Sacrifice

A young man in pale blue clothes sat nearby. He had black hair and dark eyes, and an ordinary-looking face. The twenty-four gemstones set into the belt at his waist refracted the sunlight with a gentle luster.

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, holding a pale blue stalk of Blue Silver Grass in his hand. Soul Power circulated slowly around him as he cultivated.

Beside him stood a young girl with a long scorpion braid. She wore a pink blouse, and her waist was slender. Her small face was fair and delicate. She was keeping watch beside the boy, looking bored, as if guarding him while he cultivated.

Perhaps Jiang Ci'an had appeared too abruptly. The instant his feet touched the grass, the young man sensed something amiss.

The boy opened his eyes and met those golden ones.

At just one glance, the boy grew wary.

That gaze was far too indifferent. It was not the way one looked at a person, but more like the way one inspected some kind of merchandise. It made him feel an unease that seeped from his very bones.

Though he could not sense his opponent's exact strength, the boy still felt immense pressure.

He instinctively reached for the gemstones at his waist. His posture shifted from sitting upright to a half-crouch, his center of gravity dropping as he prepared to strike at any moment.

"Who are you?"

The boy demanded, but got no reply.

Jiang Ci'an kept approaching, his pace unhurried.

The boy's brow furrowed even deeper.

He stood and shielded the girl behind him. He raised his right hand to his chest, subtly aiming his sleeve at the newcomer.

A glint of metal flashed there.

A Sleeve Arrow.

It was exquisitely made, with a hidden mechanism. All he had to do was move a finger, and several poisoned steel needles would shoot out.

It was one of the boy's strongest trump cards.

However, just as he was about to trigger the mechanism...

His hand stopped.

What was I... about to do?

Confusion surfaced in the boy's eyes. Then a thin haze seemed to cloud his pupils, and all life quickly drained from his gaze.

In that instant, his consciousness was separated from his body by some invisible force. It had not been destroyed, but utterly ignored.

He no longer cared about anything around him, the dangerous stranger in front of him, the girl behind him, or even himself.

He simply stood there, eyes vacant and utterly still.

"Third Brother? Third Brother, what's wrong? Third Brother!"

The girl behind him realized something was wrong.

She reached out and shook his arm, her voice swiftly changing from puzzled to anxious.

But the boy remained motionless, giving no response. He did not even blink.

The girl realized what had happened and abruptly looked up, as if to say something. But all she saw was the figure that had now drawn close.

Then, in the next instant,

a fair, jade-like hand settled on top of her head.

Its fingers were long, its knuckles distinct, its fingertips cool. It rested among her hair without exerting the slightest force, yet her entire body stiffened.

At once,

the girl's consciousness sank slowly, like a pebble dropping into deep water, soundlessly sinking to the bottom. Her eyes grew unfocused.

She no longer felt fear, struggled, or thought. Like the most exquisitely crafted doll, she was left with nothing but utter calm, and gently fell into the man's arms.

Only at the very end did a soft murmur reach her ears.

"--"Indifference.""

Jiang Ci'an's gaze remained calm.

He paid no mind to Tang San beside him, whose eyes were vacant and who looked ready to drool and babble. Instead, he naturally slipped an arm around Xiao Wu's waist right in front of Tang San, keeping this precious specimen from falling and being damaged after losing consciousness, while his pupils glimmered as he surveyed the surroundings.

Soon, Jiang Ci'an looked away, a trace of disappointment in his eyes.

Tang Hao was not here today.

One less specimen.

He sighed inwardly but did not dwell on it. Lowering his eyes, he looked at the doll-like girl in his arms.

Under Perspective, he could see every part of Xiao Wu.

His gaze naturally ignored her clothes. Her fair skin, slender yet shapely figure, and every layer of flesh and bone beneath it were laid bare before his eyes.

What drew his attention most was the girl's bodily structure, which differed slightly from that of an ordinary human.

Jiang Ci'an examined her from head to toe, his gaze wholly undisguised.

In the real world, when it came to his childhood sweetheart, he would show some restraint and avoid looking too closely, merely observing her physical condition.

After all, he was still a decent person, and he did not much care for getting zapped.

But there was no need to hold back with Xiao Wu. Not only were neither of them human, but by age, she was a Soul Beast that had lived for a hundred thousand years.

In short, she was an old rabbit pretending to be young. She was no match for the childhood sweetheart he had raised himself.

What was more, after looking at the flesh and bones beneath her skin so often, it was genuinely difficult for him to entertain any strange ideas about Xiao Wu...

Had he been in a cultivation world where Buddhist cultivators existed, he might have become a venerable monk on the verge of mastering the Contemplation of the White Bones.

As Jiang Ci'an let his thoughts wander, he carefully examined Xiao Wu's body without a trace of lust in his eyes. A moment later, he murmured thoughtfully,

"I can be fairly certain that Soul Beast Transformation—or at least the transformation of ordinary Soul Beasts—isn't instantaneous. They don't simply become human in one go.

"At first, they only look human on the outside, while their inner structures remain different. Those differences change gradually as their Soul Power increases and time passes...

"As for what's called absorbing 'human aura,' it's probably more like gathering information on the internal structure of the human body, then gradually altering their insides to bring them closer to true humans.

"Only after the seventh ring do they fully embrace their human identity."

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Xiao Wu, whose expression remained blank, like that of a finely crafted doll. He pinched her cheek. The sensation beneath his fingertips was not much different from human skin, and was even smoother and more delicate.

He had to admit, he was very interested in Xiao Wu.

A Soul Beast that had transformed after living for a hundred thousand years and could be used repeatedly as a research specimen was one of a kind across the entire Douluo Continent.

In particular, Xiao Wu could use the Self-Condensed Spirit Ring Method, and her Soul Bone would drop after her death. Both were of extremely high research value.

Of course, all of that was still too far off for him, so there was no need to investigate it for now.

He released her and let go of Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu naturally stood upright, her eyes vacant. She remained like a finely crafted doll, silently awaiting his next instruction.

Jiang Ci'an spoke calmly.

"Sacrifice yourself to me."

The moment the words fell, the doll-like girl barely hesitated.

Dazzling, blazing red light surged from Xiao Wu's body, dyeing the entire Blue Silver Grass meadow blood-red.

Her skin grew crystalline and translucent in the light, like glazed glass fired in a blazing furnace. Her clothes turned to ash in the heat, revealing her exquisite, ruby-clear body, like a work of art.

The red flames surged, swiftly enveloping Xiao Wu's body before transforming into a blazing pillar of light that shrouded Jiang Ci'an.

A blood-red Soul Ring appeared of its own accord.

At the same time, Jiang Ci'an's cultivation, originally at level sixteen, began to soar wildly!