The Birth of Mo Ling

With the help of the Goddess of Life, the life force within Gui Mei instantly overwhelmed his death energy, beginning to transform his body.

Lin Ze'an clearly noticed this suddenly appearing power.

After a brief moment of thought, he realized who had intervened.

In the current Douluo Universe, aside from himself, only the Goddess of Life could possess such potent life force.

But why would she help him?

Lin Ze'an couldn't fathom it, but since there was no harm done, he turned his attention back to Gui Mei.

At this moment, nine soul rings were slowly emerging beneath Gui Mei.

Yet, under the cleansing of the life force, even his soul rings appeared much softer.

The most shocking change occurred in Gui Mei's physical body.

His originally pale skin was regaining its rosy hue at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The chilling aura that had shrouded him for years gradually dissipated, replaced by a warm and vibrant sensation.

"This... this is..." Gui Mei looked at his own hands in disbelief.

Those hands no longer felt cold and stiff; they had regained the warmth and elasticity of a living person.

He could even clearly feel the warmth of blood flowing through his veins.

At the same time, the ghostly shadow that had always clung to him like a second skin also transformed from pitch-black to a pale green under the infiltration of the life force.

Yue Guan was stunned by this scene, saying incredulously, "Old Ghost... you!!!"

As close friends for so many years, they knew each other's histories perfectly well, and he was truly overjoyed to see Gui Mei come back to life.

On the other side, Lin Ze'an raised his hand, and the death energy escaping from Gui Mei's body seemed to be drawn toward his palm.

This was all the soul power Uncle Ghost had shed; the more he recovered, the less his own strength would decline.

Under Lin Ze'an's purification, the energy in his hand gradually shed its black color, turning into pure life force.

"Uncle Ghost, I am about to return the power you lost. Hold on," Lin Ze'an warned, then injected this energy back into Gui Mei's body.

The next moment, Gui Mei's entire body tensed up, and he began to tremble violently.

"Arghhhhh--!"

Lin Ze'an felt a pang of sympathy watching this, but there was no other way; he had to continue.

The entire process lasted for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.

By the time Lin Ze'an withdrew his power, his face had turned pale, but his eyes shone with excitement.

Because... it was a success!

Just then, Lin Ze'an suddenly looked up, his pupils contracting sharply!

"Not good!" Alarm bells rang in his heart, and he instinctively crossed his arms to block his chest, his soul power instantly condensing into a translucent green light shield.

Almost at the same instant—

Gui Mei's tightly closed eyes snapped open.

"BOOM--!!!"

A terrifying surge of soul power erupted from within Gui Mei.

It wasn't just pressure, but a tangible shockwave of soul power.

The violent energy swept outward in all directions, centered on Gui Mei.

"Pfft—"

After all, Lin Ze'an was still only a Soul Master, and the gap in soul power between him and Gui Mei remained immense.

Even though he had prepared a defense, he was still blasted away, his light shield shattered instantly, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yue Guan, standing slightly further away, had just wanted to step forward to check the situation, but before he could react, he was also knocked back by the shockwave.

He steadied himself and roared at Gui Mei, "Old Ghost, have you lost your mind?"

With that, he flashed and appeared instantly beside Lin Ze'an, carefully helping him up.

He then placed his palm gently against Lin Ze'an's back, slowly injecting gentle soul power to stabilize the turbulent energy within him.

"Cough, cough... Master, I'm fine." Lin Ze'an waved his hand, signaling that Yue Guan didn't need to be overly concerned.

At this moment, the confusion in Gui Mei's eyes gradually faded, replaced by clarity.

He looked down at his own hands in disbelief and hurried to stand before Lin Ze'an.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but it ultimately turned into a remorseful, "...I'm sorry."

Lin Ze'an looked at Gui Mei's guilty and flustered expression and shook his head. "It's alright, Uncle Ghost."

As he spoke, he sat down cross-legged, letting the life force circulate within his body to quickly heal his injuries, his pale complexion gradually returning to a healthy glow.

While regulating his breath, he softly explained, "Uncle Ghost, you have just completed the transformation; your body and your martial soul are both brand new and unfamiliar to you."

"It is normal for soul power to lose control for a moment; you will likely need some time to adapt to this new state."

Even after hearing this explanation, Yue Guan still looked at Gui Mei with displeasure.

Even with Lin Ze'an's explanation, Yue Guan still glared at Gui Mei with dissatisfaction, his tone laced with reproach: "You old ghost, why haven't you checked how many levels of soul power you have left?"

That burst just now had caught even him off guard—had his soul power really dropped?

Upon hearing this, Gui Mei silently stepped a few paces away from the two, closed his eyes, and began to inspect his internal condition.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and said with some hesitation: "Still level 97... it hasn't dropped, and it has even improved slightly?"

Hearing this, Lin Ze'an also opened his eyes.

His strength hadn't decreased, but instead improved?

He pondered for a brief moment before thinking of the power the Goddess of Life had previously bestowed.

Lin Ze'an was well aware that with his current strength, he could not transform Gui Mei's state without some loss.

But why would she do that? It couldn't be because of...?

Facing the puzzled gazes cast by the two, Lin Ze'an softly explained: "It is likely because I gathered the soul power Uncle Ghost dissipated and returned it to him, which is why his strength did not decline."

Gui Mei nodded thoughtfully, then, with a flicker of his mind, released his martial soul.

The originally eerie and sinister ghost shadow had completely vanished, replaced by a pale green phantom.

Although it still maintained a humanoid silhouette, it radiated a warm aura of life, with tiny specks of light faintly swirling around its body.

He looked at Lin Ze'an and spoke with a complex expression: "Ze'an, thanks to you, my martial soul is no longer Gui Mei."

"This looks like an entirely new martial soul; you should give it a name."

He could not bring himself to say words of thanks, so he would express his gratitude through his actions in the future.

Lin Ze'an knew what kind of personality Gui Mei had, so he replied: "In that case, Uncle Ghost, I won't stand on ceremony."

He rested his chin in his hand and carefully scrutinized the pale green spirit, then froze.

Hiss... I didn't look closely just now, but how did this martial soul turn into this? Does it have anything in common with Uncle Ghost's previous martial soul at all?

The corners of his mouth twitched as he said with an indescribable expression: "Let's call it Mo Ling. The 'Mo' comes from my martial soul, Mo Ruier."

In any case, no matter how one looked at this martial soul now, it was a spirit... right?