Nine Venoms Sect Founder

Chapter 112: Don't Let him Bow!

Chills ran up the deities and celestials' spines. Rage or satisfaction; from beginning to end, Harun's face showed no emotion. It was almost as if the matter had nothing to do with him, as if he just passed by to clean up the trash, then move on to more pressing matters. Despite his empty, bleeding eye sockets, the Flame Spirit King's face kept that same stupid smile—drooling to no end. 

A step behind the Gods, Jiyan observed the development with a keen interest, nodding and clapping several times to show her support. "Oooh...how protective. You've just been promoted from lifetime boyfriend to lifetime husband material. Though, for future references, you will have to work on that volcanic rage explosion. Cute, but almost scared me to death," Jiyan said in a mental message, half-serious, half-jesting. Though she could stand up for herself, she knew that there were times where she had to show some restraint and give her partner the opportunity to remind the world that she always had a shoulder to lean on. 

But with the Karmic Link and proximity, she could feel things others couldn't. Harun plucking out the Flame Spirit King's eyes was just the tip of the iceberg. If he could rip him to shreds, he would. However, the Heavenly Qi sheltering a fifth-level Ascending God's life wasn't something Harun could break at the moment. Even if the Flame Spirit King stood utterly powerless, Harun couldn't kill him. Needless to say, he didn't take that well. 

"Sure. Next time, I will prepare unparalleled Lineage Cutting Pills and solve the problem with Plaguebringer diplomacy," Harun jested. But then Jiyan's odd words pealed, and ignoring the Flame Spirit King, he spun to face her. "Wait, wait. Lifetime boyfriend to lifetime husband? There's a difference?" 

"Nah, I just needed something to promote you to. Can't let you get too conceited and think that you're at the top already...even if it's true," Jiyan straightforwardly replied. 

"That was strangely smooth," impressed, Harun blurted out. 

"I learned from the best."

But as the two's mental exchange carried on, dark-purple flames blazed in the Flame Spirit King's eyes. A spontaneous combustion followed—setting the fallen God's body ablaze. "No!" The celestials raged, but by the time the nearby deities made their move, a child-sized purple flame version of the Flame Spirit King had escaped from the body and shot into the distance. 

"Damn it!" One of the Gods slammed his fist against the cavern wall, sending tremors throughout the ground. On the contrary, it was Harun who remained stoic. 

"You let him escape?" Jiyan asked in another mental message to which Harun calmly nodded. "That man is rather resourceful. I already knew that he possessed a secret technique that let him sacrifice the body to take control of the soul and ensure his survival in desperate times," Harun started. Without secret arts, the Heavenly Dream Land's cultivators had very little control over their souls. Even an Empyrean Monarch couldn't escape death by relying on the soul only. "Escape is a big word, though. Since he succumbed to the venom, his existence is ruined. We can use what little juice he has left to mess with Weeping Soul's plans." 

Although the Space Mysteries pervading the atmosphere messed up his tracking abilities, by relying on the nearby Karmic Threads, Harun could see what road Weeping Soul took. Was it the right one? He couldn't tell yet. But as long as the weakened Flame Spirit King and Weeping Soul restrained one another, he could profit from their strife. Activating his Eye of Luminous Treasures, Harun sought and located the mine's treasure troves and now no longer doubted that both the Flame Spirit King and Weeping Soul headed for a disaster. But perhaps that was precisely what the latter sought. josei

…

In this purple flame spirit form, the fallen God put as much distance between Harun and himself as he could. Fear shone in his overstretched eyes, but as he neared the cavern road's end, his soul weakened, forcing him to stop and pant on the ground. "Damn...damn it all! I...hate women!" The Flame Spirit King raged against his fate. With all the secret arts and the few Forbidden Techniques he cultivated, he didn't doubt that he'd soon rise to prominence—becoming an entity at Silav's level. At that time, how could Dilnaz resist him? Perhaps she'd offer herself willingly and satisfy his darkest fantasies. Then they'd hold hands and whisper love in one another's ears. 

Alas, the sane man in the Flame Spirit King's mind realized that he'd gone insane for that woman, and lost himself a long time ago. Thus, as love and hatred intertwined in his depraved mind, he blamed his fate on the opposite gender. 

"I don't think they like you, either." But as the fallen God grumbled, a mocking voice came from the infinitely high ceiling. Alarmed, he raised his eyes, seeking the voice's origin, "And who could blame them," but that same voice now came from underneath him, and right below his chin, the head of a red-eyed doll of a youth watched him with mild interest. "Boo." 

"Aaaargh!" If the Flame Spirit King still had a heart, it would have stopped now. Leaping back, the flaming soul attempted to rush out of the red-eyed youth's range, but no matter how fast he flew, he still stood in the same spot. "Don't bother. Unlike those incompetent Colossi, we Sanguine Dolls are true masters of Space. Even without that, I'd be damned if a mere little tiny God like you could escape from my hands.

But Lucky you! Your soul is the second most potent of all the dimwits that rushed into this graveyard. Worth more than a billion mortal ants. Give your meaningless life purpose by helping sweet mother's recovery," the 20th Landgrave said and popped out of the ground. With a nonchalant grab, he seized the Flame Spirit King's neck—dragging him down an invisible space portal.

Though gravely injured, the fallen expert still possessed 5% of his original strength, more than enough to defeat a fourth-level Ascending God. But in that doll's hold, all strength left his body. "Path Suppression? How can this tiny world have so many monsters?!" The Flame Spirit King wailed—seeing through the genuine problem—forever too late. 

…

Meanwhile, the nine Gods and their Knights faced Harun with vigilance. On the one hand, they owed him their liberation from the Flame Spirit King's grasp. On the other, they were competitors aiming for the mine's resources and wished nothing more than to see a rock squash him into meat paste. Dreading the abilities and ruthlessness he showed, they dared not make a move, but at the same time, Harun knew that with their cultivation bases' protection, the non-hedonists among those Gods didn't have to fear his Attachment Venom—a stalemate thus settled in. 

"Brothers, please accept my apologies. As you know, the Flame Spirit King stops at no evil, engineered countless tragedies and is scorned by billions. My beloved wife almost became his victim, so in a moment of indignation, I lost myself—resulting in this gruesome show." Harun flashed a polite smile and bowed to express sincere "regrets." Seeing this, the Gods and celestials breathed out sighs of relief and immediately changed their stances.

"Nonsense, you sir are a model of our generation. If only one-third of this world's men had such a righteous spirit, how could peace not reign?" 

"With an expert of your moral standard overseeing it, the First Range is blessed indeed." 

Flattering words succeeded one another while the deities masked their antagonism and fears under friendliness. Seeing this, Jiyan shook her head, foreseeing the disaster the fools couldn't see.

"Poor fellows. Whenever Harun bows, someone's life is ruined."