Chapter 539: Serendipitous Fate

Sensing his opponent's weakened state, with demonic essence fiercely battling the angelic power coursing through the wounds, Xu Yang transformed into a streak of light and descended before the demonic overlord. The brilliant light of his Asura Sword still shone in his hand.

"Now, I believe we can have a calm discussion."

The Sea Demon instinctively wanted to resist; he would not allow a lowly human from the lower realms to speak to him with such an arrogant tone. However, when he attempted to retaliate against Xu Yang, he finally realized that the injury from that last sword strike was far more severe than he had imagined.

"What the hell? Is this your idea of a negotiation? At least put away your sword, please. Don't I have any dignity?"

The Sea Demon conceded, unable to resist a sarcastic remark. He clearly understood that Xu Yang would not actually kill him at the moment, as the secrets of the Glacial Ruins had not yet been revealed.

"That's no longer important. What matters is whether you are willing to cooperate with me. I, Xu Yang, am not one to abandon allies once their usefulness is over. As long as you promise not to slaughter the creatures in the Glacial Ocean region, I am even willing to advance alongside you to search for the Glacial Ruins. Afterward, I will grant one of your requests. I don't want to hide anything from you; the Glacial Ruins are extremely important to me."

Previously, Xu Yang would never have given such a formidable opponent an opportunity like this; he was well aware of the implications of "letting the tiger return to the mountain." However, this time, clues about the Glacial Ruins were pitifully scarce, and he genuinely feared losing Xiao Hua forever. Faced with such limited information, Xu Yang uncharacteristically chose to compromise.

The Sea Demon seemed to be intrigued by the human before him. "Tell me, what exactly is it that you seek?"

Xu Yang projected a soul message directly into the Sea Demon's mind, injecting the details of his previous battle with the Shepherd Boy.

"What! You... you killed the Demon Rider! Hahahaha... What a turn of events, it's all fate!"

The Sea Demon suddenly burst into laughter, even forgetting the pain from his wounds.

"Is there a problem?" Xu Yang asked, looking bewildered.

"Do you know that back in the Demon Realm, this fellow was my sworn enemy? My failed tribulation also had a great deal to do with him. I can't believe this guy was trapped and killed by his own soul pillar power, and the one who personally ended him was you!"

Xu Yang spread his hands helplessly. "So, you owe me another favor?"

The Sea Demon instinctively recoiled, looking at Xu Yang with disdain. "Are you kidding me? How would you know if I didn't tell you? I'm just acknowledging a fact: it seems I don't dislike you as much as I did before. As you said, perhaps we don't need to be mortal enemies. However, the precondition is that you must acquire the Supreme Sea Pearl. This is the sole and necessary condition for our future cooperation."

Without a second thought, Xu Yang immediately rejected this possibility. "That is the inherited treasure of the Mermaid clan. Their ancestors were the owners of the Supreme Sea Pearl, the first apostles of the ocean—you should be clearer on this than I am. Although I, Xu Yang, desire to find the ruins, I would never do something that harms others for my own benefit. You're overthinking it."

The goodwill the Sea Demon had just developed towards Xu Yang instantly vanished, and he began to show a ferocious expression once more.

"Since your attitude is so resolute, what's there to talk about? Kid, let's keep fighting!"

Boom!

The next moment, as a violent sonic boom erupted, the Sea Demon's demonic soul body expanded once more. A dazzling soul light burst forth, plunging the entire sky of the soul world into darkness.

In just an instant, Xu Yang was startled to find that the laws within his entire soul world had completely failed. His own soul body had, at that moment, completely lost its ability to move, while the demonic light coalescing above his head continued to shine brightly.

"Be careful, this is the true Demonic Domain! I must say, this fellow is a rare mature divine demon beast. You've been without the Taotie for a long time, and without the support of a sacrificial beast, even with your divine inheritance, it's ultimately difficult to contend directly with true outer-realm gods before you condense a divine persona and gain the recognition of the myriad laws of the heavens. However, if you can get its help, demonic power and Asura power are not mutually exclusive; they even share common ground. That would lead to an even more astonishing leap in your overall combat power!"

The voice of the Nine-Colored Universe Bell's spirit transmitted forth, simultaneously fully protecting Xu Yang's soul body.

"Alas... this fellow is incredibly stubborn. Defeating him has already taken all my strength. How can I make him willingly offer himself as a sacrifice to me? That's probably difficult to achieve."

The Nine-Colored Universe Bell chuckled. "You have always been able to create miracles. How do you know it's impossible this time? Furthermore, you should have already sensed that this Sea Demon is very different from truly evil demons. At its core, it is not a tyrannical life form. There should be a deeper connection between you and it!"

Faced with such seemingly unreliable advice from the Bell Spirit, Xu Yang merely chuckled, while simultaneously gathering his powerful soul force to resist the radiation of the demonic light.

Boom!

Intense soul force beams continuously pressed against the surface of the protective Bell Spirit. Unbeknownst to them, the soul force pressure each second was immensely powerful; even the Universe Bell found it difficult to maintain this protective state for long.

"Argh!!" Finally, Xu Yang was pushed to his limit by the light's oppression. A roar erupted from him, and the Angelic Light totem perfectly manifested from his back. A pair of sacred soul-light wings appeared as Xu Yang clearly used his powerful angelic aura to attempt to break through the Demonic Domain before him.

It is important to note that although Xu Yang had received a portion of the life force essence inheritance from the Heart of Angels, this power did not include the Angelic Domain. Therefore, Xu Yang's connection to the angelic lineage was primarily a bloodline inheritance, similar to Long Kun's relationship with the Phoenix blood.

The domain power that truly embodies the ultimate value of a lineage's inheritance is the real core resource. Xu Yang had not mastered the Angelic Domain, so he could not directly suppress the Sea Demon's complete Demonic Domain; in terms of strength, he was clearly a step behind his opponent.

However, Xu Yang was able to combine his Asura Domain with angelic power to dismantle this oppressive force.

"Take this, sword!" Xu Yang roared. The light blade of his Asura Sword flared in his hand, then promptly left his palm, shooting directly towards the colossal demonic totem in the center.

Boom!!

Perhaps because the Sea Demon was injured, the temporarily erected demonic totem was not perfect. Faced with Xu Yang's powerful sword strike, unleashed with perfect timing and positioning, it finally sustained a crack. Immediately after, this crack, accompanied by Xu Yang's further soul force penetration, ultimately led to its collapse.