Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1788: The Mystery of Souls

A single soul experiment was enough to leave three generations of the faction drained and weary.

Feylis had begun the process full of enthusiasm, but by the end, there was scarcely a trace of a smile left on her face.

Mikaeli, the Rank Five black mage, was extremely cunning.

After learning that Sein and the others intended to strip away and destroy her soul, the old hag desperately tried to merge completely with Leena’s soul.

She even sacrificed large portions of her own soul essence for Leena to devour, using it to strengthen her own existence.

From Leena’s perspective, it meant she gained the soul energy that a Rank Five mage accumulated over tens of thousands of years without lifting a finger.

During the experiment, Feylis shared many profound truths and insights with Sein—knowledge that had previously been far beyond his reach.

“When we were low-ranking mages or knights, we pursued growth in mental focus, mana, and physical constitution. Even after reaching Rank Four, that pursuit simply became a matter of gaining better control over the power of laws. But for truly high-ranking beings, especially those who aspire to step into the Overlord realm, the soul is actually the most important.”

“Have you heard of an Overlord’s Omnipotent Soul?” she asked.

“Yes, I recall reading a little about it in Sky City,” Sein replied respectfully.

“Sky City is the repository where our Magus Civilization has preserved its wisdom and knowledge for countless millennia. You should visit it more often when you have the chance. As a Rank Five mage, you’ll gain access to many higher-level secrets as your Arcanist rank rises as well,” Feylis advised.

“Then again, I only began studying the Overlord’s Omnipotent Soul after I reached the peak of Rank Six. Now that I’ve returned to Magus World, I should make time for a visit to Sky City myself.”

She continued, “For overlord-level beings, soul energy forms the very foundation of their power. In fact, it replaces the roles of ordinary elemental power and even physical flesh. As long as the soul exists, one can exist forever! That’s why, for Rank Sixes who aspire to break into the overlord realm, achieving a qualitative transformation of the soul is the most critical step.”

“As for Thomk, his combat abilities are rather average, but his magic is strange and unpredictable. If he ever reaches the peak of Rank Six, he might actually have an advantage over me when it comes to breaking through to Rank Seven,” she mused.

Though Feylis was not a master of soul magic, the mysteries of the soul she revealed still left Sein feeling deeply overwhelmed.

Seeing that Sein’s hair had turned noticeably grayer from worrying about Leena, Feylis reassured him. “At least for now, your little wife isn’t in any immediate danger. In fact, she has gained quite a bit from this. Given the strength of her soul, she might even break through to Rank Five in a few more years.”

She redirected her gaze at Leena. “That Rank Five black mage hiding inside her isn’t stupid either. She knows that once she fully consumes Leena, she’ll end up being eliminated by you and me!”

“Honestly, merging her soul with Leena’s isn’t the best for her either. When their memories blend together, will she still be herself? Will Leena still be Leena...?” She sighed.

“Anyway, if using external force proves impossible, you could try negotiating with her—see whether she would be willing to withdraw from Leena’s body voluntarily,” Feylis suggested.

After half a year had passed with little progress, Sein could only reply gloomily, “I understand.”

***

Feylis remained at Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes for another two months. She did not leave until she had finished inscribing numerous magic chains onto Leena’s body.

These magic chains were specifically designed to counter Mikaeli’s Cinderbone Flame.

Feylis herself was an expert pyromancer. Even if she could not stop Mikaeli’s soul from attempting to fuse with Leena’s, she could still suppress her in matters that fell within her expertise.

With these magic chains in place, Mikaeli would find it extremely difficult to wield her Cinderbone Flame even if she managed to seize control of Leena’s body.

This effectively left Mikaeli semi-crippled, allowing Sein to keep her under better control in Feylis’ absence.

Although Feylis had departed, Lorianne remained.

Sein had already received the Sacred Fruit two months ago.

The pale golden fruit actually looked strikingly similar to the Golden Apples of Titan World.

Aside from being smaller, somewhat conical, and less plump than a Golden Apple, its aura and the vitality it contained were remarkably similar!

After completing an initial round of sampling and analysis, Lorianne confirmed that the Sacred Fruit could indeed be fused with the Golden Apple Essence to create a restorative liquid even more precious than the Golden Apple Potion.

Lorianne also asked Sein whether he truly wanted to refine the Sacred Fruit into potions. If consumed directly, its enhancement effect on Sein himself would certainly surpass that of a single potion.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Sein replied firmly. “If consumed directly, the Sacred Fruit would only benefit one person. But if it’s refined into potions, you, Grandmaster Feylis, Master Gregory, and the others can all share in its benefits.”

Feylis served as one of the commanders on the Shadowbat Civilization front. With her help, Lorianne was able to extend her stay in Magus World.

To refine this new type of potion, Lorianne gave it her full effort. Feylis also used her own connections to obtain numerous rare materials.

Sein had never even heard of some of them—for example, blood from a Rank Six Fairy King of the Activator Fairy World, a material so rare that money alone could never purchase it.

The mention of Rank Six Activator Fairy Blood reminded Sein of the tiny sample of overlord-level fluid he had stored in his laboratory.

After thinking about it for a long time, Sein shook his head and decided not to mention it to Lorianne.

He had already studied that liquid himself. It contained very little life force, but its unusual properties were precisely why he had preserved it.

Besides, revealing it to others would not be wise. He doubted the Titan overlord would appreciate him experimenting with it.

It was better to treat it as an extremely precious specimen in his collection room.

***

Leena’s issue remained unresolved, and Lorianne’s new potion was still incomplete.

However, two groups returned to Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes one after another.

The first to return was Tourmaline.

She had long since come back to Magus World and had been wondering where Sein had disappeared to all this time.

Unable to sense his presence, Tourmaline spent the past two years soaking in the warm waters of the Boundless South Sea, taking a brief respite.

The moment she sensed Sein’s aura again, she immediately opened her eyes and swam back along the Verdant Wave Canal.

The second group to return to the Divine Tower of Ashes consisted of several divine tower mages, including Marie, along with Sia and Reina.

Their rotation periods ranged from a little over a decade to several decades.

Sein had long promised to commission space fortresses for Sia and Reina, and preparations for establishing Sia’s knightly order were also due to begin.

The two Rank Four female knights’ return to Magus World was mainly for these two matters.

Sia rarely visited Sein’s laboratory unless it was for body-tempering experiments.

So after returning to the Divine Tower of Ashes, it was Reina who came to report to him.

That day, as Reina approached Sein’s laboratory, a sudden, soul-piercing scream erupted from inside, making her flinch involuntarily.

Wondering what kind of bizarre experiment was taking place within, Reina hesitated for a moment before slowly pushing open the laboratory door.

The sight inside made even this battle-hardened knight flush bright red.