snake Spirit Elder asked, "What is your name?"

"Xiao En." Xiao En replied with a smile;

Being close to the Lord God, he could not use an alias; being discovered would count as deceiving the Lord God, a capital offense.

The Snake Spirit Elder continued, "Has your Death Rule reached its final cultivation step?"

"This," Xiao En thought for a moment and replied, "I'm not sure, but indeed I haven't progressed in a long time."

His Death Rule is actually only at the level of an ordinary Prefect Master, equivalent to Law‑type 5 Fusion, but the fusion of the exotic profound of death and life is already near the true pinnacle, which is the fundamental reason for his great strength.

"I see, admirable," the Snake Spirit said with a smile, "With your strength, ingesting the Nether Fruit would have little effect."

"But I still want to try," Xiao En said.

The Snake Spirit replied, "Very well, as long as you can catch one of my attacks, I will no longer block you."

"Please." Xiao En said cautiously; the Snake Spirit also has the duty of protecting the Nether Fruit, which is probably the Death Ruler's pastime: watching countless masters come here to meet their end.

The Snake Spirit fell silent, its whole body radiating dazzling green light, and suddenly, behind it, a larger serpentine illusion appeared.

"Whoosh!""Whoosh!"……

Green eyes emitted jet‑black light that locked onto Xiao En; the speed was such that he had no chance to dodge.

Xiao En did not even think to evade; after countless years of studying the innate divine abilities of celestial beasts, he knew that once an opponent initiates at close range, the chance to dodge is almost zero, unless there is a huge speed disparity or great distance.

The black light pierced Xiao En's body, and a massive surge of soul power gathered to resist, gradually consuming the soul attack; before the attack could reach the depths of his soul, it was outright annihilated.

"The power is decent; even a typical peak Asura, if it could block it, would still be injured."

Xiao En internally evaluated that his soul power is a hundred times stronger than that of a normal Upper Deity, which is why he can routinely hard‑receive soul‑attack type innate abilities; of course, a Devouring God Rat or the combined innate powers of the Four Celestial Beasts would certainly not be able to block it.

In fact, he could also clash with the opponent's innate abilities externally, but under the Lord God's watchful eye, displaying soul attacks approaching Great Perfection without the Lord God's power would be unwise.

"Impossible?" the green giant snake exclaimed in shock upon seeing Xiao En unharmed.

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(End of Chapter)