Senior Mu and Lucia worked together surprisingly well. The two of them easily defeated the group of Eternal Shadow Sect members who came seeking justice for the ambush they suffered. If they had chosen to silently endure after being shot by the flying jet’s beam of spiritual energy, then they wouldn’t be in this situation right now.

“Stop! Where do you think you’re touching!?”

Even with her divine sense, Lucia’s still searching people manually to rob them of their items. Granted, there are some treasures that can fool someone’s divine sense, so the uninformed would think Lucia was being extra careful. For the informed, like me, Lucia’s trying to make her victims as uncomfortable as possible to plant heart devils inside of them. After all, her item spirits already searched the Eternal Shadow Sect disciples once; there’s really no need for her to search again.

“Oh, wow,” Lucia said and raised her hand above her head. Pinched between her thumb and index finger, there was a ring with a black gem embedded in it. “This is a pretty nice ring.”

“It’s an Eternal Shadow Ring,” Senior Mu said. Although Senior Mu wasn’t looting anyone, she was still standing to the side, watching over Lucia’s captives. Speaking of which, I would’ve never expected such a tiny flying boat to have a dungeon. It occupies a drawer on the side of the boat. Its exterior is quite small, but the interior is spacious thanks to the formations carved into it.

“You know what kind of ring this is?” Lucia asked, her eyes lighting up. “Say, how about you let me Soul Scour you?”

“Soul Scour me?” Senior Mu asked and raised an eyebrow. “If you want to, you can try, but I don’t think your soul is stronger than mine. You’ll suffer from a horrendous backlash.”

Lucia blinked twice as if she hadn’t taken the strength of Senior Mu’s soul into consideration. As someone approaching the realm of supreme immortal, her soul was guaranteed to be strong. Having a strong soul is a requirement to reach the step she’s at. “Then, how about…,” Lucia said, dragging out her words, “you weaken your soul and let me Soul Scour you?”

“That option isn’t off the table,” Senior Mu said and crossed her arms over her chest. “But I’ll have to give up a lot to do that. What will you give me in return?”

Lucia opened her mouth, and a small cooking pot floated out of it. It enlarged until it became twice the size of the squirrel-woman’s head. Lucia grabbed its handles and peered inside. “I can give you some beef stew with mushrooms.” She held the pot out towards Senior Mu. “It’s guaranteed to be delicious.”

Senior Mu glanced at the interior of the pot. I couldn’t see what was inside. The cooking pot must’ve been one of the treasures capable of shielding itself from someone’s divine sense. “What about the other effects?” Senior Mu asked.

“Other effects?”

“It can’t just be delicious, right?” Senior Mu asked. “Does your stew increase the power of my soul? Does it increase the strength of my body? Will it give me a new ability? Can it enlighten me?”

“Uh….” Lucia’s mouth fell open, and her forehead scrunched up. “It’ll … remove your hunger? It’s delicious-tasting food; I don’t know what else you want me to say. Oh, there’s plenty of fiber and other good stuff in here, so you won’t have diarrhea or constipation.” Lucia nodded twice, and she puffed her chest out as she spoke. “My stew is guaranteed to give you the smoothest poop of your life.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Ah? You sure?”

“Quite sure. Thank you.”

“Hmm, that’s a shame,” Lucia said and glanced at her bodyguard. The white-haired woman had a small smile on her face, but it didn’t look like she was going to intervene and force Senior Mu to undergo a Soul Scour. Lucia sighed, and the cooking pot shrank while returning to its original position inside her mouth. “If you won’t let me Soul Scour you, can you tell me what’s up with this ring?”

“I’m confused,” Senior Mu said and tilted her head. “You wanted to Soul Scour me to find out the information about the Eternal Shadow Ring, right?” She pointed at the bloody and battered body lying by Lucia’s feet. “Why don’t you Soul Scour him, the person you obtained the ring from? I heavily injured his soul, so a backlash shouldn’t occur.”

“That’s not quite right,” Lucia’s bodyguard said and disappeared before reappearing next to Lucia. “Even when heavily injured, his soul is stronger than Lucia’s.” The bodyguard waved her hand, and a cone of spiritual energy formed over the injured old man’s head. With another gesture of the bodyguard’s arm, the white cone stabbed downwards, penetrating the old man’s skull but not inflicting any external injuries. He did, however, let out a guttural scream. “There. Now, it’s safe to Soul Scour him.”

“Thanks!” Lucia said, her eyes lighting up. She crouched by the wailing man’s side and grabbed his scalp with her fingers curled like claws. He stopped screaming and went into a daze after meeting Lucia’s eyes. Not long after, his eyes rolled up towards the top of his head, leaving only the white portion behind. A line of drool leaked out of the corner of his mouth as well, and I noticed Senior Mu’s face twitch ever so slightly.

Lucia released the man’s head, causing it to loll to the side with a dull thudding sound. A strange expression appeared on her face as she looked at her bodyguard. She didn’t say anything, but she remained crouched and shuffled to the side like a crab until she was casting a shadow over another injured victim of hers. Her hand gripped the Eternal Shadow Sect members scalp, but instead of Soul Scouring him, Lucia looked at her bodyguard instead. “Is it safe to Soul Scour him?”

“Yes,” the bodyguard said and gestured at the twenty or so people lying around. “All of their souls are weak enough for you to Soul Scour safely.”

“Great!” Lucia said and nodded. She ignored the trembling of her victim and stared him right in the eyes. Like the old man, he too went limp.