Xing Tian's consciousness gradually blurred. Visions began to appear before his eyes, as if countless lingering Soul Beast spirits had gathered into a massive shadow, its eyes glinting with blood-red malice as it sought to devour his soul and take over his body.
Xing Tian was drenched in blood. The Soul Power in his body churned like boiling magma, threatening to burst through his skin.
As each drop of blood spilled out, it quickly turned blackish purple, then congealed, cocooning Xing Tian in a dull, lightless shell that exuded only a heavy aura of death, without a trace of life.
From this, it was clear that Xing Tian's body had died, but his mind had not. He had entered a state of suspended animation.
Yet everything was still under Xing Tian's control. If he had no trump card, why would he challenge the Second Death Tribulation ahead of time and keep Dugu Bo from interfering?
In an instant, faint golden light began to gush from the depths of Xing Tian's Sea of Consciousness.
Gradually, the pale gold turned purple, sending out layer upon layer of rippling waves. Two beams of purple light burst from his eyes.
The purple shockwaves struck the shadow and erupted at once, setting off a chain of explosive blasts.
His once-blurred consciousness cleared in an instant, like mist swept away by a blinding light.
Everything that had just happened was the medicinal power of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew taking effect. Just like with Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, Xing Tian couldn't fully absorb it after taking it. He needed an external force to help, and that moment had been the perfect opportunity.
Not only that, the medicinal power of Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew had also combined with the Nine Deaths Reincarnation Evil Art, elevating his spiritual power to a whole new level.
At the final moment before he succumbed to cultivation deviation, Xing Tian had set things right. That was how the barrier of the Second Death Tribulation had been broken.
With a deafening boom, the dark purple cocoon burst apart. Xing Tian sat cross-legged, his body unharmed and brimming with life. Three Soul Rings—purple, purple, and black—pulsed around him.
"Yanyan, he did it!" Dugu Bo exclaimed in delight.
Dugu Yan hurriedly turned around, tears of joy streaming down her face. "That guy made me worry for so long and cry so many tears. Once he wakes up, I'm going to punish him properly!"
"Oh? What kind of punishment?" Dugu Bo was determined to make Xing Tian taste the misery he had just endured.
"Punish him..." But the words reached Dugu Yan's lips, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh.
Suddenly, Dugu Yan spotted something. Pointing at Xing Tian, she cried, "Grandpa, look at Xiao Tian!"
Dugu Bo followed the direction of her finger, and a wondrous sight unfolded before them.
The three Soul Rings fell still, and white light shone from within Xing Tian. Lines of dim, silvery-white demonic markings appeared around his eyes, then spread like living things along his meridians, soon covering his entire body.
Light rippled between the markings, slowly filling the gaps and bathing Xing Tian in a sacred yet eerie silver radiance.
Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan stared, dumbfounded, forgetting to breathe.
The light behind Xing Tian grew brighter and brighter, gradually taking shape until it formed a silvery-white figure identical to him. Though somewhat indistinct, it carried an overbearing might that made the heart tremble.
Once every inch of Xing Tian's body had been filled with white light, the figure behind him suddenly moved, slowly merging with his body.
The instant they fused, a world-shaking aura erupted, like thunder crashing through the heavens and earth.
Xing Tian's body turned as white and translucent as jade. A silvery-white halo rose behind him, bearing a simple human-shaped design.
A protective white light burst around him, with indistinct runes drifting within it. Three beads, seemingly formed from liquid silver, gave off an Attract glow as they revolved around his body.
From a distance, he looked like a silvery-white god descended into the mortal realm.
Dugu Yan could hardly believe her eyes. "Could Xiao Tian's Martial Soul have mutated?"
Dugu Bo finally came to his senses. "No, it's not a Martial Soul Mutation. No matter what happens during an acquired mutation, a mantis doesn't change into Xing Tian. His Soul Rings have gone still, and there's that aura... It's his other Martial Soul!"
"His other Martial Soul?"
Dugu Yan's mouth fell open. "Xiao Tian has Twin Martial Souls?"
Dugu Bo was a little annoyed. "That's right. That brat hid it even from us. He deserves a beating!"
At that moment, Xing Tian's consciousness had not fully returned. He had merely advanced successfully and broken through the death tribulation, instinctively activating the Nine Deaths Reincarnation Evil Art.
The moment his power stirred, his body changed again. A layer of purple radiance spread slowly from his chest, like ink soaking into water.
In just a few breaths, the layer had covered his once-pure white skin, turning it a lustrous purple-white.
It retained the smooth sheen of jade, yet gained a few strands of the beguiling gleam of metal.
"Wh-Why has the color changed?" Dugu Yan's eyes widened. Her shock had barely begun to subside when this new transformation stirred it up again.
Dugu Bo stared intently at Xing Tian's body, his brow furrowed as he considered the possibilities. "His First Martial Soul has the attributes of darkness, evil, and death. I've never seen purple Soul Power from him before. But when he sealed his cultivation back then, it did seem to be purple."
"But he clearly hasn't cultivated his second Martial Soul. This purple Soul Power can't be caused by the second Martial Soul."
"Could it be... some other cultivation art?"
"He brought out the Rejuvenation Art and the Ten Thousand Poisons Heart Sutra. It's entirely possible he has another cultivation art tucked away. This purple Soul Power is probably produced by that."
"Then what happened earlier... No wonder he never told us about this art. Cultivating it must be a hundred, even a thousand times more perilous than the Ten Thousand Poisons Heart Sutra. He didn't want to put anyone else in danger."
Dugu Bo lived up to his title as a Titled Douluo. Piecing together the clues from the past and the recent events, he had reasoned out almost the whole truth.
He still didn't know what Xing Tian's second Martial Soul was, though, or why his entire body had turned silvery white.
While Dugu Bo was pondering this, the dim, silvery-white demonic markings that had spread along the skin covering Xing Tian's meridians also began to turn purple.
A purple halo first appeared around their edges, then seeped inward. The once-uniform silver gradually became a brilliant purple-silver.
The markings wound across his purple-white skin. Purple and silver light flowed through the patterns like ornate chains wrapped around his body. They radiated an overbearing majesty, yet carried a hint of eerie allure.
Every time the light flashed, it seemed to draw in the energy around him, making the air tremble faintly.
A pale purple halo formed around the edge of the wheel behind him, and the runes took on clear outlines traced in purple light, gaining an even more sinister aura of power.
Purple ripples surged from Xing Tian like streams and flowed into the three silver spheres revolving around him. Their pure silver-white surfaces gradually shifted into a purple-silver gradient.
Overbearing might and sinister allure blended perfectly within him, creating a dangerous beauty that no one dared look at, yet couldn't help being drawn to.
When the transformations finally stopped, the light in Xing Tian's eyes had turned purple-gold, and his consciousness had at last fully awakened.
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