"What are you doing, Vereina? It's not nice to be stealing my loot."
Davis waved his hand, causing a web of black crimson heavenly lightning to appear as it formed into a cage and trapped the unconscious Eiren and the severed head and body of Navin, the alchemist, in three lightning cages, leaving no stones unturned for them to escape.
With a step forward, he appeared before Vereina, his figure towering in front of her.
"What excuse do you have to escape death?"
He raised his hand as Yama mysteriously appeared in his hand, causing her to shudder as she felt its deadly chill brush past her neck even though he didn't swing the terrifying blade yet.
"You… are you serious?" Vereina asked, her pupils trembling.
"Of course. You didn't even bother to ask, did you?"
"Fellow disciple Davis, aren't you going too far?"
Niel Bladeheart suddenly uttered, "I kept an eye around and saw that fellow disciple Vereina didn't even touch the corpse, much less probe the spatial ring on it."
Davis turned to look at him, smiling lightly, "Well, she knows what she stole. If you are in doubt, you can wait for her to deny stealing stuff."
"…"
Vereina remained silent, causing Niel Bladeheart to blink. Even the others turned a bit astonished.
She really did steal something? They didn't realize it all.
"Are you offended?" Davis returned his gaze to Vereina, "If you thought we're somewhat close, then you should've asked politely."
Vereina's black eyes darted around, appearing to be guilty.
"I… I realize I'm wrong. I apologize, but can I have it?"
Davis's brows lightly raised as he heard her pleasing voice. This woman was always quick to give in if she felt danger, or rather, he should say that she was smart, knowing when to back down.
"Since you realize you're wrong, I'll let you go this once, but you can't have it. I can look after our group's well-being somewhat, but anything else, like treasures, you need to go get them yourself."
"…"
Vereina raised her hands, cupping them in front of her chin as she appeared to be pleading, "Can't you do something about that? No one requires this kind of treasure, so it shouldn't be a loss for you or the others."
'Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that as these soul essences are comparable to Level Four Immortal Emperor Soul Stage Soul Essences, but after what I got when that wicked tamer went berserk, they're practically worthless to me…'
Davis felt like he had no need for such low-level soul essences as he was filled with such essences now. Perhaps because they had no 'life' within them, the restriction didn't react to them, although he also wondered why Early Immortal Emperor Grade Treasures weren't restricted here.
There were more intricacies about this realm he had yet to understand, but he imagined that it would take him a few more rounds of soulscouring to garner more precise information.
"Hmm~"
Still, he appeared to be considering Vereina's plea, looking around before his eyes flashed as he summoned a piece of wooden furniture before him.
'A table…?'
Vereina wondered why he brought such a thing out when she saw him raise one of his legs and place the foot on the table as he held it with his palms.
"Ahh… so painful… that kick from before still pains me so much, disallowing me to make a decision whether to give away the treasure or not..."
"You…"
Vereina turned speechless, her expression turning awry as she instantly knew he was getting back at her using this chance.
The 'word' petty stuck in her throat, but she didn't dare stay it, looking at him incredulously.
"Ah… it pains… so painful… quick pain… delayed pain… throbbing pain…"
Davis kept muttering as he held his leg, causing Vereina to finally clench her fists.
"What do you want me to do?"
Her voice sounded unsure as she stared at him. Her words caused Davis to stop acting as he raised his head to look at her. He very much wanted to peer through her Violent Punitive Soul Physique to understand the intricacies behind it, allowing him to do just more than absorb soul essences, but he knew she wasn't at that kind of stage yet.
"Caress it with your hands."
"What…?"
Vereina's expression went blank as she saw Davis stand straight and gesture toward his leg. He was asking her to grab onto his leg, which was the very definition of pleading with him while letting go of one's dignity…?
Sophie and the others gawked. Their husband was bullying Vereina now? Was he really offended that she tried to steal some treasure that they had no idea of?
"If you can't, then just leave it be. I'll endure the pain as I always do…"
Davis sighed, taking his leg off the table, appearing to put it down.
"Wait…!"
His leg stopped mid-air before once against stretching out like a straightening spear before his foot crashed into the table.
"…"
Vereina's gaze shook as she saw his indifferent expression that may be hiding a devious smile. She could imagine it from the depths of her heart.
However, she absolutely recognized this place couldn't be traversed easily as she had just seen five cultivators with strange auras radiating a prowess that was seven levels higher so effortlessly. She also recognized that she could not survive in this secret realm without being over Davis's side.
In fact, Niel Bladeheart and Garoe Rynn also realized this despite what they said, not expecting such adversaries to be present here. In terms of cultivation, they were still lacking, so if they moved out of the group, death would be the least of their worries as they knew they could also be soulscoured into becoming a retard.
And much less needs to be said about a beautiful woman like Vereina.
Vereina clicked her tongue, finally making a decision as she closed her eyes and breathed out calmly before opening her eyes, her lips curling.
"I'll apply the medicinal paste over the injury I caused as an apology."
Davis's gaze flickered.
He watched her take out a vial and pour out the contents as she controlled it with soul force before pursing her lips, walking towards him, sliding the lower end of his pant up before finally applying the medicinal paste over him.
It lasted just a few seconds, causing Vereina to retreat a few steps as she glared at him with a sullen expression.
Davis took the chair back, causing his leg to drop to the ground before he kept his gaze on her.
He had wanted to take down her arrogance a peg since he knew she was taking advantage of his power, but she went along with his farce in a smart way again, making him want to praise her audacity. Regardless, he felt like this should teach her a lesson to not test his bottom line.
Indeed, Vereina understood that she was let go with a warning or that applying the medicinal paste task would not have been accepted. After all, what wound was there? Not even a scratch, causing her to feel that she was made to understand her place.
This kind of humiliation… it had been a long time since she faced something like this when she was chased to the end by her enemies.
"All good, so now, it's yours…"
Davis gestured to the corpse, causing Vereina's eyes to gleam as she felt strange.
"Thanks…"
She didn't know what to say but said it anyway since she was receiving the loot from his kill.
This time, she boldly began absorbing the soul essence she kept restricted from leaving the corpse, absorbing the soul essence into her mouth as a violent purple light radiated from her body.
'Fuck… she's literally eating the soul essence as she pulls it out of the corpse...'
Davis felt shaken. The strange markings that were on her tongue, he imagined that it was also carved inside her body and soul.
Myria and the others were also shocked as Vereina no longer hid her uniqueness, displaying the ghastliness she was capable of as she grasped the soul essence and ate it, stuffing it inside her mouth as though she was eating crimson cake in copious amounts.
He came to understand that she didn't have space to store as much as him. After all, he had Fallen Heaven as a counter.
Nonetheless, Davis walked to Myria, opening his mouth.
"Apparently, this secret realm is called the Astral Forgeheart Minor Realm. Does it ring any bell?"
He had just asked when he saw Myria's expression flicker with shock.
"Impossible. What are the disciples of the Crimson Pathflame Lower Realm doing in a Minor Realm that belongs to the Astral Pill Upper Realm and the Forgeheart Peak Upper Realm?"
'Even if you ask me…'
Davis thought but didn't say because he knew Myria would rush to soulscour them in order to know more. However, he knew what she was talking about as he understood certain things along with the structure of the Three-Layered Universe.
There were eight galaxies in the uppermost layer, called the Greater Realms, and below that layer laid the Upper Realms in the middle layer, while the Lower Realms appeared to be situated in the lowermost layer.
As for Minor Realms, they were smaller than any realms, seeming to exist anywhere in the deep crevices of three layers, yet this so-called Minor Realm, the smallest of all realms, was as big as the First Haven World!
He was standing in one such Minor Realm, the Astral Forgeheart Minor Realm. He and the others naturally thought of this to be a secret realm no bigger than the Grand Beginnings Continent, but it turned out to be as huge as the First Haven World!
However, the thing was that these entities, all these realms, didn't even cover twenty percent of the universe, causing him to feel that he was not even a tiny speck in it, existential crisis swept through his mind and soul as he shuddered ever so lightly.
"Could it be…?"
Myria's gaze flickered. Her words caused Davis's attention to prick up, awaiting her conjecture for the purpose of this gathering.
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