Soul Skill, Flowers Falling in a Dream!

At this moment, Qin Chuan found himself standing in a forest of peach blossoms.

Pink petals fell from the sky in a dense, overwhelming deluge. They landed on his shoulders, his hair, and the backs of his hands, their touch soft and carrying a faint, lingering floral scent.

He was familiar with this scene. Three years ago, he had constructed a peach blossom forest within Xiao Wu's dreamscape. But this time, it wasn't his creation; the Sorrow Bird's soul skill had forcibly pulled him into it.

Deep within the peach forest, there was a figure.

The person stood with her back to Qin Chuan, dressed in an ancient-style pink gown. Her waist was slender, and her black hair cascaded down her back, swaying slightly in the breeze.

She walked forward, moving further and further away, turning her head with every step she took.

As she turned, Qin Chuan saw her face—it looked exactly like his first love.

Petals fell onto the woman's shoulders. She reached out to catch them, but as she held one, another slipped through her fingers.

A sudden tightness gripped Qin Chuan's chest.

A stifling, dull, and sour ache surged from the depths of his heart, spreading through his veins and nerves to his limbs. It wasn't pain, but it was far more unbearable than pain.

It was the feeling of standing still, watching someone you care about walk further and further away; you want to chase them, but your feet are nailed to the ground, and you want to shout, but your throat is blocked by something invisible.

Flowers drift and water flows; one longing, two places of idle sorrow.

This feeling cannot be dispelled; it fades from the brows, only to rise in the heart.

He didn't know where these words came from, but Qin Chuan felt every syllable like a needle, pricking the softest part of his heart.

Qin Chuan knew this was the Sorrow Bird's soul skill affecting his spirit.

But knowing it was one thing; the sensation was real.

The effect of "Flowers Falling in a Dream" lasted for about twenty seconds.

Qin Chuan's spiritual power far exceeded that of this sixty-six-year-old Sorrow Bird, so the hypnotic effect couldn't be maintained for long. Yet, these twenty seconds were enough for him to realize the terrifying power of this soul skill.

He opened his eyes, and the peach blossom forest vanished.

Before him was the gloomy Star Dou Great Forest once more; the chirping of insects, the sound of the wind, and the rustling of leaves—everything had returned.

The Sorrow Bird in his palm was flapping its wings desperately, shedding several pink feathers that drifted slowly downward. Its round, black pupils were filled with terror.

Qin Chuan looked at the palm-sized creature in his hand and loosened his grip slightly.

A strange impulse surged from the bottom of his heart.

Let it go!

When this thought emerged, even Qin Chuan was taken aback.

What is wrong with me?

Qin Chuan carefully examined his current psychological state. That sour, dull emotion had not yet fully dissipated; it felt like drinking a bowl of overnight cold tea—the bitterness had faded, but the astringency remained at the root of his tongue.

This was the aftereffect of the Sorrow Bird's soul skill, "Flowers Falling in a Dream."

It didn't cause direct damage; instead, it created the illusion of loss and separation, thereby triggering intense feelings of sorrow.

This sorrow didn't have the oppressive force of external pressure like ordinary mental attacks; it grew from within, making one feel as though it were their own emotion, not something imposed by another.

That was why it was so difficult to resist.

Even Qin Chuan, a level 55 Soul King and wielder of the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye, found it hard to withstand.

It's too perfect. The scales in Qin Chuan's heart quickly tilted from "let it go" to "capture it."

The Sorrow Bird's "Flowers Falling in a Dream," paired with the Illusion Bell's "Sinful Haze" and "Shadow Hypnosis," was a lethal combination.

First, use "Flowers Falling in a Dream" to disrupt the opponent's mental state; under the impact of sorrow, even the strongest mental defenses would develop cracks. Then, take advantage of the opening to invade their dreamscape with "Sinful Haze" or directly knock them out with "Shadow Hypnosis."

A person could rely on willpower to resist fear, pain, or anger, but few could resist sudden, overwhelming sorrow.

Because sorrow didn't need to be fought; it simply, quietly, drowned you.

Qin Chuan's fingers tightened once more.

The Sorrow Bird struggled incessantly in his palm, its wings beating against the webbing between his thumb and index finger. The pink down pressed against his skin, feeling soft and warm.

Qin Chuan looked down at the bird.

It was so small, small enough for him to completely enclose in one hand. Its black eyes were watery, like two black glass beads.

Qin Chuan suddenly thought of a question.

The cultivation system of the Douluo Continent was fundamentally built upon the slaughter of soul beasts. Every ten levels, one had to kill a soul beast to absorb a soul ring.

The more soul masters there were, the more soul beasts were killed. What if, one day, the soul beasts were wiped out?

At that point, what would soul masters use to cultivate? Every soul master would revert to being an ordinary person.

This system was flawed at its very core.

Qin Chuan had never thought deeply about this before. When he transmigrated into this world, his first reaction was to survive, and his second was to become stronger. Who would ponder the rationality of a system when their own life was at stake?

But now, he was level 55, possessed the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye, the Zhu Xian Sword, and a hundred-thousand-year soul bone. He stood higher than before, and the things he saw were different.

He saw a twisted world.

Humans slaughtered soul beasts generation after generation to become stronger. To survive, soul beasts either fled to the deepest parts of the Star Dou Great Forest to linger on in agony, or transformed into humans to hide among the masses.

This was not the law of the jungle where the strong preyed on the weak; this was naked plunder.

Qin Chuan took a deep breath, suppressing these chaotic thoughts.

It was too early to think about such things.

He lacked the power to change the rules of the world, at least for now. What he had to do was first climb to a position high enough.

Once he became a god, it would not be too late to address these matters.

Qin Chuan looked at the Sorrow Bird in his hand and fell silent for three seconds. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you didn't want to die, but I need your power."

The Sorrow Bird's pupils contracted slightly, as if it had understood those words.

"When I become a god one day, I will definitely change the rules of this world so that soul masters no longer need to kill soul beasts to cultivate."

After Qin Chuan finished speaking, he tightened his fingers.

A very short, crisp snap echoed.

The Sorrow Bird's body went limp, and its pink feathers were stained with a bit of warm blood, which dripped down Qin Chuan's fingers.

The palm-sized bird hadn't even let out a cry when it died.

A white soul ring slowly rose from the Sorrow Bird's corpse.

The soul ring was tiny, smaller than any soul ring Qin Chuan had ever seen. The white light was as soft as moonlight, drifting quietly in the dim forest.

Qin Chuan gently placed the Sorrow Bird's body on the ground and began to absorb it.

A 66-year white soul ring was effortless for him to absorb.

He didn't even need to regulate his breathing.

Closing his eyes, he extended his spiritual power like the gentlest of tentacles to envelop the white soul ring.

There was no rejection, no resistance, and not a trace of violent energy fluctuation.

The power within the soul ring was as docile as a pool of spring water, flowing slowly into Qin Chuan's spiritual world and merging into his Illusion Bell martial soul.

The entire process took only a few seconds.

Qin Chuan opened his eyes and, with a thought, the Illusion Bell manifested above his palm.

Three soul rings lit up in succession: white, white, white.

Three white rings of light rotated slowly from bottom to top.

In the eyes of any soul master, this was the most trash-tier soul ring configuration.

Three white soul rings meant three soul beasts under a hundred years old, their age so low it wasn't worth mentioning.

Any academy teacher seeing this configuration would likely shake their head and sigh, then advise the soul master to change professions immediately.

But only Qin Chuan knew its unique nature.

Shadow Hypnosis, Sinful Haze, Flowers Falling in a Dream.

Combined, these three soul skills formed the most perfect mental control system in the world.

Qin Chuan put away the Illusion Bell and stood up from the ground, preparing to continue hunting, for he could still absorb two more!

He turned around and continued to explore deeper into the forest.