Mu En shook his head.
"Not just that."
He turned and gazed into the depths of the darkness.
"The Void Shadow Beast you just contracted isn't an ordinary one."
"It's the king of Shadow Valley."
Bai Lan froze.
The king?
Mu En continued, "When I came here last time, it was already thirty thousand years old."
"After that, it lived in Shadow Space."
"Among ten thousand Soul Beasts that enter, perhaps not even one makes it out alive."
"And it became a fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast so quickly!"
He looked at Bai Lan, his gaze profound.
"A Soul Beast this extraordinary is one of a kind on the entire continent."
Bai Lan fell silent.
He lowered his gaze to the mark on the Contract Book.
A faint purple glow flickered.
It seemed to be responding to his gaze.
"Master."
A low voice sounded in his mind.
Bai Lan paused.
It was the Void Shadow Beast's voice.
"I need... time to recover..."
"Once I've recovered... I'll show you... my true strength..."
The voice faded away.
Bai Lan looked up at Mu En.
Mu En was watching him, too.
"Let's go," Mu En said. "It's right. It needs time to recover."
He turned and headed out of the valley.
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
"Oh, right."
He looked back at Bai Lan, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Nice work."
Bai Lan was taken aback.
Then he smiled.
"Thank you, Mu En."
Mu En waved a hand and continued on.
Bai Lan followed.
Yinxing floated beside him, one hand pressed to her shoulder, a faint smile on her face.
"Master," she said.
Bai Lan looked at her. "Hmm?"
Yinxing gazed at him, her eyes gentle.
"You're stronger than I thought."
Bai Lan smiled but said nothing.
The three of them made their way through the darkness toward the valley's exit.
Behind them, Shadow Valley remained shrouded in endless darkness.
But the Shadow Charms no longer dared to approach.
Because—
Their king had a master now.
On the way back.
The darkness gradually lifted.
Bai Lan looked at the Contract Book in his hand.
On the third page, the violet-black panther mark glimmered faintly, as if it had come to life, slowly prowling across the page.
"Master."
Yinxing came to his side, one hand pressed to the wound on her shoulder. Her face was still somewhat pale.
Bai Lan looked at her. "How's your injury?"
Yinxing shook her head. "It's nothing serious. A few days' rest should be enough."
Bai Lan nodded and turned his attention back to the Contract Book.
He could sense the enormous Void Shadow Beast curled up in a corner of the Contract Space, its aura weak and erratic.
A fifty-thousand-year Ferocious Beast, beaten to this state by him.
But Bai Lan knew he hadn't done it alone.
The Tiangang Bamboo's golden body had blocked the most lethal attack.
Yinxing's Void Domain had sealed off the enemy's ability to teleport.
And he—
He had only seized the opportunity.
"Master."
A low voice sounded in his mind.
It was the Void Shadow Beast.
Bai Lan focused his thoughts and let his consciousness sink into the Contract Space.
It was a void, with a faint golden light drifting all around.
The Void Shadow Beast lay prone on the ground, covered in blood, with at least a hundred golden arrows embedded in its body.
The arrows gave off a faint glow as they slowly faded away.
It lifted its head and looked at Bai Lan.
There was no longer any coldness or fury in its violet eyes.
Only a complicated emotion.
Respect? Resentment? Or resignation?
Bai Lan couldn't tell.
But he didn't care.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The Void Shadow Beast froze.
"My name...?"
It murmured the words as if pondering a question it had never considered before.
After a long while, it lowered its head.
"I don't have one," it said. "I never have."
Bai Lan fell silent.
A Ferocious Beast that had lived for fifty thousand years, yet had no name.
It had struggled for ten thousand years in Shadow Space and still had no name.
It had simply kept living.
Kept growing stronger.
Kept living in solitude.
"Then I'll give you one," Bai Lan said.
The Void Shadow Beast raised its head and looked at him.
For the first time, its violet eyes rippled with emotion.
Bai Lan thought for a moment, then looked into its eyes.
They were violet, like an abyss, yet like the night sky.
"Let's call you Youye," he said. "You, as in darkness, and ye, as in night."
The Void Shadow Beast froze.
It lowered its head, softly repeating the name.
"Youye... Youye..."
Then it looked up.
"Why... give me a name?"
Its voice was hoarse.
Bai Lan gazed at it calmly.
"Because you're my Contract Beast."
"Not a tool."
"Not a servant."
"A partner."
Youye froze.
It had lived for fifty thousand years.
It had seen countless humans.
When they saw it, they either feared it, coveted it, or wanted to kill it for its Soul Ring.
Not one of them had ever called it a "partner."
"You... aren't afraid of me?" it asked.
Bai Lan smiled.
"What's there to be afraid of?"
He pointed to the Soul Rings on his body, one black and one red, slowly pulsing.
"My thirty-thousand-year Tiangang Bamboo and my Hundred-Thousand-Year Void Butterfly Empress."
"You're only fifty thousand years old, and you're this weak right now."
"Do you think I should be afraid of you?"
"Besides, you're already my Contract Beast."
Youye fell silent.
It looked down at its wounds, then at the golden giant bamboo behind Bai Lan and the silver-white figure beside him.
Suddenly, it laughed.
It was the first time it had laughed in fifty thousand years.
"Interesting," it said. "Very interesting. So this is your Martial Soul."
Bai Lan looked at it, then suddenly asked:
"Oh, right. There's something I want to ask you."
Youye raised its head. "What?"
Bai Lan asked, "Under normal circumstances, how long would it take you to become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"
Youye paused.
Then its eyes dimmed.
"A long time," it said.
"Fifty thousand years was the limit of what I could reach in Shadow Space."
"Beyond that, Shadow Space could do very little to help me."
It paused, its voice low.
"If I cultivated normally, it might take several hundred years, or even longer."
Bai Lan raised an eyebrow. "Several hundred years?"
Youye nodded. "Soul Beasts cultivate differently from humans. Humans have techniques, resources, and teachers. Soul Beasts have only instinct and time."
"Especially after passing the fifty-thousand-year mark. Every step forward becomes impossibly difficult."
It looked at Bai Lan, a hint of confusion in its eyes.
"Why do you ask?"
Bai Lan didn't answer.
He simply raised his hand and opened the Contract Book.
On the first page was the golden mark of the Tiangang Bamboo.
On the second page was the silver butterfly silhouette of the Void Butterfly Empress.
On the third page was Youye's purple panther silhouette.
His gaze settled on the third page.
There, in tiny letters, was a line of text:
[Number of Evolutions: 0/3 (can evolve three times)]
"Youye," Bai Lan said.
Youye looked at him. "Hmm?"
Bai Lan asked, "You're weak right now. Can you evolve directly?"
Youye was stunned.
It looked at Bai Lan, at those calm eyes.
It seemed to have forgotten something.
It seemed immersed in its memories, searching for familiar words.
Suddenly, it came back to itself. "That's right, you told me before that your Martial Soul could make Contract Beasts evolve..."
"Come on, we can do it right now. Let me see how your Martial Soul works!"
Before you continue