For three days and three nights, the Purple Gold Marriage Contract had hung in the sky above Spirit City, neither rising nor falling, neither bright nor dim. It had remained there in perfect stillness, as if nailed in place.
The entire city of Spirit City had been watching for any change.
In teahouses, taverns, and military camps, everyone was talking about the same thing.
Some said the Celestial Master was an old monster from ten thousand years ago. Others said he was an immortal who had descended from the Divine Realm. Still others swore with absolute certainty that their ancestors had once seen a Daoist priest from Taixu Temple.
Hu Liena hadn't gone anywhere.
For three days, she had locked herself in her bedchamber and tried a hundred different methods to erase the Fox Seal between her brows.
Soul Power strikes, medicinal baths, and even the curse-breaking secret arts Xie Yue had retrieved from Spirit Hall's archives—all of them had failed.
The pale-purple Nine-Tailed Fox Seal remained firmly nestled between her brows, warm, pulsing like a heartbeat.
On the fourth day, at dawn.
Hu Liena was jolted awake by a wave of searing heat.
The Fox Seal between her brows suddenly flared scorching hot. The heat coursed along her meridians, spreading through every limb and bone. Her Demon Fox Martial Soul burst out of her control, and all six of her Soul Rings lit up at once.
"What's going on—"
She sat up, but before she could steady herself, a blinding purple-gold light suddenly flared outside the window.
The whole of Spirit City was illuminated as bright as day.
By the time Hu Liena rushed out of her bedchamber, Bibi Dong and Xie Yue were already standing in the plaza before Pope Palace.
It wasn't just them. Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, more than a dozen elders, and thousands of Soul Masters stationed in Spirit City were all gazing upward, staring fixedly at the sky.
The Purple Gold Marriage Contract, silent for three days, now blazed with a light more than ten times brighter than before!
Divine purple-gold radiance poured down from the Marriage Contract, enveloping the entire city of Spirit City.
At the same time, a series of clear fox cries rang out from the eastern horizon. The sound pierced the clouds, pierced the city walls, pierced everyone's eardrums, and reached the depths of their souls.
"It's here."
Bibi Dong uttered two words, and the Rakshasa Divine Power around her began to circulate on instinct.
The moment the words left her mouth—
A brilliant streak of purple light tore through the sky in the east and shot toward Spirit City at a speed almost impossible for the naked eye to follow.
It was too fast.
From the moment it appeared to the moment it reached the sky above Pope Palace, no more than a single breath had passed.
The purple light came to an abrupt halt, and its radiance faded.
Everyone's breath caught for a moment.
A bead.
It was perfectly round, about the size of a pigeon's egg, and so crystal-clear it seemed no object of the mortal world.
Something was slowly turning inside it—not liquid, not light, but a miniature galaxy.
Countless specks of light drifted through the bead, weaving together, brightening and dimming, and radiating a gentle, holy white glow.
The instant the bead stopped in midair, that grand, solemn Sanskrit chant rang through the heavens and earth once more.
It was the exact same voice as three days ago, crossing through time and space to fall clearly upon every ear:
"The first of the Celestial Master's Betrothal Gifts—the Primordial Spirit Bead!"
"Awakens the Green Hill bloodline, purifies the corruption of evil, reforges the foundation of the Martial Soul, and nourishes the Divine Soul's source!"
The plaza fell silent for a full three breaths.
Then it erupted.
"Awakens the bloodline?!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan abruptly straightened, the wrinkles on his old face trembling.
"Purifies corruption... reforges the foundation..."
Ghost Douluo murmured those words over and over. For the first time, his usually gloomy expression showed a hint of lost composure.
Each of those effects, taken alone, was a heaven-defying power capable of driving the entire continent mad.
Awakening the bloodline meant rousing dormant ancient lineages and bringing about a transformation in the Martial Soul.
Purifying corruption—how many Soul Masters had gone mad after absorbing corrupted Soul Rings, trapped by them for the rest of their lives?
Reforging the foundation—Soul Masters with flawed foundations were locked beneath bottlenecks for their entire lives. With this, they could live all over again.
Nourishing the Divine Soul—there was no need to explain that one. The strength of a Divine Soul directly determined a Soul Master's upper limit.
Each of the four effects was priceless.
And this was only the first gift.
The first of the eighteen betrothal gifts.
"This is insane..."
A young Soul Master murmured, his legs giving way beneath him.
"What kind of person is this? To casually produce something like this as a betrothal gift?"
No one could answer him.
Because everyone present was thinking the same thing—
If there were still seventeen gifts to come, each more precious than this one, then just what kind of terrifying resources did that man named Shen Yichen possess?
Bibi Dong stood perfectly still.
Her gaze was fixed on the Primordial Spirit Bead floating in midair, while Rakshasa Divine Power surged ceaselessly within her.
Purifies the corruption of evil—those words struck the deepest wound in her heart.
The corruption of the Rakshasa Martial Soul had been eating away at her for decades.
Every time she used Rakshasa Divine Power, that cold, corrosive force sank a little deeper.
She had tried countless ways to suppress it, but they had only treated the symptoms, never the root.
And this Primordial Spirit Bead could purify corruption.
Her fingertips trembled slightly, then she forced them still.
It wasn't for her.
It was for Hu Liena.
Hu Liena stood three steps behind Bibi Dong, her whole body frozen in place.
Her Demon Fox Martial Soul stirred wildly within her. Her six Soul Rings flickered in and out of control, and the Fox Seal between her brows burned as if it might sear through her skin.
The sensation wasn't pain, but... joy.
Pure, instinctive joy, rising from the very source of her bloodline.
In her spiritual world, the Demon Fox Martial Soul leapt for joy. Its nine tails thrashed wildly as it prostrated itself toward the Primordial Spirit Bead, whimpering urgently again and again.
It was the excitement of a wanderer seeing their homeland again.
Hu Liena's heart gave a sudden, powerful thump.
For the past three days, she had kept telling herself that Shen Yichen was nothing but a madman of unknown origins, trying to dictate her life with a mere Marriage Contract. It was utterly absurd.
But now...
Every effect of the Primordial Spirit Bead precisely matched what her Demon Fox Martial Soul needed.
Awakens the Green Hill bloodline— the Fox Seal between her brows was proof of her Green Hill bloodline.
Purifies corruption—the Demon Fox Martial Soul was naturally vulnerable to corruption.
Reforges the foundation—her Martial Soul's foundation was decent, but far from reaching its limit.
This wasn't something he had taken out on a whim.
It had been prepared specifically for her.
How could someone she had never met know her Martial Soul so thoroughly?
The first crack appeared in Hu Liena's defenses.
Just then, the Primordial Spirit Bead moved.
It began to rotate slowly, the galaxy within it spinning faster as its white glow grew softer and warmer.
Then it transformed into a gentle arc of light and drifted toward Hu Liena.
Unhurried, unassuming, and neither servile nor overbearing.
At last, it came to a steady halt three inches in front of her.
Its warm white light fell across her face, dispelling the chill of dawn.
The Primordial Spirit Bead simply floated there in silence, radiating an intimate, gentle presence.
It wasn't forcing her.
It was waiting.
Waiting for her to reach out and touch it.
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