Chapter 84: Ao Fu's Obsession

Xiao En still showed no sign, merely glancing at Ao Fu; if he could truly obtain Ao Fu's favor, that would be nice.

The problem, however, is that he can only wield Soul Poison by drawing on the power of a Soul Pearl, and he has no way to teach it to others.

"Favor?" Ao Fu's expression turned slightly odd, then he shook his head and said, "Ha ha, Lilisi, your plan is quite ambitious; this Soul Poison is indeed special, but it's still not worth a favor in exchange."

The Fate Sovereign, though detached from worldly disputes, is no fool; the favor of the most powerful beings in the world is coveted by countless deities and other sovereigns, so how could it possibly be given to a Great Perfection?

If this Great Perfection could grant me a ten‑fold consecutive victory in a planar war, or a supreme deity's relic, then it would be worth that favor; anything else would be incomparable.

As for the so‑called ultimate technique, he's merely interested; it's not a matter of obtaining it by any means.

Death Sovereign smiled faintly, "Ao Fu, this won't work, that won't work; you just want the ultimate technique of my Underworld Great Perfection, that's not proper, is it? After all, Xiao En can use that move to intimidate other Great Perfections."

It may be mere curiosity for you, a bit of interest, but for him and even for my Underworld, its value is far greater; not exchanging it for a treasure of equal worth would be unacceptable.

Although Xiao En, using his special Soul Poison, cannot become the true number one beneath the Lord Gods, he does possess some deterrence, which gives this Underworld Sovereign a bit of face.

Moreover, she does not want Ao Fu to become stronger; especially since Ao Fu's willpower is twofold greater than his, posing a great threat to her soul. Even though she is a special divine beast, she can hardly withstand a soul attack with that much willpower disparity, and any further increase could reach a critical point that endangers her life.

Ao Fu is indeed a good‑natured person, but not a benevolent one, and no one wants their own life to be threatened, especially when both are Rule Sovereigns.

"You make a good point, so let's put this aside for now," Ao Fu also understood that Death Sovereign does not want him to grow stronger, and the other sovereigns feel the same.

He then turned to Xiao En: "Xiao En, if you have time to visit the Heaven Realm, you can come sit at my Shengyun Mountain; I am very welcoming of Great Perfections in this world, including Bai'e, Ninisha, Bamer have all been here, and you may as well."

"As for the request I mentioned, think it over seriously; if there's anything I can do, you may also bring it up."

"Thank you, Fate Sovereign. When I go to the Heaven Realm in the future, I will certainly visit the elder," Xiao En could only bow and say.

"Fine," the Fate Sovereign group said with a smile, then vanished instantly; within Xiao En's divine consciousness, he saw no trace of how they disappeared.

Death Sovereign remained silent, and after a while said, "Alright, that old man Ao Fu has already left the Underworld."

A surge of Death Lord God's power enveloped Xiao En, and Death Sovereign asked, "Xiao En, how did your Soul Poison become so strong? It was enough that it injured Magnus before, but I didn't expect it to make him spend a million years still unable to cleanse it; his soul achievement is also extremely high."

The Soul Achievement of a Great Perfection is the strongest in the world; even ordinary Lord Gods cannot match it. A Lord God's uniqueness lies in the strength of its divine authority, but in mysteries, soul research, and even ultimate techniques, it cannot surpass a Great Perfection.

Except for Great Perfection Lord Gods, they might be a bit special.

Xiao En had already prepared his words, saying, "Sovereign, I told you before my Great Perfection that my research focuses on soul‑seed bewilderment and Soul Poison, so my achievements in this area are naturally higher."

There is no other explanation; I'm simply innately strong, and this doesn't need proof.

"So that's it, impressive. Could I see the Soul Poison you refined?" Death Sovereign added, "Don't worry, it's not coercion; if you don't want to, that's fine."

Xiao En smiled, "Sovereign, if you wish, I can certainly give it to you, but this Soul Poison must be released by me personally using a specific mysterious technique to achieve its maximum power."

As he spoke, a ball of black flame appeared in Xiao En's hand; under his control, the flame flew to Death Sovereign's side.

"The Soul Poison contained within is indeed terrifying; I cannot replicate it," Death Sovereign said seriously, looking at the flame, "It poses some threat to Asura‑level beings, but its effect on Great Perfections and Lord Gods is limited; you may need to wield it yourself for maximum effect."

"Yes, a normal deity‑level deployment at most affects Asuras slightly; it cannot harm a Great Perfection," Xiao En nodded.

Only by his own hand, combining willpower and the power of a Soul Pearl, could he injure Magnus and force him to spend a long time clearing the deep toxic residue in his soul; this capability is already terrifying.

If in the future it is proven that this move works against Lord Gods of the same rank, it need not have a prolonged effect; merely wounding their soul briefly in battle could be enough to sway the outcome.

Death Sovereign pondered briefly, then asked, "Xiao En, can I learn this move?"

No one would think their strength need not improve, especially since she is the only non‑Great Perfection among the Four Rule Sovereigns; unless her innate divine abilities are extraordinary, she could never stand on equal footing with the other three.

If she learns this Soul Poison, it would increase her combat power to some extent—not much, ineffective against the other three, but for the seven Law Sovereigns, even a slight effect would be sufficient.

At their current level, each incremental advance is extremely difficult.

"I can teach you that, but I cannot guarantee you can unleash its fullest power," Xiao En finally said.

Death Sovereign still had to save face; after all, when he eventually returns to the divine plane, he may still need to rely on her—the stronger she is, the better.

Moreover, she had previously helped resolve the conflict with the Four Beast family, which owed him a favor.

Aside from some top‑secret information, he could also share other matters with her.

A hint of a smile appeared on Death Sovereign's face: "Very well, let's go to the divine plane I created; there will be no other Lord Gods' scrutiny there."

After speaking, a ten‑meter‑wide spatial rift suddenly opened nearby, and wrapped in Death Lord God's power, Xiao En flew through it.

Hell, the Heaven Sacrifice Mountain Range, atop a lake island at its central location;

"Ah~~" Several people struggled in agony, emitting heart‑rending cries of pain.

A man with a rosy complexion, dressed in garments surrounded by countless green leaves, watched oddly; after a short while, he directly controlled emerald‑green energy that seeped straight into the minds of several people.

If an outsider saw this, they'd be jaw‑dropping amazed, because the person was controlling Life Lord God's power, and not a single strand was dissipating.

"Huaiyat, how is it?" Behind this master who could perfectly control Lord God power, four people stood; none of them emitted any trace of energy.

Huaiyat, positioned at the center, ignored the four behind him and continued to close his eyes, sensing the struggling, hoarse people on the ground; the three men and one woman behind made no urging.

After a while, Huaiyat shook his head and said, "No, the Death Poison within them has fully merged with their souls; I still cannot be sure I can expel these Soul Poisons without harming their souls."

I must say, Xiao En's soul achievement is truly top‑tier; this Death Rule's Soul Poison is not only highly toxic but also adheres to the soul in a way reminiscent of some traits of my Life Rule, and I don't know how he accomplished that.

"You are the Great Perfection of the Life Rule, and after all this time you still can't detoxify?" The burly man's tone among the four grew somewhat impatient.

The leading man immediately said, "Fourth brother, don't be impatient."

After the elder's remark, the burly man said nothing further.

Huaiyat finally withdrew his controlled Life Lord God's power, turned back to the four, bowed, and said, "Lord God, apologies, I have studied here for tens of thousands of years yet still lack certainty."

The Azure Dragon, the Lord God of the Four Beasts, laughed and said, "It's nothing; if it's truly unsolvable, then let it be, you did your best."

Over a million years ago, the Four Beasts brought Buro and others back from the Underworld; they quickly revived, but a trace of black vapor lingered deep in their souls. This black vapor would erupt periodically, causing the poisoned individuals immense suffering; one even contemplated suicide, and had the Lord God not discovered it early, it likely would have succeeded.

The four also tried to detoxify themselves, but although Lord Gods are powerful, their strength lies only in divine authority; in rescuing people, that authority does little, relying solely on soul achievement. The four elemental rules—Earth, Water, Wind, Fire—are not adept at souls, and they are not Great Perfections, so they spent a million years without success.

In the end, having no other recourse, they could only seek help from other Great Perfections. Huaiyat is the sole Great Perfection of the Life Divine Realm and the envoy of the Life Sovereign; the Four Beast family sent envoys to invite him, but he ignored that first divine family. Later, when Huaiyat learned the poison originated from the newly risen Death Rule Great Perfection Xiao En, he became interested and came to Hell;

Unfortunately, it still did not succeed.

"If..." Huaiyat was about to speak when, suddenly, the Azure Dragon Lord God exclaimed in surprise, "Lord Ao Fu."

In a short moment, a kindly white‑haired elder appeared among the crowd.

"We have met Lord Ao Fu, Fate Sovereign," the Lord God of the Four Beasts and Huaiyat bowed together.

Fate Sovereign Ao Fu laughed, "Four Beasts, and Huaiyat, ha ha ha, you actually…"

Huai Yate awkwardly said, "Destiny Master, I came to Hell to try to cure these people, but unfortunately, after a long attempt I still failed; the poison in them is too strange, it seems to have merged with their souls, and cannot be separated."

"The Soul Poison forged by the Death Great Perfection is indeed formidable," Destiny Master Ao Fu smiled and asked, "But you have no insight into the Life Rule Great Perfection?"

Huai Yate said, "It's not that there's no way, but the problem is I need enough subjects for testing, for example if there were a few hundred or a few thousand people infected with this poison and I tried to cure them, early failures would allow me to study it for a while, and I might discover a way to counter this poison;"

but now there are only these few, and I cannot test arbitrarily; wanting to remove the Death Poison outright on the first try while guaranteeing the victims' lives is something I cannot be sure of.

Ao Fu, after listening, laughed, "You're right; poisoning is easy, antidoting is hard. The lethal toxin of the Death Great Perfection, you might be able to cure, but it also requires a period of study;"

"Can you extract this toxin?"

Huai Yate shook his head and said, "No. Once you try to extract the poison, the infected person's soul would be severely damaged, even killed, and I dare not attempt it casually."

If these people were ordinary god‑level, one could experiment freely; after many deaths a cure might be found, but now the poisoned are descendants of a Divine Lord, so he naturally cannot take the risk, which severely limits his capability.

Ao Fu shook his head and sighed, "Millions of years ago, Magnus was also struck by Shawn's Soul Poison. I spent millions of years with him to cleanse the toxin deep in his soul. However, he is a Great Perfection, his soul power is strong, and he possesses Will Power, so many experiments could be carried out freely, but these people cannot."

"And I just checked, the poison these people have is different from Magnus's. So it seems the Death Rule Great Perfection's research into Soul Poison is truly terrifying."

"Millions of years?" Huai Yate and the Four Divine Beasts were astonished; they hadn't expected that even among the two Fate Great Perfections, including the Fate Master, such a span was required.

Ao Fu chuckled, "Leiding, I'm also very interested in the Death Great Perfection's Soul Poison. If you cannot solve it, I would like to take these people back to the Heavenly Realm for study. What do you think?"

Leiding and his three companions were also a bit surprised, but their own descendants are currently plagued by the Death Poison, and they are powerless; if they don't rescue them they'd lose face. So they agreed, "Lord Ao Fu, you may take them away; I thank you, Lord Ao Fu."

"Alas, I can't be sure I can save them," Ao Fu shook his head and sighed, "I don't know how many tens of trillions of years have passed; I never expected to encounter this."

Saving lives is far harder than killing, especially for those with weaker souls; once poisoned, they are harder to treat because one must remove the Soul Poison while still protecting them.

He considered his achievements in the soul realm already very high, yet he hadn't expected to face such a dilemma;

It's highly challenging, which sparked great interest in him.

The Four Divine Beasts remained silent; Ao Fu turned to Huai Yate, "Huai Yate, how about coming with me to the Heavenly Realm? You are a Life Rule Great Perfection, and your achievements in the soul domain are also high; perhaps we can study together."

"Very well, Master," Huai Yate replied.

Ao Fu looked at the Four Divine Beasts again, "Alright, then I'm leaving."

A surge of Fate Divine Lord's power immediately enveloped everyone, tearing the space and thrusting them into a spatial vortex.

Among the Four Divine Beasts left behind, Vermilion Bird exclaimed, "I didn't expect even Lord Ao Fu to be uncertain about removing Shawn's Soul Poison."

White Tiger Divine Lord laughed, "Haha, that's actually a good thing. If other Divine Lords learn of this, it would be perfectly normal for us to be unable to solve this Soul Poison."

Black Tortoise Divine Lord agreed, "Indeed. That way, no one will mock us over this. So if Lord Ao Fu can't solve it quickly, we won't lose face."

Because of this, the four of them were extremely angry: on one hand, they were deceived by their own juniors before the Nether Realm Divine Lord; on the other hand, they had spent millions of years and still couldn't solve a toxin below god‑level.

Now, as long as Ao Fu is also trapped, they have no worries at all.

The ever‑silent Azure Dragon Divine Lord said, "In that case, we've regained our face, but Shawn's reputation is about to be ruined."

"Although I don't like him, Shawn truly is a gifted prodigy; I have to admire him," Vermilion Bird Divine Lord suddenly said.

"He is indeed very impressive," White Tiger and Black Tortoise Divine Lords both concurred;

The relationship may be poor, but they all greatly respect the strong; in the mysterious research field, non‑Great Perfection Divine Lords generally hold the Great Perfections in high esteem.

"Fine, let this end here; we'll wait for Lord Ao Fu's outcome."

If Ao Fu can save them, their descendants won't suffer such inhuman torment; if he can't, their face will still be saved;

In any case, they haven't lost.

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(End of Chapter)