Guiding Souls to the Afterlife, All Things Return to Stillness. "Beneath this blade, there is neither life nor death, only... the road home."

A purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring hovered above the swamp, radiating an eerie, enticing glow.

Qian Anci sat cross-legged, the Scythe of Death resting across his knees as pale gray Death Qi swirled around him like a thin mist.

He closed his eyes and slowly released the thread of Soul Power drawing in the Soul Ring.

"Anci."

Qian Renxue's golden eyes narrowed slightly, and her slender fingers clenched the hem of her skirt without her realizing it.

She wanted to step forward, but Golden Crocodile Douluo stopped her with his broad palm.

"Miss, don't be rash," Golden Crocodile Douluo said gravely. "If we interrupt him now, the backlash will be devastating."

Azure Luan Douluo stood with his hands behind his back atop a rotting log. His blue-green robes stirred despite the still air, and his eyes remained fixed on the purple Soul Ring.

His Soul Power had already spread out in secret. If anything went wrong, even if it meant damaging Qian Anci's foundation, he would force this reckless attempt to a stop.

"A thousand-year first ring..." he murmured. "No one has ever done it before."

The Soul Ring slowly descended.

The instant it touched the crown of Qian Anci's head, a torrent of violent energy burst in like floodwaters through a broken dam, surging into his Sea of Consciousness!

Qian Anci remained seated, his body showing no sign of change.

But in the depths of his mind, hidden from all eyes, a battle to the death had begun.

The gray-white Underworld Wasteland shook violently, and leaden clouds churned across the sky like boiling water.

The dying will of the Death Scythe Dragon Lizard took the form of a colossal beast that blotted out the sky. Dark-red soulfire blazed in its eye sockets as it charged toward the tiny figure at the center of the wasteland!

It was the final obsession of a thousand-year Soul Beast.

Resentment, rage, fear, madness...

Those negative emotions coalesced into a tangible tide, seeking to drown Qian Anci's consciousness completely and take his place!

"The boundary of your soul is dissolving."

In the Sea of Consciousness, Castorice's voice was still gentle, but now it carried a trace of solemnity.

"If its obsession devours you..."

"You will no longer be Anci. You will be another Death Scythe Dragon Lizard."

Qian Anci's consciousness staggered backward across the wasteland, every step as if he were treading on knife points.

The beast's roar shook his soul to the point of shattering. Dark-red soulfire rained down, scorching every inch of his spirit.

Pain.

Not physical pain, but something deeper—a tearing sensation, as if his very "self" were being ripped out of existence.

His memories began to blur.

He could hardly remember who he was, or that gray-white wasteland, or...

"Anci."

A gentle voice pierced the chaos and flowed toward him like the waters of the River Styx.

"Remember my name."

"Remember whose soul you made a pact with."

Qian Anci shuddered.

He raised his head. Through the churning gray mist, he saw a faint purple figure.

Castorice stood quietly atop the Bone Dragon's head, her eyes gentle yet distant. She seemed to see through life and death, yet had never truly seen through him.

"Castorice..."

He called softly across the wasteland, his voice hoarse but firm.

"I'm here."

She smiled faintly, raised her slender hand, and lightly pointed at the charging beast's phantom.

There was no earthshaking display of power.

Only a gray-white petal drifting down from her fingertips.

The petal landed on the beast's brow. Its dark-red soulfire shuddered violently, and it let out a shrill, resentful wail.

"Guiding souls in the underworld was never about taking by force."

Castorice's voice rose like a lament.

"It is... about finding peace."

The petal bloomed.

Gray-white light spread like a rising tide, gently enfolding the beast's obsession and slowly dissolving it.

Not destruction, but solace.

Not conquest, but acceptance.

The Death Scythe Dragon Lizard's will gradually quieted within that light, becoming pure spiritual energy that flowed into the depths of Qian Anci's soul.

In a corner unseen by anyone, the outline of a Second Soul Ring slowly took shape, plain and gray-white. It intertwined with the purple ring like a pair of twin flowers from the other shore.

Outside.

Qian Anci remained seated, his plain white robe spotless.

But his face was as pale as paper, and fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, as if he had just endured a long nightmare.

"What is this..."

Golden Crocodile Douluo furrowed his brow. He could sense no sign of Soul Power running amok inside Qian Anci, yet an inexplicable unease gripped him.

It was as if some ancient being were protecting the child's soul in a way he could not understand.

Azure Luan Douluo's expression was equally grave. His Soul Power sense told him that Qian Anci's vital signs were steady, but his mental fluctuations were terrifyingly violent.

"Absorbing it on a spiritual level..." he murmured. "I've never heard of such a method."

Qian Renxue stood silently to one side, her golden eyes filled with a tangle of emotions.

She watched the seated figure and remembered the clash between the sickle and the Angel during his awakening. What was she thinking about?

She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Only the hem of her skirt remained clenched in her fist, her knuckles faintly white.

At last, the Scythe of Death resting across his knees stirred on its own and gave a low hum.

Qian Anci slowly opened his eyes.

The instant they opened, a faint purple gleam flashed through his pupils. Then they returned to their original deep black, like an abyss.

The purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring now hovered quietly behind him, pulsing gently with his breathing.

Within the ring, a deeper, faint purple halo was just barely visible. It was the Soul Ring that the Second Martial Soul had condensed on its own.

Though inconspicuous, it radiated an underworld aura that made the very soul tremble.

But the faint purple halo was veiled by Death Qi. To anyone watching, it looked no more than light refracted from the Soul Ring.

"Success..."

Azure Luan Douluo murmured, his eyes full of shock.

Qian Anci slowly rose to his feet.

He lifted his right hand, and the Scythe of Death took shape in his palm.

Unlike before, its blade now bore a dark-red pattern alongside the gray-white Death Qi.

It was the Death Scythe Dragon Lizard's final killing intent, completely tamed by the essence of the underworld and made part of the blade.

"First Soul Skill—"

He spoke softly, his voice hoarse but marked by the calm of one who had endured life and death.

"Guidance of the Underworld Path."

The blade swept through the air.

There was no earthshaking display of power, only a thin line of gray-white tinged with dark red, silently slashing toward a night raven nearby that was about to take flight.

The raven had no time even to cry out. The instant it touched the line, it froze in midair.

The gray-white Death Qi receded like a tide. The raven's body remained whole, its feathers still glossy.

Only its eyes had lost every trace of life, turning into two gray-white stone beads.

And in the depths of its hollow eye sockets, a glimmer of dark-red light flickered like dying embers—the last struggle of a remnant soul forcibly guided to the gates of the underworld.

"Guiding souls to the afterlife, all things return to stillness."

Qian Anci withdrew his martial soul, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Beneath this blade, there is neither life nor death, only... the road home."

Qian Renxue stared blankly at the suspended dead raven, a torrent of complicated emotions surging through her golden eyes.

From the moment he awakened, this younger brother of hers seemed to have set out on a path utterly unlike her own.

A lonelier, more dangerous path, yet one that was... even more unsettling.

"Congratulations, young master."

Azure Luan Douluo stepped forward and gave him a long look. "I've lived this long, and this is the first time I've seen anyone treat a thousand-year Soul Ring as their starting point. With such courage, you're certain to achieve great things."

Golden Crocodile Douluo grinned as well and gave Qian Anci a hearty slap on the shoulder.

"Good lad, you've got guts! My first Soul Ring was only a hundred years old. You've started with a thousand-year ring, so your road ahead will be far more exciting than anything we old bones have seen!"

Qian Anci bowed respectfully, but his gaze drifted toward the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.

In the core forbidden zone shrouded by mist, it seemed some ancient being had gently blinked at that very moment.

At the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest lay the Lake of Life.

Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the sky.

Deep beneath the lake, a silver figure slowly opened her eyes.

They were pure silver, as if they held countless stars and had seen through the ages.

"How strange..."

Her cool voice echoed beneath the lake, carrying a hint of puzzlement too faint to notice.

"Just now..."

"I thought I sensed an aura from 'that world'..."

She lifted her head slightly, her long silver hair drifting softly through the water. Her gaze seemed to pierce layer upon layer of space and settle on some point near the edge of the forest.

But there was nothing there except the auras of two Super Douluos.

"Was it an illusion..."

The ripples in her silver eyes gradually stilled.

She closed her eyes again, and silence returned to the lakebed.

But before she fell asleep, a faint strand of thought quietly traveled to somewhere in the forest.

"Di Tian."

"I am here," a deep voice answered from the darkness.

"Go and look around the outskirts."

"If anything is out of the ordinary..."

"Bring it back."

"...Yes."