The Hundred-Thousand-Year Void Shadow King Beast! Humanoid Transformation! A Second Peerless Beauty!

It paused, then looked at Bai Lan. "You go ahead."

"Sure. Let's begin."

Bai Lan smiled.

He was looking forward to it.

He closed the Contract Book and raised his head.

His gaze passed through Contract Space and fell on Youye.

"Are you ready?"

Youye looked at him.

For the first time in fifty thousand years, it felt a strange emotion.

Not fear.

Not reverence.

But—

anticipation.

"I'm ready," it said.

Bai Lan nodded.

He focused his thoughts.

Void Shadow Beast, first evolution, confirmed!

Boom!

The Contract Book burst into dazzling purple light!

The light was richer and deeper than ever before, like shadows surging up from the abyss. In an instant, it illuminated all of Sea God Pavilion!

No.

Not Sea God Pavilion.

Shadow Valley.

They hadn't left the valley's bounds.

They had merely reached its outermost region.

Bai Lan opened his eyes and realized he was back in the real world.

He stood at the bottom of the valley, surrounded by endless darkness.

But now, that darkness was churning.

Shadow Power from a hundred-mile radius was madly converging around him!

As if alive, it poured in from all directions, flowing into the Contract Book in his hand!

On the Contract Book's third page, Youye's mark was trembling violently!

The purple light grew brighter and more intense by the second!

"What is this...?"

Mu En's voice came from behind him, tinged with surprise.

"Is it evolving?"

Bai Lan nodded.

Mu En fell silent.

He had lived for over a hundred years and seen countless Soul Beasts evolve.

But he had never witnessed anything like this.

All the Shadow Power within a hundred-mile radius was being drained?

What level of evolution was this?

Its previous evolution hadn't been anywhere near this absurd.

Yinxing hovered in the air, staring fixedly at the Contract Book.

She was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast too, and she had experienced evolution.

But hers hadn't been nearly this spectacular.

And she had a powerful intuition.

After evolving, this creature would be far stronger than her.

She might not even be able to defeat it.

"Master..." she murmured.

Bai Lan didn't answer.

He simply stared at the Contract Book.

He could feel Youye undergoing a tremendous change inside Contract Space.

It was more violent and intense than Yinxing's evolution.

As if it were breaking through some kind of shackle.

Or fighting against something.

Second by second, time passed.

Who knew how long it had been—

Boom!

A dense mass of purple light exploded from the Contract Book!

It shot skyward, pierced the darkness above the valley, and streaked toward the heavens!

All of Shadow Valley trembled!

Countless Shadow Charms poured out of the darkness and prostrated themselves in this direction!

They sensed it.

It was the aura of their king.

But stronger than before.

Much stronger.

The light lasted a full quarter of an hour before slowly fading.

Bai Lan looked down at the Contract Book.

The text on the third page was updating:

[Contract Beast: Void Shadow King Beast]

[Age: Hundred Thousand Years]

[Status: Contracted]

[Abilities: Shadow Fusion, Spatial Perception, Shadow Step, Shadow Claw, Shadow Cannon, Shadow Space Erosion, Aura Devour, Shadow Clone, Shadow Domain]

[Shadow Fusion: Merge into shadows, completely conceal aura, and move without making a sound]

[Spatial Perception: Extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the surrounding space; can predict danger in advance; range increased to one thousand meters]

[Shadow Step: Teleport short distances between shadows at minimal cost; can be used repeatedly]

[Shadow Claw: Attacks inflict shadow corrosion and Shadow Space Erosion. Wounds are extremely difficult to heal, and small spatial rifts can be torn open]

[Shadow Cannon: Gather shadow energy for long-range attacks; immense power, with an area-of-effect corrosion effect]

[Shadow Space Erosion: When attacking, can pull part of an enemy's body into Shadow Space for 1–2 seconds]

[Aura Devour: Devour an enemy's aura to heal its own injuries; can devour multiple targets at once]

[Shadow Clone: Create up to five Shadow Clones, each with half the original's power and able to fight independently]

[Shadow Domain: Unleash Shadow Domain. Enemies within the domain suffer disordered senses, shadow abilities are greatly enhanced, and allies become invisible]

[Evolutions: 1/3 (Two more evolutions available)]

A hundred thousand years.

Shadow Domain.

Bai Lan looked at the text and let out a long breath.

Three Soul Rings appeared on him: black, red, and red.

They radiated an utterly terrifying aura.

He raised his head.

The first evolution had taken it straight to a hundred thousand years.

What would the second and third evolutions bring?

Just thinking about it thrilled him!

Ahead of him, the enormous Ferocious Beast that had been lying where Youye once was had disappeared.

In its place stood a young woman.

She looked about fifteen or sixteen, with a slender, willowy figure. Her long hair, reaching her waist, was a deep purplish black, as though she wore the entire night sky draped over her shoulders.

She slowly raised her head.

That face.

Bai Lan froze for a second.

Breathtaking.

It was the only word he could think of.

Her skin was as fair as snow, her brows and eyes carried a trace of cool severity, her nose was straight, and her lips were a pale purple.

Most striking were her eyes: deep purple, with vertical pupils like two precious stones—or an unfathomable abyss.

She stood there quietly, dressed in a long purplish-black gown that had appeared from nowhere. Shadowy patterns seemed to flow across its hem.

Her gaze settled on Bai Lan.

Then she spoke.

"Master."

Her voice was cool and clear, like a night breeze in the mountains or a whisper from the abyss.

Bai Lan took a deep breath.

"See? I didn't lie. Once you evolve to a hundred thousand years, you can undergo Humanoid Transformation without surviving a Heavenly Tribulation, and you'll retain all your strength perfectly."

The young woman nodded.

"Mm. I didn't expect it to be so amazing."

She lowered her head and looked at her hands, gently making a fist.

"This feeling... is unfamiliar."

"So this is what being human is like?"

Bai Lan was silent for a second, then asked, "Are you all right?"

The young woman looked up at him.

Her deep purple eyes still held the weariness she'd felt before, but now there was also an emotion she couldn't quite put into words.

"I'm all right," she said. "I'm just... not used to it yet."

Bai Lan nodded.

"Then take your time getting used to it."

"Let's continue."

Youye froze. "Continue?"

Bai Lan nodded. "Mm. The second evolution."

Youye's beautiful pupils contracted.

She had only just crossed the hundred-thousand-year threshold from fifty thousand years.

And now she was going to evolve again?

"Master..." she began, her voice trembling slightly. "How many times can I evolve?"

Bai Lan looked at her and said, "For now, two more times."

After evolving, she had been reborn, and all her wounds had disappeared.

She felt incredibly comfortable.

Youye nodded, a little excited.

"Good. Let's continue, then."

Bai Lan raised his hand, and the Contract Book opened again.

He focused his thoughts.

Void Shadow Beast, second evolution, confirmed!

Boom!

This time, the light was even more violent!

All of Shadow Valley shook violently!

Countless boulders tumbled from the cliffs and crashed into the valley floor with thunderous roars!

The Shadow Charms prostrated on the ground began fleeing in a frenzy!

They sensed a terrifying aura.

It was their king's evolution.

But this evolution was even more frightening than the last.

As if it were breaking through some forbidden boundary.

Or touching something it was never meant to touch.

Bai Lan stood where he was, staring fixedly at the Contract Book.

He could feel Youye undergoing a transformation inside Contract Space.

It was more than just an increase in years.

It was closer to a leap in the level of her existence.

Her aura was surging wildly!