Ah Yin Breaks Down, Was Tang Hao Plotting Her Sacrifice?!

[Emperor Lu (Group Leader): A thirty-five-year-old top-tier Soul Douluo whose mind had long since matured—what would he think when faced with such an unguarded and priceless "treasure"?]

"..."

This time, even Ah Yin fell silent.

Because what Lu Ming had said was true!

It was the greatest secret of transformed soul beasts!

Shrek Academy, dormitory.

Xiao Wu's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Her small hands clenched the bedsheets tightly, her knuckles whitening from the force.

Everything the Group Leader said... was right!

She herself was a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. More than anyone, she understood what a dividing line Level 60 was.

[Bunny is the Cutest: What the Group Leader said... seems... to make sense.]

Xiao Wu typed those words with trembling hands.

[Bunny is the Cutest: I... I'm actually starting to believe it.]

Xiao Wu's message became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Everyone in the group knew just how much "Bunny is the Cutest" had once yearned for and been moved by this love story.

Even she had begun to waver, even to believe...

The truth was practically self-evident.

[Pontiff: Heh... what a Clear Sky Douluo, what a Tang Hao!]

[Pontiff: So it was all an act from beginning to end. He spent nine years laying the groundwork, deceiving a woman out of everything she had, including her life and soul... Could Tang Hao truly have been plotting this for a long time?]

There was a trace of satisfaction in Bibi Dong's voice, along with deeper mockery.

She thought of herself, of Qian Xun Ji.

So men everywhere were equally hypocritical, equally disgusting!

[Little Witch: Ugh... that's revolting! I actually shed tears for someone like that just now! Are my tears worthless?!]

[Fox is Most Pure: So... even the most heartfelt confession can be... the most vicious lie?]

Outside Heaven Dou City, deep within a hidden cave.

A crystal-blue Blue Silver Grass swayed without wind, every blade trembling violently as though enduring the fiercest storm in the world.

Ah Yin's consciousness screamed soundlessly.

She did not want to believe it.

She could not believe it.

Those warm memories flashed through her mind one by one.

Tang Hao's clumsy yet gentle movements as he combed her long hair.

The two of them leaning against each other atop mountain peaks, watching sunrises and sunsets, clouds gathering and dispersing.

His overbearing devotion as he shielded her behind him and stood against the whole world.

Those days had been the happiest time since she had transformed into a human.

How could they have been fake?

There had been the purest love between them, the deepest bond.

They even had a child!

A miracle born from the union of a soul beast and a human—their son, Tang San!

How could all of this have been a meticulously planned conspiracy?!

[My Son is Not a Bastard: Even if he knew I was a soul beast, that doesn't prove anything!]

Ah Yin used all her strength to send her rebuttal into the Chat Group.

[My Son is Not a Bastard: Knowing my identity as a soul beast yet still loving me—doesn't that prove Tang Hao's love was true love that transcended race?!]

Blue Tyrant Academy, cultivation room.

Lu Ming looked at the somewhat pale defense on the screen, the smile at the corner of his mouth growing more obvious.

True love?

What a laughable phrase.

He did not rush to refute her. Instead, he slowly revealed a deeper secret about soul beast transformation.

[Emperor Lu (Group Leader): When a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast transforms into a human, it can leave the Infancy Period and enter the Transition Period at Level 61, making it impossible even for a Titled Douluo to see through its true form.]

[Emperor Lu (Group Leader): But at that time, you are still a soul beast in essence.]

[Emperor Lu (Group Leader): Only when your Soul Power breaks through Level 70 and reaches Level 71 can you be considered a true human and enter the "Maturity Period."]

[Emperor Lu (Group Leader): The reason Ah Yin could be sacrificed was because she was still a soul beast.]

Spirit City, Pontiff's Palace.

Bibi Dong's pupils contracted slightly.

As Spirit Hall's highest authority, she had encountered far more secrets than ordinary people. Yet this was the first time even she had heard such a detailed classification of the stages of soul beast transformation.

Below Level 60: Infancy Period, where one could be seen through.

Levels 61 through 70: Transition Period, where one could not be seen through but could still be sacrificed.

Level 71 and above: Maturity Period, fully human.

Heaven Dou City, East Palace.

Qian Renxue's breathing halted for an instant.

She immediately caught the most fatal point in those words.

[I Have No Mother: You mean Tang Hao deliberately waited until Ah Yin was still a soul beast before having her sacrifice herself?]

Her question struck directly at the heart of the matter, sending chills down the spines of all the girls silently watching the chat.

If that were true, then this person could no longer be described merely as deeply calculating.

He was a devil!

Blue Tyrant Academy, dean's office.

Liu Erlong's eyes widened.

She felt her worldview being shattered bit by bit, then rebuilt.

[Gentle Fire Dragon: I learned something. So it's this difficult for soul beasts to transform into humans.]

She murmured her reflection.

This had gone beyond the limits of her understanding of soul beasts.

Shrek Academy, Girls' Dormitory.

Xiao Wu's body began to tremble uncontrollably.

More than anyone, she knew that every word the Group Leader had said was true!

These were secrets passed down from generation to generation among Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

The road of transformation was fraught with thorns at every step.

Level 71 was the endpoint every transformed soul beast dreamed of, and also an insurmountable chasm.

Cross it, and the world opened wide; one could truly possess a human life.

Fail to cross it, and one would forever bear the original sin of being a soul beast.

[Bunny is the Cutest: The Group Leader is right... indeed... only by reaching Level 71 can one truly become human.]

[Bunny is the Cutest: And during the Transition Period, soul beasts must live with humans for a long time, using human emotions and the atmosphere of human life to complete their final transformation.]

Xiao Wu's confirmation completely shattered the last shred of hope in the group.

And in the cave, Ah Yin's entire consciousness went utterly blank.

Level 71...

Level 71...

That number was like poisoned daggers stabbing viciously into the depths of her soul.

Because she remembered it clearly.

On the day Qian Xun Ji led people to surround and hunt her down, leaving her with no way out and forcing her to choose sacrifice.

Her Soul Power had been exactly—

Level 69!

She had only been one final step away from completely shedding her identity as a soul beast and becoming a true human!

Yet at that most crucial moment, the pursuers arrived.

Everything headed toward that "only" ending.

A coincidence?

Could such a coincidence really exist in this world?

At that moment, Ah Yin's consciousness felt as though it had been completely torn apart.

On one side were nine years of loving memories spent supporting each other; on the other were cold facts, all pointing toward a conspiracy.