When surrounded by a 'blanket' of black mist, Minos immediately began to feel that thing trying to penetrate his body through his pores.
Simultaneously, every fiber of his being was brutally attacked by that thing while he felt the sensation of having a predator trying to hunt him down.
But Minos' willpower was strong. He pressed his teeth together, trying to focus all his concentration on using that thing to purify his killing intent.
That would obviously subtly change his body, so he was undergoing a tortuous process in which the Aura of Death would try to improve specific attributes.
That was not explicitly speaking a marrow cleansing but an attempt to give a more capable body to withstand an additional soul ability.
Killing intent could not be considered a technique, much less a Physique skill. Instead, it was a passive skill variant, something that was called a soul skill.
The soul was still part of the fleshy body at the stage that Minos was currently at. Therefore, the Aura of Death was naturally trying to transform his body to be more compatible with a soul with that extra attribute.
With that, while Minos was suffering from the Aura of Death trying to push his body to its limits, such a thing was acting on his soul, purifying this young man's killing intent.
Killing intent was like any other physical characteristic, only related to the soul. So if a body could generate a characteristic of attack, the soul could also generate one of killing intent.
Of course, to generate such a thing, there would be a need for special training... But still, this was an ability of the soul, something related to its quality.
So the Aura of Death affected the soul in a way that made it purer and more compatible with the Natural Laws behind murderous intent and death itself.
And so, Minos soon began to go through a process where his body was in agony, and his very soul was suffering from the Aura of Death.
The Aura of Death had an unfriendly name, but that did not mean that it was dangerous to those who came under its effects.
It had this name because it had a reputation for turning cultivators into great killers, renowned individuals who followed the evil path.
As these people usually took the lives of countless people, the dark mist found in a unique region of the Divine Continent had received this name.
But it was not dangerous to even people with weak murderous intent, as in Abby's case. Thus, it would not be with Minos, who had such a soul ability to protect himself, that such a thing would put one at risk today.
That was only an external resource capable of bringing about a physical and soul improvement, naturally painful but not very risky.
So he would endure the process for as long as it took for each fraction of the Aura of Death to wash over his body and soul, promoting his abilities connected to both.
...
Five days later...
After days inside the Spatial Kingdom, Abby, Ruth, and Gloria were already beginning to worry about Minos' safety since he had not returned since he left.
Unfortunately, they were stuck in this place and could not communicate with him outside the Spatial Kingdom.
As a result, the three of them had not slept for three days and spent most of their time in front of the lake house, waiting for Minos' return.
None of them could think that anything bad had happened to their man, but it was undeniable that worry existed in their hearts.
However, Kyla would come over from time to time to talk to them, and the three felt less stressed about all the waiting.
This 'little' fox felt a special connection to the bones there and was always talking about how comfortable it was to sleep among them and even called that skeleton ancestor.
The senses of spiritual beasts were much stronger than those of humans, so she naturally had a slightly different impression than the humans there.
But lucky for her or not, she could not sense the same as the curse that had invaded the Spatial Kingdom temporarily...
...
"How long will it take for Minos to return? It's been over five days!" Gloria said as she felt that her worry was already beginning to affect the mood of the baby growing in her belly.
Ruth and Abby knew that they had to take care of this pregnant woman, so they could not be weak enough to mourn.
"I think he'll be back soon," Ruth said as she massaged Gloria's back. "Maybe he's already defeated that curse, but he ran into a problem entering the God of Death's heritage."
Abby nodded in agreement, trying hard to think that all was well. "When Minos and I were in the Goddess of Life's inheritance, the first mission had to be completed before anyone could give up or do things like that. So maybe he's stuck on the first mission, solving it."
Ruth agreed while Gloria sighed, imagining that that must be the situation.
But as they talked in that front of the lake house, the space a few dozen meters away from them vibrated. Then a young man with brown hair appeared there, totally dirty with a black gooey substance, sweaty, and breathing rapidly.
"I'm back." Minos said in a cheerful tone, feeling the sensation of having a 'micro-step' advance for having finished absorbing the Aura of Death.
Because of this, his body had eliminated some impurities, which he had not eliminated before coming to this place due to his momentary exhaustion.
"Minos!" The three women shouted simultaneously upon seeing him in that place, with their hearts racing and smiles appearing on their beautiful faces.
One of them immediately used her powers to destroy the impurities in Minos' body, realizing that he was tired.
After that, the three hugged him, talking about how they had missed him and were worried, with Gloria even shedding a few tears.
"I'm sorry I made you wait for me," Minos said after sighing. "After dealing with the curse, I absorbed one of the gifts that the God of Death had left for his heir."
"It took me a few days doing that..."
"Gifts? What do you mean? You completed his inheritance?" Abby asked in surprise, not understanding how her husband could have forgotten what they had gone there to do.
Minos understood his wife's question and summarized what had happened. "After I left, I used what the God of Death left behind to defeat the curse. That made me beat the inheritance and get the prizes from that place, hehe."
"One of those prizes was perishable outside that cursed area, so I took the opportunity to absorb it during the last few days."
The three listened to him with open mouths.
...
