Astonished Gu Yuena

On a forest path leading to a nearby village on the outskirts of Dragon City, Ye Zhilan, dressed in a light blue dress, moved with light steps, followed by two disciples sent by her sect as guards. Today, she was there at the request of an Elder from a nearby village to treat several villagers who had been injured in the Soul Hunting.

Just as the three of them reached a secluded, wooded corner, a strange thing happened!

A figure darted out from the side like Gui Mei, bringing with it a foul stench, and pounced straight at Ye Zhilan! The newcomer was a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion and lewd eyes. The fluctuations in his Soul Power indicated that his Cultivation Level level was as high as the Soul Emperor! He had obviously planned this in advance, lying in ambush here, with a clear target: the seemingly weak and easily bullied Ye Zhilan.

"Little beauty, have some fun with me!" The Soul Emperor grinned maliciously, his five fingers forming claws, bringing a sharp gust of wind as he grabbed at Ye Zhilan's shoulder, intending to subdue her. He clearly regarded Ye Zhilan as a weak Healing System Soul Master, his eyes filled with smug satisfaction.

Not far away, in the shadow of an ancient tree, Gu Yuena, with silver hair and purple eyes, stood quietly. All of this was, of course, her doing. She had used her powerful Divine Sense to influence the mind of this wicked Soul Emperor, whom she had encountered by chance, amplifying his evil thoughts and concealing her own aura and that of the guards behind Ye Zhilan, thus orchestrating this "attack." According to her plan, she should "coincidentally" pass by, intervene to "rescue" Ye Zhilan, and thus naturally get closer to her.

However, what happened next was completely beyond her expectations.

Faced with the sudden attack, Ye Zhilan showed no panic. Instead, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a hint of disgust flashed across her face. She didn't even release her Martial Soul. Just as the Soul Emperor's claws were about to touch her clothes, her seemingly delicate right hand pressed forward casually!

There were no flashing Soul Ring, no bursts of Soul Power, only a powerful Bloodline Power that had been condensed to the extreme and seemed capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, mixed with a strange shock force, which suddenly erupted!

"Bang!"

A dull, resounding crash, like the sound of leather being struck!

The smug Soul Emperor's grin froze instantly, replaced by extreme horror and pain! He felt an irresistible force, like a tsunami, emanating from the opponent's seemingly weak hand, and a strange, vibrating force penetrated his body, instantly disrupting the execution of his Soul Power!

"Puff--!"

He didn't even have time to scream before he was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string. Blood gushed from his mouth, and countless ribs were broken. He crashed heavily into a large tree more than ten feet away, then slid down, clearly exhaling more than he was inhaling.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye! Only then did the two guards behind Ye Zhilan react, revealing their Martial Soul in shock and anger, only to find that their target had already been easily dealt with by their Young Lady.

"Young Lady, are you alright?" The guard rushed forward.

"It's nothing, just an annoying fly." Ye Zhilan lightly shook her hand, as if she had only brushed off a bit of dust, her tone calm. Her physique, nurtured by the immortal Immortal Herb and through her own cultivation, was already no weaker than Power Attack System Battle Soul Master of the same level. Coupled with the "Mountain Splitting Force" passed down by Yu Yuanchen and combined with the Bloodline Power, it would not be difficult for her to severely injure a careless and underestimated Soul Emperor if caught off guard.

However, the matter did not end there.

Just as the Soul Emperor collapsed, severely injured, another unexpected event occurred! The ground beneath Ye Zhilan's feet bulged slightly, and a dark red shadow shot out like a lurking venomous snake, instantly Entanglement around the dying Soul Emperor's body!

It was a dark red vine, as thick as a bowl, covered with jagged barbs—her Life-Bound Vine Guard, "Star Eater"!

"Ugh--!" The Soul Emperor let out a final, shrill scream. The vines tightened suddenly, unleashing a terrifying strangulation force. Accompanied by a tooth-grinding sound of bones cracking, this Soul Emperor was strangled to death in just two or three breaths, his aura completely annihilated!

The Star Eater Vines loosened, and the Soul Emperor's corpse was no longer human. The tips of the vines, as if Life, gently brushed against Ye Zhilan's ankle, conveying a sense of intimacy and satisfaction, before slowly retracting into the ground and disappearing.

Ye Zhilan frowned slightly, not out of pity, but because she disliked the bloody scene. She raised her hand and cast a soft, emerald light onto the corpse, dissolving it to prevent it from polluting the environment. Throughout the process, she remained calm, as if she had done something insignificant.

Not far away, Gu Yuena's purple eyes widened, her beautiful face filled with disbelief!

She wasn't shocked by Ye Zhilan's ability to defeat Soul Emperor —given Ye Zhilan's status and relationship with Yu Yuanchen, it wasn't surprising that she possessed the trump card to fight beyond her level. What truly shook her was the dark red Star-Eating Vine and the way Ye Zhilan controlled it!

With her Silver Dragon King's vision and peak God King Level perception (even though her strength is currently limited), she saw through the essence at a glance!

That was not a simple Soul Skill summoning, nor was it forced mental control, but rather a... deeper, almost instinctive Symbiotic Contract!

Under this contract, a peculiar balance was formed between the Star- Star Eater Star-Eating Vine and Ye Zhilan. The Star-Eating Vine provided Ye Zhilan with powerful combat abilities, unpredictable attack methods, and a vast reserve of Soul Power unique to Soul Beast (which could be used to replenish Ye Zhilan's Soul Power when it was depleted); while Ye Zhilan's Cultivation Level advancement and leaps in Life level would be directly fed back through this contract, Cultivation Level the Star-Eating Vine's cultivation to grow at a rate far exceeding that of natural cultivation!

"This... this is?!" Gu Yuena's heart was filled with shock. She had lived for countless years and had seen humans hunt Soul Beast to obtain Soul Ring and Spirit Bone, seen Soul Beast devour human Soul Master to improve their Cultivation Level, and had even seen a very few humans sign equal or master-servant contracts with Soul Beast. But a model like this, where Soul Beast is almost turned into one's own "life-bound object," with Cultivation Level sync, sharing life and death, and mutually beneficial coexistence, was unheard of!

In particular, she clearly sensed that the Star -Star-Eating Vine's intelligence seemed extremely weak, more like a pure instinctual consciousness. This made the "contract" formation almost effortless and incredibly smooth! Ye Zhilan's Sacred Heart Immortal Begonia Martial Soul seemed to possess a natural, almost "kingly" command and affinity towards this type of Plant Spirit Beast, which was the key to all of this!

An unprecedented thought, like a flash of lightning in the darkness, instantly illuminated Gu Yuena's anxious heart about the future of her people!

"Why... must Soul Beast and humans be enemies?"

Once the thought arises, it can no longer be suppressed.

What she had always been thinking about was how to make Soul Beast stronger, how to resist human expansion, and how to break the shackles that prevented Soul Beast from becoming gods. She regarded humans as a threat, a competitor, and something that needed to be guarded against or even confronted.

But Ye Zhilan's relationship with this Star -Star-Eating Vine opened a whole new door for her!

What if... what if this peculiar "contractual" relationship could be promoted?

It's not necessary for all Soul Beast to do this; only a portion of them with exceptional talent and potential need to form similar Symbiotic Contract with kind-hearted and gifted human Soul Master Soul Beast.

Human Soul Master gain powerful assistance, additional Soul Power sources, and even special Soul Beast abilities; while contracted Soul Beast can break through the talent barriers of their own race by taking advantage of the human Soul Master's cultivation speed, which far surpasses that of Soul Beast, achieving rapid advancement in Cultivation Level! Even... when a human Soul Master breaks through to the God Level, can their "natal contracted Soul Beast" also break the curse preventing them from becoming a god?

The thought of thousands upon thousands of human genius Soul Master growing together with their contracted genius Soul Beast, and in just a few decades or hundreds of years, giving rise to a large number of powerful beings equivalent to ten thousand or even a hundred thousand years old... filled Gu Yuena with a breathtaking excitement!

Moreover, human lifespan is short while that of Soul Beast is long. In the long run, it is inevitable that humans will die while the beasts remain. These Soul Beast will become ancestral figures in the families of these people, and in the future, they may even instigate humans to form an alliance with Soul Beast to fight against the Divine Realm.

This is by no means a fantasy! Soul Beast cultivate for tens of thousands of years, while human geniuses can become Titled Douluo in just a few decades! If this time difference is utilized properly, what terrifying power it will generate!

Admittedly, the need for humans to hunt Soul Beast for Soul Ring still exists. The law of the jungle is the law of nature, and as Dragon Clan, she understands the cruelty of the jungle law even more, so she doesn't care about it. Those low-level Soul Beast that are hunted are simply part of the natural selection process in the long history of Soul Beast groups.

If core, high-potential elite Soul Beast can rise rapidly through this method, then the overall strength and high-level combat power of the Soul Beast Clan will inevitably experience an explosive growth period! This will be enough to gain an absolute advantage in the possible racial competition in the future, and even... a counterattack against the Divine Realm will no longer seem like an unattainable dream!

In comparison, while exploring the burial site of the Ice Fire Dragon King is important, it seems... it can be put on hold for now? After all, that concerns her individual recovery, while the possible path before us concerns the future of the entire Soul Beast race!

Gu Yuena's gaze refocused on Ye Zhilan, her eyes now completely transformed. From her initial investigation target, it had become... a treasure trove containing limitless possibilities! A key that could potentially change the fate of Soul Beast!

"We must get close to her! We must figure out how this 'contract' was reached! Can it be replicated? Can it be improved? Can it be promoted?" Gu Yuena's heart raced slightly. Her originally simple "approach-investigation" plan instantly escalated into a grand issue concerning the fate of her race.

She watched Ye Zhilan finish cleaning up the mess and continue walking towards the village with the guards, her teeth clenched, and she made up her mind.

The previous "hero saves the damsel in distress" plan had clearly failed and appeared quite clumsy. A more natural and less suspicious approach was needed.

"It seems... I need to change my identity, change my approach, and truly integrate into her life." A resolute glint flashed in Gu Yuena's purple eyes. She looked at her perfect yet out-of-place body and began to ponder how to play a more "reasonable" role.

A lost, homeless orphan girl with a special affinity for plants, perhaps even possessing some "unusual abilities"? Perhaps... I could "accidentally" meet her practicing medicine in that village?

The simple-minded Silver Dragon King was currently preoccupied with how to "learn" and "perfect" that wondrous Contract Method. His purpose in approaching Ye Zhilan had quietly shifted from "investigating Yu Yuanchen" to "studying Ye Zhilan herself." As for the clues about Yu Yuanchen and the Ice Fire Dragon King... for the time being, they didn't seem so urgent.

Her figure slowly blended into the shadows, and she began to meticulously plan her "new identity" and the "chance encounter" scenario. Outside Dragon City, a storm of thought triggered by a vine was quietly altering the course of a supreme being's actions, and perhaps, it would also quietly change the future landscape of the entire continent.

The forest path returned to silence, as if nothing had happened. Only the faint smell of blood in the air and the slightly warm Vine Bracelet on Ye Zhilan's wrist testified to the brief but deadly conflict that had just occurred.

Ye Zhilan seemed to sense something, glancing up in the direction where Gu Yuena had disappeared. A hint of doubt flashed in her beautiful eyes, but she didn't sense any malice. She shook her head and continued walking deeper into the valley. Little did she know that the ability she had unintentionally displayed had already stirred up a storm in the heart of a supreme being, and would quietly change the future trajectory of her and Yu Yuanchen's destinies.

An undercurrent surrounding the "Way of Beast Taming" began to quietly surge. And the Master of Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest also officially turned her attention to this new path full of unknowns and hopes.