The flames on Rod’s body gradually extinguished, and his powerful Spiritual Energy slowly subsided.
In his mind, Asa fell silent without a word, while the Book of Knowledge burst into mad laughter.
"An Extremely Great Soul" is no ordinary soul; the previous Extremely Great Soul was the soul of the Dark Stars.
Although the soul of the Soul Devouring Demon wasn’t equipped with ten sources and fifty portions of Nightmare Fuel like the soul of the Dark Stars, its strength was unquestioned, and it also possessed ten portions of Nightmare Fuel.
Of course, what was most crucial was that the Book of Knowledge saw Divinity.
Merely by killing it, one would gain 3 points of Divinity.
If one also cleared the area of Pollution and completed the mission, how much more would one receive?
The very thought made the Book of Knowledge burst uncontrollably into laughter.
Not just that, strong souls always have special purposes.
If this soul were used as a base, the resurrected Evil Ghost King would become even stronger.
In front of Rod, Soron’s mouth opened so wide that his jaw had dislocated; he never expected that he, who specialized in striking with the Giant Sword, would lose in a slashing contest to his student.
Although his sword was broken and the power of his Giant Slash greatly reduced, he believed that even in his prime, he couldn’t possibly have cleaved the Soul Devouring Demon in two with a single strike.
That one strike from Rod had not only far exceeded his own power, but it also vaguely reminded him of the Shadow of Aran.
"You..." Soron hesitated for a moment before asking, "When did you undergo this transformation?"
With a smile, Rod said, "Master, you’ve been on the battlefield for too long. Haven’t you noticed that my strength has been soaring recently?"
"Is that so?" Soron exclaimed with a sigh, "The last time I saw you, you had just entered the Fire Hall. In the blink of an eye, you’ve now reached the pinnacle of the Hall. I knew you had strong potential, but I thought it would take two to three years for you to reach the position of a Guardian. I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly."
Meanwhile, Jessica, seeing the monster’s body cleaved in two, understood what had happened.
"The soul invasion of the Soul Devouring Demon is so strong," she said, her tone filled with intense annoyance.
"Despite my multiple layers of soul protection, it still invaded."
Soron consoled her, "Don’t worry, Jessica. The only weakness of the Awakened State after Magic Release is the soul, and the most powerful ability of the Soul Devouring Demon is soul invasion. Soul protection isn’t necessarily effective against monsters of that tier."
After a few seconds of silence, with her massive head slightly lowered, Jessica asked, "Master, what happened here?"
Soron let go of the broken sword in his hand and said gravely, "It was my task to clean up the Scar of Death. I had already killed one Soul Devouring Demon, but while fighting the second one, the Spiritual Energy of the entire area suddenly erupted, and the Soul Devouring Demon underwent strange changes. It lost its weakness, my tactics failed, and I was heavily injured, which is why I sent out a Spirit Crow Messenger for reinforcements to Star Ring Town. But I didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly. That Soul Devouring Demon was still in a frenzy, and it found you guys in an instant. I didn’t have time to warn you."
"You knew its weakness had disappeared, and still you called me to strike first?" Rod frowned.
Soron glared at him, "When facing a soul invasion, you have to attack the head of the Soul Devouring Demon to interrupt it. Have you learned nothing from your monster classes?"
Rod said boldly, "I never attended those."
Soron covered his face, "I forgot that you hardly ever attended classes. You might be the Guardian with the worst theoretical knowledge in history."
Rod snorted but didn’t argue. In fact, he knew quite a bit, and in some areas, he could even be considered a Master, but his weaknesses were also clear. In the past, he would have been considered a student hobbling along.
"Master, aren’t you a Second Level Combatant?" Rod queried.
Soron retorted angrily, "Can’t I become stronger? It’s just that due to certain reasons, I couldn’t pass the Spiritual Energy ascension ceremony. But my Spiritual Energy is infinitely close to Eleventh Level, and my actual combat ability is also very close to that of a First Level Combatant, so naturally, I am considered to have First Level Combat Power."
Rod muttered, "That works? Why are the standards so strict for me?"
"You’re a rising star, the standards are different," Soron paused, his expression turning serious, "There aren’t many formal First Level Combatants. Most in the Royal City are like me."
Just how much water is there in these two hundred First Level Combatants then? Probably only the thirty-three Guardians and a few other individuals have true First Level Combat Power, while the rest have combat power that’s close to First Level.
At this moment, the body of the monster had already evaporated, leaving behind only a thick layer of ash, and the massive scar made by the sword on the ground was especially noticeable.
Jessica’s colossal body moved slightly, and the giant snake head looked around.
"Master, how many more Soul Devouring Demons do we need to kill here?" she asked.
Soron said in a deep voice, "According to the Investigation Legion’s intelligence, there were four Soul Devouring Demons lurking in the Scar of Death. I killed one, and you guys killed one, so there should be two left. But after the eruption of Spiritual Energy, the situation has changed. There are unknown monsters lurking in the Scar of Death that can significantly Enhance the Soul Devouring Demons, and we can no longer be sure of their numbers."
"However, with little Rod here, there shouldn’t be a big problem."
Soron turned his head only to see Rod’s Spirit gradually dimming, and the lively Spiritual Energy quickly settled.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Soron was suddenly alarmed and dashed forward like lightning to support him but was stopped by Rod.