Qin Lie and the four great elders of the Soul Race returned to Soul Realm together.
Unlike most of the realms he knew of, the Soul Realm was eternally shrouded by gray white mist. Moreover, it looked like it was composed completely out of water with little to no land at all.
There were some sparse, tiny islands on the sea surface. They were used as parking spots for the Soul Race’s flesh and blood puppets.
“Swhoosh swhoosh!”
Qin Lie and his four Apostles landed on one of these islands.
“Elder Vik!”
Above the island, one Soul Race clansman in his Soul Tree form hurriedly saluted the elders when he saw them.
Qin Lie’s Blood Soul Beast was also floating in midair. He was currently staring toward the distance curiously.
He could sense a strange energy that nurtured the soul inside the infinite sea.
He also knew that most Soul Race clansmen were living inside the strange sea.
The sea was called the Infinite Soul Sea. It was the birthing bed of the Soul Race and the key behind their growth and strength.
“Whoosh whoosh!”
The four Apostles led by Vik left behind their Soul Beast avatars on the island and floated in the air as Soul Trees.
“Where is the patriarch right now?” Vik asked in the Soul Race’s language.
“He’s at the Soul Pavilion. He hasn’t left the place since he went in there,” the Soul Race clansman replied.
“The Soul Pavilion…”
Qin Lie’s soul flew out of his Soul Beast avatar and transformed into a soul figure instantly.
Rays of bluish green light extended from his soul like octopus arms.
The light arms descended into the Infinite Soul Sea, and in that instant he felt like he had become one with the Infinite Soul Sea. His soul kept sinking until he felt like the entire Infinite Soul Sea was crammed into his bed.
While sensing, he discovered green dots shining inside the Infinite Soul Sea.
He realized immediately that each of the green dots represented a Soul Race clansman.
The canvas of green stars lit up inside his head like the stars.
Millions of Soul Race clansmen entered his senses in a moment.
His soul consciousness continued to spread until he felt the bottom of Infinite Soul Sea. There were a lot of strange bubbles down there just like the ones in the innermost depths of the Soul Suppressing Orb.
The strange bubbles were all submerged inside the Infinite Soul Sea. Most of them contained green light dots in them.
This meant that a lot of Soul Race clansmen were living inside the bubbles.
These bubbles were imprinted with the profound laws of the soul. Any Soul Race clansman who cultivated in them would be able to receive the true secrets of the soul.
“Elder Vik, w-who is he?”
On the island, the Soul Race clansman stared at Qin Lie with obvious fear in his eyes.
It was because he felt a strange sensation immediately after Qin Lie’s soul figure had extended his light arms into the Infinite Soul Sea.
He felt as if the Infinite Soul Sea had gained a new master.
Besides that, he noticed that the mysterious ripples were appearing all across the surface of the Infinite Soul Sea. The sea had been calm for several million years until now.
The ripples seemed to be responding so Qin Lie’s soul and thoughts.
It had been millions of years since the Infinite Soul Sea had reacted like this; since the disappearance of the Imperial Soul Monarch.
“Monarch!”
“It’s the monarch’s aura!”
“The monarch has returned!”
Some of the powerful Soul Race clansmen inside the mysterious bubbles perked up suddenly when they sensed Qin Lie.
“Swhoosh swhoosh swhoosh!”
Countless Soul Trees flew out of the Infinite Soul Sea. Every one of them was huge and powerful.
The Soul Trees immediately transformed into soul figures and before moving toward the sea bed where Qin Lie was rapidly.
“Every rank ten Soul Race clansman is coming our way!”
The Soul Race clansman who had a nagging feeling about Qin Lie’s true identity stared at the unbelievable scene before him in shock.
These rank ten soulline warriors had been cultivating the Soul Race’s secret arts for millions of years.
A lot of them used their cultivation as an excuse to avoid congratulating Thamur when the latter was elected as the patriarch.
They didn’t attend when Thamur officially became the Soul Race’s patriarch either.
But today…
Every rank ten soulline expert had shown up after Qin Lie’s arrival.
“Who is he?” the Soul Race clansman asked in a daze.
“My name is Qin Lie.”
“Qin Lie! The Flaming Sun Monarch! How dare you come to our race!”
The Soul Race clansman who was only at rank nine soulline wasn’t strong enough to perceive Qin Lie’s true aura. Shocked, the realization had incited a shrill scream from the soul.
“Elder Vick, w-why have you brought him into the Soul Realm?”
“Shut up, Lyles!” Vick said with a cold snort.
The Soul Race clansman named Lyles was about to throw a retort when he suddenly froze all of a sudden.
It was because three rank ten soulline experts had reached the island during that moment.
All three Soul Race experts stared at Qin Lie like their very lives were depending on it.
The green flames in their pupils was burning brightly, and their souls were trembling with emotion.
“Monarch!”
“Welcome back, monarch!”
“I always believed you wouldn’t die just like that, monarch!”
The three Soul Race experts carefully made their way next to Qin Lie before expressing their subservience.
“M-monarch…”
It was like a bomb had exploded in Lyles’s head.
“You’ve finally come out of your secluded cultivation, monarch?”
“I knew you’d show up at the time of direst need, monarch!”
The Soul Race experts who came later were also screaming in excitement.
“Swhoosh swhoosh swhoosh!”
Even more Soul Race experts appeared to gather around Qin Lie. Everyone’s eyes were burning with zealous passion.
In their eyes, Qin Lie wasn’t just the old Soul Race patriarch. He was an invincible god that deserved their wholehearted admiration.
“Heh!”
Qin Lie let out a chuckle and stopped trying to conceal himself any longer. His ghost transformed into his original appearance.
“The Flaming Sun Monarch!”
“Qin Lie!”
The Soul Race experts were dumbfounded when they saw his true appearance.
Finally, Vick of the Four Apostles explained, “The monarch was hurt when he fought against the Saint God, and he realized then that the Soul Beast wasn’t the best flesh and blood puppet there was. Thus, he lay low and waited while Lieyan Yuan was creating the Perfect Blood. Thanks to the monarch’s secret aid, Lieyan Yuan’s experiment finally succeeded after countless failures. It was then the monarch entered that body and became the master of the Perfect Blood.”
“The Qin Lie who miraculously rose to the apex of the universe, the Qin Lie who wreaked havoc in the Eight Purgatories and became the Flaming Sun Monarch was our monarch all along!”
“Castor tried to resurrect himself, but our monarch has slayed him.”
“Lieyan Yuan tried to enter the ultimate realm, but he too has perished in our monarch’s hands.”
“And finally, our monarch’s real body is soon to become the strongest Abyss Master to have ever existed in the history of the Abyss.”
“The perfect body with thousands of bloodlines in it is the strongest flesh and blood puppet there is.”
“Our monarch is the strongest soul in the universe, and now the strongest body is in his possession as well. When he returns to his peak, he’ll definitely surpass his former self!”
“Then, our monarch will battle against the Saint God of the shadow beings and obtain a decisive victory!”
“The monarch will defend the Soul Race and the universe. We’ll forever be inviolable!”
Vik explained all of Qin Lie’s plans in the ancient language of the Abyss.
The Soul Race experts finally understood the truth and the plot of the Imperial Soul Monarch.
“No wonder Qin Lie was unstoppable no matter where he went!”
“Everything was going according the monarch’s plans all along!”
“Haha, who would’ve thought that the Perfect Blood Lieyan Yuan had spent so much effort to create was to the benefit of our monarch!”
“As expected of our monarch!”