When the Soul Ascendancy expert who had created him eventually died, the power sustaining him gradually began to fade.
His cultivation dropped drastically.
Eventually, his strength became comparable only to someone at the initial stages of the Spirit Core Formation Realm.
Even while fighting Grey earlier, his consciousness had not been truly in control.
His mind had remained silent while his body was manipulated like a puppet by the residual will left behind by the Soul Ascendancy expert.
That was why his expression and the emotions within his eyes had felt so contradictory.
But now…
Now that the poison had weakened him to the brink of death, the foreign will controlling him was finally losing its grip.
Control over his body slowly returned to him.
However, instead of feeling fear, resentment, or unwillingness toward death…
He felt only happiness.
Pure happiness.
"Finally… I am free…" the middle-aged man whispered softly with a faint smile.
His gaze slowly drifted upward.
At the very top of the massive crystal palace, a cold and indifferent head gazed down upon them like a silent god observing insignificant insects.
But the middle-aged man no longer cared.
His vision was already beginning to blur.
Darkness crept slowly into the corners of his sight as his life faded away.
Soon, he would finally die.
Yet just at that moment,
A shadow suddenly appeared before him.
Before he could react, blazing white flames erupted into existence and engulfed his body and soul.
The flames burned with terrifying intensity.
They did not simply burn flesh.
They burned the soul itself.
The middle-aged man's eyes snapped open in shock as he stared at the person who had attacked him.
Standing before him was another young man who had descended into this place at around the same time he had.
The young man's face was stained with fresh blood, and his entire body was riddled with injuries.
Despite that, his expression remained cold and detached.
There was no hesitation in his actions.
With ruthless precision, he extracted the middle-aged man's remaining soul and life force as the white flames devoured everything.
Within only a few breaths, the middle-aged man's body was completely burned into ashes.
The blazing white flames returned calmly to the young man's outstretched hand.
He then raised his sleeve and wiped the blood from his face.
Afterward, he slowly turned his gaze toward the unconscious Grey lying on the ground nearby.
His voice was quiet as he spoke.
"His soul and life force will be very beneficial for little Grey."
"I cannot allow such a thing to go to waste."
With that, he clenched his hand.
The white flames along with the captured soul aura and life force contained within them, instantly shrank and disappeared into his body.
The surroundings fell silent once more.