From Outcast to Overlord The Unyielding Heir (Leander Ashcroft) novel Chapter 573

"Two choices?"

Leander stared at the silhouette in front of him, completely unfazed.

Her eyes sparkled like crystals, and her face looked like it belonged on a magazine cover. With that naked body, she was basically designed to drive men crazy. A woman like this could make guys line up to die for her without hesitation.

But right now, she was grinning like a predator, her gaze filled with raw hunger. She looked less like a woman and more like a beast ready to devour him whole. The whole thing was eerie as hell.

No surprise there. Her body was being controlled by a spirit, and she'd completely lost her mind. That spirit wasn't some nobody, either—it used to be one of the actual gods who ruled the Western world.

The guy's spiritual sense was off the charts. The moment he saw Leander, he knew that this wasn't some average body. The strength Leander had already blew past the limits of normal physical training, and it made the guy practically drool.

Even back in his time, god-level beings were crazy rare. And someone this young already had one? That was unheard of.

He was sure of it—if Leander had lived in his era, he would've been a legend.

But the more extraordinary Leander was, the more obsessed he became. If he could get his hands on that god-level being, it'd be like hitting the freeway with no speed limits. His path to power would be smooth, fast, and unstoppable.

"You do have to make a choice."

He stared right at Leander.

"Pick right, you live. Pick wrong, you die.

"I was forced to fall here back then, but my soul never faded. I've been alive for over two centuries inside this Oasis, forging my spiritual strength. I'm unbreakable now. Your soul might be decent, but it's nothing next to mine. Don't even think about trying to fight me.

"Hand over the god-level being. It's the only shot you've got."

Leander looked bored. Then he slowly lifted a hand and wagged a finger.

"I've gotta admit, this is actually kind of funny.

"You laid this whole trap to make people think there's treasure here. You dressed it up as the Westerian Divinity Vault, but the only thing really worth anything is that spring of life.

"You used it to lure martial artists here so you could hijack their bodies and come back to life.

"Honestly, your plan's airtight. But the problem is, you got greedy."

Leander shook his head like he pitied the guy—or maybe just thought he was pathetic.

"With the kind of spiritual strength you've got now, wiping out this woman's mind completely and taking her over would've been easy.

"I only came here to absorb some spiritual energy from the spring of life to evolve my Nirvana Energy. We had nothing to do with each other.

"But you just had to push it and target me."

Leander grinned again, his smirk pure mockery.

"You're not the only one who wants something here.

"Today, I'm going to rip every bit of your spiritual strength out and feed it to mine."

Even though he was caught off guard, Leander didn't move an inch when those two green whips of energy flew at him. He didn't dodge. He simply raised one hand.

He spread his fingers and grabbed the whip coming from his left. With a quick twist of his wrist, he yanked it across his body and swung it into the second one.

There was a sharp crack as both energy whips collided midair and canceled each other out.

Leander stood firm on the water's surface. He didn't budge.

"Well, now we're getting somewhere. You're even stronger than I expected. I'm starting to really like your body."

The woman's eyes gleamed. Leander had just taken her attack head-on. No weapons. No shields. Just bare hands. He should've been torn apart. But his hand hadn't even flinched. That alone made her want his body even more.

If he could seize Leander's body and complete the takeover, it would only be a matter of time before he returned to the Divine Realm. He might even one day rival the dominant powers of the world.

Fueled by that thought, the spirit instantly formed a hand seal. Her ice-blue hair fluttered in the wind, and a giant triangle-shaped ice drill began to form in front of her.

It spun wildly. Ice shards burst out around it like jagged knives, tearing through the air like they were made of tempered steel.

Then she raised her hand again and slashed forward. The ice drill exploded into thousands of needle-thin ice blades.

"Cryofrost Saber—Heartpiercing Blizzard!"

She shouted low, and the swarm of icy blades shot straight at Leander!