The Crazy Crocodile Demon King had never cared one whit about the fate of Xue Lian's physical body.
His feigned intent to engage Yang Kai in close-quarters combat was purely a ruse. The moment Yang Kai's mind relaxed, he planned to send his spiritual soul into his sea of consciousness and seize possession of his body.
He had almost succeeded!
His spiritual soul had indeed breached Yang Kai's sea of consciousness as planned. Now, all that remained was to devour Yang Kai's own spiritual soul, and he would claim this body and all its wondrous secrets for himself.
The Crazy Crocodile was supremely confident. Although he had lain dormant for tens of thousands of years, his soul force weakening with the passage of time until he nearly dissipated, a starved camel was still bigger than a horse. His power of Divine Sense was still far beyond what any ordinary Return Void Realm cultivator could match.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to possess Xue Lian's body so swiftly in the first place.
Xue Lian had, after all, been an elite within the Return Void Realm.
But the moment he fully entered this scorchingly hot world of consciousness, he felt a vague premonition of trouble.
"Your Divine Sense... it's actually a Mutated Divine Sense!" the Crazy Crocodile shrieked in alarm.
"You flatter me," Yang Kai replied flatly, gazing at him without any urgency. His tone was as casual as if he were simply chatting with a friend.
The Crazy Crocodile's brows knitted together. He cast his gaze around, and soon, his attention was drawn to the center of the sea of consciousness, where a precious island radiated prismatic light. In that instant, his eyes widened to the point of bursting, filled with utter disbelief. He pointed a trembling finger toward it. "Could that be... the legendary Soul Warming Lotus?"
"Elder recognizes the Soul Warming Lotus?" Yang Kai sounded surprised.
The Crazy Crocodile's expression darkened. "This King has drunk more water than you've walked roads! How could I not have heard of a supreme heavenly treasure like the Soul Warming Lotus?"
This brat actually possessed a Soul Warming Lotus! What shocked him even more was that this Soul Warming Lotus had actually achieved the prismatic form.
Having such a supreme treasure nurturing his sea of consciousness, it was no wonder this brat's Divine Sense was monstrously powerful and his sea of consciousness so dense. Legend said this thing could nourish a warrior's soul and bolster soul force at all times. The effect might not be obvious over a short period, but over a long time, the results would be magnificent.
It could save a warrior countless years of bitter cultivation!
Tens of thousands of years ago, when the Crazy Crocodile was still active in the world, he had naturally heard of the Soul Warming Lotus, but had never been fortunate enough to see one. He never expected that tens of thousands of years later, while attempting to possess Yang Kai, he would lay eyes on one with his own eyes.
He just didn't know if this prismatic Soul Warming Lotus had been obtained by Yang Kai in this state, or if it had evolved on its own.
The former seemed more likely! The evolution of the Soul Warming Lotus was incredibly difficult; how could it possibly evolve into the prismatic form so casually?
This brat's luck was absolutely heaven-defying! The Crazy Crocodile marveled inwardly.
His ability to become a Demon King was testament to his exceptional innate talent and bloodline. He had also encountered numerous opportunities and fought his way up to attain his former status and strength. But compared to the fortunes Yang Kai had encountered, his own were simply a pile of garbage.
He gazed greedily at the prismatic precious island, took a deep breath as if to calm his surging emotions, then turned his head to look solemnly at Yang Kai. He declared in a loud voice, "Brat, this King has indeed underestimated you. It seems there will be a bitter battle ahead, and I wonder who will die and who will survive in the end!"
The opponent's soul force was not inferior to his own currently, and he had the Soul Warming Lotus to aid him. The Crazy Crocodile Demon King no longer had absolute certainty that he could devour Yang Kai's spiritual soul.
He now regarded his opponent as someone capable of facing him head-on.
"I think the latter possibility is more likely," Yang Kai chuckled in response, his expression one of serene composure, completely unruffled, showing not the slightest hint that he took the Crazy Crocodile Demon King seriously.
"You are too arrogant, brat! It's time you received some lesson so you don't look down on the heroes of the world."
"Don't believe me?" Yang Kai tilted his head, a mocking smile playing at the corner of his lips. "Forget it. I won't waste words with you. The sooner I kill you, the sooner this is over."
As he spoke, Yang Kai pointed a finger toward the sky above.
The Crazy Crocodile didn't know what Yang Kai was doing and looked up suspiciously.
An incredibly peculiar elliptical shape imprinted itself upon his vision. Right in its center was a slit. At first glance, it looked like a tightly closed eye, exuding an air of profound mystery.
And accompanying Yang Kai's gesture, that slit slowly creaked open.
Then, a point of golden light bloomed from within.
The golden light intensified, eventually forming a pillar of light that shone down from high above, enveloping the Crazy Crocodile Demon King's spiritual soul.
Within that golden light, there seemed to be intermingled five-colored radiance!
An ineffably profound power wrapped around the Crazy Crocodile Demon King's spiritual soul, actually making him feel as though he couldn't move, as if he were bound by this beam of golden light.
"What is this?!" the Crazy Crocodile screamed in terror.
The instant he was touched by the golden light, he sensed something was wrong. His own soul force seemed to be evaporating rapidly, like snow exposed to a blazing sun. This discovery struck him with horror, and he began to struggle desperately.
The golden light wavered slightly, and the five-colored radiance within it seemed on the verge of being unable to restrain the Crazy Crocodile Demon King.
Yang Kai's brow arched in surprise.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was an innate supernatural ability of the Great Demon God. It could unleash the Soul-Destroying Golden Light, which possessed an extremely potent suppressing effect against spirits and souls. Yang Kai had used it countless times, always successfully.
Although the Great Demon God had remained at the Holy King Realm until his death, his innate ability now belonged to Yang Kai. The power of the Soul-Destroying Golden Light had grown along with Yang Kai's own strength.