At the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, even the misty spiritual energy seemed to have grown thicker and heavier because of what was about to happen.
The spring waters continued to merge and flow, producing their eternal gurgling sounds. Yet at this moment, all attention in the heart of the valley was focused on the black-haired youth beside the spring.
Zichuan sat cross-legged at the edge where the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well met. To his left was bone-piercing cold, and to his right was scorching heat. The icy and fiery energies continuously washed over his body, yet the Life and Destruction Soul Power generated by his two hearts effortlessly balanced them, instead creating a strange tempering effect.
He adjusted his breathing and brought himself to peak condition. What came next would be three consecutive sacrifices, a frenzied infusion of power. Even with the sacrificers taking the initiative to control it, it would still be an unprecedented trial for his Level 20 body.
"Your Excellency, may we begin?"
The phantom of the purple-robed man formed from the Aromatic Silk Beauty floated before Zichuan, his voice gentle yet solemn.
A little farther behind him stood the phantom of the silver-haired, coldly beautiful woman of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the phantom of the proud woman in red from the Infernal Delicate Apricot. Though their attributes opposed one another, their faces now bore the same solemnity and resolve.
"Begin. I'll trouble you." Zichuan took a deep breath and nodded. He said nothing more. He would remember this debt in his heart.
The Aromatic Silk Beauty spoke no further. A smile woven from relief and anticipation appeared on his handsome face.
He turned around and gave the valley that had nurtured him for two hundred thousand years one last look. His gaze swept over his companions one by one, and he gave a slight nod.
Then his entire phantom suddenly erupted with dazzling purple-gold light!
"I offer my soul, burn my blood, sacrifice my path, and forge an eternal pact!"
An ancient and solemn soul incantation echoed through the valley. It was not sound, but a ripple that directly acted upon the soul.
The purple-gold radiance burned like fire, instantly swallowing the Aromatic Silk Beauty's phantom and transforming into an incomparably pure pillar of light containing vast spiritual power and a strange power of dominion. It charged fiercely into Zichuan's brow.
It entered his Sea of Consciousness, then followed some profound connection and linked with the Heart of Destruction!
"Buzz!"
Zichuan's body shuddered violently! An indescribable power surged through the pathways of the Heart of Destruction—not a violent impact, but something like countless rivers returning to the sea, like a sovereign ascending the throne!
This power was majestic without being tyrannical, pure and ancient, carrying the spirituality of vegetation and the dignity of ruling over all flowers.
It did not forcibly assault Zichuan's meridians or Soul Power Level. Instead, it moved in a manner that was incomparably gentle, yet impossible to resist.
It fused into every inch of his body, nourished his soul, expanded his Sea of Consciousness, and finally began to slowly gather and take shape beyond the first purple Soul Ring of the Heart of Destruction...
A deep, noble Soul Ring flickering with a faint purple-gold halo, yet possessing a breathtaking orange-gold core, appeared beneath Zichuan's feet and slowly revolved!
Orange-gold! The supreme Soul Ring color produced after the sacrifice of a fierce beast with cultivation exceeding one hundred thousand years—reaching two hundred thousand years or more!
The instant the Soul Ring formed, Zichuan felt the Heart of Destruction suddenly throb. An unprecedented sense of clarity and control flooded his heart.
It was as if the aura of all things in the world, the withering and flourishing of plants, and the pulse of the earth had all become distinctly perceptible.
More than that, he felt that his control over Soul Power, his perception of the surroundings, and even his grasp of the slightest details within his own body had all risen to an entirely new level!
This was the gift brought by the Aromatic Silk Beauty's two hundred thousand years of cultivation and the status of the King of Immortal Herbs!
Yet the Aromatic Silk Beauty's soul origin and most of his consciousness did not completely disperse into the Soul Ring along with his power.
A miniature yet solid purple-gold tulip phantom, carrying his core awareness and memories, quietly entered Zichuan's Sea of Consciousness through the channel created by the sacrifice. That sea had already expanded several times over.
The moment he entered this vast spiritual world filled with faint gray-green mist, the Aromatic Silk Beauty had no time to marvel that the Sea of Consciousness of a divine inheritor was indeed extraordinary.
Nor did he have time to consider how he might use his two hundred thousand years of experience and wisdom to properly guide—or even somewhat "influence"—this young lord, securing greater future benefits for the plant soul beast lineage.
His "gaze" was firmly captured by the two impossible-to-ignore presences at the center of the Sea of Consciousness.
On the left was an incomparably massive, incomparably gentle emerald sphere of light, radiating an aura that allowed all things to flourish and brought peace to souls.
The sphere hovered quietly, like the origin point of life itself. Its naturally emitted aura alone made the Aromatic Silk Beauty, a spirit of vegetation, feel instinctive closeness and... endless reverence!
It was absolute suppression on the level of life itself, the supreme majesty originating from the source of all creation!
Though the sphere seemed to be dormant at the moment, the status contained within it made even his soul tremble!
The Goddess of Life! Even a mere remnant divine thought was not something a two-hundred-thousand-year plant spirit like him could dare to behold!
And on the right...
The Aromatic Silk Beauty's heart nearly stopped.
It was a dark crimson radiance, seemingly formed from countless shattered stars and the intent of final annihilation.
It was not as large as the green sphere, but it was more solid, more dangerous, and more... aggressively imposing.
Within it, a vague humanoid outline radiating endless destruction and pride flickered in and out of sight. At that moment, the outline seemed to "glance" at him.
It was only a single "glance," with no tangible pressure released, yet the Aromatic Silk Beauty felt as though the very origin of his Soul Spirit was about to freeze, be crushed apart, and be utterly reduced to nothingness!
That was the will of all things ending, the coldness of the universe returning to emptiness! It was the being above even the laws of destruction—the God of Destruction!
"Oh, you're in."
A detached, calm voice that seemed to contain endless time, space, and destructive will rang directly within the core of the Aromatic Silk Beauty's Soul Spirit, making his soul body flicker as though it were about to collapse.
"Then just find somewhere to stay." The God of Destruction's voice continued, devoid of any discernible emotion.
"Talk less and stay quiet. You'll be told what you need to know. Don't waste your thoughts on what doesn't concern you."
As the words fell, that invisible, suffocating sense of scrutiny vanished, as if it had never existed.
Yet those two supreme spheres of divine thought hung there like two ancient divine mountains, heavily pressing upon the Aromatic Silk Beauty's "heart."
All his pride, schemes, and the slight sense of superiority brought by two hundred thousand years of experience vanished in an instant, leaving behind only endless fear and... complete submission.
There were actually divine thoughts of two God Kings residing here?! Their conditions might be incomplete, but the rank of their essence could not be faked!
Lord... no, what exactly was this young master's background?! Was he merely an inheritor? Calling him a divine son would still be selling him short!
The Aromatic Silk Beauty no longer dared entertain any unnecessary thoughts. Even the light of his purple-gold tulip phantom was restrained to the utmost as he cautiously and silently drifted toward a secluded corner of the Sea of Consciousness.
He obediently "took root," watched his nose, and watched his heart, doing everything he could to lessen his presence, terrified that he might disturb those two "great lords," who for some unknown reason were residing here.
Next came the sacrifice of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
The silver-haired woman's phantom transformed into an ice-blue pillar of light that pierced the heavens. Carrying the aura of ultimate cold and the origin of the Ice Spring, it rushed into Zichuan's body and connected with the Heart of Life.
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