Realm of the Night God

When Yang Haoran swallowed the Death Mark Seal, he initially intended to keep it a secret or make some modifications to the story. After all, it was not a glorious act to consume the Death Mark Seals of other Night Watch members to enhance oneself; it might leave a negative impression on the significant figure before him.

However, after some consideration, Yang Haoran decided to be honest about it. Otherwise, it would be challenging to explain how a newcomer who had joined Night Watch just a few months ago managed to unlock the heaven soul. Although he revealed the incident, he tried to portray himself as a victim to minimize the impact.

At that time, he was indeed a victim, but the details were somewhat different from what he was presenting now. He had willingly swallowed the blood-red eyeball, and without doing so, he wouldn't have fallen under the possession of Zhong Siyu.

However, he chose not to disclose this information. He wasn't foolish enough to reveal his secret collaboration with Zhong Siyu to the person in front of him, as doing so might lead to consequences similar to Deng Feng's fate.

Regardless of the reasons for collaborating with a malevolent spirit, for an Underworld Envoy, it was not an honorable deed. Joining forces with a ghost against one's own kind made the situation even more sinister.

"At that time, I was hit by the soul-scattering needle of the spirit master Duda. It was a seemingly fatal situation, but unexpectedly, it gave me the opportunity to successfully unlock the heaven soul."

"The malevolent spirit sensed that I was about to unlock the heaven soul and tried to stop me. However, due to the ongoing battle with spirit master Duda, she couldn't intervene. In the end, although she successfully killed Duda, I managed to unlock the heaven soul. The malevolent spirit, in frustration, consumed Duda's soul and had to choose to leave my body."

"Successfully killing Deng Feng and later eliminating the spirit master Duda took a toll on the malevolent spirit. At that moment, I had just unlocked the heaven soul, and my physical condition was much better than hers. She realized she couldn't gain anything from me and chose to escape."

As Yang Haoran spoke, a sense of shame appeared on his face, and he sighed.

"Ah, it's embarrassing to admit that I thought I was facing imminent doom that night. I never expected to unexpectedly unlock the heaven soul. Everything happened so suddenly that I was in shock for a long time. When I finally came to my senses, the malevolent spirit had already fled. Otherwise, I might have been able to detain her, even if I couldn't defeat her, but holding on until the divine envoy appeared should not have been a problem."

Although Yang Haoran spoke as if it were all true, the man in black furrowed his brow, seemingly not entirely convinced. He stared at Yang Haoran seriously, as if trying to discern something from him.

Yang Haoran noticed the doubt in the man's expression but chose to remain silent rather than hastily explain.

Say what needs to be said, and firmly keep silent about what shouldn't be said. If possible, say less; never say more.

After a moment, the man in black finally spoke, "If what you're saying is true, then Deng Feng deserves to die."

The man in black was more concerned about Deng Feng, the Burial Master. As for how Yang Haoran opened the heaven soul and how the malevolent spirit Zhong Siyu escaped, it seemed that he wasn't overly concerned.

Detecting the skepticism in the man in black's tone, Yang Haoran quickly assured, "Divine envoy, everything I said is true, not a single word is false."

At this point, Yang Haoran intentionally changed his expression, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, by the way, there's someone who can testify that everything I said is true, absolutely no falsehood!"

Upon hearing Yang Haoran's statement, the man in black raised an eyebrow. Before he could inquire further, Yang Haoran took out a soul from the soul gathering bead.

This soul belonged to none other than Master Jiang!

"At that time, when Deng Feng attacked us, Master Jiang didn't resist. Unwilling to see Master Jiang's soul being devoured by the Death Mark Seal, I used a black talisman borrowed from a friend. It was a bit slow, only protecting his soul."

Watching Master Jiang, still in a deep sleep with closed eyes, the man in black waved his hand, causing Master Jiang to wake up directly.

Looking at his appearance, it seemed that he wanted to immediately verify from Master Jiang whether everything Yang Haoran said was true.

Yang Haoran remained calm; there was no sign of panic. Master Jiang confirmed everything he knew, aligning perfectly with what Yang Haoran had reported to the man in black. The slight alterations made by Yang Haoran were unknown to Master Jiang.

Moreover, from the current situation, the man in black seemed more concerned about Deng Feng, the Burial Master, and whether his actions were as described. As for the rest, he appeared indifferent.

Coincidentally, Yang Haoran spoke the truth about Deng Feng's actions, without exaggeration.

The alterations Yang Haoran made happened to be in areas that the man in black didn't care much about, reducing Yang Haoran's concerns.

Of course, he dared to do this only after making a series of preparations. Even if the modified part happened to be something the man in black cared about, it wouldn't make him lose his composure.

Master Jiang's soul was forcibly condensed into a spirit by Yang Haoran, extracted from the corpse. Normally, it would take at least seven days for his soul to awaken. However, with a wave of the man in black's hand, Master Jiang's soul woke up. This technique was beyond what Yang Haoran, who had already opened his heaven soul, could achieve.

After awakening, Master Jiang looked confused, glancing at the man in black and then at Yang Haoran, seemingly not understanding what was happening.

This state of confusion didn't last long, just a few breaths. Gradually, the confusion on Master Jiang's face disappeared, and scenes from before his death started to surface.

During the following time, the man in black first stated his identity and then proceeded to question Master Jiang.

From start to finish, Yang Haoran didn't interrupt but listened silently.

Everything went as expected; Master Jiang didn't deliberately tarnish Deng Feng. Facing the man in black's inquiries, he honestly revealed everything he knew, aligning with what Yang Haoran had previously said.

Before Master Jiang appeared, the man in black was skeptical of Yang Haoran's words, not being a child who would believe everything based on words alone.

After Master Jiang's appearance and the information obtained from him, the man in black was almost entirely convinced of Yang Haoran's words. However, there was still that one percent of doubt, as he couldn't rule out the possibility of collusion between Yang Haoran and Master Jiang.

However, after the man in black inspected all the bodies present, that remaining one percent of doubt slowly disappeared. Through his examination, he discovered that the Night Watch members had indeed been drained of blood and soul, leaving only lifeless shells.

He had previously checked the Death Mark Seals inside the bodies of Master Wu and the others. The seals had been altered, possessing the ability to devour both soul and vitality, just as Yang Haoran had described. If Deng Feng activated the Death Mark Seals, the current state of the Night Watch corpses would be no surprise.

The narrations of Yang Haoran and Master Jiang, the Death Mark Seals inside Master Wu and the others, and the bodies of the Night Watch members lying on the ground—all these elements proved Deng Feng's wrongdoing.

The man in black seemed troubled by this outcome, but the facts were laid out before him. Even if he was troubled, he had to accept it.

The reason for his headache was that Deng Feng was his subordinate!

Not just Deng Feng, the previous Burial Master of Lecheng, Xue Li, was also under his command!

In order to unlock the earth soul, Xue Li forcefully collected souls by hunting down living spirits. He eventually betrayed the Yin Division, and despite disappearing without a trace, he remained a key wanted figure.

After Xue Li, now there was Deng Feng, who, in the man in black's perspective, was even worse than Xue Li. While Xue Li's actions were extravagant, they were directed towards outsiders. Deng Feng, on the other hand, treated his own people like domesticated poultry, deciding when to feast on them. From the viewpoint of the Yin Division, Deng Feng's actions were even more heinous than Xue Li's.