Chapter 20: Assassinating the Chief Divine Envoy

"That soul attack just now, part of it was soul seeds," Buweit said through clenched teeth.

He had previously found it odd that Shawn's Death Rule, refined to the extreme, could not possibly split a soul attack into hundreds of strikes against the enemy; doing so would likely kill none of them.

Unexpectedly, most of those attacks were void, but a small portion contained soul seeds, causing his clan's army to collapse instantly—no one would hand their backs to the enemy.

At that moment, another Seven‑Star Demon said, "My divine avatar has already ordered that all clan members' divine avatars gather in Blood Dragon Valley; once they assemble, we'll know who has been seeded."

"However, some clan members' avatars are in the city or elsewhere and may not be found quickly."

Most high‑rank gods of the Four Beast Clan have divine avatars; the strongest operate on missions outside, the weaker stay in safe places across the planes, and in the Underworld, Blood Dragon Valley is their headquarters.

Buweit said, "It doesn't matter. All clan members who are seeded, lack avatars, or are temporarily unreachable should retreat, as long as it doesn't affect our upcoming siege."

"A top‑level master of the Death Rule is truly hard to deal with," Ta Shan frowned.

If the Four Beast Clan didn't have so many avatars gathered, our side, even with chief divine power, would have been shattered by this move.

This ability is enviable; today's siege could only be survived with a Dual‑Defense Primary Artifact commander or the legendary Great Perfection—otherwise anyone trapped would die.

At that moment, a group of Four Beast clan members, spaced apart, suddenly sprouted a thin green vine around each head, which then pierced directly into their skulls.

"Boom—boom—boom~~~" a multitude of heads exploded.

"Life Rule?" Ta Shan's complexion changed again.

Among the Four Great Rules and Seven Great Laws, the Life Rule is no less bizarre than the Death Rule; it includes a technique that can summon vines from afar to slaughter foes.

Though this attack is weaker than a Life Rule master's own power, it is sufficient against ordinary high‑rank gods.

Buweit and a group of Seven‑Star and Six‑Star demons beside him turned pale and shouted, "Everyone, fall back, stay far away!"

On command, all clan soldiers retreated, moving several kilometers away from Shawn.

Both sides ceased fire, and massive vines erupted around Shawn, spreading across the land for thousands of meters before merging into it.

Ta Shan, Buweit, and several Seven‑Star demon masters paled; despite so many besieging Shawn with chief divine power, they were forced to withdraw.

Shawn's strength is overwhelming, and he wields a material‑defense Primary Artifact; killing him can only succeed if numerous chief‑divine masters unleash the strongest soul attack.

Yet some troops may already be seeded; in uncertainty, a second internal betrayal followed by Shawn's counterattack would surely cause collapse, not to mention the bizarre Life Rule.

If only a few approach, aside from Ta Shan, none could withstand the opponent's soul attack.

"Everyone, hold position until Blood Dragon Valley confirms who's seeded, then we'll strike," Buweit said grimly.

We prepared so thoroughly today yet lost so many clan members; my standing in the clan is likely jeopardized.

But obtaining the attack Primary Artifact makes it all worthwhile.

Yet it's strange why Shawn didn't use that Primary Artifact.

Ta Shan glanced at Buweit, then at the endless vines ahead, and laughed loudly, "Shawn, I didn't expect your Life Rule to be refined to this level—respect. It seems you're at least on par with an ordinary Asura, right?"

Controlling vines across that distance to instantly kill dozens of ordinary high‑rank gods is a feat few Seven‑Star demons of the Life Rule can achieve.

"What? Stalling for time to confirm who I've seeded?" Shawn's voice echoed from within the vines.

"Ha, you're clever," Ta Shan laughed. "But I have a question: although you may have seeded dozens, even hundreds of ordinary high‑rank gods, I'm not surprised—

they all wielded chief divine power, so logically your soul should have been unable to endure. I'm curious how you managed it."

"How much of the Death Rule's mystery can you grasp?" Shawn said coldly. "Enough, time's nearly up."

"What?" Ta Shan, Buweit and the others were stunned.

Suddenly, the external magic array emitted an eerie teal‑green glow; the surrounding space cooled sharply, and the earth around exuded a terrifying compressive force.

"We must get out—this array wants to trap us underground," Ta Shan's divine sense instantly transmitted to everyone: "All use Divine Power to resist; no matter how wondrous the array, its energy source is also Divine Power—once it's exhausted, we win."

"Yes, Lord Ta Shan." All divine‑rank beings instantly summoned their full strength, charging toward the ground.

"Now it's too late." Shawn's voice rang out; at some point he had already closed in on the group of soldiers who had just evaded him.

"Soul attack." Ta Shan transmitted again, and together with himself, unleashed his own strongest soul attack.

Buweit and dozens of Six‑Star and Seven‑Star demons did the same; however, the frozen ground had no effect on Shawn—he easily dodged most soul attacks, a few struck him but left him unharmed.

The Four Beast Clan soldiers, seeing Shawn approach, prepared to launch soul attacks, but everyone guarded their own comrades and dared not use full force.

Shawn's eyes emitted several ripple attacks; the soldiers hit were mostly Four‑Star rank, dying instantly on contact, and even when some soul attacks struck Shawn, they had no effect.

In a flash, hundreds were cut down.

"Shawn, your opponent is me."

In that instant, the fastest Ta Shan had already closed in; before he arrived, a massive gravity field instantly crushed Shawn.

"I've been waiting for you." Shawn suddenly turned, a cold smile on his face.

Ta Shan froze, his Primary Artifact spear ready to strike, but he saw a multitude of Four Beast clan members around him instantly lock their divine sense onto him, then a barrage of soul attacks and innate divine skills surged.

"Not good."

Ta Shan's expression changed dramatically, and he saw sixteen gray throwing knives appear around Shawn's body, each radiating terrifying soul energy, flying toward him,

and around him, countless vines emerged, combined with Dragon Chant innate divine skill and the magic array's power, binding him.

"Ah~~" Ta Shan roared; behind him a phantom earth‑colored giant bear appeared, its spear swung, shattering all surrounding vines, yet the Dragon Chant's effect on time remained unchanged.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~" A barrage of soul attacks struck him directly, especially Shawn's sixteen throwing knives.

Ta Shan's body shivered, his gaze went blank, and his body slumped.

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(End of Chapter)