Chapter 2306: Soul aura decoded
After the victory, Cain once again stood within the Heart of Sin, letting the fortress feed restorative energies into his fractured body. Many other powerhouses occupied the surrounding chambers and cultivation platforms, each recovering in their own way.
Brutal combat against the Eternal Kingdom–empowered warriors of the Freedom Path had left ArchDeities scarred. Yet Cain recovered faster than most. The Scarlet Throne’s vitality, layered with the unceasing pulse of Depravity Aura, allowed him to recover at a rate others simply could not match.
But Cain’s attention was not focused on healing. His thoughts revolved around something far more delicate. With the aid of the Supercomputer Assistant, he analyzed the lingering radiation of the Freedom Path prophet’s soul.
During the previous battlefield, the prophet had projected divination-force across the distant landscape, observing the clash from afar. Cain had tasked the Innate Ability to capture every fragment of spiritual interference and now sifted through the results, searching for patterns.
The goal was simple. If he could understand the structural nature of the prophet’s power, he could block it—rendering himself invisible to future divination—and with a little luck trace the emanation back to its source. Should that succeed, he would know the prophet’s location. And if he knew the location, he could strike.
It was a single chance. One attempt. If Cain successfully pierced that veil, reached the prophet, but failed to kill them, the entire stratagem would collapse. After that moment, the prophet would undoubtedly conceal themselves in a place beyond his reach. Cain would not get a second opportunity.
Why go to such lengths? Why focus his limited time in the Fourth Realm on this task? Cain knew the answer clearly. Capturing the prophet would unlock prey—a stream of prey. Without the prophet observing him, Cain could hunt through the Fourth Realm freely, reaping enemies, harvesting power, strengthening body and soul.
However, there was an even more important reason. Imprisoning the prophet inside the Scarlet Throne would grant him access to enemy knowledge—insights he could later employ against the Three Moons.
Cain had promised not to confront the Three Moons directly until the war concluded. He intended to honor that agreement—for now. But promises were temporary things, and sooner or later, that confrontation would come. Cain would not allow anyone, no matter how ancient or exalted, to assume authority over his fate. He would not be maneuvered like a pawn or steered into a predetermined "best path."
So the first step remained concealment—cutting off their ability to observe him. The second would be mastery of their own power so that, when the inevitable confrontation came, Cain could suppress them cleanly. Whether he killed them afterward was a different matter entirely.