Way of Life-and-Death Reincarnation

Li Chen took a deep breath, tapped the screen with a finger, and spoke crisply.

"Uncle Leng, this one."

Leng Qiu glanced at the soul spirit he had chosen, his gaze lingering for a moment on the image of the Fate Underworld Qilin before he nodded slightly.

"I'll ask you one more time. Are you sure?" he asked, his tone carrying a hint of warning. "This soul spirit is unlike ordinary Indomitable Soul Spirits. After the Emperor Auspicious Beast died, Di Tian chose it to regather the fortune of soul beasts. Although its fortune does not reach the level of the Emperor Auspicious Beast, its backlash is more severe than that of other Indomitable Soul Spirits. Not only will your martial soul shatter, but you'll be plagued by bad luck for the rest of your life."

"I'm sure." Li Chen nodded, his gaze utterly unwavering.

Leng Qiu nodded, then turned to the staff member and said,

"Did you hear him? Bring it over."

The staff member hesitated briefly before answering, "Yes, Pagoda Master."

He turned around and operated the soul guidance screen a few times, then walked over to Li Chen and made an inviting gesture.

"Young Master Li Chen, this way."

Li Chen followed him to one side of the room.

At the staff member's instruction, he lay down inside a silicone device.

"Young Master Li Chen, we will now establish a spiritual connection. Please prepare yourself."

After entering a series of complicated commands into the screen, the staff member awakened the Fate Underworld Qilin.

In truth, the staff member had not known beforehand that the Fate Underworld Qilin was asleep. However, this soul beast possessed extremely high intelligence. If it had been awake while he was introducing it to Li Chen, it could easily have lost control, which was why he had not awakened it immediately.

The Fate Underworld Qilin slowly opened its eyes. Each eye was larger than An Lan's head. Its eyes were heterochromatic, yet deep within both pupils shone a noble gold.

The instant its eyes opened, a spiritual ripple that was ethereal and gentle, without the slightest trace of viciousness, spread through the surroundings.

It possessed the head of a qilin, massive and formed by cold, savage lines, exuding the domineering aura of an ancient divine beast. Three spiraling dragon horns stood atop its head, radiating soul-shaking pressure. Golden and multicolored patterns interwove around its eyes, while its vertical pupils were bizarre to the extreme. Its left eye was black as an abyss of eternal night, capable of devouring living souls and freezing all vitality. Its right eye was dark red like blazing coagulated blood, capable of burning away divine souls and tearing apart falsehood. Its towering brow bones were covered in black bone armor engraved with constellation-like patterns of annihilation. Its muzzle was sharply defined, its black-and-white fangs grim and razor-sharp. From time to time, black-and-white mist billowed from its nostrils, while the long black-and-white mane around its neck moved without wind, scattering fine ashes of annihilation.

It stepped forward.

Every step was as heavy as Mount Tai. Two kinds of mist constantly coiled around it. One was an annihilation mist interwoven with ash-black and deathly white; wherever it passed, vegetation instantly withered and all life was extinguished. The other was a living mist like emerald green and dark jade; wherever it went, all things flourished and living creatures grew. Space twisted beneath the pressure of the two mists, sending out fine ripples.

With every step, its black scales released two auras capable of deciding the annihilation and revival of all things. Each release brought a wave of deathly chill rushing toward them. Then it shifted, releasing an aura of universal revival and surging vitality. The two utterly different auras cycled endlessly, creating an exceedingly strange sight.

It stopped three meters in front of Li Chen.

Towering over him.

Those golden vertical pupils looked down at him, devoid of anger or killing intent.

There was only a pure, naked scrutiny.

Then, it spoke.

An ethereal voice came from its mouth, brimming with intelligence and carrying an inexplicable sense of warmth.

"Hello, human."

Li Chen finally understood the friendliness that Uncle Leng had mentioned, the friendliness brought by an auspicious ancient beast.

"Are you willing to become my soul spirit?"

"No."

Li Chen got straight to the point, and the Fate Underworld Qilin's refusal was equally decisive.

It tilted its head, curiously studying the little thing on the ground.

It knew that this was a human cub—though the little qilin was also a cub—but this human differed from those it had met before. He smelled so good, and that scent attracted it.

He smelled good, but it had to maintain some restraint. After all, since the Emperor Auspicious Beast's death, it was the soul beast that had inherited the most soul beast fortune in ten thousand years. If it ran off so cheaply, wouldn't that make it seem worthless? QWQ.

Li Chen had long been mentally prepared for an Indomitable Soul Spirit. He continued, "Won't you reconsider?"

Who would have thought that in the next instant, the Fate Underworld Qilin secretly swallowed, blinked its golden vertical pupils, and immediately changed its mind. "Fine. I'll go with you."

It wasn't that this baby lacked resolve. He just smelled too good!

Li Chen could neither laugh nor cry. He said softly, "Then from this day onward, entrust the rest of your life to me."

Sensing the spiritual ripple he sent out, the Fate Underworld Qilin slowly moved closer. Its qilin head lowered slightly as it once more looked down at An Lan from above.

At the same time, the protruding single horn on its forehead lit up. As light flowed across it, it radiated dense life energy.

Li Chen felt something stir within him and raised his right hand to touch it.

In an instant, the Life-and-Death Light shone. Boundless power of fortune gathered between heaven and earth, enveloping them both. The Power of Life and Death continuously spun and wore away beneath that fortune, then spun again before slowly blending into a new power—Reincarnation—wrapping tightly around man and beast alike.

Fate Underworld Qilin, take your place!

Beside the silicone device, Leng Qiu watched Li Chen complete the contract and quietly let out a breath of relief.

He watched silently as the Fate Underworld Qilin's body gradually turned transparent, its life origin slowly merging into the light of Reincarnation surrounding Li Chen.

The Water of Life containing all of the Fate Underworld Qilin's origin transformed into specks of pale light, entering Li Chen's body drop by drop through the center of his brow.

The contract was complete!

Li Chen opened his eyes. A faint violet glimmer flashed through them, and in the next moment, a yellow soul ring rose from beneath his feet. Purple-gold patterns unique to an auspicious beast were engraved upon its surface, flickering in and out of sight.

First soul ring, nine hundred and ninety-nine years!

He let out a long breath. The Fate Underworld Qilin was completely his now.

"An Indomitable Auspicious Beast Soul, one of a kind in this world. Xiao Chen, congratulations!" Leng Qiu looked at the high-spirited youth before him, his eyes filled with gratification as he offered his congratulations.

Li Chen rose from the device and said to Leng Qiu,

"Uncle Leng, you've gone to a lot of trouble."

He understood perfectly well that even as the Branch Pagoda Master of one of the Eighteen Heavenly Pillars, Leng Qiu had no authority to mobilize an auspicious beast soul spirit of this level. Someone important at headquarters must have intervened.

Leng Qiu nodded and said,

"You've only just fused with your soul spirit, so go rest first. Headquarters' upper echelon will arrive in the next few days. At that time, they'll test the effects of your soul skills and other matters. If you run into any problems, you can ask Xiao Su for help."

After hearing this, Li Chen followed him toward the resting room.

At the same time, a luxury sedan was parked in front of the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda.

The gears of history began to turn slowly with his steps. The era that belonged to him would eventually arrive!