Ye Litian looked around and found that his few subordinates had all been smashed into meat paste.
Suddenly, a phantom drifted out of his body and quickly flew above the head of a subordinate.
The phantom inhaled lightly, and a white light sphere was sucked out of the corpse.
Then, it swallowed the light sphere in one gulp.
Following the same method, one by one, light spheres were sucked out of the remaining corpses and then devoured.
When the phantom returned to Ye Litian's body, his face flushed.
He said with joy, "To survive a great disaster is to be blessed with good fortune. Qin Shilei, just you wait. In some time, I will surely slay you with my sword."
Just now, when the Soul Devouring Demon attempted to devour Ye Litian, an accident occurred.
This was because the Soul Devouring Demon had already been severely injured and weakened by Qin Shilei.
Ye Litian, on the other hand, possessed a top-tier equipment that protected the soul, coupled with his own considerable strength.
By chance, he ended up merging with the Soul Devouring Demon and gained its soul-devouring talent.
With this fortuitous encounter, Ye Litian no longer proceeded to Lingquan City to investigate and turned back towards Litian City.
Meanwhile, Qin Shilei returned to Litian City and booked a room, pondering how to defend against the soul attacks of the Soul Devouring Demon.
If the Po Wang Purple Eyes were to be upgraded again, with their additional effects, it might be possible to resist the opponent's soul attacks, and even control them instead.
However, Qin Shilei had no clue how to upgrade the Po Wang Purple Eyes.
Alternatively, he could directly control a phantom to enter Lingquan City to investigate, or even exterminate the Soul Devouring Demon.
But phantoms were composed of energy. Continuously using energy attacks like the Devouring Thunder would quickly deplete the energy within, causing them to dissipate into thin air.
After much thought, obtaining a top-tier equipment to protect the soul seemed to be the proper course of action.
Qin Shilei took out a Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman and contacted Zhang Xiaoli.
"Xiaoli, send someone to keep an eye out for anyone selling top-tier equipment that can protect the soul."
"Alright."
Half an hour later, Qin Shilei received a reply from Zhang Xiaoli.
Another hour later, Qin Shilei had returned to the Qin'an Royal Palace in Hope City.
"Xia Yunyan, where is the top-tier equipment you mentioned?"
Xia Yunyan untied a jade pendant from her neck and handed it over. "City Lord, this is the equipment. See if it is suitable?"
Qin Shilei took the jade pendant, which was still warm from her body, and secretly glanced at his wife, seeing her smiling at him knowingly.
He then pretended to be serious as he examined the jade pendant in his hand.
Mystic Spirit Jade Pendant (Purple): This jade pendant possesses the effects of protecting and nourishing the soul. Upon wearing it, spiritual power is doubled, and it has the effect of purifying spiritual power.
"Not bad." Qin Shilei looked up and asked, "Xia Yunyan, what do you want to exchange for this jade pendant?"
"A piece of Enlightenment Tea," Xia Yunyan stated without hesitation.
"Agreed, enough Enlightenment Tea will be provided until you successfully advance to the Gold realm."
Qin Shilei said and then brewed a piece of Enlightenment Tea and handed it over.
Xia Yunyan took it, drank it in one gulp, and turned to Zhang Xiaoli. "Madam City Lord, could you please help my sister guard her progress?"
Zhang Xiaoli smiled and said, "Of course, Sister Yunyan. Rest assured, you can advance here."
Xia Yunyan immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and began her advancement.
Zhang Xiaoli then turned to Qin Shilei and said, "I've had people compile a list just now. Several people wish to exchange for Enlightenment Tea with us. Among them are three City Guardian Tablets, two natural treasures, and one orange-grade top-tier item."
Qin Shilei quickly found the three City Guardian Tablets in the trading channel and directly exchanged them for three pieces of Enlightenment Tea.
The two natural treasures were a branch from the World Tree and a crystal source as tall as a person.
World Tree Branch (Purple): A branch broken from the World Tree, possessing extraordinary effects. If planted, it may grow into a World Tree again under suitable conditions. It can also be refined into a staff, greatly enhancing the power of wood-attribute abilities.
Qin Shilei exchanged for it without hesitation.
At this moment, Zhang Xiaoli had also contacted the seller of the orange-grade item in the chat channel.
Zhang Xiaoli hesitated and said, "Brother Qin, perhaps we can stall for a bit longer, and maybe the price can be pushed down to within five pieces of Enlightenment Tea."
Qin Shilei shook his head. "Let's not take the risk. Once the other party successfully advances to the Gold realm, they might become unwilling to sell this item anymore."
At this moment, a young man, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, painfully placed a mask into the trading system.
As soon as he put it in, Qin Shilei exchanged it for ten pieces of Enlightenment Tea.
This made him even more pained, and he wondered if he had set the price too low.
However, looking at the ten pieces of Enlightenment Tea in his hand, his mood improved.
Zhang Xiaoli spoke again, "Brother Qin, Han Hongyu and Shen Feixue in our mansion have also each contributed a City Guardian Tablet. Should we reward each of them with a piece of Enlightenment Tea?"
"They deserve it." Qin Shilei said, "Also, Duan Tianhe has perfectly completed the task I assigned him, and he should also receive a piece of Enlightenment Tea. However, that fellow has already successfully advanced to the Gold realm, and this piece of Enlightenment Tea might be given to his girlfriend. After some more time, many more people in the mansion should reach a million merit points for their contributions, and they should be promptly allowed to redeem Enlightenment Tea."
After speaking, Qin Shilei picked up a total of five City Guardian Tablets, refreshed their fixed attributes one by one, and then put them into his Qiankun Ring. He would bury these City Guardian Tablets in suitable locations later, and then send out these peerless experts who had successfully advanced to the Gold realm to guard various cities.
He picked up the half-meter-long World Tree branch again.
"Proceed with attribute refresh?"
"Refresh."
Treasure Concealment (Green): The magical effect of the branch is completely hidden, making it appear as an extremely ordinary branch.
High Vitality (Red): The vitality of the branch is greatly enhanced, making it easier to grow when planted.
Radiant Treasure (Purple): The magical effects contained within the branch are fully revealed, and all its functions are doubled as a result. After six months, its own energy will be depleted, and it will turn into ordinary wood.
Qin Shilei thought for a moment, fixed the "Radiant Treasure" attribute, and then handed the World Tree branch to Zhang Xiaoli.
"I hope this can help the World Tree within you grow into a towering tree."
"Thank you, husband!" Zhang Xiaoli happily gave him a kiss.
Qin Shilei then took out the Mystic Spirit Jade Pendant again.
"Proceed with attribute refresh?"
"Refresh."
Crystal Clear (Blue): The material of the jade pendant becomes more crystal clear and highly ornamental.
Iridescent Glow (Blue): The jade pendant emits colorful light, dazzling and magnificent.
Soul Guard (Purple): The soul-protecting effect of the jade pendant is doubled, capable of resisting the three strongest soul attacks from the Platinum realm.
Qin Shilei fixed the "Soul Guard" attribute and then directly wore it around his neck.
He then fixed an attribute similar to "Whale Gobbling Dragon Sucking" onto the newly acquired crystal source.
Afterward, he began to absorb the spiritual energy within it on the other side of the hall.
A day later, when Qin Shilei opened his eyes again, he had successfully advanced to Gold Seven Stars.
Looking up, he saw Xia Yunyan standing beside him.
"Xia Yunyan, congratulations on successfully advancing to the Gold realm."
Xia Yunyan thanked him sincerely, "Thank you, City Lord, for your generous bestowal. I will not disturb you further and will take my leave now."
Qin Shilei nodded. "Alright. However, you will need to prepare yourself. Later, I will send you out to guard a city and appoint you as a副城主 (Vice City Lord)."