Chapter 525 - 339: Consolidation, Assaulting Tier Five

Chapter 525: Chapter 339: Consolidation, Assaulting Tier Five

To prevent Ruiyue and her clan from attacking him, Grey, and the others, Han Ning had considered every possibility, leaving virtually no openings for his opponent.

He figured the stipulation about not harming humans wasn’t a big deal to Ruiyue. The most important part was... she was not allowed to harbor any hostility toward Irena and him.

Ruiyue’s expression fluctuated between pale and red, her heart twisting in extreme conflict.

Memories of living and training alongside the Destruction Apostle surfaced in her mind.

The next moment, she remembered how her clan had lost a vast, strategic territory because of Irena—a loss whose value far exceeded that of a Monarch IV Soul Beast—and a fresh wave of irritation washed over her.

The scales in her heart tipped back and forth, weighing the Soul Beast she grew up with against the need for revenge.

Meanwhile, seeing her hesitation, Han Ning understood that Ruiyue was torn.

He’d been around the old-timers at the academy long enough to learn a thing or two about negotiation.

You don’t lead with your bottom line. You start with high demands and, after they’re rejected, lower them incrementally.

Ruiyue’s decisive rejection was just as he’d expected.

So he relaxed the terms of the contract slightly. "I won’t get involved in the feud between you and Irena," he said. "I’m only restricting you from fighting inside this Secret Realm. Once you’re out, five years from now, you can arrange a duel on your own. How does that sound?"

"Return my brother’s Soul Artifact," Ruiyue finally replied after a long pause. "While in the Secret Realm, I will not travel with you. However, if we find ourselves in the same treasure-filled area, we can cooperate. As for the other conditions... I have no objections."

The outcome was unexpected. He hadn’t thought Ruiyue would agree to the terms of the contract so easily.

’Perhaps it’s because she places too much importance on the Destruction Apostle.’

"Let’s sign the contract, then," he said with a polite smile.

A few minutes later, in the void of the Treasure Hall, the Spiritual Contract—a swirling construct of Witch Spirit Race Spiritual Energy Circuits—suddenly burst into illusory golden flames.

This signified that Ruiyue had infused her Spiritual Power, choosing to sign the contract.

"A pleasure doing business with you," Han Ning said. "I’ll have a Soul Beast deliver the Destruction Apostle’s core to your hall."

Han Ning motioned for the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm to create a Puppet Soul Beast. He had it take the helpless Energy Core and then used his panel to manipulate free-floating Space Blocks, first routing the delivery through a third-party block as a bridge before sending it to Ruiyue’s location, leaving nothing to chance.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the end of the empty corridor.

A "Destruction Apostle" forged entirely of flesh and blood, cradling a round, crack-covered core that shimmered with golden light, walked slowly toward Ruiyue. It half-knelt and presented the core to her.

"ROAR!!!"

Seeing the approaching figure, the Soul Beasts at her side erupted with Spiritual Energy. A terrifying Spiritual Pressure flared, and an almost-tangible wave of intimidation crashed down upon the puppet.

At a single command from their master, their furious Spiritual Energy would utterly shred the puppet before them!

"Stop!"

Though she was seething, her teeth grinding in fury, Ruiyue still acted, stopping her Soul Beasts and accepting the core.

*"Gumi~"*

The flesh-and-blood Destruction Apostle, controlled by Little Fatty Silkworm, retracted its large hand, blinked, and gave Ruiyue a smug little salute. It then dissolved into a pool of blood and vanished from the corridor.

"You!!"

...

Quiet returned to the Treasure Hall.

Han Ning let out a long sigh of relief.

The pressure from the Destruction Apostle had been immense. If not for the help of the Flood Dragon True Essence, they would have been driven out of the Secret Realm long ago.

Danger and opportunity always coexist. Now that the danger had passed, all that remained were the plentiful rewards.

Han Ning finally had a moment to check the specific details of his Soul Beasts.

Besides constantly replenishing their spent energy, the boost that the Flood Dragon True Essence provided to the Soul Beasts’ Talent, Spiritual Power, and Spiritual Energy was not limitless.

In fact, it had already maxed out the improvements to their Talent three days ago.

Yin Yi had not only broken through from Monarch I to Monarch II, but her Talent had also risen from B to B+.

The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm had even evolved on its own, which was a huge, pleasant surprise.

But with its evolution, the previously displayed option on his panel to evolve it into a butterfly-type Soul Beast had vanished, and no new evolution path had appeared.

’Does this mean... the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm has to reach an even higher level to unlock new evolution conditions? Or has it already reached the end of its bloodline?’

Han Ning was still very curious about the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s origins. He only knew vaguely that it was related to the Insect Queen and perhaps involved the Alatake Clan.

’B+ Talent is enough for Little Fatty Silkworm to break through to the Emperor Level,’ Han Ning mused. ’Maybe a new path will appear once it gets there.’

Egg Pancake and Fei Lin had both reached the upper limit of B+ Talent. The Flood Dragon True Essence couldn’t boost their Talent any further, but their Spiritual Power and overall strength had grown substantially.

The importance of Spiritual Power for a Soul Beast was self-evident; it was paramount for comprehending Divine Will, Soul Force, and the realms beyond.

Although Fei Lin was a Soul Beast with B+ Talent, she was younger and slightly weaker than her companions, making it difficult for her to play a major role in high-risk battles. Now, however, she was on the verge of breaking through to the Monarch level and was beginning to show her true potential.

’With this collective promotion, all the Soul Beasts have reached B+ Talent. Raising them to A Talent in a short time would be too difficult. I can focus everything on increasing their strength and getting them to Monarch IV as quickly as possible...’

The fact that several other participants in this trial were as strong as Ruiyue gave him an added sense of urgency.