The Evil Emperor Sleeps, Collective Evolution!

His soul power remained at level forty-five, with four soul rings rotating slowly at his side. Before Luo Chen could even process the new changes brought by his fourth soul ring, his sea of consciousness suddenly shook violently.

A massive, suffocating surge of spiritual power erupted from within his body—not outward, but inward—as if something deep within his soul had awakened and was ravenously devouring the surrounding energy.

A brilliant crimson light flared at the center of Luo Chen's brow, and the voice of the Evil Emperor exploded in his mind, carrying an unprecedented, almost manic excitement.

"This Seat has finally recovered to the ten-thousand-year level!"

The Evil Emperor's aura surged, causing Luo Chen's Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power to break through seven thousand points in that instant, pushing rapidly toward the eight-thousand mark.

Luo Chen felt as if his sea of consciousness were being stirred by an invisible giant hand, whipping up towering waves. The silvery-white water churned, and countless specks of time-force were swept up by that spiritual power like fireflies caught in a hurricane.

But the next second, the Evil Emperor's voice cut off abruptly. That immense spiritual power suddenly contracted, as if seized and compressed by some unseen force, morphing and condensing until it finally formed a fist-sized purple orb of light that sank into the deepest part of Luo Chen's sea of consciousness.

The surface of the orb was etched with the patterns of an Evil Eye—ancient, ferocious, and carrying a trace of kingly pressure. It hovered there silently, like an embryo in the midst of gestation.

"Evil Emperor?" Luo Chen called out into his sea of consciousness.

There was no response.

"Xiao Xiezi?"

Still, there was no reply.

Luo Chen frowned. He could feel the life force contained within that purple orb; it was more potent than it had ever been before.

The Evil Emperor had not disappeared, of course; he was merely in a deep slumber, undergoing a metamorphosis.

The remnant soul residing in Luo Chen's sea of consciousness was recovering into the form of an Evil Eye Tyrant. However, it appeared that a full recovery would take some time—it was a form of "evolution" in its own right.

At the very moment the purple orb sank into the depths of his sea of consciousness, the Gulu Balls at Luo Chen's waist began to tremble in unison, one after another, like falling dominoes.

The first was the Blazing Wolf. The surface of the ordinary Gulu Ball ignited with flames, turning from orange-red to a deep crimson. The Blazing Wolf, originally at the hundred-year level, let out a heaven-shaking howl from within the ball; flames erupted from its body, scorching the entire sphere a bright red. Its age surged—eight hundred years... one thousand years... one thousand five hundred years... and did not stop until it hit two thousand years.

Its physical form shifted from a common wolf to a giant wolf, its shoulder height exceeding two and a half meters. Golden-red flames flowed behind it like a cape, and a hint of dark gold appeared in its lupine eyes.

The second was the Plate Armor Turtle. Dense cracks appeared on the earthy-yellow sphere, and a metallic luster emerged on the surface of its shell. Its age easily broke through from three hundred to eight hundred years. Its size grew from that of a millstone to that of a small van, and sharp bone spurs sprouted from its shell, while its movement speed increased significantly.

The third was the Feather Eagle. This was a hundred-year flying soul beast Luo Chen had captured at school with the help of Meng Shenji. Its feathers shifted from light gray to silvery-white, its wingspan expanded from two meters to four, and tiny electric arcs coiled around its beak and talons. Its age broke through to eight hundred years, its speed at least doubled, and it gained a new innate ability: Lightning Infusion.

The fourth was the Beetle Immortal. This hundred-year soul beast, captured on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, had always been the least noticeable of the lot.

Its shell had originally been a dull, dusty color, with short, thick legs and thin, long antennae, looking like a magnified longhorn beetle.

Now, its shell had turned a deep bronze with a metallic sheen. Its six legs had become long and powerful, and the antennae on its head acted like two sensors, capable of detecting spiritual fluctuations for miles around. It had actually evolved a spiritual-type talent. Its age broke through to seven hundred years, and its evolutionary path shifted from a common beetle to a form resembling a rhinoceros beetle. It let out "click-clack" sounds from within the Gulu Ball, its six legs kicking as if adapting to its new body.

The fifth was the Ice Feather Eagle. This ball caused the greatest commotion; a thick layer of frost had condensed on its surface, covered in cracks that emitted a ghostly blue light.

Its age broke directly from eight hundred to two thousand years—the training in the Far North Ice Plains had allowed it to accumulate enough foundation, which erupted all at once. Its wingspan expanded from four meters to six, and its feathers turned from snow-white to ice-blue, each one appearing as if carved from crystal. As it spread its wings, the power of ice condensed into fine, shimmering crystals around its body, sparkling like stars in the air.

The sixth was the Ghost Vine. The dark green sphere sprouted dense, tiny vines covered in dark purple barbs, and its age broke through from six hundred to one thousand five hundred years. The evolved Ghost Vine was no longer a mere plant; a vague human face had grown in the center of the vines. The features were indistinct, but one could discern emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. For a plant-type soul beast to evolve a human face meant it was moving toward a higher life form—perhaps in a few thousand years, it would possess a complete self-awareness like the Blue Silver Emperor.

The seventh was Zhao Xi. The Dull Ball lit up, with azure and deep blue light intertwining to project a dreamlike display of light and shadow throughout the cave. The cultivation of Zhao and Xi had evolved to twenty thousand years along with the soul rings, and they had taken on human form—the appearance of two children, who should now be called Xi'er and Bing'er. They did not struggle violently like the other soul beasts; they simply stood quietly in the center of the sphere, hand in hand, floating in mid-air, natural and harmonious.

All eight Gulu Balls trembled simultaneously, and eight beams of light in various colors intertwined, collided, and merged within the cave, finally transforming into a seven-colored pillar of light that shot straight into the sky through a crack in the cavern.

Luo Chen stood in the center of the pillar, his long silvery-white hair whipped about by the air currents. Four soul rings rotated at his side: purple, red, gold, purple, purple, and black. Spiritual power, soul power, soul beasts, and martial soul were perfectly fused at this moment.

The Evil Emperor was asleep, but his power had not vanished; it had merely transformed into a higher-order state, undergoing metamorphosis and rebirth.

Luo Chen looked down at the Gulu Balls at his waist, feeling the evolution of each soul beast, and a sense of unprecedented fulfillment welled up in his heart. He gently patted the leather pouch at his waist. "Sleep well, you lot. I'll take you out to fight when you wake up."

The eight Gulu Balls vibrated gently in unison, as if responding to him. The remaining Tide Jellyfish and Shadow Ghost Tiger had gained some cultivation, but they had not evolved further.

Inside the cave, moonlight filtered through the crack, casting its glow upon Luo Chen. His shadow was stretched long, and his silvery-white hair fluttered slightly in the night breeze.

The hourglass mark at the center of his brow flickered faintly within the ghostly blue light, purple and silver-white interweaving like a door slowly swinging open.

"It's time to find a way out. An'an must be getting impatient."