The Contract Book flared brilliantly!
But this time, the light didn't spread outward. Instead, it all surged into the butterfly emblem on the second page.
The butterfly emblem began to glow.
Brighter and brighter.
Bai Lan could feel the Void Butterfly undergoing a violent transformation inside the Contract Space.
It was a strange sensation.
As if something were about to break out of its cocoon.
A moment later, the light faded.
The text on the Contract Book had updated:
[Contract Beast: Void Phantom Butterfly] [Age: Five Thousand Years] [Status: Contracted] [Abilities: Space Folding, Void Concealment, Spatial Perception, Hovering, Dimensional Slash] [Space Folding: Can fold a wide area of space to achieve a medium-range teleport or deflect attacks] [Void Concealment: Merges with the surrounding space and completely hides its aura; difficult for those of the same level to detect] [Spatial Perception: Extremely sensitive to spatial fluctuations nearby and can predict the trajectory of attacks] [Hovering: Can remain airborne and fly, with increased speed] [Dimensional Slash: Swings its wings to release Space Blades with powerful cutting force] [Number of Evolutions: 1/2 (Can evolve once more)] [Ability Sharing: Not activated (must be activated manually)]
Five thousand years.
Bai Lan's lips curled slightly.
The first evolution was complete.
He didn't stop. He focused his thoughts again.
Confirm the second evolution!
The Contract Book's light burned even more fiercely than before!
The butterfly emblem on the second page seemed to come alive, dancing across the page as the surrounding space began to warp.
This transformation was even more intense than the last.
Bai Lan could feel the Void Phantom Butterfly undergoing some kind of metamorphosis inside the Contract Space.
It wasn't just an increase in age. It felt more like an ascent to a higher level of life.
The light lasted a full quarter of an hour before slowly fading.
Bai Lan looked down, his pupils contracting slightly.
[Contract Beast: Void Butterfly King] [Age: Fifty Thousand Years] [Status: Contracted] [Abilities: Space Folding, Void Concealment, Spatial Perception, Dimensional Slash, Hovering, Space Imprisonment, Void Mark, Shatter Teleportation] [Space Folding: Can fold a wide area of space to achieve a medium-range teleport (within a hundred meters) or deflect powerful attacks] [Void Concealment: Merges into the layers between spaces and completely hides its aura and form; those with less Soul Power than itself cannot detect it] [Spatial Perception: Extremely sensitive to spatial fluctuations within a thousand meters and can predict the trajectory of attacks and the source of danger] [Dimensional Slash: Swings its wings to release Space Blades with tremendous cutting force, capable of cutting through ordinary defensive Soul Skills] [Hovering: Can remain airborne and fly at tremendous speed] [Space Imprisonment: Gathers spatial power to briefly imprison a target (can restrain someone of the same level for 1–3 seconds)] [Void Mark: Leaves a spatial mark on a target and tracks it continuously, ignoring ordinary stealth and disguises] [Shatter Teleportation: Instantly shatters the space around itself to forcibly escape restraint or danger (high cost, limited to once per day)] [Number of Evolutions: 2/2 (Maximum reached; must reach level thirty to unlock the next evolution)] [Ability Sharing: Not activated (must be activated manually)]
Fifty thousand years.
Void Butterfly King.
Bai Lan stared at those words, speechless for a long time.
Behind him, Yan Shaozhe spoke, his voice tinged with complicated emotions:
"Twenty thousand years?"
Bai Lan turned to look at Yan Shaozhe.
After a moment's thought, he decided not to hide it.
"Fifty thousand years," he said.
Yan Shaozhe fell silent.
For a long while, he didn't say a word.
Then he smiled.
"Fifty thousand years..." He shook his head. "Bai Lan, do you know what a fifty-thousand-year spatial Soul Beast means?"
Bai Lan thought for a moment, then said, "That I'm really strong?"
Yan Shaozhe chuckled.
"Strong?" he said. "More than strong. A fifty-thousand-year Void Butterfly King would be enough to make even a Titled Douluo's eyes turn green."
He looked at Bai Lan, his gaze deep. "From now on, your Second Soul Ring is also at the fifty-thousand-year level."
Bai Lan looked down at himself.
Two Soul Rings pulsed slowly around him.
One was purple.
The other was black.
His original purple Second Soul Ring had been replaced by a brand-new black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
The first was Arrow Bamboo's three-thousand-year Soul Ring.
The second was the Void Butterfly King's fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring.
On the pages of the book, Arrow Bamboo had two purple, three-thousand-year Soul Rings.
The Void Butterfly King had two black, fifty-thousand-year Soul Rings.
At the same time, Bai Lan's Soul Power had risen from level twenty-three to level twenty-six.
He didn't know why it had only increased by three levels.
Perhaps it was because he hadn't absorbed a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring directly.
Instead, the Contract Book had provided one...
"Dean," he asked, "my Second Soul Ring is fifty thousand years old, but my Soul Power only increased by three levels. I'm at level twenty-six now. Is that... normal?"
Yan Shaozhe was silent for a few seconds, then slowly replied:
"No."
"But your Martial Soul isn't normal to begin with."
"So whether it's normal or not doesn't matter anymore."
"The most important thing is that you didn't directly absorb the Soul Ring of a dead Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It was manifested by a living Soul Beast through your Martial Soul Contract Book."
"That's why your Soul Power increased less."
Hearing the explanation, Bai Lan paused, then smiled.
That made sense.
The Contract Book wasn't something that could be judged by ordinary standards.
Reaching level twenty-six so quickly was already great.
It had saved him a lot of time cultivating.
Next, he only needed to focus on cultivating the remaining four levels.
At level thirty, he could make another contract.
Then Arrow Bamboo and the Void Butterfly King could each evolve once more.
A third Contract Beast would be able to evolve three times right away.
If its age was high enough, would that mean he could obtain two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings straight away?
Just thinking about it was exciting.
With a tenfold increase, Arrow Bamboo's third evolution would guarantee an age of at least thirty thousand years.
Would the Void Butterfly King's age be at least five hundred thousand years?
That was just absurd...
If that really happened,
he could easily obtain at least nine Soul Rings at the million-year level in the future.
His combat strength would be terrifying.
Most importantly, his Contract Beasts could help him fight.
Any enemy who faced him would feel a despair like never before.
And helplessness, too.
On top of that, if the forces outside learned of him, they would stop at nothing to kill him.
But something told him things wouldn't turn out the way he guessed.
Never mind. That was a problem for the future.
He closed the Contract Book, stood up, and went to sit beside the fire.
The night wind blew, and the flames danced.
He gazed at the flickering firelight, but his thoughts were on the Void Butterfly King inside the Contract Space.
Fifty thousand years.
A spatial Soul Beast.
Eight abilities.
After level thirty, there would be a third evolution.
One hundred thousand years.
What would it become after crossing that threshold?
He didn't know.
But he was looking forward to finding out.
Just then,
Yan Shaozhe spoke with an expression more solemn and grave than Bai Lan had ever seen:
"Bai Lan, your Martial Soul Contract Book has far exceeded my expectations."
"If things continue this way, as long as the Soul Beasts you contract in the future are old enough, you'll be able to obtain even more powerful Soul Beasts with greater ages through evolution. A hundred thousand years is certainly possible. Even two hundred thousand years—or a million years and beyond—might not be out of reach."
"In that case, you should keep a low profile as much as possible and avoid drawing attention to yourself."
"If possible, don't reveal your Soul Rings. It would be even better if you can conceal their auras."
"So I think your third Contract Beast should be one that can perfectly conceal the auras of your Contract Beasts and Soul Rings."
"That will greatly improve your chances of staying alive, at least until you've fully grown."
"Of course, it's impossible to tell you never to fight. Young people are full of themselves and like to show off in front of others."
That was what gave him a headache, too.
Bai Lan's Martial Soul was far too extraordinary.
Someone like him could easily become an enemy of the world.
Then die young.
Yan Shaozhe didn't want to see that happen.
There was only one person he could think of who could better protect Bai Lan.
That was Mu En, the Sea God Pavilion Master and a Peerless Douluo.
He had to make sure Mu En fully understood how important Bai Lan was.
Before you continue