Divine Emperor of Death

Davis opened his eyes and glowing within it was immense joy!

Because, he had not used a single High-Level Grand Beast Stage Magical Beast Soul Essence to advance, but used the remaining souls he collected, including Elder Severin's Soul.

From the efforts he and the duo put in this week, he had gained 3 Mid-Level and 6 Low-Level Grand Beast Stage Magical Beast Souls!

So, even without using those High-Level Grand Beast Stage Magical Beast Soul Essences, he broke through to the Mid-Level Elder Soul Stage without any side-effects!

This time, he knew that his current foundation would hold out since he realized that he had already comprehended and resonated with heaven and earth energy using his soul for these few days.

Furthermore, with the help of the Low-Level Grand Beast Stage Soul Essences, he had consolidated his foundation in the Low-Level Elder Soul Stage.

His body trembled as excitement filled his heart.

'Maybe, I can even breakthrough to High-Level Elder Soul Stage...' Davis imagined as the thought flashed past his mind. Once this thought took hold in his mind, he couldn't get rid of it. 

Acting on it instantly, he started refining those soul essences in an exuberant manner.

Within a few minutes of daybreak, a slight breeze flew out of the cave.

Inside the cave, Davis stood up and went outside, took a deep breath, filled with the smell of morning dew.

He greedily inhaled and exhaled out while his mind and soul felt at peace like it had been rejuvenated from a perfect sleep.

He looked back in the direction of their tent and said, "Time to return..."

Just when he took a step outside the cave, he staggered.

*Thud!~*

When he came back to himself, he realized.

He fell! He actually fell like a man suffering from anemia!

"What!?" Davis gave off a sound of disbelief.

Did he just really fall or was this scenario an illusion?

But then he understood and released a low grunt, "I should have not broken through to the High-Level Elder Soul Stage this quickly..."

He used his two hands to stand up but still felt dizzy. Once he stood up, he felt a little pain in his soul but the next moment, a voice echoed in his head.

"No... It wasn't caused by your backlash but me."

"You?" Davis was confused, "How does this concern you?"

"That's because..." Fallen Heaven uttered but went silent.

"Speak, why are you so hesitant?" Davis shook his head and asked, still feeling dizzy.

"I... devoured a little bit of your... Soul Essence."

Davis was shocked on hearing its words, "You what?"

"As I said, I've taken a slight amount of Soul Essence from you, and it was the best I e..."

"I'm not asking you that! Why on heaven would you absorb my Soul Essence in the first place!? Are you trying to kill me!!?" Davis shouted in his Soul Sea as his eyes trembled.

"Calm down..."

"Even if you say th..."

"I said calm down, otherwise, how can I explain?" Fallen Heaven articulated its words slowly.

Davis took a deep breath and calmed down, his raging heart suppressed by its placative words. He didn't know how it was able to devour his soul without him being even aware of it, so he was interested in its so-called explanation for future defensive measures against it.

"First, when you reached the Elder Soul Stage, I gained an ability."

"Second, I was eager to try out that ability but I also know that you won't ever willingly use it, neither will others."

"Third, since you reached High-Level Adult Soul Stage, I knew you would be still fine after this event."

"In any case, I have only absorbed only a percent of your Soul Essence, and have confirmed that I can temporarily boost my powers that you can use depending upon the amount of Soul Essence you're going to let me devour."

Davis patiently listened, not interfering with its speech. He wanted to admonish it so much but was also curious about what it had to say.

"That's all?"

"Yes, considering it like burning your Soul Essence, or Blood Essence... It is like that, except you are not burning it but letting me devour it."

The air around was cold as it had just been daylight. 

Sun rays shone on Davis but he looked like he had seen a ghost as he was pale white. He took a deep breath again and spoke, "So you did this even while knowing that I'm going to suspect you of reaching for my life again?"

"Yes..."

Davis's lips twitched, "That was a dick move, Fallen Heaven..." 

"I don't care but I learned another thing from absorbing that tiny bit of your Soul Essence!"

Davis narrowed his eyes in anger, "What is that?"

There was still more?

"Isn't it obvious? I can devour you as well!"

Davis's heart shook but it wasn't anything new as he had already considered all the scenarios he could possibly think before if Fallen Heaven ever turned hostile.

He smirked, "Yes, you can but do you think that you'll be able to live without my soul as a base?"

There was a short pause but Fallen Heaven still didn't speak.

"Ho? What's wrong? If you think you can survive without me, go ahead and devour me!" Davis grinned, even more, when he saw it no longer be haughty.

"Spare the scare tactics, Fallen Heaven. You and I are both intrinsically linked by our souls and it is unknown whether one of us would die if the other dies..."

"Why don't you take a leap of faith and devour me now? We'll see if you are able to survive from this gamble..."

Davis spoke with confidence and provocation but inwardly he was feeling the trepidation, deep in his heart.

A few seconds later after a short pause, Fallen Heaven replied, "I've never said that I was going to devour you... I just said that I can devour you, that is all."

"But it seems to remain unknown that if I were to ever devour you, would I still survive in the end?"

"As long as it's unknown, I don't think I will ever play with you... our lives..."

Davis narrowed his eyes but its answer seemed adequate to him.

"No more devouring my Soul Essence then..."

"I just did it for validating my ability, not to offend you..."

"I don't want to hear excuses, and you're not allowed to do anything without informing me, you understand?"

"But..."

"You understand?" Davis asked again, interrupting it.

"... Yes." Came a depressed reply but Davis inwardly heaved a sigh of relief when he heard it.

With this, if it heeded his words, he at least had one less reason to be cautious of it as he still couldn't help but rely on it.

In any case, completely offending it meant death for him as well.

He didn't want to die but if Fallen Heaven was intent on controlling him through cheap tricks or blackmail, he would rather die at his own volition.