In the sea that was Bai Yunfei’s mindscape, the last of Bai Yunfei’s soul had been driven into a ‘corner’ as it was facing its most dangerous foe ever.

Bai Yunfei might’ve had a chance to fight back if he reacted earlier, but the moment was lost now. Without even half his soul remaining, Bai Yunfei was nothing more but a travel-weary man at the end of a road!!

“Am I really going to die…?”

He ‘looked up’ at the beast that was the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord’s soul. He was finding it hard to concentrate now that he was essentially at the end of his rope and the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord being right about to pounce on the last of his soul.

“Wait! Hold on!!”

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

A strange pulse rippled across his mindspace then, causing Bai Yunfei to grow alert. The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn’t ‘about’ to pounce on him, he was being stopped by something!

Now that he was a little more focused, Bai Yunfei could just barely make out a semi-transparent barrier right in front of him. The barrier was preventing the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord’s soul from crossing it!

“That’s…Sentinel!!”

Bai Yunfei gasped. The +13 additional effect had activated!

+13 Additional Effect: Automatically activated when the soul is on the verge of destruction. Become immune to all soul injuring attacks for 5 seconds. Cooldown of 24 hours.

“This…this is my chance…I can’t die here…I just can’t!!”

His fighting spirit swelled back to life all at once. In an instant Bai Yunfei was back and ready to fight once again!

“Sealer!!!”

He was about five seconds into the effect of the Soul Sentinel Scarf. It was time for him to make his counterattack!

……

On the other side of the barrier.

“What is this!? What is this power!?”

It was only when he was about to pounce on Bai Yunfei’s soul when he found out about the barrier. Somehow, this mysterious power was able to stop him from breaking through it!

What should’ve been a guaranteed victory was now at a standstill due to an unexpected development. The unease it caused made the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord feel tense. The barrier in front of him wouldn’t break no matter how hard he tried!

“Eh?!”

Several seconds passed before the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord’s ‘body’ became unable to move. For some terrifying reason, his soul was being enveloped by something and was draining it!!

No…it wasn’t his soul that was being drained. The parts of Bai Yunfei’s soul he devoured earlier was being taken away!

Thunderstruck, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord watched as Bai Yunfei’s soul began to ‘swell’ in size. Gradually, his soul was beginning to return to its original size before he began to devour it!

“How can this be?!”

Horror struck the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord for the second time since he entered Bai Yunfei’s mindspace.

……

There was no way the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord could possibly react to this turn of events, and neither was he even able to stop it. He was powerless as the rest of the soul he took from Bai Yunfei was ‘detached’ and returned to Bai Yunfei so the latter could be back at full power!

This was…the +13 additional effect of the Soul Sealing Mandate!

+13 Additional Effect: Revert the state of the soul 10 seconds prior. Activated automatically when off cooldown and soul is in danger of destruction.Cooldown of 24 hours.

Time was an important factor in this battle. Bai Yunfei’s soul ten seconds ago, even after including the five seconds of immunity from the Soul Sentinel Scarf’s effect, was when it was at its most pristine state. Rewinding the soul back ten seconds meant having the same state as before the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord attacked him!

“No!!!”

The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord furiously roared. This was impossible! He charged at Bai Yunfei since the barrier was gone now, he had to end this battle quickly!

Possessing Bai Yunfei’s body required the element of surprise! He had to make use of the little time he had to devour his soul!

“Again?! Come and die then!!”

Things were getting back on track for Bai Yunfei now. Calm and recollected, Bai Yunfei sneered as he waited for the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord to get close!

The scenario the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord fear most was coming true! Not only was he unable to successfully devour Bai Yunfei’s soul, but he was now also being pressed back!

The art of Possession was a double-edged sword. Not only was one able to devour the soul of another, but it also allowed their soul to be opened up to that same possibility!

Generally speaking, the one trying to Possess the other would have the advantage. That was why it required the element of surprise to take over the body of the other. This was also why the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was so patient during his battle with Bai Yunfei.

Unfortunately, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord never took into account that Bai Yunfei would have two powerful Regalias helping him. The Soul Sentinel Scarf and the Soul Sealing Mandate were overwhelmingly powerful in terms of matters relating to the soul! Because of those two Regalias, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord failed to capitalize on the initial strike!

It was commonly asserted in this world that opportunities wouldn’t be granted twice. However, that assertion was merely a suggestion for Bai Yunfei. In this battle, the +13 additional effects of the Soul Sentinel Scarf and the Soul Sealing Mandate granted him that ‘second chance’!

And he wasn’t going to make the most out of this second chance. Now that he knew what was going on, he wouldn’t be making the same careless mistakes as before. It was time for him to launch his counterattack!

……

The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was speechless, even as he continued his charge. How in the world did things end up like this? He had no words, no idea, no escape plan for this. All that was left was his rage—who cared if his opponent managed to turn back the clock?! That just meant he’d have to try it again!!

He didn’t think he’d lose this battle even if his advantage was gone. In the end, Bai Yunfei was an Early-stage Soul Saint and he was a Mid-stage Soul Saint. How could he lose?

“Die! Die! Die!!”

The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord roared. He was trying his best to find an opportunity to eat Bai Yunfei’s soul but…no such opportunity was presenting itself! Bai Yunfei might just be an Early-stage Soul Saint but…he still had another Saint-leveled avatar with him to help!

From the outside, this was a battle without explosions or smoke. The entirety of the battle was taking place inside Bai Yunfei’s body so it looked like Bai Yunfei was just standing strangely in place while his body twitched and spasmed periodically.

According to ‘logic’ this was a fight that couldn’t be interrupted, but then…

“Yunfei! Let me help!!”

While the two Saints were ‘locked’ in combat, a new consciousness intruded onto the ‘battlefield’ to join the fray!

Bai Yunfei was elated to hear the voice, but the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord wasn’t!

Xiao Qi!!

Xiao Qi was here now!!

Eating Bai Yunfei’s soul, even at his peak, wouldn’t be too difficult for the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord if he was at full strength. But he wasn’t. Losing the Bloodbath was a tremendous blow to his strength and left him fighting on par with Bai Yunfei and his avatar.

If Xiao Qi joined the fight then the chances of victory would favor Bai Yunfei instead of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord!

As much as he loathed to admit it, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord knew he wouldn’t be winning this fight. It was time for a retreat but…it was too late for that!!

Since he didn’t think he’d fail to Possess Bai Yunfei’s body, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord didn’t leave a backup or escape plan. His physical body was gone, so his soul wouldn’t last for long if he left Bai Yunfei’s body.

In other words…the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was unable to escape!

————————————————

The situation was a carbon copy of less than a minute ago, but instead of Bai Yunfei’s soul being the one to be mostly devoured, it was the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord! Thanks to Xiao Qi’s assistance, the two were able to eat away at over half of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord’s soul!

“No! No!!! I beseech you, don’t ki—”

The Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was in despair. He was already brought down to the level of begging for his life, but Bai Yunfei wasn’t that merciful of a person. Relentlessly, Bai Yunfei swooped down and ate the rest of the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord’s soul!

As such, the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord was now truly dead!

In an actual battle, Bai Yunfei had all sorts of equipment and even a Saint-leveled avatar to help him, but fighting the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord would still probably end up as his loss. Unfortunately for the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord, he thought it’d be easier to Possess Bai Yunfei. Had he chose otherwise, the victory might’ve been his.

……

“Phew…we finally won!!”

Bai Yunfei’s soul drew out a long breath as he began to wind down from the battle.

“Who would’ve thought the Bloodsoaked Demon Lord had something like that up his sleeves? Thank Heavens that I had Sentinel and Sealer with me, or my soul really would’ve been gone…”

It had truly been an extremely dangerous battle…

Bai Yunfei felt happier than ever after living through his most recent brush with death. After calming himself down, he closed his ‘eyes’ and decided to return to the real world…

When his eyes opened, Bai Yunfei blinked several times when he saw what was going on around him

“Eh?! This is…”