Chapter 446: The Method

“Don’t worry, it will definitely work this time!” Rod said after a long while, filled with determination. He was resolved to help the troll tribe break this curse.
A family of a thousand people certainly wasn’t considered a large family, and this curse was quite severe. Even today, among the clans of the Dark Source, a family of a thousand could only be ranked among the smaller ones, unable to compare to those large families, let alone superpowers like the dragon clans. While numbers don’t determine everything, they do determine much—this is an unchanging truth.
“Let’s wait until all the demon souls are eliminated. Oh, I forgot to tell you—once these demon souls are found, ordinary methods won’t keep them trapped; only by using a divine essence can their souls be sealed. Don’t rush to destroy their physical bodies, or it will give them a chance to escape. If they run away, it won’t be easy to find them again!” Andrews added seriously, as if recalling something.
“Seal souls with a divine essence?” That was the first time Rod had heard of it. Even the Wolf King probably didn’t know about this. Not wanting to take any chances, Rod quickly asked.
“That’s right. These demon souls are essentially soul bodies. You can’t kill them; you can only seal them using a divine essence. But right now, your strength isn’t enough. Before you reach the Xuanhuang realm and understand the ways of heaven, the divine essence can only restrict them, not truly seal them. That’s all you can do for now. So don’t rush to destroy their physical bodies. Once destroyed, they’ll escape immediately, and you won’t be able to catch them. Use their physical bodies as containers for the demon souls, then keep them under control. Once our troll tribe returns, we’ll teach you how to seal these demon souls in the Divine Weeping Forbidden Land! This method is quite complex, so it’s useless to tell you now!” Andrews said, spreading his hands helplessly and sighing at Rod.
“How to seal them?” That was what Rod cared most about. Once the demon souls were sealed, it would just be a matter of time before the troll tribe returned. They could wait—just a few days, less than half a month.
“It’s simple. Once you find that guy, unleash your divine essence and envelop those souls in its divine light, leaving them nowhere to hide. The divine light requires the power of combat energy to activate, and one activation can last a day. So remember to activate it every day. Under that divine light, these soul bodies can’t escape. One divine essence can only seal one demon soul!” Andrews continued.

These words made Rod feel somewhat ashamed. A divine entity could only bind one soul, and it seemed that the stronger the demonic soul, the more powerful the divine entity was needed to bind it! It seemed true that they had to hurry up and cultivate to obtain divine entities as Andrews suggested—there was simply too much to do!
“What about the other demonic souls? Especially that Demon General—I can’t possibly go around searching with a divine entity, right? The continent is so vast, the world is so big, and there are so many people!” Thinking of the other demonic souls, Rod frowned slightly and asked anxiously.
“No need. The hosts of these demonic souls have certain requirements. For ordinary demon hosts, their strength must be at the divine level; for stronger demons, their strength needs to reach the mid-divine level. Demon generals require hosts with strength at the late divine level or even at the peak of the late divine level, and sometimes even at the initial stage of the Yin Yellow realm! As for Demon Generals, only warriors with strength above the late Yin Yellow realm can serve as hosts. Ordinary people won’t do, so you don’t have to worry about that.
So you just need to focus your search on these strength levels, which will greatly narrow down the search area—this is definitely beneficial for you! Let’s start by targeting the Source of Darkness. If nothing goes wrong, those guys will be there. There aren’t many strong people on this continent, and their physical bodies are relatively fragile, so it’s unlikely they’ll choose these places!” Andrews offered his suggestions on how to conduct the search.
Rod was surprised to learn about this, gaining yet another unexpected advantage. It would indeed make things much easier. After all, the Source of Darkness had the most strong people. With this information, Rod felt much more at ease, no longer wandering around aimlessly like before.
“Well, you now know everything you need to know. Is there anything else?” Andrews, whose mood had quickly returned to normal, looked at Rod with a playful expression and continued asking.
“What about Nightingale and my father?” Since all the important matters were settled, and he was already here, he couldn’t help but ask about their conditions.
“They’re doing well. They’re still in a coma, but there’s no serious issue. You can rest assured. It’s not convenient to visit them today. Go back first. You’ll see them when the Netherworld opens in a few days!” After thinking for a moment, Andrews gave his answer.

“Okay, then I’ll be leaving first. I need to resolve matters in Water Screen City as soon as possible; there’s no time to delay. Once that’s done, I’ll come to Ice City to wait for you all to return!” Rod didn’t ask to go see things for himself, knowing it would be extremely difficult to enter now.
“Mm, be careful. Pay close attention to where that Demon Marshal is. If my guess is right, he should be inside our Dark Source, and it might even be someone we know. Watch out for those around you!” After pondering for a moment, seeing Rod about to leave, Andrews had to give him a warning.
These words carried weight, because if what he said was true, they would face a very awkward situation and might even have to do things they didn’t want to do. Especially when dealing with their own relatives—though they knew their souls were no longer theirs, they still felt a sense of kinship. The emotional toll of having to fight to the death was unimaginable.
“Don’t worry!” Rod nodded firmly, giving a definite answer.
……
In Water Screen City, although the battle was over, the atmosphere remained gloomy these days. Few people were seen on the streets, and shops were only partially open, giving off a desolate feeling. In the summer, the cicadas’ chirping could be heard clearly, adding to the solemn mood of the quiet city.
Outside the city, the Wolf Clan’s army continued to block the gates, creating a sense of strangeness and tension. Yet these people had no idea what was happening and could only speculate endlessly, with various theories circulating. Some said the Wolf Clan intended to attack Water Screen City, but the appearance of the Wolf King quickly dispelled these guesses, leading to more speculation. In short, there were several versions of what was going on, and no one knew about the loss of the Demon Soul—they had no idea at all.
Even the smaller families were unaware, having only received a notice from the Black Phoenix Clan asking them to search for the Demon Clan’s Crown Prince, claiming he had escaped from their prison and was in extreme danger, needing to be found quickly. Fearing the consequences, these smaller families didn’t dare delay—after all, with the Crown Prince at large, he posed the greatest threat to them, as they had once turned against the war faction at a critical moment.

Since the Crown Prince cannot avenge himself on the Wolf Clan and the Black Phoenix Clan for now, he will naturally turn his attention to these people. Thus, everyone is in fear and is doing their utmost to track down this guy, even digging through the ground. This amuses the Wolf Emperor and the others, as these people’s efforts exceed their expectations.

At the same time, with news of the Crown Prince’s escape spreading, the people in the city finally stopped speculating. They realized the Wolf Clan’s intention—surely they were worried about the Crown Prince’s escape. Coupled with the searches by those smaller families, this belief grew even stronger!

With these smaller families offering huge rewards, people seemed to become even more enthusiastic about searching, as the enormous profit was too tempting.

A day passed, yet Rod still hadn’t returned. Everyone worked tirelessly that day, searching almost every corner of Water Screen City, but still couldn’t find the Crown Prince’s whereabouts. This left everyone extremely anxious, worrying that something terrible might have happened. The atmosphere was heavy.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected occurred in Water Screen City, and the guy didn’t take any actions, which gave everyone some relief.

……

As dawn broke, small teams began searching the streets of the city, with many commoners among them.

In a corner far from the city lord’s mansion, a man with a cold expression sat in a cellar. In front of him were an old man and a middle-aged man, both trembling fearfully.

“Crown Prince, we know we were wrong. Please spare our lives!” the middle-aged man pleaded in a weak voice. This was already the many times he had begged. From yesterday to today, ever since he was captured by this familiar yet strange person, he had suffered greatly. The most terrifying part was the bloodletting—every so often, the two of them had to have their blood drained, watching as this devil drank it! It was a terrifying sight.

The middle-aged man finally couldn’t hold back and began to plead, but the old man remained indifferent. “You’re not our Crown Prince!” he said calmly after a long silence.

“The Crown Prince isn’t like this. I’ve felt you’ve changed lately. Hmph, who exactly are you?” the old man asked coldly.

“You don’t need to know. All you need to know is the fate of those who betray me—no, not just your prince. Betrayers have only death as their fate!” In response to the old man’s question, the Crown Prince smirked coldly, then stepped out of the cellar and entered a stone chamber.

“Rod, does the divine essence of the God King exist on your side? It seems you still don’t know how to use it! In that case, the first person to die once the great marshal returns will definitely be you—no one can stop the advance of the demon god! The Bloodthirsty Cultivation Technique, I hope it can help me recover faster this time.” The man murmured to himself before sitting in lotus position and beginning to cultivate. In an instant, white smoke began to rise from above his head, accompanied by a strange rumbling sound. His face turned red, and red light seemed to flicker inside him. Soon, his entire body was enveloped in a mist of red and white, looking extremely eerie.