At first, the Serpent Goddess felt somewhat relieved when she realized that Azrael had stopped the devouring force.
But his next words plunged her into despair.
She had already been considering whether she could exploit any opportunity to escape, but his warning completely extinguished any thought of resistance.
Given the terrifying power of that man's soul, he might very well be an ancient and incomprehensibly powerful monster who had reincarnated and returned to life.
Having lived for hundreds of thousands of years, the goddess knew that some ancient old monsters resorted to reincarnation when their cultivation reached a bottleneck and they could no longer make further progress.
With the experience of a monster that had lived for hundreds of thousands of years—or perhaps even longer—such an existence would undoubtedly possess a terrifying arsenal of brutal torture methods.
Just the thought of angering such an ancient monster, falling into his hands, and being subjected to his torture made her soul tremble with fear.
At that moment, Azrael turned toward Gaia.
"Ask her whatever you want. If she refuses to answer or dares to lie..."
He then turned his gaze toward the goddess, his expression becoming so gloomy that it seemed almost capable of dripping water.
The goddess didn't need to hear the rest of his sentence.
The moment she saw his expression, her ethereal body trembled violently.
She hurriedly said,
"I would never dare to lie! Never!"
She lowered her head while trembling uncontrollably.
Gaia found the goddess's fear strangely satisfying.
She then began her questioning.
"First, who are you? And where did you come from?"
The goddess answered immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
"My name is Olivia, and I am the Heavenly Serpent Goddess."
The moment Gaia heard her name and identity, her eyes widened dramatically.
Azrael noticed the sudden change in Gaia's expression and concluded that she probably knew the goddess from somewhere.
"Do you know her?"
Gaia snapped out of her astonishment and explained,
"She's an ancestor of our race."
She continued, her voice filled with astonishment,
"She was the first Heavenly Serpent to ascend to godhood. Later, she discovered the beast races inhabiting the Western Continent and founded the Heavenly Serpent Empire."
Azrael contemplated this new information for a moment before reaching a conclusion.
"So, technically speaking, she's your first grandmother and one of your ancestors."
Gaia nodded in confirmation.
She then turned toward Olivia and asked her next question.
"Why are you in this spiritual state? Why are you in the mortal world? And, most importantly..."
She paused for a moment before continuing seriously,
"Why did you enter my body, absorb my spiritual energy, and prevent me from cultivating?"
Olivia hesitated when she heard Gaia's questions.
Her eyes shifted slightly as though she were searching for the right words.
But in the end, under the pressure of Azrael's terrifying presence, she made her decision.
She wasn't willing to risk angering that monstrous man.