The Third Evolution!

One hundred and ten thousand years!

One hundred and twenty thousand years!

One hundred and thirty thousand years!

One hundred and forty thousand years!

One hundred and fifty thousand years!

One hundred and sixty thousand years!

One hundred and seventy thousand years!

One hundred and eighty thousand years!

One hundred and ninety thousand years!

Boom!

Two hundred thousand years!

Light exploded!

The entire Shadow Valley was shrouded in purple light!

The fleeing Shadow Charms all collapsed to the ground, trembling.

That aura was simply too terrifying.

It was the aura of a Ferocious Beast.

A true Ferocious Beast.

The light continued for a full half-hour before slowly fading.

Bai Lan lowered his head and looked at the Contract Book.

The text on the third page had updated once more:

[Contract Beast: Shadow Abyss Emperor Beast]

[Age: 200,000 years]

[Status: Contracted]

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

[Shadow Fusion, Spatial Perception, Shadow Step, Shadow Claw, Shadow Cannon, Shadow Space Erosion, Aura Devour: comprehensively enhanced, with greatly increased power]

[Shadow Clone: creates up to seven Shadow Clones, each with 60% of the original's strength. They can fight independently and briefly inherit some of the original's abilities]

[Shadow Domain: the domain's radius expands to 300 meters. Enemies within it are continuously eroded by Shadow Power, while allies become completely invisible]

[New Ability · Void Shadow: briefly slips into the fissure between the void and the shadows, becoming immune to all attacks]

[New Ability · Shadow Abyss Descent: summons a projection of Shadow Space, covering a radius of 500 meters. All enemies within the projected area are forcibly pulled into a semi-shadow space, where their perception, movement, and attacks are severely hindered]

[Evolution count: 2/3 (one more evolution available)]

Two hundred thousand years.

Void Shadow.

Shadow Abyss Descent.

Bai Lan stared at the words, unable to speak for a long while.

Behind him, Mu En's voice rang out:

"Two hundred thousand years..."

"My god, it increased by a hundred thousand years in one go!"

"Kid, do you know what this means?!"

For the first time, his voice wavered.

It was simply too outrageous!

Bai Lan turned to look at him.

Mu En stood in the darkness, his expression impossible to make out.

But his voice was complicated.

"A two-hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast," he said. "Out in the world, that would be enough to shake the entire continent."

"Even Beast God Di Tian, who lives in the Star Dou Great Forest, is only around seven or eight hundred thousand years old."

"And now, you have a two-hundred-thousand-year Contract Beast."

He looked at Bai Lan, his gaze profound.

Bai Lan was silent for a second.

Then he asked:

"Can we keep going?"

Mu En froze.

"Keep going?"

Bai Lan nodded. "The third evolution."

Mu En fell silent.

He was curious whether the third evolution would bring her to three hundred thousand years.

"Fine. I want to see what the third evolution brings."

He was about to witness history.

Deep in Shadow Valley, the purple light had yet to completely fade.

Bai Lan stood at the bottom of the valley, the Contract Book in his hand faintly warm.

On the third page, the mark of the Shadow Abyss Emperor Beast pulsed slowly, radiating a deep, dusky purple light.

Two hundred thousand years.

He looked up at the figure before him.

Youye stood quietly, still suffused with the lingering effects of her second evolution.

Her figure was more slender than before, and her long, purplish-black hair fell to her waist, its ends glowing faintly.

Her skin was so fair it seemed almost translucent. Fine, dark patterns flowed beneath it, like living veins or some ancient script.

Most astonishing of all were her eyes.

Her deep purple, slit-pupil eyes had grown even more profound.

If they had once been a bottomless abyss, then now...

They were the deepest part of the abyss, where even light could not escape.

She simply stood there as the darkness around her parted automatically, as if making way for her.

No, it wasn't making way.

It was submitting.

The shadows throughout Shadow Valley were all submitting to her.

Looking at her, Bai Lan suddenly remembered the first time he had seen her.

Back then, she had been a fifty-thousand-year-old Void Shadow Beast, covered in blood and pinned to the ground by his Tiangang Arrow Formation.

Back then, her eyes had held only coldness and resentment.

Now...

There was light in her eyes.

"Master."

Youye spoke, her voice as cool as ever, yet gentler than before.

Bai Lan nodded and was about to speak.

Behind him, Mu En's voice rang out:

"Two hundred thousand years... still not enough?"

Bai Lan turned around.

Mu En stood not far away, his expression complicated.

There was shock, relief, anticipation, and even a hint of... awe?

A Peerless Douluo feeling awe toward a six-year-old child?

Mu En himself thought it absurd.

But he couldn't help it.

A two-hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast.

Across the entire continent, fewer than ten people could claim to possess a Soul Beast of that level.

And the six-year-old child before him had just created one with his own hands.

"Elder Mu," Bai Lan said. "I want to keep going."

Mu En fell silent.

He looked at Bai Lan and those calm eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "She just went through two evolutions in a row. Shouldn't she rest? Doesn't it take a lot out of you, or out of her?"

Bai Lan turned to Youye.

Youye met his gaze.

"Master," she said. "I can do it."

Her voice was calm, but Bai Lan could hear the tremor beneath it.

It wasn't fear.

It was anticipation.

She wanted to see how far she could go, too.

Bai Lan was silent for a second.

Then he nodded.

"All right."

He raised his hand, and the Contract Book opened once more.

On the third page, the mark of the Shadow Abyss Emperor Beast trembled violently.

He focused his thoughts.

Confirm the third evolution!

Boom!

This time, the heavens and earth changed color.

The darkness throughout Shadow Valley suddenly seemed to come alive, surging wildly toward Bai Lan!

No, not toward Bai Lan.

Toward Youye.

Darkness rushed in from every direction, pouring into her body, into every inch of her skin, every strand of hair, every pore.

Youye stood where she was, completely still.

Her body began to glow.

It wasn't ordinary purple light.

It was a light beyond description.

Deep and shadowy, yet so brilliant no one dared look straight at it.

As if the entire night sky had been condensed into human form.

"This is..."

Mu En's pupils contracted slightly.

He had lived for over a century and witnessed countless Soul Beasts evolve.

But he had never seen anything like this.

The Shadow Power throughout the entire valley was being drained?

No!

Not just the valley.

He could feel the Shadow Power across hundreds of miles converging here!

Those forces passed through mountains, forests, and every other obstacle, surging wildly into Youye's body!

"Two hundred and ten thousand... two hundred and twenty thousand... two hundred and thirty thousand..."

Bai Lan stared at the Contract Book, murmuring under his breath.

The number on the page was jumping wildly!

Two hundred and thirty thousand!

Two hundred and forty thousand!

Two hundred and fifty thousand!

Two hundred and sixty thousand!

Two hundred and seventy thousand!

Two hundred and eighty thousand!

Two hundred and ninety thousand!

Boom—

Three hundred thousand years!

Light exploded!

It was so dazzling that no one could keep their eyes open!

Bai Lan raised a hand to shield his eyes, but he could still feel the light piercing through his palm and scorching his retinas!

Mu En took a step back. His pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and his expression turned grave.

He hadn't felt this way in many years.

It was the feeling of danger.

Something capable of making him feel threatened...

was being born!