"That's true," said the origin god from the stone race. Everything seemed perfect for a good hunt but another thing that stumped him is the incredibly low life force he could sense from such a large body.
A body this large should have an immense amount of life force. The size of this world beast is something only seen in the origin-level world beast but he couldn't sense any origin fluctuations from the body, only law fluctuations, which is proof of the body of a titan. And its vitality seemed to be low, too low in fact as if it were sick.
"Do world beasts get sick or grow old," he asked out loud.
"Huh" the sovereign scratched his head in thought. They had never heard of something like that. Creatures that have achieved a mana body are rarely sick.
"Does it matter? It is weakened and that is a good thing." The sovereign maintained.
"That is also true." the origin god could only assent. For someone to become an origin god, he or she has to be astute and cautious, he or she must have the ability to think things through before acting. But for the life of him, he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong and it was nagging at him but he couldn't stop the hunt just for that reason. It may be nothing after all, and he needed the money which he will get from the successful hunt.
"Call everyone here. We will surround and kill it." He finally gave up and agreed to the hunt.
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid. It is not as if anything can go wrong anyway. World beasts beneath the level of origin god are timid grazers." he thought and dismissed his fears.
He blames his experience within the trial of heaven for his anxiety. He just became an origin god, a one-star origin god. He had become one during this origin cycle through a tribulation.
He had participated in the trial of heaven for life essence to ensure his chances of success during the tribulation. His experience within the tower was not particularly good, and the mind tribulation brought up some of his worst experiences within the tower.
This compounded and resulted in him having mental scars. So he attributed his paranoia to his mental demons. He put away his feelings of cowardice, he had to be sharp for the hunt.
He could now look at the world beast like a predator looks at his prey after he was done putting away his fear. He had chosen to accompany the sovereign group because he wanted to protect his brother, plus he needed wealth as a new origin god. And this world beast would fetch him a tidy sum. The more he looked at it the happier he became.
"You came at just the right time for me," he thought to himself.
Very soon all ten sovereigns were gathered.
"Form a tight circle around it. Don't let it escape, and watch out for its ability. You should be able to escape if you catch it early" the origin god instructed, while the others nodded and moved into action.
"I'll attack it. While you keep it from escaping" he said before shooting forward towards the world beast. He streaked by so fast that the sovereigns were only able to react to the shockwave that hit them from his punch. While the sovereigns were in awe of the strength of the punch, the origin god in question shouted "Not good."
First, it was the dubious state of the world beast. Then when he came into physical contact with the world beast he felt the immense vitality within the body and he knew things were not right. Next came the divine sense that latched on to him, that's when he knew they were screwed. His mind became alarmed, this was a trap made to get him. The beast was pretending all along.
"The world beast is an origin god" he screamed within his heart after shouting. The first thing that popped up was his near-death experience within the tower from his encounter with someone that acted pitiful before injuring his mind. If not for the terrifying defense of his body he would have been skewed.
He had to forfeit that battle, but since then he had been extra careful against deceit. So he chose to run immediately. He had gone a long way before he remembered the sovereigns he was tasked to protect.
This sobered him up. "I should be able to protect myself no matter the situation. Even if I die I can resurrect from my soul fragment." he encouraged himself before returning to the scene of the battle, but it was already too late.
The moment Gerald noticed his attackers the languid eyes of the gently floating world beast lit up. It opened its mouth and the space around the beast stagnated. The petrified sovereigns could only watch as they were pulled into the beast's giant mouth. They couldn't move because of the freezing of their thoughts and body by the space domain around them. The origin god that could have done something to save them had run away.
He could at least help them negate the suppression and give them a chance to escape. But now they were devoured without any form of resistance. Only after their death did the origin god return, his face aghast and furious.
Gehald was confused by the turn of events inside the inner world. He hadn't expected the devouring to work. He was just getting started with his plan of attack.
"What is wrong with this guy?" He thought, he was totally confused. His divine sense had locked onto the origin god, so he had seen him run a distance away before returning. The actions of the Origin god confused him.
"Is this a fighting ritual or technique?" He thought, still trying to figure out what in the world the origin god was planning.
There are different types of races and myriad racial abilities in High Heaven not to talk of the entire void universe. There are so many types of talents and fighting styles. So even though Gehald had never seen or heard about the peculiar behavior of the Origin god, he didn't underestimate him. Any failure at this point could put him at serious risk of losing his life.
He opened his mouth again to activate the world-devouring ability. This time the origin god counterattacked with his domain and negated the spatial restrictions and the devouring force. Gehald clicked his tongue before projecting the full strength of his soul onto the origin god.
He had noticed that his hunters were from the stone skin race, they are known for their physical prowess but weak minds. They have weak souls compared to other people of similar levels. Gehald was originally soul-oriented coupled with the soul augmentation that his universe artifact gave him, it made his soul sturdy like an immovable rock.
His actions didn't overly harm the soul of his opponent, but it was able to stagnate his thoughts for a short moment. And so the origin god that was approaching with righteous fury felt a strong force pushing on his consciousness and he thought "oh no" before he blacked out and was swallowed.
"That was easy." Gehald smiled. His opponent was inexperienced as an origin god and the lag in his opponent's action was enough for him to be swallowed. 22 balls of light appeared in front of him. He clicked his tongue at the sight. The balls of light were dark red and light blue, they are the blood essence and the soul essence of the people he ate earlier.
He had wanted only 20 balls of light, he wanted to preserve the Origin god and keep him imprisoned. Because with his death, he would be able to resurrect in another place. With the origin god dying inside a place that wasn't confined, he would remember everything that happened and how he died.
"Seems like I have to refine this body and connect to it."
He didn't need his soul severed from a body anymore since he got the universe artifact. If his soul had been connected to his body he would have noticed the group when they approached. He would have been able to mount a defense before he was punched and his devouring force won't have been easily negated.
He would also have been able to project his soul domain around the origin god to prevent memories of his death and recent events from being transmitted to his new body.
"Before that, I have to leave this place." He had to leave since his location had been exposed and he didn't want any interruption for what he wanted to do next. He used all his spatial powers to merge into space and disappear from there.
It wasn't until he was a distance away and was sure he was safe did he begin the fusion of body and soul. Only then would he become a true origin world beast.