The moment Yun Che spoke, Zhou Zihong and the others paled—especially Lin Tao, whose face drained of all color as he staggered back.

  The wandering soul obeyed instantly, lunging toward him.

  Zhou Zihong bit her lip, wanting to stop it—yet unable to speak.

  Senior Brother Yang sighed, a complicated expression flashing across his face.

  Lin Tao unleashed his full speed, not fleeing far but darting frantically in circles, trying to evade. He knew that even if he escaped the wandering soul, he would never survive long enough to reach the teleportation array.

  “Senior! I have no ties with Ma Liang! We barely spoke over the years! Spare me—I’ll be your slave! I swear loyalty!”

  The wandering soul was already nearly upon him.

  Yun Che watched with a faint smile and waved his hand.

  The soul halted.

  Sweat drenched Lin Tao’s forehead. He dared not wipe it.

  “Senior… you must be a master from a higher cultivation nation. Allow me to serve you—I will harbor no ill intent!”

  He formed a hand seal and pressed it to his brow. A crystalline drop of soul-blood slowly emerged and floated toward Yun Che.

  The moment it left him, Lin Tao’s body weakened visibly.

  Yun Che caught it and shifted his gaze to Senior Brother Yang.

  Lin Tao exhaled in relief.

  He had been the first to notice something was wrong. Ma Liang was dead—this was possession.

  He dared not expose it.

  The moment Yun Che ordered his execution, Lin Tao understood—Yun Che knew he knew.

  Feigning ignorance would only hasten death.

  So he chose submission.

  Delivering soul-blood meant absolute control—one thought, and he would perish.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  But survival demanded it.

  Without hesitation, Lin Tao moved beside Yun Che, sword drawn toward the other two—fully embracing his role.

  Senior Brother Yang gave a bitter smile. He too extracted a drop of soul-blood.

  Compared to death, dignity meant nothing.

  Perhaps following such a powerful being—even one feared by wandering souls—might bring fortune.

  He glanced at Zhou Zihong. “Junior Sister, you—”

  She raised her hand, staring at Yun Che.

  “Senior… when you possessed him… was Ma Liang already dead?”

  This question had lingered since suspicion first arose.

  “Dead,” Yun Che replied calmly.

  She exhaled.

  Whether true or false, she chose to believe it.

  She offered her soul-blood.

  Three droplets entered Yun Che’s mouth.

  Within his divine sense, three faint lights appeared.

  One thought—and they would cease to exist.

  He had never bothered concealing the possession. Anyone familiar with Ma Liang could sense the difference.

  If they had not been clever, they would already be dead.

  Once outside, fifty years of change could explain everything.

  After binding them, Yun Che turned to the wandering soul and contacted his three “neighbors.”

  “I want this wandering soul.”

  Silence answered.

  Then:

  “Newborn Devourer—you misunderstand. As a Soul, you cannot leave this realm.”

  “A wandering soul is still a soul. Any being with a soul is its prey. Likewise—they are ours.”

  “We Devourers cannot directly consume souls—only wandering souls.”

  “If such a soul enters the Living Realm, catastrophe follows. There, wandering souls are called Demons.”

  “If many enter, the Living Realm becomes a new Desolation—until one evolves into a Devourer.”

  “Between Desolation and Living Realm stand boundary laws. Those who cross are erased.”

  Yun Che had never heard this.

  “What, then, is this Netherworld Battlefield?”

  “A chaotic land carved by great beings of the Living Realm. It exists between Life and Desolation. Even so, wandering souls cannot cross unless collapse opens the path.”

  “You cannot leave. Nor can it.”

  “You may keep the wandering soul—but in the end, you must return to Desolation. That is the fate of Devourers.”

  Their voices faded.

  Yun Che stood motionless, expression darkening.

  Behind him, the three slaves trembled.

  Lin Tao feared silencing.

  Zhou Zihong feared what service might mean.

  Yang Xiong feared losing even his body.

  At last, Yun Che flew toward the teleportation array.

  The wandering soul followed cautiously.

  The closer they drew, the more corpses littered the ground. Each time Yun Che approached, wandering souls withdrew.

  Other fleeing cultivators noticed—and followed.

  Yun Che ignored them.

  The wandering souls hesitated—then devoured one trailing cultivator. Seeing no intervention, they surged forward.

  Screams filled the air.

  By the next day, only Yun Che and his three slaves remained alive outside the array.

  He ordered them inside.

  Then he tested.

  He seized a wandering soul and forced it toward the light barrier.

  The instant it touched—

  A flash.

  A scream.

  It dissolved into nothing.

  The barrier was lethal to souls.

  He seized another and forced it into a corpse.

  Possessing the corpse, it stepped through unharmed.

  Yun Che’s eyes flickered.

  Understanding dawned.

  He rose and walked toward the teleportation array.