Chaos Attribute: Chaos Power

Long Zhanye shook his head and sighed softly. "Senior Sister, it's no use."

"Since Elder Wu decided to give you the Spirit Bone, he must have believed it would be of great use to you."

"If you gave it to me... I'm afraid things would not end well. If it were ever exposed, Senior Sister, you would certainly be punished."

Seeing the sincerity in Vina's eyes—how she was willing to defy her master's orders for his sake—a warm current rose in his heart.

Yet Vina's pretty face flushed faintly. She lowered her head in silence, showing no intention of taking back the Spirit Bone.

Long Zhanye did not want his senior sister to spend the rest of her life burdened by guilt over the Spirit Bone's ownership. Left with no choice, he accepted it.

He said to Vina, "Senior Sister, please rest assured."

"If that day truly comes, and you are implicated or punished because of this..."

"Your junior brother swears here that, no matter what happens in the future, I will find you a Spirit Bone most suited to you—one absolutely no worse than this—as compensation!"

Coming from a young man whose life was already counting down its final moments, those words seemed so weightless, even somewhat laughable.

What future could a dying man speak of? What compensation?

Vina listened, and the bitterness in her heart deepened.

She merely took it as Long Zhanye trying to comfort her—a promise destined never to be fulfilled.

She forced out a faint smile and nodded. "Mm, Senior Sister understands. Junior Brother, you must take good care of yourself too."

"This Spirit Bone... keep it safe," Vina finally said. "When you... when you're feeling better, you can make plans for it."

"As for me... you don't need to worry."

After saying that, she did not dare look into Long Zhanye's eyes again.

Afraid that she would lose control of her emotions, she hurriedly turned and left as silently as she had come.

The side room fell quiet once more.

Long Zhanye silently looked at the Spirit Bone on the table. Only after a long while did he reach out and pick it up.

It felt heavy and icy in his hand. Even without absorbing it, he could faintly sense the vast energy contained within.

A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone... a priceless treasure.

He examined it carefully for a few moments. Its dark green luster seemed capable of drawing in one's soul.

Then, he quickly stored it in his Soul Tool Ring.

Long Zhanye felt no anger toward Elder Wu for secretly withholding it, nor did he lose himself in emotion over Vina returning it.

At this moment, only one thought was becoming clearer and clearer in his heart.

Become stronger! Survive!

Only by truly recovering his health and gaining power could he protect what belonged to him.

Only then could he protect those who treated him well, and only then could he... make Shrek repay that blood debt!

He regarded this Spirit Bone as a goal, a promise to be fulfilled in the future.

He hoped that, under Elder Gu's treatment, he could truly escape death's shadow and recover to a state capable of bearing the Spirit Bone's power.

Then... absorb it.

Three years passed quietly.

To most people, the name Long Zhanye had long since gathered dust in some forgotten corner of their memories.

It remained firmly tied to labels such as "once-genius youth" and "dying man."

The three-year deadline had arrived.

Even if that boy had not completely drawn his last breath by now, he must have been utterly spent, with death not far away.

Perhaps he could still walk and speak.

But that would merely be a final burst of life. Who knew which morning he would wake up, only for no one to ever hear another sound from him?

No one paid attention any longer to the person living in that remote side room.

However.

Deep within this forgotten corner, a treatment that wrestled a path from fate itself

had quietly, bit by bit, accumulated results over these three years.

This was thanks to Old Man Gu's seemingly mad but truly unfathomable alchemy.

And to the countless varieties of Elixirs he had refined at all costs, using who knew how many precious medicinal ingredients.

From the Pure Heart Spirit Pill that nourished the heart meridians, to the Jade Marrow Foundation-Building Paste that strengthened the foundation and replenished vitality, to the Nine-Turn Spring-Returning Powder that stimulated life force and repaired hidden injuries...

Long Zhanye's badly shattered heart had actually begun its tenacious self-repair and Regeneration under the continuous nourishment of the medicinal effects.

Today, three years later.

After another meticulous examination by Old Man Gu,

he stroked his messy beard, and a rare trace of satisfaction flashed through his cloudy old eyes.

"The little one's heart... mm, the damaged portions of his heart meridians have recovered by around eighty percent."

"Though it is still somewhat less resilient than it was when intact, and the cracks in his Martial Soul have not fully healed, leaving hidden injuries behind, still..."

"Daily activities, emotional fluctuations, and even some relatively mild circulation of Soul Power are no longer much different from those of an ordinary person."

"In other words—you won't die for the time being!"

This news finally allowed Long Zhanye's heart, which had hung suspended for three years, to settle.

Over these three years,

Long Zhanye had strictly obeyed Old Man Gu's orders and had never actively cultivated—not even his Soul Power once!

He had devoted all his energy to cooperating with treatment, absorbing medicinal effects, and stabilizing his heart meridians.

However.

Perhaps it was because those Elixirs contained the essence of heaven and earth.

Or perhaps, as his heart gradually recovered, his body instinctively began absorbing the dissipating medicinal power...

His Soul Power Level had actually risen on its own despite his "not cultivating."

From level forty-five, when he had been crippled three years ago, it had slowly increased to level forty-nine!

Three years, four levels.

For a normal Spirit Master, that progress was outrageously slow—so slow it could even be called a joke.

But for Long Zhanye, who had been judged crippled, had never cultivated, and had been "fed" entirely through medicinal power,

this was undoubtedly an unexpected delight.

Now that his heart meridians had initially healed and his body had basically recovered its normal functions,

Old Man Gu finally permitted him to begin attempting the most basic cultivation.

That meant he could become a Spirit Master again!

Upon learning this, Elder Xu, who had been keeping watch over Long Zhanye's condition,

almost impatiently offered a suggestion. "Zhanye! This is wonderful!!"

"Since you can cultivate again, the matter of Soul Rings cannot be delayed!"

"Grandpa Xu will make preparations at once and personally take you to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a suitable soul beast!"

Elder Xu's concern and urgency warmed Long Zhanye's heart.

However.

When Old Man Gu learned this news from Long Zhanye,

he reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly jumping up. He waved his hands repeatedly, his voice shrill.

"No! Absolutely not! What is that old Xu meddling for?! Hunting Soul Rings? Him?!"

Old Man Gu grabbed Long Zhanye and pulled him in front of himself. Staring at him, he spoke with unprecedented seriousness. "Little one, listen carefully!"

"Your Heavenly Eye Martial Soul is no ordinary matter! I searched through ancient records and combined them with the phenomenon that occurred when you Awakened. I deduced that it very likely contains the legendary Chaos Attribute!"

"Chaos, do you understand?!" Old Man Gu's spittle nearly sprayed onto Long Zhanye's face.

"That is the Source power from before heaven and earth opened, before all things were born!!!"

"It stands above every known attribute—light, darkness, elements, spiritual power, and all the rest!"

"It is the supreme attribute, and also the hardest to grasp and control!"

"A Martial Soul with such an attribute has requirements for Soul Rings that are harsh to the extreme! What it needs is not simple attribute compatibility, nor is it the age of a powerful soul beast!"

"It is that possible trace of Chaos Power contained within a soul beast's Soul Ring!"

"Ordinary soul beasts—even Hundred Thousand Year ones—if their attributes do not align, will bring your Heavenly Eye no benefit at all. They may even restrict its development!"