Luo Yun's hand stretched out against his will.
His palm faced the Holy Leaf Spirit Deer kneeling on the ground.
The spirit deer raised its head and gently pressed its forehead against Luo Yun's palm.
A warm sensation spread from his palm.
Luo Yun froze.
The next second.
Boom!
A beam of golden-green light shot skyward from within the Holy Leaf Spirit Deer, piercing the clouds and illuminating the entire riverbank as bright as day.
Within the beam, a complex magic array slowly unfolded beneath Luo Yun's feet, rotating.
Luo Shang's pupils contracted.
"Sacrifice?"
His voice was filled with disbelief.
A Soul Beast sacrifice was when a Soul Beast voluntarily offered its soul and cultivation to a Soul Master.
This method required no hunting or absorption of a Soul Ring. The Soul Beast's source power would directly merge into the Soul Master's Martial Soul.
But the conditions for a sacrifice were extremely demanding.
First, the Soul Beast had to act willingly, without any coercion. Second, it had to feel an exceptionally strong sense of recognition toward the Soul Master, even something like... faith.
The few recorded cases of sacrifice in history could be counted on one hand, and each had been accompanied by earth-shaking phenomena.
Luo Shang had never dreamed something like this would happen to his own son.
And it was his First Soul Ring, no less.
The beam lasted for a few breaths before slowly fading away.
The magic array vanished with it.
Luo Yun stood where he was, his palm still held out in front of him, now empty.
The Holy Leaf Spirit Deer was gone.
In its place, a purple Soul Ring slowly rose.
Purple!
A thousand years.
The purple Soul Ring rose from beneath Luo Yun's feet and slowly revolved around his body, its light mingling with the golden-green radiance of the Corona Sword.
Luo Yun looked down at the purple Soul Ring beneath his feet, then up at his father, and blinked.
Luo Shang understood that look.
That's it? We're done?
Luo Shang fell silent for a moment, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
"...Why are you looking at me? This is my first time seeing it too."
Luo Yun opened his mouth, about to say something, when two voices suddenly exploded in his mind.
One was low and cold:
"Destruction Nine Trials, First Trial complete. Reward: ten percent affinity with the Origin of Destruction."
The other was gentle and clear:
"Life Nine Trials, First Trial complete. Reward: ten percent affinity with the Source of Life."
Before the voices had even faded, Luo Yun's pupils changed.
His left eye turned emerald, his right a deep purple.
Two beams of light burst from his body at once. A rich aura of life surged from his left hand, while deep-purple lightning sprang from his right, radiating a heart-stirring intent of destruction.
One side was life, the other death.
One side was life, the other destruction.
Two forces that stood in absolute opposition appeared in the same person at once.
Luo Yun lowered his head and looked at his hands, green on the left, purple on the right.
Douluo God Realm.
The Tree of Life.
Its canopy blocked out the sun and sky, every leaf shimmering with a gentle green light.
Its trunk was so thick that its edges were nowhere in sight, while its roots plunged deep into the sea of clouds, supporting the entire Divine Realm.
Two figures sat on a branch at the top of the tree, one purple and one green.
The purple figure was a man, his face stern and features deep and sharp. His purple robes snapped in the wind, and an indistinct aura of destruction swirled around him.
The green figure was a woman of peerless beauty, her features gentle as water. Her long emerald dress draped between the branches, its hem blending into the leaves.
The two sat side by side on a thick branch, their legs dangling over the sea of clouds.
The man in purple propped his chin on one hand, his gaze passing through the starry sky and settling on the blue planet.
"He sacrificed himself." His voice was low, revealing no emotion. "It's rare for a thousand-year Soul Beast to volunteer a sacrifice."
The woman in green smiled softly. "That spirit deer witnessed the ultimate sacred and life auras. Naturally, it was like a subject seeing an emperor, and it willingly gave its life."
"But this kid actually chose the Corona Sword, a Martial Soul with a life attribute, as his primary Martial Soul." There was a subtle note of dissatisfaction in the man's voice. "It doesn't have any killing power at all."
The woman in green turned to look at him and chided, "Must you always think about fighting and killing? It's simply this child's nature. Besides, with parents like us, he could never become cruel."
"The strong can't afford to be weak all the time." The man in purple remained unmoved. "If he's born under someone's protection and raised in a greenhouse, how will he withstand a true life-or-death crisis in the future?"
The woman in green was silent for a moment. She reached out, plucked a leaf from the Tree of Life, and gently turned it between her fingers.
"Then what do you want to do?"
The man in purple withdrew his gaze, leaned against the trunk, and looked up at the vast starry sky above the Divine Realm.
"We'll have to change the content of our trials."
The woman in green's fingers stopped moving.
After a moment, she sighed softly, her tone carrying a hint of helpless indulgence. "Don't teach the child bad habits."
The man in purple's lips curved slightly.
"I know what I'm doing."
"Xiao Yun." Luo Shang crouched down, his gaze resting on the purple Soul Ring slowly revolving beneath Luo Yun's feet. "What's your First Soul Skill?"
"Okay."
Luo Yun nodded, closed his eyes, and focused his attention on the Corona Sword.
"First Soul Skill!"
"Holy Spirit Illumination!"
As the words fell, a golden orb of light rose from the tip of the sword and slowly floated into the air.
Its radiance enveloped an area dozens of meters across.
Luo Yun opened his eyes and looked at the little "sun" above his head, momentarily taken aback himself.
"Within the illuminated area, all attributes of allies increase by twenty percent, and all attributes of enemies decrease by twenty percent. The suppression doubles against evil attributes."
Luo Shang fell silent for a moment, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
"...A support type?"
"Seems like it."
Who could have imagined that a Sword Martial Soul's First Soul Skill would be a support ability that buffed and debuffed everyone at once...
"That works too." Luo Shang stood up and brushed the grass from his knees. "Support types have their advantages. At least a team will always need someone like you."
Luo Yun pouted. "I'm not joining a team."
"Who knows what the future holds?"
Luo Shang glanced up at the sky.
It was getting late.
"Come on, let's head back and rest for now." Luo Shang turned and walked toward the edge of the forest. "We'll come back tomorrow and find you a Second Soul Ring."
"Okay."
Luo Yun hurried after him. The Corona Sword had already been withdrawn, and the purple Soul Ring beneath his feet had vanished too.
He was in a pretty good mood today.
He had his First Soul Ring, and he hadn't even needed to fight or kill. The deer had come straight to him and offered itself.
These God Trials didn't seem so hard after all.
Just then.
Two voices exploded in his mind at the same time.
One was low and cold, carrying an unquestionable authority:
"Destruction Nine Trials, Second Trial: Proceed to the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest's Core Circle. Time limit: one month. Reward: use of the Law of Destruction. Failure penalty: annihilation."
The other was gentle and clear, but its tone left no room for negotiation either:
"Life Nine Trials, Second Trial: Complete the Second Trial of the Destruction Nine Trials. Time limit: one month. Reward: use of the Law of Life. Failure penalty: annihilation."
Before you continue