A beam shot out, striking Su Zhou’s left hand.

But then, Su Zhou watched as the counter-attack beam—one that seemed to concentrate all the Shepherd of Spirits’ power—shattered the instant it struck his left hand. Like water crashing against a rock, it broke apart. Spilling Spiritual Light streamed from between his fingers and scattered into the distance.

[True Spirit Undying]

Throughout the entire process, all he felt was his left hand growing a little cold, as if a good deal of his Life Force had been dissolved. ’I’ll probably have to eat a few extra meals to get it back...’ As for the deeper, more absolute aspect of the attack, it had been overpowered by an even greater absolute.

"What was all that flashy nonsense?"

Su Zhou blinked, genuinely confused. The beam’s appearance had been so dramatic that he’d been sure he was about to lose yet another hand. ’Weird. Why do I always seem to lose a hand whenever I fight a remotely strong opponent?’ But that clearly wasn’t the case this time. At most, his left hand just felt a bit heavy, stiff like it had been from playing with ice for too long as a kid.

"Don’t be an idiot. Next time you see a beam like that, remember to dodge," Yara reminded him via their mental link. "You’re only fine because of True Spirit Undying, which makes you immune to most decrees. Otherwise, if that had been a Decomposition Technique of the same tier, you probably would have... lost a couple of fingers this time. You really do need a Defensive Magical Artifact. Relying on your physique to tank everything all the time really makes a snake worry."

"Wait, True Spirit Undying isn’t just for show?" Su Zhou was even more shocked. "Didn’t you tell me it was useless before?"

SNAP. Yara didn’t reply, and Su Zhou said no more. He simply clenched his fist, causing the residual, deep-gray Spiritual Light to instantly shatter and fall like a rain of Spiritual Light.

"What?!"

[WHAT?!]

Forget the Shepherd of Spirits, who was frozen in place with shock. Even the Artifice Sage, watching the live broadcast, cried out in alarm, unable to maintain his usual composure: "[He can even block a Death Decree?! Is his Life Force hundreds of times greater than a normal person’s?!]"

’A Death Decree that could kill a blue whale in a single strike... I’ve already advanced to the Extraordinary level, and I even used a Celestial God Factor Crystal as a catalyst... and I couldn’t even take off one of his fingers?!’

In reality, that wasn’t all. Even without True Spirit Undying, that Death Decree still wouldn’t have killed Su Zhou. Of course, Yara had no intention of telling him that. One should always dodge an enemy’s attacks, not just face-tank them. He couldn’t be allowed to get reckless just because he was unkillable. It was important to gradually cultivate the good habit of caution.

"Wait! To be able to withstand a Dead Tutor’s Death Decree, you must be one of the Celestial God’s Favored Clan too, right? There’s no need for us to..."

At that moment, Thunder Light flashed in the sky again. Despair filled the Shepherd of Spirits’ eyes. It knew that with the failure of its final counter-attack, its doom was sealed. So, it grasped at every opportunity, trying to carve out a path to survival. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

’Control a Sea Beast to escape? But the nearest one is still kilometers away. We’re in the middle of the ocean, and I’ve already devoured all the spare Souls. Even the core of my Netherworld, the Ghost Ship Cargo Vessel, has disintegrated... To be honest, I have so much more I want to say. A being like me shouldn’t die so rashly here.’

But Su Zhou never chatted with his enemies—unless he was the one who needed to stall for time. So, in the next instant, dazzling Thunder Light gathered into a massive column of lightning. It tore through the clouds and the atmosphere and, with a ferocious roar and heat so intense it vaporized the seawater, engulfed the Shepherd of Spirits.

Lightning streaked across the sky, eclipsing all other light.

The fleet’s third wave of artillery fire arrived, blanketing the entire area. The bombardment was so intense it felt as if the very air was being torn to shreds.

When the Gale blew all the smoke and steam away, a deep-gray Evil Soul emerged on the surface of the still-roiling, superheated sea, radiating a resentful Soul Light.

Leader of the Celestial God Descent Association, ranked ninth on the Global Dangerous Extraordinary Wanted List, codename: ’Shepherd of Spirits’.

Death confirmed.