179 Atonemen

Sheng Feilong took a few minutes before he had calmed down enough to return to Song Weihan's side. He walked back into the room with unsteady steps and a pale complexion. Song Weihan sighed, but didn't help Sheng Feilong for the time being.

The latter sat down at the table and let his head hang down, not saying anything for a long while. Song Weihan also remained quiet and silently looked at Sheng Feilong until the latter was ready to talk. "...Master. Is there a way to get rid of this Soul Ring...?"

"It's impossible. Once you've chosen a Soul Ring and absorb its essence to turn it into your own, it will remain with you forever." Song Weihan spoke with a heavy voice, understanding that Sheng Feilong's question confirmed his worst guess.

Sheng Feilong continued to stare blankly in front of him with his head hanging down, not showing any reaction to Song Weihan's words. "What am I supposed to do now, Master...? This Elder Li was..."

"Feilong." Song Weihan swallowed dryly, then spoke up in a stern voice, staring at Sheng Feilong coldly and demanding the latter's attention. "There is only one thing you can do; Atone for what has happened – for what you have done. This is your fault. You were too weak and gave in to the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon. You killed Elder Li, heavily injured the other Elder, She Meixiao and I and destroyed the headquarters of Daedalus."

Sheng Feilong's body started shaking somewhat. He looked at Song Weihan with an expression that said that he'd want to explain himself, but Song Weihan cut him off before he could start. "You don't have to make any excuses. What your father told you about the Sheng Clan was the truth. You failed to deal with this truth in a calm manner and brought forth this catastrophe."

Song Weihan's tone didn't give Sheng Feilong any room for negotiations, causing him to stay silent. The former sighed, the stern expression and cold tone getting soft again. "I'm sorry, Feilong. We shouldn't have kept this a secret from you until now. In all honesty, we didn't know how you would deal with this, that's why we didn't say anything."

"This incident is the reason Sheng Lingtian and I attacked Shrek Academy back then. They refused any involvement, but we were too furious to listen. That's also the reason She Meixiao took you with her to the Star Luo Continent. We knew Elder Cai and the Shrek Students would be there. And if Elder Cai was somehow involved in this, She Meixiao was to get all the information out of her." Song Weihan was unable to understand what was going on in Sheng Feilong's head at the moment, but he knew that keeping any more secrets now would only make things harder later.

Sheng Feilong was still looking down while Song Weihan calmly continued. "From what She Meixiao found out during your time there, Shrek Academy really isn't involved; At least, they're not the perpetrator in this case. As for the things that happened between Gu Yue and you, they seem to be loosely connected to that at most."

"Then, who did it..?" Sheng Feilong spoke for the first time in a long while. He still looked down, but his fists were clenched tightly. He didn't care about what happened with Gu Yue; If anything, that actually helped him understand more about his Spirit Essence. Song Weihan lightly shook his head. "I don't know. We don't know who it was. I've sent a few people to investigate, but the first ones never returned and the later groups never found any clues."

Sheng Feilong didn't react, while Song Weihan sighed again, then looked at Sheng Feilong. He still didn't understand what Sheng Feilong was thinking at the moment, but he had told him what he knew. "Feilong, we'll personally investigate this later. For now, there's something else I want to know."

"What is it, Master?" Sheng Feilong looked at him with a downcast expression, but still nodded his head. Without giving the latter's expression any thought, Song Weihan began talking with a heavy expression. "What exactly is your Netherworld Putrefaction Demon Spirit Essence's second Soul Skill?"

From the fight against the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon, especially the end before Ye wanxing, the Elders and him used all their strength to attack it together, he had already gained a pretty good idea of what it was, but he wanted to confirm it with Sheng Feilong.

The latter's expression turned into one of disgust as he thought of how he obtained this Soul Ring, but he still told Song Weihan what was going on. "The Soul Skill I obtained from the ring created by Elder Li is called Demon Vanquishing Spear. The Soul Power and the corrosive energy of the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon get compressed into an orb than I can then draw out into the form of a spear and either throw like a projectile or use in close quarters combat."

"Throw it? That would be your first long ranged attack. How does it work?" Song Weihan asked again. From what Sheng Feilong said before, his guess had already been confirmed; The new Soul Skill was exactly what the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon tried to attack She Meixiao with before.

Sheng Feilong nodded his head. "Once thrown, the energy inside it gets unstable. If it impacts on a surface or any kind of blockage, the energy will go berserk, resulting in a massive explosion. It has no piercing power when thrown, though it should be even more powerful in close combat."

"I see..." Song Weihan supressed the curiosity in his heart for Shng Feilong's sake. He was interested in seeing how strong this Soul Skill truly was, especially after seeing it used by the true Netherworld Putrefaction Demon. Still, Sheng Feilong was obviously not in the mood to experiment with this Soul Ring yet. 'Maybe after everything has calmed down and he has accepted this human Soul Ring...'

These thoughts were kept in by Song Weihan. He instead looked at Sheng Feilong again and spoke in a soft manner. "Let's go back to the Daedalus headquarters. She Meixiao and your father are sick of worry for you. There's also your girlfriend... She came by every day, you know? You mustn't worry them like that."

"The headquarters..." Sheng Feilong hesitated. He looked at Song Weihan with an expression of guilt, but the latter only gently smiled at him. "No one will hold what happened against you. Daedalus' higher up have kept a close lid on this secret. Normal members only know of a powerful enemy attacking. As long as you remember it and do your best to atone for what happened, there won't be any problems."

Sheng Feilong chose to trust Song weihan with this matter and only nodded his head. Together, the two of them checked out of the hotel and Song Weihan lead him back to the headquarters. Sheng Feilong had seen what had happened through Song Weihan's strange memory recording device, but he was surprised to see how much had already been fixed.

The gigantic hole in the ground was being fixed by dozens if not hundreds of workers even at this time; Soul Masters with earth elemental Spirit Essences and regular people working together to fill it up completely, gradually filling the whole hole up.

The destroyed barracks that had partially been burried under all the rubble had been completely salvaged and dismantled; The corridors leading to them closed up while everything was being returned to normal. Song Weihan smiled lightly. "Apparently, they plan to rebuild the barracks from scratch once the whole is fixed. That's why they're dismantling everything.

Sheng Feilong nodded hid head and continued to follow Song Weihan. Soon after, they reached Song Weihan's Artificial Soul Bone research centre, where his subordinates were still working normally like nothing happened. Song Weihan quickly finished up a few matters before the two of them continued further, looking for She Meixiao.

They found the latter in her office. Song Weihan had already informed her via his Soul Communicator after which she had further informed Sheng Lingtian and Yuanen Yehui. Huang Jialong was with She Meixiao to begin with, thus he didn't need to be informed separately.

Sheng Feilong had barely enough time to close the door behind him before a head hit his chest, a lithe figure hugging him tightly and causing him to freeze. "You're finally awake..." Yuanen Yehui's voice was barely more than a whisper, but Sheng Feilong understood every word of it.

"Yehui..." He lightly returned the embrace, equally embarrassed and touched by the situation. With a smile, he calmly spoke up. "I'm sorry. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm fine." Song Weihan stood next to them with his eyebrows raised slightly and a grin on his face. "Well, it's not wrong to be so bold, but there's a more pressing matter at hand, isn't there."

Yuanen Yehui practically jumped away from him, then stood next to him with her head lowered, though still not letting go of his hand. Sheng Feilong just scratched his cheek with a light smile while looking at She Meixiao, Sheng Lingtian and Huang Jialong. "Master, father, I'm sorry to have worried you."

She Meixiao simply nodded with a smile, while Sheng Lingtian seemed more pleased with the prior situation than he was worried about Sheng Feilong. He chuckled for a moment, then spoke in a happy tone. "It's good that you're alright now."

Huang Jialong looked at Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui with a calm, but slightly annoyed expression, causing Sheng Feilong to grin and silently mouth a few words to him 'Are you jealous, Brother Huang?'

Still unimpressed by the latter, Huang Jialong simply shrugged his shoulders with a plain expression, mouthing a few words back to him. Sheng Feilong looked at him oddly, but quickly turned his attention to She Meixiao, though his thought's were still on Huang Jialong. 'He's not into woman...?'