The Humanoid Elf Beast didn't answer.
Its cat ears drooped to either side of its head. Its four wings folded behind it, too weak to flap anymore.
Its tail drooped as well, resting on Qin Chuan's fingers, the fur at its tip brushing against the web of his thumb.
Qin Chuan looked at the tiny creature in his palm, his mind in turmoil.
He could understand the fear and struggle of the Sorrow Bird and the Lovesickness Heartbreak Butterfly when facing death. It was animal instinct.
But he couldn't understand the Humanoid Elf Beast's behavior.
Why had it willingly offered up its Soul Ring?
A Soul Ring was the core of a Soul Beast. Offering it up meant death.
"Did you see a god in Angel Anthem, too?" Qin Chuan asked, staring into its eyes.
The Humanoid Elf Beast's mouth twitched slightly, then it closed its eyes.
Qin Chuan stood motionless, holding the Humanoid Elf Beast in his palm.
The white Soul Ring still floated before him, glowing softly.
The little creature lay in his palm with its eyes closed. Its chest still rose and fell faintly, but its breaths were growing slower.
Qin Chuan looked down at the Humanoid Elf Beast in his palm and set it on the petal of a nearby orchid. Its tiny body curled up in the hollow of the petal, looking as if it had fallen asleep.
Then Qin Chuan reached out with his right hand and touched the white Soul Ring.
The instant his fingertip touched it, a warm, completely harmless energy flowed in through his finger.
It felt completely different from the previous times he had absorbed Soul Rings.
The Sorrow Bird's Soul Ring was like a pool of spring water, gentle and tranquil.
The Lovesickness Heartbreak Butterfly's Soul Ring was peaceful, too, though it carried a faint sadness.
The Humanoid Elf Beast's Soul Ring was warm, like holding a cup of hot tea in winter.
Neither scalding nor cool, just right. The absorption was incredibly swift.
In less than five seconds, the entire Soul Ring had merged into the Illusion Bell Martial Soul.
Qin Chuan focused his thoughts, and the Illusion Bell appeared above his palm.
Five Soul Rings lit up in succession, from bottom to top.
[White, white, white, white, white!] Five white Soul Rings.
Qin Chuan looked at the five rings of light and gave a crooked smile.
A level-55 Soul King with five white Soul Rings on his Martial Soul.
Across the entire history of Douluo Continent, from ancient times to the present, there probably wasn't a second person who'd done anything like it.
But Qin Chuan knew that what these five white Soul Rings contained was enough to silence anyone who had witnessed their power.
[Shadow Hypnosis], [Sinful Haze], [Flowers Falling in a Dream], [Memory Kill], [Angel Anthem]!
Five mental-control Soul Skills.
From shallow to deep, passive to active, emotional interference to impacts on the soul itself.
Qin Chuan put away the Illusion Bell and turned to glance at the Humanoid Elf Beast on the petal.
It had stopped moving completely.
Its chest had stopped rising and falling. Its cat ears lay limp against either side of its head, and its four wings were spread across the petal. The translucent membranes glimmered with a faint, muted rainbow sheen in the dim light.
Its tail rested on the edge of the petal, the fur at its tip swaying gently in the evening breeze.
Qin Chuan crouched down and watched the tiny creature, barely twenty centimeters tall, lying on the petal.
Still and silent.
"Let's see if I can bring it back."
As he spoke, Qin Chuan activated the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye, reached out with his right hand, and held his palm down over the tiny body on the petal.
Heavenly Dao Power surged from his palm, forming a cloud of pale violet light that gently covered the Humanoid Elf Beast.
The haze enveloped its entire body, from the cat ears atop its head to the tips of its toes, from its thin wings to the fur at the end of its tail.
Qin Chuan concentrated, using the Samsara Eye to observe the changes inside the Humanoid Elf Beast as the haze took effect.
At first, nothing changed.
Its body was like a machine that had shut down completely, all its vital signs reduced to zero. The Heavenly Dao Power seeped into it like water poured into a desert, absorbed without a trace or reaction.
Qin Chuan steadied his breathing, keeping the flow of Heavenly Dao Power constant. Too much might burst the tiny body; too little might fail to reactivate the life force that was about to vanish.
About half a minute later, one of its cat ears moved.
First the left one. Its pointed ear lifted slightly and turned in one direction. Then the right one followed.
Its tail moved, too. The fur at the tip flicked softly.
Qin Chuan held his hand steady in midair, watching the changes below without blinking.
At last, the Humanoid Elf Beast's chest rose sharply.
"Huff." A breath escaped its tiny mouth. It was breathing again.
Qin Chuan slowly withdrew his Heavenly Dao Power.
The tiny creature lay on the petal, its cat ears turning now and then as its chest rose and fell steadily.
It was alive. It was really alive.
Qin Chuan stared at it for five seconds. Once he confirmed its vital signs were indeed stabilizing, he let out a long breath.
Good. Heavenly Dao Power could do this, too.
That was mainly because the Humanoid Elf Beast was a rather special Soul Beast, and not very old.
After another two or three minutes, its eyes opened.
Its little dark-red eyes were blurry at first, their focus off. It swept its gaze around several times before finally finding Qin Chuan.
It stared at him for two seconds, then began flapping its wings.
At first, it flapped slowly, one beat at a time, as if testing whether it could still fly.
Then its wings beat faster and faster. Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz.
Its body lifted off the petal, swayed twice in the air, then steadied.
The Humanoid Elf Beast flew a circle around Qin Chuan.
It flew slowly and awkwardly, its wings beating out of sync as its body tilted from side to side.
It was flying. It circled once, then flew over and stopped in front of Qin Chuan.
That expression in its two red eyes appeared again, though it was hard to tell if it was a smile.
Its cat ears stood upright, pointing toward Qin Chuan.
Its tail swayed gently twice behind it.
Then it turned around, beat its wings at full speed, and shot off into the darkness of the forest as a glimmer of golden light.
Qin Chuan stood up and watched the direction it had vanished in, feeling much better.
Night fell, and a thick layer of ink swallowed the sky above the Star Dou Great Forest.
Qin Chuan didn't leave the forest or look for a cave to shelter from the wind. He chose a tall tree, tapped his toes against the trunk a few times, and lightly landed on a thick branch at its very top.
The canopy was dense enough to hide him completely. From below, there was nothing to see.
Qin Chuan sat cross-legged on the branch, his back against the trunk. He could feel the rough ridges of the bark pressing into his back. It wasn't very comfortable, but it didn't bother him.
He had made up his mind to cultivate here.
Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, at night. Put those two conditions together, and by any ordinary Soul Master's reckoning, it was tantamount to suicide.
Forget ordinary Soul Masters. Even among Soul Douluo above level eighty, few would dare spend the night alone in the forest's core region.
At night, high-year Soul Beasts ranged farther from their lairs, became more territorial, and doubled in aggression. Run into one that was over twenty thousand years old, and without a companion to back him up, he might well die here.
But Qin Chuan's situation was different.
The Six Paths Reincarnation Eye's perception covered a radius of ten kilometers. He could detect the movement of any Soul Beast within that range the moment it happened. And with the flying ability granted by Heavenly Dao Power, he could leave the battlefield within seconds if he spotted danger.
Qin Chuan closed his eyes. The purple patterns of the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye turned slowly behind his shut eyelids. His spiritual power spread outward, keeping a firm lock on every movement around him. Then he began to meditate.