The Soul's Habitat

At this moment, Mu Qian still had four of the five elemental attributes left to collect: metal, wood, water, and earth.

However, the remaining attributes were not so easy to find.

Wind, lightning, light, and darkness were relatively easier, but as for time, space, holy, evil... or even the ethereal and elusive luck...

Every time he thought about these, his head would ache.

He wasn't afraid of having too many attributes; possessing Twin Martial Souls meant he could integrate other attributes into himself through his second martial soul.

But where was he supposed to find soul beasts with those rare attributes?

Mu Qian even once believed that a soul beast with the time attribute simply did not exist!

Even if one truly existed, he would never be able to track it down.

Just imagine, if a certain entity could grasp the secrets of time and slip into the river of time at any moment, who could possibly discover its trail?

Let alone hunting it, even seeing it would be no easy feat, right?

He also had no idea what would emerge once all the attributes were finally fused.

Would it be the legendary chaos or reincarnation attribute?

Or something else entirely?

Fortunately, seeing the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum not far away, Mu Qian finally felt a bit of comfort.

Wasn't this a ready-made wood attribute right here?

The workload could be considered significantly reduced.

"Are you the one calling for help?" Mu Qian arrived beside the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum.

As the distance closed, he could feel her weakness more intuitively; her life force was nearly exhausted. What use was having powerful spiritual power then?

As if responding to Mu Qian's question, the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum swayed slightly, its crystalline petals brushing against his arm, bringing a strange, cooling sensation.

"An Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum with over one hundred thousand years of cultivation is truly rare. You don't look well; can you tell me what happened?"

Mu Qian couldn't understand why two thirty-thousand-year-level soul beasts had managed to break the illusion array that protected her life.

The gentle female voice from before appeared in Mu Qian's mind once more. She didn't say much, and her condition was growing increasingly frail.

"I underwent the two-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation, but... I failed."

"This..." Mu Qian's eyes widened instantly. "If the heavenly tribulation fails, shouldn't you have been reduced to ashes?"

"I used all of my spiritual power to deceive the final bolt of the heavenly tribulation, and I also deceived the will of heaven..."

"The final bolt never fell, and the terrible outcome did not occur. It seems that, in some mysterious way, that existence already knew my condition."

The tone of the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum was somewhat dejected, yet it carried a hint of pride.

She knew she didn't have much time left.

Therefore, she didn't mind sharing her story with Mu Qian, her only listener.

Let this be her final farewell to this beautiful world.

Aside from her, could even those entities with a million years of cultivation achieve such a feat?

The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum certainly had the capital to be proud.

Mu Qian let out a long sigh, not pressing for the root cause anymore.

She was truly worthy of a spiritual talent that even the heavens would envy, being able to deceive even the trials of the will of heaven.

How powerful must one's spiritual cultivation be to achieve what the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum did with a simple sentence!

Mu Qian felt a sense of fortune and couldn't help but marvel at his own luck.

Had the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum not suffered damage to her origin, he would never have been able to track her down.

In that case, he would have missed out on this heaven-defying opportunity.

The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum had used the spiritual power she accumulated over a lifetime to steal a few years of time from the will of heaven, yet unexpectedly, it ended up benefiting him.

"If you could obtain eternal life, further elevate your bloodline grade, and even leave the place where you have grown for over a hundred thousand years to see this colorful and diverse world without having to undergo the process of becoming human again, would you be willing?"

Mu Qian suddenly looked toward the boundless night sky in the distance and spoke in a mystical tone.

The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum subconsciously wanted to say yes, but her reason told her it was impossible.

"Who wouldn't want eternal life? But for me, that is merely an ethereal fantasy."

Mu Qian chuckled softly and couldn't help but shake his head. "What if I told you that I could help you achieve it?"

The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum trembled. Of course, she longed for immortality.

Over these past few years, she had grown weary of the helplessness of watching her life slip away day by day. If there was a choice, she would certainly want to take a gamble, even if it meant giving everything she had.

She didn't believe this handsome young man before her could help her, yet at the same time, she held onto a sliver of desperate hope.

"How can you prove that you can help me?"

Mu Qian looked back at her, his gaze filled with determination. "Time will prove it."

"Besides, you have no other choice, so why not give it a try?"

"I need you to offer yourself as a sacrifice to me, and due to the unique nature of my martial soul, I can allow you to continue existing in a special spiritual form."

"One day, I will break through the limitations of this world, and when that time comes, the promise I made to you will certainly be fulfilled."

Mu Qian did not know the so-called spirit soul contract methods of ten thousand years later, but he possessed a second martial soul.

After several years of research, he had finally figured out a few of the marvelous uses of his second martial soul, Nine Nether.

Within that mass of purple-black energy, it seemed that an independent world was gestating!

He had discovered this by accident when he had a sudden whim and tried to touch the purple-black energy within his body using his spiritual power.

The moment his spiritual power made contact with it, Mu Qian discovered that his soul had arrived at a brand-new place...

It was a chaos shrouded in darkness where living creatures could not enter; only spiritual bodies were unrestricted.

There, it was a habitat for souls...

As for what other functions it might have, Mu Qian was not yet sure; perhaps they would only be revealed one by one as he added spirit rings.

"Of course, I am merely offering a suggestion; the choice remains in your hands."

Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum was moved.

It was impossible for her not to be moved.

For tens of thousands of years, she could only stand there in monotony, lacking the ability to move, seeing nothing but the scenery within this tiny square of space.

For plant-type spirit beasts, unless they chose to cultivate into human form, the place where they took root was the destination that spanned their entire lives.

Every day, she could only carefully eke out an existence, using almost all her energy to resist natural enemies that were, even in her eyes, incredibly weak.

She had long since grown tired of such a life.

Moreover, at this moment, her life had already reached its twilight.

Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum discovered that she no longer had a choice.

If she chose to give up, the only outcome was death, yet trusting Mu Qian meant an uncertain future.

She truly did not want to make this choice; if it were possible, who would be willing to entrust their life to a human they had just met for the first time?

"Can you trust me?"

A sunny smile appeared on Mu Qian's face; he knew that the other party's resolve had begun to waver.

"Naturally."

"This holds no loss for you, does it?"

"Rather than facing death with resignation, why not choose to believe and gamble on a future that could potentially be bright?"