Chapter 105: Power of Vows

Every Void Realm is like a wide, majestic river. The chaotic energy that constitutes the Void Realm flows like the water within a riverbed; though it occasionally collides and changes course, it always surges along the channel toward its ultimate destination. Just like any real river, this "great river" of the Void Realm has countless "tributaries." These tributaries are pathways leading to various different spaces—some are smooth, safe channels, while others are treacherous and winding with endless twists and turns.

Every Void Realm possesses its own core, which is both the birthplace and the graveyard of the realm. Legend has it that only here can one perceive the most primal and fundamental power.

The chaos of the Void Realm makes it an excellent training ground for mental energy, as well as a cradle for countless treasures. Whether humans, elves, orcs, or dwarves... countless living beings and myriad factions spend their entire lives yearning to find a Void Realm, for it represents infinite possibilities...

—Excerpt from *Theresa's Alchemy Journal*

Before Theresa's eyes was a slowly moving tree root. Standing about half a meter tall and entirely slate-gray, it was only three or four meters away from her. Advantaged by her height and excellent vision, she could clearly see that the "tree root" was hollow. Inside its body suspended a multicolored bead about the size of a knuckle, which spun slowly as the "tree root" moved.

This was a monster unique to the Void Realm. Despite its root-like appearance, it did not possess the gentle nature of typical plant monsters. On the contrary, this "root monster" was extremely ferocious. Once it sensed you, regardless of how powerful you were, it would fight to the death—either you died, or it perished.

The "root monster" first approached Theresa at a glacial pace, feigning a slow and harmless demeanor. But just as it came within two meters of her, several gray shadows suddenly erupted from the sandy ground, whipping toward Theresa to envelop her. The gray shadows lashed out so swiftly and fiercely that the air faintly hummed with the pressure of the wind!

A series of sharp cracks resounded as the soft sand exploded. Countless gray grains were whipped into a frenzy, scattering in all directions and filling the air with a thin haze of gray dust.

Shrouded by the swirling dust, a figure silently drew near the "root monster" and struck out with one hand. With a dull thud, frost rapidly spread outward from the point of impact on the monster's body. In a mere instant, the entire "root monster" was frozen solid into a pillar of ice. Seizing this golden opportunity, Theresa reached out with her other hand, plunging it straight through the top of the monster's head. The seemingly rock-hard ice felt as soft as jelly under her touch, allowing her hand to slide down smoothly until it reached the multicolored bead!

Clenching her hand around it, Theresa felt a piercing, miserable shriek ring out in her mind. It was a sound of absolute desolation and despair. For a moment, she seemed to see countless wraiths clawing at her, attempting to tear her to shreds—

Within her sea of consciousness, the plump "spindle" suddenly lit up. Like silk being spun, countless thread-like fibers of light shot out from the spindle, weaving a dense net above it. Almost the exact moment the net was completed, countless arrows of light rained down from above, striking the net and splashing into brilliant sparks...

This was a clash of pure mental energy, a form of attack and defense Theresa was growing increasingly familiar with. Thus, she only paused for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. Tightening her grip, she pulled back sharply, ripping the multicolored bead from the "root monster's" body. This was a "Demon-Hunting Orb"—a type of soul-essence, the primal energy source that sustains and governs all activities of living creatures, and the rawest form of a soul.

Excluding strict academic theories, simply put, a soul could be viewed as a "super-advanced soul-essence" that had evolved countless times. Because of this, certain radical extremists vehemently opposed the utilization of soul-essences, believing it to be a desecration of life itself.

Theresa, however, felt no such qualms. She knew that, first of all, if she did not kill these monsters, she would be killed instead. Secondly, since the Demon-Hunting Orb was her hard-won loot, she could use it however she pleased with a clear conscience. Generally speaking, soul-essences were categorized into "Demon-Hunting Orbs" and "Soul Pearls" depending on their source. The former were spoils obtained by slaying demonic creatures, while the latter were created by summoning and gathering fragmented souls from the resting places of the dead—namely, graveyards—through special methods.

Although both were forms of soul-essence, they received vastly different treatment. Demon-Hunting Orbs came from lawful hunting and possessed a pure nature, naturally making them legally tradable commodities. Soul Pearls, on the other hand, were often associated with necromancy. The fragmented souls collected could have belonged to various intelligent beings in life, making their nature chaotic and impure. In the eyes of certain self-righteous moralists, they were evil objects and thus condemned.

To return to the matter at hand, once Theresa seized the soul-essence within the "root monster," she naturally snuffed out its life completely. Beneath the ice, the slate-gray monster shattered and instantly turned to ash, vanishing from the world forever.

The battle had been swift and clean. Looking at the trophy in her hand, Theresa reflected on her control over the rhythm and timing of the fight, feeling increasingly satisfied the more she thought about it.

Just as she was basking in her success, she felt a cool sensation in her palm, followed by a sudden weight. Looking down, she saw that the little wolf had already scrambled into her hands, holding the newly acquired Demon-Hunting Orb in its mouth and chewing on it happily.

At this sight, Theresa poked the little wolf's head in exasperation and chided, "You little glutton! Watch out, or you'll burst!"

"I won't burst," the little wolf squeaked softly, rolling around happily in Theresa's palms. "I can still eat, I want to eat more! Master, give me a few more. I want to evolve too—Little Eagle used to be much weaker than me, but it evolved first. That's not fair! Master, I want to eat, I want to eat~"

Theresa's heart had softened slightly at the little wolf's rolling, but hearing its words, her annoyance returned. She poked its head with a bit more force. "How dare you say that! You were 'born' earlier than Little Eagle. Back then, when we divided the food, you got half each. Yet it evolved and you didn't. Since entering the Void Realm, almost all the Demon-Hunting Orbs have been fed to you, and you still haven't evolved—you're just a pure glutton!"

"Woo..." the little wolf whined pitifully. "I'm stronger than Little Eagle, so my evolution requirements are naturally higher... Besides, Master only gets these Demon-Hunting Orbs with a purity of barely Grade 3. The energy inside is naturally pitifully small... not even enough to fit between my teeth... Yikes! She's murdering her puppet! Help! Little Eagle, save me!"

Before the little wolf could even finish its sentence, Theresa's eyes flashed with murderous intent as she reached out, ready to dismantle its body on the spot. Sensing the thick aura of "murderous intent," the little wolf's fur stood on end. It leaped high into the air and fled at an unprecedented speed, screaming for help all the while.

Little Eagle, who had been patrolling in the distance, swooped back without a second thought upon hearing the little wolf's urgent cries for help. However, the moment it flew lower, a roar from Theresa froze it mid-air—

"Little Eagle, if you dare help it, I'll dismantle you along with it today!"

The freeze lasted for only a second. In the next instant, Little Eagle flew backward even faster than it had arrived. Both Theresa, its master, and Little Wolf, its senior, were figures Little Eagle had to respect and protect. Now that these two were bickering, it was safest for the lowest-ranking Little Eagle to stay out of it.

Happy to watch the show from high above, Little Eagle looked down at the desert, where two figures were darting around, chasing each other in a lively spectacle.

As she ran, Theresa suddenly felt a powerful surge of fluctuation within her sea of consciousness, as if something had been abruptly wrenched away. It forced her to stop in her tracks and immediately look inward. Within her sea of consciousness, the once-plump "spindle" looked as though it had been bitten twice, with a distinct chunk missing from both its left and right sides.

While she was still wondering what had happened, she heard Little Eagle's startled cry—"Little Wolf, what's wrong with you?!"

Theresa hastily withdrew from her sea of consciousness and focused her gaze. Not far ahead, the golden little wolf lay motionless in the sand. Little Eagle had already flown down, landing beside the little wolf and gently patting its body with its wings, looking panicked.

Theresa's heart tightened as she rushed over. The little wolf lay in the gray desert, completely devoid of vitality. It was cold, showing only its original form as a puppet, lacking the spark of life that the soul-essence had bestowed upon it.

Picking up the little wolf with one hand, she immediately sent her mental energy into its body. Through the layers of magic arrays, she could see that the soul-essence inside the little wolf was being wrapped in countless golden lights, gradually forming a golden cocoon—looking exactly like Little Eagle had when it evolved.

The little wolf was actually evolving!

Theresa was dumbfounded. Just a minute ago, she had been wishing so hard for it to evolve quickly. How had the little wolf inexplicably entered the evolution process in the very next minute?

"Little Eagle, did you feel anything special when you were about to evolve?" Theresa asked, thoroughly perplexed.

Little Eagle flapped its wings slightly and replied, "Yes. I clearly felt my body swelling with power, as if I wanted to break through some sort of shackle."

"Then that's strange..." Theresa murmured, lost in thought. Since the little wolf had just been clamoring to eat more Demon-Hunting Orbs, it meant it hadn't reached its limit yet. So why had it suddenly started to evolve?

"The little wolf's evolution was your wish, wasn't it?" the slow voice of the Book Spirit chimed in.

What did that have to do with her? Theresa was utterly baffled.

"It was your wish—Tess, this is the Void Realm, a place where anything can be achieved as long as your mental energy is strong enough!" At this moment, the Book Spirit's voice was filled with a profound and heavy power, leaving Theresa's mind in a daze...