Chapter 68
"Ah?"
"De... Devil!"
"He’s actually a devil!"
Fear had her in tears, she had cultivated in this spot for over a hundred thousand years.
One step, she had been one step from burning off the last Spirit energy in her soul and merging fully with Black Dragon Mountain.
After that her roots would have run free underground, into every corner of the range, she could have spread past its borders and seized bodies from the other four races, achieved true transformation and a human form.
She’d miscalculated exactly once, she couldn’t hold back her greed for Soren’s body, she had provoked the one person she should never have touched.
Regret, and nothing under it but more regret.
If she hadn’t shown her hand, couldn’t she have negotiated? Would she be in this state now?
Uprooted, a hundred thousand years of waiting, wasted.
No ability to take human form, root system severed and lifted clear of the earth, withering was the only thing left, and her life was running out fast.
The old Tree Spirit howled like something out of its mind, laughing wildly one second, weeping the next.
Anyone whose hundred thousand years of work was destroyed in a breath would be no calmer.
Then she went quiet, a thought landed in the middle of her despair.
"This little girl’s relationship with him is extraordinary."
"That Upper-Tier Demon Emperor won’t be ruthless enough to kill her outright, will he?"
"Too late to devour her now."
"I can only abandon this tree body, transfer my tree soul, and seize the girl’s flesh."
"If he’s soft-hearted, this old woman still has a sliver of hope."
"And if he isn’t, I can drag one down with me."
"Demon, you forced my hand!"
She moved on it, soul power ran down through the branches and vines wrapped around Ethel, ready to pour into the girl and switch vessels.
Soren narrowed his eyes, his face gave away nothing, he seemed to be hunting for a specific answer on the strategy panel.
Then the corners of his mouth curved.
The transfer went fast, there were a great many vines on that girl.
The old Tree Spirit found it strange, why wasn’t he stopping her? Was he afraid of hurting the girl? Then why hadn’t he said one harsh word?
Whatever, seizing the body was what mattered.
Ethel shut her eyes in despair, her consciousness thinned out, she had already been suffocating in the vines, and with the Tree Spirit’s soul pouring in, her mind blurred and went dark.
The last wisp entered her, the vines stopped shaking.
"Ethel" opened her eyes, those frost-gem pupils carried a pale white glow.
She snapped the branches and vines like dry kindling, stripped of soul power reinforcement, they were ordinary wood again.
"Ho ho ho, a young body really does overflow with vitality."
"Lord Demon Emperor, a life for a life, don’t say this old woman went too far."
She started backing away, inch by inch.
That crushing demonic might had been curving around Ethel the entire time, which the old Tree Spirit read as proof of what the girl meant to him, it was also why the pressure wasn’t touching her now.
"This old woman can make a deal with you."
"Once I’ve used her body to get somewhere safe and found a better vessel, I’ll give the girl back."
"So you have to let me leave first."
Soren closed his hand, the void around them froze, it didn’t harm the body, it made the body impossible to move.
"I refuse."
"Wh... what? You’d rather kill her?"
"You won’t take this deal?"
"Lord Demon Emperor, I advise you to think it over! I can read this woman’s memories right now, and she is deeply infatuated with you!"
"You truly don’t care whether she lives or dies?"
"Too much talking."
Soren was in front of her the next second, she Six Paths Form Diagram spun, Devour erupted.
He pressed two fingers to the center of Ethel’s forehead, his intent shifted, and the old Tree Spirit felt her soul being torn open.
The Heavenly Dao Demonic Form had one specialized trick, during absorption it could sort energy by type and route each kind to a different part of the body.
Soren didn’t devour her soul power, he stripped the consciousness out of it.
That soul power, plus a hundred thousand years of pharmacology and alchemy memory, would make excellent nourishment for Ethel, the Strategy Encyclopedia had said as much.
[Extract the Tree Spirit’s consciousness and Ethel’s consciousness would regain control of her body, inheriting the soul power and memories.]
[This can be easily achieved through the Devour ability of the Heavenly Dao Demonic Form.]
[The Tree Spirit’s memories contained trauma. These irrelevant memories may harm Ethel. Master may decide which portions were retained.]
Soren devoured like something starving, and the old woman finally understood all of it.
"You... you deliberately let this old woman transfer into the girl’s body!"
"It was all so she could take my soul power!"
"And my experience in pharmacology and alchemy!"
Soren looked at her with contempt. "Now that you understand, it’s already too late."
"Demon Emperor, don’t kill me! I’ll leave her body right now, I’ll transfer everything to her! Just spare my life!"
"It hasn’t been easy for me."
"It really hasn’t been easy for me!"
"A hundred thousand years ago I was dragged into a massive battle for no reason, my body was destroyed, I had no choice but to move my soul into that White Umbrella Tree."
"I’ve longed for the outside world for a hundred thousand years, this old woman doesn’t want to disappear!"
"I deserve to die! I truly deserve to die!"
"I never should have targeted the Demon Emperor and this young lady, spare me! This old woman will hand over everything!"
"This old woman is willing to be the Demon Emperor’s dog!"
"Demon Emperor, spare my life, Demon Emperor!"
"Aaaah! No!"
However the soul begged, Soren didn’t flinch.
Fabric tearing, her consciousness came away from her soul entirely, left one last despairing shriek behind, and went into him, all of it, with nothing left over.
Inside him the consciousness broke into scattered fragments of energy and fed his body, mediocre, with no real benefit.
It was only consciousness, after all, the soul was the prize, he had never expected anything meaningful out of it.