A Soul Spirit Appears

The little interlude ended, and soon the scene shifted to show everyone gathered in a circle.

There were the Silver Dragon King, her clone, Di Tian, Huang Tian, and several beautiful women she didn't recognize. They were probably Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Hu Liena, Qian Renxue, and the others mentioned in the clone's narration.

In the middle stood a little girl and a strange Soul Beast, somewhat wolf-like in shape but clearly different in its finer details.

She had been asleep for too long; she might not know every new species that had evolved in the Soul Beast Realm during that time.

Still, she could sense that its primary attribute was spirit, and that it was quite powerful for a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast.

The Soul Beast was on its last legs, its life force feeble. Two deep, bone-revealing gashes marred its back, and it could die at any moment.

Four Soul Rings shone around the little girl: one yellow, two purple, and one black. The first yellow ring was a deep shade, with hints of purple already showing. It was clearly close to a thousand years old.

The third purple ring was a pure, rich color, over seven thousand years old. It was nothing like the pale purple of an ordinary third ring, barely a thousand years old.

Gu Yuena's heart gave a sudden jolt.

"Who is she? She doesn't look like she's even an adult. She's already level fifty at such a young age?"

"Her first four Soul Rings all exceed the normal limits, and she hasn't exploded?"

"Could this be the true Limit Soul Ring they mentioned earlier?"

"How did she manage that?"

As she pondered, Huang Tian moved. A spirit wearing silver armor drifted out from the top of his head, so solid that it was almost impossible to sense any trace of unreality.

Ten Soul Rings unfurled around him, half of them already golden. Only the first few were still changing from red to gold.

"Both of you, remember this: don't resist, no matter what. Otherwise, this could fail, and that wouldn't be good for either of you."

The Soul Beast nodded with difficulty.

The little girl, however, looked a little helpless.

"Aw, I know, Dad. You and Mom have reminded me several times already on the way here."

Huang Tian said no more. A vast amount of tangible spiritual power surged out of his spirit, and in the blink of an eye, a complex circular formation took shape around the little girl and the Soul Beast.

Countless arcane runes flickered in and out of existence, while densely packed, winding lines crisscrossed between them.

After about three breaths, the Soul Beast's body stiffened. Its head drooped, and the light went out of its eyes.

In its place, a ring of light, slightly thicker and brighter than a normal Soul Ring, rapidly condensed around the outside of the little girl's fourth Soul Ring.

Before long, the spirit of the Soul Beast that had just been there suddenly sprang out of the ring. No longer wounded or aged, it was full of life. It raced joyfully through the forest, darting between the trees.

Now it leapt onto the treetops; now it affectionately rubbed its cheek against its master's calf, exploring the difference between this state and its usual one.

The people around them erupted with joy, including Di Tian and the version of herself in the scene.

"Haha! It worked! It really worked!"

"So this is a Soul Spirit? Amazing!"

"Wow, I knew my husband was the best!"

"The Soul Beasts are saved!"

"Thanks, Dad. And thank you, too. I'll call you Little Purple from now on, since you're purple."

Gu Yuena's eyes widened. Shock flooded her expression, and her mouth hung open for a long time.

Others might not understand, but she was familiar with this process.

"Wait. The contracted Soul Beast's soul becomes a Soul Ring, while retaining its independent thoughts and consciousness?"

"Isn't this exactly the idea Father God came up with when he was studying how to create the Divine Realm?"

"He just created a Self-Created Godhood, and he isn't even as powerful as the weakest Level Three God. How did he do it?"

The relationship between the Divine Realm and the gods was actually just like the relationship between Soul Masters and Soul Spirits. The difference was that after the Dragon God's death, the Divine Realm itself had no intelligence. And with the damage it had suffered, it was no longer possible to forcibly control and restrict the gods.

That was also the main reason a god holding a godhood had to find a successor before she could step down.

Gu Yuena soon thought of something else.

"Gods can grow stronger by cultivating and absorbing faith. They can also pass their godhood on to someone else and let that person inherit it."

"If the two really work on the same principle, wouldn't that mean a Soul Spirit could keep increasing its age even after becoming one?"

Damn!

The scene shifted again. After the Soul Spirit's successful creation, it showed the little girl describing how she felt.

"Dad, Mom, Aunties, and both Dragon Kings.

"I just tried it out. Soul Spirit Rings consume less Soul Power than ordinary Soul Rings when activating skills, yet their power is at least fifty percent greater than that of Soul Rings of the same age.

"They should also be able to condense two or three more Soul Rings. In other words, when I break through to level sixty and then level seventy, I won't need to hunt Soul Beasts again.

"Although the sixth and seventh rings will have a lower age than a true Limit Soul Ring, the skills from the same Soul Beast can work together to form a perfect tactical system, and they'll greatly increase the Soul Spirit's strength. I'm willing to accept that.

"Besides, the Soul Spirit itself can use the skills of the Soul Ring it inhabits.

"That means it can play a bigger role in battle, for example, by coordinating its tactics with its master."

The moment Gu Yuena heard this, she understood what Di Tian had meant when he'd exclaimed that the Soul Beasts were saved.

A single Soul Spirit could produce three or four Soul Rings. Even if she counted only three, that meant the loss of Soul Beasts would be reduced by two-thirds.

And if she also counted the Soul Beasts killed by mistake or slaughtered along the way by Soul Masters, without ever becoming Soul Rings, the proportion would probably be even greater.

Besides, Soul Spirits consumed less and were more powerful than Soul Rings. Soul Masters would surely welcome them.

This was undoubtedly a win-win decision, one that would make everyone happy.

"Good!"

Even though none of this had happened yet, merely seeing the possibility filled Gu Yuena with such excitement that she cried out.

Almost all the beast gods had been wiped out, and Soul Beasts were suppressed far too harshly. Cultivation was incredibly difficult. Even those with exceptional bloodlines needed thousands of years to reach the ten-thousand-year level.

But humans? Most Titled Douluo broke through before they were a hundred, and a Soul Master would hunt more than one Soul Beast in their lifetime.

The forests and Soul Beast settlements were all steadily shrinking, and in the past few tens of thousands of years, the pace of that shrinkage had begun to accelerate.

It was like a noose tightening around the neck of the Soul Beast race. Before long, they might face extinction.

That alone made it easy for Gu Yuena to understand why the Silver Dragon King's clone and true body in the future had both fallen for him.

"Such an exceptional man is certainly worth loving."

"I wonder how old Huang Tian is now. He hasn't become a god yet, at least. If I invest in him early and help him avoid those mistakes, could he become stronger than he was in the original history?"

"It's entirely possible."

After the Soul Spirit was presented, the memories once again began flashing by rapidly, recording important events and turning points in brief scenes that lasted a few seconds at the shortest and no more than half a minute at the longest.