Sacrifice (please keep reading)

Lin Feng flexed his fingers, but in the end, he did not strike.

"Ah Yin, I'll stand guard here. If you want to talk to her, go ahead. If you can't reach an agreement, I'll have no choice but to act for the sake of your eighth soul ring."

Ah Yin knew Lin Feng had her best interests at heart. She pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Leave it to me."

Ah Yin stepped forward and released her spiritual power to communicate with the twin-heart lotus.

"Twin-heart lotus, you should recognize me. I am the Blue Silver Emperor. I've now taken human form and begun cultivating anew. My soul power has reached level 80, and I need an eighth soul ring."

"I hope you'll sacrifice yourself to me. The Soft Bone Rabbit Emperor told me your cultivation has reached 190,000 years, and you're about to face a heavenly tribulation."

"Rather than be destroyed in the heavenly tribulation, why not sacrifice yourself to me? You'll still have a chance to survive."

The twin-heart lotus swayed violently, its light blazing as though its entire body were trembling with rage.

"You disgrace to soul beasts! You lackey of humanity! Blue Silver Emperor, you were a hundred-thousand-year soul beast too. Now that you've become human, are you going to turn on your former kind?"

"I'm utterly disappointed in you. Kill me if you must. I've lived for 190,000 years, and I will never sacrifice myself to a human."

Ah Yin frowned slightly and tried to persuade it again.

"I only want to live. The heavenly tribulations soul beasts face are far too terrifying. We have to survive the tenfold heavenly tribulation before we even have a chance to become gods. But humans are different. If we take human form and gain a deity's favor, we have a chance to inherit that deity's divine seat."

"Take me, for example. I now have the Goddess of Life's favor, and she has bestowed the Seed of Life upon me. As long as I can comprehend the law of life, I can become the new Goddess of Life."

"You won't lose out by following me. If I successfully become a god, you can ascend to the Divine Realm with me. Even if you can't become a deity, becoming a Divine Official will still grant you an endlessly long life."

"What? The Goddess of Life's favor?" The twin-heart lotus was shocked, instantly forgetting its righteous indignation.

Its arrogance turned to deference, and the twin-heart lotus immediately adopted a fawning manner.

"Blue Silver Emperor, why didn't you tell me sooner that you had such a wonderful opportunity? I didn't mean any of what I said just now. Please don't take it to heart."

"I'm willing to sacrifice myself to you. It would be my honor to become your soul ring and soul bone."

Ah Yin smiled and looked back at Lin Feng, nodding to show that they had reached an agreement.

The corners of Lin Feng's lips lifted. A sacrifice would yield better results, allowing the energy of the soul ring and soul bone to be absorbed as perfectly as possible.

"Ah Yin, go ahead and begin. I'll stand guard."

Ah Yin took a deep breath and gestured to the twin-heart lotus. Without hesitation, it ignited all 190,000 years of its cultivation.

It became a blood-red pillar of light that stretched from earth to sky, enveloping the surroundings in a barrier as an endless stream of life energy poured into Ah Yin's body.

Ah Yin's level-80 bottleneck shattered with a crash. Like river water surging through an opened floodgate, her soul power began climbing steadily.

Lin Feng stood on the shore with his hands clasped, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Ah Yin's eighth soul ring is settled. Once her soul power reaches level 90, we can seek out the Myriad Demon King for her ninth.

I should start thinking about myself too. I now have five soul bones: the Evil Eye External Soul Bone, the Evil Eye Head Soul Bone, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's Torso Soul Bone, the Blue Silver Emperor Left Leg Bone, and the Silver Moon Wolf Emperor's Right Leg Bone. That leaves the left and right arm bones...

Should I go back and kill the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape? I certainly wouldn't mind killing them... But I've already absorbed the million-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's torso bone. Wouldn't absorbing hundred-thousand-year soul bones now be beneath me?

Or I could charge straight beneath the Lake of Life and kill the Scarlet King, Xiong Jun, or even Di Tian...

What was I thinking? How could I forget? The remains of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings are beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. If I could get left and right arm bones from them, those would be the soul bones of First-Level Gods.

While Lin Feng pondered, elsewhere at the Lake of Life...

Ah Rou had hurried back, and together with Xiao Wu, she pushed both the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape into the Lake of Life.

The lake's waters contained life essence, which was exceptionally effective at healing injuries.

Just then, they suddenly looked toward the distant horizon. That blood-red pillar of light stretching from earth to sky only appeared when a soul beast sacrificed itself.

Xiao Wu was still in her Soft Bone Rabbit form, but she spoke in a human voice.

"Mom, a hundred-thousand-year soul beast has sacrificed itself. Why would a soul beast willingly do that? Doesn't it care about its own life?"

Thinking of Lin Feng's terrifying strength, Ah Rou could not help shivering.

"Perhaps it faced a threat even crueler than death. Something like having both its soul and spirit destroyed if it refused to sacrifice itself."

Xiao Wu shrank back. "Humans are so awful. I'm definitely going to stay far away from them."

Ah Rou hugged her daughter and let out a long sigh. "Humans may be awful, but their talent is terrifying. It's only been a few months, yet he can already subdue Da Ming and Er Ming with ease."

"Xiao Wu, you'll reach a hundred thousand years within the next few years. Our Soft Bone Rabbit clan has a weak bloodline, and we have very little confidence in surviving a heavenly tribulation. When the time comes, you should take human form and cultivate anew too."

"Once you become a Titled Douluo, you can live for several hundred years. If you become a Peerless Douluo, you can even live for a thousand. Our life essence is abundant. As long as we don't have to face heavenly tribulations, our natural lifespans are several times those of humans. We can still live for a very, very long time."

Xiao Wu nodded. "Okay. I'll do whatever you say, Mom."

Back on Lin Feng's side, he had stood guard for seven days and seven nights before the twin-heart lotus's sacrifice finally ended.

Ah Yin opened her eyes and awoke, her entire body radiating vibrant life. She immediately shared the good news with Lin Feng.

"A Feng, I have good news! My soul power has reached level 85. The twin-heart lotus's cultivation was so profound that it raised my soul power by five levels in one go."

"My eighth soul ring has two soul skills. The first, Twin Blossoms, lets me create a Reincarnated Blue Silver Emperor. Any human or soul beast can be resurrected by placing their soul inside it, as long as their soul hasn't completely dissipated."

"The second skill, Shared Hearts, lets me create a Substitute Blue Silver Emperor. As long as you carry it with you, it can take any fatal damage in your place."

"With me by your side, even if you run into danger, you'll have a hard time dying."

"Oh, and there are the twin-heart lotus's torso soul bone skills. Life Link lets me share physical stamina, soul power, spiritual power, and even life force with whoever I link to. Life-Reflecting Shield reflects one hundred percent of any incoming attack that doesn't exceed its limit. Even if an attack does reach that limit, it can still block one fatal blow."

Lin Feng stepped forward and gave Ah Yin a great big hug.

"Those are incredible skills. Congratulations, Ah Yin..."