Boom!
The Contract Book burst into brilliant light!
It was so dazzling that it illuminated the entire Sea God Pavilion in an instant, even piercing through the windows and shooting outside!
Bei Bei and the others instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
Yan Shaozhe's pupils contracted.
A sharp glint flashed in Mu En's eyes.
Amid the light, two figures shot out of the Contract Book and landed on the open ground beside Bai Lan.
On the left was the Arrow Bamboo's true form.
On the right was the Void Butterfly King's true form.
They began to evolve at the same time.
The Arrow Bamboo trembled violently as the blue-green color of its stalk began to change.
Golden lines spread upward from its roots like living veins, tracing intricate patterns across its stalk.
The golden markings around its nodes grew brighter and more intense, until they became rings of golden light that revolved around the stalk.
Its leaves changed as well.
The originally long, slender leaves grew even thinner. A faint golden glow appeared along their edges, while light flowing through their veins grew ever brighter, as if something were awakening within them.
It grew taller.
Three or four people high, then four and a half, then five...
It kept growing until it nearly touched the Sea God Pavilion's ceiling.
On the other side, the Void Butterfly King's transformation was even more dramatic.
Its body began to fade, turning transparent as if it were merging with the surrounding air.
But in the next instant, it suddenly became solid again, and the silver patterns on its wings erupted in blinding light.
The patterns expanded, spread, and rearranged themselves.
The intricate designs grew even more complex and profound.
Each pattern trembled slightly, as if it had come alive, gliding across the wings, weaving together and fusing.
Space began to distort.
Centered on the Void Butterfly King, the surrounding space rippled like water struck by a stone.
The ripples spread outward, warping the light wherever they passed.
Strangely, though, the distortion caused no harm.
Bei Bei's vision wavered. He felt as if something had changed, but couldn't say what.
Tang Ya stared wide-eyed at the Void Butterfly King without blinking.
Xu Sanshi's mouth gaped so wide an egg could fit inside.
Yan Shaozhe clenched and unclenched his hands, over and over.
Mu En remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the two Soul Beasts in the midst of their evolution.
Time passed, second by second.
No one knew how long it had been.
Boom!
Two beams of light burst open at once!
The blinding radiance made everyone close their eyes instinctively.
When they opened them again, everything before them had changed.
The Arrow Bamboo was gone.
In its place stood an enormous bamboo, golden from top to bottom.
Its stalk was no longer blue-green, but pure gold, as if cast from the purest gold.
Even more intricate golden patterns circled its nodes. They were no longer mere decoration; they flowed slowly, like living things.
Its leaves had turned golden too. Each one was like a finely crafted sheet of gold foil, its edges sharp as blades and dazzling light streaming through its veins.
Most astonishing was its height.
It stood seven or eight people tall, almost touching the Sea God Pavilion's vaulted ceiling.
If the pavilion hadn't been so tall, it might have pierced right through the roof.
Bai Lan lowered his gaze to the Contract Book.
The words on its pages were updating:
[Contract Beast: Tiangang Bamboo] [Age: 30,000 years] [Status: Contracted] [Abilities: Tiangang Golden Body, Tiangang Arrow Formation, Tiangang Domain, Photosynthesis, Growth, Healing] [Tiangang Golden Body: The stalk's hardness is raised to the utmost, rivaling celestial black gold; it can withstand attacks from ordinary Titled Douluo.] [Tiangang Arrow Formation: Can control 360 bamboo leaves at once to form the Tiangang Arrow Formation, covering a radius of 100 meters. Each arrow carries Tiangang Power.] [Tiangang Domain: Expands a domain centered on itself. The defense of all allies within the domain is greatly increased, while the movements of enemies are hindered.] [Photosynthesis, Growth, Healing: All basic abilities are greatly enhanced.] [Evolutions: 3/3 (Maximum reached. Must reach level 40 to unlock the next evolution.)]
Thirty thousand years.
Tiangang Bamboo.
Bai Lan took a deep breath and turned to look at the other side.
The Void Butterfly King had changed too.
Its body had grown even more ethereal, as if made entirely of light and shadow. It shifted between solid and transparent.
The silver patterns on its wings had turned a brilliant silver-white. Each one resembled a fold in space itself, mesmerizing and disorienting to look at.
Most astonishing of all, the space around it was distorting on its own.
It wasn't actively releasing its power. The space around it trembled simply because it was there.
As if bowing in submission.
Bai Lan lowered his gaze again.
The words on the second page of the Contract Book were updating too:
[Contract Beast: Void Butterfly Empress] [Age: 100,000 years] [Status: Contracted] [Abilities: Space Master, Dimensional Slash: Extreme, Void Domain, Shatter Teleportation: Extreme, Space Imprisonment: Extreme, Void Mark, Breath Nullification, Spacetime Displacement] [Space Master: Can freely control space within 100 meters, folding, distorting, tearing, and rearranging it at will.] [Dimensional Slash: Extreme: A flap of the wings releases a dimensional slash capable of cutting through most defenses and even briefly slicing open space.] [Void Domain: Unleashes a Void Domain. Enemies within it lose all sense of spatial direction and cannot lock onto their targets.] [Shatter Teleportation: Extreme: Instantly shatters space to forcibly break free of any restraints. No cooldown; can be used repeatedly.] [Space Imprisonment: Extreme: Gathers spatial power to forcibly imprison a target. At the 100,000-year level, it can trap an ordinary Titled Douluo for 3–5 seconds.] [Void Mark: Leaves a void mark on a target, allowing it to be tracked regardless of distance. The mark cannot be erased.] [Breath Nullification: Passive ability. Its presence is fully concealed within space, making it undetectable by any means of detection.] [Spacetime Displacement: Briefly shifts a target out of alignment, causing attacks to always miss its true position. Lasts 3 seconds; usable once per day.] [Evolutions: 3/3 (Maximum reached. Must reach level 40 to unlock the next evolution.)]
One hundred thousand years.
Void Butterfly Empress.
Bai Lan stared at the words, speechless for a long time.
The Soul Rings around him had changed too. The one purple and one black ring he'd had before were now one black and one red.
The aura they gave off was terrifying!
Behind him, Bei Bei's trembling voice sounded:
"О-one hundred thousand years?"
No one answered him.
They were all too stunned to speak.
Mu En slowly walked forward and stopped beside Bai Lan.
He looked at the golden Tiangang Bamboo and the ethereal Void Butterfly Empress, then suddenly smiled.
"Just as I suspected. Once they reach 100,000 years, their ages don't increase tenfold."
"Otherwise, it would be far too outrageous."
"That would mean Soul Beasts and Soul Rings of 500,000 years."
"This seems more reasonable."
"Good," he said, his voice touched with relief. "Very good."
He turned to Bai Lan, his gaze profound.
"From this moment on, you can finally protect yourself."
Bai Lan lifted his head and met his gaze.
At that moment, he suddenly understood something.
Mu En had asked him to evolve in front of everyone not just so he could protect him.
It was also so Bei Bei and the others could see it with their own eyes, witness it firsthand, and help him keep the secret.
It was trust.
And responsibility.
At the same time, he felt a little disappointed.
His Void Butterfly Empress wasn't a 500,000-year Soul Beast.
It was only a 100,000-year Soul Beast.
One hundred thousand years... was a threshold for Soul Beasts.
Not even the Contract Book could follow a tenfold increase and raise its age straight to 500,000 years.
It seemed his earlier guess had been right.
Before reaching 100,000 years, the age increased tenfold.
But once it reached 100,000 years, that was no longer the case.
Before you continue