As soon as Grace Dawson finished speaking, someone shouted from the sky, “Watch out!” Immediately after, a figure really did fall from above, landing squarely in the area that controlled all the soul essences.

Everyone was stunned. Emily Brooks was the first to react, laughing as she teased Grace Dawson, “Look, my fiancé just fell from the sky!”

William Carter had no idea what was going on below; he had simply chosen a spot that looked like it had the deepest water. With a splash, as soon as he hit the water, the tremendous impact sent a shock through his legs, and his body broke through the surface, plunging straight into the depths.

Because he was moving so fast, William Carter’s body crashed directly into a small red carp underwater. The moment William Carter hit it, the red carp instantly turned into a puff of smoke and burrowed into William Carter’s body. William Carter didn’t even understand why this happened.

Fortunately, his strong physique kept him from losing consciousness, and he was able to see his surroundings clearly underwater. In this body of water, there were dozens of colorful koi, each one much larger than the one William Carter had collided with. In other words, the one William Carter hit was the smallest.

When he fell in, William Carter’s nose and mouth also took quite a hit, and a stream of blood uncontrollably flowed from his nose, staining the water red.

As soon as the blood appeared, the group of carp that had been swimming leisurely suddenly seemed to discover a delicacy, frantically rushing toward the blood and greedily devouring it.

William Carter was startled and, not caring about anything else, hurriedly swam to the shore. When he reached the bank, he saw a group of people staring intently at the water—none of them made a move to help him.

Luckily, a young lady with the bearing of a noblewoman gracefully walked over and extended her delicate hand to William Carter. Without hesitation, William Carter grabbed her hand and, using her support, climbed ashore. He walked a few steps to a dry spot and plopped down, finally taking a good look at his surroundings.

As a sniper, observing the environment was his top priority. The people before him were extremely odd—not only were they all dressed in ancient clothing, but even their hairstyles matched, and they carried weapons. With William Carter’s sharp eyes, he could tell at a glance that those were real, deadly weapons, not cosplay props.

The situation was clear: one side was being controlled, the other was dominant. When William Carter looked toward the lake, he was stunned. The group of fish had already devoured all the blood from his nose and mouth, and were now frantically devouring each other. William Carter couldn’t believe what he was seeing—weren’t those carp? How could they be so crazed? Even cannibalizing their own kind?

Grace Dawson and his followers, however, grew more and more excited as they watched. When the soul essences began devouring each other, Grace Dawson instantly understood everything. The ancestor of the Song family had truly been meticulous. They hadn’t used any illusion at all; every one of those seemingly useless soul fragments was actually a part of a true super soul essence. Only when stimulated by blood would they begin to devour each other, until only the strongest soul essence remained.

Just think—what would it mean to have a soul essence that could grow by devouring others? Grace Dawson was so delighted he could have jumped for joy. At this moment, his eyes were fixed only on the devouring soul essences; as for the person who had just fallen from the sky—who was that? Emily Brooks’s fiancé? Who cared?

Emily Brooks was also stunned. She knew very well that this forbidden zone and the soul essences within it were actually a trap, being the legitimate daughter of the family head. But what was happening before her eyes? Soul essences devouring and growing—how was that possible?

Unlike Grace Dawson, who only cared about the soul essences, Emily Brooks was more interested in this “fiancé” who had fallen from the sky. The lake was at least several miles across, with nothing above it—not even a single tall tree. Where had William Carter come from?

William Carter didn’t move. He was easing the numbness in his legs from the impact and observing everyone and everything around him. Of course, his main focus was still on those carp devouring each other.

As the devouring continued, the remaining carp no longer looked like carp at all, but had turned into monsters with fish bodies and ferocious appearances. All the monsters were crazed; after eating one, they would immediately attack another, never pausing for a moment. Soon, only one was left alive—a hideous, vicious “monster” covered in spikes, resembling some kind of deep-sea fish.

After devouring all its kind, an extraordinary aura suddenly emanated from the monster, leaving Grace Dawson both shocked and delighted. Once the monster happily swam a lap around the area, Grace Dawson excitedly ordered someone to collect the soul essence.

William Carter heard these words and was intrigued—it was obvious this wasn’t an Earthly concept. Still, William Carter said and did nothing, simply sitting quietly and watching as a man of high status beside Grace Dawson used a strange wooden plaque and some items that might be part of a formation to collect the monster. The process looked magical: the monster turned directly into a red mist and entered the wooden plaque, which then displayed an image of the monster, with a new black border appearing around the plaque.