Supreme Emptiness
Chapter 808: Remnant Soul of the Earth Phoenix Great Sage

Chapter 808: Chapter 808: Remnant Soul of the Earth Phoenix Great Sage

He poured out all the burial soil.

At a glance, all he could see were a few rotting feathers.

He threw them aside.

Using a jade trowel, Jiang Fan meticulously leveled the burial soil, piece by piece.

To ensure nothing was overlooked.

Every clump of dirt was ground to dust.

During the process, he found a few more rotting feathers.

An hour passed.

Looking at the countless granules of burial soil scattered across the ground, he couldn’t help but start doubting.

"Could it be that something went wrong?"

Gazing at the last small pile of burial soil left.

He gritted his teeth and patiently smashed it bit by bit.

What if a miracle was hiding in the end?

But even after flattening the last piece of soil.

Still, there was nothing.

Jiang Fan was so frustrated he almost threw the jade trowel in his hand.

"Are you kidding me!"

"Half a day, and this is all I get?"

In the end, apart from finding a pile of rotten feathers.

There was absolutely nothing else!

He was deeply dissatisfied.

Could it be that something had been overlooked within the grave itself?

But he had watched them excavate it.

It was just a small burial mound with nothing else around.

If something were truly here, it had to be within this burial soil.

"This doesn’t make any sense!"

"That endless supply of Earth Phoenix Grass Juice must have a source."

Rubbing his chin, he pondered for a long while.

He turned his gaze back to the soil spread all over the ground.

After a moment of thought, he pulled out the Mountain River Tripod:

"Could it be that some kind of intangible substance is mixed within the soil?"

"For instance, like Yin Marrow, which bursts into Yin Qi when shattered but condenses into crystals when gathered."

After a bit of contemplation, he grabbed a handful of burial soil and stuffed it into the Mountain River Tripod.

He tried activating the small tripod.

The burial soil showed no change.

It seemed that the soil was just plain soil, with no condensed space hiding within.

However.

Jiang Fan carefully noticed a faint red-yellow mist lingering on the surface of the burial soil.

"Oh?"

He revealed a look of tentative disbelief.

He put more of the burial soil into the tripod.

The result.

The faint red-yellow mist became much clearer.

"Hiss, there really is something inside!"

Jiang Fan grew excited and quickly scooped all the burial soil into the tripod.

What was initially a palm-sized tripod automatically expanded to the size of a small burial mound.

As Jiang Fan poured his spiritual power into it.

The red-yellow mist grew denser and more substantial.

Finally.

When it condensed to its utmost limit, a stunning red-yellow feather appeared, suspended inside the tripod.

"This is..."

Jiang Fan scrutinized it carefully, his expression turning a bit strange: "A chicken feather?"

He began doubting his own judgment.

But it was indeed just the feather of a large rooster.

"Could it be that this so-called Earth Phoenix is actually a giant rooster?"

"A rooster cultivated to the level of a True Spirit?"

Jiang Fan felt a little dizzy.

The implications were a bit too much to handle.

Taking a moment to recover, he returned his gaze to the feather suspended in the tripod.

He tried to grab it with his hand, but his palm passed right through it.

It seemed to still be nothing more than an illusory stream of energy.

Jiang Fan couldn’t help but grumble, "After all this, all I get is a useless chicken feather?"

"What a waste of my time."

Cluck, cluck, cluck—

Out of nowhere!

A loud, piercing crow suddenly erupted from the feather!

Immediately afterward, the glowing feather spun, its tip aiming straight at Jiang Fan.

With a *whoosh*, it shot right into his chest.

"What the—!"

Jiang Fan jumped in shock, quickly tearing open his collar to take a look.

A bright feather-shaped mark was now emblazoned on his chest.

It looked as though it had been tattooed on, impossible to rub off no matter how hard he tried.

It was as if the feather had taken offense to Jiang Fan’s earlier complaints and decided to make its home on him out of spite.

The more he disliked it, the more stubbornly it clung to him, refusing to leave.

"How long have you been dead?"

"And you’re still holding a grudge?!"

Jiang Fan felt a surge of exasperation.

This giant rooster must have been a hot-headed creature in life!

Who knew if this feather would bring him trouble.

Suddenly.

He heard faint rustling sounds.

Peering out of the cave cautiously, he was startled to see ants, centipedes, snakes, and various insects all scuttling away as if fleeing from a predator.

He looked down at his chest in astonishment and muttered, "It’s somewhat useful, at least."

"At the very least, I won’t have to worry about being bitten by bugs while sleeping."

Frowning, he brooded for quite a while.

In the end, he sighed and said, "I’ll focus on improving my strength first. I’ll figure out how to get rid of this feather later."

With a thought, he took out the Tribulation Thunder stored within a Heavenly Thunder Stone.

Intending to refine his Undying Blade to the Second Layer.

At the same time.

Carefree Master was fleeing at full speed.

He finally arrived at a patch of amber-colored earth and, after confirming there was no immediate danger around him.

Hastily took out some Healing Pills.

After swallowing them.

The violent churning of blood and flesh in his body finally began to subside.

His life had been saved.

But his vitality was severely depleted.

It would take at least a year to recover fully and return to his peak state.

"You little bastard!"

Carefree Master cursed Jiang Fan with every fiber of his being.

After harboring that grudge for a long while, he turned his gaze to the Space Storage Device in his palm.

"Luckily, he hasn’t reached the Nascent Soul Realm yet."

"If he had, with me this badly injured, he could’ve killed me easily!"

"Who would’ve thought that brat managed to get his hands on the Space Storage Device of Jiangshan First-class Building’s Deputy Pavilion Master."

"Deputy Pavilion Master-grade Storage Devices tend to contain astonishing treasures!"

A smile crept onto his face: "Perhaps this trip wasn’t a total loss after all."

He picked up the storage device, preparing to explore its contents.

Suddenly.

Darkness enveloped him.

At first, he assumed a cloud had drifted overhead.

But as the surroundings grew darker and darker, he looked up—and nearly lost his soul in terror!

It was a Hell Beast!

Its eyes sparkled with amusement as it spoke in human tongue:

"That Little People Clan brat is quite something."

"He almost managed to kill another Nascent Soul."

Almost?

Carefree Master suddenly realized how the Space Storage Device in his hand had come into Jiang Fan’s possession.

That brat had actually killed Jiangshan First-class Building’s Deputy Pavilion Master to claim it.

That bastard—is he really this strong?

But there was no time to think further.

He shot two bolts of fire at the Hell Beast before turning to flee without looking back.

The Hell Beast chuckled faintly, "Can you really escape?"

Its massive form turned into a shadow that surged forward to smother him.

"Ah! No!"

"Spare me~"

A heavily injured Carefree Master stood no chance of surviving that strike.

He was instantly crushed, his body erupting into fragments beneath the creature’s palm.

A palm-sized soul body, clutching two Space Storage Devices, tried to flee.

The Hell Beast let out a sinister laugh, extending its claws to snatch the tiny soul.

A soul body that should have been incorporeal was seized effortlessly by the creature. Amid Carefree Master’s wailing screams, it tossed him into its mouth.

Crunch, crunch, crunch—

Ahhhhhh~~

A gruesome mix of chewing sounds and agonized screams echoed from the Hell Beast’s maw.

Mere moments later.

It tilted its head back and swallowed.

A Nascent Soul expert had been devoured alive.

Soon after.

The Hell Beast’s enormous form began to shrink.

Until it transformed into an aged humanoid body.

Looking into its eyes.

They were identical to Carefree Master’s!

The Hell Beast, upon consuming a soul, could mimic the exact appearance of its victim’s physical body!

It opened its mouth and spat out two Space Storage Devices.

One belonged to the Carefree Master.

Having consumed his soul, the Hell Beast seemed to have absorbed his memories as well.

With a mutter of an incantation, it easily opened the storage device.

Glancing through it briefly, it frowned: "Not here?"

"So that burial soil is still with that Human Clan brat?"

"The burial soil contains a remnant soul of the Earth Phoenix Great Sage."

"Even I dare not disturb it lightly."

"That Little People Clan brat better not awaken the remnant soul and end up killing himself."

After a pause.

A flicker of cruelty passed through its eyes: "That brat’s Spiritual Pet took my nemesis, the Merit Divine Pearl."

"I must reclaim it."

With that thought, it retrieved a set of black robes from its Space Storage Device.

Smirking, it said, "Isn’t he searching the world for the Hell Beast?"

"Let me grant his wish."

"By delivering myself to him."