Divine Emperor of Death

The Crystallized Flame Bead directly absorbed the Mid-Level King Beast Stage Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape's Blood Essence as it seemed to be assimilating with it. Davis let the bead go because he felt like his palm would be burned by the surge of deep crimson light. It was sizzling hot, but even though he let it go, it still stayed in the air with the help of some kind of force while absorbing the blood essence.

Soon, in a few minutes, the crimson light faded while the Crystallized Flame Bead returned back to its original glow. However, Davis saw that its luster had increased while the patterns it held had experienced a bit of change. He could tell that it had definitely improved by its aura, but not by a large margin.

'Perhaps, I need only one more Mid-Level King Beast Stage Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape to improve it to high or peak quality treasure of Low-Level Emperor Grade...'

Low-Level and Mid-Level Emperor Grade denoted that a treasure's prowess is from Low-Level to Peak-Level Eighth Stage, and with just two levels to differentiate the prowess of the eighth stage, quality naturally becomes more of a requirement to be obsessed with.

Nonetheless, Davis smiled.

Now that he confirmed that the Crystallized Flame Bead could be improved, all that was left was to refine more Scorched-Crystal Crimson Apes until he brings it to peak quality of Mid-Level Emperor Grade. Surely, with that kind of a feast, he felt Starcy would unquestionably mutate into something else when she breaks through to Emperor Grade.

In fact, the result might be the same if Sophie fed Starcy the Crystallized Flame Bead from now, so it doesn't matter if he brings it to the peak quality of Mid-Level Emperor Grade. He mused that the only difference would be that the feast would run out when Starcy reached Emperor Grade as opposed to reaching Emperor Grade and still having flames to feast on.

The truth was that Davis felt that he would find it difficult to refine High-Level and Peak-Level King Beast Stage Scorched-Crystal Crimson Apes at this moment because of his comparatively low Soul Forging Cultivation. He knew that only if he broke through into the King Soul Stage would he be able to refine, but then, what about improving his foundation or prowess?

He couldn't afford to keep Sophie waiting either as he felt that it wasn't worth it. Besides, when he checked the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Apes carcasses in Nadia's spatial ring, he couldn't find any one of them possessing a single Crystallized Flame Bead. From this, it could be seen how rare it was that he obtained one on his first kill.

After a moment of contemplation, Davis decided, 'Alright, I don't think it is necessary to improve the Crystallized Flame Bead till the peak quality of Mid-Level Emperor Grade. I think it would do if improved to the low quality of Mid-Level Emperor Grade...'

That meant he would have to refine and condense blood essence out of two or more High-Level King Beast Stage Scorched-Crystal Crimson Apes depending on the purity before handing the improved Crystallized Flame Bead to Sophie.

Once he made the decision, he knew what to do now, but there were still two choices placed in front of him to make, whether to increase his soul prowess, which might take months, or head to the Dark Thunder Island for added benefits of comprehending Lightning Laws.

The former could be done by refining Low-Level King Beast Stage Soul Essences to reach the very peak of Peak-Level Supreme Soul Stage before continuing to refine Peak-Level Lord Beast Stage Soul Essences to see if it could improve his soul prowess.

The latter gave similar benefits along with comprehension of Lightning Laws if he was not wrong. The former's problem was that it would take months to verify this theory, so he felt that it would be better if he could head to the Dark Thunder Island first. He felt like he didn't have much time to waste and had to adapt.

Davis turned to look at Sophie, who came closer along with Nadia.

"How did it go?"

"It was a failure..." Sophie spoke, straight-faced with wide eyes.

She knew he was asking about her progress in re-manifesting her Law Manifestation and was a little ashamed to tell him that she had failed.

"As expected, you probably just need one more push, which is this Crystallized Flame Bead..." Davis grasped the crimson bead in his hand before storing it in his spatial ring, "However, it's still not time yet as I've not improved it to the level I feel it should be..."

Sophie thought of saying otherwise as she felt as she was needlessly wasting his time, but she pursed her lips and nodded.

"I understand... and thank you..."

Davis chuckled before he turned to look at Nadia, "Nadia, just leave four High-Level King Beast Stage Scorched-Crystal Ape Carcasses for me. You can eat all the remaining ones, including the Peak-Level King Beast Stage Scorched-Crystal Crimson Apes!"

Nadia blinked, "Master isn't going to sell all these carcasses and crystal cores for wealth...? I didn't hun-"

"Enough, Nadia..." Davis interrupted, "If I say you can have it, then you can..."

Nadia realized that she was about to slip up her master's secret technique. She panicked as she nodded her head, but she also felt moved. If she wasn't wrong, she knew that these carcasses could sell for hundreds and thousands of Peak-Level Spirit Stones, and yet, it had been given to her for her growth.

She wanted to say that she can hunt her own food, and indeed she can with her strength, but when she recalled who was responsible for her current state and prowess, she gratefully spoke.

"Thank you, master..."

Davis frowned with a smile, "What's with you two thanking me suddenly? Aren't we all already one family?"

He lightly laughed as he saw the two beauties slightly blush, his mind going somewhere else before he brought it back.

"Alright, we're heading to the Dark Thunder Island now, so it's your turn, Miss Navigator."

"Ah, yes!" Sophie responded before she beamed with a smile.

It was time for another stormy adventure! The Dark Thunder Island was several islands away to the north, so it should take anywhere between a few hours to a day or more to reach!

======

Davis sat there in a well-designed hall that had two doors to a large bedroom and a kitchen. He sat there in the middle of the hall on a cushion, digesting whatever content he had absorbed from the Passion Library of the North-West Dual Lotus Abode.

Yes, this was none other than the Solitary Soul Avatar, waiting in Drake's Abode. It had been more than a day since he began to wait for Drake to arrive with Jade Sua, but they still didn't show up in his room or contact him through a message talisman.

However, so many things did happen that he was unable to concentrate on digesting knowledge for a while, for exactly two hours.

Yes, it was the time when Davis had fainted.

At that moment, when the main body lost consciousness, he simultaneously felt his connection with the main body and the soul body in the Purple Guest Palace severed from him. It was one hell of a scare for the Solitary Soul Avatar!

Fortunately, the Solitary Soul Avatar knew why the main body had fainted, and although the connection was severed, he could still feel the other's presence, that the main body was still alive. Otherwise, he would've rushed back to help himself or the Purple Guest Palace instead of concentrating on his current goals, which is to find Shirley after completing the trade here.

When the main body had woke up, his connection was restored with the main body and the soul body left in the Purple Guest Palace as well before he learned that both bodies had been in a state of coma for those two hours.

Luckily, no one in the Purple Guest Palace knew about the soul body fainting because they were all secluded in cultivation. Otherwise, they would've all panicked, but he could've contacted them to calm them down as he possessed a messaging talisman to contact all of them, and so did the main body.

The soul body left behind wasn't the only means of communication as Davis had prepared for most contingencies. After all, he couldn't afford to let his guard down and get them all killed by a concealed or a rebellious group present within the Alstreim Family.

But with this event, he understood that while both were the same, they were different because their soul essences were separate. The Solitary Soul Avatar was born when Davis split apart thirty percent of his soul essence in a ruthless manner. That's why even though they were one and the same, they possessed separate consciousness but not separate minds.

For the same reason, the Solitary Soul Avatar could not sense Nadia's presence either since it was born long before Davis had contracted Nadia's soul with a beast pact. They just didn't have a soul connection with each other.

Nevertheless, that's why he had not fainted.

Perhaps, even if the main body dies, the Solitary Soul Avatar could still afford to remain alive, but he wasn't sure about it unless it happened.

At this moment, Davis's eyes shot open as he turned his head and gazed at the door.

"Come in..." He spoke.

The door was pushed open, and three figures walked inside, a man dressed in a red-robe and two women draped in blue robes that made them all look attractive and charming.

However, there was a woman who wore a beautiful blue-veil on her face while her mesmerizing eyes that were visible appeared to be gentle yet cautious. She scanned Davis before her rosy lips moved.

"So he is the close friend you spoke about, Drake?"