First Meeting

"Were you looking for me?"

A clear, cool voice rang out behind Lin Xiuran, making his expression tremble.

He slowly turned around. At that moment, a figure stood behind him. Silver-haired Purple-eyed, dressed in a simple yet elegant White Dress, her gaze was cool yet gentle.

Lin Xiuran was immediately stunned by her beauty, but wariness soon followed. How could someone else have appeared inside his Sea of Consciousness?

Moreover, although he had never met this person before, she felt strangely familiar.

Silver-haired Purple-eyed—those features, that face... She seemed to be...

But Lin Xiuran felt that it was impossible. He had seen Guyue just two days ago, so how could he be seeing her again now? Especially within his own Sea of Consciousness.

"My name is Gu Yuena."

It was a very simple introduction. She smiled faintly, and it seemed as though countless charms bloomed at once. Paired with her cool, abstinent appearance, it felt as if the entire Sea of Consciousness had come alive with joy.

"Gu Yuena!" Lin Xiuran's mind blanked out for a moment. After a long while, he regained his senses and looked at the woman before him.

He did not know what sort of mood he should use to face her. In an instant, his thoughts had become a complete mess.

He had once believed that his greatest advantage was knowing the plot, but now it seemed that things had gotten somewhat... messed up...

"Why have you come into my Sea of Consciousness?"

Gu Yuena shook her head, her gaze calm. "I was the one who saved you."

Lin Xiuran was somewhat stunned. If that was the case, then it explained why the four Soul Masters chasing him had suddenly become brain-dead.

The powerful spiritual power Wu Zhangkong had mentioned was probably hers. If it was her, then it was certainly possible. After all, the Silver Dragon King was famed for her powerful spiritual strength.

"Actually, I do not belong to this spacetime. And in your world, there is another me as well."

Ordinary people might not have understood those words, but Lin Xiuran seemed to grasp something.

If that was the case, then it could be explained. The Gu Yuena of his world had long since split into two, after all, and he had already met one of them.

"I came from the past to the present, only to make up for what I lost." A trace of pain flashed deep within Gu Yuena's eyes, but there was even more determination.

"The past?"

Could it be that Gu Yuena from the past had traveled through time into this world? If so, then it was understandable.

But Lin Xiuran did not know that the "past" Gu Yuena spoke of referred to the experiences before her rebirth that she never wished to revisit, not a past spacetime.

At the very least, the current Lin Xiuran did not understand that.

Gu Yuena's purple eyes had been fixed on Lin Xiuran almost the entire time, and they were exceptionally gentle, making her seem utterly harmless.

Yet this made Lin Xiuran's scalp tingle. For a moment, he had no idea what he should do.

Gu Yuena seemed to notice his awkwardness and chuckled softly. "Do you want to become stronger?"

"Of course." Though Lin Xiuran's tone remained wary, it was unusually resolute. His mother's situation, as well as the Xu Family and Xu Junwen—how could he manage any of it without strength?

"I can help you." Gu Yuena raised an eyebrow slightly. "For example, your current problem with your Soul Rings."

The issue with his Soul Rings could be said to be Lin Xiuran's greatest problem at present. If a Soul Master had no Soul Skills, the consequences were absolute. At the very least, their combat strength would be cut by more than half.

"Your Soul Ring issue is actually very simple. Fundamentally speaking, it is caused by insufficient Soul Spirit energy. Of course, even if the Soul Spirit had enough power, it would still be impossible to form a Soul Ring," Gu Yuena explained.

"What your Soul Rings lack is not Soul Spirit energy, but Elemental Energy."

Lin Xiuran was somewhat confused. Although Gu Yuena had explained it clearly, he truly did not understand why he lacked Elemental Energy. From beginning to end, had his element not always been wind?

Gu Yuena naturally saw through his thoughts. Her stunning face moved slightly closer as she teased, "You do not seriously think your Martial Soul is just a Wind Bird, do you?"

"Isn't it?" He had cultivated this Wind Bird Martial Soul for all these years. How could it be wrong?

Gu Yuena did not explain immediately. Instead, she lightly waved her hand through the void. The two spheres of light in the sky instantly fused, then transformed into the image of a Phoenix. However, this Phoenix currently only possessed red and green colors, while the rest remained dim and gray.

"Your Martial Soul is not a Wind Bird. It is a Phoenix!"

Amid Lin Xiuran's astonished gaze, Gu Yuena continued, "And it is not a single-attribute Phoenix Martial Soul, but a Phoenix that once stood alongside the Dragon God. It also commands the Nine Elements. Right now, the Phoenix power within your body is weak, and you possess only the most basic Wind Element attribute. That is why your first Soul Spirit successfully awakened a Soul Ring."

"But because your second Soul Ring lacks an elemental attribute, it cannot awaken a Soul Ring. Of course, insufficient Soul Spirit energy is also part of the reason, but even if the Soul Spirit energy were sufficient, it still could not awaken a Soul Ring without Elemental Energy."

Lin Xiuran spent quite a while digesting Gu Yuena's words before briefly sorting them out. "What you mean is that my Martial Soul is not a Wind Bird, but a Phoenix. My first Soul Ring awakened because there was still Wind Element within my body. Then what element does my second Soul Ring lack now?"

"Your second Soul Ring should have the Fire Element attribute. So you only need to replenish Fire Element."

"Fire Element?" Lin Xiuran looked at Gu Yuena and asked, "How do I replenish it?"

Gu Yuena smiled somewhat proudly. "I can do that. Since I also command the Nine Elements, I can naturally help you restore your origin attribute."

However, upon hearing this, Lin Xiuran did not smile. Instead, he frowned slightly. "How do you know all this so clearly? And why do you want to help me?"

It was not strange for him to ask that. He simply felt that everything Gu Yuena had said was too leading, as if she were trying to guide Lin Xiuran into relying on her.

"Why do I know so clearly?" For some reason, Gu Yuena's once-bright smile stiffened, carrying a faint trace of bitterness.

Gu Yuena sighed softly. Her exquisite face carried a touch of sorrow, yet she remained breathtakingly beautiful.

"I need your help as well. I am the Silver Dragon King, half of the Dragon God, and the Phoenix Bloodline within you can help me to a certain extent. Only by helping each other can we fulfill each other."

Lin Xiuran froze slightly. "But what could I possibly help you with?"

Indeed, the enormous gap between them made him doubt that there was anything he could offer her.

"It is actually very simple." Gu Yuena lightly waved her hand, and a chair suddenly appeared behind her. She sat down and slowly explained, "After all, I do not belong to this world. Because of your Phoenix power, I am able to reside here. At the same time, I also need to replenish myself with the aura of the me in this world."