Chapter 16: Borrowing People from the Overlord

At the edge of the forest, ten High Gods of the Xuanwu Clan were patrolling when a sudden white mist drifted by; the ten instantly felt their souls stall, then quickly recovered.

"What's happening?" the leading captain hurriedly turned back, "Did you feel a bit dizzy?"

"I'm dizzy too. Me as well," several squad members immediately formed a battle formation.

As High Gods, their souls are powerful; even the slightest anomaly they can detect, let alone all ten High Gods simultaneously experiencing a problem.

"Captain, could it be because we're near Netherdark Mountain?" a squad member said, "I've heard the mist on Netherdark Mountain affects souls; perhaps some mist descended from the mountain."

"Netherdark Mountain?" the captain turned to glance at the towering peaks in the clouds, where purple, gray and white mists swirled; recalling the earlier mist, it indeed was white.

"If it isn't Netherdark Mountain, then whatever could affect all ten of us instantly without being detected could probably kill us instantly," the squad member analyzed, "It's probably not our enemy."

After listening, the captain scanned the surroundings; after a while of silence, he said, "Alright, it's likely the mountain's mist descended. Everyone relax a bit. Anyone daring to strike our Four Beast Clan, there aren't many death‑seeking fools in this nether realm."

"The captain is right," another laughed loudly, "Did you hear? The daughter of the Lord of Bo Mansion that day was coveted by a Six‑Star Demon of the Azure Dragon Clan and was snatched right outside the city,"

When the mansion lord came to demand his daughter back, he could only plead meekly; only after an elder intervened was she released, but everyone understood what had already happened.

"Ha ha, being chosen by our Four Beast Clan is their blessing," the others loudly discussed in turn.

Below the ten, in the forest, within a tree, Shawn's aura was completely merged with it; not being a super‑strong soul, he could not possibly be detected.

As a supreme master of the Life Rule, as long as plants are nearby he can blend his aura with them; this ability rivals the concealment of the Dark Law, though it requires living beings and is slightly stricter than the Dark Law.

After the squad above departed, Shawn emerged from the tree.

"The Four Beast Clan, most have Divine Avatars or Sanctum True Forms out there; it's really troublesome," Shawn exhaled, "I probed six ten‑person squads and finally found one with only a single Divine Avatar; the goal is finally achieved."

With Shawn's current Death Rule Soul Seed ability, even a Seven‑Star Demon can be easily Soul‑seeded, and even dozens or hundreds of ordinary High Gods pose no problem;

But Soul‑seeding can only control the Divine Avatar before one's eyes; avatars elsewhere instantly sense the loss of communication. Anyone with some insight knows it's either Soul‑seeding or a soul‑confusion; thus to secretly Soul‑seed a single target without outsiders noticing, one must probe gradually.

Using a special soul poison, he can instantly stupefy a squad of High Gods, then Shawn rapidly confuses their souls and scans the ten's memories, checking only for the presence of other Divine Avatars.

Until ambushing the sixth squad, he found an Earth‑aligned High God with only one Divine Avatar; the previous avatar had been killed in a demon mission, and this one is the Sanctum True Form after refining its divine stature.

A few days later, at the edge of a cliff:

"Master, this is the data on all the divine‑rank experts of the Four Beast Clan who came here, including numbers and each one's level," a Xuanwu clan member who had been Soul‑seeded knelt before Shawn and handed over a book.

Shawn absorbed the book with divine power, his divine sense scanning it and learning everything, then smiled, "Very good, you may return; everything else is normal."

"Yes," the Xuanwu clan member obeyed and left.

Shawn then glanced again at the data in his hand and said coldly, "One Lord God's envoy, six Seven‑Star Demons, and roughly a hundred Six‑Star Demons—what a massive undertaking."

And it's not just these; more masters have arrived from other planes, even the Soul‑seeded High Gods are unaware of the details. It seems the Four Beast Clan has invested heavily to deal with him, a newly appointed Lord God's envoy, a formidable foe.

"Looks like we must strike first; the longer we wait the more they'll gather, and I can't avoid battle," Shawn finally decided, opting to launch a preemptive raid.

Running away is easy; the nether realm is endless, and without entering the city it's too hard to find anyone, unless the Lord God intervenes, even the Great Perfection can't help, but now he can't flee.

First, the Death Overlord is probably watching the drama, so I can't be cowardly; second, I'll be wanted for life, having to tiptoe even into a city, which is too troublesome. Moreover, with countless billions of years ahead, there's no guarantee I won't eventually be truly surrounded, especially since the other side has several Lord God envoys.

It's better to crush them now; after all I'm already beyond death, just don't kill the Lord God's descendants.

During the following month, with inside help, Shawn successfully Soul‑seeded another dozen Four Beast Clan divine‑rank guard squads each having only one Divine Avatar, then returned to the Netherdark Hotel.

The Death Overlord saw Shawn approaching, gave a faint smile and asked, "From your earlier actions, you've Soul‑seeded quite a few, haven't you?"

Shawn replied, "Yes, Overlord, but I could only ambush those guard members in peripheral zones; they're ordinary High Gods, while the elite gather in the center—I can't slip in to act."

His triple‑system fused divine power lets him approach formidable masters without detection, but he must fully suppress his aura; once he acts, he'll be exposed.

"They have many masters; I can tell you, other masters have already rushed in from other parts of the nether realm," the Death Overlord added, "They've also stationed several at the entrance of Netherdark Mountain, probably to block your exit. If I hadn't summoned you out early, you might truly have been targeted."

"Thanks for the Overlord's help," Shawn replied.

Had he not been a soul mutation and lacked the Overlord's early warning, descending from Netherdark Mountain only to be targeted and ambushed would likely have been life‑threatening.

The Death Overlord said, "No need to thank me; the Four Beast Clan knows this is my territory yet dares this, so I naturally hope to see you wipe them out."

"Understood," Shawn said.

The Lord God, when not directly affronted, generally does not strike at divine‑rank beings, and the Four Beast Clan knows this, which is why they're so brazen;

But in Shawn's view, even if the Lord God doesn't intervene, this approach is utterly foolish—only the Four Beast Clan's idiots could devise such a thing.

The Death Overlord added, "What do you plan to do next? I'm curious; there are too many masters over there, you probably can't beat them."

"I can't do it alone, so I'd like to ask the Overlord for some people," Shawn cautiously asked.

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(End of chapter)