The light deep in the forest had grown so dim that it was almost impossible to see the path.
Qin Chuan surveyed his surroundings. Given the time and the environment, this should do.
He activated his Samsara Eye. Purple patterns spun within his pupils, and in an instant, everything within ten kilometers became a transparent framework of energy.
The density of Soul Beasts was several times higher than on the outskirts. Soul Beasts over ten thousand years old were everywhere, and those over twenty thousand years old were not uncommon. Each occupied its own territory, leaving the others alone.
Qin Chuan's gaze swept over the Soul Beasts one by one without stopping.
He was looking for a Soul Beast that was small, weak, and easy to overlook.
It was called a Humanoid Elf Beast.
Yu Xiaogang's notes were clear: the Humanoid Elf Beast was an extremely rare species, with very few of them in existence. There might be fewer than a hundred in the entire Star Dou Great Forest. They were tiny, and their energy fluctuations were extremely weak, easily drowned out by the forest's dense background Soul Power.
They weren't something you could find just by looking.
Qin Chuan adjusted the Samsara Eye's perception mode.
Instead of scanning a wide area, he focused his attention on regions where the energy fluctuations were exceptionally faint.
Even the weakest ordinary Soul Beast had a certain level of Soul Power fluctuation.
But the Humanoid Elf Beast's Soul Power fluctuations were so weak they were almost indistinguishable from those of the surrounding plants. If the forest were a noisy tavern and all the other Soul Beasts were shouting, then the Humanoid Elf Beast would be the one in the corner, head bowed over a cup of tea, its voice completely drowned out.
To find it, he first had to filter out all those "loudmouths."
Qin Chuan closed his eyes, and his spiritual power gathered into slender threads that stretched outward one by one.
Each thread covered a different direction. They passed through tree trunks, rocks, and soil, weaving an intricate net across a ten-kilometer radius.
Time passed, second by second.
Qin Chuan stood motionless as the net of spiritual power continued to operate.
A few minutes later, Qin Chuan found something. About four kilometers away, slightly south of due east, there was a faint energy signal.
After spotting this suspicious target
Qin Chuan vanished in a flash and sped in that direction.
The four-kilometer distance passed in no time.
Qin Chuan landed on a branch of an old locust tree and looked down.
At the base of the tree grew a lush clump of orchids. Their petals were pale purple, and they gave off a delicate fragrance.
On the stamen of one of the orchids, Qin Chuan saw what he had been searching for.
A tiny figure.
It crouched atop the stamen of an orchid, both hands wrapped around the pistil. With its head lowered, it looked as though it was licking the nectar.
The tiny figure was only twenty or thirty centimeters tall, and its general shape was much like a human's, with a head, limbs, and torso.
This was the Humanoid Elf Beast.
It had a pair of cat ears. They were small and pointed, rising on either side of its head and occasionally swiveling to pick up sounds from its surroundings.
Two pairs of wings grew from its back. They were thin and transparent, with veins much like those on a dragonfly's wings. The wings weren't folded away; they were half spread, refracting a faint rainbow sheen in the dim light.
A long, slender tail trailed behind it, ending in a little tuft of down.
Its entire body was covered in pale golden skin, which glimmered faintly in the soft light of the orchid's stamen.
Qin Chuan examined it carefully. This was a female Humanoid Elf Beast, and it was probably around eighty-eight years old.
It hadn't noticed Qin Chuan at all. Its full attention was fixed on the bit of nectar on the stamen, its tiny mouth sucking at the pistil as its cheeks puffed in and out.
Its cat ears occasionally twitched, but only out of habit; it wasn't truly on guard.
It was eating with gusto.
Qin Chuan recalled what Yu Xiaogang's notes said.
Humanoid Elf Beasts were extremely rare, and females were more common. They were about twenty or thirty centimeters tall, with two pairs of dragonfly wings, cat ears, and a tail. Their eyes were dark red. Their main diet was nectar and pollen. They flew quickly and were agile.
Innate Soul Skill—Angel Anthem.
Yu Xiaogang had put a huge question mark after the words "Angel Anthem."
He wasn't sure what the Soul Skill actually did, either. He had only copied the following account from an ancient book written several centuries earlier: "Those who hear this song become entranced, entering a dreamlike illusion. What they see differs from person to person."
What differed from person to person meant that everyone who heard Angel Anthem saw something different.
Yu Xiaogang had added another line in the margin: "It is said that what one sees is connected to the listener's future and fate. Unverified."
Qin Chuan watched the little creature for a few seconds.
An eighty-eight-year-old Humanoid Elf Beast, with Angel Anthem.
It would be Illusion Bell's fifth Soul Ring.
Qin Chuan leapt from the branch, touched the old locust tree's trunk with his toes, and landed silently beside the orchids.
The instant he touched down, the Humanoid Elf Beast crouched on the stamen jerked its head up.
Its two little red eyes stared blankly at Qin Chuan, who had appeared out of nowhere. It froze for a full two seconds.
Then both pairs of dragonfly wings began to vibrate at once, beating so fast their edges were almost impossible to see.
Run! The little creature reacted incredibly quickly.
It kicked off, launching itself from the stamen. Its wings beat at full speed, and like a streak of golden light, it shot toward the treetops.
It really was fast.
For a little creature only twenty-odd centimeters tall, with a cultivation of just eighty-eight years, its speed was already astonishing.
But against Qin Chuan, it was nothing.
"Bansho Ten'in." Qin Chuan raised his left hand.
An invisible force of attraction locked onto the golden figure.
The Humanoid Elf Beast kept flapping its wings desperately, the buzzing of their beat filling the air.
But its body could no longer move. The gravitational force held it fast, like an invisible rope, pulling it back down from the air.
It struggled fiercely. Its four wings beat at high speed, its cat ears pressed flat against its head, and its tail went rigid as its whole body twisted violently in midair.
It let out a thin, almost tearful cry.
The sound was peculiar. It was neither a bird's call nor an insect's chirp, but more like a child throwing a tantrum.
Qin Chuan opened his hand, and the Humanoid Elf Beast was drawn toward him.
He didn't grab it. Instead, he wrapped it in a thin layer of Heavenly Dao Power, holding it in place half a meter away.
The Humanoid Elf Beast stopped struggling.
It floated in the air, its two pairs of wings folded behind it and its body curled slightly inward.
Its dark red eyes stared at Qin Chuan, glistening with tears.
Its chest rose and fell rapidly, and its tiny body trembled within the Heavenly Dao Power.
Soon, the Humanoid Elf Beast unleashed its Soul Skill, Angel Anthem!
Qin Chuan didn't resist.
A familiar, ethereal melody drifted from somewhere in the world.
That was...an angel's anthem.
The Star Dou Great Forest disappeared.
Qin Chuan found himself standing in a vast open space. Beneath his feet lay spotless white flagstones, not a speck of dust upon them.
At the far end of the open space stood a gigantic statue.
It was entirely golden, and at least several dozen meters tall.
It was a statue of a human figure.