The End, and a Leap to Level 24 Soul Grandmaster!

Lu Xue's spirit projection grew more transparent by the moment, but her voice rang clearly in Xiao Shenghe's and Lu Yao's minds:

"What you've created may be more than a new relationship between Soul Masters and Soul Beasts."

"Perhaps it can tear open a tiny crack for every Soul Beast trapped by the 'fate of the Soul Ring' and point toward another possibility."

"Your symbiotic bond will become an 'anchor' at the level of the rules themselves, proving that equal coexistence is possible."

"It may even... cause a faint but real disturbance in the twisted fate of Soul Beast reincarnation."

Her words struck like thunder, exploding in both their hearts.

Until now, they had thought only of their future together, of combining their strength and sharing their lives. They had never looked this far ahead.

"I don't have much time left."

Lu Xue's projection had faded to smoke, and her voice began to drift.

"The protective mark in my bloodline is almost out of power. Remember my words, children. I'm not trying to stop you. I want you to see clearly, then make your own choice."

She looked deeply at them both. Her gaze held a charge entrusted to them, worry, hope, and the complex emotions of a hundred thousand years.

"The ritual can continue, but you must approach every step with a hundred times more reverence and a thousand times more caution. Use your souls to sense, judge, and choose. No matter where this path leads in the end..."

As her figure all but vanished, her final words became a gentle yet tenacious thread of thought, winding around their spiritual bond:

"Remember, what you hold in your hands is not only your own fate."

The last trace of her voice faded. Lu Xue's projection dissolved completely into points of light and merged with the void of Spiritual Sense, as though she had never appeared.

But the weight of that history, the warning about her people's fate, and that glimmer of hope were carved deep into both their souls.

Silence returned to the void. Only the two of them remained, along with the spiritual bond between them, its light unsteady but stubborn.

Lu Yao stared at the place where her mother had disappeared, her emerald eyes dazed.

After a long while, she turned to Xiao Shenghe. Her voice was hoarse from choking back tears, but clear:

"Brother Shenghe, are you afraid?"

Xiao Shenghe's consciousness moved closer to her, radiating warm, steady thoughts.

"I am."

He admitted it without hesitation.

"With consequences this heavy and a road this unknown, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

He paused, then his thoughts grew firmer.

"But more than I'm afraid, I don't want to know this possibility exists and shrink back because of the risks. And I don't want to fail your mother's warning—or that small hope."

He looked at the band of light connecting them.

"Yao'er, do we continue the ritual? If you need time to take this in..."

"We continue."

Lu Yao cut him off. Her voice was soft but decisive as a blade.

Her spirit no longer trembled. Instead, it shone with a supple, brilliant light. There was grief in it, and understanding, but most of all a resolve breaking through the earth.

"Mother asked us to choose after seeing clearly. I see clearly now. This road is hard, and the burden is heavy, but I'm willing to walk it. With you."

"All right."

Xiao Shenghe's thoughts carried absolute certainty.

"Then we continue."

Ten minutes later, the spiritual bond in the void of Spiritual Sense drew in its light and became two warm currents that slipped into Xiao Shenghe's and Lu Yao's minds.

Xiao Shenghe's eyes flew open. Soul Power surged through him, and a clear Soul Beast cry rang from his dantian.

A pair of silvery-white wings slowly spread behind him, their edges flecked with emerald light. The aura of the Clouded Deer clan had merged with his own Soul Power.

"Ha!"

Unable to contain his excitement, Xiao Shenghe turned toward the figure beside him.

"Thank you, Senior! I can feel it—my Body Martial Soul, Heaven Soul, has awakened!"

Not far away, Lu Xuan nodded slightly, his voice deep and steady.

"Yes. The Secret of Symbiosis succeeded. Your souls and Lu Yao's are now bound. From this day on, you'll share life and death, and your Soul Power will flow between you."

Lu Yao came to her senses too, a newly awakened glow shining in her emerald eyes.

She walked to Xiao Shenghe's side. A faint silver-and-emerald halo rose around them both—the proof that their symbiotic bond had stabilized.

Lu Xuan raised a hand. A wisp of gentle Soul Power gathered at his fingertip, and he tapped the empty air.

"The ritual is complete, but you still need to grow accustomed to your Martial Souls. I must also guide you in understanding the Clouded Deer clan's inherited power."

He turned and walked deeper into the void of Spiritual Sense, his robe tracing an arc through the air.

"Now, follow me."

Xiao Shenghe and Lu Yao exchanged a glance. Each saw the same resolve in the other's eyes.

They followed Lu Xuan side by side. The symbiotic halo behind them grew ever more solid as they set out on an unknown but hopeful path of inheritance.

"Yes!"

They answered in unison.

"Shenghe!"

"Shenghe!"

Xiao Shenghe looked up to see Chen Xin and Gu Rong hurrying toward him, their faces full of concern. He quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

"Grandpa Sword, Grandpa Bone."

"How did it go?"

Chen Xin stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over Xiao Shenghe and Lu Yao as he asked the question urgently.

Joy spread across Xiao Shenghe's face. He raised a hand and circulated his Soul Power. A faint silver-and-emerald halo appeared around him, and his aura was far stronger than before.

"The ritual was a complete success! I've reached level 24!"

"W-what?!"

"One ritual, and you jumped more than ten levels? That's unbelievable!"

Chen Xin and Gu Rong froze at the same time, disbelief written across their faces.

Chen Xin instinctively raised a hand to his sword hilt, while Gu Rong's knuckles tightened slightly.

Standing beside Xiao Shenghe, Lu Yao added softly, a small smile in her emerald eyes:

"It was the Clouded Deer clan's power of symbiosis. It bound our souls and raised our cultivation together."

Gu Rong moved two steps closer. His thin fingers pointed into the air as he sent Soul Power to probe around Xiao Shenghe.

"Level 24? You were only level 15 before. You rose nine levels in half an hour! This secret symbiotic art of the Clouded Deer clan is truly formidable."

"It did not simply raise his level."

A deep voice came from behind them. Lu Xuan walked slowly out of the formation, his blue-gray robe stirring in the wind.

"The power of symbiosis lets them share what each has accumulated. Shenghe absorbed part of the inherited Soul Power Yao'er was born with. His growth wasn't forced, like trying to make a rootless tree grow taller."

Xiao Shenghe nodded in agreement.

"I can feel it. This power is stable, without the slightest hint of being hollow."

Just then, Lu Xue appeared not far away. Her complexion was still somewhat pale, but her eyes were bright.

"Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, thank you both for witnessing my daughter's symbiosis with Shenghe."

As the matriarch of the Clouded Deer clan, she faced the two Titled Douluo with composure, neither servile nor overbearing.

Chen Xin set aside his surprise and nodded, a hand resting on his sword.

"You're too courteous, Matriarch Lu. This old man has truly had his eyes opened today by a secret art that can break the boundary between Soul Masters and Soul Beasts. But..."

He looked at Xiao Shenghe.

"Will this symbiotic bond cause any backlash for them in the future?"

Lu Xuan answered with certainty.

"No. The Clouded Deer clan's Secret of Symbiosis uses souls as its bridge and trust as its foundation."

"Their hearts are in harmony. The bond will only strengthen them both. It allows Shenghe's Body Martial Soul, Heaven Soul, to take on the spiritual nature of the deer clan, while Yao'er's Soul Beast power gains the fluidity of human Soul Power."

Lu Yao raised her hand. A silver-and-emerald halo, identical to Xiao Shenghe's, glowed in her palm.

"Even now, I can clearly sense Brother Shenghe's Soul Power flowing through him. If he's in danger, I'll feel it at once and be able to support him."