Twelve-Winged Angel God

Qin Chuan raised his head, gazing up at the golden statue of a woman.

The statue's features were indistinct, revealing only a blurred silhouette. Yet, even through that outline, one could sense the majesty and sanctity radiating from that face.

Behind the statue, twelve massive wings were spread wide.

Six pairs of wings were arranged in sequence from the waist to the crown of the head. The feathers on every wing were carved with extreme precision, with even the serrated patterns on their edges rendered meticulously.

A golden light emanated from the wings; it was not a reflection, but rather a glow that seemed to pour forth from the wings themselves.

The Twelve-Winged Angel God.

Qin Chuan had heard of the Six-Winged Angel God, but he had never heard of a Twelve-Winged Angel God.

The melody of the anthem continued.

Hum, hum, hum.

That simple sequence of notes echoed across the vast plaza, bouncing off the stone slabs and the statue to form layers upon layers of reverberations.

The echoes piled up, growing thicker and heavier, until they finally transformed into a wall, pressing in from all directions.

Qin Chuan's breathing grew labored.

The statue did not move, yet Qin Chuan could feel it "watching" him.

It was a gaze that defied description. A gaze from a higher dimension, looking down upon an ant.

Under that scrutiny, Qin Chuan felt a sense of insignificance he had never known before.

He remembered when he was six years old, crouching alone on a ridge, using a hoe that was taller than himself to till the soil.

Back then, he had also felt small.

But that insignificance had been relative to the heavens and the earth. The sky was too high, the land too vast, and he was too short.

This current insignificance was different; it was relative to the laws of existence.

As Qin Chuan stood there, a clear thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

There are gods in this world.

Gods set the rules, and humans follow them.

Spirit masters kill spirit beasts, spirit beasts take human form to flee, humans fight endlessly, and martial spirits dictate destiny. Everything, every single thing, existed within the framework of some higher-level rule.

And the architect of that framework stood right before him.

Golden. Twelve-winged. Looking down upon an ant.

Qin Chuan's throat moved, and the Heavenly Dao Power surged silently through his body in a single cycle.

That sense of insignificance faded slightly, though it did not vanish entirely.

The music continued to play.

But Qin Chuan's consciousness had begun to slowly break free from that entranced state.

The Heavenly Dao Power was a strength granted to him by the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye. The level of this power did not belong to the same system as the Angel God's, but it was, at the very least, not inferior to it.

Qin Chuan used the Heavenly Dao Power to steady his mind, then carefully re-examined the scene before him.

The golden statue, the twelve wings, the white plaza, the echoing anthem.

He retrieved a sentence from Yu Xiaogang's notes from his memory: "The hallucinations produced by hearing the Angel Anthem are different for everyone. It is said that what one sees depends on the listener's future."

The listener's future.

Qin Chuan had seen the Twelve-Winged Angel God.

What, then, did his future have to do with the Angel God?

Qin Chuan's mind raced.

He was not certain of the meaning behind this hallucination. It could mean he would have some connection to the Angel God in the future, or it might simply be a projection of his subconscious concept of "God."

Regardless, the image was deeply branded into his mind.

The melody of the anthem gradually weakened.

The white plaza began to blur, and the golden statue slowly dissipated.

The light on the twelve wings dimmed bit by bit, as if a candle had been extinguished by the wind.

Qin Chuan's consciousness was pulled completely out of the illusion.

The gloomy scenery of the Star Dou Great Forest reappeared in his field of vision. The chirping of insects, the sound of the wind, the low growl of some unknown spirit beast in the distance—all these sounds rushed back in at once.

He looked down at his hands; his palms were slightly damp, covered in a thin layer of sweat.

The shock brought on by that anthem was greater than Flowers Falling in a Dream and Memory Kill combined.

Flowers Falling in a Dream struck at emotions, Memory Kill struck at memories, but the Angel Anthem struck at the soul.

Three layers, each deeper than the last.

Qin Chuan savored the sensation he had just experienced. The Angel Anthem had not made him sad, nor had it made him afraid; it had not even stirred any negative emotions within him.

It had simply allowed him to witness an existence on a higher plane.

The very act of "seeing" this was the greatest shock of all.

Because when you see your true position in the universe, when you see your true size in the face of the laws of nature, it becomes difficult to maintain your previous confidence and composure.

If this soul skill were used in combat, the effects would be terrifying.

Imagine a Soul Douluo fighting with all his might, suddenly hearing the Angel Anthem. His consciousness is pulled into an illusion, seeing something that shakes his very soul. Even if it only lasts for two or three seconds, his focus would suffer a momentary blank.

In a duel between experts, a two or three-second blank is enough to decide life or death.

Qin Chuan pulled back his thoughts, his gaze falling once again on the Humanoid Elf Beast floating in the air.

It was still wrapped in the Heavenly Dao Power, its two small red eyes staring at Qin Chuan.

But Qin Chuan noticed that its gaze had changed.

When it was first caught, its eyes had been filled with terror.

Now, the terror was gone, replaced by something indescribable—a sense of calm.

It was as if, in the process of unleashing the Angel Anthem, it too had "seen" something.

Qin Chuan looked at it, silent for a few seconds, before he made a decision: "You may go."

Qin Chuan released the constraints of the Heavenly Dao Power.

The Humanoid Elf Beast's body swayed in the air, its four wings instinctively spreading to steady its form.

It did not fly away immediately, but instead hovered half a meter in front of Qin Chuan, its two red eyes watching him without blinking.

Its cat ears twitched slightly, turning toward Qin Chuan.

Its tail hung naturally behind it, the fluff at the tip swaying gently in the breeze.

It still didn't leave.

"Don't you understand? You can go," Qin Chuan said again.

The Humanoid Elf Beast tilted its head.

Then, it did something Qin Chuan had never expected.

Its body began to glow.

A pale golden light seeped out from the surface of its skin bit by bit—first its arms, then its chest, then its wings.

The light grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the area for several meters around them.

Qin Chuan's pupils constricted sharply.

He saw it: wrapped within that golden light, a white soul ring slowly emerged from the Humanoid Elf Beast's body.

The soul ring was small, its white light soft and gentle as it floated quietly above the creature.

Then, the soul ring detached from its body, rising slowly until it drifted before Qin Chuan.

The Humanoid Elf Beast's body began to weaken as the soul ring departed. The frequency of its wing beats slowed, and its body began to sink in the air.

Qin Chuan reached out instinctively and caught it.

The small body, barely twenty centimeters tall, landed in his palm, so light it felt almost weightless.

Its eyes were still open, its small red pupils looking at Qin Chuan; though weak, it was very calm.

"A sacrifice?" Qin Chuan's voice was a bit raspy.

The Humanoid Elf Beast did not answer.

Its cat ears drooped, resting against the sides of its head. Its four wings folded behind it, no longer having the strength to flap.

Its tail hung down as well, resting against Qin Chuan's fingers, the fluff at the tip brushing against the web of his thumb.

Qin Chuan looked at this tiny life form in his palm, his mind in complete chaos.

He could understand the terror and struggle of the Sorrow Bird and the Lovesickness Heartbreak Butterfly when faced with death. That was animal instinct.

But he could not understand the actions of this Humanoid Elf Beast.

Why would it voluntarily offer up its own soul ring?

The soul ring was the core of a soul beast; to offer it up meant death.

"Did you see something in the Angel Anthem, too?" Qin Chuan asked, staring into its eyes.

The corners of the Humanoid Elf Beast's mouth moved slightly, and then it closed its eyes.