The light inside the Sea God Pavilion gradually faded.
Bai Lan stood where he was, the black and red Soul Rings around him slowly pulsing as they radiated a suffocating pressure.
Black, thirty thousand years.
Red, one hundred thousand years.
A Soul Elder with two Soul Rings, their configuration enough to make any Titled Douluo take notice.
But there was little joy on his face.
"One hundred thousand years..." He lowered his head and looked at his hands, murmuring, "It really wasn't five hundred thousand years."
Mu En paused on his way to the door and looked back.
"Disappointed?"
Bai Lan looked up and met those deep-set eyes.
He thought for a moment, then nodded honestly. "A little."
Mu En smiled.
There was no mockery in his smile, only the seasoned composure of someone who had seen it all.
"Kid, do you know what one hundred thousand years means?"
Bai Lan paused.
Mu En walked back and stopped in front of him.
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast has already surpassed the realm of ordinary Soul Beasts," he said slowly. "They possess intelligence no lesser than that of humans. They can take human form and even cultivate into gods."
"Your Void Butterfly Empress could become a beautiful woman and stand before you anytime she wanted."
Bei Bei and the other two stared, their eyes wide.
"Take... human form?" Tang Ya stammered.
Mu En nodded. "It's a hallmark ability of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. But since she chose to remain your Contract Beast, it means she acknowledges you."
Bai Lan turned to look at the Void Butterfly Empress.
The silver-white butterfly hovered in midair, its wings trembling slightly, as if responding to Mu En's words.
"As for five hundred thousand years..." Mu En continued, "that's the realm of Ferocious Beasts. There are no more than a handful of beings on Di Tian and Snow Empress's level across the entire continent."
He looked at Bai Lan, his gaze profound.
"You're six years old, at level thirty, and you have a thirty-thousand-year Tiangang Bamboo and a Hundred-Thousand-Year Void Butterfly Empress."
"Do you know what that means?"
Bai Lan was silent for a second, then said, "It means I'm really strong?"
Bei Bei and the others nearly choked.
Mu En laughed, too.
"Strong?" He shook his head. "It's not strong. It's absurd."
He turned away from Bai Lan and gazed out the window.
"I've lived for over a hundred years and seen countless geniuses. Some had Innate Full Soul Power, some had Twin Martial Souls, some became Soul Elders at ten, and some became Soul Saints at twenty."
"But never before has anyone possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring at the age of six."
He turned back and looked at Bai Lan.
"You're the first."
Bai Lan said nothing.
There was someone even more absurd who had yet to appear.
That was Huo Yuhao.
His First Soul Ring was a million years old.
Though it had been sealed and reduced to ten years.
It was still a genuine million-year First Soul Ring.
Compared with him, Bai Lan still fell short.
But judging by how much the Contract Book could improve through evolution,
it wouldn't take long for him to surpass Huo Yuhao, too.
And his Soul Ring abilities—and even his Contract Beast's abilities—would surely be stronger than those of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, that fellow who had gotten powerful just by eating.
Mu En walked back to him and patted him on the shoulder.
"So don't be disappointed."
"One hundred thousand years isn't the end."
"It's the beginning."
Bai Lan paused.
Then he smiled.
"Understood."
Mu En nodded and turned toward the door.
This time, he didn't stop.
Yan Shaozhe walked over and looked at Bai Lan, seeming to have something to say.
In the end, he only said, "Get some rest. I'll take you to that place tomorrow."
Then he followed Mu En out.
Only Bai Lan and the three others remained in the pavilion.
Silence stretched on for a long while.
Then Tang Ya broke it first.
"Um... Bai Lan."
Bai Lan looked at her.
Tang Ya pointed at the Void Butterfly Empress and asked cautiously, "Can she really turn into a person now?"
The Void Butterfly Empress's wings trembled.
The next moment, silver light flashed.
A girl who looked about twelve or thirteen appeared before them.
Her long silver-white hair fell to her waist, and her eyes resembled the deep starry sky. Her skin was so fair it was almost translucent. She wore a silver dress embroidered with butterfly patterns along the hem.
She was a peerless beauty.
She stood there silently, looking at Tang Ya without expression.
Tang Ya's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.
Bei Bei stood frozen in place.
Xu Sanshi's jaw nearly hit the ground.
Bai Lan was stunned, too.
"You..." He opened his mouth.
The girl turned to him and gave a slight bow. "Master."
Her voice was cool and clear, like a mountain spring.
Bai Lan took a deep breath, suppressing his shock.
"You... can talk?"
The girl nodded. "A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast possesses complete intelligence and the ability to speak. I simply didn't want to before."
Bai Lan was silent for a second.
"Then why do you want to now?"
The girl glanced at Tang Ya. "Because she asked."
Tang Ya: "...???"
The girl looked away and turned back to Bai Lan.
"What would you have me do, Master?"
Bai Lan thought for a moment, then asked, "What's your name?"
The girl paused.
Then she lowered her head and fell silent for a long while.
"...I don't have one."
"I don't have a name."
"Since I was born, I've always been alone."
"Master, will you give me one?"
She spoke, and for the first time, a hint of emotion crept into her voice.
She raised her head and looked at Bai Lan.
Silence briefly settled over the pavilion.
Looking into her deep eyes, Bai Lan suddenly understood.
She had lived alone in Illusion Valley, cut off from the world.
No kin.
No companions.
No name.
Only endless solitude.
Until she met him.
"Then I'll give you a name," Bai Lan said.
The girl's eyes widened slightly.
Bai Lan thought for a moment, looking at her silver-white hair and starry eyes.
"How about... Yinxing?"
"Silver, like the color, and star, like the stars."
The girl froze.
She lowered her head and softly murmured,
"Yinxing... Yinxing..."
Then she raised her head.
For the first time, a light appeared in her eyes, which had always been as calm as still water.
"Thank you, Master."
Her voice was much gentler than before.
Bai Lan smiled and waved his hand. "No need to thank me."
Yinxing looked at him and suddenly asked,
"Master, may I stay outside?"
Bai Lan paused. "Stay outside?"
Yinxing nodded. "The Contract Space is safe, but... it's quiet."
She didn't say she was lonely, but everyone understood.
Bai Lan was silent for a second, then nodded.
"Of course."
The corners of Yinxing's mouth lifted slightly.
It was the first time she had smiled.
An hour later.
By the lake outside the Sea God Pavilion.
Yinxing sat quietly on the grass, gazing at the lake.
Beside her, Bai Lan had brought out the enormous Tiangang Bamboo, too. It had taken root by the lake, its golden stalk gleaming in the sunlight.
Bai Lan sat not far away, reading the words in the Contract Book.
Bei Bei and the other two sat off to one side, stealing occasional glances at Yinxing.
"She really is... beautiful," Tang Ya whispered.
Xu Sanshi nodded, unusually without arguing.
Bei Bei said nothing. He just looked at Bai Lan's back, his gaze complicated.
Before today, Bai Lan had been a junior with great potential.
After today...
He didn't know how to define him.
A Soul Elder with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Contract Beast?
There wasn't another one anywhere on the Douluo Continent.
Before you continue