Blood drained from the emperor’s face, turning it deathly pale as his voice cracked. "It doesn’t matter if it’s a treasure! Please don’t give him a chance to turn the tables by possessing or cursing you. Destroy it!"
However, the trembling puppet had little to no hope of achieving any. Without a host to channel his unholy quantity of demonic energy, he was weak. Even worse, the cleaver had negated his curse already and would do it again. And to top it all, possessing the brat was just another way to spell suicide. After all, the cleaver would devour him the second he forcefully bound himself.
There was no escape, no more tricks. The truth of his defeat was crystal clear whether he accepted it or delusionally veiled it behind layers of fury and regret.
"D-Don’t! We can negotiate. I can tell you about buried treasures defying your wildest dreams." The puppet pleaded, his survival coming before anything. After all, as long as he didn’t die, he’d eventually find a way to deceive Adam or free himself.
"I can strengthen you! With my powers and your versatility, you’ll beco an uncontested overlord. Realms will fall into your palms, beauty will flock into your lap, and riches will rain like waterfalls into your treasury."
A soft smile curled on Adam’s lips. "Don’t worry. You’re too valuable to be destroyed."
mories ca to life in his mind. A silhouette shrouded in swirling souls, a bony staff on which a manacore heartgem hovered, and the helpless figure of Protheus crawling to touch the magus.
As the puppet sighed in relief and the cleaver laughed in delight, Adam’s lips parted.
"Khu Shepsu."
With his muttered words, gray mana chains lashed out of his palm. They dug into the puppet’s intricate fra, coiling around his soul. Then, just like the magus had tried to extract Protheus’, they pulled it.
The cleaver’s laughter froze, and the puppet’s eyes enlarged in dread as a pain he had never felt assaulted him. He tried to anchor his soul in the core hidden deep in his chest, but the chains didn’t give him any chance.
As inexorable as the magus’ command, they pulled him outside, making him face what had once been his body. "No! Please! I’ll sign a contract. I’ll beco your slave. You can’t kill !"
His soul throbbed as it flew to Adam’s gray-coated palm, a sense of doom gripping its core. "I’m a fragnt of Andras’ soul. He will feel my destruction and co for you!"
Subverting his expectations, Adam’s grin broadened instead of collapsing as the palm closed on him.
"He didn’t fetch you while you were sealed for fifty thousand years. Either he doesn’t care or can’t move as freely as you claim."
Without giving it a second to retort, he squeezed his fist until his knuckles turned white. When he reopened it, only a ghost essence brimming with spectral energy remained.
"Noo! You have no idea about what you’ve done!" Feeling the total erasure of Andras’ fragnt, the cleaver rumbled in his mind. "It was a unique fragnt of a superior demon, you fool. I could have beco twice as powerful by absorbing it, but you ruined it all! For what? Petty disagreents? I curse you. You and everyone you love!"
’That’s what would have happened to you if you were as defenseless as the puppet.’
With a snort, Adam sealed his soul sea to shut the cleaver up.
Forgetting about the infuriating cleaver, he grinned at his spoils. A soul essence of the ninth tier! The magic world had never seen one that powerful, not even the magus. Though he didn’t know how he would use it yet, it would surely be extrely useful when the ti ca.
But more importantly, he observed the inactive puppet in his hand. That’s what he had aid for. After all, it was a marvel of technology and magic—the pinnacle of puppetry. Possibilities were endless as long as he purified or replicated it.
Delighted, he put it away as the void emperor’s flickering hand t his shoulder. His voice cracked with gratitude, triumph, guilt, and grief. "Thank you for freeing from this curse. I’ve witnessed your heroism and can leave my blessed land in your capable hands without hesitation."
A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he shook his head. "I’ll soon join the few children who escaped the puppet..."
Adam raised his palm and cut him off, his voice cold. "I’ll send you on your way if you spout another bullshit about heroism."
Space trembled around his fist, causing the emperor to back a step. But he grinned and hurled it before him, shattering space and revealing a wide-eyed silver-haired lady surrounded by fifty flickering individuals hugging each other and roaring in triumph.
"The puppet is gone! We’re free, brothers and sisters!"
"I told you, father is always right! He’s our pride, the sky that brightens our lives!"
"Wait! The layer of space the girl hid us in shattered! Let’s thank the boy before we disappear!"
Tears trailed down the emperor’s cheeks as he saw his healthy children lunge at him. He took them in a warm embrace, sobbing in relief as the guilt crushing his heart vanished. "Thank you, thank you so much. Everything is my fault."
"It’s not!" The children scread in unison. "We knew all along that you felt too guilty to see us. We longed for you to understand that we never blad you and that we’re proud to have the most courageous and upright father in the realm’s history!"
Adam watched the emperor tremble in their embrace before Xian Yunxu walked to him and drew his attention with a question.
"How did you know I was hiding between spatial layers?" She frowned. Even she couldn’t detect soone using this thod.
Adam shrugged, then pointed at the dark scars slowly nding themselves in the garden. "I didn’t know at first. But space beca too unstable during the battle. I felt sothing by the end and hoped it was you." He offered her a brilliant smile. "I’m glad you survived. Good job protecting them, too."
Xian Yunxu’s face burned, sha and warmth lding in her tightening chest. "I-I heard everything you said. We were so wrong..." She spun on her heels, unable to watch him in the eyes. "Ahh. I want to dig a hole and hide."
"Don’t sweat it. You’re fine as long as you don’t call Protheus or a hero." Adam chuckled. "But if you truly want to help, use your status to fix this misunderstanding."
A steely glint flashed in her eyes as she nodded. However, before she could answer, the flickering princes and princesses rushed to Adam.
Hands stretched, they each presented their most precious possessions with broad grins as the oldest spoke. "We’ll never thank you enough for your selfless bravery. Take them, little brother. We hope they’ll help you on your cultivation journey!"
As Adam stored them, the emperor stepped through their ranks and gripped his shoulders. "Our ti’s up, little friend. But let give you so advice before I go."
Adam nodded, prompting him to continue. "I never achieved the celestial void dominion’s full potential. Your low level in cultivation is an imnse boon, so don’t rush through the levels and take your ti to build a sturdy foundation. With your potential, I’m confident no one will ever match you after half a millennium."
His figure beca more ethereal, and his children disappeared one after another with encouraging nods.
He fought against the netherworld’s call, forcing his last words out of his throat. "The stars. The more you condense, the more powerful you’ll be. Don’t underestimate the lower realms!"
Adam nodded, watching the emperor close his eyes with a satisfied smile as the breeze awarded him the freedom he had longed for.
"Even if your plan was terrible and I don’t agree with you, I won’t forget your love for your children and sacrifice to protect the realm." He cupped his fists in respect. "Rest in peace."
As he sighed, the island trembled under his feet. No, the entire realm shuddered as if crying for its owner’s departure. But hope heeled grief.
It rumbled in recognition the next second. Thick wisps of Qi waltzed under the sky in a multi-colored spectacle. They rushed at Adam the next second, causing his eyes to widen as they entered his body, and a notification rang in his ears.
[Mythical blessed land detected. Soul binding available. Proceed? Yes/No]
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