The blood mist surged wildly, corroding everything in its path, tainting the land with a blood-red hue.
The remaining few instantly realized what Ye Han intended to do. They quickly retreated at the first sign of the spreading blood mist, attempting to escape its reach. But would Ye Han, who had gone to such lengths to cause the blood mist to erupt, let them escape so easily?
With rapid hand seals at his chest and a flash of his soul, the essence blood within Curtis and the others spread from their hearts. In an instant that went unnoticed, an extremely fine thread of blood entered their souls.
The soul defenses of the god-level powerhouses were not something that Ye Han's essence blood could penetrate under normal circumstances. But everyone was so terrified by the blood mist that they were focused solely on escaping, their soul defenses slackened, and Ye Han's essence blood was able to imprint a soul brand amidst their fleeing spirits. This process was completed in the blink of an eye.
Soul Burning
The seven god-level powerhouses retreating rapidly were now nearly a hundred yards away when they suddenly fell from the sky. A pain originating from the depths of their souls made them roll on the ground in agony.
The torment of the soul was unbearable even for the mighty gods. Yet, the spread of the blood mist did not halt with their fall; it reached them in an instant.
Ursula and Xia Zuo, with their mid-god strength, managed to flee again despite their souls burning, but still, they were tainted with a considerable amount of blood mist.
The less fortunate ones were immediately enveloped by the blood mist. The agony of their burning souls prevented them from mobilizing their fighting spirit, forcing them to rely on sheer will to maintain their domains.
But the corrosive power of the blood mist far exceeded their expectations.
After several screams, two lower gods were devoured by the blood mist, their essence blood slowly flowing towards the blood pool.
"Submit to me or die," Ye Han's cold voice drifted through the blood mist, halting the burning in their souls.
"What have you done?" Though Ursula and Xia Zuo managed to quickly clear the blood mist from their bodies, the surface was still heavily corroded, revealing a blurred mass of flesh and blood.
The remaining three lower gods exerted their domains to keep the blood mist at bay. However, their domain's reach shrank under the mist's corrosion, and their faces paled. After the soul burning, all of their souls had sustained serious injuries.
"It's that drop of essence blood," said Leona amidst the blood mist. As a practitioner of dark magic, she quickly identified the source of their soul's agony.
"Ha ha, very clever," Ye Han said as he slowly flew in front of the three's domains within the blood mist.
"Submit to me, or die," Ye Han repeated.
"Hmph, a person who hasn't even reached the Saint level, and you want us to submit? Dream on," said one of the men in front of Ye Han.
"Then die," Ye Han's soul moved, triggering the brand in that man's soul.
The pain from his soul made it impossible for him to sustain his domain. As soon as his domain dissipated, the blood mist surged towards him, and he was devoured in moments.
Everyone was shocked. "What about you two?" Ye Han looked at the other two in the blood mist, a red-haired man, and the seductive Leona.
"I know it's hard for you to decide. I'll give you time. There are a few hours until dawn. Those who submit to me will live. Otherwise, there is only death," Ye Han said, then flew towards the blood pool without waiting for their response. The condensation of nine drops of essence blood had significantly drained the blood energy from his body.
Ye Han, reverting to human form, took out a black robe from his ring, put it on, and sat cross-legged in the blood pool to absorb the blood. The blood sword he had subdued quietly circled above his head.
Hours later, Ye Han finally replenished the lost blood energy. Dawn was breaking. He stood up and looked at the blood sword beside him. "Since you have submitted to me, from now on, you shall be called 'Soul Extinguisher'."
The blood sword vibrated lightly, emitting a sound like a dragon's chant or a tiger's roar.
"Collect," Ye Han commanded, and Soul Extinguisher spun around in the air, turning into a blood-red light and entering Ye Han's body, settling near his corpse pill.
Ye Han was not afraid of Soul Extinguisher's retaliation. After it absorbed his drop of essence blood, the weapon spirit's will was broken, replaced by Ye Han's will. In other words, the sword was now equivalent to Ye Han's second consciousness. Ye Han had no choice in this matter. The memory of the
Celestial King in his mind included many instances of weapon spirits consuming their masters.
After eons of self-cultivation, a weapon spirit's level could rise exceedingly high, and no cultivator could guarantee they would always progress steadily. Thus, the proud weapon spirit would not tolerate an owner of inferior strength and would turn against them.
Ye Han slowly walked to where Leona and the other man were in the blood mist. "Have you made your decision?" His voice carried far.
"Hmph, wishful thinking," the man roared.
"What about you two?" Ye Han then looked outside the blood mist at Ursula and Xia Zuo. "Old Ke, have you made your decision?"
"Hehe, of course, I want to live," Curtis said with a chuckle, but there was a hint of resignation in his eyes. No god-level powerhouse would willingly bow their head in the face of life and death, but who would choose to die? Tens of thousands of years of cultivation were for the sake of eternal life. When faced with life or death, Curtis made his choice.
"Good, and you two, go die," Ye Han said and then triggered the four drops of essence blood. The two people in the blood mist were devoured in moments.
"I submit," Ursula finally could not bear the pain of soul burning and chose to submit.
The burning of the soul by the fire of the corpse was the most direct and brutal way for zombies to subdue their thralls, imprinting an indelible mark in the depths of the soul.
"Ah," under the severe soul pain, the two mid-gods finally dropped their proud facade, howling and rolling in agony.
"Ha ha," Ye Han laughed wildly. To be able to force two beings hundreds of times stronger than himself to a state worse than death before him brought him joy.
"I've done the same in front of two Saints before, but they chose death over submission to me. Gods, ha ha," Ye Han laughed disdainfully, his tone mocking, provoking the two god-level powerhouses who were now in a sorry state.
Ursula and Xia Zuo, freed from the soul burning, dared not make any sudden moves, standing quietly on the ground. No one who had not experienced soul burning could understand such pain, which is why no thrall dared to rebel – because of the deep brand within their soul.
Time flew by unnoticeably, and soon it was daylight. "Xiao Ye, we should leave quickly, there isn't much time left."
"There's no rush. Having taken control of it, I can leave or enter at any time," Ye Han said indifferently to Curtis. He turned and walked towards the blood pool.
He soon submerged into the blood pool, but Ye Han's entry was not for naught. It was to seek the blood crystal that truly controlled this apocalyptic prison, the core of this special space.
After Soul Extinguisher absorbed Ye Han's drop of essence blood, all the memories of the weapon spirit also transferred into Ye Han's mind.
According to the memories of the weapon spirit, Ye Han understood that this apocalyptic prison space was actually a semi-living domain, still in its initial stages of formation. It had grown to this size over tens of millions of years and possessed a strong self-protection function.
Ye Han quickly found the fist-sized blood crystal at the bottom of the blood pool. He condensed another drop of essence blood from his corpse pill and, with a hint of soul force, sent it towards the crystal.
The blood crystal absorbed Ye Han's essence blood, which was imbued with his soul force, as easily as a sponge. A dazzling layer of blood-red light flashed on the surface of the crystal before it merged directly into Ye Han's body.
"I didn't expect it to be so simple," Ye Han muttered to himself. He knew that although a newly formed semi-living domain might have strong external protection, its core was very susceptible to cultivation. Plus, Ye Han was the first to cultivate it, and with no other soul imprints inside, it was naturally easy to refine.
Feeling the connection, Ye Han was immediately overjoyed. The memories from Soul Extinguisher were correct; after refining the blood crystal, all aspects of the domain became clear in Ye Han's mind.
But at that moment, Ye Han also discovered a serious problem.