A narrow gap opened, and Ryan immediately shared the projection's vision, peering into the crystal coffin.

  Inside, it was pitch black. Dense, eerie green death energy permeated the space, but the sudden attack he had expected did not occur.

  Ryan exhaled slightly and urged the projection to push the lid a little further.

  This time, before he could see the coffin's full interior, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a flickering green flame, and an intense attack suddenly erupted!

  The green flame seemed to detect the projection's intrusion with pinpoint accuracy, instantly locking onto its target.

  A hair-thin green blade of light shot through the air at incredible speed, piercing the projection's head in an instant.

  There was no resistance. The projection dispersed like light scattered by the wind, gradually vanishing into the empty underground chamber.

  The moment the projection dissipated, a green fire soul, wrapped in overwhelming fury, shot out from the crystal coffin. It spiraled rapidly twice in the chamber, its eerie green eyes locking onto Ryan nearby, radiating an icy chill.

  "Hi!" Ryan forced a casual smile and waved at the green fire soul, though he held the bonded Stellar Sword tightly in one hand.

  His other hand secretly gripped a magical talisman engraved with a short-range teleportation rune, already ready for a sudden attack.

  The furious green fire soul slowly condensed midair, forming the silhouette of a slender woman. Flames danced around her body, obscuring most details, yet a mature aura radiated from her presence.

  Her curves were delicate and precise, though her form was entirely composed of green flames, with only a pair of piercing green eyes fixed intently on Ryan, as if trying desperately to recognize him.

  "You… you are giving my things back to me!!"

  The voice of the green fire figure rang out, initially hesitant, seemingly recognizing Ryan.

  But in the next moment, the tone shifted violently, as though another consciousness was struggling for control, screaming in fury at her own body.

  "So it is a dual-soul coexistence, with the benevolent and malevolent souls vying for control of the body?" Ryan observed the scene and immediately understood the source of the earlier disturbance he had sensed.

  At that moment, the green fire figure's gaze sharpened to an extreme degree, locking onto Ryan. A chill gripped his heart.

  Although there appeared to be only one figure, his spiritual perception clearly detected two entirely different gazes falling on him: one gentle, the other violent, intertwined in a bizarre, unsettling way.

  "How do you know!"

  A female voice, soft yet hoarse and violent at the same time, rang out. The two conflicting tones clashed, sounding jarring and harsh.

  During this brief standoff, the malevolent soul suddenly surged in power, immediately gaining the upper hand.

  The green fire figure raised her palm without hesitation. A concentrated ball of green flame gathered in her hand.

  She swung it fiercely at Ryan, releasing a devastating green fire palm strike. The eerie green imprint carried destructive magic, instantly crossing the distance toward him.

  "Goodbye!" Ryan had anticipated this. With a thought, he activated the teleportation talisman in his hand. His body vanished in an instant.

  The green fire palm struck where his afterimage had been, smashing heavily into the chamber wall behind him.

  A violent explosion erupted. The shockwave of raw magic radiated outward, shaking the chamber ceiling. Stones fell like rain, and part of the ceiling collapsed entirely under the force of the strike.

  Seeing this, the green fire figure flickered, moving like a streak of green light and diving back into the crystal coffin. The coffin lid automatically closed, returning to its original state.

  Ryan's figure appeared beside a thick tree trunk, his expression serious. He silently sighed: dealing with Athena's dual souls was indeed no easy task.

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  "Again!" His gaze hardened, showing no hesitation. He channeled his magic once more, forming steel claws, and began digging into the collapsed ground again.

  It was not long before his claws struck something solid, the crystal coffin. By now, the lid had resealed, returning to its original form.

  【Quest Triggered: Use all available means to subdue Athena's malevolent soul. Quest Reward: Three million Origin Value.】

  Ryan stared at the suddenly appearing quest notification, momentarily stunned, and muttered in his mind,"That evil soul just collapsed the chamber with one strike. If I confront it head-on now, I am no match!"

  【This quest has no mandatory time limit. The host may choose to complete it at any time. Even if abandoned, there is no penalty. Completion is entirely up to the host's discretion.】

  Still, Ryan immediately set to work. He carefully dug around the crystal coffin, intending to fully expose it.

  After clearing the soil surrounding the coffin, Ryan's sharp senses picked up something critical.

  As long as he did not actively open the lid, the green fire malevolent soul inside seemed bound by some force, unable to break free from the coffin's restraint.

  A bold thought suddenly struck him: a soul is essentially an undead energy entity, while this crystal coffin is an inanimate container.

  He placed his hand on the cold lid, focusing his mind, and attempted to store the crystal coffin in his storage space.

  A halo of magical light spread from Ryan's palm, enveloping the entire dark-golden crystal coffin.

  In the next moment, the coffin transformed into a stream of light, drawn instantly into his storage space.

  "Really possible?" Ryan's face lit up with surprise. Staring at his hand still hovering in midair, he could hardly believe it.

  He clearly remembered that his storage space had strict limits and could not contain objects with a master's will. He had attempted this purely on a whim, and it had actually worked.

  "Grimoire, what just happened?" Ryan asked urgently in his mind, still puzzled.

  【Athena's three souls have long been separated, never unified over millions of years. The true Athena consciousness has already dissipated.】

  【The crystal coffin is essentially just a container for the dual souls. The souls inside are incomplete energy entities, not fully sentient beings. Therefore, the coffin is classified as unowned and can be stored in your storage space.】

  "I see now." Ryan finally understood, the doubt in his mind completely resolved.

  No matter what the information labeled it as, Athena's crystal coffin, as long as it was currently unowned, it being under his control was enough.

  He observed the crystal coffin floating quietly in his storage space, confirming nothing was amiss, and flew toward the edge of the Misty Forest.

  With his Senior Mage magic, his flight was extremely fast. Soon, he arrived at the bottom of a remote cliff.

  Ryan grinned confidently,"Grimoire, it looks like these three million Origin Value are mine for the taking!"

  He could not help but laugh heartily at the thought.

  【You're planning to fight those dual souls right now? Don't go overboard and get yourself killed! If you die, it's truly over!】

  Grimoire's voice suddenly rose, sharp and piercing, as if it had seen through Ryan's thoughts. The shout made Ryan instinctively raise a hand to rub his ear.

  "Am I really that reckless?" Ryan rolled his eyes.

  He carefully surveyed the cliff base, finding a patch of relatively stable mana flow. He released the dark-golden crystal coffin from his storage space, letting it settle steadily on the ground.

  Next, he pulled out a large number of magic crystals from his storage pouch and methodically placed them at key nodes in all directions.

  Seeing this, Grimoire finally quieted down. With a prearranged magic array, Ryan actually had a chance to forcibly subdue Athena's dual souls.

  Over the years, Ryan had exchanged many advanced magic array blueprints with Grimoire. As long as he had enough resources, even against entities below Archmage level, he could restrain or severely injure them with the power of magic arrays.

  Once the array was set, Ryan raised his hand and snapped his fingers lightly.

  Instantly, within a radius of one hundred meters, a half-transparent crimson barrier rose, vivid and blood-like.

  Countless dark-red roses, shaped like demonic claws, drifted across the surface in layers, radiating a suffocating, evil aura.

  The Demon Soul Extinguishing Array. This is a high-level killing array designed specifically to deal with soul-type energy beings. Ryan had carefully selected it after reviewing countless magic array blueprints in his mind, choosing it as the optimal solution.

  The magic crystals required to deploy just this single array were worth over one million Origin Value.

  Ryan's lips twitched in pain at the thought. All these resources had been taken from the Spatial Storage Ring Evelyn had given him.

  But for the chance to subdue an evil soul and earn the three million Origin Value reward, the sacrifice was worth it.

  Ryan flashed out of the array's range, landing safely in a secure area. He channeled his magic again, forming a projection clone with hollow eyes, and guided it step by step toward the crystal coffin at the center of the array.

  As the clone's palms pressed down, the coffin lid emitted sharp, grating friction noises and slowly loosened.

  Just as the lid was about to open a gap, Ryan stopped the clone and continuously infused it with his magic.

  In an instant, the clone's magical fluctuations surged. It gripped the edge of the lid tightly and lifted with all its strength!

  The heavy lid slammed to the ground with a dull, thunderous crash. The interior of the crystal coffin was fully exposed.

  Inside curled a green fire soul in the shape of a woman, seemingly unaware that the lid had been forcibly lifted.

  When Athena's soul suddenly opened her eyes and launched a thin green light attack in anger, the projection clone hovering above the coffin had already dissipated.

  The green fire soul could only watch helplessly as the green light passed through where the clone had been and struck the Demon Soul Extinguishing Array, sending ripples across it before fading away.

  This scene enraged Athena's malevolent soul. With a piercing shriek, it shot out of the crystal coffin, hovering in midair.

  Shockingly, as a soul of the undead type, it showed no fear of the sunlight. Its green flames burned even brighter under the sun, and its aura grew increasingly violent.