The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum's enormous flower bud drooped slightly. Mu Qian could sense a faint sadness, along with an air of resignation.
"What do you need me to do?" In the end, she had made her choice.
Having received the answer he wanted, Mu Qian couldn't hold back his joy, no matter how composed he tried to be.
A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
He had never even dreamed that he would soon possess a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring at such a young age!
The one offering herself was a Spirit Beast with a cultivation of two hundred thousand years, the highest level of Spirit Beast specializing in the spiritual arts, who had merely failed her Heavenly Tribulation.
Under normal circumstances, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring... was already the limit of what a human Spirit Master could fuse with.
To possess a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring at level thirty practically meant that the Douluo Plane could no longer limit his future achievements.
"Phew~" Mu Qian took a deep breath and calmed his excitement.
"You don't need to do anything. Just go through the normal sacrifice process. When the time comes, I'll control my Martial Soul and transform your body into a special kind of spiritual energy."
"That doesn't mean you'll die. You'll have a new life, continuing to exist as a special being."
"Of course, it also means you'll spend your life depending on me and helping me."
Mu Qian offered that final reminder. He didn't want to deceive her and leave the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum feeling resentful later.
She hadn't harmed him, so he would show her the utmost respect.
Besides, he knew a few Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts. After living with Snow Maiden and Bing'er for so many years, he wouldn't allow himself to betray his principles.
The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum gave a gentle nod with her enormous flower bud.
From the moment she had made her choice, she had already prepared herself.
"Do you have a name?" Mu Qian asked. Apart from Little Flower, he would have another companion now.
He couldn't go on without even knowing her name.
The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum shook her flower bud in a humanlike gesture. Through all her endless years, she had never considered the question.
All she had ever cared about was how to survive.
And Mu Qian was the first being she had ever spoken with.
"In that case, I'll call you Jinyu from now on." Mu Qian thought it over. Considering her status, he decided not to give her a name that was too casual.
If Little Flower could hear his thoughts, he would probably have been so frustrated he'd spit up three liters of blood.
Why was the dog always the one getting the short end of the stick? Was it because he looked so easy to name?
Mu Qian, of course, wasn't thinking about that. He wasn't in any hurry to deal with Jinyu.
At that moment, a dark-ink-colored Spirit Ring still waited in the woods, ready to welcome its owner.
Several days later.
Star Luo City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire.
By dusk, the sun had long since vanished beyond the horizon. Fiery red clouds reflected the last glow of sunset, draping the towering city gates in a crimson-gold hue.
The bustling streets were full of traffic, and lights of every color had begun to shine in the distance.
With Little Flower in his arms, Mu Qian strolled along the splendid streets, his gaze repeatedly drawn to the dazzling shops lining either side.
The sight of a person and a dog together didn't attract much attention.
After all, this was the capital of an empire, where all sorts of unusual people and strange occurrences happened every day. Besides, under ordinary circumstances, Little Flower was no different from a regular dog.
Star Forest wasn't far from Star Luo City. It lay to the north of the Star Luo Royal Forest, which was to the south, and the journey took only a day.
Star Luo City had been Mu Qian's planned destination for some time.
Besides finding out where he was in the timeline, he also needed to visit the Martial Soul Branch Hall in Star Luo City and register as a Spirit Master.
Compared with just a few days ago, Mu Qian had been utterly transformed.
After obtaining his third Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, the Soul Power he had accumulated over several years had surged directly to level thirty-seven.
Among people his age, he was unprecedented—and likely to remain unmatched.
The Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum, Jinyu, had also completed her sacrifice and become a unique life form, residing within Mu Qian's Martial Soul.
The sacrificed Spirit Ring had been added to his Second Martial Soul, the Nine Nether Martial Soul.
After all, it was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, so he didn't need to worry about the age limit for Spirit Rings on Twin Martial Souls.
There was just one thing Mu Qian hadn't expected: that terrifying Soul Power, nearly two hundred thousand years' worth, along with the energy from the two-hundred-thousand-year-old spiritual skull, had only helped his Soul Power Level break through to level thirty-nine!
It had only gone up two levels...
He had thought he could break through the level-forty barrier in one go, but he had still fallen just short.
At the time, Mu Qian had clearly sensed all the Soul Power being absorbed by his Second Martial Soul.
That purplish-black energy was like an enormous, bottomless pit, greedily devouring nearly all the energy. If Mu Qian hadn't desperately snatched some back, he probably wouldn't have gained even those two levels.
What left him most at a loss was that he still had no idea what his Second Martial Soul actually was.
Fortunately, he had obtained two terrifying super Spirit Skills and two Soul Bone Skills, which offered him at least some consolation.
One of them had drained all the Soul Power in his body in an instant when he tried testing its effects.
Mu Qian still felt a lingering fear whenever he thought about it. He secretly decided that he would never use it lightly unless his life was at stake.
His Soul Power Level was now thirty-nine, putting him very close to the level-forty threshold.
Even if his terrifyingly large reserves of Soul Power and his insights into its attributes slowed his cultivation, it wouldn't be long before he could search for another suitable Spirit Ring.
The thought gave Mu Qian another headache.
He had already achieved terrifying results at such a young age, yet somehow he still wasn't satisfied.
The divine trials that came afterward would probably become much harder. He wondered if he would be rewarded with a divine-gifted Spirit Ring...
On Douluo Continent, whether in the Heaven Dou Empire or the Star Luo Empire, the Spirit Hall in any city would be one of its most prominent landmarks.
Guja City, which he had visited before, had a Spirit Hall too. But back then, he had been in a hurry to leave that troublesome place and hadn't had time to register.
After that, he had traveled from one Spirit Beast forest to another and hadn't gotten around to it.
Mu Qian wasn't registering as a Spirit Master for the small subsidy of a few Gold Soul Coins, of course.
On Douluo Continent, Spirit Master certification was essential. It was like an identity card for Spirit Masters.
It was needed to enter places like Soul Hunting Forest and the Great Soul Arena, as well as the competitions and auction houses he was sure to attend in the future.
Spirit Master certification served a great many purposes.
Of course, Mu Qian wasn't foolish enough to reveal his strength.
If he deliberately hid it, registering as an ordinary Spirit Master of just over level ten would be enough.
After asking someone for directions, Mu Qian soon arrived before a magnificent grand hall suffused with a sacred aura.
It was a huge domed building. As one of the two largest Martial Soul Branch Halls, it was over a thousand meters wide and a staggering forty to fifty meters tall.
The whole building was a pure, silvery white. Carved above the main entrance, the Spirit Hall emblem bore the symbols of seven different Martial Souls.
They represented the seven most powerful sects on the continent, and also signified the status of this Martial Soul Branch Hall.
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