Chapter 12: The Enigmatic Gem and Xi Yue’s Secret

As Lin Ling pondered whether to make her move,

“Master! This lizard’s soul isn’t pure! There are some strange things mixed within it!” Little White’s sudden exclamation snatched Lin Ling’s attention.

‘What?’

“What do you mean, ‘not pure’?” Lin Ling asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“It means there are non-spiritual energy substances in its soul. Master, if you sense it more carefully, you’ll find that this lizard’s soul indeed contains other impurities besides spiritual energy.”

Hearing this, Lin Ling once more enveloped the lizard’s soul before her with her spiritual energy.

After a meticulous examination,

Little White was indeed correct; the lizard’s soul was interspersed with strange black granular substances. Yet, Lin Ling found herself somewhat perplexed. Was this truly so unusual? After all, even purified water contained trace minerals.

“Didn’t you tell me before that it’s normal for a creature’s soul to contain some impurities?” Lin Ling inquired.

“Yes, but that applies to most cases. The Spirit Wave Cannon possesses purification abilities, and the Battle Sovereign’s is even more potent. Even if your current strength hasn’t recovered by even ten percent, it’s still more than enough to purify this lizard’s soul. Logically, these impurities shouldn’t still be present!”

Little White replied with unwavering certainty.

Though Lin Ling didn’t fully grasp it, the explanation seemed plausible. At her command, a strand of Lin Ling’s hair once again disintegrated, transforming into countless minuscule needles that plunged directly into the Fiery Dragon King’s soul.

Instantly, the Fiery Dragon King was assailed by an unending torrent of agony. The pain, emanating from the very depths of its soul, forced it to shriek for mercy once more!

“Aaaaargh, have mercy! I’ll do anything! Just spare me!!”

‘Heavens, why hasn’t this demoness stopped yet!’

Unfortunately, Lin Ling couldn’t read its thoughts at this moment; she could only hear its chaotic roars.

To this, Miss Lin Ling even felt a slight displeasure.

After all, it was still early morning, and disturbing the neighbors wouldn’t be good. She was, quite conscientiously, a person of great virtue!

And so, Lin Ling raised her hand and flicked the soul form lightly! The pitiful Fiery Dragon King was instantly disoriented, its senses muddled, and it slipped into a semi-conscious state.

….

….

After several minutes of delicate ‘surgery’, all the black substances within the Fiery Dragon King’s soul were successfully extracted by Lin Ling. The poor Fiery Dragon King, suspended in mid-air by spiritual energy chains, was left teetering on the brink of death.

As for,

the black substances Lin Ling had extracted, they spontaneously converged under the astonished gazes of Lin Ling and Little White, forming a purplish-black gem the size of a marble. At first glance, it was undeniably rather beautiful.

“What is this?”

‘I don’t know. My data contains no records related to this substance,’ Little White replied, a hint of embarrassment in its voice.

‘Is this thing from the Source Star universe?’

Even Little White didn’t know; what exactly was this object?

Lin Ling lay sprawled on the sofa, curiously examining the unusual purplish-black gem.

However,

just as the girl and the cat-like AI were pondering, Lin Ling suddenly realized her spiritual perception could now penetrate the lizard’s soul consciousness!

This meant she could finally read its memories!

‘What a pleasant surprise!’

The young girl couldn’t help but think.

****

Meanwhile,

The Fiery Dragon King watched the human steadily approaching, its heart nearly stopping! Though, it didn’t actually possess a physical heart at the moment….

Utterly incapable of resistance, all it could do now was beg for mercy.

Yet, even after pleading for so long, the human before it showed no intention of letting it go, instead tormenting it with increasing cruelty.

The methods grew more brutal with each instance: first its limbs were severed, then its physical body destroyed, and just moments ago, its soul was tormented. It had no idea what new form of torture awaited it now.

At this thought, the great Dragon King was practically in tears.

‘This human is an absolute devil!’

The Dragon King cried out inwardly.

However, despite its despair, it still had no choice but to continue begging the devil for mercy. It was willing to be a s*ave, anything, for its life was paramount!

In contrast, on Lin Ling’s side,

Lin Ling tilted her head in confusion as she observed the comical, dying lizard soul, still squawking incessantly before her.

‘Is it actually begging for mercy?’

After discerning the thoughts within the Dragon King’s mind, Lin Ling was slightly taken aback.

Alas,

even if it appeared pitiful, she couldn’t possibly let it go. Moreover, if this lizard truly had a hand in Xi Yue’s death, then it would absolutely not escape the fate of having its soul scattered to the winds!

However,

Lin Ling hadn’t expected this so-called ancient creature to be such a coward. She had previously assumed the lizard was cursing her, perhaps uttering phrases like “a scholar can be killed but not humiliated,” hoping for a swift end. Instead, it was begging for mercy? And even offering to serve as a beast of burden.

‘Ah, how comical…’

Jesting aside, she couldn’t neglect the real task.

And so, the young girl slowly closed her eyes, carefully guiding her spiritual energy into the Fiery Dragon King’s soul consciousness. Without the interference of that strange black gem, this exploration proceeded smoothly.

Before long, Lin Ling had learned everything there was to know about the Fiery Dragon King.

From its experiences over the past year since awakening to all its ancient black history and romantic entanglements, Lin Ling now understood everything with perfect clarity. In some respects, she might even know it better than the Fiery Dragon King itself.

However,

After the soul search concluded,

the conclusion Lin Ling reached once again filled her with disappointment.

This so-called Dragon King had indeed gone to Huanan Park, but from the perspective of its memories, Xi Yue was already deceased by the time it arrived.

This proved it was not the killer.

“Sigh… a boring outcome,”

The young girl reluctantly released the Fiery Dragon King’s soul, then collapsed onto her bed with a sigh, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

Meanwhile,

at this very moment, the Fiery Dragon King was ecstatic! In an instant, it felt a surge of hope that it could finally escape.

And so!

The Fiery Dragon King, seizing the opportunity, immediately floated towards the window at the fastest speed it could manage.

Then,

it predictably crashed into something, leaving it disoriented and muddled. It then drifted weakly to the floor, once again lapsing into an unconscious state.

“Foolish lizard. Master had set up a spiritual energy barrier. Daring to ram it with your soul form? Aren’t you afraid your soul will shatter completely? Hmph ⊙ω⊙”

Seeing this, Little White, who had been observing the drama for some time, muttered disdainfully to itself.

Lin Ling was naturally aware of the lizard’s little antics nearby, but now that she knew it wasn’t the killer, she couldn’t be bothered with it.

However, while the lizard wasn’t Xi Yue’s killer, its memories contained other details that greatly intrigued Lin Ling.

The Fiery Dragon King had indeed gone to Huanan Park at the time, and it was heading towards Xi Yue—no, more precisely, towards the black-purple gem in Xi Yue’s pocket.

Back then, that gem was not like its current state, devoid of any spiritual energy fluctuations.

Although its spiritual energy wasn’t strong by Lin Ling’s standards, it had still helped the Fiery Dragon King recover forty percent of its strength.

Furthermore, this gem had actually granted it the ability to block soul searches?! This was quite astonishing.

Lin Ling still didn’t fully understand the Battle Sovereign, but she knew her own body was a high-grade creation of the Creator. For this gem to withstand her soul search indicated that its origins were undoubtedly extraordinary!

What’s more, why did Xi Yue possess such an extraordinary gem?

Could Xi Yue truly not be from Blue Star, or did she have some unique background?

Pondering this, Lin Ling immediately sat up and looked at Little White.

“Can you help me search for all information regarding Xi Yue?”

“That’s not difficult, my Master. Please give me a few minutes,” Little White replied confidently. Its tail then transformed into a USB plug and inserted directly into the computer port.

The next second, various pieces of information about Xi Yue began to appear on the computer screen.

‘It truly lives up to its name as a super AI created by the Mother Goddess; it certainly has some capabilities.’

However, just as Lin Ling was reflecting,

the house phone, which rarely rang more than a few times a year, suddenly blared at this moment. Judging by the number,

–It was her parents calling–

At that instant, the silver-haired girl’s expression abruptly shifted.