Chapter 1017: Compromise

“So, you’re saying that the reason the Soul Progenitor was able to merge together with the Dark Soul Beast was because they both belonged to the Soul Race?” Qin Lie asked for confirmation from You Ye while thinking on his own, “Can the souls of the Soul Race merge together or consume one another?”

“I don’t know the Soul Race vey well, so I can’t say for certain either. I only know… that their subsouls can merge together,” You Ye said.

“Their subsouls can merge?” Qin Lie asked in astonishment.

“Say, do you think it’s possible that the human race’s Soul Progenitor, the Soul Devouring Beast, the Dark Soul Beast, and the Blood Soul Beast are actually all the same entity?” You Ye deduced. “Could it be that one of them is the main soul, while the rest are the subsouls?”

“Are you… suggesting that the invader is just one member of the Soul Race?” Hester’s face turned pale with shock.

Qin Lie had also turned slightly pale.

If the culprit who turned the Asura Realm, Nether Realm, and the Ancient Beast Realm upside down really was just one entity, then it would be a massive understatement to say that the Soul Race was scary.

What’s even worse was that if what You Ye said about the Soul Race’s ability to merge their subsouls were real, this theory wasn’t far-fetched at all.

“Qin Lie! If they all belong to the Soul Race, and if their souls truly can merge with one another, then… what in the Spirit Realm is that thing inside your head that’s capable of absorbing even that merged soul?” Hester suddenly stared at Qin Lie’s glabella.

If the Soul Race really was as scary as You Ye deduced, didn’t that make the Soul Suppressing Orb, the object that devoured the merged soul of the Soul Race invader even scarier than that?

Qin Lie subconsciously rubbed his glabella and released his soul consciousness. He tried to enter the Soul Suppressing Orb and check out exactly what was going on inside.

Unfortunately, his soul consciousness still wasn’t able to enter the fourth layer of the Soul Suppressing Orb.

The orb didn’t give him any response either.

He couldn’t detect the six evolving Spirits of Void and Chaos, the Curse Progenitor’s body, nor the soul ball made up of the Soul Progenitor and Dark Soul Beast’s subsouls.

The Soul Suppressing Orb seemed to be a part of his body since the very beginning of his memories.

When his grandfather was still with him, he had advised Qin Lie to cherish the Soul Suppressing Orb like nothing else and avoid showing it to outsiders as much as possible.

Naturally, he was aware that the Soul Suppressing Orb had to be an incredibly rare treasure of the world considering the amount of value his grandfather attached to it.

The orb might have been the most precious treasure the Qin Family possessed!

The Soul Suppressing Orb could suppress all evil spirits and souls. Its interior was made up of multiple layers of space, and it could store the ancient spirit diagrams, nurture the Spirits of Void and Chaos, evolve the Moon Tear, and even apply all sorts of restrictions onto the Blood Progenitor and Corpse Progenitor’s body. It held far too many secrets to speak of, and it almost seemed omnipotent.

This object was far more miraculous than he could possibly imagine!

“The Dark Soul Beast’s skull has exploded, and the subsouls were gobbled up by the Soul Progenitor. Then… he was consumed by you.” Naji glared at Qin Lie. “Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?”

“The Dark Soul Beast was in your hands. Why haven’t you controlled it when it flew away from your hands?” Qin Lie frowned.

“I would never have let it fly towards the Soul Progenitor if I could control it!” Naji yelled.

“So you mean to say that the Dark Soul Beast soul had flown away of its own accord to merge with the Soul Progenitor’s subsoul, am I right?” Qin Lie grinned. “Unfortunately, it was weaker than the Soul Progenitor and got devoured instead. Am I right?”

Naji forced himself to nod. “That’s true, but…”

“So you agree with what I say then.” Qin Lie cut him off and said indifferently, “The Dark Soul Beast subsoul tried to devour the Soul Progenitor’s subsoul, but was taken over because it overestimated its own strength. Which part of this has anything to do with me then? Let’s not forget that the Soul Progenitor’s subsoul nearly sucked out all of our True Souls even before you arrived. The Dark Soul Beast’s subsouls had obviously tried to profit from the situation while we were too busy to deal with it. However, it failed and actually strengthened the Soul Progenitor’s subsoul. As a result, we were nearly killed because of it…”

Qin Lie abruptly turned the tables around on Naji and said coldly, “You were the controller of the Dark Soul Beast, but you failed to control it and nearly caused the annihilation of all our souls. You should feel thankful that I didn’t blame you for instead of asking me for an explanation!”

“I, I…” Naji was speechless.

Even Hester was stunned by this.

They didn’t think that Qin Lie would be this sharp-tongued. The thought that Qin Lie would immediately turn hostile and wash himself of all blame regarding the destruction of the Dark Soul Beast so cleanly after he fished out the Dark Soul Beast, Soul Devouring Beast, Blood Soul Beast, and Soul Progenitor’s secrets never even crossed their minds.

“The Dark Soul Beast’s skull is the root of Suluo Realm’s prosperity; I was branded a traitor of my whole race because I stole it for our future! The fact is the Dark Soul Beast’s skull had exploded inside your territory, so you must take responsibility for this!” Naji’s expression turned savage.

Hester frowned deeply.

Qin Lie stared at them and replied indifferently, “I don’t have a Dark Soul Beast skull to compensate your loss.”

“Then give us the Dark Soul Beast’s subsouls back!” Naji yelled.

“I can’t do that either.” Qin Lie shook his head.

“That ball of souls was obviously sucked into your head!” Naji grew more and more irritable.

“I cannot do anything about it.” Qin Lie had also grown impatient. “Anyway, I cannot find you another Dark Soul Beast skull or return its subsouls.”

Naji’s chest and the black, mysterious patterns that adorned his armor wriggled subtly in response.

Pitch black flames abruptly sprung to his eyes.

“You are at Flaming Sun Island of the Land of Chaos.” Qin Lie wasn’t disturbed by Naji’s reaction at all. He stared deeply at Hester before saying, “Suluo Realm had once fought a very, very long war against the Land of Chaos, so we are well aware of the Asura Race’s strength, Lord Hester. You should be aware of Flaming Sun Island’s current strength as well, shouldn’t you?”

Hester’s expression abruptly changed as he pressed a hand firmly against Naji’s shoulders, preventing him from acting recklessly.

He shared close ties with the Terminator Sect, so obviously he was aware that Flaming Sun Island was practically the ruler of the Land of Chaos right now. He even knew that Qin Lie could summon the three great races of Nether Realm to his aid, not to mention he just saw the five-level Soul Altar expert Luz, Duan Qianjie, Li Mu, Tang Beidou, and others.

It didn’t take much thinking to realize that he and Naji would die here for sure if they tried to fight against Flaming Sun Island right now.

Even if they were allowed to return to Suluo Realm and gather their experts for a war, they might not necessarily be able to achieve victory against Flaming Sun Island.

This meant that he and Naji could do nothing against Qin Lie at all.

Hester wasn’t Naji, and he knew better than to let his emotions overcome him, especially during a critical moment like this. That was why he stopped Naji from acting and replied after thinking for a moment, “It is true that the Asura Race of Suluo Realm isn’t strong enough to fight Flaming Sun Island. But what about the entire Asura Race?”

“Right now, the noble families of the Asura Race are searching everywhere for the Dark Soul Beast’s skull. If they learn that you had caused the destruction of the Dark Soul Beast’s skull and robbed all of its subsouls for yourself, do you think they will gather the men to invade the Land of Chaos and Flaming Sun Island?”

Hester looked towards the Heavenly Slaughter Continent and said darkly, “The Asura Race is one of the fifteen powerful ancient races of the world. We are not inferior in the slightest compared to the Gold rank forces residing in the Central World of Spirit Realm! Not even the combined might of the eastern barbarians, the three great ghoul races, and the Black Voodoo Cult is comparable to our race, don’t you think so?”

A hint of killing intent flashed past Qin Lie’s pupils.

“If something were to happen to Naji and me at Flaming Sun Island, I am sure that Naji’s father wouldn’t mind spreading the news to the noble families of Asura Realm for revenge,” Hester said calmly.

Naji finally reacted when he heard this. The bloodthirst in his eyes faded, and he swiftly regained his cool.

Hester’s words made him realize that Qin Lie was planning to kill them.

Hester was trying to remind Qin Lie of the consequences of doing so.

“I’ll be frank, I really don’t have another Dark Soul Beast skull to return you. I cannot extract the subsouls and return them to you either.” The cold glint in Qin Lie’s eyes slowly faded. Then, he smiled bitterly and helplessly before saying, “Please reconsider your terms.”

“This is a very important matter. I will need to discuss this with Naji’s father.” Hester let out a secret sigh of relief.

“Acceptable.” Qin Lie nodded.

Just like that, Hester dragged Naji with him and left Flaming Sun Island in a hurry.

He didn’t even bid Lei Yan farewell before he left. He seemed afraid that Qin Lie would change his mind suddenly and order Flaming Sun Island’s experts to kill him and Naji on the spot.

After they both left in a hurry, Qin Lie sat atop god corpse’s shoulder and once again asked You Ye about the Soul Race.

Then, he probed the god corpses with his soul consciousness through the Demon Sealing Tombstone. He quickly confirmed that the eight god corpses had achieved the strength of a three-level Soul Altar expert after absorbing the power contained inside Soul Progenitor’s remains.

These eight god corpses were now equivalent to late stage Imperishable Realm experts.