Five Years Later

Lin Li gently brushed aside the camellia petals covering Lin Yan's name on the gravestone and said softly, "Right now, I should be making plans for Dugu Bo's Immortal Herbs. Dad, Mom, do you know? When I first came to this world, I thought about stealing Dugu Bo's Immortal Herbs for you to take, giving you a chance to break through your limits. Unfortunately, I overestimated myself."

Lin Li gave a quiet, bitter laugh, her voice tinged with a sob. "Dad, do you think I'm especially useless? It's been five years, yet I still can't forget that bloody rain, or the howls of those beasts. But don't worry. As long as the plan succeeds, our whole family will reunite within twenty years."

Lin Li looked over the garden full of camellias. They formed an exceptionally beautiful picture. She let out a soft sigh and slowly walked toward her home.

The man who had once called himself a Spirit Hall bishop had now successfully transferred to another major city.

As a Soul Emperor, he was bound to have a promising future. When he was promoted, he gave her another letter. If she had thought it through, she could go study at Spirit Hall Academy.

Lost in thought, Lin Li unconsciously returned home. It remained as it had been, except several side rooms had been added for refining medicine and soaking in medicinal baths.

Other than those few occasions when she went to the Battle Arena to observe others' real combat, she had hardly gone lately. Whenever she went, she would unconsciously imagine herself fighting on the arena.

The more she watched, the more flaws she noticed. She knew that without actual combat, she would never improve, so she stopped going as often and devoted herself to cultivating Soul Power.

Zhou Yurou, on the other hand, went to the Battle Arena every night to observe. At the mention of Zhou Yurou, Lin Li smiled helplessly. Although Zhou Yurou had not reached the twenty-ninth rank Lin Li had expected, she was still a twenty-fifth-rank Soul Grandmaster.

Lin Li and Ling Xuan had helped her hunt her Second Spirit Ring, which came from a seven-hundred-year-old Gentle Breeze Ghost Lotus.

This spirit ring gave Zhou Yurou even greater control over the Wind Element while making up for the flaw in her First Spirit Ability, which had required taste. Wherever the wind blew, all those touched by it would fall into an illusion. The combination was utterly disgusting.

As for Ling Xuan, Lin Li narrowed her eyes and absentmindedly stroked her fingers. He had a spirit bone—and a Head Spirit Bone at that. By her estimation, that spirit bone had to be over fifty thousand years old.

It might even have been of better quality than Tang San's future Spirit of Concentration Wisdom Spirit Bone.

That spirit bone had allowed him to break through to Soul Elder a year ago. However, Lin Li had not involved herself in obtaining his Third Spirit Ring. After nearly six years, she had also learned that Ye Lian was Ling Xuan's Aunt.

One night, Ye Lian took him out again. Clearly, their luck had been poor, and they wandered for more than a month before hunting down a suitable spirit ring.

That spirit ring was as troublesome as ever. His First Spirit Ability combined with his Second Spirit Ability was already enough to make him invincible. His Third Spirit Ring, moreover, had brought his control over Spiritual Power to a terrifying level.

She did not know how the Demon Soul Demonic Tree attacked, but the Demon Soul Spirit Tree was absolutely the strangest and most disgusting martial soul she had ever seen.

If possible, she did not want to fight Ling Xuan with such a martial soul. Even if she could win, the price she would pay would not be small.

Yet at that moment, Lin Li murmured softly, "Still, I hope that beast shows itself this time."

Her return to Soul Town Village was not merely to visit her parents' graves. Last week, she had tracked a Soul Beast that had only recently entered the ten-thousand-year level and was exceptionally suitable for her.

The Life-Devouring Yin Soul Cicada! But that beast was far too cunning. Knowing it was no match for her, it hid in the middle region, leaving her helpless.

The Life-Devouring Yin Soul Cicada was an extremely endangered Soul Beast. Not because human Soul Masters hunted them, but because they themselves were exceptionally bloodthirsty Soul Beasts, and the struggles among their own kind were even more brutal.

Few Life-Devouring Yin Soul Cicadas could reach ten thousand years. Once they did, their strength was often comparable to that of an ordinary thirty-thousand-year Soul Beast.

If Lin Li had not possessed the Blood Fiend Demonic Phoenix martial soul, she likely would not have been able to deal with it at all—and might even have become its food.

However, Lin Li smiled. What it did not know was that when she had prepared to hunt it, she had already placed an extremely poisonous substance called Soul Breaking Powder on its body.

For Soul Masters with weak Spiritual Power, this toxin was a rare medicinal treasure. It damaged the Sea of Consciousness, but once it shattered it to a certain degree, the toxin would be neutralized by Spiritual Power and reshape it. If one seized that opportunity, their Spiritual Power could break through to another level.

But for Soul Masters with strong Spiritual Power, it was an immortal poison that summoned the soul and claimed the life. Like maggots clinging to bone, it was incredibly troublesome. The slightest contact would cause it to continuously replicate due to the unique nature of Soul Breaking Powder, shattering the Sea of Consciousness at the same time.

How could a Sea of Consciousness that had only just settled into calmness possibly recover on its own?

As the refiner of Soul Breaking Powder, she had naturally left something within it: an exceedingly pure strand of Blood Fiend Demonic Phoenix Flame, used for tracking.

But after tracing it to Soul Town Village, that beast had hidden too well. She also missed them somewhat, so she stopped here to rest.

Yet now, a week had already passed. As the refiner of Soul Breaking Powder, she could clearly sense the aura it gave off.

And now, the aura of the Soul Breaking Powder had erupted completely. She knew the time had come.

Lin Li narrowed her eyes. A pair of extraordinarily magnificent black Phoenix Wings suddenly extended from her back.

They were her External Soul Bone, the Profound Nether Phoenix Wings.

She needed to swiftly hunt that Life-Devouring Yin Soul Cicada. She did not have time to wander around aimlessly.

With one flap of her wings, her figure vanished from the spot like a ghostly shadow. When she appeared again, she was already deep within a lush forest.

Yet the depths of this forest were especially dark and still. Suddenly, a piercing Cicada's Cry rang through the entire forest.

It sounded like weeping and sobbing, low chants and soft songs, a madly spreading cacophony like Wailing Ghosts.

Was it terrifying? Terrifying!

It was as if, beneath the grim Netherworld Hell, countless ghostly figures had gone mad and were about to rush at her.

A sudden gust of sinister ghost wind swept past, making Lin Li's long black dress flutter.

Disdain flashed through Lin Li's eyes as she said softly, "You weren't my match even at full strength. And with only half your body left, you still want to make a move against me? Dream on."

In an instant, a long, resonant wind cry echoed through the forest, instantly shattering that chilling cicada cry. If anyone had been there, they would have been stunned by the sight before them.

A pitch-black phoenix phantom slowly emerged. Its eyes were crimson like dripping blood. Purple, purple, purple—three exquisitely beautiful spirit rings danced around her body. At that moment, her aura surged, and a vast, majestic pressure exploded through the forest.

Lin Li fixed her gaze in one direction and curled her lips into a faint smile. The smile was light and beautiful.

But her words were as cold and piercing as ice. "You love running so much. Where can you possibly run to?"

Second Spirit Ability, Phoenix Feather Repentance of the Sacred