Chapter 17: Hunt Begins

In fact, if the Primordial God hadn't demanded it, Shawn could simply run away; the Four Beast Clan couldn't gather so many experts to hunt him for long, because they wouldn't be able to locate him at all.

When these people disperse, if he doesn't want trouble, staying low-key is fine; if he wants revenge on the Four Beast Clan, he can keep harassing them.

But confronting an army teeming with experts right now is the stupidest move.

Yet at present, Death Overlord clearly doesn't want to see him run; he wants Shawn to teach the Four Beast Clan a lesson—partly for the Overlord's face, partly for pure amusement—since battles between Primordial God's envoys and hordes of Seven-Star Demons in the Nether Realm may not occur even once in billions of years.

"Borrow people? You want Torres and Aode Biao to help you?" Death Overlord raised an eyebrow and said, "If they agree, that's fine; persuade them yourself, I won't get involved."

Aode Biao is Death Overlord's first Primordial God's envoy, adept at the Destruction Rule, wielding two Primordial Artifacts, and is extremely powerful.

Shawn shook his head, "The Overlord is mistaken; I'm not asking for other envoys, but to borrow those experts trapped in the Gray Mist Zone for billions of years."

"Those people? No problem," Death Overlord asked, "It's just that they're unconscious in the Gray Mist now; if you bring them down and restore their consciousness, they might not thank you. Or are you planning to soulseed them?"

Shawn replied, "I'll soulseed a portion of them. Those trapped in the Gray Mist are weak in soul, and my soulseed can control them, allowing me to command larger numbers."

When a Seven-Star Demon is soulseeded, the abilities of the controlled person have a huge impact;

If he excels at physical attacks but is weak in soul, he's relatively easy to soulseed or bewilder.

Conversely, if he cultivates the Four Great Rules or the water path and is soul‑adept, soulseeding becomes much harder, especially for those already practicing the Death Rule, whose souls resist soulseeds more strongly.

Death Overlord nodded, "That makes sense. How many can you soulseed?"

Shawn answered, "It depends on their soul strength; I can't say."

Revealing that his soulseed ability is dozens of times stronger than a normal Death Rule expert is definitely impossible, but modestly boosting his soulseed power is acceptable;

In any case, his research on souls focuses on this; others can't grasp it, and even Great Perfection practitioners haven't mastered the ultimate techniques and profound abilities.

Death Overlord laughed, "Fine, return to Nether Mountain."

"Thank you, Overlord," Shawn said, then slowly stepped back and left.

Although he's a peak expert, in the Primordial God's eyes he's no different from an ant, so caution is still required;

Without reaching Great Perfection, one must be wary of any Primordial God; even Great Perfection can be arrogant, as it's a face the Primordial God grants.

Upon reaching the gate of Nether Mountain, Shawn also spotted several Xuanwu clan members lurking nearby; they were concealed within the surrounding earth and stone, merged with the terrain via earth‑walking technique, protected by a faint magical array, their aura well‑controlled—an ordinary Asura might not notice them unless especially vigilant.

"I'm not sure these people lack divine avatars; we can't act against them now."

Shawn, after pondering, gave up; such issues are rare in ordinary armies—only about 20‑30% of the divine planes have divine avatars, especially among non‑major families, where most ordinary god‑level beings choose internal ascension, otherwise their souls would be weak after external ascension and they'd die early.

The Four Beast Clan is an exception; they can safely ascend, at least having a sanctum avatar.

A few thousand meters from the entrance of Nether Mountain, Shawn held a token and stepped directly through the celestial‑earth chains; the terrifying thunder force did not strike him;

After becoming Nether Mountain's Primordial God's envoy, he obtained this token, which shields him from the mountain's myriad strange attacks. Moreover, he possesses a material‑defense Primordial Artifact, so he fears not the lightning.

Soon he reached the Gray Mist Zone in the heart of Nether Mountain, asked a red snake under the Nether Primordial God, learned the locations of the many experts he needed, and began to seek and soulseed them one by one.

【8】 After a little over a month, he soulseeded more than 60 Six-Star Demons.

【9】 Torres learned Shawn had returned and came to find him; upon seeing dozens of people behind Shawn, he exclaimed in shock, "Shawn, your Death Rule is terrifying—just these sixty‑something people could establish a massive family anywhere in the Nether Realm."

【10】 A single Seven-Star Demon in the Nether Realm can make its family renowned across a province; an Asura‑built family can dominate a province, and the combination of Shawn plus over sixty Six-Star Demons could become one of the Nether Realm's major elite forces.

【11】 "Unfortunately, it's still far behind the Four Beast Clan," Shawn said, shaking his head.

【12】 His soulseed can still command more people, but against the Four Beast Clan it's useless; they wield abundant Primordial God power, and ordinary higher deities using that power are already Six-Star Demon‑level experts; a Five-Star can unleash Seven-Star, and so on.

【13】 No wonder the Four Beast Clan is so arrogant; they likely disregard any clan that isn't another Primordial God family or a true peak powerhouse.

【14】 Torres added, "The Four Beast Clan is indeed hard to deal with; I'm not afraid of the clan chief or the clan's Primordial God's envoy, but if I encounter their clan army, I'll have to run for my life."

【15】 Facing too many higher deities wielding Primordial God power, without dual‑defense Primordial Artifacts even Asuras could fall; such a scenario is almost impossible under normal circumstances, yet several Primordial God families on the divine plane can achieve it.

【16】 Shawn laughed, "Indeed, but they've all come to Nether Mountain; I have to give them a lesson."

【17】 After leading the group down the mountain, Shawn arrived near the Four Beast Clan and, using his soulseed power, summoned back a soulseeded Azure Dragon clan member;

【18】 "Master," the summoned one said after kneeling.

【19】 Shawn said, "Find a way to gather about one or two hundred, from the Azure Dragon clan, and bring them to that valley; I've set up a magical array there."

【20】 "Master, leading them into the trap is fine, but whether they're killed or soulseeded, their other divine avatars will immediately know and inform others," the soulseeded person warned.

【21】 "I understand," Shawn said, "You just do your part; I'll handle the rest."

【22】 Divine avatars can't affect from afar, nor can the Primordial God, but regardless, first figure out how to capture this group.

【23】 PS: Please give me monthly tickets

【24】 (End of chapter)

After a little over a month, more than sixty six-star demons were soul-seeded by him.

Torres also knew Shawn had returned, so he came to find him; when he saw the dozens of people behind Shawn, he was greatly shocked and said, "Shawn, your death rule is truly terrifying; with just these sixty-odd people, you could form a very large family in the Netherworld anywhere you go."

In the Netherworld, a single seven-star demon's family could renown a prefecture; the family built by Asura could dominate a prefecture; and Shawn plus over sixty six-star demons combined could become several top-tier forces in the Netherworld.

"Unfortunately, compared to the Four Divine Beasts family, we're still far behind." Shawn shook his head and said.

His soul seed can still control more people, but it's useless against the Four Divine Beasts family, because they have abundant main god power; ordinary higher gods using main god power are already at the level of six-star demon experts; five-star can exert seven-star power, and so on.

No wonder the Four Divine Beasts family is so arrogant; they likely don't even look upon other main god families or true peak powerhouses.

Torres also said: "The Four Divine Beasts family is indeed troublesome; I don't fear their clan leader or their main god envoy, but if I encounter their family army, I too must flee for my life."

When faced with too many higher gods attacking with main god power, without a dual-defense main god artifact, even Asura could perish; this almost never happens under normal circumstances, but several main god families in the god realm can achieve it.

Shawn laughed and said: "Yeah, but they've all come to Netherworld Mountain; I have to give them a lesson."

After leading the people down the mountain, Shawn arrived near the Four Divine Beasts family, and using his soul-seed power, summoned back a soul-seeded Azure Dragon clansman.

"Master." The person knelt and said.

Shawn said: "Figure out a way, gather about one or two hundred will do; they must be from the Azure Dragon clan, then bring them to that valley over there; I have set up a magic formation there."

"Master, bringing them into the trap is no problem, but whether they are killed or soul-seeded, their other god avatars will immediately know and then inform others." The soul-seeded person reminded.

"I know." Shawn said: "Just take care of your own business; I'll handle the rest."

God's avatars cannot be remotely influenced, not even by a main god; but regardless, first we need to capture this group, then we'll talk.

PS: Asking for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)