John’s expression became incredibly unsightly.
On his constantly fluctuating spiritual body, his features were twisted together.
Of course.
In Elias’s perspective, which was continuously polluted by the dream demon curse...
That face floating in mid-air didn't really have any color to speak of.
But color didn't matter.
At most, Elias could rely on the spiritual body’s outline—which flickered violently and even began to produce jagged edges at the borders.
He could precisely sense the impotent fury radiating from the depths of the other’s soul.
It was the stifled feeling of a hunter who had stepped into his own bear trap and had nowhere to vent his frustration.
“It seems I underestimated you.”
In mid-air, John spoke through gritted teeth.
Every word sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth.
“I thought your physical body was simply gifted.”
John’s gaze swept over the shell standing frozen in the burial pit, having lost the dominance of its soul.
Initially, he had indeed thought so.
After all, such an absurd total amount of spirituality appearing in a rookie who had just entered the trade could only be attributed to the favoritism of a god.
“Now it seems...”
John suddenly paused.
On his green ghostly face, a self-deprecating smile appeared.
“It is your soul that is different from ordinary people.”
“Or rather...”
Before he could finish his sentence...
John’s spiritual body suddenly stiffened, as if struck by an invisible electric current.
He lowered his head, as if he had discovered some secret, and looked at Elias with an astonished expression.
“You swallowed someone else’s soul?”
The interrogation carried a hint of disbelief and a hint of sudden realization.
“I didn't expect this.”
John looked at Elias, the mockery in his eyes plain to see.
“I originally thought you were just a rookie.”
“Now it seems, in the realm of possession, I should call you ‘senior.’”
As these words were spoken...
In the depths of Elias’s mind, it was as if a depth charge had been detonated.
“What?!”
Old Ed gave a cry of shock.
“You did it too?!”
Was the old man fooled?
No, he just wanted to take this opportunity to needle him a bit.
And incidentally verify the truth of what John said.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the old man couldn't win an argument against him; he still had his own schemes.
Indeed, when Elias was still an ordinary person, his spirituality was stronger than normal.
Although he had speculated it was because of the soul fusion, someone like Old Ed had never actually seen his spiritual body.
How could a normal person have such a powerful soul?
Aside from swallowing one's own kind, there was no other reasonable explanation in the common knowledge of the supernatural world.
Meanwhile, Elias had a strange expression on his face.
He didn't even say a word of rebuttal immediately.
Because he was quickly replaying everything in his head.
From a logical standpoint, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with what this guy was saying!
A transmigrator usurping another's nest had taken over the original owner's body and possessed a soul strength far exceeding ordinary people.
If this were in the eyes of a Storm Judge, it would be a textbook case of possession.
But the problem was...
His situation definitely couldn't be counted as a traditional swallowing of the original soul.
Judging by the current state of his soul fusion...
Elias slowly lowered his head.
He carefully examined his own spiritual body.
It was a bit like a genie.
However, it was more of a perfect blending with the original soul.
It was like two solutions poured into the same cup; not only did they not overflow, but some unknown chemical reaction occurred, turning them into a viscous liquid with higher density.
Furthermore...
Elias had an illusion—no, it was a real sense of control.
He felt that with just a thought, in this pure spiritual state, he could mold himself like playdough, growing another head or two more arms from his shoulders.
With the soul density he had in this state...
He had absolute confidence.
Never mind John; he could pin any other transcendent of the same Scale in spirit form to the grave soil and beat them senseless.
Even for an old thief like John, who was one or two Scales higher...
As long as they both shed their physical shells and purely compared soul foundations, it probably wouldn't be an unsolvable problem.
After all...
A spiritual body wasn't like a physical body.
In a spiritual state, everyone's fancy physical equipment and spells...
Were all banned...
Wait.
Oh.
He almost forgot how impressive he was.
He, Elias, was a noble Moon Lord believer!
In this spiritual arena where everyone could only engage in hand-to-hand combat, he seemingly could still use his spirituality and Passage school spells without any obstacles!
Everyone else was swinging with wild brawling, while he actually had a complete skill tree hidden in his hands!
Elias excitedly flipped through the list of spells he currently mastered in his mind.
He prepared to pick the coolest one to brainwash the nonsensical green spiritual body in the air.
Unfortunately...
So far, he didn't have any spirit-school spells that could cause substantial damage to a spiritual body.
In the spark of a thought...
Elias simply pulled his attention back to his mind.
“You believe him?”
He asked back unceremoniously in his mind.
His tone carried the speechlessness of being suspected by one of his own.
“When people said you were deceiving me, I still believed in you. Now you're questioning me because of an enemy’s speculation?”
This was a bit hurtful to their relationship.
“Bullshit!”
Old Ed immediately retorted.
“You trust me? Then why do you throw the bracelet so far away when you sleep at night?!”
Elias was choked for a moment.
This old man was actually still nursing a grudge over such old history.
“Get lost!”
Elias snapped back in embarrassment and anger.
“Who the hell wears a bracelet while sleeping?”
“That kind of hard metal thing—doesn't it feel uncomfortable pressing against your wrist?”
He defended himself righteously.
“I just don't like wearing it. Why do you, old man, love biased listening so much?”
“Once I send you back to Arlington, the first thing I’ll do is sell you health supplements!”
There was a rare second of silence on the other end of his mind.
“Health supplements?”
Old Ed was stunned for a moment.
“Do you mean supplements?”
He tentatively translated it using the common knowledge of this era.
“That’s right.”
Elias sneered in his mind.
“Things like nerve tonics. I’ll make you buy ten or twenty crates of them.”
“To properly treat your mental illness.”
“...”
Old Ed went silent.
But the old guy was clearly doing it on purpose.
He was just temporarily avoiding the edge of Elias's tongue; next time, he would definitely come out to trade insults again.
In reality...
Looking at Elias’s fluctuating face, John thought his guess had struck the other’s weakness, and his imagination continued to ferment.
“Stop right there.”
Elias quickly came back to his senses and immediately spoke to stop John’s boundless, groundless associations.
“I’m not, don't talk nonsense, I didn't.”
A clean triple denial.
His tone was crisp and decisive, without the slightest hint of guilt.
“Don't think everyone is like you.”
Elias looked up and righteously began to praise himself.
“This soul thickness of mine is purely because I am gifted by nature, a divine birth, a favored son of heaven.”
“This is called the Moon Lord providing me with a living. Understand?”
“Don't make blind connections to things that aren't there.”
As he spoke...
Elias didn't give John another chance to continue his nonsense.
He began to concentrate.
He controlled his massive and solid spiritual body, catering to the natural attraction coming from the physical body below.
Bit by bit, he retracted.
His center of gravity gradually returned to his physical body.
The sense of illusion faded, and the feeling of real weight pressed onto his spine once more.
The sensation of breathing constricted by the mask, the pungent stench of decay in the cemetery, and the touch of cold, damp air brushing against his skin...
The moment his soul completely returned to its place, these sensations flooded his senses like a tide.
His vision also completely overlapped with this frozen shell once again.
“Phew...”
Elias exhaled a long breath of turbid air and looked at John, who was already somewhat at a loss in mid-air.
“Nothing left to say?”
“If you have nothing left to say, I’ll send you on your way.”
There was no room for negotiation; it was a death notice.
As he spoke...
He quickly drew the revolver from his waist.
The moment he raised the gun, Moonlight Enchantment was activated.
A holy silver glow covered the revolver, making it shine brilliantly.
The dark muzzle was aimed straight at John’s green head.
“Wait!”
John raised both hands.
“We can talk!”
In this critical moment of life and death...
He no longer cared whether Elias’s shameless defense just now was the truth or not.
In the face of absolute martial suppression, none of that mattered anymore.
He now had only one thought in his mind.
Survival!
“Don't kill me!”
“I can tell you the method to remove the dream demon curse!”
He threw out the most significant trump card in his hand.
It was a temptation that struck directly at the soul.
“You should know, I originally planned to seize your body!”
“I also considered that if the dream demon curse didn't dissipate along with your soul, I would need to find a way to remove it myself!”
To prove the truth of his words...
John spoke so fast he sounded like a death row prisoner making his final statement, not daring to pause for even half a second.
He was terrified that if he were a second too slow, a transparent hole would appear in his head.
“So I really did find many methods!”
“Oh?”
Elias’s hand holding the gun remained steady in mid-air, not moving an inch.
Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow.
“Fine.”
Elias nodded slightly, his tone as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
“This is the last bit of trust I will give you.”
Not only did he not lower the gun, but he even pushed the moonlight-wrapped revolver forward a few inches.
The silver-shining muzzle was firmly aimed at the center of John’s brow.
The pad of his index finger lightly rested on the cold trigger.
He was ready to apply the final pressure at any moment.
“One minute.”
“If you can't say it in one minute, off with your head.”
Rate on N.U.
